I crossed the interstate and headed out on the country roads. There was surprisingly plenty of shoulder and I had two lights since I had no idea where I was going. 3 miles into the run I passed a telephone pole with two yellow blazes. I stopped and took another look with my headlamp to make sure there weren't just reflectors or errant paint. Then, another pole ahead with a single blaze. Yes, this marked some sort of marked trail that likely extended for some distance. At 40 minutes the blazes indicated a turn onto a dirt road.....
When a trail runner, following roads, sees a marked trail heading up a jeep road, compulsion dictates.
There were a few warning signs....
...live fire ranges? "lasers"? Oh, just stay on the marked trail, no problem. Those 500 lb bombs will likely be able to tell the difference, even though I had trouble staying on trail myself.
The first portion consisted of mainly dirt road with many crossing trails, roads, and such. Double blazes, which usually signal a turn, were placed where trails crossed but the traveler was to remain on the current trail. I sometimes found myself staying on what I thought was the main trail only to stop seeing blazes. I backtracked to find the turn and continued. I never got more than 400 yards off course though, and it was generally well marked.
Some single track was interspersed in the middle portion of the run with steady climbing. Nothing extremely steep, some rocks, and mostly runnable. I enjoyed myself immensely as the morning light finally made its way beneath the impenetrable tree canopy.
A few miles of wide, grassy trail, with a dirt single track in the middle was mostly level to slightly downhill. I cruised through here feeling good. The trail made a turn off this onto a slightly narrower uphill that kept going for some time. There were several false summits ahead, and I pushed a little past my 1:50 turn around time since I knew I could come down faster and make up the difference.
A few pics from this area....
On the return trip I noticed I had done more climbing than I thought, and could see another small ridge through the trees to the south. I took most of my pics here since it was actually light.
These pools of water were quite unusual on a completely dry trail....
I came on the first one in the dark and had an eerie feeling about them. 15 feet in diameter, they covered the entire road and more. There was some room to maneuver around, but I fully expected some prehistoric creature to emerge and drag me into the black pools of gloom. In the daylight, they were only slightly less scary, one covered with "ooze" and another silently black, reflective, and icy in appearance. I paused only to take some pics and moved ahead.
Upon returning to the road portion I knew I had 40 min left and I was feeling really good. I also knew I needed to hold back some and relax since a nice, flat road and 14 miles of warm-up can cause you to increase the pace. I enjoyed this road section, more than normal since there were few cars and very nice PA scenery...
So, there once was some sort of historical building here, but seems a golf course fit the bill better. I guess a sign will fix the issue...
Especially a golf course with well watered greens and players...
I felt really good on this run. I could have easily kept going and really wanted too. The weather was perfect with sun, just enough high clouds for artistic merit, and a nice breeze. Upon leaving the hotel I noticed 3 A-10s in formation swinging low over the ridge moving fast. Glad I went early. Maybe they drop dummy bombs or just sight and pretend or something....
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