Tsali Trail Fail

To say I'm a little bit excited about trail running is an understatement. The word anticipation comes to mind. Anticipation of all the good things to come in the next weeks and months. It's trail running season, baby. It's here, it's now and it's exciting. I got things to do and places to go. I got adventures in the works. I got...lost.

Early (as in waaay too early) Saturday, I drove out to the Tsali (SAH-lee) Trail system. Tsali is a beautiful set of single tracks that follow the shore of Fontana Lake, with the Smokey Mountains providing a beautiful panorama in the background. A far drive (from Asheville), but a must-run to be sure.

The day before, I googled the Trail, and printed out a nice play-by-play description of the Right and Left Loops from a Mountain Bike site. I love these descriptions, especially when they provide mile markers. As I further researched, I came across more than one description saying, "the Tsali Trail is well marked, so navigation should not be a problem." (May I point out the obvious foreshadowing at this juncture?).

So, I was not too upset when I arrived at the parking lot to find I had left the trail instructions at home. I grabbed the map they provide at the trail head, and off I went.

My thoughts at the time: "I mean, it's a loop. How hard can it be to stay on trail? There's mile marker posts every half mile. A total idiot could do this." Hmm. Perhaps I am psychic after all...

I brought one Mojo bar, my 20 oz. hand-held Amphipod, and a trail map that soon disintigrated from sweat in my back pocket. It was humid, humid, humid, and I was drenched in sweat not 5 minutes up the trail. No problem, I thought, it's a loop- remember? I'll be back at the car to water up again in no time. "No time" turned out to be 18.5 miles, and 3 hours 40 minutes later.

As it often is with getting lost, I don't exactly know what happened. I came across a marker that said "Right Loop Alt." I kept going. Since it was a loop, I figured taking any turns off the Right Loop Trail was not the thing to do.

Then I came to an intersection that ended in a choice of turning right or left. The Right Loop/ Left Loop markers pointed back where I came from. Huh? Another arrow pointed towards the lake and said, Overlook. The last arrow pointed left and said Trail Head. I consulted my map, and went left, having no idea if this was correct.

A while later, I panicked when the next marker said "County Line Road". WTF? Where am I? I then turned around and tried to orient myself to where I thought the water was. As I back-tracked, I tried to remain calm. But I was so thirsty! This was quickly turning into a disaster.

I finally came up to the 6 mile marker on the Right Loop. I hoped against hope that the next marker would say 5.5, not 6.5. My feet were feeling tender, and I was feeling very dehydrated. I was slowing down noticeably. The first 13 miles were ran at a pace of about 12:40, and now I was in the 14:00 -15:00 zone. And walking more and more.

Finally, the marker! 5.5 mi. Yes! Just 5 more miles and I'm back to water. It was a tough 5 miles, and I'm not ashamed to say that when I finally made it out, I sucked the water out of the Bike Wash hose like a $5 hooker. A very tired and happy $5 hooker.

Next adventure:

Laurel Valley 35 Mile this Saturday.