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Route 10: 100 miles (plus 2.5 road); 86 new; 29:30
(plus 24:30 @ Double Spring and BC 18) |
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| +16,669', -17,299' |
With GSMNP in phase one of reopening, Mo joined me for a three-day 100-mile
postman route. Given that our adventure was mid-week with a forecast for rain, we expected social distancing would be easy. We still made plans to carry our own shelters and avoid crowds. We met at Metcalf Bottoms on Tuesday May 19th and rode together in his truck to Fighting Creek Gap to start day one at 10:15 am.
Mo took a more direct route to Double Spring Shelter while I added some extra miles. The lush rain forest welcomed us with a gentle precipitation and I stayed comfortable in my wind shirt. To lighten my load, I used campsite bear cables to cache about three of the nine pounds of food and gear that I started with while I ran the Little River, Cucumber Gap and Rough Creek trails.
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| Pack list for first 60 miles, more or less |
When I reconnected with Mo at the bridge over Little River, we discussed how this river didn't look quite that little. Day 3 of the outing would involve a ford/swim much further downstream and I was a bit worried about how difficult it might be with the higher water levels. Creeks were raging as high up as BC 30, which made crossings a bit tricky.
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| Near BC 30 |
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| Top of Rough Creek |
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| Doghobble blooming |
Other obstacles included fallen trees and prickly overgrowth along upper Rough Creek and lower Goshen Prong. In said conditions, beauty abides in such things as blooms of doghobble, which usually get whacked back with routine maintenance. These trails hadn't seen too many humans recently. Our own first encounters were at Double Spring: three AT thru-hikers.
I got to the shelter shortly after 7 pm and set up my tarp nearby in cloudy and calm conditions. After dinner, I laid down under my quilt and listened to the rain pick up by dark. When it turned into a downpour, I would turn on my light to make sure my quilt was staying dry. I had to lower the tarp in the middle of the night to protect myself from blowing runoff. Sleep didn't come easily.
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| Somewhere along the AT |
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| View from Dripping Spring Mountain |
Day 2 started with a surprise: improving weather. Mo skipped the out and back to Greenbrier Ridge along the AT in favor of another shorter day back to his truck via Elkmont and on to BC 18. Sunshine and clearing views brought a smile to my face as I passed more hikers along the AT and Miry Ridge.
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| Ferns along Meigs Mountain |
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| The Sinks of Little River |
Slippery crossings along Meigs Creek followed by the sobering roar of The Sinks got me thinking again about the upcoming ford of Little River. Mo met me at Metcalf Bottoms where I resupplied and changed out clothes and shoes after a quick dip in the river. We drove down the road to scout out the Roundtop crossing for day 3 and decided that it looked doable. Onwards.
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| Dinnertime before firefly show @ BC 18 |
I bumped into a well-fed black bear at the start of West Prong in Tremont. Thankfully it was also well-versed with social distancing. Mo and I arrived about the same time to BC 18, he came in via Bote Mountain bearing firewood! We enjoyed a warmer and drier night at camp.
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| Swimming over to Roundtop |
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| Welcome to the jungle of Roundtop |
Day 3: after a fast fifteen miles on some well-loved trails, it was time to get wet! I used a trash compactor bag to waterproof my pack. Mo filmed the action before heading home. Ironically, everything was almost immediately soaked as I struggled to move quickly through the relentless overgrowth along Roundtop.
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| Laurels blooming |
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| That last climb knocked me off my feet |
The rain was picking up and I was starting to get cold. But then the trail opened up and my pace accelerated before I had to resort to putting on emergency layers. Soon I was on the last climb to the Laurel Falls trail intersection. Although it was only 4.5 miles all downhill to the car from here, I couldn't resist a shoes-off legs-up rest break.
What a wonderful workout! As of this writing, I am a third of the way through the
postman project.
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| 5 trips to GSMNP; 10 routes; 3d,16h,30m |
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