Meigs Creek (3.5), Meigs Mountain (6.0) (both new) and a little Jakes Creek.

Met at Food Lion at 8:00; the hike scheduled was Meigs Creek & Meigs Mountain plus a smidgeon on Jakes Creek in Elkmont area. I drove to the Townsend Y and my passengers were BJ, Anne, and Bob Hutchins. At the Y I gave my key to Tom and he proceeded to the Elkmont starting point; we in turn went in Tom’s car to the Sinks starting point. Two other cars followed similar paths.

Meigs Creek, according to the Brown Book (i.e., the GSMNP trail bible), has 18-20 stream crossings with the hardest first if you start at the Sinks. Bob counted 19; although one in our group from the other car donned water shoes, all crossings were far from easy relative to rock hopping and there were a few falls (nothing but pride hurt--although not pictured, believe two fell here). At about 11:15 we met the hikers (6-8 in number) that started from Elkmont and we ate lunch together (and swapped car keys as necessary).

Although I had lagged back for most of the first part of the hike, when we came to a hill after lunch I decided I wanted to see how fast I could get my HR to go as I caught up with Charles (one of the few hikers <50); I believe it was only 139 b.p.m.