BPA Surprise

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After Ann's little surprise for me-- my least favorite uphill trail at the end of 23 miles-- I decided to return the favor.
Ann tries to kick BPA away 
Ann's least favorite trail is BPA, and it's easy to see why. From Wildwood it plummets in gravel and nearly-running water right down to Highway 30. And then you have to get back up the hill! 

Surveying what's to come
Luckily Newton intersects right there, so it's a loop. A scenic, painful, slow loop. Strangely, we saw more people coming up BPA than anywhere else on our entire run. Proving once again that runners are a crazy bunch.

View and reflections from BPA
Still, it was worth it when Ann asked me at the start of the run how far we were going on Wildwood, and I said "To BPA." Then she asked how far on BPA, and I got to laugh a long, loud, evil laugh, followed by "The whole way!" Priceless!

Finishing the downhill
For some reason I don't remember Newton from Highway 30 back up to Wildwood from previous runs, but it was really different-- deep, mysterious, and meandering, with some tiny stream crossings. I'd like to run it again-- maybe next time reversed by going down Newton and back up BPA.

At the bottom of BPA, back up on Newton

Mysterious unmarked marker on Newton

  • Springville to Firelane 7 to Hardesty to WW (21.65)-- .29mi
  • WW (21.65) to BPA (27.45)--  5.8mi (6.09 total)
  • BPA to Newton-- 1.53mi (7.62 total)
  • Newton to WW (26.3)-- 1.28mi (8.9 total)
  • WW (26.3) to Springville (ww 22.49)-- 3.81mi (12.71 total)
  • Springville to car-- .33mi (13.04 total)

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