Gabes Mountain Trail 6.6n (& out) 13.2 miles + 0.3 for F Falls
Went to Food Lion at 7:45; Amy Howe arrived shortly thereafter and then a new hiker (Kate) joined us. (Latter is a senior at Earlham College majoring in World Religions; a serious mountain climber and a very interesting young lady.) Amy drove and we arrived at SVC ~8:50; we then got in Bob Bolinger’s vehicle and arrived at Cosby Campground ~9:35. Liz Etnier, Diane Scarbrough, Cecil Rowe, Bill Woodrick and John Kennerly were waiting for us.
We got on the trail at 9:45. After 2.1 mi. we took a brief excursion to Hen Wallow Falls (this is not a requirement for completing all trails--in and out was supposed to be only 0.2 mi. but my pedometer registered 0.3); in my pic of the falls Amy and Katy are in the foreground. At ~11:00 we passed Barb Slover, Martha Frink, Jim Talent and his wife as they were eating lunch; they had done a car shuttle and had a car waiting form them at Maddron Bald. At ~6 mi. Cecil brought to our attention a very large rotting chestnut stump with hemlock growing in the center; he is standing by it in the second pic. We finished the ~6.9 miles at 12:25.
On our return Bob led us out; after 2-3 mi. Bill, John, Katy and I had separated ourselves from the rest of the group. About this time I fell in behind Bob for I wanted to see how close my stride compared with his (he' 6' 4" & I have shrunk to slightly less than 6'). I was not surprised to find that our stride length was very close to being identical, for when we go at a good pace I take longer steps (this in part may be due to my weight training program). Katy had no problem keeping up with us; however, at close to 5' 2" she was probably taking at least 1.5 times as many steps. John mentioned that we were keeping a very good pace so we may have pushed on harder. When we reached the trailhead we had covered the 6.6 mi. return (which includes modest ups and downs) in 2 hr. 12 min; that is 3 mph (a very good time).
We got on the trail at 9:45. After 2.1 mi. we took a brief excursion to Hen Wallow Falls (this is not a requirement for completing all trails--in and out was supposed to be only 0.2 mi. but my pedometer registered 0.3); in my pic of the falls Amy and Katy are in the foreground. At ~11:00 we passed Barb Slover, Martha Frink, Jim Talent and his wife as they were eating lunch; they had done a car shuttle and had a car waiting form them at Maddron Bald. At ~6 mi. Cecil brought to our attention a very large rotting chestnut stump with hemlock growing in the center; he is standing by it in the second pic. We finished the ~6.9 miles at 12:25.
On our return Bob led us out; after 2-3 mi. Bill, John, Katy and I had separated ourselves from the rest of the group. About this time I fell in behind Bob for I wanted to see how close my stride compared with his (he' 6' 4" & I have shrunk to slightly less than 6'). I was not surprised to find that our stride length was very close to being identical, for when we go at a good pace I take longer steps (this in part may be due to my weight training program). Katy had no problem keeping up with us; however, at close to 5' 2" she was probably taking at least 1.5 times as many steps. John mentioned that we were keeping a very good pace so we may have pushed on harder. When we reached the trailhead we had covered the 6.6 mi. return (which includes modest ups and downs) in 2 hr. 12 min; that is 3 mph (a very good time).
posted by Wendell Liemohn at 11:26 PM
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