Appalachian Trail (Connecticut)

I spent the weekend camping at an auto race in Salisbury, Connecticut.  That meant some running and biking, but not as much as I would've liked.  I did bike around the track in the dark one night.  I was also fortunate because the track is less than 2 miles from the Appalachian Trail.  How lucky is that?

The races ended before dinner on Saturday evening, so I headed out to the Appalachian Trail to explore before it got dark.  I had no idea what to expect, so I had no idea how far I'd run.  I had explored where the trail was via bike, but I wasn't on the trail at all.

I cut through the track's infield and headed out a back gate.  That made getting to the AT much easier.  I ran along the busy road for a bit.  That was a little tricky because the shoulder of the road wasn't wide and there was a lot of traffic leaving the race.  I ran behind a Lamborghini when I crossed a road.  We saw it at the track earlier in the day.

I was then to the AT parking lot and found the trail after initially going down the wrong trail.  This started off as a fun section.  It was flat and through a narrow tree line.  On one side was a creek and on the other side was a farm field.  There were some boards to run over when crossing some feeder springs/streams.  It was a decent little warmup.

This section was rather short and then it actually came to a road.  This was near where I had run earlier.  Basically, I had run through the middle of a triangle. 

Now, the fun began.  I was definitely looking to do some climbing.  I wasn't sure how much I could handle.  I knew the mountains behind the track (where I was headed) were pretty good size.  I grabbed a trail guide at the road crossing and actually didn't even bother looking at it.  That was good because it was pretty much useless.  The AT isn't hard to follow.  It is just a bunch of single white blazes with two blazes at turns.

The climbing was a bit tough and I was breathing heavy.  It was still a little hot and humid at this point and I was wearing a short sleeve shirt since it is the fall and I was in New England.  Up there it is nice because the leaves are changing more than they are down here. 

The trail was tough, but it is much better than the sections around here.  There are rocks, but far less than here in "Rocksylvania."  Most of it was very runnable.  There was a lot of pine forest too and it was an enjoyable climb.

I still had to walk stretches, but those were only brief.  This climb was only a couple hundred feet.  Not as big as some of the climbs that I've done.  Plus, I didn't actually go all the way to the top.

After climbing for some time, I got to Belter's Bump.  I guess this was a lookout to a mountain across the road.  You couldn't see that mountain too well with the trees in the way.  I was really hoping that I would find an overlook onto the race track at some point.  I did see a rock outcrop while I was at the track.  If you can go there, I never did so.

After the bump, it was flat for a bit and then climbed some more.  I came to a couple that was hiking.  Luckily, they were looking at a water section just off the trail.  I kept going.  Climbing and climbing.  Huffing and puffing.  It's always tough to see the top of a mountain when you are on it, but I think I was close to the top.  However, it started to get to rocky.  Breathing heavy was one thing, but I didn't want to deal with rocks.

I turned around after a mile to mile and a half into the climb.  Heading back was fun.  I didn't want to go too fast and trip in the middle of nowhere though.  I got back down the mountain and it was still early in my run.

I decided to head back on the AT, but this time in the opposite direction.  It headed toward the big mountain and I wondered if it would climb that.  I ran over a road bridge that is part of the trail.  Then when I got to a stoplight, I realized that the blazes when to the left inside of to the right and up the mountain.

I followed the blazes along the road.  This was boring and I wouldn't have done this much longer, but then they finally turned back into the woods.  I ran through this section and it was really a blast.  It was a lot of pine forest and rolling hills.  Nothing was too steep or too technical. 

Most of it was open too, although I did encounter some overgrown parts.  I ran through some big boulders too.  I was having fun.  When I got to 3.75 miles into the run, I figured I should head back.  I wanted to make it in before dark.

I ran back and enjoyed this section again.  I videotaped some of it.  I brought my GoPro along and managed to get a few good pictures on the run.

I ran past a really neat farm.  This time, I ran the long way around to the track's main gate.  There is a cool, old vineyard right before the track too.  There are a lot of nice charming quintessential New England houses in this rural area.

I got back into the track and hit mile 7.  I wanted to run another mile.  I headed down that paddock and decided to loop around there.  That was interesting because all the race teams were packing up and their equipment was everywhere.  I had to dodge it and it was kind of like a trail run.  I finished up at my campsite at mile 8.

It was a solid and fun run.  It was unique and the trail was easy to follow.  The weather was pretty good, although I still had some chafing issues.

This coming week will be very easy.  I have a 50K on Sunday and I need to rest.  I hiked about 3 or 4 miles on the AT this evening near my house.  I'll probably hike a little more.  I'll run and bike much less than usual.  My left calf is still a little sore and it definitely could use some rest.

8 miles - 1:23:08 (10:24 pace)