Gregory Ridge - Gregory Bald - AT - Russell Field - Anthony Creek

Date: 10/17/15
Distance: 18.5

The Birthday Weekend fun continued on Saturday with a really nice hike from Gregory Ridge Trail to the Cades Cove Picnic area.  JD was my hiking partner for this day, so I was expecting some fast travel down the trail.  Annie and Tom left a car for JD and I to drive to Gregory Ridge Trail while they started hiking to Gregory Ridge in the opposite direction, so the logistics worked out great.

After another frustrating (40 minute) drive around the loop road, we started our hike at 8:30.  It was a little odd to head right back up the same trail that I had descended the day before, but it was the theme for the weekend.  It was another clear and cool day.

 The hike up Gregory Ridge was steep (2500'), but nothing we didn't expect.  At the Gregory Bald trail, we turned left and headed for the AT.  This section of Gregory Bald had several steep downhill sections and a couple of uphill climbs as well.  After 2 miles on Gregory Bald (7mi total), we reached the AT.

 Once again, we turned left and headed for the Mollies Ridge Shelter which is 3.1 miles away.  The AT loses about 700' before it gains it all back and more on the way to Mollies.  We crossed paths with Annie and Tom about 1.4 miles into this section.  After a few minutes of commiseration about what lay ahead, we said our goodbyes and continued in our opposite directions.  The climb up to Mollies seemed extra tough after all of the climbing earlier in the day

 We took a very short break at the shelter and continued our trek down the AT.  The trail was beautiful today.

 After anther smaller climb up to Russell Field, we made our turn down the mountain on the Russell Field Trail.  It is 3.5 miles long and loses 2000'.  It was a bit rocky in places, but a pretty nice trail all in all.

The hike finished on the lower 1.6 miles of the Anthony Creek Trail.  It is really rocky for about 1 mile before it becomes a gravel road.  We made quick time on this section as we were trying to finish by 3:30.

 We exited the trail at 3:27.  3 minutes ahead of our goal.  Total time was 6:57.