Trail magic

Trail Magic is defined as a random act of kindness, often from a stranger, meant to encourage and relieve thru hikers during their journey.

In the spring of 2006 I was living in Franklin, NC. Right smack in the middle of some of the greatest trails around - Bartram & Appalachian Trail being my personal favorites. I had made the transition to being more of a trail runner than road runner & I spent many fine hours training on them, as well as the less occasional hikes. Although I thought I understood a little about the thru hiker mentality, I really was not much of a backpacker & did not know anyone who had thru-hiked or even section hiked. In the hottest days of the summer I had offered encouragement, S-tabs & Gatorade to hikers who seemed to be struggling, but did not "get" the concept of trail magic.

Then on Easter we figured it out.

My daughter Lynz & I had made way too many cupcakes for our annual Easter luncheon after church so we were taking about a dozen back home with us. Since it was a gorgeous day, I decided we would go over by Standing Indian & start down the AT, handing out cupcakes as we went. Little did I know the impact it would have not only on me, but also on my 11 yr old daughter! She was no stranger to the area trails as I started bringing her with me on inspections of AT shelters when she was 5 &  had introduced her to trail maintenance workhikes the year before.

But this was different! 

We did not meet too many hikers, but everyone we met stopped & had a cupcake (or two!).But what was even better was they took the time to talk to us & shared their experiences. It was an eye opening experience for both of us & possible planted the seed for a future thru hike of our own? And try as I might, I cannot describe how much enjoyment these simple little cupcakes seemed to bring to the hikers. Maybe the sugar? Maybe just the randomness of it? Who knows, but it was good!

Thus our Easter tradition began! Sure, we missed a year here or there, once when Lynz was sick & a couple of years when we lived in Colorado, but we still manage to get on the AT most years. We try to pick different locations each year, mainly to maximize where the most hikers may be as well as their proximity to a town. I feel the impact is greater when they have been out for at least a day or two. Depending on whether Easter is early or late also affects the potential wildflowers!

Trail north from Dennis Cove - 2011

                                   

Trail south from Devil Fork Gap - 2012

Overmountain shelter - 2013

Trail south from Iron Mtn Gap - 2014

We have stayed with the cupcake theme for Easter - they are easy to make, fairly portable & require no special utensils to eat. The design is constantly evolving as well.

Once I signed up as a section maintainer for the AT it was a logical progression to start adding trail magic to my maintenance work hikes. I started taking an extra cooler loaded with cold sodas & a couple of beers to leave in the barn for thru hikers while I was on the trail working. Eventually I added local delicacies such as moon pies to the mix. In the heat of summer I like to take some popsicles on dry ice. It's pretty cool to see thru hikers passing by with bright orange, red or blue mouths !

There has been alot of discussion in recent years about the popularity of trail magic. Some hikers feel there is too much & that is has become an "expected" experience along the trail. I know I do see alot more these days, from folks who leave bags of candy at the barn (plus a trash bag for all the wrappers I will have to clean up later) to the box of apples & Easter candy that we passed on the trail today while giving out our cupcakes. I try to follow the recommendations of the ATC ( Suggestions for Trail Magic ) & Leave No trace principles as best I can & encourage others to as well. It may be for somewhat selfish reasons, but I also like to be there in person to hand out the goodies! Plus, by collecting the trash immediately, it saves cleanup time later for me or some poor trail maintainer who may have that section. 

All in all, I think most of the thru hikers I meet are appreciative & I hope to keep the special randomness alive. When it's my turn to thru hike I will be keeping an eye out for that good karma!

I will close with images of a couple of my favorite thank you notes, although truly - the smiles on peoples faces are all the thanks we will ever need!

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GSMNP - Porters Creek WILDFLOWERS!

Disclaimer: I took well over 100 pictures on this overnite backpack so expect to see numerous wildflower photos!

Last year was my first time experiencing the diversity of wildflowers in the Smokies but I spent the majority of my time at White Oak Sinks & Chestnut Top. Many hikers & friends had extolled the virtues of Porters Creek, but the only time I hiked that trail was in the summer, well past wildflower time. This year was different. Sooooo different! It's always a gamble on when will be the best time for wildflowers. The 2nd week of April is usually a good bet, but you just never know. And since campsites in the Park are now on a reservation system, you have to get  them early & just hope for the best. Brian was able to get all 8 spots in campsite 31 for the weekend of April 12th so I was hopeful that all the snow this winter would produce exceptional flowers. I had been long attempting to backpack with  my friend & co-worker Alice & it just so happened that she & her fella John were available & ready to hit the trail. In the meantime, we were able to put together a full group after a post on the GSHAG site!

On the day of we had perfect weather-sunny & warm - which meant that everyone & their house cat was out for the day!  Lots of traffic..Sigh... After a (normal for me) late arrival at the trailhead, we assembled our group & headed up the trail, which is actually a road at this point. We did not have to go far before we starting seeing signs of the old Porters Creek community  - mainly rock walls outlining the old farmsteads. A well defined path led to the Owenby cemetery, which has at least a couple dozen gravestones. I always wonder how hard life was back then in these hollows. It's a little sad to see the infant mortality rate as evidenced by the markers. 

Another path led to the remnants of some sort of automobile:

It's pretty cool how the remains are laid out in some sort of semblance of the original vehicle.  Good thing or I would not have recognized it!

About a mile in we came to the big turnaround & walked over to the barn & cabin. I love the cantilevered barn! 

The sign in front calls it the John Messer barn although it was actually built around 1875 by John Whaley (apparently Messer owned the barn when the federal government bought the property to create the Park in the 1930s). 



Not far from the barn is a log cabin that was built by the Smoky Mountain Hiking Club in 1936. It was constructed around the old chimney from the original John Whaley cabin & club members were allowed to use it as an overnight facility until the early 1980s.



Once past the turnaround the trail turned into more of a singletrack & we really started to get into the flowers! My personal favorites - spring beauty, trillium, & star chickweed !


  

A little further we came to a single log footbridge that has to be one of the longest in the Smokies. It doesn't help that at the highest point over the creek the handrail is at the lowest position! Makes it very interesting with a full pack.

Right after this footbridge was when the rest of the group lost Alice & myself - there were so many flowers that I could literally not walk 5 feet without feeling compelled to snap another picture! We came around a corner to a field of white "snow" of fringed phacelia. The smell was wonderful & the bees were....well.....busy!

A little more than halfway in is Fern Branch Falls - a 40 ft waterslide surrounded by ferns & moss. These falls are also prime habitat for a species of "walking fern", so named because the new plantlets sprout anywhere the fronds of the parent touch the ground, creating the effect of the fern walking across the ground.

After a break to cool down in the mist from the falls & explore the rockfield below, we set off for the campsite. I was completely surprised at how warm it was, but the attraction of the wildflowers kept my pace slow enough to not break too much of a sweat!

After we made it to Site #31 I put the few brews I had brought along in the creek to cool while setting up camp. I think the site is rather large for a maximum of 8 people, as there are 3 distinct sites with fire rings, but it did allow us room to spread out a little. As well as having plenty of nice trees for our hammock backpacker! Once camp was set up it was time to cool our feet in the creek & enjoy the ice cold IPA's I had carried in!

Nothing lifts the spirits like cold toes & brews!

Mother Natures fridge!

After "happy hour" we had a little more exploring to do. There is an off-trail (non maintained) that leads from Campsite #31 to Charlies Bunion on the AT. The beginning is rumored to not be very hard, but the last piece up to the AT is a bit of a scramble. I have not attempted this hike yet, although I hope to later this year.

Located near where it "starts" , or splits off from Porters Creek Trail, are the remains of what may have been an old still. There are old pipes, various metal components & a coiled waterline in a barrel. At any rate it is close to a water supply & well hidden from revenuers!

The rest of the evening was spent doing normal backpacking chores - cooking, eating, cleaning up. I think I am often drawn to backpacking because of the way it breaks it down to the bare essentials: food & shelter! Of course, I say that when I am snugged up in my Marmot down sleeping bag after cooking on a canister stove, but you know what I mean..... It was a fun nite sitting around the fire, lots of laughs!

The next day out we again took our time, seeing the flowers & sights we had missed the previous day. Some wildflowers, most notably the dwarf crested iris, had been quite busy overnight. While there was no sign of buds going in the day before, a few were quite showy by the time we made it out. So now, if you have had enough of wildflowers, you can stop here. Otherwise, enjoy my gallery:

Dwarf Ginseng

Yellow Root

Trout Lily

Hepatica

Longspur Violet

Yellow Trillium

Fringed Phacelia

Dwarf Crested Iris

I never have any fun!

Brian on trail

Can't wait to do it again!

Does a bear shit in the woods?

Not if it happens to be at the Mt Collins shelter on the AT in the GSMNP... Because I spent this past weekend with some other pretty awesome volunteers from the Smoky Mtn Hiking Club building a brand new privy!

Me in the finished privy!

But again back to the beginning: This project has been in the works for a while & Brian & I even got a chance to help with the pre-assembly back in March at the AT House. We pre-cut & drilled all the lumber, built & disassembled the lower bin & then left it all to be bundled up & flown to the site by helicopter.

The plan was to meet early Saturday morning at the parking area along 
Clingmans Dome Road & backpack in with tools & assorted hardware, with the intent of staying overnite at the shelter to finish up on Sunday. This was not too hard as it is only 3/4 of a mile in to the shelter, but the recent thunderstorms had made the trail a muddy mess! It was also quite a bit colder at the start - a mere 28 degrees according to the temp gauge on the 'E. We hiked in rather quickly due to the brisk temps. The shelter was nice, but no fire ring outside - I guess due to asshole hikers cutting the green trees for firewood. I mean, really? Nothing better than a smoky smoldering fire, right? We also made a rookie mistake by leaving our packs sitting at the shelter while we scouted around: this shelter has a healthy population of squirrels, mice & possibly chipmunks as they quickly helped themselves to the butter & almonds I had packed in. Luckily they did not have enough time or patience to get to the rest of our food so we were not completely out of luck. 

We checked out the privy site & it was nice were glad to find that the "pit" for the composting bins below the privy had been already excavated by the Ridgerunners & other volunteers. But remember the  previously mentioned thunderstorms & mud? Oh yea. It was a mud wallow any hog would have envied. Regardless of all our slippin' & sliding, the work went rather quickly & the structure came together nicely. By the end of the day we had the bins built, wire enclosed & the floors in place.

Coming together very well!

The next day we started building the walls & roof, only to find that we were missing the 2x4 & 2x6 components for one side wall! Luckily, when the Mt Collins shelter was being renovated they had included a few extra 2x4's on the front for a situation just like this. We were easily able to demo enough for our purposes!

The walls went up with no issues & the metal roof & trim looked sharp! After the door was hung,  Ed (the most amazing volunteer I have ever met!) put the finishing touch by attaching the half moon:

The finished project -  not too shabby!

All in all I had a great time - feel like I am really banking some good karma for when it it is my turn to hit the trail!

Where (or what) in the world is Henwallow?

To be truthful, about the only compelling thing about this trail is the story of how the area came to be called Hen Wallow. But we must start at the beginning:

I was planning a hike with my buddy Harold, but I did not want to do big miles as I had a marathon planned for the weekend. We had tossed around various options, but Mother Nature threw a curveball at us by sending (hopefully) one last snowfall on the day of. So we punted & decided to take on Gabes Mtn trail. (BTW, don't you love how I mix my sports metaphors? Just seeing if anyone is paying attention). Since Hen Wallow Falls is noteworthy enough to be named on the GSMNP $1 map, I assumed it must be rather impressive.

Since our hike was now a Wednesday event, Brian was able to go along as well. So we set out from Cosby campground (after tagging the various entrances to the trail) with great expectations. At least I did, as it turns out Harold & Brian had already seen it before. Harold maintained he was not much impressed, but I figured it had been so long since he had been there that maybe he didn't remember it right.

He did.

 To be fair, it was not a bad waterfall, just more of a trickle over a rock. The ice was rather cool.

So here's the story of Henwallow, which I got from the Kenneth Wise "blue book": It seems that one spring a family in an unnamed community in this area decided to purchase 100 chicks from a hatchery with the intent of raising them to lay eggs to sell. Once the chicks grew old enough to determine their gender, it turns out they had 95 roosters and only 5 hens! Folks in another unnamed community found this rather funny & took to calling the first community "Roosterville". The people of Roosterville did not care for their new name &  took to calling the other community "Henwallow" out of spite.

The rest of the hike was again relatively uneventful, although it was a great day to be out! This trail is one of the easiest trails in the Cosby area & there were not too many climbs. There was still a considerable amount of snow despite the low elevation:

                                                                                                    





We finished up with the gravel road walk that is Maddron Bald trail back down to the truck. I feel like we spent more time driving & shuttling vehicles than hiking, but any day in the woods is a good one!

I'm a runner again!

It's been 2 years, 3 months & 28 days, 10 pounds & another knee surgery since I last ran a marathon. Not that I am counting.

Last full marathon was the (former) Ridge to Bridge in NC. One of my absolute favorite runs, but I had a bad day due to back & hip problems. After my 3rd knee surgery in November 2012 I was determined to get back into running distance. It's my therapy & such a part of me. I made one failed attempt at the Virginia Creeper marathon in March of 2013 - only made 18 miles. Partially due to weather as it was sleeting & I was miserably cold, but mostly because I was undertrained & knew I would be walking most of the last 8 miles. I just could not face the thought of it.

Fast forward to now. I had signed up for another one of my favorites, the Black Mtn marathon. The marathon begins in Black Mtn, NC , runs through Montreat & ascends the Toll Road to the Blue Ridge Parkway before returning to town. The Challenge continues to the summit of Mt. Mitchell, the highest point in the east, before returning.  I have completed the marathon two times & the 40 mile Challenge four times & I just love the course, the aid station volunteers & the swag.  Hell, I figured if nothing else I could hike it as I am perfectly capable of 20+ mile dayhikes & the last half is almost all downhill!

I was a little better trained this time & also had the benefit of having a few friends along for support: Amanda & her husband Mike, Kirk & Tom. I showed up early race day & was a complete bundle of nerves. I couldn't decide if I was gonna pass out or puke. It's been quite a while since I have felt that nervous before a run!

First few miles ticked off pretty quickly, as you are mostly on paved roads through town. Then it was time to hit the trail! There is always a police officer at the turnoff & I always try to have my photo taken with them after I thank them for being out there.




Despite the recent winter weather, there was not alot of snow or ice  the trails. In fact, the warm days had turned it into a muddy mess. Melting snow was running down the trail like a creek! These sloppy conditions made for slow going, but that worked well for me as my strength for uphill is hiking rather than running.

 We finally made it up to the Blue Ridge Parkway & the turnaround. While my time was not great, I knew the best part - DOWNHILL- was coming next! This was where I truly felt my best. I was able to hop-skip-jump & successfully navigate the rocks while maintaining a good pace. I was surprised how quickly I regained my trail legs. 

Eventually we came to my favorite aid station only a few miles from the finish. What's good about it? They always have beer! This year it was Oskar Blues. Yummy!

The rest of the race went by fairly quickly, although there were some really steep descents into Montreat. After a couple more miles running along the edge of Black Mtn, I hit the last few hills before you get to the finish at Lake Tomahawk. It's a little cruel to run you so close to the finish line when you still have to run around the lake, but it is a beautiful place! 

I was pretty happy with my marathon time: The first time I ran it in 2004 I finished in 5:58. The last time I ran it in 2009 I finished in 7:03. This year I split the difference for a finish of 6:39. Next year I am going to the summit.

I'm back!

Drivin' that Train!

For more than a year I have been hearing about the abandoned steam engine in Injun Creek on the Grapeyard Trail in the Greenbrier area of the Smokies. I even came fairly close when we had a backpack planned for Kephart Shelter that got shut down due to snow - as a substitute we ended up hiking an off trail up to campsite #32 & back down. I did not realize how close I was to the train! But finally we had another snowy weekend that was just perfect for a low elevation backpack. So we tentatively made a plan to shuttle hike Baskins Creek & Grapeyard ~ 10.3 miles.

In keeping with our last-minute planning, we didn't even reserve a couple of sites at Campsite#34 until 9 AM on Saturday. As I was on my way to meet Brian at Greenier, he called to say the gate was closed. Thinking he meant the gate at the Greenbrier Ranger Station, I replied "Well, so we will have a little bit of a road walk tomorrow". To which he replied, "No, the gate is closed at Hwy 321 - we will have a helluva road walk out!" Turns out the entire length of Greenbrier was a solid sheet of ice & the Park Rangers were saying it would likely not be open soon. Hmmm....Well, what's a couple more miles? It's all good!


We parked at the trailhead for Rainbow Falls but soon figured out there was so much ice & snow & slush that it would be better to road walk Roaring Fork than struggle over Baskins. Even though it felt like most of the time I was skiiing more than hiking, we found after the Trillium trailhead there were few "human" tracks & instead found ourselves following wandering turkey tracks.....

Eventually we caught up with this big gobbler & his harem of hens:

Once they saw us they quickly took off up the hill. But I still enjoyed following their tracks.

Eventually we made it to the Jim Bales cabin at the start of the Grapeyard Ridge trail. Pretty neat cabin & I got some nice shots in the snow, but it is not original to the site - only the barn & the crib truly are.





The hike was really nice once we got past the rocky horse trail section at the beginning.  It was fun to go in & out the snow! I quickly warmed up & zipped my legs off. Asked Brian to get a picture of me to prove I was wearing shorts in the snow. This is what I got:

Interesting perspective. Did I mention that Brian is really tall?

By the time we got to #34 it had cooled back down & I was forced to add layers back. We were somewhat taken aback to turn the corner to find the campsite full of people & tents! Apparently there were some other last minute backpackers scrolling the GSMNP reservations site this morning as well. I guess I should not have been surprised though - this is one of the most accessible sites if you take the off trail up from the Ranger Station. We looked around a little & luckily found a small flat spot down by the creek that even already had a fire ring. Perfect!

Next morning we got a fairly early start as I was impatient to find the engine. After a steep knee pounding descent to Injun Creek, I got my wish. It is so cool! I apologize in advance for all the photos I took of it, but I could have spent all day in the creek......

And my absolute favorite:

So the story goes, it was a Nichols-Shepherd self propelled tractor used  for powering sawmills & had been used at a sawmill on  Rhododendron Creek to cut timbers for a school in Greenbrier. Around the year 1920, as it was being driven home the driver came too close to the edge of the creek & rolled it over the bank. Some of the wreckage was salvaged but the boiler, wheels & other components such as gears were left behind.

The rest of the trail was rather anticlimatic after the steam engine, although we did cross several old homestites - mostly just old rock walls & such.

 Trouble ahead....trouble behind....

Eventually we found ourselves on the still ice-encased Greenbrier Road. 

Nothing like a several mile road walk to end a nice backpack trip, but with the road closed we at least did not have to worry about traffic!