A change in plans was worked out early this morning. The original plan was a hike to Thunderhead Mountain (Rocky Top) but snow was forecast and access to the pick up, near Cades Cove, was likely to be unavailable. With only 3 of us signed up to participate today, we easily came to agreement on an alternative. As we stood in the convention center figuring out what to do, the other two participants, friends from Louisville, Wave and Brenda, were soon joined by John an AT through hiker from a few years back and Bev, an adventurous Michigan transplant to Tennessee. Our hike leader is Marty Silver, a Tennessee State Park ranger from Warriors Path State Park and "LA", another State Park ranger is our sweep. We're going to hike from the ranger station in Greenbrier, up Injun Creek, to Grapeyard Ridge Trail, to Baskins Creek Trail to Old Sugarlands Trail, ending at Sugarlands where we know the pickup point will be accessible.
It is a cold morning but there is no snow on the ground and everyone is ready for a long day. Marty has inserted hand warmers in his mittens and toe warmers in his boots. I've got the heavy gloves and thick wool cap, both reserved for extra cold days. We are dropped at the Injun Creek trail head and begin hiking. The lower portion of the trail is an easy grade and everyone stays together, but as we begin to climb, our sweep, LA appears to struggle. She is carrying a down sleeping bag, a sleep pad and lots more. Marty wants to be prepared should someone become injured. So at the top of Injun Creek we wait and wait for LA to catch up and then redistribute some of her weight among the rest of us.
Now we hike on Grapeyard Ridge Trail. There is an access trail to the horse concession area on Rt 321. In this area, our trail has the typical horse ruts seen too often on park trails. Snow is now coming down and seems to be blowing in our faces all day. Marty hikes fast and stops often to point out what most don't see. He identifies trees, footprints, birds, some fungus and plants and even got me to eat a wild grape raisin. It tasted like a raisin. Each time we stop, it is a long wait for the slower hikers to catch up. Marty is a fast hiker and if I don't pay attention to his pace, I look up and see him far ahead.
Finally we make it to Roaring Fork Road where we can shelter in the cabin below, for lunch. I eat a frozen turkey burger sandwich and warm up with hot tea. My water bottle has frozen and of course the insulated camelback is frozen. While stopped, I can thaw the bottle and pour some water from the camelback to the bottle. I try to keep the camelback thawed the rest of the way by keeping the end nestled in my armpit. That didn't work. I've yet to find a good use for my armpit.
For the first time ever, I put hand warmers in my gloves, just before we head out on Baskins Creek Trail. This trail has much more uphill in this direction, so once again we stop for stragglers often. All but two of us, take the spur to Baskins Creek Falls. I have to make this trek as it is the first time I've visited since I spread my father's ashes here.
Marty sets up a tripod and says he will take an extra 15 minutes to get the right picture. He'll catch up with us. The rest of us move along heading up and up. My hands are burning up with the hand warmers. Bev says hers are not working well, so we switch. About 30 minutes later, her hands are burning up too. So Grabbers work better than LL Bean hand warmers. At the end of this trail, we wait some time for Marty. LA gives an owl hoot and Marty answers with his owl call.
The final 3 miles are easy miles on old roads. We pass the old CCC camp and can see the snow topped chimneys in the woods. Before exiting the woods, I "get my picture made" above. We all have matching white hats at this point. Just under 15 miles took almost 9 hours.
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