make-up work

Today we had yet another snow day. We were just about to head into work, the buses were out. I walked over to Lily's for the morning carpool, then we got the call. The morning sleet turned to gigantic flakes, but soon the sun was shining. Lily suggested Uwharrie and I go for a long run/hike since we didn't get one in this past weekend.

We had a 20+ mile "cross-county" point-to-point route in mind that would traverse Pisgah from Curtis Creek to Toms Creek. There were some unmaintained trails, bushwhacks and lots of climbs thrown into the mix. Despite the warm(ish) sunny weather, I expected gnarly, snowy conditions higher up.


Lily dropped us off at the beginning of the old trail up Chestnutwood Mtn. on Curtis Creek Rd. at 1 PM. We joked about guessing how long this journey would take. Our recent winter adventures have been quite epic, consistently taking much longer than I've estimated. I knew we'd be trekking into the night. After a mile on an old road, we started up a 2 mile and 2000+ ft. bushwhack to the 3650' summit.

Even on the trails, the snow and excessive blowdowns were treacherous. Needless to say, it took two hours to go the first 4 miles. An ice layer sandwiched between several inches of softer snow made the footing unpredictable and exhausting. I'd either break through the crust, or slip on ice.

After the Lead Mine Gap Trail, we made it out onto the upper Curtis Creek Forest Service Rd. by 4 PM. It was my hope to make it most of the way up Haines Eyebrow before nightfall. This would leave us with little nighttime cross-country travel on unknown terrain. But as soon as we entered into the north facing Sugar Cove, our pace diminished to a postholing crawl through countless blowdowns.

Miraculously, conditions improved as we lost elevation. Our desperation seemed to subside as I rehydrated from the numerous streams. When we crossed Hwy 80, I was eager to continue into the night. Within 50 yards, we were back on FS property. The south facing slopes had less snow, but more briars. We bushwhacked higher and higher into deeper snow as the sun set beyond the Blacks.

Haines Eyebrow seemed to go on forever. The sunset views were great, but I became anxious as the temperature dropped and the darkness set in. False summit after false summit, no trail appeared. Finally we emerged on the Mountains-to-Sea Trail and I knew we had about eight miles to go. I sipped some water, ate a snack and added a layer of clothing.

The MST over 3645' Woods Mtn. is a beast. To be fair, it seems I'm often traversing this multi-faceted peak in dire circumstances. This evening crossing summoned memories of Mo's and my 2009 New Years run to Mitchell and back. The lights of Marion beckoned, but blowdowns seemed to be waiting around every corner, not to mention the dreaded crusty snow!

Finally we were within a mile of the finish and I called Lily to ask her to pick us up. She graciously met us at Earth Heart along US-221 at 9:20 PM. I'm very thankful to have a loving and understanding valentine who can put up with such craziness. Uwharrie and I were both very happy to be done. Over eight hours on our feet, several thousand feet climbed, a few desperate moments endured: mission accomplished.