You know, the one you pass by and never take so often you that you almost don’t even think about it anymore? Next time you see it, take it. Even if it’s short like the ones I took this week, the change in perspective helps you see things from a different and refreshing angle.
#1 -New Connector Trail in the Smokies
Wood sorrel, blooming out of season.
Last Sunday, we ran up Baxter Creek trail to Mt. Sterling, a trail we’ve run many times. The 6-mile climb to the summit is great training and it’s a beautiful trail with one of the best views in the Smokies from the fire tower on the summit. We had originally planned to run a big loop from there downhill and back up to Mt. Cammerer on the opposing ridge for a reasonable total of 24 miles, but started later than originally planned on this rainy morning. We had also both managed to forget headlamps, an unfortunate first.
When we arrived on Mt. Sterling, thankfully without rain but with zero view, we knew we didn’t have time to run the full loop. We had two options – run the 6 miles back down Baxter Creek Trail to the parking lot, a total of 12 solid miles that would get us to the car in plenty of daylight, or continue on for a 16-mile loop that included 4 miles of connecting trail, Swallow Fork, we’d somehow always managed to miss and didn’t know anything about.
We probably had enough daylight for the loop and knew the last 4 miles of it very well but the rest was, well, unknown. The scenery of Baxter Creek and Mt. Sterling is in many guidebooks. Baxter Creek was also steep enough to be great training for some tough upcoming races. Swallow Fork isn’t really mentioned in guidebooks. It might be ho-hum and less than challenging, so why bother?
Standing under the fire tower in the drifting clouds and mist, we talked it over and still decided to go for the loop with the new trail.
Here’s why: Swallow Fork was new trail and Baxter Creek felt like a rut. Like a “had to.”
Not long after we turned downhill on Swallow Fork we got a sign we’d made the right decision – coyote song in the draw to the left below. Clearly an elated, happy-to-be-alive song. We couldn’t help but smile with them. The trail wound around a few more switchbacks and then crossed a classic Smokies waterfall, all white water and deep green moss-covered boulders. It was so relaxing. The trail stuck near this water, Swallow Fork Creek, most of the rest of the way down and it turned out to be a gorgeous little trail with a fun mix of plant life – crimson bee balm, white bee balm, blooming rattlesnake plantain, green-headed coneflower (new to us!), Clingman’s wood nettle (also new to us!), elephant ear, wood sorrel that should have bloomed in April, and the jewel weed I needed to get rid of the nettle stings.
We slowed down and spent more time just poking around. Neon-bright red and yellow mushrooms. White fungus that looked like ocean coral. Trillium seed pods. A huge snail. A side trail someone made that ended abruptly, maybe for photographs. Deer tracks. An area on the other side of the trail that looked like an old home site. It finally started to rain, so jackets went on and hoods up, and we hid out for a few moments under some hemlocks and listened to the rain.
I used to explore the woods all the time like this when I was a kid with all the time in the world and couldn’t remember the last time I did this. And we had it all to ourselves.
We got back to the car with daylight to spare, delighted with the new find and marvelling at all the new things we saw.
In the end, we got more than a workout. We got refreshed and built up our reserves to last us through the oncoming, stressful work week.
#2 – Delaware Transect on North Ridge Trail in Oak Ridge
The owl feather.
I’ve run the North Ridge Trail trail so many times over my life I know ever rock and root. My feet know exactly where to step. It’s not boring but it’s very, very familiar, like dancing with a life-long partner whose every move you know and love.
Coming home I reached the creek junction. It was getting late but there was enough light. I could go right along my favorite part and connect to road for the last mile, or run hard trail back in the waning light. Both were usual routes, nothing new. With tired legs and a race this weekend, easy would be smart but I chose hard instead to stay insulated that last few miles in the quiet of the woods.
A bit later and I was regretting my decision. My legs hadn’t been consulted in the decision and were not cooperating. I didn’t want to go back to the creek junction, in the wrong direction, and just as I was talking my legs into going forward, I noticed I was standing next to the start of the yellow-blazed Delaware Transect trail. I pass it every time I’m here and never use it, to the point that I had to stare at it for a moment to realize it was a new option. And the perfect answer – why not?
I’d forgotten how runnable it is. An old road that’s long and straight until it connects to one of the usual trails that takes me to the trailhead and out to the road. Runing along, I thought about the people that lived here before the Manhattan Project. Who built the road? Farmers? Where was their house? Did it run past the house? A barn? Was the land clear or wooded as it is now?
I also thought about my friend Tom that made this trail and wondered what he was up to. I hadn’t talked to him in forever. My mind drifted back over dusty memories and I quickly went from tired to smiling.
And here again, a sign I’d made the right decision – an owl feather.
It was the perfect end-the-week treat. My Starbucks iced green tee, in trail form. All thoughts of work banished, I was ready to start the weekend renewed.
