Tues - 65min/ 7.3m/ 1000' - Hickory City Park - first actual snow run (snow falling) of the year at City Park. I made first tracks on most of the trail and had a great run in the peaceful falling snow.
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| first snow |
Thurs - 40min/ 4m/ 200' - Davidson - Meet up with the DART crew for a "frothy" mile. I took 2nd behind Tom by 2 seconds. Not really impressed with my time of 8:59. I can do better than that.
Fri - Ski Trip! - Sugar Mountain - Skiing all day for the first time ever. For the first 2 hours I hated it. Couldn't stay upright, couldn't stop, couldn't ski period. Finally, I made it down the bunny slope a couple of times and was able to stop. It was time to take it to Green. Ran green maybe 12 times and never fell down. After finally getting my ski legs under me, I hit blues for the rest of the night. Really started to feel confident at the end of the night and now I love skiing. Can't wait for the next trip.
Sat - 2hrs5min/ 8.5m/ 2500' - Grandfather Mtn - Tom and I headed out to tackle the highest peak on Grandfather Mountain, which is Calloway Peak at an elevation 5,946'. We decided to take the scenic Cragway Trail up the first half of the mountain. The views were awesome, but the going was slow due to tired ski legs and post-holing through 10-14inch deep snow. Although the temperature was in the lower 50's. Soon we hit the Scout Trail to continue our climb to the summit. We missed the trail at one point and ended up bushwhacking past a few switchbacks but ended back on the trail. The snow cover makes things tricky sometime. Back on the trail, we were able to start running a bit due to the gentle grade of the trail and the packed nature of the snow. Soon enough we hit the ladders, which were clear of ice, and we scrambled our way up the last pitch of the trail to the summit. The views were excellent today and the wind was whipping. We didn't stay on the summit too long due to the wind and retreated to the shelter for a quick snack before we completed our decent. We made good time heading down the the trail back to the car, although things were a bit slippery with the slushy snow. It was a great run and I'm glad I got back out on the summit. Haven't been up there in over a year, but I still want to get out on that high ridge that runs from the swinging bridge to Calloway peak again. Haven't been on it in over 4 years.
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| Tom on Cragway |
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| Post-holing |
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| Tom on the ladders |
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| at the summit |
Sun - AM - 90min/ 5.2m/ 600' - Flat Top Tower - After Hannah and I checked out of our cabin, we headed over to the trails at Moses Cone Park to hike up to the Flat Top Tower. I've done this route a ton of times, but it never gets old. Great hike with the wife before we left the High Country.
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| Hannah on Flat Top trail with Grandfather in the background |
PM - 97min/ 10.5m/ 1400' - Riverbend Park - Once we got back to Hickory and ate some lunch, I decided to head over to Riverbend to get in some more miles. It was a warm day with temps in the mid 60's and the trails were pretty sloppy due to the recent snow melt. Despite the sloppy conditions, it was a great run. I forget how excellent the trails are out there. Need to get out there more, but the stupid park hours it has gets in the way most of the time. I can tell my body is ready for a rest now though. Finished up the day with a round of disc golf over at Glenn Hilton. Great day!
Totals =
Time - 8hrs17min
Miles - 42m
Vert - 6500'
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