Post-900 Hike #20

Bob Bolinger called me on Monday to determine if I were interested in hiking Cooper Rd., Hatcher Mtn, and Abrams Falls (Cooper Rd and Abrams Falls from the Falls to the parking lot would be new for him—I suggested that we also do Wet Bottoms). Although I did a lot of treadmilling and a little running on my Finland-Norway cruise, I was a little reticent to accept the invitation since my knee was giving me minor problems; however, on Tuesday I told him that I was game.

Met Bob at the Townsend Y at 8:30; Cades Cove traffic was horrendous. We took it easy on Cooper Rd. and completed the 5.5 mi. section in 2 hr. 10 min. At this point I suggested that we come back on Rabbit Creek for he had yet to do that trail and he could easily pick up Abrams Falls later. (This would be identical to the hike that I did solo ~1.5 yrs ago.) After we did the 2.6 mi. section of Hatcher Mtn Bob was game to do the longer hike. Abrams Creek was pitifully low (when I did it solo it was up to my shorts--I wish that I would have taken a picture of it for it could make one cry). We next did the 1.9 mi. section of Hannah Mtn and started Rabbit Creek at 14:02. This is the 3rd time that I have done this 5.1 mi. trail; although the profile suggests it is easy, there is a little “up” to it. We again crossed Abrams Creek at Rabbit Creek's terminus; this is the first time that I crossed it without water shoes. We then set out on the grungy 1.0 mi. Wet Bottoms Trail; although its stream crossing did not require water shoes (on my other two sojourns on it they were required), the fact that the Park has been critically dry made the typically mushy part of the trail palatable and we finished it in 17 min. We then had <1 bob="" br="" mi.="" s="" to="" vehicle.="" walk="">
This was really a great day for Bob’s quest towards the 900. Cooper Rd (5.5), Rabbit Creek (5.1) and Wet Bottoms (1.0) were all new hikes for him. On the way out traffic was again terrible. One dude with a humongous pick-up (bed loaded with kids and one overweight man) would periodically stop in the middle of the road; with a car between him and us there was little that we could do. Believe we reached my car at the Y ~5:30. Bob graciously waited for me to ensure that I could start the Toyota Highlander Hybrid that I had just acquired; I almost a feel like I am learning to drive again because of its nuances.