Kanati Fork - Thomas Divide - Newton Bald, BMT Connector - Tow String, Oconaluftee River Trail

Date: 3/5/2016
Distance: 16.5

Today I made the long drive over the mountain to the North Carolina side of the park.  I had planned to hike Kanati Fork and Newton Bald in and out, but some trail angels came to the rescue and I was able to do a nice shuttle hike from Kanati Fork down to Newton Bald.  Sharon, Paula and Carl were my angels.  Just as I was about to head up the trail, they arrived and they were super nice to offer to drive me back up the hill, so not only did I have some really good company on the trail today, I didn't have to hike in and out on two different trails.

Kanati Fork is a very steep trail climbing 2200' in only 2.9 miles.  About 1/2 way up the trail the snow made an appearance to make the trail extra beautiful.

 I wasn't the 1st of God's creatures to walk up this trail.  A coyote broke the trail.

 Up at the top of Kanati Fork, the snow was very scenic.

 I really love hiking in the winter because you can see out through the trees.

 After we regrouped at the top of Kanati Fork, we turned left on Thomas Divide to hike towards Newton Bald.  Thomas Divide had several up and downs in this section.  Much of the trail was along the ridge.

 After 3.2 miles on Thomas Divide, we made the left onto Newton Bald Trail.  The last 0.4 miles of Thomas Divide was a rather steep climb up to Newton Bald.  Newton Bald has a very small amount of climbing before it starts its big descent down to 441.  The trail loses about 3000' over about 5 miles.  I was pretty tired of the downhill by the time we finished.

 Back at 441, Sharon drove us up to the Kanati Trailhead where we collected all of the cars and drove to the Tow String Trail.  I left my car there and Sharon dropped me off at the Lufty Baptist Church at the front of Smokemont.  From here I hiked the 1 mile Benton Mackaye Connector up to where Tow String hits Bradley Fork.  From there it was 2.2 miles on Tow String to the car.  These trails are nothing special but they are on the map, so I'm obliged to hike them.

 To finish off the day, I drove down to the Oconaluftee Visitor Center where the Oconaluftee River Trail begins.  It is a crushed gravel trail which covers the 1.5 miles from the Visitor Center to Cherokee.  I opted to switch to my running shoes and I jogged most of this trail, so that I could get back on the road toward home before too late.