First I did the "Len Gartner" section below. In Red is the NF course and in Yellow is the route I took.
Only one big hill in this loop , another moderate but both were small in comparison to the Ski Hills at Blue.
There were some really nice views of Georgian Bay here are a few pictures and a video ...
Logged close to 11K on the loop , made a few detours. The trails had some really rooty sections , not much rock and were all really hard packed. The trail really opened up the second half of the loop and it made for some very fast Ks. I would rate this section as easy and fast ... good chance to stretch your legs out. Watch out for Poison Ivy adjacent the trail ... if this sorts of thing freaks you out then wear high socks.
On race day we leave the Len Gartner loop for just shy of 4K on the road . Yes you read that correct , 4K on the road. On a hot day this means exposure and deer flies so be prepared. Although the footing is grand there is elevation , again its not monster but you are either going up or down .... not much flat. Here is 3.2k of the road section in 30 seconds ....
Next up was the Scenic Caves Loop. Parked at the top of the Southern Comfort Chair and headed out on the Mission Rd Side Trail. Here is the route I took , Red is the NF course, Yellow is me.
The Mission Rd Trail was nice, a wee bit overgrown but mostly runable albeit slowly. Last few hundred meters of the side trail is a flat gravel road. When you join the main trail you are on a gravel road for a steep 1K or so uphill reminiscent of "First Hill" at Creemore. When you reach the top of the Hill we get into the Cross Country Ski Trails . I didn't do the back and forth thing following the Bruce Trail. This are is part of the Blues "Scenic Caves" and wondering off the Bruce Trail is considered trespassing. Folks pay good $$ to get into this area so I didn't have a problem with sticking to the trail. After the Ski trails there was a a K or so if Gravel Road before you drop back down the escarpment. This is about as high as you can get above Blue but unfortunately there were no scenic views ... reserved for paying guests! Once you have made the big climb the run across the top is pretty easy and a nice change after the "Grind"! Here is my Garmin data ....
Finished off my day dropping down the "Cascadia" trail and then headed back up the "Grind" better known as "Gords Grove" in the winter time. Cascadia was just plain fun to run down. The trail follows a cascading stream from the top to bottom of Blue. There are tons of stairs but most of the time there is a path beside them if you dare. If its a dry day and your quads can handle it you can fly down this section. If its wet we will be picking our way down the stairs! Here is a real time video of my descent , hard to believe it takes that long to go down ....
Next up is what the NF folks are calling the "Grind" and it it describes the ascent very well. I have Skied at the Orchards all last Winter and going down all the time I didn't find it all that steep but heading up ...YIKES. On fresh legs early in the race I expect to maintain a 11:00 pace, second time around it will be slower. I headed up the middle of the Ski Hill but there are Bike Trails that I suspect we may be using on race day. Here is the route I took as well as the Garmin data ...
Next weekend I want to head back and do the section from the top of Blue to the Len Gartner section including going up the steepest hill " Kandahar"! I really loved running at Blue race day is going to be a blast.
No comments:
Post a Comment