Post 900 Hike #61: Noland Divide & Kanati Fork, Toe String, Bradley Fork & Smokemont Loop

John Hutenspiler picked me up at Lakeside Market at 06:40; Cecil Rowe was with him. At Food Lion we met Charlie Woodward (organizer of this hike) and Richard Ryburn. (Jane Calfee & Vicki Watkins were there too; at the Park Cecil would move their vehicle to Smokemont.) John drove to SVC; Charlie picked up Frank March and Bob Bolinger. At Thomas Divide trailhead John and I had planned to move the two vehicles to Kanati Fork trailhead and do an in-and-out on the latter trail (from US 441) in addition to meeting our cohorts. Fortuitously, Jane, Emma & Vicki arrived; they would move our two vehicles to Kanati Fork allowing the 7 of us to do the same hike (i.e., Thomas Divide (1.8 mi.) and Kanati Fork (2.8 mi.) and move their vehicle to the Smokemont Campground.

It was fairly cold when we started; from L to R my cohorts are Frank, John, Bob, Charlie, Cecil, and Richard. I was surprised at the amount of snow; it made me regret not trying to X-C ski this past Sunday or Monday. The second picture is of Charlie after we finished the 1.8 mi. segment of Thomas Divide. Somewhat to our surprise there was only Jane’s vehicle when we reached US 441; a few went in it and the rest of us walked 0.3 mi. on US 441 to the next parking area where the other two vehicles were. We then proceeded to the Smokemont Campground where we deposited Jane’s vehicle at one trailhead and John’s vehicle where we planned to finish; the 7 of us then crammed into SUV to get close to the Tow String trailhead. After we finished its 2.2 mi., we continued on Bradley Fork; we ate lunch close to the point where Dick Ledyard and I had seen a large boar a few weeks ago.

After we reached the Chasteen Creek trailhead (0.2 mi. from the 3.9 mi. Smokemont Loop Trail), I put it into a little higher gear and caught up with Charlie and John. I decided to get an aerobic workout on the remaining up (total of ~1300 ft of climb in 1-mile after in its 1st ~0.5 mi.). My HR reached 150 b.p.m. in this endeavor (that's ~3X my resting pulse). Then I sort of coasted down and reached John’s vehicle by the bridge at 14:48 and iced my knee.

The bridge was built in 1920 (14 yrs prior to the birth of the G.S.M.N.P.). Although now closed to vehicular traffic, back in its heyday its road may have led to the vicinity of Newfound Gap. (I need to get more data on this.)

Believe our crew of 7 left the Smokemont Campground ~15:30; I arrived home at 17:45. The data from my Omron pedometer included: 27,910 steps with 24,673 of these being aerobic; 1,009 kcal were burned and 13 mi. were hiked. (The technology of his pedometer is not dependent upon a pendulum; moreover, I can download data to my computer.)

Post 900 Hike #60: Alum Cave (5) & Trillium Gap (8.8)

About two years ago Sharon McCarthy of Charlotte NC came across my blog on hiking in the G.S.M.N.P. She indicated then that she planned to hike all the trails and would do so when her youngest son began college. Back then I sent her our group’s weekly hiking schedule; however, we sort of lost contact. About three weeks ago she advised me that she had already made several 2-4 day hiking outings in the Western part of the G.S.M.N.P. After looking at her blog (sharon@smokyscout.com) I realized that she was trying to hike all trails in a 365-day period; I could not help but want to assist her in this gargantuan endeavor. After her planned hikes for Feb. 14, 15, & 16, she advised me that she wanted to do a hike in the Mt. Cammerer area or one including Mt. LeConte. I encouraged her to do the latter and suggested that since it would be her 4th day in a row of hiking, that we make it a little easier by starting with Alum Cave Trail to LeConte (only 5 mi.) and return by Trillium Gap (the trail that she needed, 8.8 mi.). I advertised this hike and had four takers (Charlie Woodward, Leslie Toney, Richard Ryburn, and Frank March).

I picked up Charlie, Leslie, and Richard at Food Lion; Frank met us at Wear Cove; we then proceeded in two Highlanders to the Trillium Gap/Rainbow Falls trailheads. After physically meeting Sharon for the first time, we proceeded in her Honda Pilot to the Alum Cave Trailhead (this was a logical choice since she could carry up to 8 in her SUV & at day’s end she could then proceed to NC on US 441 South).

It was ~20 degrees when we started at 08:45; Frank shot this starting picture (from L-R Richard, Leslie, me, Sharon, & Charlie). As we reached elevation ice on the trail became more problematic and we put on crampons; this picture (compliments of Leslie) shows an icy trail and a cable hold. Shortly thereafter Charlie and I decided to up our speed and we arrived at LeConte at 11:45. The third picture was taken ~1 mile prior to reaching LeConte.

We ate on the sunny porch of the lodge; we donned coats for the temperature was 26 degrees (From L to R: Frank, Leslie, Sharon, Charlie & Richard). We kept our coats on for ~the first half of the Trillium Gap Trail; this section of the trail is rocky and was in the shade (and of course we were not burning nearly as many calories on our trip down as we burned on our way up LeConte). We reconnoitered at the Brushy Mountain intersection, leaving 5.2 mi. easy miles to go. Since I would need to ice my knee prior to driving, I decided to push it and arrived at my Highlander at 1600 hours. I entertained myself by racing a couple who were walking on the closed Roaring Forks Motor Trail that somewhat parallels the latter portion of the Trillium Gap Trail. (It was interesting to find that with my state of the art pedometer that only 73% of my 29,606 steps were aerobic; I believe that most of the variance could be accounted for by my gingerly steps taken when I walked on ice.)

When everyone reached the parking lot, Charlie went with me and Sharon as I took her to her vehicle in the Alum Cave parking lot. Then Sharon proceeded South to NC as we proceeded North to the SVC to pick up Leslie and Richard. We arrived at Food Lion ~1800 hours.

Post 900 Hike #59: Baskins Creek (2.7) & Grapeyard Ridge (7.6)

Met John Hutsenpiller at Lakeside Market at 07:00. At Food Lion we left in John’s car and Dick Ledyard drove his van to Grapeyard Ridge’s terminus in Greenbrier. Dick left his van there and we proceeded in John’s car to the start of our hike on Baskins Creek Trail in Cherokee Orchard; it was there we met up with Leslie Toney, Emma Penson, and Vicki Watkins.

We embarked on Baskins Creek Trail (2.7 mi.) ~09:15. This is a nice and fairly easy trail; believe we finished it in ~one hour. On Grapeyard Ridge Trail I went a little ahead; at 11:40 I stopped and started my lunch because I was unsure when the rest wanted to do so. After they arrived they advised me that eating at Campsite 32 was the plan; that was fine with me and I packed up my half eaten lunch and fell in behind them. From left to right in the lunch are Emma, John, Dick, Leslie, and Vicki.

After lunch Leslie and I led our group on this relatively nice trail. We forgot about looking for the steam engine that overturned in the 1920’s after a logging operation; Injun Creek was named after it. Fortunately, Dick captured the picture of it.

Leslie and I completed our hike at 13:45; the rest of our group came in shortly. (My new Omron pedometer registered ~1 mi. less than the map mileage; because it was an easy hike the possibility exists that I over-strided a bit.) We then proceeded in Dick’s van to our starting point where Leslie’s and John’s cars had been left. I arrived home ~14:45.

Post 900 Hike #58: Old Sugarlands, horse trails, Gatlinburg Trail

At 21:30 on Tues. Bob Bolinger and I decided to do Wednesday's schedule hike; this was a relatively short one but we decided it would be nice to go with some of the hikers whom we seldom see. I advised John Hutenspiler of my plan; he was game for it. Met John at 07:35 at Lakeside Market. After I advised him of a storm warning, we decided to go via John Sevier Hwy and approach the GSMNP from the North rather than from the South via Food Lion and U.S. 321 in Maryville because of my concern of icy curves on the latter. Moments after we arrived at Sugarlands Visitor Center Bill Broome and Cecil Rowe arrived in separate vehicles, and then Bob Bolinger and Emily (friend of Bob & Judy from Sevierville) arrived.

At 08:00 we set out and walked the ~0.5 mi. to the Old Sugarlands trailhead; for the up-hill part of this trail John and I chugged. (The picture of this trail was taken by Dick Ledyard on the following day.) We went ~3.2 of this 3.9 mi. trail since we decided to take horse trails (unused in Winter but not part of the 900) to work our way towards Gatlinburg. Once in Gatlinburg we proceeded to the Smokey Mountain Brewery; on my new Omron pedometer was 7.3 mi. Bob Hutchens and John Kennerly met us there and the eight of us had a delightful lunch.

We then walked through downtown Gatlinburg to the Gatlinburg Trail at the edge of town; by the time we had reached the Sugarlands Visitor Center and our vehicles, we had walked a total of 9.4 mi. (0.2 mi. in Gatlinburg & 1.9 mi. on the G-trail.

All in all it was a fun afternoon. It was nice to have a chance to talk with Bill Broome a bit and to touch bases with John K., Bob H., and our new hiker, Emily. Although I did not talk with Cecil much, I have done countless hikes with him and I am sure I will be doing many more as he finishes his geezer map (i.e., all trails after age 75). (Neglected to take my camera; hopefully will receive a picture or two from my cohorts because some of the snow views were quite good.)