Return to Little Gap AT

Work has been busy this week.  I could've probably got out late to run, but I wasn't up for running at night.  I had not run since Tuesday, so I needed to finally get out there today.  I still didn't get there until after 3 PM.

I love climbing, but the big issue with that is that often climbs come too early.  My legs and lungs aren't warmed up.  I decided to start with an easier climb today.  I drove up to the AT at Little Gap on Blue Mountain Road and started by heading toward Lehigh Gap.

The weather was kind of tricky.  It was in the mid 30s.  I wore a jacket over my lightweight long sleeve shirt.  I also had on tights with a headband and gloves.  At times, like when behind the mountain, it was cold.  When I was in the sunlight, I was warm.

I ran this section on Christmas Day 2010.  That was nearly 4 years ago.  It might've been my first ever trail run.  It was snowy and my parents were waiting for me in the car.  I barely made it back by dark.  That was the first time I used my old Garmin.  It was a fun run.

There were a bunch of Asians hiking and resting near the start.  I had to make sure to get out ahead of them.  I didn't want to have to pass them all.  I never actually saw them during the run.

The start was pretty easy from an elevation standpoint.  It climbed, but only about 250 feet.  The start was near the top of the mountain.  The tricky part was that it is super rocky.  Add to that that the sun was in my eyes and I had trouble.  I ran most of the time, but I also had to walk every now and then.

It was a slow go because of the technical nature of the terrain.  It's interesting up there as everything was killed by the Palmerton zinc plant.  Some stuff seems to be growing back.  It didn't seem as desolate as I recall from several years ago.

Because of the lack of trees, there are great views.  I came out to one at a powerline.  There was a cool rock feature there.  There was more technical singletrack for a bit.  There were plenty more views.  I stopped for some photos.

The trail then went down some man made steps.  After that, things got interesting.  It was an old woods road that is now turned into a singletrack.  It is smooth and fast, with endless views.  The trail is on a ridge along the side of the mountain.  You can see Palmerton and the surrounding mountains.

I got into a groove now that I was on my type of terrain.  I was cruising along.  This wasn't totally easy though, as it was rolling hills.  It seemed more uphill than downhill, but things weren't actually easier on the way back.

I stopped for some photos of the setting sun behind the mountain.  One time, there was this neat tree right at an overlook.  I was enjoying the scenery so much.  It was slowing me a bit, but that didn't matter.

I thought about turning around at mile 3, but moving quickly on the smooth terrain changed that.  I continued to head out.  Eventually, I got back to the part of the AT that is rocky singletrack.  A short bit later, I came to the blue blazed Winter Trail.  I decided to follow that for a bit.  I didn't want to descend much though.

I ran that a short while and took some photos.  Then I turned around at 4.25 miles.  Instead of heading back, I went the other way on the AT briefly and finally turned around a short time later.

It was getting a bit cold on the way back, with the sun really setting.  It made the sky pink in places.  I went to reach for my headband and realized that I had lost it.  Lucky for me, I found it a bit later.  That was the nice thing about an out and back.

The smooth trail section wasn't much easier in this direction.  It was still a ton of rolling hills.  My legs and back were getting a bit sore.  I continued on though.  I had not seen a single person since those hikers in the beginning.  I never did see anyone else on the AT.  What a nice, peaceful day.

Around mile 7, I was back to the technical part.  Right past that was the powerline cut.  There were a pile of boulders there and I couldn't pass them up this time.  I climbed them and they were quite big and high.  Luckily, I didn't fall anywhere in between them.  The view at the top was pretty sweet.  You could see a full 360 degrees.

I didn't hang out there too long.  I had to race against the setting sun.  The minor descent back to the parking lot was a slow go.  That mile or so seemed to take forever.  It was very technical and dark and I couldn't see well.

Finally, near the end I brought out my new headlamp.  I was prepared for some darkness.  I could've made it out without it, but there would've been more hiking and less running.  I didn't get it on a very bright setting, so I had to be cautious.

I got back near the parking lot at 8.67 miles.  I wanted to get to 9 miles, so I ran some of the pipeline.  I then was going to take a gated road up a bit.  A worker was leaving in his truck though and I didn't want to bother him in the dark.  I ran back on the AT for just a bit to finish up.

It was a good run.  It was more challenging than I expected, but still not too much climbing.  I was very happy with this run.  There were views, some elevation change and some very runnable trail too.  I will surely be back there.  It's not too far away.  I may even run there again whenever it snows.  I probably won't run it too much in the summer, since there is little tree coverage.

I will surely be running a lot this week.  Hopefully I'll run again tomorrow.  I need some good runs.  I don't expect to work much this week, but I do need to Christmas shop sometime.

9 miles - 2:09:34 (14:24 pace) 1,373 feet of elevation gain