I wanted to do something else today. When Angie and I ran with Scott Jurek on the AT, I really enjoyed that section. It is near Blairstown, NJ. I wanted to explore more of it though, so I headed there this afternoon.
It was nice and cool; amazing weather for an August day. Even exposed to the sun often, things weren't bad. I went shirtless and at times the breeze even made it chilly.
When we were with Scott, it was a lot of hiking, especially early. I was only heading northbound from the road today. Early on, it was rocky and tough to run up. I found myself soon hiking. I had hoped to be running most of this short one.
Instead, it was a mix of running and hiking. I only had soup for lunch, so I was low on calories. I ran where I could and hiked the other parts. My concentration wasn't there.
A little over a mile out, I hit the cool cliffs that we got to last time. They have great views, but I still couldn't locate New York City. It was pretty clear out too.
After the cliffs, it was thick bush lined singletrack. I tried not to rub up against this too much, as I didn't put bug spray on. I also wasn't covered on top. I saw a guy hiking the other direction in this area.
The rocks were way worse than I recalled. Maybe because we were mostly hiking that day. I couldn't run often today. I continued on past these views because I thought there were more views. There weren't really any significant ones.
I knew there was a fire tower at some point. Sure enough, I came out to the Catfish Fire Tower at around 2.5 miles. I wanted to hike up it, but it said "No Trespassing." There was a slight view in this area, but really not much of one.
I would've turned around here. However, from the fire tower, it was a woods road for a bit. I ran along it. It was nice to be able to run. The AT then turned off of that after some time. I followed it for a little, but it started to descend. At 2.85 miles, I turned and headed back.
I ran some of the woods road. I felt a little better on the way back now. I forced myself to run more. Still, it only happened in stretches. The rocks were getting to me and I wasn't feeling great. Any running I could do would get me done quicker though.
I had been looking for rattlesnakes on this rocks. I was cautious. Luckily, I never found one. I ran along slowly where I could. It was good to click off the miles and get back to the open ledge with the view.
The last half mile or so was mostly downhill. I ran it, but it was quite technical, so I was cautious. I got back to the car and finished up the run with a little over 5.5 miles.
I wish I would've run more, but it was a solid day. I need to run this section when I'm feeling sharper. Today wasn't the day for technical running. Tomorrow, I'll likely run again, but not sure where, when or how far.
5.6 miles - 1:33:17 (16:39 pace) 655 feet of elevation gain
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