Post 900 Hike #106: Cataloochee Divide--4.6, McKee Br--2.3, Caldwell Fork--1.4, Hemphill Bald--3.0, Cataloochee Divide--6.4

Our hiking group had two alternate hikes scheduled (including a 16.9 mi. one) in the Catalooche area when BZ Lane and I offered one of 17.7 mi. I left home ~05:50, ate breakfast at Cracker Barrel (our meet-up site) and left there ~07:00 with no one opting for our hike and thus I drove alone. (We had an additional taker from NC who had planned to meet BZ and me at the trailhead but she had to cancel.) I picked up BZ at Exit 440 at 07:45; an exit that he and I had met at many a time as he engineered my completing the requirements for membership in The 900-Miler Association in late 2006 and early 2007. We arrived at Cataloochee Divide trailhead at the entrance to the GSMNP off Cove Creek Road and began our hike at 08:20. (My roundtrip vehicle mileage from home to trailhead and back home was ~195 mi.)

We finished McKee Branch at 11:22 (4.6 mi.& 2.3); somehat to our surprise we had met an attractive young lady chugging right up the most difficult McKee Branch Trail. We stopped for lunch after completing the 1.4 mi. section of Caldwell Fork; There we talked with two other hikers; we were surprised that they had not seen the other hikers from our group who had started at the N-end of Caldwell Fork. We shortly came across a Northern red oak with a 6-foot diameter trunk (see Brown Book. That is BZ standing by it.



We met the young lady again and found that she was the daughter of one of our hikers from Gatlinburg that BZ knew. We finished the 3.0 section of Hemphill Bald in ~78 min.; at this point my pedometer registered 11.6 mi. (map distance was 11.3).

As we were debating leaving a note for our cohorts whom we thought might have had a problem, Doug and Ellie came into view; the reason that no one we met had seen them is that they chose to go up McKee Branch (it's an unpopular trail either way). After talking with them a few minutes we learned that (a) we would meet the rest of their group shortly and (b) the young lady we met probably intended to hike with them (she had just been added to our mailing list) but decided to hike alone.

We started out on the S-end of Cataloochee Divide at 14:48 and we both estimated that we would complete the 6.4 mi. and arrive at my SUV by 16:30; we got there at 16:28. We stopped at the SWAG's picnic area and took a few pictures; the next one presented here includes the trails of the Maggie Valley ski resort.



The fallen dead tree just off the trail with the spiral grain we believe must be a chestnut. The last picture presented are mountains outside of the GSMNP in NC. When we arrived at my vehicle BZ drove in order that I could ice my knee. In the first few miles the road is in essence a one-lane gravel road that is 2-way. Until we reached the pavement BZ was a gentleman and pulled near the road's edge to make it easier for up-hill traffic. As he drove on I-40 we were able to survey the extensive repair done on the mountain that closed the road for about half a year.

I dropped BZ off, picked a sandwich after ~ 40 mi., and arrived home ~19:00. My Airedale Terrier Winston, who had been couped up most of the day, expected to play and we did.






Trivia:
Age 75 yr 10 mo.
Ht 6' & Wt 157.2 lb., % body fat 12.9
Max. HR ~138--ups and down rather than continuous ups
Today's hike:17.7 mi.
Omron data:
17.77 mi.
37,547 steps
33,982 aerobic steps
1,384 kcal burned