Sunrise Mountain Winter Run

This week has been brutal.  Monday was the only day that I ran.  I didn't want to run anywhere until I went somewhere new.  I had to work late most days and didn't have time for the run I wanted to do.  I ended up just taking off until today.

Since it was Saturday, I could finally have enough time to travel for my run.  I went to Culver's Gap in New Jersey.  The AT goes there to an overlook point on the top of Sunrise Mountain.  I figured it would be over 5 miles to get out there.

It was still only about 25 degrees.  However, that felt quite warm without much wind.  I went with a lightweight long sleeve shirt under my fleece vest.  Sometimes I was chilled, other times hot and other times good.  I rarely wore my gloves or headband.  I had on tights.

I thought this would be a good place to go, because I thought it would be popular.  It turns out I was wrong.  I found the parking area and debated whether or not I even wanted to run.  There were several snowmobile trailers in the parking lot.  I didn't want to have to try to avoid those.  Plus, I didn't care to breathe their fumes or hear them.

I didn't have many options, so I picked up a map.  I found the AT on the map, but couldn't find it as I walked around.  It kind of looked like it was up the road, so I ran there.  I had to turn back and go toward the parking lot.

I saw an AT sign on the one tree.  However, I still couldn't find the white blazes.  That was frustrating.  Sunrise Mountain Road is a forest road that was gated.  It was snow covered and full of snowmobile tracks.  I didn't want to run on it, but it appeared to be my only option at that point.

I started off on it and a short while later, I found the turn off of the AT.  It looked promising, as there was a wide track.  It headed uphill.  Unfortunately, the path turned into just a set or two of tracks.  I figured that this might be a mess trying to run 5 miles through this.  It may not even go all the way out and I'd basically be breaking trail.

Rather than chance it, I went back down to Sunrise Mountain Road.  This also lead to the overlook, so I decided to take it.  I didn't like the idea of running on a forest road, but at least the snowmobiles had packed down the snow.

I got going.  I ran for a bit and then hiked some too.  It wasn't too steep, but it was a gradual climb.  There were some rolling hills, but it was mostly uphill on the way out.  At least with the packed snow, the miles would go by quickly. 

Still, I wasn't having fun.  I was careful with where to run.  I wanted to stay out of the way of any snowmobiles.  Even though the snow was packed, at times it was tough to get grip.  There was definitely still a lot of resistance.

I was able to run most of the way.  However, I still hiked here and there.  I was just happy to see no snowmobiles.  There were plenty of tracks and it was a wide road.  There were a couple trails that crossed this road.  Snowmobiles had gone on those.

A few miles out was one of the best parts of the run.  The road went along and open ridge.  There were outstanding views to the west.  I was able to see the High Point Monument in the distance to the north.  Even though I wasn't enjoying this snow covered road much, I enjoyed the scenery.

I was happy to be making good time.  At one point, I passed a trail and had considered going on it to the Appalachian Trail.  It was packed down by the snowmobiles.  I was glad I didn't go there, because shortly after I passed it, there were two snowmobiles coming down them.

I continued on and was to the road split.  I took the top road to the Sunrise Mountain parking area.  Within the next mile, I got to the parking area.  There was an easterly view in the parking lot.

I took the AT to the Sunrise Mountain overlook.  Snowmobiles had even made tracks there.  I got to the view


and it was kind of cool and kind of disappointing.  There's a pavilion on top of the mountain.  You can see far to both the east and west.  However, some trees were blocking the view.  It wasn't as incredible as I thought it would be.

I was considering going back on the AT.  However, there was no trail broken there.  That made me happy that I decided to take the road out, rather than the AT.  I guess no one hikes this part in winter.

I was happy to be heading back.  I was over 5 miles, as I went downhill.  I thought this would be fast and fun, but there was a little more uphill that I was expecting.  Still, I was able to basically run the whole way back.  It was of course mostly downhill.  I even ran one mile at just under 9 miles.

These miles kind of went by quick.  I was bored though.  I thought this run might take 3 hours on the AT, but this way was going by quickly.  I was done pretty quickly, near mile 11.

This run wasn't quite what I was hoping, but it worked out okay.  It was a much needed run.  I guess the lesson here is not to run new places in the winter.  I need to stick with frequently hiked places.  I thought this would be used more.  This might be a decent place to go in the summertime, when I can run on the AT.

I'm going to run again tomorrow.  This time, I'll likely stick to what I know.  A few guys are running loops at Mt. Tammany.  I don't know if I'll make it there in the morning, but hopefully I'll see them at some point.  I'll try to go around lunch time.  It is supposed to be a bit warm tomorrow.

 10.75 miles - 1:56:48 (10:52 pace) 1154 feet of elevation gain