Hiking the Black Mountain section of the Cumberland Trail
4 min read
On Saturday, March 27th, I hiked the Black Mountain section of the Cumberland Trail. The hike is described as a point-to-point hike of 3.6 miles, but I parked at the Brady Mountain trailhead and did it as an up-and-back. I found the description from the cumberlandtrail.org site to be accurate in locating the trailhead, so no updates there.
I'm from Crossville, so I've hiked in the area quite a bit. This part of the Cumberland Plateau is a beautiful area, and I think I've always taken the area for granted. I was expecting this to be more of a training hike, but I ended up being pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed it.
The Stats #
- Distance: 8.28 miles
- Elevation: 1,760 ft
- Difficulty: 3.5 (moderate+)
- Rating: 4 (Really liked it)
- Strava: Cumberland Trail, Black Mountain Section
The Hike #
I was at the trailhead by 6:30am, but I had to wait in my car to allow a thunderstorm to pass. In retrospect, this was an ominous sign.
This is first time I've hiked Black Mountain since the start of the trail was changed in 2017. I think the new route to the base of the mountain is a nice improvement. The trail was in great shape and well marked.
The weather was overcast, and the temps were pleasant. I saw a few small flowers along the trail, but it's still pretty early for most wild flowers to be blooming.
As I started my ascent of Black Mountain, the trail became shrouded in fog and mist (or clouds?). Hiking in fog/mist always feels a bit surreal to me and makes me think of hobbit adventures. The final push to the top revealed that there was no view of the valley this day. Hrmph. I consoled myself with an RX bar and the promise of a fish sandwich from Gondola in Crossville.
As I started back down the mountain, the fog/mist/clouds became really thick, and it became very dark. I started to hear peels of thunder from an approaching storm. I've never been particularly afraid or worried about storms in general, but the thunder, and thus the lightning, seemed serious. I donned my rain jacket just as it started to rain. It went from a light rain to heavy rain very quickly. Then it started to hail. Oh, boy.
I wasn't really sure what to do, if I'm honest. I felt exposed, but I didn't feel that just standing there on the mountain top, waiting for the storm to pass was a great plan, so I decided to keep going. There's a section of the trail that passes from the mountain top through the rocks where there are some stairs, and then you're at the bottom of the bluffs; there are some overhangs and even a cave. As I passed the cave, I saw there was some other hikers sheltering there, but I just kept going without thinking too much about it. As I started to clear the bluffs and continue down the mountain, lightning struck very close to me. I was legitimately concerned for my safety at this point. I've always heard that you shouldn't try to shelter near a tree during a lightning storm, so I turned around and booked it back to the bluffs. I was able to find a spot under the cliffs and waited for the thunder to seem far enough away for me to continue. Whew. Needless to say, I have since done a little research (too little, too late, right?), and you should read Eight Tips for Surviving a Lightning Storm for Hikers.
It rained for another 30 minutes as I was descending, but it finally stopped, and I was able to shed the rain jacket. I think the adrenaline of the lightning storm really took it out of me because I was struggling to finish the hike, which I finished uneventfully.
I did get that fish sandwich, and I, once again, failed to die in a lightning storm. Yay! Note: I might actually look at an hourly forecast before my next outing.
Photos #
Gear List #
No changes to the gear list this trip. Really enjoying the backpack. I'm able to use the hip belt and the pouches plus the structured frame feels nice
Pack #
Water & food #
- Katadyn BeFree 1L Filter
- 1L Water Bottle(Swart Water Bottle)
- Rx bars
Clothes #
- Chubbies The World's Grayest 6" (Everywear Stretch) Shorts
- Aussie wool sleeveless shirt
- Under Armour Men's HeatGear Armour 2.0 Long Shorts (compression shorts)
- Darn Tough Hiker Micro Crew Cushion Socks
- Altra Lone Peak 4.5 Trail-Running Shoes
- Dirty girl gaiters
- Buff Original Multifunctional Headwear
- PEARL iZUMi Elite Gel Cycling Gloves
- REI Co-op Rainier Rain Jacket
- Safehouse Tattoo foam trucker hat
Electronics #
- Anker Powercore PD 10,000
- Black Diamond Sprint 225 Headlamp
- iPhone SE 2nd gen
- Apple Watch 4th gen
- Apple AirPods 1st gen
- Charging cables
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