Jordan Creek Parkway

Once again it has been a busy week.  I had to finish it off with a 10 mile run and 10 mile bike ride.  Obviously the ride would be easy, but after 40 miles on the bike yesterday, I wasn't sure what my legs would have for the run.  I wanted to run yesterday evening, but I would not have completed the run before dark.

I'm always trying to come up with new places to run, especially if it is close.  A while back, I found that there were trails at Jordan Creek Parkway in Whitehall.  I went to the area, but wasn't really able to find them last year.  I found some short trails, but not much else. 

I looked these trails up again and found the correct parking lot.  I started off at 2 PM.  It was a little cooler today, but still hot and I ran shirtless.  I was surprised at how packed the parking lot was.  There is a disc golf course right there and a lot of people were playing there.  I saw a couple mountain bikers in the parking lot.  I had to make sure to follow one of them because I didn't even know where the trailhead was.  I couldn't find a map of the place.

I went on a stone path and over two bridges over the Jordan Creek.  I saw some disc golf holes, but I didn't want to run through there with all the activity.  Apparently some of the trails are parts of the course and I'll have to explore them when it is less crowded.

After the bridges, I found a trail going both ways.  I decided to take the downhill path, rather than the uphill one.  I didn't want to start by climbing.  That turned out to be a perfect decision.  The downhill was short and I was quickly running alongside the creek.

This section was pretty nice.  It was relatively wide for a singletrack and it was flat and smooth dirt.  Just the kind of trail I like for a long run.  It only lasted .85 miles though.

I was then back to a stone path.  I had multiple options.  I could run on the stone, take the paved path or cross over another bridge over the creek.  I saw a mother and daughter on the stone path, so I figured they weren't looking for wooded trails.  I went up the paved path for a short bit, but didn't find a trail, so I turned around and crossed the bridge.

That was the correct move.  Over the bridge, it turned into a nature trail.  I wanted to run along the creek, but the trail didn't go that way.  I then ran a little farther away.  It was a bit of an uphill to run on top of the ridge.  This area was a little more rocky, but still not too technical and it was enjoyable.  It looked like it could be fun for mountain biking.

This section had so many options.  It seemed like there was intersections with two options everywhere.  I had no idea what to chose.  I just decided on the fly.  I wasn't too worried about getting lost.

This is a difficult place to actually get lost because it is such a small area and eventually you will come to the main paths or houses.  I ran into yards a few times and had to turn around.  I did get disoriented at times because there were so many paths.  Even though I didn't exactly know where I was, I wasn't totally lost either.

I was happy that I ended up taking an entirely different on the way back.  It was in the same area as the way I came, but it was a different trail.  With so many small trails, it is no wonder there are no trail maps. 

I was around 3 miles when I came back out to the bridge.  I wanted to get to 6 or 7 miles before stopping back at the car.  I headed back on the initial creek trail and planned to run uphill this time.  However, when I got to that section, it was the disc golf area.  I ran back down to the stone path and decided to follow that for some time.

I ran by a couple cute young ladies.  Most of the run, I was alone, so this was a nice change.  They were walking the main path and I ran into them several times.  Eventually, I got to a doubletrack trail off of the main path.  I decided to just take it.

After a short time, the doubletrack turned into a singletrack.  Again, I had many options.  At one point, a mountain biker was on the trail.  It was right after an intersection, so I went to the right.  This area was a little overgrown, but not too bad.

I worked my way around the singletrack for a bit.  Then, I got to an interesting section.  It was a steep ridge.  It wasn't too dangerous, but there were a lot of rocks.  There would've been a chance to fall over the side if I did trip.  Plus, it was a fast downhill section. 

I came out onto the paved path.  I decided to keep running out it this time.  I ran by an older Asian couple that were fishing in the creek.  I then came back into a neighborhood.  I had to turn around. 

I still was only at around 5 miles or so when I got back to the bridge with the multiple options.  I decided to cross the bridge again.  This time, I tried running along the creek.  That trail was too overgrown though, so I headed back up the hill.

Again, I took a slightly different route through the top.  I always knew where I was when I came to an open section.  After that, I ended up on another lightly traveled area.  I was on a ridge again.  This trail went to a fence that said, "Private Property."  The trail did go downhill, but then into what looked like an overgrown field section.  I decided to just turn around.

I went back to the bridge and then headed through the first trail section along the creek.  I was back at my car at 6.85 miles.  That was a solid start to the run.  My legs were getting tired by now, but I knew I could manage to get to 10 miles.  I refueled and dried off a bit.

I headed back out.  I figured I would just run a lot of the same sections to finish up.  I went on the creek side trail again.  A family rode by on mountain bikes.  They had a dog running with the kids and too parents.  That was neat.

I came out and ran over the bridge again.  I went out for a little while and then turned around and headed back.  I figured I would just run on the paved trail.  I did that for a short distance.

I finished up by running through the section along the creek again.  By now, I had repeated myself and was more familiar with the trails.  I'll have to explore even more when there are less disc golf players.  This was a fun trail to run.  I'm not sure if I'd want to do 15+ miles there, but medium distance runs would be fine.  It is very close to my work too, so I can go there after some deliveries.

I finished up another week with 40 miles of trail running and 100 miles of biking.  I've done this 3 times now.  It is tough to do, but definitely rewarding.  I need to get some more biking mileage earlier in the week, so I'll try to ride from 15-25 miles tomorrow.  There will be no running.  On Monday, I'll try to do a long run and I'll run a second long run again on Tuesday.

10 miles - 1:46:06 (10:37 pace)