7 Miles of Farm Land

I hit up the Buffalo to Montrose trail only one other time. A series of random and mildly unfortunate events conspired to prevent my running here again until today.

Plan: 7 miles.  The trail is an out-and-back, so run 3.5 miles south, then turn around and head north.

Weather: Not quite as hot as the last time I was here.  It started around 77* or 80* and ended near 73*.

Nutrition: I changed in a weird place and so was not able to fill my water bottle.  Le sigh.  I had no food during the run, and totally forgot to eat my gummy chews after the run.  When I got home I had two bottles of water.

Execution: I certainly was not in a hurry on this run, but I did run the whole way.  I tried to 'attack' the hills that came towards the end of the run because I know that's how the 10-miler will feel next week.  The moment I stopped running, the mosquitoes swarmed.  I was a bit afraid of severe blood loss from the damn things.  I put on my running sleeves and a t-shirt I'd packed so that I could cool down and stretch in peace.

Pictures: Nobody says I didn't take enough pictures today.  The light was really fantastic.  I'm ignoring the fact that the sun was setting as I was running at 6:30pm. 

4 Miles in the Rural Minnesot Heat

I found a new trail today.  The Buffalo to Montrose Trail is so new, it hasn't even made it up onto TrailLink.  So instead, I will review the thing properly.  I only got to run part of the trail today because it was hotter than fire and I didn't want to run 20 miles.  And yes, I am impressed that rural Wright County has a protected bike trail.

Description: This trail runs along the side of CSAH 12, separated from traffic but a boulevard of grass at most places except for the Crow River crossing where runners go on a wide shoulder of the bridge with cars.  In Montrose, the path moves to sidewalks for the last few blocks.  I thought the cars zooming by would be annoying.  Really it's a rural road with some traffic but not tons and it didn't bother me.  The suburban traffic from this day was much worse. 

Trail Surface: Crushed limestone; a few patches of asphalt on larger hills.  I can only assume they are trying to prevent washouts. 
Distance: 8 miles or so.  I'm not totally clear.
Best For: Running, hiking, biking
Connects To: Buffalo Lake, US 12 in Montrose it seems to just stop there?
Use During Winter: It seems this path will be designated for snow mobiles in winter and not cleared for running or biking.
Parking: Seems to be the drawback for this trail.  I found an obvious parking spot at the trail head in Buffalo and no other parking until some side streets in Montrose.  I wonder if Farmer Bob would mind if I parked my car in his yard one day for a run.