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| North Lake is a long, long way! |
On one of the hottest days of the year, I decided to scout out the first half of the Escarpment Trail. The previous week I ran up to Windham High Peak in an hour and then ran back down. This week I planned to go to Blackhead which is essentially the half way point.
The Escarpment Trail has been run since the late 70s. From Route 23, just east of the town of Windham, the Escarpment runs approximately 30km (18.6 miles) to North Lake. Much of the trail is not particularly well-suited for running. There are many climbs along the way, most notably, Windham High Peak, Burnt Knob, Acra Point, Blackhead, Stoppel Point and North Mountain.
I planned to walk up Windham High Peak to figure out the difference in times between walking and run/walking as I did the previous week. As it turns out, I'm only 15 minutes slower when just walking. This may be a strategy, to save energy for the latter stages of the run.
Once I ascended Windham, I started to really "run." I found the running to be slightly better than the climb up to Windham, though there were many spots that I had to do some scrambling on the descent. The climb up to Burnt Knob went quicker than expected. The climb is helped by some of the best view points of the entire trail. As bad as life has been lately, I stopped, had a sip of water, took in the views and thought, "Oh, how I love being alive right now!" This would be somewhat offset by the climb up to Acra, which would be much slower and tougher than expected.
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| Windham High Peak from Burnt Knob |
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| Blackhead Range: Blackhead, Black Dome, Thomas Cole |
After Acra, I had to negotiate lots of rocks, roots, insects and brush before I made it to the bottom of Blackhead. The ascent to Blackhead may be the least runnable part of the trail. 1,000 feet is ascended in less than a mile. I chose to walk the entire way, taking a half an hour.
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| The ascent up Blackhead |
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| Relieved to have finally made it! |
I made it to Blackhead in 3 hrs and 25 minutes. This puts me in position to finish in 6 hours. Not in the best of shape, I will take that.
In this heat? You have a lot more guts and stamina than I ever will. Very nice pics too.
ReplyDeleteHardcore. The hills look so green and fuzzy. The Catskill Jungle. Been a few uncomfortable days this year. But overall, it's hasn't been too bad. I think this summer will be making any record books, except for the deluges from the last week. I think Philly had 8" of rain in a matter of hours.
ReplyDeleteKeep Chuggin' CPo.