Post 900 Hike #71: Noland Divide (Clingmans Dome Road to Deep Creek)

The hike for today was anything ending at either the Deep Creek Pavilion or the Tunnel to Nowhere (both in vicinity of Bryson City, NC. Because my knee was giving me symptoms after last week’s hike that included Thunderhead Mountain (where I should have iced my knee while waiting for cohorts), I was not sure that I would hike today. When BZ Lane (my Mentor for completing the 900 a little over 2 yrs. ago) advised me that he was doing Noland Divide to its end in Deep Creek (~12 mi.), I thought that my knee could do this one but I still wanted my knee guru to check it. Since Jenny Moshak, Head Lady Vol Athletic Trainer, was out of town, she e-mailed me that Chris Hoffman could look at it. (Jenny, whom I am sure many of you have heard about or have seen on TV re Lady Vol BB, particularly known as a master of knee and shoulder injuries, has a most competent staff. A few years before I started hiking in 2005 and was just running, Jenny facilitated my getting a very good knee brace that keeps my patella at home much better than other techniques that I had tried over the years; she also taught me the importance of icing my knee after activity.) Chris examined my knee and said that it and I were in very good condition (assume she factored in age), and suggested that (1) I use Aleve rather than ibuprofen for hikes since it might last a whole hike and (2) because my knees were almost 75 yrs old, that perhaps I did not need to push myself as much as she had envisioned that I had been doing. I told her that this hike was relatively short and that I would not lead and would take it easy. (Usually I lead and I find taking it easy hard to do.)

Because I thought that it was a most appropriate introductory hike for Andrew Marquardt, a fellow whom I met at the Dog Park and one who had the same prerequisite skills that I had when I started hiking (i.e., being a runner). Andy met me in Alcoa and we met BZ at SVC; we then went in BZ’s Jeep to the Noland Divide trailhead just below Clingmans Dome.

We were on the trail at 10:30; this is an exceptionally late start but it was a short and easy hike, and there was no point in having to wait too long for the bus in Deep Creek. The weather was somewhat foggy at elevation and it sprinkled intermittently; we put on & pulled off our emergency ponchos a few times towards the end of the hike. At a little over 8 miles we took a short jaunt off trail to Lonesome Pine Overlook; at this point in time the sun was out momentarily and we had a great view of Bryson City (unfortunately I forgot my camera). Shortly after this we passed four hikers from NC; then we passed four from our group. We arrived at the Deep Creek pavilion at 1515 and I immediately iced my knee. As I expected, this first hike for Andy was a breeze and he seemed to really enjoy it. My Omron pedometer did a slightly better job estimating distance primarily because the lack of verticality in steps as was seen last week (11.45 mi., just a little short, 23,031 aerobic steps & 23,958 "loafing" steps, 889 kcal burned--last week it was 49,917 steps, 40,868 aerobic ones--not much credit for vertical steps up Thunderhead, 1,821 kcal, 22.84 distance--slightly inflated because of vertical steps).

The 13 others straggled in from the three hikes ending at Deep Creek; some were caught in a much heavier rain. The bus arrived ~1630; then it was on to Bryson City, Lakeview Drive and the Tunnel to Nowhere to pick up the 7 hikers who finished there. From there it was back to Bryson City, and the almost 2 hr. drive back to Clingmans Dome through Cherokee. Believe I arrived home ~2030.