Worlds End State Park Winter Run

I've had small nagging injuries and then I've been working like crazy lately.  I haven't run anywhere near as much as I wanted to.  I set up a night run last night, but no one showed up.  I needed a great, even EPIC run today.  The Eagles played on Thanksgiving, so my whole day was free.

I've been wanting to run at Worlds End State Park.  It is pretty far, but seemed to have some awesome climbs and great views.  I headed out there late in the morning and got started around noon.  The plan was to run for like 3-5 hours.  I was hoping that that would translate into 20 miles or so.

I parked at the main office and grabbed a map.  I had planned a route, but I wanted to make sure that it made sense.  There was a nice seven mile or so loop that I found that would have plenty of challenging climbs.

Dressing was a real challenge.  There was snow on the ground, but it was pretty warm.  I needed to make sure my ankles were covered from the snow.  At first, I was going to wear tights.  Then, I saw compression socks in my bag.  That was perfect as I wore them with shorts.  I had a light long sleeve top and jacket over it.  I didn't want the jacket, but I figured I might need it at times with the slow go of this run/hike.

I headed on to the Link Trail.  The Loyalsock Trail seemed like the much steeper option, so I figured that the more gradual option was better for the start.  I could get my breathing under control too.

So much for easy.  It was a rock scramble next to a stream.  It was a slow go and I had to make sure not to slip into the water.  I survived.  There was more snow than I expected.  Luckily, it was soft, slushy snow. 

After working my way along the creek, it was time to cross the road and climb.  I ran for a bit, but even this way was steep.  I had to hike.  At least it wasn't too bad.  I didn't slide backwards or anything.  That had been a real concern with the crappy traction of my trail shoes.

This climb actually wasn't as long as I thought it would be.  It sure was steep, but hiking most of it meant that I was to the top fairly quickly.  I ran by some cool rocks along a ridge.  Luckily, I looked at map earlier, or I might've missed going the correct direction.

After some of the rocks, I came down to the Loyalsock Canyon Vista.  This a spectacular view of several mountains in a row.  I stayed there for a bit and ate part of a sandwich.  I then went to see this cool Rock Garden, with giant boulders. 

I saw a couple mountain bikers and they were impressed that I was wearing shorts.  I told them I was sort of running.  I checked a map again and began running downhill.  This was my biggest concern.  I was able to run for awhile, but then I was along a ridge and it was too risky to run.  I walked down carefully.

It took awhile to get back down.  I decided to change up my route.  I'd headed back to the car and then climb back up the Loyalsock Trail.  This first climb had been about 1,000 feet, in only about 2 miles.

I had trouble on the Link Trail again.  I ran through it faster and with more confidence this time.  However, I missed the trail markings.  I should've paid more attention.  Eventually, I headed in the right way and was back at the car.

I then found the Worlds End Trail.  This was the steep climb that I was going to avoid.  However, I decided to run it.  I ran for a bit, but then it got too steep.  It was almost hard to hike up.  I kept climbing at an intersection.  That came up quickly, so it threw me off.  I should've turned there.

Instead, I was climbing more and more.  It was super steep and very short.  At one point, I was going up a sketchy ridge.  I saw deer prints and was wondering how smoothly it made its way up the trail.  That, I would've loved to see.  After a bit, the trail was slightly overgrown and there was a sign for the trail.  I realized that maybe I was supposed to turn earlier.

I now had to make my way back down.  This would be interesting I knew.  It sure was and I had to be super careful to not fall off the side of the mountain.  I grabbed some small trees, but I made it down.  It was great to be back at the car once more.

I ate more of my sandwich and some chips.  I had climbed a bit, but was still only around mile 5.  It was crazy.  It was such a slow go too.  Next, I went up the other mountains across the park.  The plan was to take the High Rock Trail.

The High Rock Trail was supposed to go to some waterfalls.  I missed them I guess, but I did cross over the water.  Then, I saw why it was called High Rock Trail.  There was a crazy rock scramble that was hard to even find the way.  It was snowy and I had to be careful.  I was very slow.

This went through a cool pine forest section.  Then, it came out to a view.  I wanted more running, so I headed back down.  The downhill rock scramble took forever, but again I made it without falling.

I decided that I would run up the Butternut Trail now.  That was another climb.  I wasn't sure how tough it would be.  As I went from the High Rock Trail to the Butternut Trail, I slipped and fell around the turn.  It was an easy turn, but muddy.  That was my only fall.  I banged my knee and that really stung, but I continued on.

I was able to run a lot of this in the beginning.  It was a wide woods road.  My feet got wet in some sloppy conditions a few times, but luckily I kept my feet pretty dry for most of the run.  This climb was still a run and hike combination.

It went to a loop and I took the upper road.  It was a woods road for a bit, but then turned into a ridge singeltrack.  That was fun, but I had to be careful again.

This area was beautiful.  It went around the mountain to a high mountain creek.  Then, I crossed the small creek and the trail followed on the other side.  This is some of my favorite type of trail.  It then went around the mountain on the other side.

Eventually, I came to another vista.  This one was just okay.  I followed the loop trail back.  I thought it would be quite runnable, like the other part of the loop.  I was sure wrong.  It was super rocky and tricky.  I had to go very slow over these boulders.  I laughed when I got to mile 9 and it was over 3 hours into the run.  That's super slow. 

I had to be careful along the ridge.  Then, it opened up a bit at times.  I could run downhill some more.  When I got back to the end of the loop, I went uphill for another 100+ feet.  I wanted to make sure to get over 3,000 feet of elevation gain.  I did just that.

I headed back down the woods road.  I then was back into the park area.  I had to run on the road briefly.  I got back to my car to finish up.

This was an outstanding winter run.  It was all I had thought it would be and more.  The snow cover made it both more challenging and more spectacular.  Without it, it wouldn't have mattered.  This is an excellent park.  It had so many different types of terrain and so much challenging climbing.  I'll be back there for sure.

I wish I could've got more miles in, but I was thrilled with all of the elevation gain.  My back was pretty sore by the end and I had pushed my legs a bit.  I don't need to overdo it, since I have a 50k on Saturday.  Perhaps most important, I was happy to not get hurt.  In hindsight, this was quite the dangerous place to run alone in these conditions.

I plan on challenging myself in winter runs/hikes like this.  In winter, I've usually run on roads.  I'm done with that now.  I'm running or getting climbs in any way possible, no matter how much snow we have.  There's a great video of Anton Krupicka running in the snow and I used that as inspiration today.  I was signing the songs from it often.

I'm not sure what I'm going to do tomorrow.  I'm hoping to have time now and get back into the swing of running regularly again.  I'd like to run tomorrow, but it is the first day of hunting season, so I need to be careful.  We shall see what happens.

10.37 miles - 3:25:04 (19:46 pace)