Hiking

[Crankin]

I would agree, Catrin. Praying that you have a good result.
So excited that we leave tomorrow for our trip! I don't even care anymore about the rain, aka, slippery rocks. I will handle it. Will post pictures.

[Catrin]

I would agree, Catrin. Praying that you have a good result.
So excited that we leave tomorrow for our trip! I don't even care anymore about the rain, aka, slippery rocks. I will handle it. Will post pictures.

Looking forward to the pictures! What a glorious time of the year for being out in the woods, wet rocks or not? I want to go hiking this weekend, but should allow my leg to heal before I go out as I can't trust myself to keep it short on dirt - perhaps some pavement walking. It was worth it all however!

[emily_in_nc]

Hi Catrin, Our hike yesterday was very nice. Most of the trails in the park were short, so we did as many trails as we could string together. I suspect we only hiked another four miles or so, but one trail was strenuous (basically stairs and switchbacks to and from the natural tunnel from the visitor's center, much higher up). It was short, though, so no problem. Lovely place!

Today was a different story. We checked into a gorgeous national forest campground in western TN, and did a hike this afternoon that we had no idea of the length of. The sign said 3.7 miles, but was that one way or round trip? We've found that different parks handle out and back trails differently, with some labeling the distance out and back, and some one-way. This one was one-way, and according to our GPS, that was a short estimate. We came up with 4.1 miles one-way, and it was very mountainous, which tends to short-change on miles, since the GPS can't always "see" where we are. Another sign we saw said it was 4.7 miles one way. Plus we had to walk to the trailhead and back, adding an extra half mile at least. So, I am guessing we did around 9-10 miles, more or less.

The hike took us up, up, up a mountain to an amazing overlook, then back down. It was rocky at times and the grade varied from easy to difficult. I definitely learned that I don't care for hikes like this, where you have to do all the climbing in one direction and all the descending in the other. It's tough on the body! I was sweating on the way up, and my heart was pounding at times. I would have loved just a bit of descending to rest, just like on a bike ride! Then on the way down, my left knee started bothering me, and even though I could breathe a lot better than when climbing, I could have used a break in that direction too, from the constant descent. It was a beautiful hike with stunning fall foliage (photos to follow as I haven't uploaded them yet), but a very tough trail for me.

[Catrin]

Sounds lovely! Where in West TN were you that there were mountains? The terrain sounds like East TN, I thought I was familiar with all of the mountains in my home state but obviously not

It would be great if all state parks and forests provided accurate distance information on their signage, for sure. Glad the overlook was worth it, but I can see how the trail difficulty was unexpected. West TN is more known for river delta topography and small rolling hills between the Mississippi River Delta and the beautiful ridges of central TN as you travel east to the mountains leading to Cumberland Gap and the Smoky mtns beyond. Excited to see your pictures!

[emily_in_nc]

Sounds lovely! Where in West TN were you that there were mountains? The terrain sounds like East TN, I thought I was familiar with all of the mountains in my home state but obviously not

Oh d'oh! We were in eastern Tennessee, of course. We had been in western Virginia for a couple of nights immediately prior, and I was pretty exhausted from the hike when I wrote the post, so it was simply a brain cramp. Thanks for noticing, Catrin!

We are in the Cherokee National Forest, the Rock Creek campground near Erwin, if you are familiar with this area. The trail was the Rattlesnake Ridge. Finally got the GPS track uploaded today only to discover the over 2700' of elevation gain on the way up. I am sore today, some in the quads but mostly on the outside of my buttocks, from all the climbing. We had hiked two days in a row prior to this in Va., not long but with some good climbs, so it was just a bit too much three days in a row.

The foliage was spectacular! The cold front came through overnight bringing rain, wind, and much, much cooler weather, so we are bundled up inside today and very glad we got this hike done yesterday while the conditions were so much better. A bit hot and humid but certainly nicer for leaf peeping!

[wnyrider]

That foliage does look gorgeous!

[Catrin]

BEAUTIFUL! Interesting that East TN is further along in fall colors than Indiana.

You had me excited that perhaps there were some hidden mountains in West TN Cherokee National Forest is gorgeous any time of the year, glad you were able to go! Also glad you're not TOO sore after the hike, that's a lot of climbing.

Looking back, I think that I already had at least mild shin splints prior to my 11-mile hike last week. THAT just sealed it. I'm chaffing at not hiking this weekend so I must be feeling better.

[emily_in_nc]

Yes, the foliage is way farther along here than anything we saw in Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Kentucky, or Virginia, which is where we were over the past two weeks. Of course, a lot can change in two weeks. We were only in Indiana for one night, in Shades State Park, and it was green as could be -- but that's been awhile now. We were there on October 5th.

The foliage in the photos I posted was on the way up on our hike, which started at over 2000' elevation and ended at over 4000', but we were closer to the higher of those numbers. Everyone says the foliage is later this year than usual, but we definitely hit the peak here in EASTERN Tennessee.

We are gonna hike on a waterfall trail today in the park, which is fortunately only 3-4 miles round-trip (again, depending on which sign you read!) I am still sore from the longer hike, but it's our last day here, so I'm doing it no matter what. Glad we did the longer hike first! It is chilly and blustery today; a real change from the hot conditions for our first hike!

Hope you're healed up and able to hike again soon, Catrin!

[Crankin]

First hike of the weekend is done.
We were really lucky with the weather. However, the area is socked in (we are by the ocean) with fog, and no views from any of the peaks. The foliage is still great, though.
We started out on a carriage road and then quickly ascended, through typical rocky, rooty stuff, but nothing horrible. We got to the top of the climb, about 940 feet. Lots of boulders. We ate a snack, and then shortly after getting off the summit, we had about 100 feet of going down a steep "chute," which was rocky. It would have been a bit scary if it had been dry, but it was wet. In fact the whole hike was wet. I did fine, I just went down on my azz in a couple of spots. After that, we had mostly descending, some up, and very rooty and rocky, but again, usual.
I slipped once, but with a graceful recovery and went down on a knee, without touching, on a stream crossing. I refused help and did it "all by myself." I used my poles on the scary descent and for awhile after, as it started raining for real, but once the rain stopped, I put them away. We ate lunch when we got to a carriage road before the last section of trail. I had bought some veggie brown rice sushi and it was the best! After that, we had about half a mail of trail and another mile of carriage road. It was about 6 miles.
So, we are the youngest in the group . There is a couple who have been married 60 years! There was one other woman who could hike as fast as DH and I was right behind them. The leaders told us to go ahead, but we could hear the group, and waiting at junctions. So my fears were unfounded and my new Mountain Hardware rain jacket is perfect. I wore my cycling rain pants today, after not using them for years.. I felt fine slowing on the scary parts and everyone was helpful. The leader had even been to one of the bike workshops DH and I do every spring.
I will not post pictures until we get back. Getting ready for happy hour and dinner.

[emily_in_nc]

Sounds like a nice hike, Crankin!

We did the waterfall hike today. It was only around 3 miles round trip, and our GPS showed just over 1000' of climbing. Like our long hike two days ago, it was all up to the waterfall and all down on the way back. Very rocky and about four creek crossings (the same creek!) but none difficult, lots of nice stable rocks. It was gorgeous! The leaves were a bit slippery from the rain yesterday, but neither of us fell. I was very glad to have my poles on the way down especially! We passed three younger folks on the way down.

In contrast to two days ago when I was in shorts and t-shirts and sweating, today was multiple layers and chilly. It was in the 40s with a strong breeze and almost no sun, especially deep in the creek crevass where we were hiking. Still, it was more comfortable than being too hot!

[Catrin]

Crankin, I look forward to seeing pictures when you've a chance. It sounds incredible!

Speaking of incredible, Emily I love YOUR pictures, and you look great - and happy - on the trail. Thanks for sharing!

Today is supposed to be the warmest day in a week for Indianapolis, and it will get to 72, they say. I really feel the need to move, to do SOMETHING, and I can't lift, don't know how to swim (shoulders probably couldn't handle that anyway), so I may try a very short walk on dirt and see what happens. When I mean short, I mean 1 mile or less, and the trail doesn't really connect with any other so that will decrease the temptation to go longer. I've also been told my hiking boots might be part of the problem so will try it with my Keenes.

[Crankin]

We had a 20 degree decrease in temperature from yesterday and it was windy today. Cloudy, too.
I can say, this was the hardest hike i've done. I didn't let any of the others hear my complaining, but there was a good deal of rock scrambling in the beginning. I was still the third one up, but I was crawling. So were others, though. At least today we had clear views of Echo Lake and the ocean, along with a variety of flora and fauna. Many of these people are naturalists (amateur and pro), but I am just not that interested in the 20 kinds of moss!
There were some tricky chutes/rocks when we had to get down from the peak (I can't even remember the name of the mountain), but I managed it. The peak had a fire tower, which was closed. Anyway, between my eye hurting, my knee aching, and the wind, it was all I could do from melting down. I am proud I did it, and it started to drizzle just as we were getting back. I had become chilled from stopping for lunch, although I really was dressed correctly. We hiked about 6 miles, with 1K ft. of climbing. I still can't believe some of these people did this, between some being over 80 years old, one with cancer, and 2 extremely overweight. The are motivated.
We are going into town on our own for a bit, before happy hour, and then out to dinner. I hope I can move for tomorrow's short hike.

[Catrin]

Crankin, sounds incredible! Thank you for the description, you are a strong woman indeed. Hopefully tomorrow's hike is more of a recovery hike. Looking forward to any pictures you may have been able to take. I hear you about not caring about 20 kinds of moss

Today I just did an extremely easy 1 mile loop in my hiking SHOES (Keenes), not my lovely Solomons just in case that's part of the problem. It's a few hours later and my left shin is complaining a little, so back to resting it. Well, at least it was a 1-mile FLAT, totally boring test. Not that long ago it would have been a mountain bike trail test, so perhaps I'm finally learning something.

While over-use injuries are never good things to have, I don't think it such a bad thing that I'm having to deal with such things at as I celebrate my 57th

[emily_in_nc]

I missed where you are, Crankin. Somewhere in New England? Congrats on finishing a tough hike -- I completely get how you were feeling! I almost, almost melted down on the long one we took a few days ago because DH took off to the summit without me. This is the hike that was nearly 3000' of climbing in the 4+ miles up (and the same descending on the way back). I thought my pace was decent, given the grade, but he is a much faster hiker than me and gets impatient. He did the same thing on the way back. I was proud of myself as I didn't pitch a fit or start a big fight with him afterwards; just calmly asked him why he took off without me and told him how it made me feel. He had a reasonable explanation having to do with the GPS and photo opportunities at the summit, but I asked him, in the future, to please tell me this ahead of time; don't just take off. He said he would and apologized.

It was one of those Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus moments, I think!

[emily_in_nc]

Sorry you're not able to hike much but glad you at least got in a little walk. Hope you will continue to heal up and be back to the type of hikes you like very soon!