Finding a lightly trafficked stretch of road to run on in Highland County isn’t exactly difficult even during one of the area’s most busy weekends of the year.
That’s because Highland County, with about 2,300 residents, is the least populated county in the state. And while the two-week Maple Syrup Festival draws more than 50,000 people, the main road going into the metropolis of Bolar isn’t exactly bumper-to-bumper on a Sunday morning. One source I found says Bolar has a population of 611. The people must be mostly scattered on farms. I ran through what appeared to be the heart of the town, and I’m thinking the population was around 10 if I included a barking dog and two horses.
I parked at the Bolar Ruritan Club, which just happened to be serving pancakes as part of the Maple Syrup Festival. For more on the Festival, check out Col’s story and photos. For an up-close look at the pancakes, skip through to the 17th photo in the gallery below.
The run itself stayed in a valley, crossing over Jackson River and following Bolar Run. While Bolar straddles Bath and Highland County, my run on Route 607 was almost entirely in Highland.
After my jaunt and visit to the Ruritan Club (they were happy to seat me even though I was in my post-run sweaty and smelly state), I stopped by a farm to take pictures of some sheep. The owners approached. I was expecting to find out why the NRA is so popular in the area. Instead, I was invited take photos as they fed the sheep. Animal photo gallery.
11 runs down, 123 to go.
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