I've been wanting to combine motorcycle riding and trail running in the GA mountains for a long time. I finally decided to do it and join Melissa on one of her trail runs. It was the best of times and worst of times :). Melissa is a ultra marathon runner who runs in the mountains all the time. I'm....um, not. I haven't run more that 6 or so miles at a time in the last 6 months and I don't do well in the heat (or even a little warm - LOL).
The ride up to Vogel State Park was beautiful and I got to ride some of my favorite roads in Dahlonega and Suches area. I met Melissa right on time at 8:30 AM, got changed and hit the trail by 9 (Coosa Backcountry trail). The scenery was gorgeous. I got to see multiple species of ferns, slime molds, mushrooms, and identified multiple birds by ear (never saw them- Red-Eyed Vireo, Yellow-Throated Vireo, Crows,Wood Thrush and others). We even saw bear poop a couple times. But between the warm weather, my lack of mileage training, and the continued ascent and descents...I was spent by about 9 or 10 miles. I just ran out of energy and my right knee was starting to hurt on the downhill sections. We had to walk the rest of the way. Kind of bummed I didn't do better but I didn't care at the time - I was too busy suffering and just wanted to finish. When we got back to the parking lot we sat in a cold mountain stream which made my legs feel a lot better. I was worried I was going to cramp up while riding the 2 hour motorcycle trip home but I think the cold creek saved me. I did ride through a few rain showers but nothing serious.
Although the weather was considered "warm" for me when running it was actually beautiful. The temperature changed a lot at different elevations and locations but I'm not sure it ever got over 80 and we frequently had a nice breeze. It was a good thing I ran with Melissa though. She knows how much food and liquid to take and has a filter so that she can refill her water bottles from a stream and make it safe to drink (which we had to do). I think we covered about 13 miles and took ~ 4 hours. Brutal.
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| Starting on the Coosa Backcountry trail |
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| Our route. |
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| Our elevation change over about 13 miles! |
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| Leg recovery in cold stream - I needed that! |
Would I do it again. You bet. But maybe not right away :). Cooler weather and a shorter route would be nice. I definitely need to take more pictures when on the trail next time. We saw some beautiful wild azaleas and bee balm among other wonderful flowers and scenery.
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