This was a long scouting run through the heart of the Big South Fork National River and Recreation Area with Brian Gajus. I’d gotten to know Brian through running and soon found we had some common interests. By coincidence we’d passed each other once on the BSF trails while I was heading to the Muir Overlooks while backpacking with Jean, and Brian was trail running with another friend. At that time, the main trail race in the BSF was the Knoxville Track Club 17 miler (started in 1993?) in the fall connecting Bandy Creek to the Grand Gap Loop. There were obviously plenty of opportunities for other races.
Brian
was interested in the trail system in the BSF and already had started the
Yamacraw 50K race on the east side of the Kentucky part of the park. Online
records for Yamacraw go back to 2015 and it was held through 2024. Yamacraw was
suspended in 2025 due to the closure of the Blue Heron Tipple Bridge over the
BSF which required some drastic changes to the racecourse.
Brian
was planning a 100-mile race in the Big South Fork, but was not familiar with
the Tennessee sections of the park. As it turned out he worked in a building just
over from me at ORNL so we could talk about courses over lunch.
In
the meantime, Jean and I were working our way through our project to hike all
the foot, mountain bike, horse, wagon, and multi-use trails in and around the
BSF, including Scott State Forest, Pickett State Forest, Pickett State Park,
and the adjoining trails in the Daniel Boone National Forest (BSF Complete). That project left me
very familiar with the trails system as we tried to minimize the amount of
hiking and biking we’d need to do to complete the map. As Brian and I talked
about routes, I thought it would be tough to put a simple course together, but
there was one potential loop that stood out.
The Tipple Bridge at Blue Heron 2012,
My
suggestion was to make a long oval-shaped loop with Pickett on the west end and
Bandy Creek and Blue Heron on the east end. The northern leg would be the
Sheltowee Trace National Recreation Trail from Pickett to Blue Heron or
Yamacraw on the north end. (The south end of the STT has since been relocated
from Pickett to the east.) On the south end the race could use Pickett trails,
Middle Creek, Laurel Creek, Twin Arches, and Station Camp Creek. The Muir and
Kentucky trails would then go north to connect to the Sheltowee Trace at Blue
Heron. There would be plenty of opportunities to adjust to an even 100 miles.
Jean at Dicks Gap Overlook above Blue Heron 2012.
Brian
was not familiar with the usual parts of Big South Fork such as Charit Creek
Lodge or Bandy Creek, and had not visited Twin Arches or Slave Falls/Needle
Arch. We decided to plan a long run from Middle Creek out to the river and back
to look at my suggested route and enjoy some of the features along it.
Large rockhouse on Middle Creek 2025.
Brian
drove us up from Knoxville. To my regret I did not take pictures, and I didn’t
mark up a field map as we went along. Nor did I take a GPS track, even though I
was working to build a GPS map of the park to go with my map marking effort. Luckily,
Brian later sent me a track file for the final version of the course.
Our
outbound route was essentially from Middle Creek TH on Middle Creek Trail, past
Needle Arch and Twin Arches to Charit Creek Lodge, to Laurel Creek, and finally
to Station Camp Creek.
To
return we went back to Charit Creek (via Station Camp) and then closed out loop
with short sections of Twin Arches Trail, Slave Falls, and the Middle Creek
Loop. This gave us more of an out and back trip than we’d planned on, but since
Brian was sold on the original route for the race, missing the other trails didn’t
matter.
Needle Arch 2007.
We
saw no other hikers and only one small horse party. The running to Twin Arches
was perfect with a well-maintained trail and great views. Brian immediately
wanted to make the arches the center point of his race. It rained from Twin
Arches to the Lodge, and for most of the Laurel Creek Trail. The Lodge manager
told us that the upper part of Laurel Creek Trail was trashed by horse traffic,
so we changed our plan for our return route (which probably was to stay on the
Laurel Creek Trail and go back via the West Entrance area.
We
stopped at Charit Creek Lodge both ways. The new manager was a trail runner and
interested in partnering with Brian on the race by hosting an aid station. The
discussion gave me a well-needed break. The manager’s dog ended up following us
out to the river and back to the lodge. We had to close the pup up inside the
lodge to get away. The Lodge was selling beer for $5.
Laurel
Fork Trail was tricky running, tight and twisty. The connector to Station Camp
Creek was 100% nasty mud from too many horses. Station Camp Creek Trail was
worse than what Jean and I liked to hike but was still not too bad for a major
horse trail.
Brian
was a much stronger runner, and I had worried about being able to keep up even
though my conditioning was strong, I was hiking a lot while working to update my
“50 Hikes in Kentucky” trail guide (KY
50), plus, I was coming off a strong lap and half at Barkley just a few
weeks prior. But I rarely train over a marathon distance (why not just run a
race if you’re going that far?) so 27 miles and eight hours here is likely one
of my all time longer training runs. However, on BSF terrain I felt very good
running until my left knee stiffened up around 24 miles, and I needed to hike
the rest of the way in. I enjoyed running with Brian a lot. Lucky for me he
went slow and took lots of pictures, especially at the start.
The
eventual route for the race would start at Blue Heron to Pickett via the STT and
Charit and Station Camp-Muir Trail-Kentucky Trail back to Blue Heron (But the current
(2025) course has a few changes to make it 100 miles). Logistics would be tough
with several very remote aid stations. It wouldn’t help that Brian would have
to work with several agencies, the BSF plus Pickett State Park, and the Daniel
Boone NF. Brian took this framework and filled in the course to max out the
wild and scenic nature of BSF.
Hazard Cave in Pickett SP 2025.
The
No Business 100 has become a highly successful race. The first edition was in
2017, and the race has grown to be a qualifier for the famous Western States
100. Brian switches course direction each year to give returning runners new
perspectives. The course still includes the Twin Aches, Charit Creek Lodge, and
the Middle Creek Loop. Except for joining in on a running camp at Charit with a
pair of 20+ mile runs in May 2017, I haven’t been of much help to Brian since.
I can’t run far enough to enter a 100 miler. Also, No Business is in October,
and I spend much of September helping with the Barkley Fall Classic, then usually
run an easier 25 or 50K race at Norris Dam about the same weekend as No Biz. https://nobusiness100.com/
