SNAKE!!!

Yesterday, I hiked in the Gorges State Park area of WNC. The trail is just west of Rosman & takes you down to Lake Jocasee. As you can see, I came across a beautiful snake along the trail! Many ask if the snakes scare me when I hike. Well, believe it or not, just beyond this snake was a much more dangerous obstacle - a fast moving water crossing! Hikers are more likely to slip, fall and drown in low water if they don't respect these crossings. This snake was just sunning himself and minding his own business! The hike started out as an "easy" 11 miler. When I reached Lake Jocassee, there was a sign showing a different trail back to the car. The only thing missing was the distance from where I was to the other trail intersection. My estimate was 3.5 -4 miles. It turned out to be 5+ miles so I ended up with my second 18 mile hike of the month! If you think that's not far, look down on your odometer in your can the next time you drive and see how far 18 miles is! With the hikes this month, I have reached 174 miles - right on track for my 600 mile year.



Upper Creek Falls

Saturday's hike was part of the Carolina Mountain Clubs Mountain Treasures Camporee. We camped in the Mortimer Campground - a National Forest Campground. This campground sits deep in the mountains above Morganton. To get there you drive along Wilson Creek on dirt roads with extreme drop offs down to the river. You DO NOT want to day dream along here or you are liable to run off the road. The hike was scenic with plenty of wild flowers out in bloom and various waterfalls. A good part of the trail followed old railroad grades that were used to remove timber from this area. Overall, we covered about 12 miles and that was enough for me for the day. Needless to say, it was nice to be in a National Forest Campground - showers were available and there were no rules against having a beer!!! 

Twentymile Cascade

Twentymile Cascade

On Friday I managed to complete my longest hike yet - 18 miles. To make it even better, I was able to finish in just seven hours - one hour longer than my previous high of 15 miles. I was hiking in the Twentymile area of the Great Smokey Mountains National Park. As usual, the views were exceptional and the trails were tranquil. The highlight of the hike was getting to pass some of this years AT thru hikers. I passed 16 of them and have to wonder which ones will make it to Katahdin. According to the statistics, 1/2 of them will make it to Harpers Ferry at the midway point, and only 25% will complete all 2181 miles. So, maybe I saw 4 who will complete the full AT. It really makes you think because every one of them has every intention of completing the trail - what makes the difference? So, now my mileage stands at 135 with just 465 more to go!