I didn't run all weekend or on Monday. The weather sucked. At least I rested my shin splints. I had to get something done today. I didn't want anything too challenging, so I went to Little Gap to run the AT.
The weather did continue to suck. It was in the 40s and pretty windy. That was especially true on the north side of the mountain. I had my shell on and at times I was hot and other times freezing. I wore gloves and a headband briefly. Shorts were on the bottom the whole time.
I parked in the State Game Lands lot. I ran briefly along a pipeline to the trail. I tried to take a photo of the AT sign, but my camera battery was out. A ranger drove by with a dead deer on the back of his truck.
I have been on the section heading toward Lehigh Gap a few times. I'd never gone northbound from there though. I wanted to see what it was like, so I went that way. I was hoping for runnable, but fully prepared for crazy rocks.
The beginning was rocky but flat. That was brief though. Then, the trail began to climb. It was quite exhausting to hike up. It was crazy boulders too. Some were like steps and I managed to follow those. It was tricky though and a slow go.
I definitely didn't come into the run with enough calories. I felt like crap early on. I was already thinking this might only be 4 miles total. After the first set of boulders, there was a nice evergreen section.
Then, it was on to more boulders. At least this part was flat. There was a nice view to the north. I only checked it out briefly. I was hoping at some point I could run.
There's also a dirt road to a tower that I passed. After this, it was more rocks and more climbing. While it wasn't as bad as earlier, it was still slow and frustrating. While it was only a few hundred feet of climbing, this was still quite the challenge. I don't climb a lot any more either.
The first mile was just so slow. I kept focusing on moving forward. Finally, around 1.25 miles, the trail became runnable. It still had some rocks and occasionally, I landed on them and that led to giant pain.
I was so thrilled to finally be moving. This singletrack wasn't bad. It will probably be cool when everything grows back. Right now, it is all still dead. I continued on, enjoying how the trail was much less rocky. I could see parts of Blue Mountain Ski Area through the trees.
This second mile was pretty sweet. It had some gradual ups, but not too much. After mile two, I knew I'd keep going. Still, I was thinking 3 miles out was probably far enough. This third mile was kind of in between the first two. It was nowhere near as bad as the first mile. It also wasn't as smooth as the second one.
I ran along. My feet were getting a little sore. I went up and over one this one small hill. Right after that, I hit mile 3 and turned around. Coming back was much better.
The sun was in my face. Instead of making in harder, strangely it makes me more focused and the running is easier. I cruised on over the rocks. I was glad to get to mile 4. I was getting close to a sub 14 minute pace overall.
I knew this second to last mile would be great, before the tough final mile. I did seem to feel a little better now for some reason. I guess I was in a groove. I ran basically this entire mile. I got through it around 70 minutes.
I was glad to be on the final mile. Normally, I would hold my watch for that mile. However, this trail was too rocky. I ran along. Eventually, I came to the boulders and couldn't run any more. I was under a 14 minute pace, but needed to move quickly hiking over them to keep it up.
The downhill I ran some, but it was quite steep. No wonder it was hard coming up. The downhill boulder section was just too tough to run. I found the step like rocks and went down them.
Finally, I was at the bottom and within the final half mile or so. I was able to run this. It was flat and rocky. I crossed the road and ran toward my car. I had to run a little more to reach mile 6. It was good to be done though.
It was fun to explore a new area. It was a little tough, but not too tough. I was glad I could run most of the route. I might come back again on a semi easy day. I'd love to go out farther. I'd love to check it out when it is green too.
I feel pretty good after this short run. I might run again tomorrow. I'd love to double loop Tammany. I haven't been there in awhile. We shall see.
6 miles - 1:23:21 (13:54 pace) 651 feet of elevation gain
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