For the second year in a row, Martha and I organized a trip to Cades Cove. This adventure began 24 years ago on August 19, 2000. I was training for a half marathon in September and a marathon in December, and I remember that the idea of a training run in Cades Cove in the Great Smoky Mountains occurred to me. An eleven-mile one-way loop road circles the Cove and passes by historic cabins, barns, and churches. I was running one day with our friend Anthony and mentioned it to him, and he enthusiastically replied that he had always wanted to run there. So we organized the very first trip that year, and since then I have run the loop fourteen times with many different groups of runners and friends, including Martha. I have photos going almost all the way back, and it is enjoyable (and also sobering) to look at them. We were all so much younger back then! And some of us, like Jim and Richard, have passed away.
The loop road used to be closed to traffic on Wednesdays and Saturdays only until 10:00 a.m. during the summer, meaning that we would have to start early and hope to complete it before the steady stream of cars and trucks were released and caught up to us with their radios blaring and cigarette smoke billowing, frightening all the wildlife and taking over the road from walkers, runners, and cyclists. Now it is closed all day, which makes it much more welcoming. This year, we had more walkers than runners – Anthony and I were the only runners – and three of the others had either never been to the Cove or had not been for a very long time. We were able to start at the more reasonable hour of 9:00 a.m., and the walkers, one of them pushing a little dog in a stroller who did not finish until 1:30 p.m., did not feel a bit hurried.
Martha heroically volunteered to prepare spaghetti and
marinara sauce, a delicious salad, and garlic bread, all of it miraculously
produced on the tiny stove in our cabin; others were asked to bring desserts, and
everybody stayed at the Gateway Inn in Townsend as we did last year. It rained most of the way over the Smoky
Mountains, but we were all hopeful that it would clear by morning. Eleven of us gathered under the pavilion in the rain and enjoyed “carbo-loading” and good fellowship on
Tuesday night.
I think I was the first to awake on Wednesday morning at 5:00 a.m., and I was elated to discover that the rain had indeed cleared off. And what a beautiful day it turned out to be!
There were fields of goldenrod, low clouds drifting across the Cove, and dozens of other people out walking, running, or riding bikes, all enjoying this magical place. We saw deer, wild turkeys, and several bears, including this cub scurrying up a tree.
The overcast skies kept the temperature down, and on the second half of the loop patches of blue sky and even a little sunshine began to appear. I passed Anthony several times along the way because I was taking walking breaks and he was taking “talking” breaks – Anthony has famously said in reply to the question, Are we going to run or talk about it? “Why can’t we do both?” He has never met a stranger.
All of us eventually showed up at the Peaceful Side Social in Townsend by mid-afternoon, where we enjoyed pizza, beer, and more fellowship. And in the evening (after some naps, I suspect), most of us gathered around the firepit at the Gateway Inn and enjoyed snacks, desserts, and more beer and wine as the sun set in the west. At the end of the day, most of the walkers had gone farther than they had expected they could, so they all felt a sense of accomplishment. As for myself, I completed an estimated twelve miles, as far as I have run in five years according to my records.
Such a wonderful day, with good friends, in one of the most beautiful places on earth! We are truly blessed.
