Marsh Creek State Park

I didn't end up running yesterday.  Instead, I went out today.  I was going to a concert in the Philly suburbs.  Although it wasn't too close by, I opted to try Marsh Creek State Park.  It would be a new adventure.

The weather was interesting.  It was chilly, cloudy and drizzled at the end.  I wore a light weight long sleeve shirt and shorts.  The sleeves were rolled up, so it was basically a short sleeve shirt.  I was a bit sweaty with all the damp air.

I had some trouble finding the boat launch/parking area.  Finally, I saw a sign for one and it turned out to be the right place.  There are trails at different parts of the reservoir, but not all around it.  I studied a map and headed on the white blazed trail.

This was flat, smooth and easy.  It began near the water.  Going around a cove, I could hear people chatting on the other side.  Eventually, I passed two women who were hiking.  One had on a big pack.  Shortly after that, I passed a woman and her dog.  There are fancy houses around and she was dressed out of place for the trail.

This section was nice.  It was a little wider than singletrack.  It had some slight elevation.  It was on a ridge above the water.  Around mile 2, I came to the dam.  I looked for the yellow trail, but couldn't find it.  I continued to follow the white trail down below the dam.  It was now a stone path.

I didn't like the path, so I was happy to see singletrack with the words "short loop."  I took that.  This was a fun section.  It was made by mountain bikers, but it was too bad.  It had a couple with a couple switchbacks.  Eventually I ended up coming back to the other side of the dam.

This wasn't what I hoped, so I headed back the way I came.  I took a different branch, thinking I would still end up at the stone road.  Much to my surprise, this went down a small hallow and then climbed back up.

Every thing was so lush and green.  The understory is well developed, even if the canopy isn't fully green yet.  There was much more green than there is around here.

I tried to stay straight as much as possible.  I soon realized there were too many unmarked turns.  There is no way I'd remember every one I took.  I just kept going out.

There was more fun up and down and some turns.  I saw no people in this section.  I enjoyed myself, as I made my way past mile 3.  There was a shirt at one intersection that had many options.  I came along some houses a few times too.

Finally, as I neared mile 4, I decided to turn and head back.  I tried to head in the general direction that I thought was correct.  However, I took different branches whenever possible.  This ended up with me doing a loop to the shirt.

I knew I'd never get lost with houses on one side and the water on the other.  Eventually, I'd see one of those.  Finally, after some more short climbing, I did.  I came to the water.  I popped out on the other side of the dam.

It was good to know where I was.  I headed to the dam and then mile 6.  I was back on the white trail.  I passed a mountain biker there.  I heard the woman across the cove again.  I passed them again.

I cruised on in.  I basically ran the whole time on these rolling hills.  I thought of going out to mile 8, but getting to my car was good enough.  I finished with over 7 miles and a solid day.

This was a fun day and better than I expected.  I want to run again tomorrow.  I'd like more elevation, so I'm hoping I can get to the Delps Trail.  I'd like to run 2-4 repeats.

7.25 miles - 1:16:20 (10:31 pace) 475 feet of elevation gain