Looping Around Big Pocono

I didn't sleep well last night, so I didn't end up going to Mt. Tammany.  You need to get there early to beat the crowds.  I thought of going to Lehigh Gap, but then decided on Big Pocono State Park.  I haven't been there in a long time and Destrie has been looking for ski slopes to run on.  It is next to a ski slope, so I wanted to do a recon.

I ran shirtless again.  The weather was nice though.  I was sweating of course, but it was very cool by the end of the run.  Having lots of tree cover was perfect too.

The plan was to do several shorter loops.  I wanted to get a good amount of elevation gain.  I parked on the top and cut out some of the old rail trail parts near the bottom.  Parking up there gives a great view of all the surrounding mountains.  It's pretty amazing.

I actually started just below the main lot.  I headed down on the Scout Trail.  Then, it was descending on the South Trail.  This was way rockier and more technical than a recall.  I managed to run down it, but I had to focus.

I passed a family hiking at one point.  I had fun going down the switchbacks.  It then leveled out some and went through some boggy areas.  I went around one of them, through the bushes.  The trail began to descend some more.

This was a nice trail, but uneventful.  The South Trail ends and then turns into the North Trail Lower Loop.  After some more downhill, I came to the junction of the old railroad bed.

I took the left to begin the ascent.  The start of this is cool, as the railroad was cut through some rocks.  This section is a very gradual climb.  I was already coming to mile 3 and I had not done any tough running yet.  I had a mere 50 feet of elevation gain.

I was thrilled when I finally got to the North Trail's climb.  I ran a lot of the beginning, over some small streams.  The trail flattened out briefly.  This is a good climb, but it also has a series of steps to to it.  It is steep, flattens out for a bit and then is steep again.  I was able to run quite a bit.

There is one very steep part that I didn't run.  It has loose rock too and that makes it tough.  I planned a few loops, so I had to be conservative. 

Near the top, the trail runs along the ski slope.  I noticed that the route I took over the winter was overgrown a little.  I stayed on the more clear trail.  It didn't really make a difference.

It was good to get to the top.  I arrived back at the car at about 48 minutes.  I toweled off, refilled my water bottle and headed back out for a second loop. 

The first loop was 4 miles long.  Only one of those miles (the final one) was a challenge at all.  I was laying down a good pace.  I decided that this would likely be my last loop.  Then, I'd just out and back the climbing mile after that.

I really flew through this loop, the beginning anyway.  I was more comfortable on the rocks now and just cruised downhill.  A hiking couple I saw earlier was climbing back up to finish their loop.  I continued to descend.

I got to the old railroad in no time.  I ran on this flat part, pushing a bit and getting my breathing slightly labored.  I wanted to push a little until the climb.

I got to the climb a little beat.  I ran a little less this time, but not too much.  A woman was hiking with a man and her pack.  I ran up past them and they were impressed.  I still hiked the steepest part and hiked a few other segments too.

I finished the second loop around 1 hour and 50 minutes.  It was good to be done with most of the run.  Again, I made a brief pit stop at the car.

Now, it was time to descend once again.  I cruised on down.  I passed the couple, still on their way up.  I also passed another couple.  The woman was carefully going down a rocky section that I flew down.  Oddly, my leg started to hurt a little toward the bottom.  Maybe all the descending this week is finally catching up to me.

I turned around at the railroad bed.  It was time to go back up a last time.  My leg felt better on the uphill.  My foot was blistering a little, but not too bad.  I got soaked earlier in a water section.  I hiked a lot more this time.

I was really tiring.  I'm not used to running so much.  I was only hiking on this part of the trail.  When I got to the top, I wanted more gain.  I ran on the road and then got to the very top of the park.  There was a big wedding going on there.  Luckily, I was able to turn off before getting to them.  They didn't need to see a sweaty shirtless guy.

I headed back down the trail and connected with the road.  I ran back to my car, a short distance on the park road.  I finished up with 11 miles.  I was pretty beat and beat up.

This was a solid run.  It capped a big week for me too.  I think I ran 12,000 or 13,000 feet of elevation gain.  I've definitely never done that much during a training week.

Tomorrow, it is time to climb again.  I'm planning on doing 5 loops at Tammany.  I have to get there in the morning.  This is two weeks from Escarpment.  I think I'll back off a bit after this run.


11 miles - 2:19:59 (12:44 pace) 2432 feet of elevation gain