Saturday, March 08, 2008

Blackhand Gorge

I was uploading my Garmin maps into Google Earth and clicked on "Blackhand Rock" on the map and did a search. Surprisingly, I found a bunch of YouTube videos on Blackhand Gorge. One was titled "Haunted Blackhand Gorge"!? I don't believe a lick of this, but it's pretty well done:



I run here all the time and the only red eyes I see in the woods are from possums, deer, groundhogs, or bigfoot; no ghosts though! I do have to admit that it is pretty creepy at night time due to the dense woods and noisy animals. But honestly, there's nothing to be afraid of.

To get a sense of just how beautiful this place really is, here is video that somebody took while standing on one of the overlooks that is about 1/2 mile into the path, just off to the right:



There are many overlooks and one of the most beautiful overlooks is on Quarry Rim Trail that overlooks one of the natural rock quarry's. If you've never been to Blackhand Gorge, hopefully that last video will entice you to visit it. If you are more in the scary stuff, that's fine too; I know where the old Lock 15 is as well as the "spooky" tunnel. :) However, I've taken my girls through that tunnel numerous times and there's nothing scary about it...

Blackhand Gorge is the most BEAUTIFUL state nature preserve in the state IMO. Best of all, it's running distance from my house! I know because I run there all the time; like last Wednesday. It's (hands down) my favorite place to run. Here is a quick map of the entire nature preserve. All the dotted lines are the nature paths (aka: trails) that I run:


They are all cool in their own way, but Marie Hickey is my favorite and you can usually find me there on Tuesdays and Thursdays running through the woods. I typically do the entire "Blackhand Trail" on my Sunday long runs and throw in trails here and there to get in the desired mileage when needed. :) If you've never been to Blackhand Gorge, you need to visit it... FYI: Spring is coming and the leaves are going to be blooming soon. ;)

7 comments:

Jon said...

Of course you don't see the glowing red eyes... because they're yours!

Luc said...

Jon? Who the hell is Jon? (says Issam)... You look a lot like a guy I work with, named Pilgrim!? But that goes without saying. :)

For all I know, those glowing red eyes are YOURS, ya (hic..) lush! :)

Running 2 Mohican said...

So, what do you think of the Gramin. I would love to see it at work at MO sometime.

Luc said...

Rob,

I'm loving this thing!! Of all people to not have this watch, you need this watch. I'm still figuring out some of the little wierd things like when to hit the 'Start/Stop' button vs. when to hit the 'Lap' button.

I'll be anxious to try this thing at Mohican myself. Are you going to be there this weekend (Palm Sunday)? If I can't make this weekend, the next time I'll be able to get up there won't be until last weekend in March or early April.

See ya soon!

Running 2 Mohican said...

I will be running Sunday. I hope the weather will allow me to run 40 on the trails. (Snow Melt)

Anonymous said...

Luc,
I have been wanting to try Blackhand Gorge for some time now.
Let me know if you ever want to go down there for a run.

Luc said...

Nick,

I'll be down there early Sunday morning (~8am) if you would like to join me. Unfortunately, the river has flooded over the bridge, so our only option is Marie Hickey trail (my favorite). If you're interested send me an email (lucas (dot) hardbarger (at) gmail (dot) com), and we'll exchange phone numbers and meeting coordinates. :)

Of course, this invite goes out to everybody!!