Susan Donnelly Ultramarathon Trail Runner. Motivational Speaker. http://www.susanruns100s.com
A Day Off in the Smokies Date : May 10, 2009
Yesterday was finally an honest-to-goodness play day. We’ve been racing steadily all spring. After Miwok 100k last weekend and rocky Massanutten 100 Mile next weekend, we need some light, unstructured, rest and recovery time on local trails. It was Rob’s choice, and as always, he opted for the Smokies. After delaying for the morning storms, running some long-postponed errands in Knoxville, and inching through an interstate construction detour, we arrived late afternoon at Big Creek campground in light rain. Of the three trailheads, Rob chose Chestnut Ridge. The loose goal was to run up to the Appalachian trail and go left along it as far toward Mt. Cammerer as weather, time, and interest permitted. As usual, it didn’t look like we’d have a view on Cammerer, so reaching it wasn’t a burning motivator. As we drove in off the interstate, we saw a rafting company putting in and sending five or six rafts down gushing Big Creek proper. The past week or more of torrential rain rain had flooded the banks and magnified the rapids. The people were having a big, exciting time, but it looked so cold and they were all wearing tank tops. Brrr. Give me trails any day! We arrived at the Big Creek campground to find something more amazing – kayakers in the narrower up-creek cascades of Big Creek. This was a first for us in all the times we’ve been
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