Coffee Pot Loop, Pisgah Ranger District

Date	Distance	Time	Elevation Gain	Average Moving Time	Year to Date Miles
12/12/2021	7.5 miles	3 hours 47 minutes	1,118'	2.2 mph	540.9

Parking: Trace Ridge Trailhead

Maps:

• 100 Favorite Trails of the Smokies and the Carolina Blue Ridge (for directions)
• National Geographic Pisgah Ranger District
• Gaia Gps app (with National Geographic layer)

Directions:

• See 100 Favorite Trails map

Carolina Mountain Club Challenges:

• 100 Favorite Trails #73
• Pisgah 400 Challenge: #354 Trace Ridge Trail, #600 Spencer Gap Trail, #350 Fletcher Creek Trail

Today's hike was in Pisgah. The drive to the trailhead is on a gravel forest road, but the road is in reasonably good condition. When we arrived, there was only one car at the trailhead, but when we left, the parking area was full, and there were some cars parked in pull offs along the road as well. At the parking lot there are two roads with gates. We took the righter of the two roads, and passed the gate. We then turned onto the trail right past the gate. This matched Gaia, but wow this section is very overgrown with prickly plants. I wondered why on earth this was a 100 Favorite Trail hike. But after not too long, the trail turned into a normal trail which was not overgrown at all. The rest of the hike was fine. This area is used a lot by mountain bikers. We didn't actually see any hikers today, but we must have seen three dozen mountain bikers. A couple had what sounded like bear bells on their bikes, which was helpful to let you know they are coming. When we got to the intersection of the Spencer Gap Trail and the Fletcher Creek Trail, there was a wide stream on the Fletcher Creek Trail (not going in the direction we were going). I stopped and let Krummholz off leash to play in the creek. He was having fun, lying down in the middle of the creek. And then what? A mountain biker came full speed through the water without warning. Ack! I told Krummholz to down (I mean he already was), but he got a little excited by the water splashing on him and got up. Luckily he's a good dog, and left the mountain biker alone, and the mountain biker didn't mind Krummholz at all. I did put Krumm on leash before 2 more mountain bikers zipped through the wide stream. Krummholz did whine a lot today. He has to hike with two slow (and one crippled) hiker, whereas he would have loved to run along with the faster mountain bikers.