Post 900 Hike #5: Lead Cove, Bote Mtn, Jenkins Ridge, Hazel Creek
Our Wed. group was doing Bone Valley Trail; this necessitated their driving over to Fontana Marina, taking a boat to Campsite 86, and then hiking up Hazel Creek trail 5.3 miles to its junction with Bone Valley. Both Jim Harb and Dennis McAdams needed Jenkins Ridge trail; I agreed to go with them as a 3rd hiker. The day prior to the hike BZ Lane, John Kennerly, and Richard Ryburn indicated that they too wanted to take this hike. The 6 of us would end at Campsite 86 and take the boat back to the Fontana Marina with the Bone Valley hikers.
John and I met Jim at Central Park at 6:10; we proceeded in Jim’s car and picked up Dennis on Foothills Parkway and then BZ at the Townsend Y (it would have been to Dennis’s advantage to meet us there too). We then proceeded to the Lead Cove Trailhead; Richard had gotten an early start. We started on Lead Cove’s 1.8 mi. length at 7:00; it as well as the next two sections of Bote Mtn (1.2 & 1.7) have a bit of up to them; I pushed myself particularly on the latter and made pretty good time and reached the AT ~8:50. The last time I had done this was when I was backpacking and hence I was carrying much more weight then. The picture is one that I took on the ~0.5 mi. of the AT between Bote Mtn and Jenkins Ridge trails. On Jenkins Ridge I took it easy until the last “up” section; although it may sound somewhat incongruous, on “up trails” to get my preferred rhythm I need to go a little faster than most.
After Jenkins Creek we did 4.5 miles of Hazel Creek; an exceedingly boring trail. We then had 0.5 mi. to the boat pick up. I believe we got there ~3:00; we should not have started so early for we had ~1.5 hour wait before the Bone Valley hikers started arriving (~20 of them). (It then became clear that the boat pickup was not until 5:00-5:30; we did not have to get started as early as we did.) Fortunately the boat came at 5:00 and we had a pleasant boat ride to Fontana Marina. Unfortunately the latter was not a harbinger of things to come. I am not sure how many cars transported hikers over there; however, two of these cars plus one other were forcibly entered. Ellie Doughty was so kind to drive over to Fontana to pick up the six of us doing Jenkins Ridge; her front passenger window was shattered. Although nothing was missing from her van, a new hiker lost her billfold (with credit cards) and her cell. Not sure how long we were there but it was quite awhile for the police report, etc. We had previously decided to pay Ellie for getting us; after this happened everyone added at bit but we had to force Ellie to accept it.
John and I met Jim at Central Park at 6:10; we proceeded in Jim’s car and picked up Dennis on Foothills Parkway and then BZ at the Townsend Y (it would have been to Dennis’s advantage to meet us there too). We then proceeded to the Lead Cove Trailhead; Richard had gotten an early start. We started on Lead Cove’s 1.8 mi. length at 7:00; it as well as the next two sections of Bote Mtn (1.2 & 1.7) have a bit of up to them; I pushed myself particularly on the latter and made pretty good time and reached the AT ~8:50. The last time I had done this was when I was backpacking and hence I was carrying much more weight then. The picture is one that I took on the ~0.5 mi. of the AT between Bote Mtn and Jenkins Ridge trails. On Jenkins Ridge I took it easy until the last “up” section; although it may sound somewhat incongruous, on “up trails” to get my preferred rhythm I need to go a little faster than most.
After Jenkins Creek we did 4.5 miles of Hazel Creek; an exceedingly boring trail. We then had 0.5 mi. to the boat pick up. I believe we got there ~3:00; we should not have started so early for we had ~1.5 hour wait before the Bone Valley hikers started arriving (~20 of them). (It then became clear that the boat pickup was not until 5:00-5:30; we did not have to get started as early as we did.) Fortunately the boat came at 5:00 and we had a pleasant boat ride to Fontana Marina. Unfortunately the latter was not a harbinger of things to come. I am not sure how many cars transported hikers over there; however, two of these cars plus one other were forcibly entered. Ellie Doughty was so kind to drive over to Fontana to pick up the six of us doing Jenkins Ridge; her front passenger window was shattered. Although nothing was missing from her van, a new hiker lost her billfold (with credit cards) and her cell. Not sure how long we were there but it was quite awhile for the police report, etc. We had previously decided to pay Ellie for getting us; after this happened everyone added at bit but we had to force Ellie to accept it.
posted by Wendell Liemohn at 11:08 PM
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