Number 46 - 2014 Thrill in the Hills 21K

This morning, for number 46, I walked the Thrill in the Hills 21K (half marathon) trail race.  Fourth year in a row doing this race - it doesn't get easier - if anything it gets harder, or at least seems that way.  The good news though, knee still holding up fine since switching to walking exclusively - no pain at all.  I was a bit concerned about this as the knee was stiff all week - not sure why.

The venue for the race is Fort Yargo State Park in Winder, GA.  This year they capped the race (21K & 42K) at 575.  With parking close by at a premium and with the amount of cars required to get 575 people there, thought it would be best to get there early so I was out the door just before 6:00 AM.

Once again I was treated to some nice sunrise views/reflections upon arrival:

Sunrise at Fort Yargo

This was just behind where race check-in took place so after taking this headed over to pick my race bib & shirt.  Was pleased to receive a long sleeve technical shirt this year - have way too many short sleeve from doing these races.  Looks like they came up with a new slogan on the shirt:

"More chills, spills, thrills, hills.  I live for this!"  I'm not so sure I live for this but I suspect some who do these type races do - I'm just happy to have another long sleeve technical shirt  : )

The 42Kers started at 8:00 and the 21Kers at 8:30.  This did make sense as getting 575 people into the woods on a single track at the same exact time would be a real mess. So just prior to 8:30 made my way to the back of the pack of the 21Kers and waited for the start.  Temperature was in the low 40s.

They thinned us out on the road prior to hitting the woods so by the time I got to the woods, not many others around.  As far as trail races go, this one is not too bad, in regards to rocks, roots, and such.  Don't get me wrong , those elements did exist but relative to other trail races I've done, this one is not too bad.  This next picture is probably pretty typical for the rock/root sections:

 However, there was a lot of pine straw (pine straw can = slippery for footing) on the trail.  I lost my footing once but luckily arms went out quick enough prior to doing a face plant.

I am pretty sore right now from the race in general, suspect even more so tomorrow morning.  It's to be expected though - a little stretching and in a few days it'll be fine.  I think trail races are tougher on the body because unlike a road race where for the most part you are go in a straight line on (mostly) even terrain on trails almost every step has to be somewhat calculated.  The rocks, roots, gullies, pine straw, puddles, leaves all have to be considered before you put your next step down.  The by-product of this, you are hardly ever going in a straight line on an even surface.  So you do find your body contorting almost constantly - using muscles maybe not used so much.  But, this is actually part of the allure of doing trail races.  It is fun.

The one thing that stood out more than anything on the trail was the size of this burl around mile 5:

Burl!!!

Now I have gotten away from turning wood on my lathe, but if I could get some of this burl wood...  I'm sure it must have incredible wood grain patterns.  Maybe someday...

It was a good race I'm glad I got to do it again.

Appalachian Trail - Woody Gap to Gooch Gap

Last month I joined the ‘Walking Club of Georgia’.  One of the things that attracted me to this group was that they are hiking the 80 mile Georgia section of the Appalachian Trail.  Each month they do a different part of the trail.  I am a bit late to this as they started this series last November (I’ll have to figure out how to make those up…).  Last month’s hike was canceled because of thunder & lightning storms so the schedule is a bit off.  Today’s hike was also somewhat of an anomaly as it was an out and back from Woody Gap to Gooch Gap and back to WoodyGap.   None of this mattered to me because I was simply excited to be out on the Appalachian Trail! 

We met up at the REI store at 8:00 AM and carpooled up to the trail head for Woody Gap, about a 65 mile drive.  Including me there was a total of six of us doing hike.  There was a threat of rain later in the day but when we arrived at the trail head, the weather was perfect.

We were at about a 3150 foot elevation here and with the 'Woody Gap' sign to our back looking to the west, this was our vista!

We geared up and headed out towards Gooch Gap.  

The terrain was very rocky and it was good that we all had walking poles or stick.  You definitely needed that extra support going up and down on the trail.  We went for a ways and eventually found a clearing for a quick break.

During our hike we came across quite a few other hikers (~20).  It was great talking with each of them.  Some were day hikers just like us and others were headed to Mt. Katahdin, Maine (the other end of the Appalachian Trail, ~2100 miles away)!

About 3.5 miles in we arrived at Gooch Gap and this was the perfect time for lunch.  Each of us packed a lunch.  For me – PBJ sandwich, banana, granola bar, and water. 

After lunch, turned around and headed back to Woody Gap.

One of the things that I’m always on the lookout for in the woods - burls.  I am a burl hunter.  There were plenty of burls out there today!  Take a look at these pictures of some of the burls I saw on this hike and  I will explain…

One of my other hobbies is turning wooden bowls on a lathe.  Some of the most incredible wood grain patterns are from burls.  A burl is a deformity in a tree.  These deformities create some of the most beautiful wood grain patterns I have ever seen.  However, I did not harvest any of the burls I saw today. 

We made our way back and again had to be careful as we were going up and down and to our right most of the way was a pretty steep downhill.  Yes, those walking poles, sticks absolutely served their purpose today.

As we approached Woody Gap, we could see in a distance, the mountain that we will have to climb on next month’s hike.

Edit:  In response to Volksvegan's comment below, here are few pics (did not have anything picture worthy from a burl - but did have one bowl I made from spalted Monkey Pod)

Maple Bowl

Spalted Monkey Pod