New River Training Week 6 ( NAR )

Mon - 31min/ 4m/ 100' - WWC - After the previous week's running, I developed a pain in my hip/quad that was mildly painful, but had me really worried for tomorrow's NAR run.  I'd been stretching and foam rolling it all day and then decided that maybe a short run could loosen it up some more.  So that is what I did.  Ran the first 2 miles with Mad A on the River trail, then flipped it back to the car.  I think it definitely did the trick.

Tues - 7hrs10min/ 26m/ 6500' - NAR day 1 - Meet up with my other NAR compadres (Brandon Smith and Andrew Swistak) at the NOC and then shuttled our cars out to start this two day adventure loop connecting the Bartram and Appalachian trails.  We started from Appletree camp and enjoyed the first two mellow climbs and descents down to the Nantahala river.  Then it was time for the long 5 mile 3000ft ascent up to the top of Cheoah Bald.  This trail was steep, rugged, and absolutely gorgeous.  I felt like I was somewhere tropical as we followed closely by to Ledbetter Creek and it's many cascades.  So far on the day we had seen zero folks on the 17 miles of the Bartram that day and as soon as we hit the AT we saw 8 people before we even got to the summit of Cheoah .2 miles away.  It was definitely thru-hiker season. The views from Cheoah were amazing and revealed our route for the following day.  The descent down the AT back to the NOC was joyful and fun.  For the day we ended up seeing nearly 40 people on the AT though in just 8.5 miles. A visit to the Nantahala Brewery followed.

Wed - 8hrs/ 27m/ 8000' - NAR day 2 - After a good nights rest at nearby Tsali Campground, we headed back to the NOC to start day 2.  Out of the gate the trail would climb from 1700' all the way to 4300' to our first overlook at Jumpup Rock.  Most of us decided to pick up a hiking stick for the long climb.  Not to long after our first overlook we at the top of Wesser Bald and its firetower.  What a view we had from that vantage point.  We ended up soaking it all in for a bit too long though when we realized that we had only gone about 6.5 miles on the day in 2hrs40min.  At our current pace, we would be finishing in the dark.  So, everyone started to get a bit more pep in the steep as it would be a long 12 mile journey to get to our next landmark of Wayah Bald.  Most of that would be uphill as well with a few downhill breaks thrown in for good measure.  The views along the trail were excellent as usual and the volume of thru-hikers was astonishing again.  By the time we reached Wayah Bald we had already passed by 80+ hikers on the AT.  And by the time the Bartram trail finally split off the AT we ended up counting 100 hikers for the day.  That is an insane amount of traffic, but once we pulled back onto the Bartram we were back to solitude.  The grass lined Bartram hugged the ridge for the first few miles down to Sawmill gap and then we started our last substantial climb of the trip to the side of Jones Bald.  Then the trail decided to fall off the face of the earth back down to the lake.  This descent was a blast and to much of our surprise we ended up seeing are only 2 people on the Bartram about a mile from the finish.  So chalk it up, AT -140 Bartram - 2.  After driving back to the NOC to pick up the other cars, Nantahala Brewery was calling again, so we paid them another visit.

Thurs - off

Fri - off

Sat - off

Sun - off

Totals =

Time - 15hrs41min
Miles - 57
Vert - 14,600'

Well I only ran 3 days this week, and I think you can see why.  I was planning on running on Sunday, but it just didn't pan out.  I was just a bit too lazy.  Anyway, you still can't be upset with those numbers.  Below is the video of NAR.  Hope you enjoy!