Training for Mt Kili (No, Not Me)

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Mt Mitchell Trail – 5/5/12 – 6.5 Miles
My neighbor Mark mentioned back last winter that he and his son Jason were joining a group to summit Mount Kilimanjaro in June 2012.  He knows I’m a hiker (he isn’t) and asked fora little advice.  What could I say?  “Go hiking – oh, and carry a heavypack.”  Now, Mark has a full-time job anda wife and a dog and other interests and I know he’s not going to drive to western North Carolina every weekend to climb a mountain.  He’s a very fit and strong guy (cyclist) andI’m a little skeptical that he will train for an experience that is going tocost a lot of money and that he may not complete. But I learned that Mark is also very disciplined and serious aboutcommitments, and he did train nearly every weekend at our closest little bump, Crowder's Mountain. 
So what could I do to help? I took him to climb Mount Mitchell, the tallest mountain in the easternUnited States at 6,684 feet.  Yeah, it’snot Kilimanjaro at 19,340 feet, but it’s as good as we got ‘round here. 
The Mount Mitchell Trail from Black Mountain Campground tothe summit of Mt Mitchell is 6.5 miles. I wanted to hike up and then down, but due to the long drive to and froand other time constraints we had to make it a one-way hike.  My husband Jim stepped in to help out,agreeing to drop us off at the trailhead, then drive to the parking lot at thetop and go for a bike ride on the Blue Ridge Parkway while we hiked.  (It is not hard to get Jim to go for a bikeride on the Parkway.)
Rain in the forecast turned into rain in real life.  As we turned onto the Blue Ridge Parkway itwas coming down rather seriously and Jim was thinking he’d be reading a book inthe car while he waited for Mark and me to hike up.  At the trailhead we suited up for a wetday. 
But…the woods were dripping but not pouring, and within 20minutes the rain gear came off and we hiked the rest of the day with intermittentclouds but no rain.  Ain’t life grand?
Mark’s pack cover – it worked – it didn’t get wet!


The Mount Mitchell Trail runs concurrently with theMountains-To-Sea Trail as it climbs about 3,500 feet to the summit, some partssteeper than others but every step moving upward.  Some fun stuff:
A neon orange salamander
Mark’s lunch bag
A great year for rhodo- dendrons
Hhmmm… which way?

At about 1.5 miles the trail splits, but either direction isokay – it comes back together after just a quarter mile.  We took the left track, also known as theHiggins Bald Trail, only to find that Higgins Bald… is not.  The forest is taking it back.
A pretty stream crossing - as it goes over the edge to makea waterfall we can only hear. 
A big bad blow-down
Early in the hike we met a couple that hikes around MountMitchell regularly and the man was carrying a small chainsaw.  The week before they noted some storm damageand came back to take care of it, but someone had beat them to it.  Nice to have such dedicated local trail maintainers.
The trail switchbacks across an open area where power linesascend the mountain.  While power linesare not pretty, it’s easy to look “through” them for the beautiful views.
In the last couple of miles the character of the trail changedfrom hardwoods to Fraser fir and hemlock, dense overhead, less sunlight, aHansel-and-Gretel feeling.  We passedthrough an area that had experienced some of nature’s pruning during a fiercestorm.
A small stream bubbling up over some interesting rockformations – looks like a quarry where the rock has been chipped out.
And we’re at the summit – Mount Mitchell!
Looking north to the SB6K and other peaks I have yet toconquer:  Mount Craig, Big Tom, BalsamCone, Cattail Peak, Potato Hill
Looking east to Hawksbill and Table Rock at Linville Gorge (the "cat's ears" formation on the farthest ridge line)
Mark had no problems on this hike other than having to slowdown for me.  Jim did get in a good bikeride, still a little wet and chilly, but a good day nonetheless, made better by introducing Mark to the Jack Frost Dairy Bar in Marion.  If you have never had ice cream at JackFrost, get in the car right now and go there.
PS – Mark and his son Jason successfully summited MtKilimanjaro on June 24. 
Thedifference between try and triumph is a little umph.  ~Author Unknown