Loop 17 Clockwise

Loop Map & More Info

Well I was sore as a dog and thinking seriously about leaving the ankle weights in the Jeep. I couldn't tell if I was feeling bad from having exercised too much yesterday or if I was feeling bad because I was coming down with something. After my energy pills and a gallon of coffee kicked in on the drive to the North Trailhead I had decided that I could run once more with the ankle weights.

Today it was really warm at 46 degrees and I didn't even wear my jacket. I had also gone from insulated running pants yesterday to non-insulated today. I was a little chilly when we first started up the CCC road but by the time we reached the Red/Blue connector that we had come down yesterday my internal heater had kicked in and I was sufficiently warm.

We hung a left up the Red/Blue connector and for some reason it just didn't seem as bad as the first hill the day before. Maybe I had warmed up and my muscles could handle it better or maybe the hill wasn't straight up the side of the mountain but gave us some switchbacks to work with. In any event we were soon coming to the Blue trail. However right at the top the switchbacks quit and we went straight up to the Blue trail.

Richard didn't stop at the intersection today though but simply turned right and continued on up the Blue trail. Did you notice that I said up? However we were quickly to the top and proceeded to drop off down into Gum Hollow. I asked Richard why it was named such and he said he thought it was because of all of the Sweet Gum trees that grew in the bottom of the hollow.

The trail had basically been turned into a stream from all of the runoff and we had to step over and around puddles of water as we made our way up Gum Hollow. It seemed the trail down there was constantly changing. We hung a right after a bit though and started back up a mountain to reach the final top of the mountain that the Blue Trail runs along.

We took a moment at the top to gather our wits which didn't take long as there wasn't much to gather and then we were off along the ridge of the mountain following the Blue Trail. This is probably my favorite part of any trail in Oak Mountain park. It is very scenic and has lots of views of mountains and valleys, rock outcroppings, and the trail is constantly changing. We had a nice little jaunt along the top of the mountain and were soon at the second Red/Blue connector that would take us back to the Red Trail, aka, CCC Road.

We could see the CCC road from the Blue trail so in a matter of minutes we were on the CCC road and jogging back to the North Trailhead. The pace was nice and comfortable and Richard and I were talking about all things. Also, a few times we had to cross the creek that flowed down and around the CCC road.

What with the talking and the crossing, the next thing I knew, we were coming around a bend and there was my Jeep. This run definitely seemed to go easier and quicker than the last run even though they were relatively the same distance. We went around the gate and another loop run was history.