Tennessee Miles
Published by Unknown under hike, Rock Creek Falls, Tennessee Mile on 10:04 PM
Trail: Cherokee National Forest: Rock Creek Falls
Distance: 1.5 miles each way...if we stopped when we were supposed to...
Elevation gain: not a clue.
TNT Time: 2 hoursish
Hooray for another hike! This time we went out to Unicoi County for a hike through a national forest. Sounds like fun, eh? The first while on the trail was really deceiving. We felt more like we were strolling through a botanical garden than hiking. We have learned a few really important lessons while hiking. One is keep your mouth shut. As soon as you say "this is easy" or "I'm glad that hill is over" you are in for it. So just bite your tongue. The other was:
The importance of a Tennessee mile. Those of you who already have experience with the Dominican Minute System will have no problem at all grasping this concept. Today's hike is labeled as "1.48 miles each way" (though this does not include the approach hike to the beginning of that trail). There is no way in H-E-double-hockey-sticks that the hike we just did was only 3 miles. And I can assure you that yesterdays was also longer than advertised. Here's the current theory:
Imagine in the above triangle that A represents our starting point. B represents the summit we are hiking towards. C is an unattainable point somewhere inside the mountain. Some well-meaning man somewhere is sitting in his office with a GPS, calculating the length of this trail. His GPS calculates the supposed distance, which the GPS informs him is 6...which would be true if it were possible for us to go THROUGH the mountain. But since we are not superhuman or miners, we must travel to B...the distance to which is actually 10. But the sign says 6 because this kind gentleman and his GPS fail to understand basic geometry!
OK, well, enough complaining. Here is some of the trail pictures. This is a log we had to cross to get over the creek. Trent walked across it too! It was kinda scary.
Now, for this picture to have its full effect, you have to understand that a person would be lucky not have to duck on this trail...much less carry a hang glider.
This tree is cool.
We found a pile of rocks sitting on another rock in the middle of a stream. It's fun to think of who did it and why.
Trent really likes this long-exposure picture of this mini-waterfall.
This was what we went out to see! We made it to the falls! We actually encountered one couple that didn't...they had turned back before they made it. And it's no wonder! It was a pretty rough uphill hike. Definitely not a flip flop and polo shirt kind of hike. But we made it and contemplated hiking past it, except that we wanted to eat dinner. Badly. Hiking makes us ravenous.
Distance: 1.5 miles each way...if we stopped when we were supposed to...
Elevation gain: not a clue.
TNT Time: 2 hoursish
Hooray for another hike! This time we went out to Unicoi County for a hike through a national forest. Sounds like fun, eh? The first while on the trail was really deceiving. We felt more like we were strolling through a botanical garden than hiking. We have learned a few really important lessons while hiking. One is keep your mouth shut. As soon as you say "this is easy" or "I'm glad that hill is over" you are in for it. So just bite your tongue. The other was:
The importance of a Tennessee mile. Those of you who already have experience with the Dominican Minute System will have no problem at all grasping this concept. Today's hike is labeled as "1.48 miles each way" (though this does not include the approach hike to the beginning of that trail). There is no way in H-E-double-hockey-sticks that the hike we just did was only 3 miles. And I can assure you that yesterdays was also longer than advertised. Here's the current theory:
Imagine in the above triangle that A represents our starting point. B represents the summit we are hiking towards. C is an unattainable point somewhere inside the mountain. Some well-meaning man somewhere is sitting in his office with a GPS, calculating the length of this trail. His GPS calculates the supposed distance, which the GPS informs him is 6...which would be true if it were possible for us to go THROUGH the mountain. But since we are not superhuman or miners, we must travel to B...the distance to which is actually 10. But the sign says 6 because this kind gentleman and his GPS fail to understand basic geometry!
OK, well, enough complaining. Here is some of the trail pictures. This is a log we had to cross to get over the creek. Trent walked across it too! It was kinda scary.
Now, for this picture to have its full effect, you have to understand that a person would be lucky not have to duck on this trail...much less carry a hang glider.
This tree is cool.
We found a pile of rocks sitting on another rock in the middle of a stream. It's fun to think of who did it and why.
Trent really likes this long-exposure picture of this mini-waterfall.
This was what we went out to see! We made it to the falls! We actually encountered one couple that didn't...they had turned back before they made it. And it's no wonder! It was a pretty rough uphill hike. Definitely not a flip flop and polo shirt kind of hike. But we made it and contemplated hiking past it, except that we wanted to eat dinner. Badly. Hiking makes us ravenous.
3 comments:
I can't wait till I get to go hiking with TnT!
Momj
I really like that long-exposure picture of the mini waterfall, too
The thing with the rocks is a Zen Buddhist thing. The monks practice that.
Great blog! Good to be able to stay in touch.
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