High Point State Park Fall Run

I wanted to run before a wedding in Baltimore on Saturday.  However, it was raining overnight and I didn't want to run on potentially muddy trails.  Therefore, I took off again.  I also didn't run on Sunday, so I had three days off.  I haven't been running much in the last week.

I needed to get out to run today.  It was a perfect, cool fall day.  It was a bit windy too.  I wore a regular short sleeve shirt.  That was good, other than some minor chafing issues.

Since the leaves are changing, I need to take advantage of it.  I headed north to High Point State Park in New Jersey.  It's about an hour and a half drive each way.  It is a bit east of the Delaware Water Gap.  It contains the highest point in the state of New Jersey at over 1,800 feet elevation.

I went to the Sawmill Lake area to start the run.  It seemed pretty straight forward to get to the highest point from there.  I was going to run to the High Point Monument.  It is a smaller version of the Washington Monument, but on the top of the mountain.  It looked to be about 2.5 miles away from where I started.

Sawmill Lake was nice and a good way to get started.  I ran around it briefly, then cut through a campsite.  I ran on the road to the Blue Dot Trail.  I saw what I thought was a snake on a metal box, but it was just a toy.

I got on to the Blue Dot Trail and the rocks began almost immediately.  I had to run cautious.  I don't know if I could say that it is Wind Gap AT rocky, but if not, it is very close to that.  It is quite difficult to run at times.

There was a steep climb near the end of the Blue Dot Trail.  It goes up to a rocky outcrop.  I was forced to hike fairly early, as it got steep and rocky.  I couldn't breathe correctly either.  I think that that was due to the fact that this was the first cool day of running for me.  I have to get used to it.  I haven't run much in the last week, but it had felt like I had not run for weeks.

At one point, it was hard to even scramble over the rocks.  The views were spectacular and definitely worth it.  At the end of the Blue Trail, I took a right and ran out briefly.  I thought I was still on the Blue Dot Trail, but then I saw the white blazed Appalachian Trail.  I knew I was heading the wrong way on that. 

I went back the other way and headed north on the AT.  I continued over the rocks for quite a bit.  It definitely wasn't an easy run.  I went down and back up again.  I had to hike some more of the uphills.  That was disappointing so early on.  My breathing was too labored though.

There was one awesome, smooth section of singletrack.  That was beautiful and only slightly rolling.  It didn't last long.  I was back to some more climbing.

I then came out to a road crossing and a park entrance area.  It was good to check the map and make sure that I was on the right track.  Indeed I was.

After the road crossing, it was uphill.  This was steep and rocky again.  Rocks, rocks and more rocks.  There were plenty of pointy ones too.  Eventually, I got to the top.  I was at the top of a peak of the mountain.  There were some brief views from time to time.

Then, I came to a viewing platform.  This was the first time that I saw any people.  It had an awesome 360 degree view, including a great shot of the High Point Monument.  I was really enjoying that.  I didn't stay long.  However, my times were slow, due to my stops for photos.

I was a little worried about getting to the monument.  It seemed to be at least half a mile away and I was already at mile 3.  It also looked like the mountain went down and back up to get there.  It did, but really it wasn't too bad.

I was on the AT for most of this run.  Near the monument, I switched out and followed the green blazed trail.  There were hikers near there.  Then, I climbed to the top.  I had to walk a little of that.  I was dead.  I didn't eat any lunch, so I was definitely weak from that too.

Finally, I arrived at the top.  The monument was cool and it had spectacular views of all the nearby mountain ridges.  I was right near the State of New York too.  I didn't realize it at the time, but I was able to look at 3 different states.  I took a bunch of photos and was getting cold.  I might've been able to climb to the top of the monument, but I was already wasting too much time and going too slow.

The fall colors were great on this run.  It should be even better in a few weeks.  I now headed back, knowing this would be much quicker.  I ended up climbing over 1,000 feet to get to the monument, so most of the way back was downhill.  That was much better.

I still had to be cautious though.  It was very rocky and there were some interesting technical downhills.  At one point, I was going fairly fast and almost hit a sideways rock the wrong way and felt.  I made it though.

I took a wrong turn onto the AT.  I realized this when I saw a log over the trail.  I didn't recall that.  I headed back the correct direction.  I was now going south and I was over 4 miles into the run.

I cruised along, focused on the rocky terrain.  That made the miles just breeze by.  I couldn't look around much, or I'd fall.  I've never been a huge fan of rocky terrain, but I'm starting to enjoy it more.  It is a challenge.  My feet were in such a world of hurt by this point.  I was getting tired too.  It is almost like I would expect after running 20 miles, not 5 miles or so.

I ran most of the way back.  I stopped briefly for a bathroom break.  I also stopped again for a few pictures.  I took much fewer ones this time though.

I was just hoping I wouldn't miss the Blue Dot Trail.  I figured that I would get to it around mile 6.5.  Much to my surprise, it came out just after mile 6.  I was thrilled to be headed the correct way. 

I had to walk down the steepest, rockiest part of this trail.  Then, I was able to run.  I missed a turn briefly.  I sputtered down the trail.  It was less rocky than the top, but still plenty rocky down below.  I couldn't wait to be done.

I came out to the camping area.  I followed the trail along the lake.  That was nice and peaceful.  I then got back to my car near mile 7.  It was a slow go, but I was nearly done.  I got to mile 7 and stopped.  This lake was nice and peaceful and there was no one around.  It was kind of weird.

I don't know why I didn't expect this run to be as rocky as it was.  I'll definitely be back again.  I probably won't go in the summertime though, because I would suspect that there are a lot of rattlesnakes in that area.  I was running to the highest point in New Jersey, but for some reason, I didn't anticipate so much climbing.  I thought I started off at a pretty high elevation and at over 1,200 feet, I guess I did.

I sure hope I feel better than this during my race on Friday.  I thought I'd feel fresh, but instead I felt like I had not run in a long time.  Maybe this run will help that.  I am concerned now about my breathing, if it is cooler on Friday.  However, I'll take cool over hot any day.

I think I'll run again on Thursday.  I'll be out in West Virginia for the race.  I'm hoping to put in about 5 or 6 miles on the course, to get a feel for it.  I can't wait, as it should an awesome two days and an amazing challenge too.

7 miles - 1:46:59 (15:17 pace)