Twelve and a half miles yesterday wasn't nearly enough and so, I decided to join one of the Meetup groups for a few more miles today and to explore a state park that has been on my radar for a while now. Red Top Mountain sits on a series of peninsulas jutting out into the man-made Lake Altoona. A number of trails wind around the fingers of the park and along the shoreline of the lake.
Several people that had expressed interest in the hike struggled with the directions, but a dozen or so of us ended up at the right place and first decided to hike the Iron Hill Trail, so named because of the mining operations that once existed here. The trail is wide and it's surface is mostly gravel with some sections of dirt, but either way, it's an incredibly easy and almost entirely flat trail. The occasional views of the lake through the thick woods is nice and the breeze blowing in helps mitigate this incredibly humid air. After only a couple of miles, sweat is dripping from my brow.
After we make the first couple of loops, we meet another dozen or so members of the group that had gone to the wrong trailhead, but decided to hike together anyway. The groups merge and we head along the Campground Trail, which then connects to the Sweet Gum Trail and heads to towards the northern end of the park. We put in another few miles here before looping back and returning to the parking lot.
It's always nice to hike with good company, but the trails here were not overly scenic or overly challenging. After a strenuous day yesterday, perhaps an easy outing was for the best. I was able to add about 8.4 miles to my weekend total, and now I'm heading home.
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