Aching and Racked With Pain

In the fall I like to get out hiking as much as possible. Usually that means a couple times a month. I used to go a lot more frequently, before our child's schedule started chewing up our weekends. I tell you what: hiking at 41 is not as easy as it was at 31. This weekend I tested myself a little too much with two hikes in two days. I'm sore as hell.

Yesterday afternoon was basically just a stroll in the woods. I was heading for the RAC to work out and on a whim decided it was way too nice to be inside. So I hopped on the Chestnut Ridge Trail. This is a 5.3 mile loop around the Roanoke Mountain Campground. It's easily accessible from my house, but that would add a couple miles to the walk. Plus, I was already in the car when I decided to do it so I just parked by the trail access and did the loop. There are a few hills, but overall it's not very strenuous at all. I pushed the pace to be sure I got my heart rate up, so in the end it was a good workout. The colors were awesome, the temperature perfect for being in the woods, I saw some deer. Much better than being at the stinky old gym.

So, feeling inspired this morning, and with an extra hour on my hands since TB woke up at the new 6:00 (feeling good as new, by the way), I decided I'd climb a mountain. While LBB and TB went off to Sunday school, I put on my trail shoes and headed for Catawba. I had decided on the Andy Layne Trail to Tinker Cliffs.

I've done this hike numerous times, but it's been at least five years. The article I linked kind of downplays the ascent involved, over 2000 feet from the parking lot to the top. Plus, it misstates the distance. Round trip to Tinker Cliffs and back is more like 7 miles.

It starts gently enough, descending from the Catawba Creek Road parking area for a quarter mile or so. Then it crosses a couple stiles, and two ricketty bridges over the creek, as it goes through a cow pasture. Shortly after passing a huge rock cliff that rises upward to the left, the trail enters the woods and starts kicking your ass. Over one more stile, then it runs along the edge of a gully for a couple hundred yards. It connects with an old fire road, which is gentle enough for a ways. The view down into a quarry makes it feel like you've ascended farther than you really have.

Soon you are faced with a series of three short but brutal ascents. By the last one I had to perch against a tree for a few minutes to catch my breath. It eases up a bit after that, but continues ascending steadily through a series of switchbacks. This is followed by a section along the edge of a ravine with a pretty perilous drop to the right.

The trail intersects with the AT at Scorced Earth Gap. Another half mile of ups and downs (mostly ups) brings us to Tinker Cliffs. For my money, the view is just as good as McAfee Knob. So all the struggle and strain is well worth it.

The decent is much easier on the lungs, of course, but during those steep stretches you almost have to walk sideways or risk losing control and sliding face first down the mountain. So, it took about 1 hour, 20 minutes on the way up, but only 1 hour back down.

A great day for a tough hike, but right now it feels like someone kicked me, hard, in the back of both my legs. As soon as I got home, my son is here playing with a couple of his cronies and they want me to take them to the baseball park. No sir! Not today. That usually involves me pitching to them and me chasing balls in the outfield. I'm too old and tired for that right now.