Post 900 Hike #25

(Hike #24 was done in conjunction with our Xmas party and only ~5 mi.; it is not reported.) In and out on Bradley Fork (BF) was today's objective; that's 7.8 mi. plus a bit of walking in Smokemont Campground due to its winter closure. Both Bob Bolinger and Cecil Rowe needed parts of BF (Bob for his 1st map and Cecil for his Geezer map). I picked up Cecil at 7:00 and we were at SVC by 8:00; there we met Bob. Janetta, Richard Ryburn, and Charlie were there also; they were to start at Kephart Prong and Bob would then shuttle their car down to the BF trailhead (where they ended and we started and ended).

As we neared Newfound Gap and were in some ice and snow, I questioned my judgment for we could have gone in Bob’s 4-wheel drive jeep rather than my yet untested Highlander Hybrid. Although I had driven it in the Park previously, this was my first use of it at elevation (with snow and ice added); because Toyota hybrids have reduced engine braking, one must be attentive on “downs”. We started our hike ~9:00 (because of winter parking, we had to walk through a bit of the Smokemont Campground); we finished the 2.2 and 2.3 segments of Bradley Fork at 10:47. As I often do, I went ahead on the 3.3 mi. section to get a good aerobic workout; it’s an “up trail” (2,000+ ft. climb—steepest in last 2 miles). Since I pushed I got my HR up to 154; I arrived at BF’s junction with Hughes Ridge at 12:12. Initially I was disappointed that I needed 1 hr 25 min. to complete it for I put out; then I remembered it wasn’t just 2.3 mi. but rather 3.3 mi. that I had done. I felt better then, for it is a relatively tough trail. After eating and lulling around awhile, I got cold (particularly fingers); I put on a different pair of gloves thinking they were my new Finnish ones (after realizing that they were not, I switched back to my light cc-ski gloves and felt much better). The three of us hooked up again after we all got down from our 3.3 mi. climb.

Did not record times for the 2.3 and 2.2 mi. sections, nor for the road walk to my vehicle; however, I think that we got there ~16:30. Somewhat to our surprise Richard (with Janetta & Charlie) had already picked up his car; we could only surmise that they stayed on Bradley Fork rather than add 1.7 mi. to their hike by doing the Smokemont Loop Trail.