Los Tres Adventuros

The last three weekends have yielded some great weekend adventures.

Three weeks ago, the Madman family spent a week in Elijay, GA and managed to get in several hikes near the start of the Appalachian Trail. I was able to get in two trail runs and a mtb ride along Bear Creek Trail. Highly recommended by my Knoxville riding friends, I found it to be a sweet sample of north Georgia trails with their typical smooth (rock and root free) trails and flowing lines. Bear Creek requires several miles of climbing and some creek crossing before the drop back to the trail head along four miles of swoopy fast trails and occassional whoop-dee-doos.

Last weekend, I put in my first trail race of the season and ran a beautiful trail in Fall Creek Falls. The race took us 12.5 miles along Upper Creek--a very moderate bit of elevation gain and only a few hard climbs interrupted by a few stream crossings and much zig-zagging through hard wood forest. This trail is featured in a fall 6 hour mtb race that I'm going to give serious thoughts to entering. The race field was only 62 runners, but it was a fast group. I brought up the tail of the lead "peleton" and slowly worked my way up through the pack for the next 90 minutes. I found my groove on a good, fast pace with two female runners and we worked together over the first 6 miles to keep a cadence that rolled up a few male runners. As the trail turned up, I kept my goal of "no walking" and held a steady cadence up a couple sections of elevation gain, dropping my two companions in the process. The last few miles were tough technically as the course alternately went through a series of short climbs followed by very twisty though flat section of trail that weaved through the dense forest. I caught a glimpse and slowly reeled in, on the climbs, the lead female runner, but as we hit the 1 mile ashpalt road to the finish, she opened it up and finished a minute ahead of me. My time was 1:51:06. Good enough for 17th overall and 3rd in my age group. I took satisfaction in knowing my time was faster than either the 35-39 or 40-44 age group males and gave me a trail run mid-distance PR of sub 10minutes!

Finally, this weekend, I was able to finish the Little Bottom's loop in the GSNP. Another wet run with rain threatening at the outset but wholly satisfactory once again. My route required a river crossing through thigh deep and cold water that actually felt quite refreshing! The loop had only a few serious climbs and some seriously fund and steep descents. The flats weren't much of a picnic as they were the typical Tennessee mix of sharp blocks of rocks or toe-biting roots. Both conspire to slow the runner or --more preferably it seems-- send him to the ground. Running the GSNP is turning out to be a fabulous way to explore this beautiful park, however, and I'm enjoying every running opportunity. Although spring blossoms are abundent in the valley, up a few thousand feet the trees still are holding back. A few early blossoms and wildflowers are there and make for a great preview of what I hear is an awesome spring vista along these trails.

Running on Little Bottoms

Not often do you get to run along Little Bottoms, but this trail along Abram's Creek was as delightful as the name implies.

What was supposed to be a 8 mile loop turned into a 7.4 out-and-back when I discovered I had left my map in the car back at the trail head a few miles to the south of my tracks. Ah, the shriveling mind of the aging athlete.

No matter, rain threatening, a full water bladder, a rain jacket in my pack, and the backup plan was written on a trail head marker: Abram's Creek Trail that way.... So off I trotted.

Little Bottom Trail began with a wet crossing of a storm-laden creek followed by a steep ascent to the ridge overlooking the river. An equally short but sharp drop back down the water along a root and rock filled path slowed the pace but the main fight was keeping my eyes from being too distracted by the beautiful views of river, rhododendron, and hard wood trees.

Running in the Smokies during the winter is as equally beautiful and interesting as summer. Leaves are gone, laying bare the view of fascinating views of steep ridge lines, rock outcroppings, and curving topography. I wished to have seen bear, but seeing the woods bare wasn't bad either. That it was bare along the Little Bottoms wasn't too bad at all.

My turn-around point, I later found out, lay less than a quarter mile from the trail branch that would have allowed me to do the loop. Guess, I'll have to go check out the Little Bottoms again.