A Rare Mt. Minsi Trip

I typically go to Mt. Tammany all the time.  It has been a long, long time since I stayed in Pennsylvania and climbed Mt. Minsi.  I decided I would do that today, as well as hike around afterward.  There were some resorts there and I wanted to look for ruins and such.

The weather was really perfect.  Of course I was sweating plenty, but I couldn't complain.  It was cloudy some times too and even chilly.  Shorts and a short sleeve shirt were great.

I began by following the AT.  First, it is an old road alongside Lake Lenape, which used to be near a resort.  Then, it goes back into the woods and on to singletrack.

I saw a few young girls hiking early on.  This area is much less crowded than across the river.  It wasn't too long until I was to an awesome view.  Partway up the mountain, you can see out toward Mt. Tammany and the Delaware River.  I stopped for a bit.  I was only a couple hundred feet up at this point.

This trail is just so stunning.  It is much more green than across the river.  There is Mountain Laurel everywhere.  I bet it is awesome when blooming.  The trail has some rocks, but it is smooth in spots too.  That is probably because it has been used for hundreds of years.

This climb is so gradual.  Having poles helped too.  If I tried really hard, I might be able to run most of the climb.  Today, it was a mix of running and hiking.  The trail curves around the mountainside at times too.  I passed a cool waterfall.

I do remember the one steep section.  It was hard to run when cramping at the DWG Fatt Ass.  The trail did get steeper toward the top, but it was never bad.  I saw a backpacker near there.

There's a pretty sweet overlook at Mt. Tammany.  I forgot that part.  It is only a partial view, but it is pretty good.  A backpacker and day hiker were both in this area.  I continued on.

A short while later, I was at the Mt. Minsi summit.  That has a nice viewpoint to the south.  I looked out and tried to find the PP&L building or Lehigh's Mountaintop Campus, but had no luck.  It was cloudy.

I was around 2.5 miles.  I decided to head on the woods road for a short bit before turning to head back down.  I knew it would be fun going back.  I walked every now and then over rocks, but for the most part, I was running.

I passed a backpacker at a bad spot.  I saw the dayhiker later.  Toward the end, I passed the other backpacker.  Still, the trail was relatively empty.  I had fun running down and it was just so beautiful.  I should run here more often.

It was a quick way back.  I finished up right at 5 miles.  I got a solid 1000+ feet of climbing in too.  I really enjoyed hiking around afterward.  I found a cool waterfall that dropped about 15 feet.  I also saw some resort ruins.  I'll have to explore that area even more in the future.

I doubt I'm running tomorrow.  I won't be running for some time actually.  I'm hiking the AT all weekend.  This will be my first backpacking trip.  It should be fun.  I've been doing so much preparing of gear tonight.

5.01 miles - 1:20:48 (16:08 pace) 1015 feet of elevation gain