Fighting Creek Loop

Fighting Creek Gap
Great Smoky Mountains National Park
24.5 miles  ~ 4,500ft elevation gain    3hr56min
3/29/11

Monday consisted of mild aches and a uh "disruption" of my stomach function. I woke up Tuesday feeling some better, but still thinking I should probably just rest and recover. This thought soon evaporated as Tuesday appeared to be the only quality weather day of the week. So I decided to convince whatever stomach critter I had that my body was a terrible place to live by hitting the trails for my weekly long trail run.

It's no double ascent of LeConte, but still a bruiser

Ran the loop counter-clockwise, beginning with Laurel Falls Trail

I'd hoped to get on trail before the mobs began walking up to Laurel Falls, but 9:45 was not an early enough start time and I had to share the trail with at least 30-40 people between the parking lot and falls. Fortunately the pavement ends past the falls, as do the crowds. 

In the first 3.1 miles, you gain just over 1,300ft in elevation. It makes for a pretty sorry 5k time, it took me about 36min to hit the Little Greenbrier Trail.

Headed downhill after a rough first 3 miles

Looking into the Little River Gorge from Little Greenbrier Trail

The run down to Metcalf Bottoms was smooth sailing, 4.5 miles of well graded downhill and good footing. Cruising through this section was a reminder of why I spend so much time running trails.

I spent a little too much time playing photographer (which happened all day), but still hit Metcalf Bottoms in an 1hr 15min. The fun momentarily stopped here as I had another steady climb to put behind me on the Curry Mtn. Trail.

Hanging a left onto the Meigs Mtn Trail

While running on Meigs Mtn I may have discovered a new form of cross-training. I spent a lot of my time on this trail running a few hundred yards and then dropping to ground to photograph the abundance of wildflowers along the trail (after about two hours of running this is not easy).

Rue Anemone

Trout Lilies

When I wasn't on the ground taking photos, I must have been moving along pretty well. I hit the Huskey Gap Trail, roughly the 19 mile mark in 3hr 7min. A little bit quicker than I had anticipated. My plan was to try and pick up the pace for the last 5 miles, but I just kept getting sidetracked.

White Trillium

Finally I did get down to business, running the last 5.5 miles or so in 49 minutes. The pace for the entire run came out to about 9:40 min/mile, way ahead of what I though I would do for this route. I'm definitely glad I decided to hit the trail today, maybe I convinced this stomach bug to hit the trail as well.

Just Taking a Walk

Sometimes it probably seems like all we do is work and run. That is the story of your life when you live with someone that has a self proclaimed "addiction" to running. Don't get me wrong, I am happy to be keeping my heart healthy with my 5 (sometimes +) days per week of cardio, but sometimes when I get home from work, I feel like I have been literally running all day.

Yesterday was no different....so I was happy to see Dave sound asleep on the couch. Mind you he had run upwards of 24 miles in the park, while I was working (blog post to come)... so he was pretty worn out. This is the perfect condition to find him in on a day when I could use a break.

SO instead of doing nothing and wasting the only beautiful day in weeks we went for a walk.

Ogle Rd. one of our fav runs in the Burg

Sometimes you just need to take a walk. I have always considered running therapeutic, but not something you can really do while you chat with your husband(at least not with a husband as fast as mine). This walk was perfect for the day.

I have a point and shoot...but bluebird on the fence

We had a feeling this would be a good bird walk, and it was. Lots of bluebirds, downy woodpeckers, field and chipping sparrows, cardinals. Nothing to write home about, but it is always fun to get out there and knock some of the rust off of your id skills.

This may be the only time you will see Dave stationary on this blog.

It certainly was a great day for a walk. Just a chance to take a break, and hang out together was perfect for an afternoon like we had yesterday. There were so many things to see along this route that I usually miss, I felt lucky that we decided to just take it slow for once....But for today, back to the grind :). -----Caitlin----

Solid Spring Runs: Old Sugarlands Loop

Old Sugarlands/Twin Creeks/Gatlinburg Trails
Gatlinburg, GSMNP
~10mi


For most of us, the "after work run" is typically something we sneak in on the treadmill or around the neighborhood. This is usually the case for myself as well, but now that the days are once again stretching out to a reasonable length I find my after work runs are also stretching out.

Route Map

The Sugarlands Loop is about 3/4ths trail running with some road running mixed in and is one of my "go to" runs for Spring. As with all the runs I like, it has plenty of uphill too.

Elevation Profile

As a run this route is better attempted counter-clockwise, beginning at the Sugarlands Visitor Center. This trail is a rarity in the Smokies; it's wide, runnable, and has a minimal amount of roots.  

The first mile and a half of Old Sugarlands Trail are spent along the West Prong of the Little Pigeon River, after you pass through a former Civilian Conservation Corp camp you begin a two mile climb up to Cherokee Orchard. As you climb, you're offered a few excuses to stop and take photos.

Looking Toward Sugarland Mountain

3.9 miles from your start point, the Old Sugarlands Trail spits you out at Cherokee Orchard. The significant climbing is over and the descent towards Gatlinburg begins. Initially, there is a short half mile section of road running until you reach the Noah Bud Ogle place. From there you can pick up the Twin Creeks Trail just behind the homestead.

Noah Bud Ogle Place

Twin Creeks Trail parallels Cherokee Orchard road and will take you out of the park to Gatlinburg. At the end of Twin Creeks I typically  run straight through town to River Road. Hang a left at River Rd. and you'll pick up the Gatlinburg Trail in short order. There is a "cheat route" around town via Mynatt Park, but you gotta find that one on your own just like I did.

Gatlinburg Trail is a most patient and forgiving trail, I think it might really be downhill both ways. The final 1.9 miles are a wide and rolling section of trail that traces the river and takes you past several old homesites, look for reminders along side the trail.

What I like most about this run is seeing the contrasts between how we used to live and where we are now. I always enjoy wondering what some of the original locals would think about what Gatlinburg now looks like. The old homesteads could warrant hours of investigation, but for a guy out for a run after work I suppose just quietly striding past will suffice.

Double Dippin': Back to Back Runs up Mt. LeConte

Mt. LeConte
Great Smoky Mountains National Park
24.5 miles  5hr25min
~7,000ft elevation gain

I've kept telling myself all Winter/Spring that as soon as we get a really nice warm day I'd do a double run of Mt. LeConte. With yesterdays temps reaching eighty degrees, I decided it was time to own up to this foolish notion.

Up Alum, Down Bullhead, Up Rainbow, Down Alum

My mapping software put the total elevation gain around 10,000ft, my best guess is that it's closer to 7,000ft

A terrible idea

In the initial miles, there was the temptation to see if I could lower my PR for Alum Cave Trail. Luckily I quickly came to my senses, realizing that if I was going to enjoy the other 20 miles of the days run I'd better back off the pace. I hit leconte lodge in a little over 57min before making the side trip to the official summit.

Before heading down Bullhead Trail I stopped at leconte lodge to top off the water bottles and say hello to the staff. The trip down Bullhead was sweet. I was happy with my decision to descend Bullhead instead of Rainbow because the footing is exponentially better. In the lower stretches there were also quite a few early season wildflowers.

Let's not be hasty Hepatica

I hit the Rainbow Falls Trailhead 2hrs and 26min into the run. I can't say I was especially excited about the 6.5 mile climb back up the mountain, but I managed to maintain a decent pace until just past the falls. Things got a little ugly after that. The eighty degree heat had me fighting off leg cramps for the remainder of the ascent.

On the initial trip up there wasn't much to see, but by the time I topped out at the summit again things had cleared out.

No side trip to Myrtle Point today

The idea of finding a nice sunny spot to lie down came across my mind more than once while on the summit. Instead I just guzzled some tasty leconte water and shot the breeze with the staff a minute before making the trip back down Alum. On the way down Alum I had a good time seeing some of the folks I ran into on the way up that morning. Despite a few stops and a crowded trail I still made my way down in a little under 55min. I was one happy guy to see the final footbridge.