A Short Exposé on the Blood Rock Sections in the Belcher Track.

The new course is considerably easier than the old Blood Rock 100 or 50 mile loop. The new course has 8,559 feet of gain per 51.16 mile loop. That works out to 17,118 feet of gain in the 100. There are still plenty of tough climbs but there are now long gentle sections between most climbs. The race will cover the Belcher Tract from one end to the other and take runners past all three of the beautiful mountain lakes in the tract.

Belcher Rd is a 6 mile long gravel road running the length of the Belcher Track. The BR race uses almost all of Belcher Rd. Some sections are almost totally flat, especially at the bottom of the valley along the railroad tracks near Hwy 11. There are some long, gentle downhill sections and some steep uphill and downhill. There is nothing on the road I can’t drive in my 2-wheel drive F150. Cars are not allowed into the Belcher Tract.

What Belcher Road does is give access to the beautiful lakes in the Belcher Trace. Runners will first reach Belcher Road at the top of the Crack-in-the-Wall Climb. There, runners will head southwest along the road and pass along the shore of Summit Lake (Catfish Lake.) We call it Summit Lake since it sits on the crest of the ridge. There is on old spring fed quarry lake. After about a mile on the road, runners will drop down the Old Quarry Trail and back up to the Eagle Nest Ridge before returning to Belcher Rd.

After a shot, gentle climb you will reach Belcher again for a ½ mile descent to Demopolis Lake. Runners will circle around this, the largest of the three lakes, and head back to Kings Chair. Just past Demopolis Lake the road reaches the King’s Chair Trail. There runners head up the hill along the ridge to King’s Chair Overlook. King’s Chair, along with Peavine Falls, is the most visited hike-to location in Oak Mountain State Park

From there, you will follow the Rim-Walk-East trail, past “Queen’s Chair then head down the old Blood Rock route into the backcountry. At the sunken road, runners will turn left heading over to the “Grotto.” This is an amazing pool fed by a perpetual waterfall and spring. Have your camera ready.

From there, runners will make their way along an abandoned road, we call it “Water Line Trail” over to Belcher Lake. This is the lake directly below Kings Chair. We will have the Belcher Lake Aid Station on the grassy area that extends out into the lake. After the aid station you will continue east onto another long-abandoned road for a 3.5-mile loop before returning to the Belcher Aid Station. Oh, did I mention “la petite Barkley.” You will know when you find it.

After the second trip to the Belcher Aid Station, runners will follow Belcher Rd just over a mile, mostly downhill to, and along the RR tracks to a right turn heading back to the mountain and everyone’s favorite climb, the not-so-petite Barkley. Runners will stay on the old Blood Rock course up and over Barkley and along the ridge to the descent of the “East Face Traverse” AKA, the Old Wagon Rd. At the bottom of the traverse, go left 50 yards then back right along a single-track trail for one mile and rejoin Belcher at the Trail Station Aid Station.

After the aid station runners, runners pass through the South Gate and up a private road for 200 yards before turning right back onto an old fire road. After about 1/2 mile runners reach the “Topless Climb” heading up to the Topless Rock Face. Make your way over the ridge and you are headed back to Redbud Pavilion.

I highly recommend downloading the GPX file and taking a tour of the new course. By the end of September, the entire course should be cleaned off and ready for runners. Most trails are in good condition now including the Crack-in-the-Wall climb and the Quarry Trial. If you try to follow the course without using the GPX file as a guide, you will likely end up at my house in Chelsea. I live one mile from the “Trail Station” location.