Monday, March 21, 2016

HILLS & MUD IN ABUNDANCE
7.8 Mile Run at the Plotter Kill Nature Preserve
Monday, March 21, 2016

According to my blog notes, it's been 7 1/2 years since I last visited the Plotter Kill Preserve... an awfully long time considering that it's only a half hour or so away. So today I decided to change that, even though I knew it would be a challenging "run"... and during the course of the 3 hours I was there I was reminded of why I don't run there very often - it's really freakin' difficult! The hills at the beginning, middle, and end are tough, though there are some very runnable sections along the north and south rims of the gorge. Well, they're runnable when they aren't ankle-deep in mud and water, which a lot of the trails were today. I ended up with two speeds - slow crawl, and even slower hike.

I was surprised to see half a dozen cars in the lot when I got there - in the middle of the afternoon on a weekday - but really didn't see anyone else until the last two miles, when it seemed like there were a lot of people hiking in. Good time for me to be leaving, I'd say...

I did get to see some nice small waterfalls and got a glimpse of the upper falls, which is much easier to do when there are no leaves on the trees. And when I wasn't plodding up hills or slogging through mud it was a nice day in the woods.

If my knees hold up I may even decide to go back later this year, just to see if I gotten any fitter than I was today... or maybe it will be another 7-8 years before I tackle the butt-kicking trails at Plotter Kill again...

JMH
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