This is the story of two idiot runners who needed one more long run before they take on the Eastern States 100 course in August. Neither of us had been on the trail before, but a 30 mile point to point sounded like a good time! After a good nights rest at Canyon Country Campground, we started our day at Pine Creek Outfitters where we arranged a shuttle to the southern terminus of the trail. After parking our car at the Northern terminus two lovely ladies drove us the 30 minutes to our starting point, all while giving us some cool history of the Pine Creek Gorge. We got to the trail head at around 9:30AM and started our attempt at 9:37. After a steep climb the trail evened out and was so much fun to run! We had perfect weather with little to no humidity, which was a blessing at the end of July! Both of us carried our own food and about 2L of water. We started with our trekking poles, but quickly realized we didn’t need them after the first climb and stowed them away until the end when our legs started to tire. Throughout the course of the day we stopped for a ton of pictures, a few snack picnics, and 2-3 times to filter water. Our favorite snacks of the day were peach rings, double stuffed Nutter Butters, and ham sammies on hawiian roles. The views along the trail were breathtaking and well worth the stops. Overall the trail was in really good condition with exception of a half mile section that was hit bad by a recent storm. Major kudos to the trail workers who came through before us and cut through several dozen downed trees to make the course passable again! Thankfully we only encountered one friendly rattler and a few brief sections of not-so-friendly nettles. After a few small course corrections (first time on the trail), we finished just after 7pm with 30ish miles and smiles on our faces. We wasted no time celebrating our adventure with a delicious dinner at Wellsboro House!
We absolutely loved this trail and will definitely be back again!