Hike #26 : November 3, 2013
13.2 miles
4.9 new miles
352.0 total overall miles
I mentioned in my post about The Hemphill Bald Loop that our first attempt at finding Hemphill was an utter disaster. Still, I realize now, that I never actually counted the hike or the miles toward my goal. I suppose I just wanted to forget the whole damn thing. But, what the hell, its almost been a whole year since it happened and, in hindsight, it really wasn't that bad a day...
You ever have one of those days that just starts with so much bad mojo that you know you'd be better served just hiding under a rock somewhere? Well, this was that kind of day.
It began with a heavy dose of marital distress. For future reference, it may not be the best idea to throw on the ol' backpack and go hiking in the middle of a... uh, disagreement with the significant other. So I guess that was strike one.
Still, I met up with Eddie and we were on our way. Aside from my phone blowing up with expletives and threats of bodily harm, the drive was uneventful until we reached Hemphill Road. A twisting turning road that eventually gave way to gravel rising deeper and deeper into banjo country. Just as we were about to give up and turn around we saw the Purchase Road sign. The gate was open and we drove on to the next gate that was closed and locked. D'oh.
We park and start preparing for the hike. Eddie asks if I had programed the trail into my GPS. I always do. Except this time. You see, all that marital mumbo jumbo from the morning was just carried over from the previous day so I never got around to quiet time on the computer routing the hike. Ah, no matter. We know where we're going, right? What could go wrong? Strike two.
Since the gate was closed, we had to walk up a gravel road for 2 miles. That's 2 miles we hadn't planned on and 4 miles added to our hike. It wasn't so bad other than walking directly into sunlight and being on a road is never the best hiking scenario.
Still, we finally made it to the Appalachian Highlands Learning Center and wow... just wow.
The views from the learning center are amazing. I have no idea who works here or when they're even here or what they do but what an office view. Fantastic!
If we had turned around and went home from here, it'd been a better day. But we didn't. We headed off to the trailhead. The trail went in two directions. We basically used an educated guess which way we needed to go and went. We hiked down for a spell and came to a junction.
Evidently, I took a picture of the trail sign (below) where we went wrong. Although, honestly, I still don't know what the hell SWAG is and its entirely possible we had already made a wrong turn before we even got here.
Still, as we went along, it was a nice downhill hike in early winter with leaves all around as we made our way. It was such a nice day and the pleasant trail and easy trail were almost clearing the clouds and anger out of mind. It did seem odd though that we kept going downhill. Not that that alone would cause any alarms because lets be honest, the Smokies go up and down no matter where you go. Still, something just didn't seem right.
We finally came to a bit of an opening that kinda sorta made us feel like we were getting somewhere.
There was a small shelter of sorts and a breathtaking view. We hung out here for a little while and even discussed whether we were where we were supposed to be. At this point we had no idea where we were. We just didn't know that.
From here, we continued on downhill. My mind is jumbled from all the events of the day and I'm growing more concerned and frankly, irritated about why we aren't there yet. And there's that nagging feeling that we're lost. Then we start passing houses. Seriously? Houses? That didn't seem right at all. But the trail does run along the Park border so... maybe? Eddie kept saying something didn't seem right. I agreed. And yet, we kept going.
When we start coming up on a road, we finally get out the GPS and try to figure out where the bloody hell we are. Hmmm... that road up there is Cove Creek Road. Let's have a look at the map. Yep. We just hiked 4.6 miles in the wrong fucking direction. That's just great. Now we have to turn around and hike up that very same 4.6 miles to get back to the learning center where we came from. At this point I am done. I no longer want to be here and my spirit is broke. That made the hike back all that much more painful. Losing it mentally makes for a really bad time. And that's what it was from here on out.
Honestly, the trail itself is a good one and doing a car drop and hiking down to the road would make for a great day of hiking. The views from the Appalachian Highlands Learning Center alone are amazing and well worth the trip.
In the end, for me, it was just a bad day. Not the trails fault. Hell, I can blame Eddie for us getting lost (and I do, Eddie. Yes, yes, I do) but I can only blame myself for not being prepared and not having my head in the game. And, I suppose, for losing my temper and being an ass. According to Eddie anyway. Another hard lesson learned.
TRAIL REVIEW
Cataloochee Divide Trail - 4.6 miles one way (out and back)
Wanna hike the 900 without getting lost? Start by checking out the book Day Hiker's Guide To All The Trails In The Smoky Mountains by Elizabeth L. Etnier.
For more pictures of my hikes, check out the Smoky Mountain Hikertrash facebook page.
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