I decided to do an out and back route that to me seemed to be the most direct route up the big hill. Christopher and Luke did a longer and I would say more aesthetically pleasing route but I wanted mine to be around 20 miles and I like getting lost so my route seemed good. Walked down the stairs by the edge water hotel to dip my hand in the cliff Branch of the little pigeon river and started my watch. The forecast was calling for a thunderstorm mid-morning and I was hoping to beat the rain. Made my way through gatlinburg and hit the twin creek trail after a couple of steady miles through town. After the two miles of the twin creek trail I took Cherokee orchard road until the rainbow falls trailhead and began the proper ascent of Le Conte. The rain held off and I made decent time up. My legs were feeling the Mt Sterling loop from a couple of days ago but still was able to move well uphill. Tagged the summit in about 2 hours 20 mins. Downhill was fun and realized I had completely ran past rainbow falls so I stopped and took a pic. The road miles on the descent were great and felt quick. Made it back to the river in 3 hours and 30 mins exactly. Then proceeded to dunked my feet in the creek. The thunderstorm hit about 10 mins after I finished. Fun time!
Athletes
Route
Route variation
Vertical Mile (out & back)
Multi-sport
No
Gender category
Male
Style
Unsupported
Start date
Finish date
Total time
3h
30m
0s
Verification
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