Post 900 Hike #19

In my search for the September hikes I looked for something that would attract a good number of hikers (e.g., a hike 10-12 miles in which heat should not be too much of a detriment). One hike that had been recommended to me last week was Trillium Gap and Bull Head; I added a shorter one in Rainbow Falls and Bull Head (optional add-ons would be Brushy Mtn. for former and LeConte for latter). I arrived at Food Lion ~7:45; there was a good bunch there but some were Otis Beaver’s group that would be doing a different hike. From our group at least one carload planned to take the Rainbow Falls--Bull Head hike, 2-3 would go in and out on Trillium Gap to the Gap and then return, 2 were going to do Rainbow Falls and return on Trillium Gap, and I went with Jane (she drove), Amy Howe, and Susan up Trillium Gap and down Bull Head; I also agreed to go with Jane down Rainbow Falls to pick up a 0.5-1.0 mi. section that she had not completed. I did not record an exact starting time at the trailhead. The first picture is of my cohorts (Susan, Jane & Amy) at Grotto Falls. Amy and I arrived at the Gap at 11:00; at 11:15 the four of us continued. We had barely started when I decided to accelerate a little and get a good aerobic workout; I arrived at the LeConte Lodge at 12:35; in that 3.6 mi. trek (mostly up at a fair grade) I got my HR to 153 (that was 99 higher than the lowest that I noted in our trip to the Park today). For a 73 year old that is high; however, I was not worried. I noted the temperature was 65.8 and my pedometer registered 6.9 total miles. None of the other hikers were there when I arrived; I then assumed that the Rainbow Falls--Bull Head hikers chose not to go to Le Cont. After eating my lunch I went to take a Llama picture; the Llamas make daily runs and bring provisions up Trillium Gap trail (they left evidence). Then Amy arrived; it looks like she tried to get on the non-existent back seat. After Jane finished lunch she and I took off for we had a longer hike. The junction of Rainbow Falls and Bull Head trails is 0.5 from Le Conte. Once we arrived there we started going down Rainbow Falls; on a prior hike Jane was told tht she was only ~0.5 miles from the latter trail junction. (I subsequently learned that she had a good mental picture of the spot to which she had hiked previously.) We soon learned that the distance estimate was short; when we got back to the Rainbow Falls—Bull Head trail junction, the time was 14:55 and my pedometer registered 10.8 miles.

We then took off on our downhill trek of Bull Head. I did not note the time nor mileage when we caught up with Amy and Susan; they were waiting for us at the stone-layered lookout point on this trail. Susan’s boots were giving her problems; her toes were taking a hit on this downward trek and she decided to wear her rubber water shoes for the remainder of the hike. Shortly after our group of 4 started out, I decided to go ahead so that I could ice my knee prior to getting in Jane’s vehicle. I reached the end of Bull Head at 17:21 and my pedometer registered 16.7 miles. I still had 0.4 mi. on Old Sugarlands Trail and I arrived at the parking lot at 17:28. There were a number of cars in this parking lot; I assume that most of the cars were those of individuals taking the short trek to the Falls itself. Not sure when the rest arrived; believe it then took ~2 hrs. to get back to Food Lion. On the way home I stopped at Krogers and at ~19:05 I arrived home.

Post 900 Hike #18: Forney Creek to Lakeshore and Tunnel

I arrived at Cecil Rowe’s house ~7:45; I was 8 min. early. We waited for John Kennerly a few minutes and then proceeded to Bill Woodrick’s in hopes that John would be there. Bill was able finally able to contact John; because the latter overslept he decided to meet Bill and Mike Miller at SVC (theirs was a shorter hike from Noland Divide to Deep Creek & did not require as early a start as our hike did).

At SVC we met up with the rest of the Forney Creek hikers; there were a number of new faces, for although I have hiked most every Wednesday since completing all trails 4/4/07, this was only my second group hike. Cecil, Scott Collins, and I rode with Bob Bolinger to Clingmans Dome. The others that I had hiked with previously included Amy Howe, Janetta Baker, Dennis McAdams, Becky Brown, and Glen Howard; the new faces were Kim Cline, Jane Calfree, Emma Penson, Tom and Priscilla Siler.

We left Clingmans Come ~8:50; in ~ 1 mile Forney Creek split off from Forney Ridge and all but Dennis and Glen proceeded on it as they Glen continued on Forney Ridge; in retrospect I should have gone with them for even though they eventually took different trails, only one would have been alone instead of two. Our group of 12 split up temporarily as those in the rear took a sojourn in an attempt to locate a logging locomotive; those immediately behind me are in the first picture (first time I used my new camera--when I have time to figure out how, I will zoom in on that picture & identify others besides Emma and Kim). At lunch the "train-folks" caught up with us. Although the water levels on our Forney Creek Trail stream crossings were far lower than when I did this trail ~26 months ago, I donned my water shoes and kept them on for the 4 consecutive stream crossings. A few rock hopped and 1-2 of these folks fell in the water; although I am somewhat daring, I view some rock hopping as contraindicated.

We proceeded en masse and when we reached the junction of Whiteoak Branch, Cecil, Scott, Janetta, and Bob took it (sort of a hypotenuse) while the rest of us proceeded to Lakeshore Trail (leg of a triangle). That's Kim and Emma standing in front of a chimney (just before or just after our group split); the Brown Book does not identify its specific residence. It's in excellent shape and similar in size to the one at the Kress Lodge in Bone Valley. When we reached Lakeshore Trail our group had gone ~11.6 miles and we had 3.3 mi. remaining. Even though I typically time trail segments, I failed to note the time when we reached Lakeshore Trail. These few miles of Lakeshore have a bit of up to them. At first Emma and then Kim were leading; both are strong hikers and were setting a good pace. However, when they stopped to rest a moment, I decided to put it in a higher gear and get a good aerobic workout. Within 1-mile I caught and then passed those who had done the hypotenuse and I went on alone; even though I kept a pretty good pace, I never really got my HR much over 140 (although that’s 81 bpm higher than my noted low on the road to the Dome in Bob’s SUV). I reached the tunnel at 15:50; this was the 2nd time that I did the ~0.2 mi. tunnel totally alone. Although it was a bright day, when I reached the midway point I could not see the surface upon which I was treading.

When I reached the end I saw Glen; his hike was a shorter, non-tunnel route. Dennis arrived shortly (his was a longer, non-tunnel route) and then the remaining 11 of our group of 14 arrived. I endeavored to get input for hikes that I would be scheduling for the rest of September while we waited for a later than expected bus to take us back to the Dome (the 3 Deep Creek hikers were aboard when it arrived). With 17 passengers the individual fee was only $10 and that left a pretty nice tip for the driver. Believe that we arrived at the Dome ~6:30 and I arrived home ~8:30.