On the road for a mile or two and then into the mountains to get lost. When I run by myself I usually go right up the road hill to Pulpit Rock. It gets the heart rate up and is one of the steepest hills to run to get to the top. My thought is if I am training for a mountain race I need to hit the biggest hills I can find if I want to be ready for this race.
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| The view from Pulpit Rock |
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| The view from Pulpit Rock |
After getting some pictures at Pulpit Rock the AT leads me to the blue trail which runs down to the Blue Rocks Campground. This place is packed in the spring/summer/fall with campers from all over. Right now it is a ghost town. Once you get on the blue trail it is a very rocky section which I like. Even after I rolled my right ankle really bad at the end of June on this trail. I still can't stay away from it. Below is a video I made to show what the last part of the trail looks like.
Leaving the campground you hit a yellow trail which climbs for over a mile and a half with over 700 feet of climb. I now realize carrying 3 full bottles, food and camera going up this climb makes your legs burn. That is ok with me. It makes you feel like you are running on tired legs which you can never have enough practice running with tired legs. The last section of the yellow is straight up for maybe 200 or 300 feet and your lungs and legs feel alive after that climb. Once you make it up the yellow you are now on the AT. From there I made my way to the the Pinnacle and it was real clear today. The houses and barns really stood out. Maybe it was the way the sun was shinning on everything.
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| The view from the Pinnacle |
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| The view from the Pinnacle |
Back on the AT to head home and I passed a friends dad that I know. He said he hikes everyday up here and that is his medicine to keep him healthy. I was thinking about that after he said that and it is so true. A lot of the people I met through running, I now call friends, say pretty much the same thing. We all like to get outside, run for hours, relieve some stress, have fun and feel so much better after - our medicine I guess. To this day it still amazes me that you can run with someone for a couple hours on the trail and you know them better inside and out than most people you knew for years. That is one thing that really hooked me to this sport. The honesty and kindness of the people I met running on the trail in the last 5 years is amazing. I love this sport!
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| The blue trail above the Hamburg Reservoir |
12-19-2010 - 15 miles - 3:08 - run - over 1800 ft. elevation
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