Spring Break 2014!

Well, this year's Spring Break from work at school was most excellent!  I felt that I really capitalized on the time afforded to us to wind down from a hard 2nd semester of teaching.  I won't really go into much detail about each of my adventures, but will let pictures give you a glimpse of what I got into.

I started off with an phenomenal retreat to the Black Mountains to hang in a cabin with a great friend and my new brothers, then leave the comfy confines of the rustic cabin to run up to the crest of the highest mountain range east of the Mississippi and traverse it all the way to Mt. Mitchell and back down.  A few other looney WNC Trail Runners joined us on what I dubbed the Green Woody Crest Traverse, although no one took up the option to climb up to Green Knob at the end of the run.  Let's just say the weather didn't really cooperate, but we still had a great time!

After returning home to visit the families over Easter, Hannah and I headed out for some camping on Table Rock in the Linville Gorge on Monday and Tuesday.  We set up on the summit of Little Tablerock and enjoyed the sunset and sunrise from it's bigger brother.  Jody met up with us Tuesday morning for some trail running out over the Chimneys and to Shortoff and back.  It was just another majestic trip to the gorge!

And a little time lapse footage recorded from Table Rock during sunset and sunrise for your viewing pleasure.


Table Rock Time Lapse Spring 2014 from Brandon Thrower on Vimeo.


Wednesday featured a good run out at Hickory City Park with the Catawba Valley Trail Runner crew and then I formed a plan for a nice loop out on Grandfather Mountain for Thursday.  I woke up early Thursday and drove up to Blowing Rock for the lone adventure.  Spring wildflowers were popping up all over the Tanawha Trail, I was mightily humbled by the difficulty and lunacy of one of the most amazing and scenic trails in east (Grandfather Trail), and even bumped into some Gorge Rats while bounding down the Daniel Boone and Cragway Trails.  It was a glorious outing on a perfect day on Grandfather!

Next up for Hannah and I was a two day trip out to Merlefest!  The lineup this year was outstanding and we witnessed some great musical moments during our attendance.  Some outstanding acts that we saw this year included: Scythian, Red June, The Duhks, Mandolin Orange, Steep Canyon Rangers, Tim O'brian and Derryll Scott, The Waybacks, Todd Snider, Dr. Ralph Stanley and the Clinch Mountain Boys, Ricky Skaggs and Kentucky Thunder, Sam Bush, and Old Crow Medicine Show!  We returned to the site of my previous 50 miler, Leatherwood Mountains Resort, which my legs are still feeling by the way, and camped out beside Elk Creek between the two days we were there.  Great place, even if you aren't running.

To cap off our Spring Break, Hannah and I took a little trip back up to the Linville Gorge, except this time just for a nice run along Jonas Ridge to Hawksbill and back.  Both of these were trails and summits Hannah had yet to be on, so it was nice to take her out to these iconic peaks in the Gorge.  It was definitely a great way to end our Spring Break.  Also bumped into another Gorge Rat, Mike Jones, while on the run.  Mike has done a ton for the Gorge community in the past few years, and it was great to finally meet him.  A stop into Fonta Flora Brewery afterward was a must as well.  Can't wait for the Brutus!

Leatherwood Training Week V....Recovery Week

Mon - 20min/ 1m/ 200' - Glenn Hilton Park - another quick round of speed disc golf on 16 of the holes before dark.   Not really a run, but I did jog between each throw on varied terrain.

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.

first snow

Wed - 60min/ 5.5m/ 600' - Glenn Hilton Park - We had a snow day from from work, so Hannah and I went and ran the 3.5 mile trail in GHP and then proceeded to play a surprisingly well and speedy session of speed disc golf in the snow.  More good recovery.

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.

Tom on Cragway

Post-holing

Tom on the ladders

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.

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'