It can’t be all a visit to Mines View Park, a stroll along Session Road, shopping at the public market, a banca ride at the Burnham Lake, nor church visitations that you do when visiting the City of Pines during Lenten week… and though I witnessed all these activities when I visited Baguio City last weekend with my running team, it was a whole new chapter when you’re with like-minded runners.
Burnham Lake
Often flooded with tourists during Holy Week, what I did was to initiate a trail run along the pristine trails inside Camp John Hay, a favorite running haven for those in the know where you can enjoy peace and solitude, away from the hustle and bustle of the city, for a change.
My team, not used to a lot of trail running, were also looking forward to a break from their road run trainings back home, and this was a great opportunity to show them what the trails in this mountain city had to offer. This was their first time to explore the area and what a fabulous way for them to experience running the Blue and Yellow trails inside CJH.
At the start of the Blue Trail
The Yellow and Blue Trails provides an oasis for runners, and hikers. Good thing that majority of this trail is now off limits to horse-back riding as they have been confined only up to the trail-head.
Betty and I readied our cameras to catch snaps of our run-hike and just put our minds to auto-pilot and let the undulating trails take us through hard-packed single track trails, groves of pine trees, glimpses of mountain tops, pine top needles, ravines and flowering ridges. Despite a sprinkling of occasional hikers, it was amazing how serene these trails could feel.
It’s one of the most beautiful places to run in Baguio City and a great destination for trail runners who would like to explore a short but exhilarating run inside Camp John Hay.
Leaving you with some pictures we took along the route. Happy trail running!
With Tita Betty
With trail running champ, James Telias
Burnham Park
Strawberry Taho
