I write this lame title every year after we come home from Indy. Before the 500 they sing "Back Home Again in Indiana," so I figure my title is appropriate when I return East. It was good to run out there, but I miss my hills. I was pretty tired from traveling, but I rested most of today.
I headed out late in the evening for a run at the Lehigh Gap Nature Center near Palmerton. I hiked there before, but never ran trails. The zinc plant nearby killed off most of the trees on the mountain. They haven't grown back, but they have been able to get prairie grass and some other vegetation to grow there. Because of it, there are some spectacular views all around.
I started the run around 7:30 PM and sunset was 8:23 PM, so I knew I didn't have a lot of time to run. I wanted to get a comfortable 3 miler in. I actually wanted to run the LNE trail, but ended up on the D&L trail to start.
The D&L trail is nice and wide. It is crushed stone and allows for bikes. It follows the old rail line along the river at the bottom of the mountain. Having a river on one side and a mountain on the other side is pretty cool. It is nice and flat too, thus a good starting point.
I cruised along that trail for awhile, enjoying the views. Eventually I hit the short trail that linked up with the LNE Trail. It was short, but very steep. I was having trouble breathing and almost considered stopping. I made it to the top though. Right at that junction was the Prairie Grass Trail. I wanted to run on that, but couldn't take anymore climbing for the moment. Therefore, I headed along the LNE Trail.
The LNE is still only part way up the mountain, but the views are amazing anyway. It is hard to even focus much on running. This is also a wide former railroad bed. I didn't want to run too far out because I wanted to run some of the Prairie Grass Trail. I was running at the setting sun and it looked wonderful.
Even with the sun setting, the run was pretty hot. I also forgot my trail shoes. Luckily, most of the trail was flat and easy. After running toward the gap again, I headed up the Pairie Grass Trail. It was a steep climb. This was more of a true trail. It was fairly rocky, but not too bad. It didn't slow me much.
The climb was tough and I kept pushing myself, trying to make it to the 2 mile mark. That was only about .15 of a mile, but it was still very tough. I'm still building up my climbing strength. I also knew coming down, the view would make the climb worth it.
The view was certainly great. The only problem was that it was steep and rocky, so I had to watch my footing. Every now and then I got a peek though. I could see all the other mountain sections around and even the town of Palmerton.
Coming back on the LNE Trail was great too. Since it was flat, I could enjoy the views. There's this one house on a small hill that looks really neat. I was running at that and then directly at the other side of the mountain across the gap. I planned to use this trail to get back to the Lehigh Gap Nature Center. For awhile, I was wondering how that was going to happen. I was already pretty high when the rail part of the trail ended and there was some climbing along a regular trail. I remember seeing parts of an old bridge when I was running down below, so I figured the railroad used to cross the river there.
I ended up right at the bridge and the trail just stopped. I was stunned for a moment because it was almost a mile back to turn around, plus another mile on the D&L trail when I got down to it. The mountain was too steep at this point to climb down. I backtracked a bit and found where the trail actually continued. I thought it went all the way back to the parking lot and it did.
I finished up at the 3 mile point before the downhill section. It was a great run. A good mix of hills and regular trails, plus some rail trails on the mountain. The views are amazing. It may not be quite what you see in Trail Running Magazine, but it is about as good as I'll do around here. The drive isn't too far either. I had heard a lot of people say they run there. Now, I see why. I will definitely be back.
Tomorrow should be another decent run. I'm hoping to get myself over to Emmaus for The Finish Line Running Store group run. I haven't done that yet since my comeback started. No matter what, I'm running somewhere tomorrow. I want to run on Wednesday and Thursday as well and take Friday off. On Saturday, I'm running the Freedom to Liberty 4 miler.
3 miles - 29:24 (9:49 pace)
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