Northern End of the Mason-Dixon Trail

I like to combine runs and trips whenever possible.  Today, I was headed out to a dirt track race in Central PA.  I looked at routes and saw that the Mason-Dixon Trail cuts through the area I was driving.  It sounded like a lot of rugged fun.  I think this part is where Destrie’s 100K on the trail ends in a month.

I want to go to this park with a great view to start.  However, I never could find it.  I did find the blue blazes along the roads near the Susquehanna River though.  I drove down to a boat launch area and the trail continued on pavement.  I walked briefly and scope it out and saw that it went to trail in a short distance.

The weather was much cooler than it has been.  It was nearly perfect for a run.  I wore shorts and a short sleeve shirt.  I had on my visor too.  It was so comfortable that I was able to run for over an hour and a half without any water.

I ran down the paved road for a bit.  I passed a woman and a dog.  I think she was hiking with a baby too.  I got on the trail and it was nice and fun.  It was flat and along a small creek.  I followed this and then lost the trail.  It looked like it might continue across the water, but I couldn’t tell.  The woman was still behind me, so I thought I was going the right way.

I crossed the creek at a fairly deep spot.  The water went high up on my knees.  I then found the trail on the other side.  The only issue was a no longer had any blazes.  It was either a poorly marked trail or I missed a turn.  This still looked like a decent sized trail along the creek, so I continued on it.  I crossed the creek again later and continued on.  After this creek crossing, the trail did end.  I had to back track.

This did make for a nice warmup.  I kept looking for the trail’s turn as I headed back.  Finally, I realized it was at a log.  There was no blaze on the log to indicate a turn.  It ascended steeply now on a switchback.

This section was absolutely crazy.  It was maybe the rockiest section of trail I’ve been on.  I’ve never been on the Escarpment Trail, but I’d imagine it is like that.  I was slowly climbing over these huge, sharp rocks.  At times, I noticed the trail went around the rocks.  However, it was usually on steep ridge and I kept losing it.  I picked my way through this section, which was only probably about 1/3 of a mile.  It took so long though.

I was glad to be through that section.  For some time, I was wondering if the whole trail was like that.  Luckily, once I was at the top, it wasn’t.  It turned into a smooth singletrack along the ridge.  There were some moderate ups and downs, but it was a lot of fun.  There were views of the river through the trees.

I continued along, moving at a decent clip.  I figured that I’d run until around mile 3.  I hoped to find a nice view at some point.  The trail got quite interesting at certain points.  It was a narrow ridge with a steep drop below.  I had to be cautious.  One part had a steep switchback. 

I was enjoying myself as I ran.  I figured if the trail ever started to drop steeply, I’d turn around.  At one point, it had a decent drop, but I could see it was still high on the ridge.  I kept going.  I was glad I did, as the trail led to a couple rocks and some semi decent river views.  Nothing was totally open, but it wasn’t bad.  I bet there are great views in this section in the winter.  Of course, I wouldn’t want to be on these ridges in the winter.

After one of the views, I saw the trail did start descending.  It was over 3 miles into the run and over an hour into the run, so I turned around.  I had enough for the day.  It was fun running back.  I ran most of the way until the super rocky part.

I was hoping to run a little more of that part.  However, it was still slow and I had to pick my way down.  If this is the end of the 100K, it is a crazy way to end it.  The only good thing was that this section seemed much shorter going down than it did going up.  In no time, I was headed back to the road.

The road part kind of sucked.  However, it did provide an awesome open view of the river.  There were a few people boating.  There were also these cool windmills across the river.  I ran back to the car and finished up at over 5 miles.

I actually found the view area that I was looking for, as I was leaving in my car.  I took a few photos and it was a spectacular view.  It was a good thing I didn’t run from there though, as the trail was all roads.

This was a nice run and it was fun exploring.  It isn’t too far away, so I might have to go there more often.  The Mason-Dixon Trail is kind of a good halfway point between Destrie and me, so it might be a good place for us to meet for long runs in the future.

I got home late and am quite tired.  I’ll see about running tomorrow.  I’ll definitely do something.  It might just be riding the bike.  It depends how the day goes.

5.25 miles - 1:35:12 (18:08 pace) 1129 feet of elevation gain