By John Carlin
WSLS10 Anchor
Published: March 3, 2008

It’s not clear whether this should be a story of the fire that burned through Carvins Cove a couple of weeks ago; the windstorm that knocked over thousands of trees even as it fanned the fire into one of the largest in recent history; or honestly the brutal workout that took me past all of this as I trained for a 31 mile running race.

No part of the experience is complete without the other, so maybe I can weave it all together to make some sense.

No underbrush left after the fire.
If you’ve been reading along over the past couple of months you know that training partner Troy Lenderking and I have been pounding local trails in preparation for the upcoming Bel Monte 50k on March 22nd.  We’ve done a fair amount of training in Carvin’s Cove.

Above, information data from Troy’s GPS.

We returned yesterday (March 2) for the first time since the fires and windstorm to find scorched earth, a couple of smoldering spots, and hundreds if not thousands of downed trees.

Our 24 mile trek took us (very) roughly from Bennett Springs up the Gauntlet trail toward the Arrowhead trail, then up and around Tinker Cliffs and return. 

A trail disappears into a pile of downed trees
The most damage is from the downed trees.  It eclipses the fire damage by huge margins.  There are trees down everywhere.  Even the Sleepy Hollow road – the main road into the park is covered by dozens of trees.  As the road parallels the trail known as the enchanted forest – mostly older pines you can look down and see trees scattered as if a child dumped his tinker toys.  The trees had no chance in the soft earth there.

During the fire, crews used the Gauntlet trail as an access point, and set back fires along the side.  The underbrush in these areas is simply gone.  The woods seem more open than they ever have.  The ground is scorched black. 

The trail is widened where buldozers worked during the fire
Toward the top of the 1200 foot climb you can see where crews were forced to take a bulldozer straight down the hill.  It stopped the fire, but it will take savvy trail builders to offset the eventual damage from erosion.

It seemed the higher up we went, the fewer trees were toppled.  The area around Tinker Cliffs and the Appalachian Trail was almost damage free.

This was a hard run.  Our final “long” training run before the race, we were out for 6:37:29.  My 3 liters of water was gone with 5 miles to go.  Troy brought a water purifier and pumped more from a stream.  Other than that, we ate energy bars and gels, and munched on some Pop Tarts. 

The climb to Tinker Cliffs was killer, but the view was worth it.  The sun and 60-plus degree temperatures made for a perfect day to view the valley below.

It may be all downhill on the way back, but the tendency to “brake” with every downhill foot strike takes its toll on your quads.  Mine were cramping every time I lifted my leg more than about 6 inches, which left us with a quandary.

The quickest way back was on the main road out of the park.  But, remember all those down trees?  Ever try to climb over downed trees when your quads cramp every time you lift your leg more than six inches?

Let’s just say the last couple miles included lots of groaning, and that no part of this experience is complete without the other.