Loop 10

Loop Map & More Info

Arrived at the primitive campground entrance at 6:18 am and it was just light enough to see the road but the sun was still hidden behind the mountain. Weather.com said it was 25 degrees which meant it was probably 22 degrees out at Oak Mountain. It is always three degrees colder out there for some reason. My internal temperature was better regulated this morning and I wasn't freezing when I got there so I was ready to go.

Richard drove up and we hit the trail while it was still hard to see the roots in the trail. It is bright enough to see at 6:30 am but that is about all. Very quickly we hit the portion of the yellow-white connector that begins the ascent up the mountain. Very soon after that I was really warm. The trail looked different in the low light and we back tracked a couple hundred yards because we thought we had missed the turn-off to take us up the final ascent of the mountain. However we just hadn't gone far enough, so we trudged on.

I had taken the lead during the back tracking and so I started on up the steep part. The calves started burning and the lungs started screaming for air. Half way up the body started over heating so the gloves, jacket and head warmer came off. I was almost to the top when a doe and a little one jumped up and went running off. They stopped at about 100 yards and checked me out before bounding on off over the hill. They didn't seem to have a problem with the steepness of the mountain.

I took a short break at the top and waited for Richard. His meds were still keeping his heart rate slow and this slowing his pace down. We met at the top and Richard said it was 36 degrees. It sure seemed warm. We began the descent down the white trail to the white-blue connector and pretty soon we could feel the temperature get cooler.

This seems to be a well used trail but it needs some maintenance. There were several trees across the path and down near the connector the bushes were real tight on the path. I am going to have to get my Den of Cub Scouts out there one Saturday and do a little trail cleaning.

At the bottom Richard checked and it was 25 degrees. Of course I had put my head warmer back on and Richard had put his gloves back on. We didn't need his digital watch thermometer to tell us that it was colder.

We hit the Blue trail and I took the lead and took off jogging. We were going to hit the Orange connector. Well after jogging and jogging and jogging I was afraid that I had missed it. I could just see Richard having already taken it and headed back toward the vehicles and wondering where I was. I started getting cramps in my side so I walked for a little while.

They cleared up so I took off jogging again. It wasn't soon after that I came upon the Orange connector. Boy was I glad. I was afraid I was going to come out at the North Trailhead and have to take all day getting back to my Jeep. I gladly took off down the Orange connector. Soon I came across a pile of rocks on the right side of the trail. I stopped to look and what appeared to be a primitive camp site area. There was an Oak Mountain signpost with a three on it. I didn't realize there were designated camping sites.

I hit the Civilian Conservation Corps road and took a break next to the Eagle Scout project. The benches were nice to do some stretching on. In no time at all Richard was there and we were ready to head on down the CCC road back to the yellow-white connector. I took on off down the road at a jog and was actually able to jog all the way to the connector.

I took off down the connector and had to be very careful. My eyes were watering from the cold wind and the leaves were covering the trail. The combination made it very hard to see the roots, rocks and dips in the trail. Fortunately I only slipped a little bit once and my trail running shoes came through by grabbing a rock and keeping me from busting my bootie.

I made it to the bottom and was able to jog all the way to the Jeep. I have definitely improved since Richard and I started on Loop 1. I wish I could have done Loops 6, 7 and 8 with Richard. This completed Loop 10 for the first time this year though and it wasn't as bad as I remembered it last year. However last year I only ran the second time and it was warmer. It may be tougher this year when it is warmer. We shall see.