Snow Covered Lehigh Gap Run

I wanted to go out and run the Baby Buzzard course with the Pagoda Pacers this morning.  However, the snowy trek through Trexler did beat me up and I wasn't sure what I'd have today.  I elected to play it safe, but also give myself the option to get some good running and hiking in.  I headed out to Lehigh Gap.

The weather was tricky.  It was warm for this time of year.  I went with just a lightweight long sleeve shirt at first.  However, that wasn't heavy enough.  I put on a slightly heavier shirt.  I left my fleece vest in the car.  Most of the time, I was comfortable.  At times, I was hot and other times a little chilly (as I ran into the wind).  It worked for the duration of the run though.  I probably could've worn shorts, but I elected not to.

Usually when I run at Lehigh Gap, I climb to the top via the Prairie Grass Trail and Charcoal Trail.  I then run the ridge along the North Trail and come back down.  This time, I was looking to come straight down the North Trail and try to do 3 short loops.  That would give me over 3,000 feet of elevation gain.  If I couldn't handle that much, I could stop earlier.

I ran some of the early part of the LNE.  Then, I hiked a bit too.  Finally, I ran along the flat part.  This makes for a good warmup, which is why I love going this way.  I was able to follow footprints, but they were uneven.

I got to the Prairie Grass Trail in no time and began the climb.  I ran the early part.  It was tough with the snow coverage.  No one had been through this part.  I only climbed about 150 feet before I had to hike.  It was too early to push it.

Going up this was a lot more hiking than running.  This section is wide open and not surprisingly, there were snowdrifts everywhere.  I did run where I could, but that wasn't often.

The Charcoal Trail was no different.  It was mostly just a hike.  It seemed to be taking forever.  Even the snowdrifts were a pain to hike through.  At least I enjoyed the views.  I thought to myself that I was crazy.  Toward the top of the Charcoal Trail, there were animal prints and it was a little more runnable.  Of course there were still snowdrifts here and there.

I had to go out to Devil's Pulpit and more snowdrifts.  The view of the snow covered mountain on the other side was incredible.  I then continued on to the North Trail.  This time, I ran down the North Trail.  Someone had built a snowman way up here at the top.  That was cool.

Going down along the ridge of the North Trail was fun.  I had around 1,100 feet of gain already and now, it was mostly downhill.  This trail had at least been lightly used.  Before long, I got to the Appalachian Trail.  The AT was a blessing.  It was heavily used.

I cruised on down the AT.  It was relatively smooth, thanks to all the traffic.  A lot of the rocks got buried.  I ran down past the shelter.  I continued on.  I then got on to the Woodpecker Trail.  There were some parts around big rocks, which were fun.

I continued on down to the open field part of the trail.  I was back to my car shortly after that.  I had run 3.75 miles on this loop.  This would be a nice loop to do on clear trails.

I refueled with some Tailwind.  I was a little exhausted, but I headed back up.  Rather than go through the snowdrifts, I stuck with the worn down AT and North Trails this time.  I ran some in the beginning, but that didn't last long.  This part is super steep.  The other direction is more gradual.  I'm not sure if I would've done another loop in that direct if that was my only option.  Luckily, it wasn't.

I did a lot of hiking, but I ran where I could.  Even the hiking up the snow covered AT was hard.  I gained a lot of elevation though and got an excellent workout.  I turned and ran up the North Trail.  I ran past a hiker (who I somehow didn't see later).  I was at least able to run some of this.  I went up near the top and had gained around 1,000 more feet of elevation.  There were snowdrifts on the North Trail.

I then headed back down.  Rather than going all the way down, I decided to run up the AT, at the split.  This had some good climbs, but was a little more runnable.  It wraps around the mountain.  It is a more gradual climb.  I still got pretty exhausted.

A group of snowshoe hikers were coming the other way.  They made the trail smooth, although it became a little less grippy then.  I ran on for a bit.  I think I turned around somewhere over 2500 feet of elevation gain.  I was able to run all the way back down.  I never came across the snowshoe group again.

I did see a guy hiking later on.  I was getting a bit tired.  I probably didn't have enough calories in me.  I was glad I could go down this smooth path.  I was sad thinking that it will be buried in more snow again tomorrow.

I got back to the bottom and refueled again.  The first loop took me about 55 minutes.  I was now around 2 hours into this run/hike.  I had not even covered 8 miles either.  I had a lot of gain though.

I got more Tailwind and headed back up.  I knew this would be a struggle, but I had to get at least 3000 feet of gain and I wanted more.  I had to hike a lot of this steep terrain now.  My back and legs were getting sore.  I was happy to get over 3000 feet and keep going.  I saw the hiker at the shelter.

I continued on up the North Trail.  Again, I ran and hiked to about the same places as earlier.  I was now over 3500 feet of gain.  I did the same thing at the AT junction as before.  I started climbing again.  I didn't go out too far.  I was over 3700 feet and closing in on 3800 feet when I headed back down.

After going down the steepest part, I decided to hike back up.  I was dead tired and even hiking was tough.  Since I was so close to 4000 feet of gain, I wanted to go over that.  I did on my watch, but when I corrected it later, it wasn't quite that much.  Oh well, it's not that big of a deal.

Finally, I cruised downhill.  My quads were getting tired and I was losing my concentration a little.  It wasn't too bad and I still could run.  I just had to be slightly more careful.  I finished up the big day at my car.  I had less than 12 miles and it took me over 3 hours.

This was an awesome day and I'll have to do more of this in the future.  Lehigh Gap is a great place to go straight up and straight down.  Maybe I'll  run loops here when the trail is clear.  Now that I see how much the AT is used here in the snow, I'll probably come back.  Maybe I'll be there next weekend.  I was so exhausted by the end that I just sat in my car right away.  It was a lot of work.

Tomorrow is a scheduled rest day.  That is perfect, since we are supposed to get 3 to 6 inches of snow.  I'm not sure where I'll be on Tuesday.  I'm all about getting more elevation though.  Maybe I'll run repeats southbound on the AT at Wind Gap.  Repeats can create a smooth trail where there isn't one.  That could be my best option these days.  I look forward to wherever I go next time out.

11.77 miles - 3:04:05 (15:39 pace) 3937 feet of elevation gain