When Mother Nature throws a tantrum

Last night after I lay down to sleep, I decided that I wanted to go hiking today.  So at 10:45 last night I got out of bed to throw my kit together and set my alarm for 5 am.  As is usual for me when I have plans, I woke up before the alarm went off and was out the door at 5:15.  Unfortunately, it takes an hour and forty five minutes to get to Cades Cove from my house.  In my excitement and rush this morning, I didn't grab a camera so the shots I do have come from my iphone.  Not the greatest quality, but better than nothing.

I parked my car at the Missionary Baptist Church on the Cades Cove Loop road and walked about a mile down the road to the Cooper Road trailhead.  I wanted to get that portion of road walking over with in the morning before the crowd became too heavy to walk along the road.  Along the way I stopped to snap a shot of the fields and mountains across the Cove.

Soon after I started walking on the Cooper Road Trail I spotted a black bear sow and two cubs.  She and I shared a few tense moments as I attempted to convince her that all I wanted to do was get past her and her cubs.  No pics of the bears, I didn't want to risk her going crazy on the paparazzi.  

Cooper Road Trail showed a bit of damage from the tornadoes that tore through the western edge of the park in 2011.

Luckily this giant survived the damage.

At the intersection of Cooper Road Trail and Beard Cane Trail, I turned right onto Beard Cane.  I knew that the tornadoes had done a lot of damage to the area, but I wasn't prepared for the amount of devastation.  The trail only recently reopened after a path was finally cleared through the mess.  

The hill pictured should be covered in trees the size of the one leaning in the center.   

The picture below shows what the area looked like below the damage.  The three previous pictures should all look like this one.

At the end of Beard Cane I turned right onto Ace Gap Trail and followed it to Rich Mountain Road.  I turned right onto Rich Mountain Road for a 100 yards or so and then turned left onto Rich Mountain Trail.  Soon after starting on the trail I heard something moving in the underbrush.  It sounded too large to be a squirrel, but to small to be a bear or deer.  When I finally found the culprit, I was surprised to see a raccoon looking back at me.  The word mountain in the name should have been a clue that I was about to do some serious climbing, but it still caught me off guard.  

Luckily, there were several things blooming on the trail to stop and admire/catch my breath.  Rosebay Rhododendron was blooming in several places.  

Flame azaleas were also showing some life.  

But the highlight was two, late Pink Lady Slippers.  I was surprised to see them this late in the season.

At the end of Rich Mountain Trail, I turned right onto Indian Grave Gap.  I had previously done part of this trail, but had some to finish up.  

Sweetshrub was blooming along Indian Grave Gap.

A few breaks along the trail gave views into Cades Cove from above.

Blisters and all, I was still smiling at the end of the trail.  Unfortunately, I still had over two miles of road walking to do along Rich Mountain Road.

Even road walking has its moments though!

If you look very closely, you can see the Methodist Church in the center.  

23.2 total miles today, plus or minus a few tenths depending on how well I measured the road walking parts. In addition to the three bears and raccoon, I also saw three turkeys, two pileated woodpeckers, several deer and more squirrels and chipmunks than I have ever seen while hiking.

As always, I can't wait to get back in the woods!

Vegetable Garden

After several rain delays, we were finally able to plant our vegetable garden. Corn, rattlesnake beans, blue lake beans, squash, zucchini, cucumbers, peppers and tomatoes all went in the ground. Now, we wait! 

Scenes from the yard

When our yard swing started to break down from the effects of weathering, we gave it a new life as a shelf for plants along the back wall of the basement.

Pallet table

Browsing on Pinterest, a snow day and an accumulated stack of pallets to recycle led to a new table for the front porch. I used 3x3 beams from a mobile home company to make the legs. The cross pieces are made from the pallet vertical pieces. I used the cutouts for the pallet forks as design elements. The flat surfaces of the table are made from the flat pieces of the pallets. I used about 2 1/2 pallets to make the table.

Back on the trail.

Marathon training put a major dent into the amount of time I had to devote to hiking.  Now that the marathon is behind me, I can refocus onto to other things that I truly enjoy.  After studying my calendar, I finally decided that I could take last Friday off without the world coming to an end.  Due to unforeseen circumstances, I changed my planned hike at the last minute.  Some hikes I have planned have a destination of some sort at the end.  It might be a waterfall, a tower, or an amazing view.  Others are just meandering strolls or death marches through the woods.  I like to do the destination hikes when someone goes with me.  I prefer to be on my own for the death marches so no one is contemplating pushing me over an edge or throwing rocks at me.

For this hike I chose a 21 mile semi-lollipop hike leaving from Cosby Campground.  Over the course of the 21 miles, I gained and lost over 5000 vertical feet.  I climbed up Low Gap II, then descended Low Gap I.  I turned right onto Big Creek trail until it became Camel Gap trail.  I followed Camel Gap back up to the Appalachian Trail.  At the AT I turned left and hiked up to the Snake Den Ridge trail intersection then turned around and hiked back down the AT all the way to Low Gap.  I finished by hiking back down Low Gap II to my car.

The lower reaches of the Low Gap II trail are a nice, pretty trail.  It skirts the edge of the campground following a stream.  There were wildflowers galore.  There are several pretty cascades along this section of trail.  

Soon after the trail left the stream, I saw these Painted Trillium growing alongside the trail.  I spent many hours with a hiking pal looking for these in seasons past.  For that reason I always get excited when I find them.  These were growing so close to the trail that I didn't even have to leave the trail to take a picture.  I saw more later on the Camel Gap trail as well.

After I saw the Painted Trillium, Low Gap II quickly became the trail that I remembered from a previous trip:  steep and rocky.  But any day on the trail is a good day so onward and upward I continued.  At the end of my first trail I came to the intersection on Low Gap II, Low Gap I and the Appalachian Trail.  I paused for just a moment and then quickly headed down Low Gap I.  I found it a much more pleasant trail.  There were large numbers of wildflowers along the trail.  Near the bottom of the mountain I saw several rockwalls and a chimney.  I had miles to go so I wasn't able to give them more than a cursory glance today.

At the end of Low Gap I,  I came to Big Creek Trail.  I had previously hiked up Big Creek trail to this intersection, but had been no further.  It is always interesting to me to come to an intersection that I have been to before.  I always take a moment to recall my previous time or times there and to reflect on what has changed since then.  My previous visit to this intersection had been on a hike with a friend to visit the Mount Sterling Fire Tower.

Turning to the right quickly brought me to the end of Big Creek Trail and the start of Camel Gap trail.  There is no clear reason to me why the trail changes names.  The trail does become a bit narrower after it becomes Camel Gap, but it is still a very pleasant trail.  

Camel Gap continues along the stream with some nice views of small waterfalls along the way.  About a mile from the end of the trail, Camel Gap swings to the right and begins to climb the mountain much more steeply.  Along this section I did see several more Painted Trillium.  

The end of Camel Gap brought me back to the Appalachian Trail.  I did some quick calculations and decided that I had plenty of time and water to make an out and back trip to the Snake Den Ridge trail head to tie up a loose end on my map.  I can't say this was the most pleasant section of trail I have hiked.  It had some great views, but I had to be focused on the many rocks on the trail.  Some would slide with me, others would just stub my toe.

I did manage to look up and see this great view of Balsam Mountain across the valley.  Low Gap I and Camel Gap had taken me into the valley between the mountains today.  Another day, I will be hiking along the ridgetop across the valley.

The junction with Snake Den Ridge was my turn around for the day.  The last time I was at this intersection was under much different circumstances.  I was doing a loop from Cosby Campground and decided to do the short segment to finish Snake Den Ridge.  In my effort to finish the trail, I was blind to the storm clouds gathering overhead.  By the time I made it to this intersection I was in the middle of one of the worst thunderstorms I have ever been in.  Thunder was booming overhead and on more than one occasion I heard lightening strike trees on the mountain top above me.  I ended up sprinting two miles down the mountain in an attempt to get below the storm.  By the time I had gotten out of the storm, I was running through six inches of water on the trail.  Not a scenario that I hope to repeat again.

This hike brought much more pleasant conditions.  I paused briefly at the intersection before turning to head back along the AT.  Following the AT brought me back to the Camel Gap intersection.  The section of AT between the Camel Gap and Low Gap intersections was much more pleasant.  There were huge patches of Spring Beauty and Trout Lily blooming.  I was walking through a a high altitude flower garden.  I quickly came back to the Low Gap intersection where I turned down Low Gap II towards Cosby Campground.

Near the end of Low Gap II, there are multiple connector trails to the campground.  I completed a couple of these to be able to mark them off my map.  The footbridge and waterfall above were along one of these connectors.

It felt great to be back in the woods.  I can't wait to start marking more miles off my map.

Marathon Goals

The Covenant Health Knoxville Marathon is three weeks from today.  Yesterday was my final monster training run.  Twenty miles covered and three hours of time spent running leaves plenty of time for thinking.  If I am not conscious and aware of my thinking my brain turns into a scrolling laundry list of physical complaints:  left knee hurts, right instep burns, right knee hurts, hitch in my side, sweat in my eyes, left calf feels like a cramp in the making, left knee hurts, right instep burns, right knee hurts, hitch in my side, sweat in my eyes, left calf feels like a cramp in the making, and on and on and on.

Yesterday I devoted some of my run to setting goals for the real marathon.  I already have my time related goals set, so I was thinking more about qualitative goals related to being in the moment and enjoying the experience.  In setting my goals, I tried to concentrate on positive statements.

I will run the entire 26.2 miles.  I want to end the race saying I ran the whole way and did not walk at any point.

I will be aware of the race route.  The race route travels some nice neighborhoods and parks that I am familiar with as well as some areas that I am less familiar with.  I want to be as aware as possible of these settings.

I will take time to acknowledge the volunteers who make the race possible.  Without the volunteers who give their time, there would be no Knoxville Marathon.  I want to be sure that I acknowledge these hardworking folks who make it possible for me to be running the race.

I will be aware of my fellow runners.  Even though we are all running the same race, each runner is running their own race.  I want to be aware of those around me and what their race might be.

I will stay positive.  My body will hurt.  At times, I may doubt if I will finish.  But, this is a goal that I have set for myself.  It is something that I will see through til the end.

The most beautiful place on Earth...

On our first trip to Yellowstone National Park in June of 2010, we were too busy, too unprepared and too scared to hike.  We limited our walks to the boardwalks and a few short steps from the roads.  When we returned in June 2011, we had much more time, were much more prepared and at least a bit less scared.  In the months leading up to the trip we scoured the internet, park literature and multiple books to select hikes that would allow us to experience a different aspect of the park.  We chose several different hikes that we potentially wanted to do.  As we looked at our options, the Trout Lake Trail came up again and again.  It was a short trail which added to its appeal.  The round trip is less then two miles.  When we returned to the park in August 2012, the only trail that we repeated was the Trout Lake Trail.

On our first trip, there was still snow on the mountaintops and we could feel the cold in the valley.  We checked the information at the trailhead and started up the trail.

Up is certainly a good way to describe the start of this trail, though it is short, it climbs a fair bit in the first half mile.  Once at the top though, any doubt about whether the trail will be worth it are quickly erased.  The lake sits in what has to be one of the most beautiful spots on Earth.  Mountains are reflected in the still water as wildlife seem to enjoy the idyllic setting.

In June 2011, there was still much snow on the mountains.  There was only a bit of green ringing the lake.

In August 2012, the snow was all gone.  The areas surrounding the lake were covered in green.

A stream feeds the lake and then exits at lower end.  There is a long footbridge across the outlet from the lake allowing you to make a complete circuit around the lake.

At the inlet to the lake, there is a much shorter footbridge spanning the creek.  There was still some snow around the lake when we visited in 2011.

In 2012, the snow around the lake had been replaced by lush grass and greenery.

Climbing a small hill beside the lake gives long views into Lamar Valley.  Far away, in the middle ground, you can just make out Soda Butte Cone in the photo below.

Even though the lake is only a short hike away from the road, it is secluded enough that wildlife abounds.  In 2011 we were hoping to see otters, but had to make due with a Goldeneye instead.

In 2012, we were lucky enough to see two otters at the lake.  We watched them swim for several minutes before leaving the lake and heading down the outlet creek.

 The water is clear enough to see the namesake trout of the lake.

Heading back down the trail shows views of the upper reaches of Lamar Valley.

The combination of seclusion, setting and wildlife makes Trout Lake one of our favorite spots in one of our favorite spots.  If all goes as planned, we hope to have 2013 photos of the lake after our next visit to the park.