Scenic Trail Run

I wanted to run at Bear Creek today.  The weather messed with my plans though.  When I went to sleep at 1 AM, it said that things would be clear until noon and then it was going to storm.  Instead, I awoke to rain at 9 AM.  That was frustrating, but I had to wait it out because there were potential thunderstorms.

I finally got a couple clear hours to work with in the afternoon.  Because it had rained, the temperatures would be relatively low too.  I figured that since it could still storm at any time, I would head to Jacobsburg.  Then at the last minute, I changed my mind and decided to travel.

I headed north to Big Pocono State Park.  It is just off of the Route 80 and Route 33 junction, near Tannersville.  It is close to the Crossing and adjacent to Camelback Ski Area.  What is great about this park is that you can drive right to the top of the mountain and get spectacular views of the other ridges and valleys below on both the north and south sides.  The elevation is around 2100 feet.

I made the trip to Big Pocono State Park when I was running the Pocono Run for the Red Marathon in 2010.  Packet pickup was nearby then.  I had never run there though.  The plan for today was to run 5 miles and get some hill work involved.  It would be an easy pace.

The run started out cloudy.  I ran from the top parking lot to the lower one on the Vista Trail (after checking out the great views of course).  Shortly after reaching the other parking lot, I headed west on the South Trail.  It runs along the ridge of the mountain.  The plan was to eventually run to the State Game Lands nearby.

Both the Vista Trail and South Trail were well maintained.  I don't think you would call them a doubletrack, but they were definitely wider than a standard singletrack trail.  There was tree coverage everywhere, so no more views at this point.

I heard some rain coming through the trees.  At first, I thought it was an animal.  Not long after that though, I did come across a deer.  I heard a lot of branches breaking nearby.  I saw the deer off in the back.  These two trails were a mixture of rocks and grass.  It wasn't too rocky, but enough to make the moderate downhill slightly challenging.

The South Trail ran along the side of the mountain.  There was some elevation drop, but it was gradual.  I saw some communication towers and thought that I was near the State Game Lands area.  It turns out I wasn't quite that close yet.  I was near some other towers, still about a half mile away.

I eventually made it to the State Game Lands parking lot after some brief running on the road.  Last time I was here, I walked this trail briefly.  It is a wide road composed of red rock and dirt.  A truck actually came out of there.  I thought maybe he came from one of the communication towers, but probably not since there were tire tracks farther down.

This section was a little difficult to navigate because there are no signs.  You just have to find it on your own or have a map.  I had looked at one briefly beforehand, but didn't carry it.  This section continued to be a gradual descend.  After maybe a half mile or so, I came to a split.  Both roads looked similar.  For no real reason at all, I went to the right.  I figured the path might turn soon.  It ended up being the correct move.

At this point though, I was unsure if I was headed in the right direction.  I have a hiking book about the Poconos and somewhere down this path were two lakes, Wolf Swamp and Deep Lake.  I figured that if I didn't find them, I'd just turn around.  After maybe another half mile, I came upon another split.  Fortunately, this time there was a rock painted with directions to the lakes.

After a little while, I came to Wolf Swamp.  It is really more of a lake than a swamp.  The trail runs right past it.  It is beautiful and even more interesting because it is so remote.  I suppose on a nicer day there would be a few hikers in this section, but I didn't come across any.

I kept going along the trail.  Eventually I came to another split and went the wrong way briefly.  I could see Deep Lake and finally came too it.  The trail didn't go directly by it, so I had to take an off shooting path.  This lake is more round than its counterpart.  There was even an old camp fire next to it.  It was still quiet and peaceful.  The only problem was that there were quite a few bugs bothering me. 

I've been asking for a GoPro camera as an early Christmas present.  Today, I could've really used it.  Getting pictures of these lakes would've been cool.  I'm not going to carry a big camera with me though.

After seeing both lakes, I turned around.  I was already somewhere past the 3 mile mark in this run.  I knew it would end up being longer than planned.  There was supposed to be a difficult climb if I kept going, but I didn't want to take a chance.  I just headed back the way I came.

It wasn't too tough to find my way back, but it was made even easier by the soft ground.  My footprints were left there from the way out to the lakes and they were the only tracks.  At one point, I lost them, but quickly found them again.  There were some muddy puddles along this route, but I managed to mostly avoid them.

Going back was hard because it was a long, gradual uphill.  I sort of wish the route was the opposite way, where I'd have to climb to get to the lakes and then cruise on back.  I had already reached my main destination and was now forced to ascend.  The one good thing is that it was a lot easier to run over the spaced rocks going uphill than it was downhill.

I'm glad it wasn't hot out, because these dirt/stone road were exposed.  I did start to get a little bit hot towards the end of the run.  I thought about stopping around mile 6, but I knew I'd just have to walk all the way back anyway.

Right near that 6 mile mark, I emerged from the State Game Lands.  Rather than going back on the longer South Trail, I opted just to stay on the paved road.  That was tough because it was still another long, gradual uphill.  I don't really like running with trail shoes on roads.  It also got hot and humid as the sun peaked out during this stretch.

I eventually made it to the finish.  It ended up being right at 7 miles.  The trail was quite fast and yet still had some climbing involved.  It was definitely the perfect easy day.  I had some awesome scenery with the views from the top of the mountain and then the views of the two lakes.  I'll definitely make this a regular run.

Angie and I were at the Pocono Marathon in the spring and we discussed how the southern part of the Poconos is relatively close.  It is actually easier for me to get to this trail than some of the trails in the southern and western portions of the Lehigh Valley.  I'm sure I'll be here again soon.  I might even add a couple miles to the run as well.  I'd actually love to run up Camelback Mountain on the road from the bottom.  That is quite a climb and would be very tough.  I'm not sure the elevation of the lakes, but they were quite high.

It turned out to be such a refreshing day and just what I needed.  With opportunities to run at places like this, I'm not sure my running will ever get stale.  I love trail running and I love new places.  This park delivered everything I expected and more.  It is definitely among my favorite places to run.

Tomorrow is a speedwork day.  It is back to the flat rail trails.  Since Kelley is on vacation, I'll be running alone.  I'm thinking I'll head to the D&L Trail, since that is where my half marathon is taking place.  It will be good practice.  I'm planning on 7 X 1/2 mile with 1/4 mile of active recovery in between.  The hope is to just run at 7 minute pace for each.  However, if I'm feeling good like last week, I might shoot for running the last two at a 6:45 minute pace.  We'll see how it plays out.  The weather is supposed to be off and on again, so I'll have to pick out a good window.

7 miles - 1:05:59 (9:26 pace)