Smokies, Foothills Parkway Scout, 12-17-22

Recently Ed has been exploring the undeveloped right of way for the Foothills Parkway between Gatlinburg and Cosby. The ROW was acquired by the National Park Service in the 1960s, when the parkway was planned to circle the north side of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park from US 129 to Cosby. However, there has never been funding, or plans, to complete the Gatlinburg to Cosby section. Ed and others feel that the best use of parkway ROW would be for a hiking trail that would be easily accessible to local hikers and to visitors. He wanted to show the area to the Smoky Mountains Hiking Club. We’d take two trips to the area to scout a route before leading the club hike.

2022, 12-17, Smokies, Foothills Parkway Scout, 5.3 mi., 1400' climb w/ Jean and Ed

Ed had previously scouted the ROW from Powdermill Road on the east side of Gatlinburg to Buckhorn Road (TN 454). He had led a hike across that section for the Retired Citizens of Gatlinburg the previous week. As we were planning the scout I was still a little uncertain what Ed had in mind for our hike, beyond that we would be using part of the ROW near Emerts Cove in Pittman Center.

Jean and I met Ed at his home. We shuttled our Subaru to the east end of the route at a pullout by a cemetery on Emerts Cove Road, just south of where Spring Branch Road intersects at a now closed to vehicle bridge, and just north of a covered bridge (Hills Creek Road). Temps were in the low 40s, with scattered sunshine.

Along the right of way.

We drove Ed’s truck to the west end of the hike at a one car pull off where the ROW crossed Powdermill Road. Ed was navigating using Google Maps, which showed the FHP ROW, but not the topography. Google showed several small errors in the roads. I had my GPS, which showed our track, but not the topography or the FHP ROW. I also had a topo base map that I tried to sketch our route on. The mishmash of maps made quite a mess. There was no old road that followed the ROW, instead it was alI cross country hiking. I soon figured out the FHP ROW didn’t even follow any geographic feature, and seemed to climb ridges and descend creeks indiscriminately. 

Open ridgetop.

We started up the crest of a small ridge to the northeast. Much of the west end of the ROW had a manway on it, Ed mentioned that his cousin liked to hike the ROW, and the Retired Citizens group had also just hiked it recently. The going here was fairly easy with minor brush and decent footing. For much of the length there were numerous old roads intersecting. These were probably local roads predating the ROW acquisition by the park. Old, barbed wire strung along the ridge crest was fairly common.

Just over the first highpoint Ed found an old road leading downhill to the site of a now abandoned trailer park owned by his cousin. Ed could get access to the park, and we were eventually able to use it for a parking spot for the club hike. There were several log benches at a clearing between the manway and the trailer park.

The route next turned north, then east to reach a highpoint.  Beyond here the trail was a bit rougher, as if few hikers from the trailer park went this far. The ridge continued east until we started a steep descent toward Ogle Hill Road. There was a steep walled cut, then we turned left to descend to the paved road. We turned right on Ogle Hill Road, then left on Glades Road. 

Door of the old van.

Next we climbed a steep slope from Glades Road up a very narrow draw, the intermittent manway was less apparent here. But at the top of the hill was the surprise of the trip, what looked like the top of an old bus. Ed had determined that it was the top of an old delivery van, though we could not see any evidence of a road nearby. Two doors were nearby, but we didn’t see the frame, engine, or other major parts. The roof top was positioned like it could be used as a very shallow Quonset hut type shelter.

Beyond the van we exited the ridge to descend down to Buckhorn Road (TN 454), arriving at a swampy area where we needed to be careful to cross with dry feet. We went right, down Buckhorn Road a bit, and then started up and old dirt road. Ed had not yet hiked this section east of Buckhorn Road. We passed a mysterious wood structure, then stopped for lunch at the head of a small draw. We backtracked a short bit to leave our small draw for the main FWP ROW ridge.

We were navigating then primarily by the Google FWP ROW map, often at the edge of the property line. The Google map showed a few roads extending into the ROW, but those did not exist. Next was a “hidden” ridge, at least to me, that Ed spotted. From the ridge we did a short, steep descent. At the top of the next climb, we found a boundary survey marker, our only one of the trip. The markers had a handy engraving of the direction of the property line.

Survey marker showing bearing.

The ROW east of Buckhorn Road was proving more difficult than the more travelled section to the west, By then we were getting tired, and confronted with another steep climb, we decided to end the exploration to descend a draw towards Perry Way, even though we expected we might need to cross some private land. We soon hit a gravel road. Luckily the first house we saw had no dogs, and we had no problems getting on the road near a Town of Gatlinburg park. We walked a bit of Spring Branch Road, crossed the bridge, and reached the Subaru in less than a mile. I GPS’d the return drive to Ed’s truck.

We wanted to make another trip to explore the last mile to Emerts Cove for the club hike. The rest of the FHP ROW to the east  also looked fun just for pleasure of exploring. Still 4.4 miles of all new off trail route is a big day for us, especially in such surprisingly rough terrain. Though we got a bit worn out, we really enjoyed the hike and appreciate that Ed so often steers us to such interesting places. On our next trip we’d get the chance to return and iron out all the logistics for the club hike, and explore more to the east.

3-28-23, FHP ROW Scout Trip 2,  w/ Jean and Ed, 4.7 mi, ~800’ climb

Our goal for scouting trip #2 was to try to extend the end of our last scouting trip at Perry Way further east to the next bridge north across the Little Pigeon River. We met Ed at the Gatlinburg Community Center and shuttled his truck to the north bridge. Then we parked our Subaru near the closed bridge at Spring Branch Road at Emerts Cove. We hiked east in Spring Branch Road to the city park, then turned north, then northeast on the park roads before heading cross country north off trail up a ridge. Just below 1800’ we crossed a new development road, probably coming up from Perry Way. We continued up the ridge off trail, joining our original track. We took our previous route to a highpoint where we went north of our previous track and slightly off the ROW by mistake. We dropped into a steep gully and over corrected too far to the south. We climbed out of the draw on an old road, which led us to a homesite carpeted with Periwinkle where we had lunch.

Lunch homesite.

Part of our trouble was with our maps. Ed had an app which showed the FHP ROW, but not the topography. I had Maprika which showed the topo map but not the ROW. There were lots of boundary markers, most of which showed the bearing of the ROW boundary, but it was hard to put it all together enough to be able to follow a sensible route that stayed in the FHP Corridor. We assumed the initial FHP idea had been to use a lot of huge bridges to cross the deep draws we scrambled in and out of. It is hard to imagine how expensive that would have been.

After lunch we followed an old road east, eventually reaching the edge of some houses and an abandoned car on Grassy Branch Road. We went a little more cross country then joined Grassy Branch Road again. We stopped at a homesite Ed had visited previously that had a cistern capped with a heavy cement lid with some writing on it. Ed had brought flour to enhance the readability of the writing and after discussion we believed it read “New Years 1942.” 

Writing on cover of cistern.

We followed the road again a short bit downhill then turned east and explored another old road that started at a turn. This road was OK walking, and eventually ended at another homesite. With only steep side hilling ahead we decided that the club hike could end at Grassy Branch Road, and we didn’t need to scout further ahead to Ed’s car. All three of these last homesites were likely “modern” second homes and had been bought out for the FHP. The third home had some poured concrete foundation with rebar.

It was a quick walk retracing our route to Grassy Branch Road, then back to our car at Emerts Cove. 

5-13-23, SMHC Trip,  ~6.5 miles, w/ Ed & Pam

For the SMHC hike we met at the Gatlinburg Community Center and carpooled to the inactive campground site. 

SMHC group from Connie.

All went well on the well-traveled west end of the manway to Glades Road. But at the intersection with Ogle Road, Pam’s friend Cheryl took a fall and got a puncture wound in her arm. She and Pam elected to walk back on the road to the cars.

The rest of the hike was very slow going as the leaves were fully out, and the visibility minimal. Ed and I both needed to consult our maps a lot as we went, probably frustrating some of the group with the delays. The spring wildflowers were long gone, but we saw lots of box turtles. There was abundant poison ivy, but luckily I was wearing long pants. 

SMHC Group at the Van.

It seemed we needed a stop to look at the GPS every few minutes. By Grassy Branch Road my phone battery was down to 10% so I had to turn the unit off. Our route was essentially what we scouted out to Grassy Branch Road, with the absence of our previous scouting errors. We added one new homesite  on a side road off upper Grassy Branch that Ed had visited previously. 

Ed read from Broome’s journals at both sites. The group was unanimously in favorite of using the ROW as a trail, accessible to both locals and visitors. We also visited the “Periwinkle” and “New Years” homesites. At the end we walked down the Grassy Branch Road to the Emerts Cove Branch where Ed had stashed his pickup. Ed shuttled the group back to the community center, then took Connie and I back to her car at the start.

Ed and Frank March are continuing work to identify the owners of homesites along the route.

Norris Dam 50K Race, 11-5-22

 Last year, one of my main outdoor goals was to reconnect with ultrarunning. I had not finished an ultra since 2016, and was coming upon the 30^th anniversary of my first one. I knew these kinds of runs weren’t going to get easier, and if I was going to add another finish to my resume, it was time to get going.

Last year’s race at Norris ended up going really well (2021 Norris). I finished in a surprisingly fast time (7:12), really enjoyed myself, and most importantly, I didn’t get injured. I decided to race again this year, using last year’s training plan as a guide. My baseline running (mostly the local greenway) went well, and I had steady mileage through the summer. My longer trail runs in the Smokies and elsewhere also went well, and I even saw some decrease in my times from 2021. I did one practice run at Norris, and discovered the new Pawpaw and Homestead trails that replaced the old worn out Lakeside Loop in the State Park. I also got in three 20+ milers, the last of which was just over a week before race day. This was a 23 mile loop near Cades Cove that Ron had figured up. Towards the end of the run, I thought I was 15 minutes ahead of last year’s time, but after arriving home I realized I was actually about that much slower. Oh well, at least I wouldn’t get overconfident.

But, in the week before the race Jean and I both came down with some type of sinus allergy/cold. I knew it would clear up before the race. When Saturday came I was still a bit stuffed up, but the tired, achy feeling and sore throat I’d had earlier was gone. Race day had great weather, ~55F at the start and up in the low 70s by afternoon, much warmer than typical for Norris. It was a small field, 17 runners in the 50K and 51 in the 25K. Ron raced, but was well ahead of me all day. I ran a bit with Kathy Smith (25K) at the start, but otherwise was alone. We ran counterclockwise, opposite the direction of 2021.

Still feeling a little weak, I walked much of the first hill up to Highpoint. The leaves had fallen and were fairly deep all day, but the descent of Ridgecrest Trail was the only loose section. I also walked most of the next climb up Reservoir Hill. I think more walking accounted for a slower first lap vs. 2021. With the small group, everyone was sorted out by the second climb, and I essentially held position from there. I was into the second aid station in 2:05, about on pace. But here I started to walk more. The course also used some of the new trail by Lakeside, and may have added a half mile or so of new bike trail winding aimlessly in the woods. The last section seemed to take forever, but I moved well enough to pass four 25K runners. My 3:40 for the last section was more in line with lap 2 in 2021 (cut off is 4:00).

I got back on the trail quickly. I was able to eat and drink well all day and never felt cramps. At the Reservoir aid station Brian Gagaus said Ron was running well, and was about 3 miles ahead of me. Ron later mentioned slowing up on lap two on the way to 5^th in 6:50. I saw my only runner of the lap just after Observation Point. The guy staggering down the trail was the same one I’d seen lurching up Ridgecrest near last year’s finish. I lost a little time approaching the aid stations, probably a combination of more walking and slightly slower running. Trails like Clear Creek, Lakeview, and Eli Nines were still beautiful single track striding. The Buttslide Aid station is near the Norris Rifle range. Both times I went through it sounded like high caliber guns were being fired.

The last section from the Buttslide aid station took 1:50, much slower vs 2021. I walked more, but tried hard to run as much as I could. I knew I was in danger of coming in over 8 hours, and I badly wanted a “7” for my first digit.

I slowly ticked off Scenic Cove, High Point Spur, and Kerry’s Revenge (slated to be relocated soon) while worried I would go over 8 hours, and also expecting to be caught by runners behind. My left knee began to ache, but in a bony, rather than IT/Tendonitis way. I could still run the gentle hills, both up and down, but I would have been  happy to have been able to just walk.

Finally, I came to the last junction. Turning up the wood steps, I still had some zip in the legs and dashed to the finish line in 7:56. Ron and Kathy were there, along with Tony, who was timing, and John who had been working aid stations. It was the first Norris finish I remembered that wasn’t freezing cold, so I was able to hang out a bit before heading home.

Norris State Park Map with new trails.

TRNP Map Finish and Mike Auney Trail, 10-15-22

I first began hiking at Theodore Roosevelt National Park in 1988, when I was living in Lead, SD and working at the Homestake Gold Mine. My friend and fellow hiker Craig was from North Dakota, and he persuaded me to visit TRNP in April when we hiked the Paddock-Talkington and Lone Tree Springs loops, then climbed the North Dakota highpoint at White Butte on the drive home. I was hooked on the area, and returned to the park that Memorial Day to hike the Buckhorn and Achenbach loops in the North Unit, and then the Jones-Paddock Loop in the South Unit.

Craig at the Petrified Forest, 1988

In 1992 when I had sold my first proposal for a Black Hills and Badlands hiking guide to Cordillera Press, I decided to add a short chapter on badlands hikes in North Dakota. The 1993 first edition would include White Butte, Little Missouri State Park, and the Petrified Forest, Jones -Lower Paddock, Caprock-Coulee, and Achenbach Loops in TRNP.

Paddock Creek, 1988

TRNP was still growing their trail system in those days, and by the time I would revise the Black Hills and Badlands trail guide in 1999 I added a section on “other TRNP trails”, that included brief descriptions of all the remaining park trails including new horse trails leading from the Roundup Horse Camp. I didn’t expect these horse trails to be too appealing, so they remained unhiked.

Of course, the big change in the North Dakota hiking world by 1999 was the construction of the Maah Daah Hey Trail to connect the South and North Units of the Park through the Little Missouri National Grassland. Jean and I weren’t able to make any ND trips for the 1999 guidebook update, but I was in touch with Curt and Russ, my contacts at the Forest Service about the trail. As of late 1998 when the book went to press the trail had been completely marked, but had not been constructed between the North Unit and the Mackenzie/Billings county line near FS Road 808. 

Petrified Forest, 1999.

Around this time Jean and I got interested in hiking “maps”. Hiking a “map” is essentially hiking all the trails that appear on a park map. The 900-milers, or all the trails in Great Smoky Mountains National Park, is perhaps the best known of these. The run “every single trail’ project by Matt Kirk (matthewkirk.blogspot.com) maybe its most extreme case. Jean and I had done the 900 miles in the Smokies (900 milers), and then moved on to complete two smaller projects in the combined Joyce Kilmer-Slickrock(NC)  and Citico (TN) wildernesses and at Frozen Head State Park. TRNP has 95 miles of hiking trail, which is enough to make a tough map marking project.

With the original 96 mile Maah Daah Hey Trail complete, there was now enough trail in the North Dakota badlands to support a standalone hiking guide. My publisher and I decided to spin off the ND chapter of the Black Hills and Badlands guide into a separate book. To support the guide, Jean and I backpacked (2001 MDH BP) & 2004 MDH BP) the entire MDH trail in two long trips. The Forest Service was also now building a network of other trails around the MDH to support it, and I was able to mountain bike the Buffalo Gap Trail, which offered a bypass around the Wilderness Area in the South Unit of TRNP. But I was only able to provide brief descriptions of the other supporting trails, which I had not hiked.

The North Dakota guide was published in 2006. Along with providing the only detailed information for the Maah Daah Hey Trail, the book offered expanded descriptions of the trails in TRNP. But I still had not hiked the horse trails that had been “new” in 1999, and were now called the Roundup, Mike Auney, and East Entry trails.

The next step in the evolution of trails in the ND Badlands was the development of the Maah Daah Hey II, or “The Deuce”, also known as the Southern Section of the Maah Daah Hey. In this project, the Maah Daah Hey was extended south from the previous end at Sully Creek State Park, for 40 miles to the FS Burning Coal Vein Campground. The trail had been dug, but not all completed by the time Jean and I arrived to ride a section in 2011.

In the meantime, the guidebook publishing world was undergoing changes. Much more trail information became available online, and many users expected to get this information for free. Small publishing has always been a tough business and the publisher of my Dakota books didn’t survive this era. But by 2019 there was a new owner for the North Dakota title who was also interested in updating the book. I would soon be retired, and so it wasn’t hard to put together a plan for the new book. The goal would be to cover all the trails in TRNP and the Little Missouri National Grassland and add a few trails from elsewhere in the state such as White Butte, Little Missouri State Park, Knife River Indian Villages National Historic Site, and the Sheyenne National Grassland segment of the North Country National Scenic Trail.

All of this would lead to an ideal opportunity for me to complete the maps for the TRNP and the LMNG on a long guidebook work trip in 2019 (Guidebook Link). Things went well in the LMNG until I tried to hike the Wolf Trail, and found the access road to be a rutted mess. Wolf is an isolated trail, and little used, so I rationalized skipping a detailed description for the guide.

Things went better in TRNP, Jean and I had already hiked the Roundup Trail, and found it a fun trip (2011 ND Blog). The old East Boundary Horse Trail had been removed from the map, leaving just the Mike Auney Trail unhiked.

The Mike Auney Trail consists of a 1.1 mile east segment from the Roundup Horse Camp west to a ford of the Little Missouri River, and a 1.7 mile west segment from the river up to an intersection with the Maah Daah Hey portion of the Petrified Forest Loop.

Unfortunately, I was told at the TRNP Visitor Center desk that access to the horse camp was restricted to those with reservations at the camp. Oh well, a general description of the trail would have to do. But later, I found out that the prohibition applied to vehicles only, and that it was okay to hike to the camp. In 2021 Jean and I hiked the west section from the Petrified Forest Loop (Petrified Forest Blog) to the river, and enjoyed that pretty trail section. 

The four buttes descending the Mike Auney Trail.

That left a single segment to go for TRNP. 

Wind Canyon.

For our 2022 visit, finishing the Mike Auney Trail would be top of our list. To add some icing on the cake I planned an off trail finish for the otherwise short completion hike. To give Jean a better idea of the planned route, we stopped at the Wind Canyon Nature Trail on the drive in. It was just after dawn (and cold), but we got great light at the magnificent overlook above the Little Missouri. By inspecting the off trail route with binoculars we confirmed that we should have no extraordinary obstacles. 

The Little Missouri River from the Wind Canyon Trail.

We parked at the junction of the gravel East River and Roundup Camp roads and began hiking toward the horse camp. As we approached the camp we saw a trail enter the road from the left. This turned out to be a short connector that horse riders used to access the Roundup Trail. At its west end, the Roundup Camp Road makes a sharp U-turn and enters the camp. To our surprise there was a camper and family there. The previous night’s low had been near freezing at the end of a cold windy stretch, so this must have been a hardy group. Their son directed us to the trailhead signboard and confirmed we were on the trail leading to the river.

The trail led across a low saddle then turned toward the river. It was a pretty trail with none of the overuse damage we’re used to seeing with horse trails. As we approached the river bottom, another trail, presumably from the camp, joined from our right. We continued on a nice gradual descent to the river bottom. Eventually, we dropped down two river terrace levels, and there it was the river, and the end of my TRNP map quest. We both remembered great rock skipping stones on the western shore, but could only find a few serviceable skippers on the east side. At the time we expected this hike also finished Jean’s TRNP map, but later realized she still had at least one trail in each unit that she hadn’t hiked.

End of the trail, Jean at the Little Missouri River.

After some celebratory hot tea, we decided to try our off trail return. We climbed up to the second terrace and started southeast across the sagebrush. We soon found an bison trail and took it to the edge of a large prairie dog town. Dog towns are always easy going, with plenty of antics from the residents to amuse hikers. This town didn’t see heavily populated, and we didn’t know if the dogs were less active in the cold, or if this town was in decline.

At the far end of the dog town, we spotted a herd of eight mule deer. When the mule deer turned north away from the river and Jules Creek we followed them up a small draw then across the face of a badlands butte. We descended off the game trail down to the East River Road and returned to the car. This was a total team effort, we’d followed paths made by men, horses, bison, prairie dogs, and deer to finish the TRNP map. On our next trip you can bet I’ll be out on the Wolf Trail, hoping to finish my grassland map.

Our route with trails in red.

The China Wall via Bennett Creek and the Maah Daah Hey Trail, 10-14-22

The China Wall from our 2001 trip.

One of the goals of our 2022 fall trip to the ND Badlands was to revisit some of our favorite places, without having the time pressure of working on a hiking guide. We wanted to spend more time near the North Unit, and one place that topped the list was the China Wall. Since Jean hadn’t hiked the Bennett Trail (she’d taken a rest day when I rode the Cottonwood-Maah Daah Hey-Bennett loop in 2019 (Here)) we decided to hike to the Wall from Bennett Campground.

The previous day had been windy, even by ND standards with gusts projected to 50 mph. Things had seemed to get worse in the afternoon, so we made sure we had an early start, and hoped that the trail along the creek would be sheltered enough from the wind. When we arrived the trailhead the temperature was about 40F, the trailhead was empty, and there was only a small trailer in the campground. The last register sign in was on September 11, and the entire roster for 2022  covered only one page. This would be our third day in a row without seeing any other hikers, we guessed others had the luxury of waiting for the wind to die down.

Bennett Trail marker.

From Bennett CG it is an easy three mile walk to the Maah Daah Hey Trail. There’s a rock hop of Bennett Creek near the start and a potential rock hop of Cottonwood Creek near the far end, otherwise the trail is well marked and easy to follow. We had talked the previous day with a TRNP ranger who’d had to abort a mountain bike trip on the trail due to pockmarking by the cattle that stay close to the creek. But, by the time of our trip the trail surface was reasonably smooth. To the first milepost the trail climbs gently. We saw one spot where the creek’s meanders had carved out several short pillars.

Small pillars carved in the canyon of Bennett Creek.

From my 2019 ride I remembered a spot where the trail was tough to follow right along the creek bank, and another small slump, but both these areas had since been fixed. We both were impressed by the fall colors, both in the trees and even in the grasses. At the Kryzsko Monument we got some great views of our remaining trail to the west.

View west from the Kryzsko Monument.

We saw a few skittish cows, but they were not impacting the trail. We spooked one pheasant.

After three miles we hit the Maah Daah Hey Trail, and I went into guidebook mode. The FS had recently relocated part of the trail from the berm of an old, failed stock pond to the hillside in back of it so I needed to map and measure the relocation, and update the description. The change added only 0.2 mile to the trail, but it set me thinking what would happen if enough relocations changed the overall mileage of the trail. Would that mean all the mileposts would need to be moved? The new section was still raw from its construction, it will be another season or more before it is trampled smooth.

After we passed the pond I realized the guidebook used the mileage for the start of the climb for the China Wall, and I’d need to adjust this for the wall itself. There were several sets of bluffs above the creek, and we weren’t sure which one contained the wall.

The China Wall from below.

The climb to the wall begins with a pair of sharp switchbacks, then climbs to a saddle in an unnamed butte that sits in the center of section 3. The trail is carved into a shear badlands wall before you reach the wall along its shear south face. The wall is essentially a thin fin of rock running across the top of a small saddle. It is near vertical on the south side, but gentler on the north.

To tie all our mileages together we walked down the north side in the juniper to the next milepost before hiking back up to eat lunch beside the wall.

Close up of the China Wall.

We’d lucked out with the weather. It was cool, but sunny, and the forecasted lull in the winds was a savior. We would simply need to retrace our route back to reach the trailhead, but the scenery was still pretty enough we didn’t mind at all repeating our route. Back at the car we finished up a 10 mile day, and looked forward to the TRNP South Unit part of our trip. 

Cross Ranch State Park ND Hiking, 10-12-22

Cross Ranch State Park was an area that I had wanted to add to my 2021 North Dakota hiking guidebook update (Guidebook link), but I just never had enough time to make a visit. Since then, Jean and I have been discovering how nice the ND State Parks are, with great trail systems and interesting interpretive displays. We decided to make Cross Ranch the first stop on our 2022 visit.

After spending the night in Bismarck, we arrived before the Visitor Center opened. The park trails form a daisy chain of loops along the west bank of the Missouri River. We decided to try the eight mile Matah (from the Mandan word for river), Cottonwood, and Gaines loops that extend north from the Visitor Center.

Trail intersection at Cross Ranch.

What a great choice. The first part of the Matah Trail is an interpretive loop giving us a quick lesson on the ecology of the river bottom ecosystem. The trail was a mowed path through an open forest of cottonwood, carpeted with thick prairie grasses. Most of the Matah Trail was right along the river, giving us nice views across the river. The first part of the loop passed the park campground, which also featured a few yurts and some cabins.

Cross Ranch was created from parts of the original Gaines Ranch, first settled in the late 1800’s. Gaines sold the ranch to the Levis, who hoped that the ranch could be turned into a state park. The Levis had bought the Maltese Cross brand that had been Theodore Roosevelt’s, and renamed the property as Cross Ranch. The Levis then sold to The Nature Conservancy (TNC), who later donated much of the land to the state to create the park. The next two loops (Cottonwood and Gaines) on our hike would be on Nature Conservancy land used by the park.

The Cottonwood and Gaines loops are away from the river, so we lost our extensive views. But the river bottom here is lush and parklike below the many mature cottonwoods, some of which have reached remarkable size. The river here was free flowing, rather than impounded behind the massive Garrison and Oahe dams. It was the biodiversity of the river bottom that first attracted the TNC to the area. Only after acquiring the property, did they realize the extent of the diversity of the unbroken upland prairie lands above the river.

Jean by a huge cottonwood.

Jean and I continued to enjoy the easy hiking along the river bottom. It was much colder than it had been at home, and the winds had begun to weave their way down to us. We skipped the Levis Trail at the far end of the park, expecting the northernmost loop would be similar to what we saw on the other loops, and we returned to the Visitor Center after hiking about 8 miles.

The ranger was about to head off for lunch, but he opened back up for us, and gave us more background on the park and its facilities. We planned to try the shorter Prairie Trail on The Nature Conservancy next, and he told us there had been a lone bison grazing near the start of the loop.

By the time we drove the extra mile up the road to the Nature Conservancy trailhead, the wind had picked up, with gusts reaching 30 mph. Luckily there was a trail map on the sign board, the two miles of trail was a complicated “lasso” shape with two other spurs leading off it, and a social trail to a small cemetery also starting from the trailhead.

Jean at The Nature Conservancy Trailhead.

The Prairie Trail was also a path mowed through the grassland. Immediately over the first hill we spotted the lone bison the ranger had mentioned. The preserve has a herd of around 200 bison, but they are apparently scattered over the three parcels that comprise the preserve. We looped around the bison, never coming so close that we needed to leave the trail. At the far end of the loop on a hilltop overlooking ranch headquarters was the small Gaines Cemetery. From there we turned back and fought our way upwind back to the trailhead, this time stopping off to see the larger Bagnell Cemetery on the knoll above the trailhead.

We both came away very impressed by the scenery and the condition of the trails. Hopefully, the guidebook will sell well enough to go to a third edition, and if so the Cross Ranch trails will be a great addition.

Bent Creek Mountain Biking, Pisgah NF, 2022, 9-24

This trip was triggered by a trip to Asheville by my old friends from the Black Hills, Karl and Laurie Marlowe. They were planning a 5 day trip to NC, in part to spread the ashes of one of Laurie’s sisters who had died while hiking on a trail near town. They were also planning to do some hiking and biking and asked us to come along. However, Jean had Pro-MBA teaching and couldn’t make the trip. I settled on meeting them for dinner on Friday with a ride at Bent Creek for Saturday.

I decided to do a run at the Smokies Big Creek Trailhead on the drive over. I hiked up to the hiker campsite, explored up to the horse campsite, and ran back down to the trailhead. It took 1:45 to reach the campsite and 1:10 to run back down. The trail is rocky, but I really didn’t have much trouble with the footing while running back.

Jean got me a reservation at the Super 8 off Tunnel Road in Asheville. I checked in before heading downtown. We ended up at the Bhramari Brewing Company. My beer was good, but the food was only OK.

It’s been almost 25 years since I’d seen Karl and Laurie, so we had tons to catch up on. For some stretches we’d been out of touch a while. Obviously a lot of family changes over that time, but Karl was still with Homestake’s successor Barrick, which is probably some sort of longevity record for an exploration geologist. I think I was on my fourth mining company before I was out of grad school.

Both Karl and Laurie are hard core bikers, mostly doing gravel riding these days. I’d only been off the greenway for three rides this year, so I was hoping just to survive. It was a short evening downtown, they were used to Pacific Time.

On Saturday morning we met at Rice Pinnacle TH at Bent Creek. They’d rented bikes (full suspension 29ers) from Carolina Fats. We rode (right at my max) up FS 491, turned onto FS 491E, and then started up Ingles Field Gap. That trail was rough and rocky, but we weren’t more than 100 yards down it before Karl discovered he had a flat. We both had pumps, but no patches. The tire would hold not air, so he rode it flat back down to the parking area. What a bummer.

While they headed back to the bike shop, I took a short loop; immediately off on a user trail from 664, then up 666 and 660 along Ledford Branch. All of these were rough, rocky, and rooty, too much so to want to ride again. Back in the early 2000’s I was riding a lot at Bent Creek, but this was my first trip since 2009. Obviously some trails had gotten rougher. Luckily, the bike shop trip was short, so I zipped down FS 491 to meet them for a restart at the by now full trailhead.

Round 2 was back up 491, then 491E again, then this time out to T145 to try more single track. 145 was fine for riding, at least once the climb was over. I’d been bragging about T665, so we took it down. After a few rocks and a quick creek crossing, it became the smooth flowy dirt trail I remembered from years past, the kind that always puts a smile on the rider’s face. We took lower Sidehill 137A out, finally finding some trail that wasn’t really crowded. This was tougher single track for me, but Karl and Laurie just flowed over it with their 29ers, and their far superior bike handling. 

With Laurie and Karl at Bent Creek.

We got some pointers from some guys at the start of Road 479M, plus a group photo. 479M starts with a long climb, but Laurie just blasted out ahead in the lead. The 479M surface was perfect, the forest open and pretty. This was probably my favorite part of the ride. We stopped at the Chestnut Cove intersection, and almost rode down a foot-only trail by mistake. We turned down Sleepy Gap and rode a section of Explorer Loop, both these trails were in great shape and a ton of fun. The we took the Pine Tree connector and loop trails, both those were badly eroded and too rough for me to enjoy.

By then it was getting late for me with the drive home looming, so when we hit the paved road, we just rode back on it to the trailhead. 

Ready for Bent Creek.

What a great day. It was really fun to be back out riding again, especially with them. I’d learned to mountain bike in the Black Hills back in the late 80’s and Karl was one (the main one?) of the guys who really got me going. I’m not great at keeping in touch with old friends, but this ride shows how valuable those connections can be.

Glacier National Park Trip, July 2022

For our 2022 summer trip Jean and I decided to go back to Glacier National Park. It was an easy decision, we’d had a fantastic time on our last visit in 2016 (link), and the park remains a premier hiking and backpacking destination. We made hotel reservations early, and then applied for two advance backcountry reservations. Only the would-it-be-cheaper-to-just-buy-the-car(?) rental car rates set us back in our planning. Luckily for us, our friends Aaron and Sarah were visiting just a few weeks earlier, so we’d get feedback on trail conditions and the workings of the shuttle system and the Going to the Sun Road reservation system that were designed to control crowding in the park.

East Glacier Park Lodge.

We flew into Kalispell via Denver, then drove into town for supplies. Two Medicine was our favorite area in the park because of its excellent, but less crowded trails, so we headed there first driving US 2 over Marias Pass to the East Glacier Lodge, where we would spend the next three nights.

 

Mt Gould over the Angel Wing and Grinnell Lake.

7-19-22, Upper Two Medicine Lake, 9.4 miles

Hitting the trail.

We parked at the Pray Lake Trailhead, where Pumpelly Pillar and Sinopah Mountain tower over Two Medicine Lake. All those warning signs around the Glacier trailheads sure do work. I’d forgotten to unpack our bear spray, but a sign just down the trail was the reminder I needed to head back to the rental car. The morning was cool enough to require the only use of my fleece hoody while hiking. The first part of the hike follows the north shore of the lake. We suffered the traditional Glacier first day neck cramps as we kept our eyes focused on the exquisite alpine scenery above us. Just beyond the west end of the lake is a side trail to Twin Falls with powerful, side by side waterfalls feeding the same plunge pool. A late spring and wet weather (our trip was just a few weeks after the floods in Yellowstone NP and Red Lodge, MT) gave us much different conditions than 2016’s cool and dry hiking. 

Twin Falls.

On most hikes you see fewer people the farther you get from the trailhead, but a lot of folks were riding the boat shuttle to see Twin Falls and Upper Two Medicine Lake. But we were lucky to have some solitude when we reached the upper lake ahead of the crowds. It’s a spectacular setting with the lake filling most of the cirque and with the peaks of the Continental Divide towering above. The backcountry campsite here is highly coveted. We’d tried to reserve a site thru the GNP system, but received a backup choice instead. 

Upper Two Medicine Lake.

 

7-20-22, Scenic Point, 7.8 miles

The trail to Scenic Point follows the Continental Divide Trail part of the way from Two Medicine back to East Glacier. We were trying to stay on eastern time, and were the first ones out on the trail. Not too far in we passed hard-to-photograph Appistoki Falls where the climbing begins. Despite the steep grade, the trail was well-maintained, and we kept cool in the morning shade. The wet weather meant the flowers were still out in force, but the best views were down toward Two Medicine Lake and red colored Grinnell Formation peaks around it. 

Climbing to Scenic Point.

Part way up the is a false summit, but at least the grade relents afterward. A long sweeping arc of a trail leads to Scenic Point where the views lose their focus on Two Medicine Lake, and expand to include the eastern slope and the prairies beyond. Though Scenic Point is really just a shoulder of Mt Henry, the views are certainly summit worthy. 

View into two Medicine from Scenic Point.

We lounged a long while on the peak, watching some marmots playing/fighting/courting? 

Marmot on Scenic Point.

After so much hiking in the east, tasting a Rocky Mountain summit was delicious and the windy day kept the bugs away on the descent. 

Jean on top of Scenic Point.

 

7-21 and 22-22, Red Eagle Lake Backpack Trip, 17.1 miles

One of the joys of hiking in Glacier is staying overnight in the backcountry, assuming of course that you don’t get attacked by grizzly bears. Jean and I have been impressed enough by the park’s efforts to minimize interactions between bears and people to feel secure in staying overnight. Others must feel the same as this year backcountry permits seemed especially hard to get. Our first one was for Red Eagle Lake Head, an 8.5 mile hike, a bit farther than my sofa-trained body desired.

The Red Eagle Valley is known for its wildlife watching, and the hike promised little climbing. In 2016 we visited the park in the aftermath of the 2015 Reynolds Fire that burned much of the area around St Mary Lake, including the Red Eagle valley. The fire opened up the valley floor, allowing the flowers to bloom and the underbrush to flourish, but also letting in a lot of sun. Lots of sun exposure is tough on those of us from the hazy southeast, but we are more than used to bashing our way through thick summer undergrowth. 

Wildflowers along the trail.

Hiking in we crossed our first of Glacier’s swinging bridges, with the creek high enough a ford might not have been possible otherwise. The tough horse fords nearby probably keep all but the most determined riders away.

Swinging Bridge.

We talked with returning backpackers and found they preferred the sites at the head of the lake to those at the foot, which were completely open to the sun. Holding to mandatory rest breaks every hour, we reached camp by early afternoon.

The campsites at the head of the lake proved less sunny, as the first arrivals we picked the shadiest. There was a small beach where we watched some ducks and listened to far off loons. Our only neighbor was a Continental Divide Trail through hiker (who had already finished the AT in 2022), just starting his trip with a forced break in period. The GNP rangers had permitted him for sites much closer together than his preferred 25+ miles per day pace. 

Cook area at Red Eagle Lake Head.

The highlight of the walk out was spotting a grazing moose not too far from camp. He was just far enough off the trail to not be a threat, but close enough for a good photograph.

Moose in Red Eagle Valley.

Marching through the brush under the hot sun we decided the one nit we’d pick with Glacier’s trails is that so many hikes are out and back, requiring two passes through the sun and undergrowth. Cotton dress shirts for breathable sun protection would be our go to layer for the rest of the trip. On the return trip, we circled around the far side of the Beaver Pond Loop to come out by the 193 Ranger Station just in time to join a ranger-led hike. Next we would head to St Mary to stay the next three nights at the Red Eagle Motel, and to feast at Johnsons Restaurant.

View across the bridge.

 

7-23-22, Ptarmigan Tunnel, 10.6 miles

Lodging reservations for the Many Glacier area are tough to get, so we used St Mary as our base for hiking Many Glacier. We needed to rest up a bit as we were between backpacking trips, so we decided to try the hike to Ptarmigan Lake. When we arrived, the valley was already bustling, with hikers heading off from the five major trailheads. We tucked in with two other couples and immediately went off course onto a campground trail before starting off toward Ptarmigan. The hike began with great valley views, before ducking into the trees as the sun rose. The Iceberg Lake Trail was closed due to bear activity, so that funneled a few more hikers toward Ptarmigan. 

Jean at the tunnel.

We were among the first to the lake, but avoided the beach at the foot for a rocky lunch spot at the head. Above us a pair of massive switchbacks stretched across the top of the cirque, with a parade of tiny hikers inching their way up. We pepped up after our early lunch, but I was still surprised when Jean suggested we try for the tunnel. 

Ptarmigan Lake and pass from below.

The switchbacks proved to be another set of Glacier’s superbly graded trails and not long afterward we were at the tunnel.

Happy Hikers.

I was expecting something short and was shocked by the 180 foot long tunnel. A surprisingly uncrowded viewing platform on the back side overlooks Elizabeth Lake in the heart of Glacier’s alpine zone. The iron tunnel doors have a Lord of the Rings look of doom.

North side of tunnel.

After a chat with one of the other couples from our morning false start and some extra photography we headed down to Swiftcurrent for our traditional post-hike cream. The tunnel was well worth turning our “rest day” into the longest hike of the trip.

Inside the tunnel.

 

7-24-22, Grinnell Glacier, 7.5 miles

Jean and I had hiked to Grinnell Glacier in 2016. We knew the upper trail was closed by high angle snowfields, but the views on this hike are so spectacular we still wanted to repeat it. Another alpine start got us ahead of the crowds as we went around the north shores of Swiftcurrent, then Josephine lakes. In addition to the snow closure on upper Grinnell, the north side of Josephine had a bear warning. As with our Two Medicine hike, when we got to the head of Lake Josephine we caught up with the first hikers who had used the boat shuttle to cross the lakes. 

Grinnell and Salamander glaciers from below.

The sight of Mt Gould looming over the Angel Wing and Grinnell Lake was captivating. 

Mt Gould and Grinnell Lake.

We found the trail closed just beyond the switchback at a small draw within sight of a high angle snow patch that covered 100’ or so of the trail. Definitely not terrain for parties without proper gear! We sat for some pictures and an early snack. Most hikers respected the closure, but one trail runner crossed over the line for more pictures. 

Trail closure area.

In 2016 we’d seen several mountain goats on this hike, but in 2022 the wildlife mostly eluded us. One new species for us though was a bird we assumed to be a ptarmigan.

Ptarmigan?

On the return leg we swung by the boat dock and took the trails on the south side of the lakes for variety. This brought to the fine beach on the shore of Stump Lake where we stopped for the view and our second lunch. 

Lunch view from Stump lake

 

7-25 and 26-22, Gunsight Lake Backpack, 12.6 miles

Our second backpack trip would be an out and back hike to Gunsight Lake. I had done this hike in 1985 while living relatively nearby in Butte, but obviously remembered little of the details. The ranger who issued our backpacking permits warned us the campsites would likely be buggy, so we came prepared with plenty of spray and lots of patience.

The hike starts with a steady descent down to Reynolds Creek where a swinging bridge leads to a backcountry camp site. From the campsite it is just a long gentle climb up to the lake. The first group we saw coming down the trail had spent the night at Reynolds Creek and were heading for Red Eagle Lake. But, they had mistakenly hiked 2.5 miles toward Gunsight before realizing their error. They would add 5 extra miles to what would was already a very brushy 15 mile trip. The early morning was foggy, but we heard helicopters off to the east, in a search for two climbers on Dusty Star Mountain. 

Gunsight Lake

We passed up the side trail to Florence Falls, not wanting to add an extra 1.5 miles with our packs. Approaching the lake, the views just kept getting better, with Citadel, Jackson Glacier, and Gunsight Pass dominating the skyline. Gunsight is a large camp with six tent sites. We were lucky to find a shady one, then proceeded to do battle with the mosquitos and flies as we set up camp. There are two beaches, plus a swinging bridge at the outlet. 

Another swinging bridge.

We spent some time hanging out in all three spots. The far pier of the swinging bridge had been damaged, but the ford of the outlet was only calf deep. Other hikers told us that Gunsight Pass was now open, and passable without ice gear. When we picked up our permit we debated spending two nights at Gunsight, but with the bridge out and the pass closed we’d assumed there would have been nowhere to explore on our layover day. 

Our tent site at Gunsight Lake.

With all the tent sites full, it got a bit crowded in the cook area at dinner time. But the bugs began to die down and we were able to enjoy the quiet of the evening. A brief hard rain rolled through during the night, and Jean reports I slept through a second round. With the wet vegetation we were reluctant to leave the campsite next morning. The first group we passed was a trail crew who had brushed out much of the upper trail the previous day. The hike out went well and stayed cool, at least until we hit the long climb up to the Going to the Sun Road.

Our next stop was the West Glacier Motel, so we got to see the sights driving the rest of the Going to the Sun Road. This is the second year of Glacier’s vehicle reservation system, designed to alleviate congestion on the Sun Road. Our backpacking permit had given us access to the road, and I’d ordered reservations for the rest of the trip. We didn’t need the reservations for the portions of the trip in Two Medicine and Many Glacier, but used them for our stay in West Glacier. We found the Sun Road easy driving, and only crowded around the Logan Pass Area. 

Mt Reynolds and the East Tunnel.

 

7-27-22, Snyder Lake, 8.8 miles

Two sets of friends had already visited Glacier this yar and both recommended Snyder Lake as easy access to the alpine zone from the west side. The start at Lake MacDonald in deep forest is heavily used by hikers and horses, but once on the spur to the Snyder Lake you lose most of the traffic heading toward Sperry Chalet. You enter a sunnier area, probably from the 2017 Sperry Fire. After the turn the grade eases significantly, but the trail is more overgrown. Still, the lake is in a fine cirque along with three cozy campsites. We had the whole area to ourselves through lunch, which we ate among the boulders at the head of the lake. 

Deer like the trails too!

The first hikers we met heading back reporting a black bear sighting, as did the next pair. We missed the bear, but a couple we passed heading up the trail also spotted it. Most hikers we met during the trip were practicing good bear protocols, making noise as they hiked, being careful with their food, and carrying bear spray. This made hiking safer for them, but also safer for the next hikers who don’t have to deal with a food conditioned bear. 

Lower Snyder Lake.

We were down to Lake MacDonald by early afternoon, in time to enjoy our ritual ice cream from the camp store.

 

7-28-22, St Mary and Virginia Falls, 3.6 miles

At St Mary Falls.

With our trip winding to a close we needed a short day to leave time for packing up. We’d enjoyed the drive over the Sun Road after our backpacking trip and thought another leisurely drive combined with the short hikes to St Mary and Virginia falls would make a great final day in the park. We used our auto reservation for the Sun Road to start early, and enjoy some of the views from the pullouts along the road.  

St Mary Falls.

The St Mary area had been hit hard by the 2015 Reynolds Fire. We had hiked through here in 2016, but now knew what to expect from the burn areas, heavy underbrush. Luckily for us, the hikes to the falls are mostly front country stuff, so everything was well cleared. Basically, you descend down to the inlet for St Mary Lake where there is a powerful two tier falls, then climb up to larger drop on a side branch at Virginia Falls. Early on it is not too crowded for pictures, we viewed Virginia both at and below its plunge pool.

Virginia Falls.

Then finally it was back to the drive over the Sun Road to West Glacier. While packing up, I managed to squeeze in a last run on the Apgar Bike Path, about the only place in the park I felt safe enough to run solo.

Lake MacDonald Valley from the Sun Road.