Green River Game Land Loop

Date	Distance	Time	Elevation Gain	Average Moving Time	Year to Date Miles
1/1/2022	10 miles	6 hours 39 minutes	1,591'	2.0	10

Parking: 

• Big Hungry Road, near Long Ridge Trail.

Maps:

• Gaigps
• Pisgah Map Co., Green River Game Land

Directions:

• Take trail on right (west of Long Ridge Trail).
• Stay straight onto Bishop Branch Trail
• Turn right onto Bear Branch Trail
• Pass hairpin turn on Pullman Creek Trail and continue straight where Bear Branch Trail turns into Pullman Creek Trail. 
• Turn right onto Green River Cove Trail and hike down to the river for lunch.
• Return back up the Green River Cove Trail
• At the intersection of the Pullman Creek Trail, turn right to stay on the Green River Cove Trail.
• Turn left onto Bluff Trail, which turns into Turkey Gut Trail.
• Pass Stair Step Falls on your left.
• Continue on Turkey Gut Trail. Pass Bear Branch Trail.
• Take Long Branch Trail back to the parking area.

   

Starting off the year right with a first day hike. 21 people showed up to hike! That's a lot of people to keep track of! This is the 25th year that Bruce has held a New Year's Day hike at Green River Game Lands. Wow! I think it's a great tradition. Most people meet for breakfast before the hike, but Glen and I don't dine indoors due to covid, so we just joined the CMC for the hike.

The hike was advertised at 6.6 miles but ended up being 10.0. Oops. No worries. Glen was happy to get a longer hike in. We stopped for lunch at the end of the Green River Cove Trail, where I talked to a CPA about taxes and retirement planning. The place where our two fields intersect. We didn't see any kayakers on the river. It's a popular white-water kayaking spot. I got to catch up with Carroll and hear all about his fall, volunteering at an albergue in Spain. 

I spent some time reflecting on my 2022 goals:

• Visiting 2 new state high points - we ended up with 3 - Tennessee, Florida, and Kentucky
• Hiking 700 miles - I ended up with 1,000 miles
• Monthly trail maintenance trips - we ended up with 11 trips
• Do more backpacking trips - I went on 6 trips

Then I did some thinking about what I'd like to do in 2023, assuming I stay healthy

• Hiking 1,000 miles - hey, I did it this year, so I should be able to do it in 2023 too
• Finish hiking the NC, TN, and VT sections of the Appalachian Trail
• As a stretch goal, finish hiking the VA section of the Appalachian Trail. 
• Hiking a trail in Europe
• Hiking the Bartram Trail
• Taking an Andrew Skurka backpacking class/trip.
• Monthly trail maintenance trips.

No state highpoints this year. I like to do 2 a year, but I think we'll be too busy. Hopefully I can squeeze in some backpacking trips this year too. In addition to hiking, I'll continue to work on my sketching and watercolor, hopefully making some improvement.

Stair Step Falls - top-down view