Nolan Divide 3.7, Pole Creek 3.3, Deep Creek 0.?, Martins Gap 1.5, Sunkota Ridge 3.8, Loop 0.5 & 0.5, Indian Creek, Deep Creek 2

I specifically hiked with Mike Miller, Shirley, & Phyllis (John Kennerly & Lois ?? joined us for latter part).

I usually go with Mike, he is trying to finish his 900 by the end of the year and I have gone with Shirley and Phyllis once previously; Shirley and her husband have run a marathon in all 50 states and Phyllis has run ~20 marathons; both are running in the Pike’s Peak Marathon this coming Sunday. (Two other hikers did the same trail but they left an hour earlier for they are a little slower.) Five different groups of hikers left from the vicinity of Clingmans Dome (3 different trails of varying lengths); everyone’s terminus was Deep Creek Campground; a bus from Cherokee Indian Reservation picked us up (>20) and dropped us off at our trail heads and vehicles (all close to Clingmans Dome).

We started at Noland Divide—3.7, Pole Creek—3.3, Deep Creek—short, Martins Gap—1.5 (this trail was totally up—I led and the closest followers were Shirley & Phyllis—I met John and Lois; when Shirley and Phyllis caught up with me they said that I would have no problem with the Pike’s Peak Marathon which they were running that weekend), Sunkota Ridge—3.8, R-Loop Trail 0.7 (Shirley, Phyllis and I went an extra 0.5 mile on R-Loop Trail and then retraced our steps; we did that intentionally for if we had not we would have had a 0.5 mile out there on Loop Trail to pick up at much greater expense, i.e., hike a longer trail a second time), Deep Creek—3.0 , & ~1 mi. to Deep Creek Campground (last mi. does not count). With the extras I ended up with 17.5 miles on my pedometer.