An Ambitious and Foolhardy Enterprise

The East section of Appalachian Trail in the smokies has been the source of a variety experiences in my life. Unfortunately these have mostly been cold and wet experiences. So why should this past Friday have been any different right?

At 9AM Caitlin kicks us out of the car as we are reluctant to step out into the characteristic wind and showers of Newfound Gap. After a few moments of messing with gear and taking care of other needs, we staged for the "before" photo of this journey.

"If I had a dollar for every time I dropped you off at Newfound Gap in the rain"
Caitlin Worth

For this day's adventure we decided to attempt a run from Newfound Gap to Davenport Gap, a 31.4 mile section of trail with approximately 6,000ft of gain and 9,000ft of loss. Local trailrunner and racer Brian Williams also stepped up to the punishment and humility this section of trail has to offer. 

The day begin as I expected. Slowly. I led the trudge until we reached mile 10 at Peck's Corner. At this point,  Brian "The Flyin' Physicist" Williams took over and started running like a cat with a string of firecrackers tied to it's tail. I began to worry what lay in store for the final twenty miles.

Killin' It

A rare flat section

Brian significantly lowered our overall pace between Peck's Corner and the halfway point, Tricorner Knob. We left Tricorner in a little over three hours, feeling that this day could possibly be done in under six hours. Maybe. With a goal established, we began working to maintain some semblance of speed over the wet, windy, and rooty trail that crests the ridge of the smokies.

Thus begins what I refer to as the quiet miles. The moments of pleasant idle chatter are over. Your early morning energy and excitement have left you abandoned. Your ability to form thoughts erodes into merely being affected by passing notions. The wind and rain reduces your fine motor skills to the point where opening a pocket on your Camelbak feels like a huge accomplishment.

Finally, the weather begins to break. For the final ten miles I will only be tired, as opposed to tired and wet.

Proof of the outside world

Running again, as opposed to industrious hiking

Topping out on Mt. Guyout, I knew the worst of it was behind us. The conversation between Brian and I was something to the tune of "The part I hate is over, now all that's left is the section I only severely dislike." From here on out we had full sun and mostly downhill.

Near mile 24 Brian had to resolve some intestinal pressure and informed me that I should press on as it's "every man for himself at this point." I walked the last major climb of the day out of Low Gap and in the process consumed of every ounce sugar, salt, and caffeine I could find in my pack. Feeling somewhat renewed from the calories and walking, running the final seven miles seemed possible again.

North of Mt. Cammerer, Looking towards Mt. Sterling

Pink Lady Slipper at Davenport Gap

Five hours and forty seven minutes after we began, I reached Davenport Gap. What began as a soggy, cold morning was now a warm and sunny April afternoon. A few moments were passed chatting with a thru-hiker named "blondie" (who graciously accepted the spare snacks I had in my car) and then in short order Brian came along, scooting in just under six hours at 5hr58min. After a few minutes of stretching and re-hashing the day we decided we should run together again some time, but it doesn't always have to be so far...

"After"

Charts, Graphs, and Stats:

The Route 

Elevation Profile

Splits:

                                     Net Time    Splits

Charlie's Bunion---------46:01

Peck's Corner-----------2:00:31   1:14:37

Tricorner Knob----------2:28:51   58:14

Low Gap----------------4:37:10   1:38:18

Davenport Gap----------5:47:11   1:09: 58