Dry dry mountains - A trip report... Kind of...

I live near Johnson City Tennessee which is right near the heart of the Appalachians. Our Summer has been hot like most of the country and very dry. We have occasional thunderstorms pop up here and there, but the trend has been very dry.

Well, I loaded up the bike and went out Saturday with every intention of going over Buffalo Mountain out along Pinnacle Mountain with a destination of Rich Mountain. In our area, the Rich Mountain to Sampson Mountain is probably the most remote area around here and the plan was to enjoy a cool night on the ridge to enjoy the sunrise the following morning. As happens in life, I got delayed by one thing or another and didn't get on the road nearly as early as I had hoped.

The first 16 miles are paved which while being hot isn't too bad. For the record, I really hate driving a bike somewhere to go ride, so all of my local trips start from my house. Anyway, once I got on the access road to Pinnacle Mountain, it was a typical gravel grind with a loaded bike. Knowing it was dry, I took quite a bit of water with me and was managing it quite well. I have 2 bottles on each fork and 2 1L collapsible bottles in the frame bag and backpack. Some people are like camels and never need water. I sweat profusely and need to drink a lot or risk dehydration. Hence, I carry a lot of water. So, the key to a successful venture is being able to acquire water along the way. I have a Sawyer mini filter that works well.

In normal conditions, the mountains around here have springs or weep spots in the rock strata. Many of the creeks were dry and there were no wet areas on any rock faces and certainly no springs. The creeks that did have water didn't have much flow to them and I shy away from them unless it's critical that I get water.

I finally hit the upper parking lot where the ATV trail, the tower access road and hiking trail all meet and once again it was hot. I had gone through half of my water and still had 11 miles on the ridge before dropping into a valley and having to climb another 12 miles onto another ridge. I ended up bailing from the trail and working my way back home. Still had a round trip of 40+ miles.

I can imagine the impact that this is having on the wildlife.