Raymondskill Falls to Milford Knob Trail Run

All week, I've had the urge to trail run somewhere new.  I looked into a couple state parks in New Jersey, but they charge a fee.  I decided today to run at the Delaware Water Gap.  I've already been in the gap itself, though, so I wanted some different trails.  I found just what I was looking for about 20 miles up the road.

I went to Raymondskill Falls to start.  That's one of the tallest waterfalls in Pennsylvania.  I tried to run part of this loop, but it was very difficult.  There were too many people hiking that area.  I ran to the top and was quite tired then.  I was breathing heavy and soaked and I only ran about half a mile at that point.  I toweled off back at the car.  This segment was very short.

I realized that I had stopped my watch partway through and I didn't remember to restart it.  That was fine, since this was a short loop.  Now, I headed out for the bulk of the run.  There were a bunch of trails across the road.

There isn't a lot of climbing in this route, because you drive partway up the mountain to begin with.  However, there is some ascending and it all is early on.  Again, the lungs and legs felt terrible and didn't enjoy the uphill at all.  I ran for awhile, but then was reduced to a walk.  It was too early to keep pushing it.

Eventually things flattened out.  It was a nice run through some pine forests.  I had to stop for a bathroom break.  I came to a fork in the trail and for some reason took the unnamed trail, instead of staying on the yellow Hackers Trail.  That was very stupid.

I began going downhill and I didn't like that idea, because that meant I would have to come back up.  Then, I realized that I was actually on this same section of yellow trail at the beginning.  I turned around and repeated the climb.  Stupid me!

Finally, I was back on track.  This time, I took the correct way through some nice pine forests.  I was loving the run, especially since I wasn't climbing.

I came out to Hackers Falls.  That was cool as it was next to the trail.  I stopped briefly for a few pictures.  Some people were swimming below the falls.  The only people I encountered throughout this entire run were near both of these two waterfalls early on.

I continued on.  There was another fork in the trail.  The problem this time was that the sign post was missing, so I had no idea which way to go.  I went left.  It would help if they blazed a few trees here and there.  The trail intersections are the only places with any kind of trail marking.

I probably ran around half a mile out.  Then, I came to a road.  I thought this was 209, but it was actually a different road.  I knew there were no road crossings, so this must be the wrong way.  I turned around and headed back.  I had some gradual climbing to do.

Retracing my steps, I saw some young girls and then I guess their parents.  They were looking for the falls.  I sore of knew where to direct them, but I was kind of lost myself.  Finally, I saw a marker for the orange blazed Buchanan Trail.  I headed left.  Eventually, I came out to a run down trailer and building.  I read a report about this hike, so I knew I was finally heading the right way.

Then, I came to a small parking area.  There were two cars there.  I now was near the pond loop.  I wanted to take the north side of the pond, but I guess I started at the south side.  I was looking for the white blazed Cliff Trail, but only saw orange blazes. 

After looping around the entire pond, which luckily was short, I checked out the map in the parking area.  Apparently, there was a short segment of the orange trail before reaching the Cliff Trail.  I found that and ran to the Cliff Trail.  I headed left toward the Milford Knob.

I was at 4.5 miles at this point.  This trail was nice because it was basically a ridge run on the top of the cliff.  There were some up and down parts, but they were minimal.  There was one okay view early.  Then, I got to the Riverview Overlook.  That had an amazing 180 degree view of the river, the Route 206 bridge, the valley below and the mountains far off.  There was a colored fence that I walked around to get better photos.

After that, there was a small trail right along the ledge.  I decided to follow it.  It was neat because it provided some nice views in between the trees.  I ran along and that connected to the Cliff Trail.

I continued on along the Cliff Trail.  It was kind of grassy, but it wasn't bad.  It was fast.  After a bit, the trail descended in 2 or 3 segments.  By the last one, I decided that if it dropped any more, I was done.  Then, I came to the Milford Knob.  This view wasn't quite as wide open, but it was awesome.  You can see the town of Milford below as well as both New York and New Jersey off in the distance.

I tried taking some photos, but my camera got stuck in video mode.  At least I had good photos before that.  I was now at 6.25 miles.  The Cliff Trail was supposed to be 2.7 miles long and I was taking it straight back.

I cruised along on the way back.  The small climbs were a little difficult, but I knew they weren't long.  The legs did begin to tire.  My pace was getting very fast too.  I quickly watched the overall pace dip below 11 minutes.  That included stops for photos too.

Mile 7 was a 10:33 and that included stopping for a bit.  After the ascending was over, it was a lot of descending back to the parking area.  That was fun.  It was good to get back to the orange trail intersection.  Mile 8 was a super fast 8:47.

I began really cruising on a descent.  Then, I realized I passed the yellow trail.  I knew I needed that to get back.  I turned around and walked uphill.  After a short distance, I decided to forget it and just run downhill.  If I had to walk back uphill to my car, so be it.

That was a great decision.  I flew down the hill.  The Cliff Trail ended at the yellow trail.  I made a left and a short distance later, I was back at my car.  Mile 9 had been an 8:58 (including some uphill walking).  I ended at 9.15 miles in the parking lot.

That run was everything I had hoped for and more.  It was amazing.  It has so many things to see on a fairly short run.  It also was very runnable.  Although it took over an hour to drive there, for sure I'll make another trip.  Hopefully, I'll bring more people in the future.

Tomorrow, I'm not sure what I'm doing.  I'm hoping to get on track.  I want some short, fast stuff.  I don't know what the weather is supposed to be like.  I don't want to do too much, but I do want to work on my speed.

9.15 miles - 1:36:50 (10:35 pace)