not for the faint of heart

Yesterday after church, I decided to check out the Paces Mill part of the Chattahoochee National Recreation Area. I had heard they had a nice trail.

So, I drive into the lot, it costs $3 to park, $25 for an annual pass. I think next time, I will bike here, it's not too far from where I live. I find where the trail starts. It's 1.8 miles to the end of the paved trail, so 1.8 miles back for a total of 3.6 miles. I figure I can do it twice. It's so scenic. You see the river the whole time, so you think it's going to be flat as it runs along the river.

Wrong!!! Around mile marker .7 you see the hugest hill ever. So huge that it has to plateau every now and then or risk being vertical. There are yellow warning signs for bikers. This is a mountain I am running up. I figure, that's ok, since the past .7 miles was so nice and easy. But then, as I'm going down the hill I see...another hill!!! And then...another hill!!!! Oh my gosh!!! I wanted to die. I couldn't believe my unluck.

But I just kept running. All the way to 1.8. I turned around to go back up and down those hills. By the time I'm back to the beginning, I feel good, since I finished on flat trail. So I decide to do it again so I can get a long run in for the week. Silly me. I get back to that .7 mile marker again and there is that monster hill. At this point, I think if I can get up to the top of that first hill again, I'll reward myself by not going any further. I make it to the top, and turn around. In total, I ran about 5 miles. Not awesome, but come on. Those hills are not for the faint of heart! And I made it through once and back, so I feel justified :)

All in all, it is a nice trail. It's made out of the synthetic stuff, so it's not hard on the knees. There are boardwalks and bridges you run over the river at various points too. I even saw a couple playing the bagpipes around the big hill, so random, but cool to hear & see! And it was cool to see all the fishermen, people walking their doggies (there were so many doggies!), and families walking together, exploring trails off the main trail together. It made me miss my family! :( I spent most of Easter weekend alone. Tried to get home but couldn't make it. It was good though, got a lot done and sat between two sweet old ladies at church.

There were lots of cool dirt paths off the main trail that would be fun to check out! Any takers? There are tons of picnic tables too so we could have a picnic feast after! :)