Day 24 - Saturday, June 12
The day began at Finley Stadium - home to the Chattanooga Football Club & University of Tennessee Chattanooga where because there were no events, we have the entire parking area to ourselves. I ran out of the RV at 6am into the streets of Chattanooga as the sun rose with earth tones reflecting the distressed brick buildings of down town. With no traffic, Lucky had the road to himself as we ran over the Tennessee River. I spied a Starbucks on the other side and dipped in for a double espresso and of course Lucky got his second Puppacino of his life.
Roughly 5 miles out of town began the long ascent of Signal Mountain where we climbed on switch backs to 2,000 and arrived in Walden TN. From there, we ran along the spine of the mountain range along a country road that had farm and mountain homes on either side, reminiscent of Vermont to me. This time of year it seems the greens of the trees, the blue of the sky and the colors of the flowers are all so vibrant.
At mile 13 I decided to test the app RideGPS which was showing me a trail off the highway that Google didn’t seem to know about. With no cell signal and trail, it could be risky but decided to go for it since it was only 5-6 miles and I needed to know whether the app was good or not. The first 2 miles were dirt road. The next mile narrowed to a gulch where water flowed and it required me to skip around fallen trees and rocks - not perfect as I am still nursing the shin. And then the gulch ended at a river. I had no way to reach Chris who I told to go to the other side so figured I might as well cross the river and see if I could find the trail on the other side. Once there, I could not find a trail so decided to just follow the directional arrow the app was giving me and that lead me into the forest bushwhacking for what seemed like an eternity. I ended up at the bottom of a ravine only to realize I needed to be on top. So i back tracked my steps and then saw I was at 10% battery with no signal. I shut off everything and went as fast as i could through the forest until miraculously I found the gulch that was what the app called a trail! Another 2 miles and I re-emerged through a gate where Chris was parked and waiting. I have never been so happy to see him! I ended up pulling around 20 ticks off my legs and privates and other than a bunch of scrapes and bruised, all is good. Our landing spot for the RV is at the end of a country road that borders this wilderness area with no humans anywhere to be found….perfect! That and Chris’ lamb burgers with olives and feta will make this a great night.
Lucky had a blast today running through woods, chasing 2 big animals while I was in the woods - thankfully, swimming through streams and meeting dogs along the way.
Heat wave coming through with temps in mid 90’s today and expected to continue for the next few days. Need to get out early…
Thank you for the support.
Cheers,
David.
