Yesterday, I wanted to get to Hawk Mountain to run the AT. It didn't happen, but I went there and Cabela's this afternoon. It was the third straight day of running. The plan was to do an out and back to Dan's Pulpit. It looked to be over 3.5 miles out. I tried to find a parking lot near the Eckville Shelter, but I had no luck. I joined about 5-7 other cars along the side of the road, near the shelter.
It was a cold day, just above freezing. It was cloudy and snow flurries came down during the run. I had on winter gear, including a ColdGear on top and a jacket over it. That was good for hiking portions of the run, but it was too hot while running.
I was heading toward Dan's Pulpit because the other direction is toward The Pinnacle. I've already been there a couple times. I didn't see anyone else on the trail early on and realized that most people were heading the other way.
There were a few rocks early on, but the trail was very runnable. It was slightly uphill, but also rolling. I ran most of the first mile to mile and a half. There were a few wet spots and streams on the trail. I had my new lightweight trekking poles with me, ready for the climb.
Around 1.5 miles, the trail got slightly steeper. However, it was kind of frustrating. It was probably runnable, but just steep enough that it wasn't worth the effort to do so. I ended up hiking a lot. I knew there would be a lot of elevation here, but I thought it would be shorter and steeper, not so gradual. It's kind of like going out to Pulpit Rock from the Hamburg Reservoir.
Somewhere near mile 2, the trail got more rocky. Then, the trail turned to the left and really began climbing the mountain. My watch was having issues and switching displays constantly. I didn't see any white blazes for some time and I was wondering if I was even going the right way. Then, I found a couple of them.
This climb was steep. Then, it was on to the ridge and still at least a mile of ridge running to Dan's Pulpit. There was some slight uphill that I ended up hiking. There were a few snow flurries and some ice, but it wasn't too bad this high up.
Around mile 3, things got very rocky. It was the type of huge boulders that you couldn't even run on. I had to hike and nearly slipped once or twice. Even my poles didn't help much.
I got to Dan's Pulpit in the rocky section. It was much closer than I expected, probably because I started closer to it. There's a nice view there and also a mailbox that was put up there. The view would be much better on a clear day.
I hiked over the rocky stuff a little farther out. I was hoping to find the "Welcome to Rocksylvania" sign. I had no luck. I'm not exactly sure where it is supposed to be.
I thought I heard some people and even a dog. I assumed they were coming from the other direction. However, the group came from behind me when I got back to Dan's Pulpit. These were the first people of the day. I didn't stay long at the overlook.
I was at 3.55 miles now and heading back toward my car. I knew it would be a lot more fun heading back. It was pretty runnable and mostly downhill. I ran along, but bashed my toe pretty bad on one rock. I was just glad that the rock plate saved me from more damage.
I cruised around the ridge. I then got to the split with the trail to the Hawk Mountain Sanctuary. Right around there, I came behind some hikers also heading down. I yelled to them, so that I could pass. Then, there were a couple more. They were all Asian, so I figured it was a big group. I must've passed about 15 of them. This part was steep, but fun. One guy was waiting near the turn, so I was glad I didn't miss it.
Next, it was a couple miles of mostly downhill running. I made it to mile 5 and eventually mile 6. Right around that point, I came to a couple that were building a fire in a fire pit next to the trail. They had an unleashed dog and he barked and growled at me. I walked past, but he wouldn't leave me alone. I went from running to walking and they finally got him on a leash when I stopped moving.
I crossed a couple footbridges and ran again. This part had evergreens and was pretty. Some of the end was slightly uphill and I simply decided to hike a lot of it. I got back to my car to finish up over 6.5 miles.
As I was at my car, a charter bus drove up to the side of the road. I assume it was picking up all of the Asians behind me. I hope the growling dog liked them more than me.
It was a fun day. It was good to explore something new. If I could do that every day, I'd enjoy running much more. I need to try to get to different places I guess. I need to lose weight too, so this was a good workout. It was great to run for the third straight day.
I don't know if I'll make it 4 in a row or not. I might doing nothing tomorrow or maybe I'll hike. It will be a matter of what I feel like. Really, I just take it day by day now.
6.55 miles - 1:41:01 (15:25 pace) 1,183 feet of elevation gain
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