I was at Musconetcong Gorge to hike and enjoy nature on Sunday. It was lovely, so I decided I'd invite people along this evening. No one said they were coming and no one did, so I was on my own. I didn't want a lot of miles. I figured I'd do the loop on my own and maybe the out and back.
It was actually a nice spring evening. Even with shorts and short sleeves, I was still sweating. The climbing got me working hard.
I started from the lot and headed up first. This was fun in the beginning. I thought I was running nice and easy and cruising along. It wasn't long before I had to work at it though. There's some good climbing and plenty of rocks.
I was able to run most of the way to the waterfalls on this upper trail. Then, it was too steep. It's basically straight up out of there. It was a mix of running and hiking and a lot more hiking. It would take a lot of effort to keep running here. I probably could, but I sure would wear myself down. It is also quite rocky.
The trail kept seeming to go up. Finally, it got a little better after the big rock. Still, there were some little ups and downs along the ridge. I continued on past the white blazed trail.
I wanted to run all the way out to the road. I figured I would stay on the trail unless it descended too much. This ridge part is much less used. There were still a lot of leaves and footing was tough on the narrow singletrack.
After less than half a mile, the trail began to descend too much. I decided to just turn around and head back. I was only around 1.5 miles.
I came to the white blazed trail. Now, it was time for the fun switchback descent. It was about 500 feet in around half a mile. I had fun cruising down. It is a little technical and steep in spots, so I didn't push the whole time.
After getting to the bottom, there's some gradual climbing. I was around 2.5 miles. It wasn't long and I was at the waterfall on the bottom trail. I took it in briefly, but kept running. I hiked a little after the waterfall, until I was on the ridge again.
Now, I had some ridge running, as I worked my way to 3.5 miles. I knew I had some tough climbing to go. I kept pushing myself, but wasn't able to keep going. I hiked a bit near the end. This was a short day, but some fun and pretty good elevation.
I want to run here with Angie some time. Maybe next Monday. Tomorrow, I'll probably take off. Maybe I'll run on Thursday. I should do some repeats again at the Delps Trail. I'd love to get over 4K of gain. That would make for a long day.
3.62 miles - 48:12 (13:19 pace) 560 feet of elevation gain
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