Post 900 Hike #114: Ramsey Cascades 4 & 4

Yesterday I had volunteered to do the 25 miler from Newfound Gap on the AT & Snake Den Ridge to Cosby because I was concerned that only two might do it; I like to see at least three on every hike. However, this hike was cancelled; rather than do any of the other 4-5 group hikes scheduled for today (my 2nd choice was a 20+ mi. hike), I decided to do Ramsey Cascades. It is one of the few trails that I have only done once; more importantly it could provide a good indicator of my ability to resolve my left-foot problems.

I started on the 4-mi. trail at 09:12; the first part of the hike is relatively easy as the trail was originally a road along Middle Prong and the Little Pigeon River. The first picture was taken from a foot-log bridge looking upstream on MP.



I stopped shortly after this to administer 1st Aid to my left foot. (It did not really bother me again until some of the downs on my return trip.) Ramsey Cascades Trail becomes narrow and at times steep when it follows Ramsey Prong; in some cases trail crews have built very nice rock steps. I had forgotten about the “ups” on this trail and did not think it is was worth wearing my HR-monitor; had I done so I am sure I would have pushed more to get my HR up 150. Although 150 theoretically exceeds the max HR for one my age, my heart appears to be in pretty good condition (at least it is in much better shape than my L-foot).

I arrived at Cascades and the trail’s end at 10:55; guess my time was not too shabby in that it included my 1st Aid stop and because the trail is not considered such an easy one. One gent from OH was recumbent on a very large boulder at its base; soon a young man, his son and nephew from PA arrived (had seen them earlier). Hiking in the GSMNP is an annual event for them. The next picture is of course the 90' Cascades.



I started my trek down at 11:20; on the way down I met scads of folk coming up in groups of 2-5 (I warned a few of the relatively rough terrain ahead--at the cascades they'll see a big sign indicating that 3 lost their lives there). A few very large Tulip Poplars still exist in this area that were not targeted by the lumber companies ~90 yrs. ago; the two youth from OH are standing in front of this one to give a perspective of its size.



I was alone the last couple miles of my venture; I could accelerate a bit more for the down-parts were not steep. At 13:10 I arrived at my SUV and then iced my knee prior to starting my drive home. For this hike I drove ~100 mi.

Trivia Data Collected: 16958 steps taken, 12575 of them aerobic, 634 kcal burned (Note: down steps were far less aerobic, a major difference being that in going up I push hard but in going down I take it quite easy particularly on steep parts.)