8/13/11 – Brian, Shawn, Davis, and Tyler hiked what will be the first leg of our adventure – Boulevard Trail up, Bull Head down. We will be doing this trail in the dark, since we’re starting at midnight. We tried to keep a pace similar to what it might be using headlamps.
We met at the Nantahala Outdoor Center in Gatlinburg at 8am. Shawn and I took our cars to Cherokee Orchard and Davis’ dad, Woody, took us to Newfound Gap to begin our hike. We had very confortable weather for a hike – no rain.
Notes:
- Started north on the Appalachian Trail at 9:12am
- Arrived at the Boulevard trail (2.7 mi) at 10:11am
- Made it to the top at 12:12pm
- Spent about 40 minutes eating lunch at Myrtle Point
- Refilled water at the lodge and started down Bull Head at 1:18pm
- Encountered a 6′ long black snake
- With a couple of miles to go, Tyler and Davis took off running after walking across a nest of yellow jackets – Davis got stung twice, and Tyler and I got stung once. Shawn was apparently quick enough on his feet to avoid them. We created a barracade across the trail and wrote the word “BEES” in the trail using sticks.
- Got back to the car at 3:54pm
- Total miles: 16, Hiking time: ~6 hrs
- Started from Cherokee Orchard at 3pm
- Made it to Rainbow Falls at 3:45pm
- Final 0.6 miles is straight and UP
- Made it to the lodge at 5:10pm – didn’t stop on the way up; ate while walking
- Spent about 10 minutes at top filling up water and having an energy bar
- Made it to Trillium Gap at 6:30pm
- Reached Grotto Falls at 7pm
- Started the connector trail from Trillium Gap trailhead to Rainbow Falls trailhead (where I parked) at 7:15pm
- The connector trail is hard-packed and gently rolling – I ran several stretches of it. Came across a yellow jacket’s nest and got stung once on the back of the leg.
- Made it back to the car at 7:50pm
- Total miles: 15.6, Hiking time: 3h50min
- Started at 11:45am
- Encountered rain about an hour in – it lasted about an hour (just enough to get really wet feet)
- Covered the first 5.5 miles from Greenbriar to Trillium Gap in 2.5 hrs
- Arrived at High Point at 4pm (4h15m of hiking)
- Spent 30 minutes at top for lunch
- Side-hiked the Brushy Mtn peak – it is definitely more than the 0.2 miles they advertise!
- Made it back to the car at 7:45pm
- New shoes did great – no problems with my feet, in spite of the rain
- Total miles: 19, Hiking time: 8 hrs
7/4/11 – Brian, along with his wife Tina, hiked the Alum Cave Trail to LeConte. Their friends Jim and Nancy joined them for the first half of the hike – up to Alum Cave Bluffs.
Notes:
- Started at 9am
- Arrived at Alum Cave Bluffs at 10:30am
- Made it to the top at 1pm
- Spent about 20 minutes at the top eating lunch
- Ran into our friends Ben, April, and Rush Mills on the way down
- Heavy rain began about halfway down – we got soaked to the bone
- Got back to the car at 4pm
- Total miles: 11, Hiking time: 7 hrs
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