I only ran once last week. I was slacking and also busy. I went back and forth with whether or not to run today. I had skipped the Eagles game, so I had plenty of time. I finally talked myself into traveling a little and running somewhere new.
I headed into the Poconos, about an hour north of here. I wanted to run Pennel Run, which is a short loop in the Delaware State Forest. I drove up there and the trailhead was easy to find.
It was chilly, more of late November weather (compared to what we've seen lately). It was cloudy and windy at times. I wore shorts, but also a long sleeve shirt and my shell over it. That ended up being a good combination. I was sweating a little by the end, but it was typical.
I started off by following the Thunder Swamp Trail, which was blazed orange. This is a big loop around the State Forest. Some time, I might run the whole thing. It is supposed to be wet and a bit overgrown too. Maybe I'll try it with some light snow on the ground.
Early on, I had to stop. There was one car in the lot and I guess I ran into this group of hikers. They had a dog with them that was bothered by me. It was off the leash and barking like crazy. I walked on by and began running again when everything was good.
Running was still tough. There isn't much elevation here, but it is typical rocky Pennsylvania trails. It was difficult because the footing was so uneven. It wasn't as bad as the AT, but it sure wasn't smooth running. Throw in the fallen leaves and things were that much more challenging.
The trail is so lightly traveled that it is hard to follow the actual path. There are plenty of blazes on the trees thankfully. After being kind of crappy early on, it went along some water. I think that was Spruce Run. It was still hard to run on, but at least the water and evergreen trees were pretty.
The trail then crossed the water over a footbridge. I got my feet slightly wet earlier. It wasn't bad though, only slightly muddy in spots. At one point, I lost the blazes due to a large blow down. I did find my way again though.
I got to the turn with Pennel Run and followed that. It is yellow on the map, but the blazes were actually red. At least they had signs, so it wasn't confusing. I was running and hiking through this slow part. There was some uphill. I hit a few small branches and could see how overgrown this trail likely is during the summer.
Around 2 miles, I got to the loop portion of the Pennel Run Trail. I was excited for this, as I was on a part called "Hay Road." As I anticipated, it was a runnable woods road. I didn't run the whole time, but I did run often.
I headed north on the loop. This was runnable, but quite boring. I hiked some times too. There were no views and it was just a standard woods road. After a mile, I lost the blazes and the road seemed like it was different too. I decided that I wasn't sure how far I'd have to go for the loop, so I just turned around and headed back.
I was disappointed, because I figured the cool part was the other half of the loop, along Pennel Run. As I headed back, I never did find the turn I missed. It was apparently quite close to the Connector Trail.
I got to the intersection from earlier, but decided to stay on Hay Road. At least I knew that was runnable. Going back on the rocky trail would've been slow. Of course, I was only hoping I could stay on Hay Road. It looked like this came out to Snow Hill Road (where I started), but I wasn't 100%.
I had to navigated over some big blow downs. Clearly, this trail isn't used too frequently. There were plenty of briars too, which scratched up my legs. I was glad that none of them drew blood.
I saw the blazed turn toward Pennel Run, but due to a blow down, I didn't see the trail. I just ran along Hay Road anyway. I was over 5.5 miles now. I figured I had less than a mile to get to Snow Hill Road. Eventually, I came out to some "No Tresspassing" signs. I took my chance, as it was too far to turn around.
Things looked promising when the road became more roadlike. There were tire tracks in the mud. I continued to run along. All throughout the run, I heard a shotgun in the distance. I assume they were practicing, since there is no hunting on Sundays in this state.
This road eventually came out to Snow Hill Road. I saw a car up ahead, but luckily it drove away before I got to the gate. I wasn't sure if I should be there. I ran along Snow Hill Road for a bit. I knew I was heading the right way when I got to the bridge over the water that I had crossed earlier.
I knew I still had some distance to go though. I had a tough uphill finish awaiting. It seemed to go on and on and I was breathing heavy. I saw a sign up ahead, but was frustrating to find that it wasn't for the Thunder Swamp Trail. Finally, at a little over 7 miles, I saw my car and ran to it to finish up.
I love exploring. From that aspect, this was a disappointing run. I didn't see much. However, I did get myself out there running. I got some exercise and still enjoyed myself. Not every run is going to be an A+. I'm happy with a solid run.
I have no idea when I'll run. Part of it is motivation, but I also may be busy at work. Hopefully, I'll have the time and desire to run tomorrow. I must at least get out there once before Thanksgiving.
7.06 miles - 1:28:47 (12:34 pace) 549 feet of elevation gain
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