Mount Mitchell and points north
Monday, November 16th, 2009
“It ain’t Mount Tam,” the guy tells me in his distinct Carolina brogue. Seems he’d lived in Sacramento awhile and had dirtied his boots on a few Bay Area trails.
I had just clambered through the gnarliest mile in recent memory (dating to last week at Linville Gorge, holder of my previous gnarliest-mile record). Two sections had fixed ropes to help keep hikers upright; it’s all above 6500 feet, just to keep the heart muscles occupied. I averaged precisely 1 mile per hour over four miles.
By the time I paused to gab with Former Sacramento Guy (at least 10 years my senior and happily hiking 12 miles on this bad-ass route), I’d concluded most Bay Area trails are polite pathways for Marin County mocha sippers — bunny slopes compared to the double-black-diamond runs of the Carolinas.
One of the first oddities I noticed in North Carolina: “Strenuous” ratings on two-mile hikes. Seems implausible, but I always finish these two-milers feeling like I’ve hiked five.
