It was much nicer up there than I expected weather wise. That said, it was still quite humid. I wore a new sleeveless shirt. I was a little hot, but overall okay. I found a trail called the Mountain Loop. This was the best climb of the park, with several hundred feet of vertical in the first mile or so. The trail went to the top of the mountain and then came back down. The loop was only three miles, so I was hoping to add on more.
There was actually a short connector section before the loop started. This singletrack had a few rocks and was narrow and already slightly overgrown. I wondered how bad it must be later in the summer. I don't think the park is that well used. It's not that big and there isn't much overly interesting about it.
I ran along and eventually came to a sign for the Mountain Loop. I turned left to head straight up the mountain. The other way would've been more gradual. The climb didn't look too tough though.
Early on there was a stream crossing and some mud along the trail. I couldn't believe that, since it hasn't rained much at all lately. This must be a messy trail during rainy times.
Speaking of rain, it was dark when I started. As I was climbing, I heard thunder. It was also getting much darker to the west. I could tell a storm was on the way.
It wasn't raining yet though and was still humid. Because of that, my breathing got labored and I eventually had to hike a bit toward the top. In non humid conditions, I probably could've ran the entire way up. It really wasn't that steep.
This part of the trail had been much wider than the connector. I got to the top and was happy to be heading down now. I was only a little over a mile into the run. The wind picked up and the storm was really brewing now.I tried to move along as quickly as I could. I knew this loop was so short that it didn't make much sense to turn around. I might as well just finish the loop through the storm and hope for the best.
Eventually, the rains began to come down. At first, it wasn't hitting me as I was protected by the trees. After some time though, it came down quite heavy. My shirt was soaked in no time.
I was through mile 2. I just hoped that the 3 miles included the connector trail. Otherwise, it might've been a 4 mile run. I crossed a couple more small streams, as the sky darkened.
I went by the Oak Trail. I would've liked to have headed on to that for some more climbing on an out and back. However, with the storm I now wanted to get back to my car as quickly as I could. The one good thing is that I didn't hear any more thunder and only actually saw lightning once. The rain was unpleasant, but it was just rain.
I then saw a sign for the loop. I thought I was at the connector trail. It turns out this part came out on to a road. I knew where I was and decided to take the road. After a short bit, it turned on to the main road.
I hate road running, but I figured if I somehow ended up struck by lightning, it would be better to be on the road than in the woods. I ran along on the road in the rain. It seemed like forever. Eventually, I was over mile 3 when I made it back to my car. I was unscathed; just a little wet.I got some elevation on a short run. However, there was nothing interesting about the trail at all. No wonder it isn't used much. It would be great if there was a view somewhere. I might run there again if I'm in the area, but I certainly wouldn't make a trip there. I think it is fairly popular in the winter with XC skiing. Maybe I'll try a snowshoe run there in the future.
I'm not sure what I'm doing tomorrow. Originally, I wanted to run with Destrie, but today was a long day for me. I'll probably just stay local and perhaps run with her later in the week. I'm heading to Indiana in the middle of the week and on to next weekend.
3.4 miles - 36:19 (10:40 pace) 506 feet of elevation gain
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