Today we took a drive to the Nantahala National Forest/Tsali Recreation Area to run a portion of the Tsali Frosty Foot 50k race course that will be held on Jan 12, 2013. The Tsali Frosty Foot Fest, presented by Foot Rx Asheville, will also feature 30k and 8k trail races on Jan 13, 2013...
We chose to run the Mouse Loop portion of the 50k course which is a distance of 8.7 miles and is considered a "moderate" level of difficulty according to www.fs.usda.gov. For the most part Mouse Loop Trail is a scenic trail consisting of single track and old logging roads rolling alongside of scenic Fontana Lake until you start heading up to the Mouse Branch Overlook, that's where the moderate level of difficultly begins. When running on the trails be aware you must be mindful of others as these trails are shared with mountain bike and horse riding enthusiasts. Always yield to horses by giving them plenty of room to pass.
Today's run was bitter sweet because even though we enjoyed the beautiful surroundings of this area, we were also reminded of the heart breaking experience of what the Cherokee Indians had to endure by being round up and removed from their homeland and forced to walk 800 miles on what has become known as the "Trail of Tears".
For info on the race www.tsalifrostyfoot.com
Hope you enjoy the pictures...
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| Trail head where we started... Horse and Bike Schedule, Runners and Dogs excluded! |
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| Heading up Mouse Loop Trail |
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| A boy and his dog! |
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| Nice trail |
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| Still some fall colors to see |
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| One of many hollows we ran in and out of |
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| Our first view of Fontana Lake |
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| Fontana Lake |
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| Mouse Branch Overlook Loop |
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| A girl without her dog, catching up with her boys! |
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| Remember, always yield to horses and beware of their "trail apples" |
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| This made it worth the trek! |
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| Taken with our sucky phone, which normally isn't this sucky... |
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| Lots of house boats |
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| Shadow taking a drink out of his very own special bottle given to him by his Aunt Wanda |
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| This section felt like we were running through a wheat field |
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| The home stretch. The lead dog sets the pace back to the trail head... |
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| Fascinating bug that was on our van |
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| One tired doggie! |
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