Groundhog Day Marathon Hike
Saturday, February 2, 2008 (Groundhog Day) I joined hiking buddy Joe Fleming for
a Marathon-length hike in the southern Smokies. About 22 miles into the 29 mile hike I had my "groundhog moment" and
discovered 
that it
is hard to see one's shadow while laying on the ground!
Yep, my appetite for a long hike was
almost more than my legs could carry. I'm blaming it all on hiking speed demon Joe who was the planner of the
wicked event. My 55 year old body doesn't like to be pushed that far beyond its usual maximum hiking lengths of "only"
21 or 22 miles--especially on those hilly Smoky Mountain trails. Four days after the hike and I'm still gulping ibuprofen.
How about you Joe?
Enough complaining. Those who've
never really pushed themselves beyond the point where the body says "enough!" probably wonder why we do such things to ourselves.
Coming up with the answer to that question would make me the first writer to ever explain it in terms the armchair
hikers of the world could understand. Let me just say that it is a satisfying feeling to push yourself beyond normal
limits. Even more satisfying is sharing the experience with a friend. Thanks Joe for sharing your hike with me.
Where'd we go? Joe is working
on finishing the few trails in the Smokies he's not yet hiked. Readers may recall that because of treacherous,
icy stream crossings, Joe had modified his route plans during our last hike together (Winter Hiking at its best: Noland Creek & Noland Divide Trails). Today's trip included a "make-up" hike to cover the Springhouse Branch Trail section that had been skipped
last month. 14.2 miles later we were ready to drive back to the Deep Creek campground area for another 15 miles of walking.
This was all before lunch along frosty trails in temperatures that began at only 23 F. Springhouse Branch treated
us to vigorously gushing stream crossings and several signs of old settlements. Enroute to our turnaround point at Board Camp Gap we were treated to
nice views of the fog-filled Fontana Lake basin. We were glad to not have to ford rain-swollen Noland Creek on this day.
Deep Creek Horse trail was next on
the list and we were pleasantly surprised to find how nice the surface was for walking along this 2 mile trail that is just
a shortcut via Juney Whank Falls to the main Deep Creek trail from the parking area for horse trailers. Indian Creek Falls was the next main attraction as we walked Indian Creek trail enroute to Martins
Gap trail and Sunkota Ridge. It was at Martins Gap (about 22 miles into the hike) that I decided a ground level viewing period was in order. Sunkota Ridge trail is one of those "sneaky" trails that
seems to offer another stretch of hill climbing around every bend. Altogether it had another 400' of climbing for us
before the downhill walking began. By the time we rounded the 3,805' elevation knob along Sunkota Ridge we'd climbed
over 5,000' for this day's hike. Sunkota Ridge trail ends in the middle of Loop Trail (honest, that is the trail
name). I took another much appreciated rest break while Joe speed-walked down & back along the 1/2 mile section
connecting with Indian Creek trail. It was almost dark at 6 pm when we'd completed the walk down Loop trail to Deep Creek
trail and back to our cars at the trailhead parking area.
We didn't see much in the way of plant
life or critters on this mid-winter hike but I can definitely recommend Deep Creek and Indian Creek trails as a destination
for early spring hikes--those trails offer fantastic displays of wildflowers against the backdrop of lovely creeks.
Hike statistics:
28.7 miles
2.7 mph average hiking speed
5,000' elevation gain (and loss)
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