Thoughts from the Road - #41011

8 Miles in Poe Valley

Jim dropped me off where the Milheim/Siglerville Pike intersects with Poe Valley Road and drove on to Poe Paddy State Park. Our idea was to run toward each other and upon meeting Jim would turn back around and we would get back to the car together. That would be about 5.5 mile for me and depending on how far he ran before we met it would be about 4 for him.

It was a great idea because next to no one was out on the roads. I am so familiar with the stretch of road that goes from the Kinzer's cabin to the state parks that I had no fear of what or who I would meet. The draw this morning was to enjoy a longer run along the beautiful streams in Poe Valley. It turned out to be a bit of a "walk" down memory lane.

It didn't take too long before I was jogging past Kinzer's camp. I looked up, took a picture, said, "Hey Glenn," and loudly said, "You old goat!" No one was anywhere close enough to hear me and it somehow cheered me to say that as I saw his memorial bench in front of the cabin.

My next memory was juts around the bend on a lovely "S" curve that I had to photograph. The road is more scenic than my memory of wrecking on my skateboard. The length of my one shin was skinned and probably one of the most painful accidents I had as a kid. Healing in the summer, sunburns and scraped knees, can lead to long sleepless nights.

I saw plenty of trails that I hiked and overgrown stretches Missy and I had cut through to take "short cuts" back to the cabin from the lake. It's along that stretch Jim, Arron, Evan, Missy and I also hiked up and over Little Poe Mountain. We came from the Boiling Spring on an old unblazed trail which dropped down onto an old logging grade. Some guy near Boiling Spring took us for a bunch of tender foots and said we would never find the old logging road. I think we were all pretty pleased when our little bushwhack went off without a hitch and we stepped onto it without a worry.

Just after I trotted onto the boundry of Poe Valley State Park, I could see the trees thinning ahead over the lake. It had been about 30 minutes of running and snapping random photos and I could see the lake just through the trees. I then caught a brief flash of a white wedge of tail feathers from near the far end of the lake. I never got to positively identify it but I am pretty certain it was a mature bald eagle soaring over the quiet Poe Valley Lake.

I stopped for a few photos and gave a careful look up and down the valley for the eagle but had to keep moving. I saw the new buildings along the beach and in the camping area and am excited to check them out this summer. The lake was so still and looks ready for warm weather visitors.

After running past the dam the road took a decided grade downhill and went from paved to gravel. Across the creek to my right, I saw where a group of us has hidden a geocache back in 2004. Poe Valley State Park had approved the location and a group of us came in after the first weekend of fishing season to clean up the park of any trash that was left.

The next miles were so scenic with old trees and curving streams. I surprised a turkey that was a distance ahead of me on the road. It ran for a few yards before taking off and flying low around the bend in the road. I knew I could meet Jim and anytime and imagined the turkey flying around and meeting him face to face. It didn't happen that way though and I saw Jim about a half a mile farther down the road.

Jim saw me coming and had snapped some photos. We had a cheerful reunion and he told me about an osprey that he got to see up close about a mile before we met. He wasn't sure if the photo he shot of it flying away turned out. It turns out that you can see it!

I told him of all I had seen and the couple of miles to the car went quickly. We stopped for quick drinks of water where he had parked in Poe Paddy State Park and decided to continue running the mile to the old tunnel. We remembered when we had brought some hot stew out to our friend Jan while she was camping and letterboxing.

Penns Creek was swollen and flowing with power. Jim joked that he was glad we hadn't brought our inner tubes along today. The emerald green waters were churning and raging. It seemed like no time at all before we came to the rail road grade and the wooden trestle that the Mid State Trail crosses. We snapped photos of each other crossing Penns Creek on the bridge then did the same near the old tunnel.

We had intended to run through the tunnel but it was very wet and some of the puddles covered the trail from side to side. Hiking shoes would have been perfect but wet running shoes are a different thing. I really didn't want cold wet feet for my last mile. Another reason I turned back was that progressing at more than a slow walk wasn't enough time for my eyes to adjust inside. Normally I have time to adjust but running felt too dangerous. We turned back and snapped more pictures.

The last half mile I slowly put the hammer down. I was pushing out of my comfort zone but the song I had on the iPod allowed for me to push to keep that rhythm and run less than a 9:00 MM for quite a length. It was a nice way to end the long run; I ended strong.

Jim and I changed clothes in the outhouse and freshened up for brunch at the Elk Creek Café. They had our favorite Creamy Mushroom Soup with Truffle Oil and Smoked Tempeh Sandwich on the menu! We got refreshing sparkling raspberry drinks and water to hydrate. It was a great morning to share in Poe Valley.