Chestnut Branch 2.1n, AT to Lower Mt Cammerer in/out 1.0n & 1.0pd, AT to NC in/out 1.9n & 1.9pd, Chestnut Branch 2.1pd

Scheduled to meet BZ Lane and Bob Bolinger at SVC at 9:00. I left quite early in case I would have to go via Pigeon Forge if Little River Rd. had ice. Road was fine and I arrived at SVC at 8:15. Since I have a 50% discount at the SVC Bookstore for a contribution that I made, I spent a little time looking to see what I might buy.

At 8:45 I noted that both BZ and Bob had arrived. At 9:50 we reached the trailhead of Chestnut Branch. At 10:46 we had completed the 2.1 miles of Chestnut Branch and reached the AT. We decided to go West first; this 1.0 mile section of the AT to Lower Mount Cammerer took us 29 min. (1st pic--a little more snow than at this point on our loop last week). We stopped for a moment or two and got back to Chestnut Branch at 11:53. We decided to wait until we got to the NC line on the AT for lunch; we covered this 1.9 mile section in 45 min. (see 2nd pic--across the road you can see the beginning of the AT in NC). We ate lunch here and then headed back to Chestnut Branch; uphill it took us ~48 min. The return trip to my vehicle took us ~58 min. for the 2.1 mi. The last picture was taken from the Foothills Parkway on the way home (BZ was driving my vehicle to allow me to ice my knee). He said that he always stopped there when he led tour groups.