I spent most of the day shopping with the family. I was just going to do something easy later on. I didn't get started until almost 7 PM, so I had to go close by. I went over to Phillipsburg to run the Warren-Highlands Trail.
It wasn't as humid today, but the temperature was still warm. I went shirtless and almost regretted that. I didn't feel bad, but I went through tickland.
I went to the trail by the parking area and as I suspected, it was high grass. Luckily, I knew you could go down the road and get on a better section. I did that and headed on the trail.
This is a great section of singletrack. It is a beautiful little climb up on a ridge. It is only about 200 feet up, but it is tough. I don't know why, but I always struggle there. I did run the whole way up it, but I was huffing and puffing.
After the climb, there is another beautiful section. Then, it splits off with the yellow trail. I stayed on the trail I was on. This was a mistake. It was overgrown in no time.
It was next to impossible to run after a short distance. I just hiked. I could still find the trail, but I was nearly bushwhacking. I guess no one had been there to do any trail maintenance all summer. It's bad, since it could be a great place.
I was cursing over and over as I went through this. I figured it was less than a mile though, so I didn't want to turn around. Some branches were down at one point. I was wondering if this was from deer or another hiker. I almost felt like my last trip there, in the winter, was the last time anyone went through this section. I may have to think about clearing the trail myself in the future.
I thought I'd come out to a wider trail sooner than I did. I finally got there though. This had some high grass too. I continued to follow the trail out through the farm fields. At this point, I was simply looking for a road to get back on. I didn't want to go back through the trail.
The section was cut fairly well through part of a farm field, but was very high near the road. I had no desire to go through there. I started to follow the farm road, but I was on private property then, so I turned around.
As I headed back, I heard a dog in the field. I thought, "great, just what I need a potentially aggressive dog." Luckily, it just barked and didn't chase me. I now wasn't quite sure what to do.
I headed back toward the trail. I remembered taking a wrong turn in the fall and ending up on a woods road that came to another farm. I knew this wasn't far from the road, so I thought maybe I'd run through their land briefly to get to the road.
There was higher grass here too, but I had to go, as it was still the best option. I was disappointed to see super high grass around the farm field. I tried to follow a storm water trail earlier, but it didn't work.
At this point, I wasn't too high up from the road. Worst case, I had to figure out how to bushwhack. Lucky for me, I did spot some kind of slightly overgrown path. This went down to the road. It was actually in better shape than the marked trail, although it still sucked.
I hate roads, but I've never been so happy to find one. It was getting close to dark. I was also grateful that I knew the roads I was going on and they were lightly traveled. I did have to watch though, because there are some blind curves. I made it back okay though.
I washed off very good and checked for ticks when I got home. I hope that was enough. If I don't have any of those and no poison ivy, then I'll be very happy.
Tomorrow, it is back to a more normal run. I'm heading to Tammany for more loops. I'd love to hit 5 or even 6. It may be tough, as I'm probably running on my own. Mentally, that becomes challenging. It is a good challenge for sure though.
5.19 miles - 1:09:37 (13:25 pace) 759 feet of elevation gain
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