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Route 18 (red): 6 miles; 5.2 new; 1:15
Route 19 (blue): 46.8 miles (plus 3.2 road); 45.2 new; 11:54
Route 20 (purple): 27.8 miles; 25.4 new; 7:40
Route 21 (green): 8 miles; 6.6 new; 2:12
Route 22 (orange): 31.3 miles; 27.1 new; 8:53 |
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| +1,228', -1,855' |
Tuesday afternoon, 9/1: I drove in solo (with road bike in back) to Cades Cove CG with the goal of turning the lemons of recent life challenges into lemonade. Having never been to this corner of the park I was excited to spend four days on the
postman out here, but also intimidated by lingering heat and humidity.
I set up tent, locked bike at campsite and drove a few miles into Cades Cove. After parking at the turn-off for Hyatt Lane, I road ran up Rich Mountain to Indian Grave Gap to start an uneventful six mile trail run with an out-and-back spur. Back to camp (after biking to retrieve car), I prepped for a 50-mile day two.
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| +9,496', -9,468'. |
Wednesday, 9/2: I got up at 6, had coffee, banana and bagel with cream cheese and jogged up to the TH by 6:50 am. Low clouds hung over the picturesque valley. A gentle breeze greeted me atop the ridge, but I could already feel the sauna starting. This boundary-line traverse passed quickly to Ace Gap by 10:30 am.
Down into uncharted low country of Beard Cane, I surrendered to the soaking wetness that is summer running in the Smokies. After a thousand creek crossings and a million spider webs (more or less), I emerged onto a nearly deserted Abrams Falls parking lot at 12:20 pm. God bless car-free Cades Cove Wednesdays!
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Morning view from Rich Mountain
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Lower Beard Cane
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An empty Abrams Falls parking lot
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Only a few bikers passed me as I jogged on the road for three miles up to another abandoned lot at Gregory Ridge TH. I submerged myself in Forge Creek to escape some prehistoric-sized horse flies and to cool off prior to the big climb of the day up to Gregory and on to the AT. Any relief was very short lived.
3:20 pm: I joined up with the AT and met my first hiker of the day at Mollies Ridge Shelter. I was less focused on conversing than on rehydrating and pouring cold water over my head and torso to lower my body temperature. I'd later pass this hiker as I doubled back from Spence Field.
Russell Field was beautiful in the evening light. After pounding down Anthony Creek, I made it to the picnic area and bathed in the creek before returning to camp. Over the course of the day, my stomach had gone south on me. Thankfully I'd thought ahead and brought lots of fruit (bananas, grapes, oranges) and cold ginger fizzy water to help recovery. I still couldn't stomach much of a dinner. I packed for day three.
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Near Spence Field
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Evening light on Russell Field
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| +4,374', -4,371' |
Thursday, 9/3, wash, rinse and repeat: except this time I hopped on my bike at 7 am and skirted by a line of cars waiting for Cades Cove gate to open at 8 am. I had the loop to myself and relished the experience of zipping through a quiet misty valley watching the light of sunrise and the full "corn moon" in the sky.
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| Biking in Cades Cove |
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| Misty morning, Cades Cove |
7:30 am: I locked my bike to a tree off in the woods and set out up Rabbit Creek. My "quick dry" clothing was quickly and permanently soaked for the day. I learned to simply wear less of it and would periodically strip down and wring out my shirt and shorts on the go. One wardrobe item that I kept on was compression sleeves for my calves: they protected my legs from the brushy and briar-choked trails.
I forded waist-deep Abrams Creek at 9:20 am and connected to the westernmost trails of the park via Little Bottoms. I enjoyed the views overlooking Abrams gorge before getting onto the wider and faster Cooper Rd, Gold Mine and Cane Creek trails. I felt an urgency to get back to the swimming holes along Abrams and passed park staff chopping overgrowth along Hatcher Mountain on my descent.
To my dismay, scenic Abrams Falls was a circus when I arrived at 2:30 pm. I opted out of swimming among the crowds and found a nice quiet hole to cool off in further upstream. After a second cleansing dip closer to the TH, I retrieved my bike and air-dried on my ride back to the campground in one-way bumper-to-bumper traffic. My first order of business was to hit up the short order menu at Cades Cove camp store.
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Fording Abrams Creek
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Overlook from Little Bottoms
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Hatcher Mountain freshly chopped
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Standing room only, Abrams Falls
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Recovery meal
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| +2,247', -2,247' |
5 pm: I was charged up from my recovery meal and ready to add an 8-mile bonus loop up Anthony Creek and back down Lead Cove and Crib Gap to cap off the day. It's a good thing I offloaded these miles from my fourth and final day as a long-lasting thunderstorm arrived overnight and threatened my plans.
Friday, 9/4: it was still pouring when I awoke at 6. I waited out the storm for another hour before quickly breaking camp. I hurried to Bote Mountain TH, parked the car and got on my bike to beat traffic on an exhilarating morning descent down to the road into Tremont. Finally at 8:45 am I was at the start: Middle Prong TH.
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| +6,956', -7,280' |
Creeks were raging as the rain resumed. I was committed. "It's only a 50K," I told myself. My feet disagreed with this assessment. Even after switching between three pairs of shoes (admittedly high mileage and minimal), three days of soaking wetness and perpetual pounding had done a number on them.
I popped some ibuprofen. Eventually the rain let up and blue skies began to peek out as I ascended to the AT. The heat and humidity wasn't done with me yet. At 2 pm I tried my best to cool off at the spring at Derrick Knob Shelter prior to the notoriously rugged, but beautiful ridge traverse to Thunderhead.
3:50 pm: I made it to the panoramic perch of Rocky Top. It was time to release the brakes and descend Bote Mountain. My feet weren't too happy about this, but it was short-lived and I was back to the car in under nine hours. After retrieving the bike and one more bath in the creek, I left the Smokies. Hopefully these were the last summer outings. Bring on the Fall!
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| Middle Prong |
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Miry Ridge
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| Rocky Top |
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