This has been the best week for being outside

This has been the best week for being outside, and Bart and I are looking forward to spending a large part of our weekend doing just that. Our training is still going well, and with the lower humidity, running is so much easier. 

Last Wednesday we ran over in the North Mills River area for a change in scenery.  We didn't have a real plan in mind. We just figured on driving there and then make up our minds which direction to go.

We parked at the Trace Ridge parking lot, and there were several different forest service roads and single track trails to choose from. We headed down the forest service road which had a slightly down hill start.

We could hear a stream down below us and could see it through a break In the trees that it wasn't too far away. We were able to find a small trail leading down to it. This trail was pretty rough, and we had to do some rock scrambling to get down the hill. About half way down I said, "uh, maybe this wasn't such a good idea", but by then it was too late. We were already committed, climbing back up looked just as bad as continuing down.

It was beautiful by the stream. We were able to run on a trail that crossed the stream several times. Unfortunately, Shadow was not happy about actually going into the water. I think he's the only dog that has lab in him that hates water, so we found a more traveled trail that headed back up the hill toward where we started.

This time we took the single track Trace Ridge Trail which turned out to be equally as beautiful.

Shadow, being in a much happier state of mind and on dry ground, took the lead.

Trace Ridge Trail is considered a moderately difficult trail, so it gave us a pretty good workout. 

We got our mileage in for the day, plus explored a new area and had a great time. I'm so thankful for the cooler weather. It's already starting to feel like fall!