It was below freezing today, so I had to wear tights. I had a on my shell over a long sleeve shirt. I wore my gloves and headband during most of the run. Although a little chilly (especially on the mountain top), I did enjoy the temperature.
I parked at the lot along Roaring Creek. This was a water department area with a few dams. There is a stone road by them that is closed to traffic and basically makes a rail trail. There are also trails across the road and up on the mountains on each side of the valley.I drove by and couldn't find the exact trail I was looking for. However, the map showed some trail across from the main lot. I headed on that. It was called the Homestead Trail. I ran up the hill.
This part was a little icy. I could run up it, but it was frustrating. It had some old pavement too. I wasn't enjoying it and almost headed back down and then the other direction.
Then, I came to an intersection with the Pogy Road Trail. This was a little better in that it was a woods road and downhill. Still, I found it kind of boring. Luckily, I came to another trail a short time later, after crossing a bridge over the creek.
This turned out to be the trail I was looking for, the Headwaters Trail. I started out by going right on it. It was a wide woods road at first and then turned into a singletrack. All these trails were marked with wooden signs at their intersections. The trees were blazed, but every blaze was red. There were no different colors for different trails.
The Headwaters Trail was a mess. I guess I shouldn't be surprised. All these small streams were coming down the mountain and running on to the trail. It was hard to avoid the water. My feet got soaked over and over again. It would be cold for a few minutes, then fine again. This was not the best trail to run in the winter.
At times, I thought I wasn't stepping in water, but got soaked anyway. The other frustrating thing was that this trail was kind of boring. There were no rocks, not a lot of turns and no interesting trees. It kept going by pine trees, but never through them.
I passed several trails on the way out. I figured that they went up to where I was going. I was hoping to keep going out on the Headwaters Trail though. At about 2.5 miles, I chased a few deer away. They ran fast.I kept going and going. Near mile 4, the trail finally turned and headed south. That was the direction I wanted to go, so I was happy. I would not have been able to keep going east much longer.
I went through some pine trees now. I was surprised that I didn't cross the creek. I did see a small creek, so maybe that was it. I continued on and the trail began to climb the mountain. Now, I was on the dark side of the mountain and it was still snow covered.
At one point, I came to the Homestead Trail. Since I at least knew where that was, I decided to take it. Looking at the map now, I really wanted to go in the other direction first.
Still, this did work as I was now climbing up Big Mountain. I was on an old woods road. It had about an inch of snow on it, which made it challenging. It was just steep enough that I could get a good workout, but also continue running.
I plugged away and kept running. For the most part, I had run the entire time, except when I stopped to take photos. There was a cool photo op near the top. There were some partially frozen waterfalls.
I went up through the woods because I thought maybe there was a reservoir up there. It turns on there was nothing, but I did hook up with the Big Mountain Trail.
This trail was much more fun than the other trails. It was rocky and winding along the ridge. There was quite a chilly wind. Although I was basically at the top, there was still a gradual uphill that I found frustrating.
After a little bit, I came out near the forest headquarters. I took the Overlook Trail, but never did actually find the overlook. I did have a bit of a seasonal view through the trees.I crossed the road and continued to look for the Big Mountain Trail. This section was open woods road and what looked like it might be old mines. I was near 7 miles now and hoping that I was going the correct way.
I did find the Big Mountain Trail. I ran along. The trail was a little icy, due to vehicle traffic. I tried to run a short bit back in the woods, but that didn't work. Around 7.5 miles, I found the Pump House Trail.
This trail began to descent pretty quickly. Again, it was like a woods road. The Big Mountain Trail got sunlight and was clear, but this trail was now snow covered. At least it was easy running.
Someone had cross country skied on it. If they went uphill, I am very impressed. I ran on down. I came to a powerline. The trail kept going out and out. Finally, it did switchback.
It then followed the powerline. I ran downhill and was now over 8 miles. I came out the main trail, the stone covered Roaring Creek Trail. Sure enough, the Pump House trail came out right to a pump house. I went by it and took some photos of the frozen water.
I started to run on the Roaring Creek Trail. I then could see the end of it and realized I needed more mileage. Therefore, I ran out until hit mile 9. I turned and headed back after that.
This part was boring, but a good way to finish up with some easy running. As I was nearly done, three young guys pulled up. They went running on that trail too. I was glad to be done with my 10 miles.This is a decent area to run. It has some climbs, but you can run most of the time too. It's a bit far, so I won't go there often, but I'm sure I'll be there again. I would like to explore it more. There are a lot of trails and I'm almost thinking setting up a marathon course would be possible there, without really repeating anything.
I have 30 miles for the week. I want to run again tomorrow. I'd love to get on a trail. It will be super warm all weekend. Hopefully I can run in the afternoon, wherever I decide to go.
10.06 miles - 1:59:35 (11:53 pace) 836 feet of elevation gain
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