I went to Lehigh Gap today to hike and run. I was hoping for 12,000 feet of elevation gain for the week. To do that, I needed 3,300 feet today. That meant lots of up and down in the snow.
I began around noon. It was kind of warm, by winter's standards. I decided to wear a jacket instead of the fleece vest. I was too hot. I was soaked early and sweating all throughout the run. That made it tough, but I survived.
This time, I ran directly up to the Woodpecker Trail. That was some early running, but it quickly changed to hiking. When I was there last week, the path was pretty worn. This part was just so so.
I got on to the Appalachian Trail in no time. This is very steep and I ran some, but mostly hiked. It was a slow go. I had some Tailwind and I drank it. The AT section was more of a path.
I continued on, up and up and up. I got to shelter and there was a guy sitting there. He was impressed that I was running. This is one of the rare running stretches. It is super steep before that and kind of steep after that.
It wasn't long as I was to the North Trail. I headed up that too, mostly hiking. Near the top, I had to make my own path. I turned and came back down. Then, I decided to run up the AT for a bit. It was a short stretch though.
I decided to head back down. I wanted to get around 2,000 feet of gain before heading back to my car. I had a sandwich and chips there. It was fun going down the trail. I went past the Woodpecker Trail. I then came to a powerline. I ran down the AT there a bit and turned around.
I climbed back up. This hike was super slow. I was happy to get to the halfway point of elevation gain. I ran down a bit again and continued on. I was eager to keep adding elevation.
I went back past the shelter. This time, the guy was sleeping in there. That was odd in the afternoon. I didn't want to bother him too much. I continued on.
When I got to the North Trail, I decided to climb some more. I was over 2,000 feet of gain when I started there. I headed up the hill. I had to hike a lot of it. I took the part that I blazed earlier too. I was near 2,500 feet, but not quite there.
I was thrilled to be around 1,000 feet of gain from finishing. It was now nearly 2 hours into the hike/run. I ran downhill, having fun, but I was super exhausted. Even downhill began to provide a challenge.
When I got to the AT, I headed back up again. This is a more gradual way to the top. I cruised on up. Most of it was still hiking, but I ran some. I was slowly gaining elevation. I kept going out and out and I was kind of getting frustrated. It wasn't steep enough.
I knew it eventually would climb steeply and it finally did. This climb of a few hundred feet was tough. I battled on though. I saw the road near there earlier. When I came to it, I went up again. Big surprise. The theme of this run was up and up. I then ran down on the road.
This part was fun because, there were tire tracks in the snow and it was easy to follow. Going down I ran. Coming up, I could've run if I wasn't so exhausted. I was over 3,000 feet of gain now. Then, 3,100 feet and nearing 3,200 feet.
I ran on back down. That was fun. It was quick now. This path was well worn. A guy with a dog came through earlier. That was one reason I headed out so far. I didn't want to pass him.
I did turn around on the AT and did a short hike to gain some more elevation. When I finally made it to the intersection of the North Trail again, I headed up there. I hiked and hiked and hiked.
Finally, near the top, I went over 3,500 feet of elevation gain. I wanted an extra couple hundred feet of gain, just to make sure I was actually over 12,000 for the week.
I headed downhill. I was tired, but nearly done. I had gone up and down, up and down. I was all over the mountain and repeating a lot of the same areas. Since I hiked a lot, the time seemed to fly by. I didn't plan on going the whole time without heading back to the car, but that's what ended up happening.
There were a few more hikers as I headed down. They were making the trail fast. One was a guy and his cute adult daughter. I flew downhill pat them, enjoying myself. Going down is so quick and the turns were tight. Before I knew it, I was on the less used Woodpecker Trail.
I got back to my car just before 9.5 miles. I was a few minutes under 3 hours too. It was another exhausting workout. It was the second day in a row where I just wanted to sit down afterward. The snow makes thing incredible.
These two day has about 7,000 feet of gain combined. Add in the snow and it was quite the workouts. I'm going down to Susquehanna State Park in Maryland to run tomorrow. I'm hoping to preview the HAT course with a nice 11 miler. That should be challenging too, but at least the trails will be clear. I may meet up with Destrie too. That would be great.
9.4 miles - 2:44:58 (17:30 pace) 3510 feet of elevation gain
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