The Art Loeb Trail is ~30 miles one way and located in the Pisgah National Forest in North Carolina. This has been on my bucket list for awhile now and the timing was (mostly) right to tackle it. The plan was to run/hike the entire thing in one day with no support/resupply.
As I write this I'm 2 days post Art Loeb and I want to make sure I remember everything –and hopefully this gives you some good intel if you decide to give it (or something similar!) a shot!
When I first heard about this trail it was mostly people backpacking it or doing shorter sections of the trail for a day hike. But of course in my circle of crazy ultra runner friends, several of them have done the entire thing in one day. That's what I wanted to do! I'm a big fan of spending the entire day out in the woods and knew that this would be just that. The Art Loeb can either be done starting at the Northern Trailhead (at Camp Daniel Boone) and heading to the Southern Trailhead at the Davidson River Campground or doing the reverse. Going SOBO (southbound) will put most of the big climbing and best views in the beginning and you also end up with a little less elevation gain.
I chose to go SOBO simply because it was closer to where I live and I wanted to have a shorter drive home the next day.
Let the adventure begin
I'm writing this mostly for fun and so that I can look back and remember all these details but I also hope that it shows you that it can be done, not to overthink it, and just go for it!
Art Loeb Logistics
I didn't spend a ton of time researching the trail and what the terrain was like. I've hiked/ran in North Carolina before so I had a fairly good idea of what i was in for. I knew that going SOBO meant I would have about 30 miles and about 8000ft of elevation gain. I figured it would maybe take me 10-15 hours to complete.
Finding a place to stay was easy. I love camping and booked a spot at Davidson River Campground. This was a great spot with clean bathrooms and I'll definitely stay there again. The southern trailhead parking lot is right outside the campground which makes it super convenient.
Next up was figuring out how I was going to get to the northern trailhead to start this adventure. If you have 2 vehicles you could leave a car at one trailhead and drive to the other end but that also means you have to drive back and pick it up. I was flying solo for this trip so I went with a shuttle through Pura Vida Adventures. Joe picked me up at the campground and drove me to the northern trailhead at Camp Daniel Boone. Highly recommend this option so you don't have to sit in the car for 2.5 hours after finishing your hike/run to go get your car.
Water was something I was worried about and I'll talk more about it in the gear section. I did look up where water sources are and had a few different maps/apps to help with this but I wasn't sure if it would be flowing water or just little trickles. I didn't run out until the very end but I also should have been drinking more. There were a few sources that I apparently missed or that were just slightly off trail that I knew about but didn't want to spend the time going out of my way for (stupid yes but when you're by yourself you don't have anyone telling you it's stupid at the time). In the beginning and end of the trail water sources are pretty plentiful but in the middle it's a little more scarce so plan accordingly.
Nutrition was also tricky because I had to pack all of my nutrition for 10-15 hours plus all the water and other gear. I'll go into this more in the nutrition section but it was tough to pack enough variety to keep me wanting to eat while also considering space. Ideally you would have someone drop you food maybe around Black Balsam so you didn't have to carry as much. But that wasn't the plan for this day so I made the best of it!
I didn't really have an official bail out plan. I was hike/running back to my camping spot so going into this day that was what I was going to do. My good friend Alex was my "oh shit something happened" person because he lives in the upstate of SC vs my family who was 4 hours away. The shuttle driver did also say that he could pick me up at a few points if I needed to bail---more on that later.
The Trail
Let's get into the good stuff---what happened out there?! First just a bit of context. I live in Charleston, SC where it's super flat. I love run/hiking in the mountains but haven't really done much in the last several months. I haven't been doing hill repeats on the bridge because I just ran my first 100 miler in April and since then have been running lower weekly mileage compared to what I do if I'm training for something. When I said the timing was mostly right earlier this is what I meant. Normally I would plan something like this after having done some long days in the mountains or during a training block--from that aspect the timing was terrible and I wondered if my base fitness level would be enough to carry me through this adventure. The timing was right because both kids are at summer camp and I was only about 40 minutes away from the campground. Any parents reading this know that when you have an opportunity like this to do something that would normally be a logistical nightmare---you take it! I felt nervous because I was alone out there but I was also excited to spend the day in the woods.
The shuttle driver picked me up at the campground at 6am on July 1st and we were to the northern trailhead by 7am. I hopped out, busted out my trekking poles (last minute purchase and had never used them before) and headed up the trail. It was a climb right away and from looking at the map I knew it would be this way for about the first 12 miles. I'm weird and actually prefer climbing to descending. I'm not great at it or very fast but I enjoy it more.
The first few miles were great. Lots of climbing and lots of rocks so really about zero running happened here. I did lose my sun shirt on this section---if you found it, it's brand new so enjoy :)
Found a water source and filled up a bottle---very excited that the filter worked. The day before I tested the filter I brought and it wasn't working which meant I needed to backwash it but I had left the syringe/plunger thing at home. Luckily The Hub (such a fun spot---outdoor store + brewery and there's usually a food truck) was right down the road from my camping spot so I ran over and grabbed a new filter. Bummer since I just needed the syringe/plunger thing but also $27 well spent to know that I would have water that wouldn't make me sick out there. My original water filling plan was to fill them all at once so that I wouldn't have to carry so much weight. I carried 2.5 L (I used 5 half liter bottles) with me to start and that was heavy with all the food and other stuff. I decided when I saw that first water source that I may not get so lucky to have a fast flowing water source at all of these places and that instead I
would fill up any empty bottles any time I saw water---great call.
I got to about mile 4 and looked around and couldn't really see where the trail was headed. I looked at the map on my watch and looked up and thought--no way. It was briars/other plants about as tall as me completely overgrown over the trail. I wasn't super excited because it was a pretty runnable section but I also didn't want to tramp on any snakes so I used my poles to sort of clear the way through. I think in the non summer months this part is probably really cool and again--runnable.
Next up was a section called The Narrows and I understand why they are called this. During this section I yelled "hey birds" a lot. That ended up being my go to phrase I would yell just to let animals (aka bears) know that I was a person and I was on the trail. This is where having someone with you would be awesome because there would naturally be conversation happening vs me yelling "hey birds" over and over again (I would love to know how many times I said that). This part had me worried that I would come around a corner and high five a bear but luckily that didn't happen. It's honestly a really pretty section--just really tight and not very runnable (at least not in the summer).
Shining Rock was up next and I loved that section. There was a part that just had quartz all over the place (I'm not a rock person so maybe I'm wrong but that's what it looked like to me) including one chunk that was coming out of the side of the dirt that had water flowing off of it---my favorite water fill up spot. Pretty runnable through here as there wasn't much elevation change and the surface was good for running too. Not super technical. Some rocks but big rock scramble type deals like you had in the beginning. Maybe around mile 8-9 you come out of the woods and the views are amazing. I have never ran through anything like that before and besides the overgrowth in some of this part (this one even had bees buzzing all over the place for added fun) I really enjoyed this section. The temps had started out fairly cool (maybe low 60s) and from running through all that brush I was soaking wet for awhile (it had rained the night before) and that kept me nice and cool. For this section that was more exposed it was still pretty overcast for some of it so I feel like I got really lucky with the weather! I never really got uncomfortably hot until probably around 5pm and that was also likely due to some dehydration.
I stopped and had a quick lunch---Bobos PBJ, Cape Cod BBQ chips, and some jerky and contemplated my life choices. I was losing confidence in getting this thing done before dark which would put me at around 14 hours. I knew based on my time up to this point that if I continued the same pace it wasn't going to happen. On a trail like this it's super hard to estimate your pace when you're not sure exactly what to expect. Back here at home in the Lowcountry, it's flat and easy to predict how long it will take you to go a certain number of miles. In the mountains (at least for me) that's a lot harder. I knew the biggest climbing was about to be over but like I said I don't love downhill and knew there was a downhill section by Pilot mountain that is pretty rocky and took me forever to get down the last time I did that section. I kept going but was starting to think of a bail out plan. I wasn't sure how I felt about being out here in the dark alone. Actually I did know how I felt about it---TERRIFIED but I just didn't want to not finish this thing.
There were lots of people on the next section as there was Tennent Mountain, Black Balsam, and the Art Loeb Tribute marker. This was by far the section with the best views. Mountains all around. Several summits over 6000ft. It was incredible. I feel like I should have more to say but honestly there just aren't even words to describe that beauty. If you want to just check out this section there is a parking lot by Black Balsam where you could do a day hike---highly recommended! This section was exposed and the clouds and fog had rolled out. I put on my ridiculous sun hat and stupidly even though I packed sunscreen like a good girl, I didn't want to take time to put it on. I know it was a bad choice and even though I didn't get burnt that doesn't make it ok.
The reward for this exposed section was crossing over (maybe) the Blue Ridge Parkway and heading back into the forest somewhere around mile 12. Although there was another short exposed section shortly after and I only remember that because I took my hat off and then had to put it back on. This section was super runnable and looked very different than the rest of the trail so far. Pine trees all around meant a softer ground covered in pine straw. This is also where the trail shares some miles with the MST (mountain to sea trail) which meant there were actually some trail markings. I was really surprised at the lack of blazes up to this point. Not sure if they're just all faded or no existent but you really do need a map to not get lost on this trail. I had a few different ways I was navigating (check out the gear section) and never got lost which was a huge victory for me. The last place I got water was around mile 6-7 and I knew there was a spot that was off trail a little bit around Black Balsam but I skipped it. So at this point I was geting a little nervous because there was supposed to be a shelter and water around mile 15 and I didn't see it. And according to the map the next stop for water was at mile 21ish.
During miles 12-16 I started to feel SUPER hungry. I didn't realize that I wasn't staying on top of my fueling and hydration so I thought I was just burning through fuel really quickly. I was daydreaming of a hamburger, fries, and cold coke at this point. In a perfect world I would have had someone bring me those things at the Black Balsam parking lot. When the trail crossed over the parkway I saw a man getting into his car and strongly considered asking him if he had a hamburger in there---I decided against it. This underfueling combined with my new fear of where the heck is the next water probably lead to more underfueling. In hindsight, I should have taken the spur trail to get the water at Black Balsam. Not sure if that water was actually at mile 15ish and I just missed it! This was also part of the section that I did last year on this same day. My friend Alex (the one that would rescue me if something happened) needed to get 10k feet of vert in a training run so he picked this 5 mile section and we did out and backs 3 times. We were coming from the opposite direction last year so it was a lot of up. Today I was headed down it and I was dreading it. I remember all the rocks and how technical a lot of it was and knew I would be moving slow through it. There's a really fun section with some switchbacks and an awesome view at Pilot Mountain (you can snag a few wild blueberries up there).
I got to Gloucester Gap and text the shuttle driver and asked if I decided to bail after this if there was anywhere he could pick me up. Looking at the map it seemed like maybe it would cross forest roads one more time but that was about it. I was at mile 17ish at this point and that next pick up spot was mile 21. He confirmed this and I asked if he could pick me up there. I decided to do "the right thing" and not be out here in the dark alone. I even text my husband and he said when we come to pick the kids up from summer camp that he would drop me off where I bailed and I could finish the trail. I was fine with this. Earlier when I had lunch I recorded a video and said that I was giving myself permission to finish whatever I could today. I didn't want it to become stressful. I chose to be out here and just wanted a fun day in the woods. I have nothing to prove to anyone and bailing on the trail certainly wouldn't have made me feel like a failure. I carried on and was semi content knowing that I just had a few more miles left.
I packed up my trekking poles because the trail got really runnable and it felt sooo good to switch it up and be able to run for a good clip. Looking at my map it didn't really look like there were a lot of big climbs left so I thought maybe I could make up some time. I should have known better because there will ALWAYS be more up! I did end up getting the trekking poles back out and just kept them out until the end. These things were a lifesaver. I had never used them before so I wasn't sure what to expect but I'm in love. I came by a father and son camping and asked if they had seen water and they hadn't but they were super nice and offered me some of theirs. At this point the next water was supposed to be about 1.5 miles away so I said I was good and went on my way (thank you!).
I got to mile 21ish and text the shuttle driver because I hadn't heard back from him. Told him I'd wait a few minutes but if I didn't hear from him I'd keep moving. He said he could be there in an hour. I had hoped when I text earlier that he was on his way but I really didn't want to sit on the side of the road for an hour. I knew it was "the right choice" so I said that's fine. He then told me there was the North Slope Connector Trail that would cut about 3 miles of the trail off and take me down into the campground. I thought about it and decided to take that option. That would mean only about an hour in the woods in the dark---I could do that. Water was just around the corner at Butter Gap Shelter. There was water flowing out of a pipe and I (stupidly) filled up just one more bottle because I had maybe 1-2 others filled up and knew that was all I would need since I was cutting those few miles off the trail. There was a really nice man camping there who made sure I had a headlamp and also told me about this shortcut. This shelter/camping area is super nice and has water right on and isn't far from an access road---would make a great place to try out camping in the middle of nowhere if you were wanting to get into that!
Off I went! Living on the excitement that I would cut the trail early and get out of the woods without spending too much time in the dark. I felt really good going through this section. Some runnable places for sure. Not a ton of views but I imagine when it's not summer you can probably see a lot more. I could barely see the sun setting but did manage to get a little glimpse of it through the trees. Not a ton of elevation change through miles 21-24. I don't remember a ton about this section---just sort of felt like I was on cruise control at this point.
I got to miles 25-27 and was really on the lookout for this north slope connector trail. I figured if it was cutting 3 miles off that it would appear somewhere around mile 26-27. I had 3.92 miles left according to my watch when I finally saw it. It was dark at this point so there was lots of talking to myself and banging trekking poles together to make noise. At one point I wondered if making all that noise was actually waking the animals up and pissing them off. I pulled up All Trails to see exactly where this connector trail went. When I compared it to Art Loeb it didn't really look shorter at all. My first thought was that 2 people told me that it cut mileage so just take it and be done. But if I was at 3.92 miles and it cut 3 miles off the trail wouldn't that mean this trail should be less than a mile. And it looked longer than a mile on the map. How pissed would I be if I took this "shortcut" that was actually not shorter at all. Yes it did get me off the Art Loeb 3 miles early but if I was still going to be on a trail for 3 miles then what did it matter which trail I was on?! If it had taken me right down to the road that would have been another story. But I was still going to be on trail. Just a different trail. Unless I totally mapped that out wrong but from what I calculated after I got back, it would have saved me 0.8 miles. I'm SO GLAD that I trusted my gut and just kept going.
I called my husband because I had told him I was bailing at mile 21. I don't think he was surprised to find out I was still out there and finishing the whole thing. HUGE thank you to him and my friend Cindi who took turns chatting to me during those last 3 miles. I was so tired of talking to myself at that point. I was done with being in the woods by myself. I just wanted to feel not scared. My legs felt fine and I still had a lot more in me. I was by no means physically done. Mentally I was over it. I did make a request for there to be no more ups/downs during the last few miles but the trail didn't seem to care. The only people I ran by after dark was a group of maybe 3 younger guys with head lamps on running in the opposite direction. They were super nice and gave some encouragement. Told me I was almost there but I knew my pace was a little different than the one they were running. It may have only been 2.5 miles but it would probably be another hour to the finish. I was hungry at this point and tried to eat a granola bar and immediately gagged. I'm sure I was dehydrated. My body didn't want what I packed
I kept on moving and talking to my husband and eventually saw that crushed gravel on the trail. You know the kind that isn't natural and it means someone trucked it in and got SO excited because I knew that meant I was close. I kept looking at my watch. 0.5 miles, 0.27 miles, 446 feet....and there it was in all its glory...the trail marker that said END ART LOEB
I got back to my car and pounded a chocolate milk and some watermelon and headed back to my campsite for a shower and some sleep. I was really proud of myself for pushing through. I was excited that despite not specifically training for this that I was able to pull it off. The little bit I studied about the trail and what I would need all worked out. I could have waited and learned more about it. Waited until someone could come with me. Waited until it wasn't summer and parts of the trail would be more runnable. But I don't know---that's just not how I operate. I don't know if I'll be here tomorrow and I certainly don't wait to wait for "the right time" to do the shit I want to do. What I'm trying to say is don't be stupid and just go tackle something like this without putting any thought into it but also---you're probably a hell of a lot more capable than you think you are. Doing hard stuff teaches you a lot about who you are. It better equips you to handle the inconveniences of daily life. Highly recommend just going for it---whatever it is
The Gear
Water Filter: Love the Sawyer Squeeze Mini. I didn't bring the straw part with me but definitely would next time in case I had to drink out of a smaller water source that would be hard to get into a pack (like a sketchy puddle)
Garmin In Reach Mini: This link is for the mini 2. I just have the 1 but not sure if they still make that version. I have ATT and had spotty service but I did have enough to call/text for the most part. I still will always carry this with me if I'm going somewhere unfamiliar/plan to be out all day/know there is spotty service. It's not something I carry with me on trails here at home if I'm going out for a few hours but on big mountain days it's a necessity
Ultraspire Zygos 5.0 Pack: This is my go to all day adventure pack. I honestly wouldn't want anything bigger if I'm trying to run. I have the 4.0 so this design is a little different but still a great all day run pack
Altra Lone Peak 7: I have a semi wide foot so I love that there's plenty of room in the toe box with these. I didn't have any blisters despite my feet being wet for most of the day. I also really like Topos and wanted to wear those but think I need a smaller size so I went with what I know works
Drymax Socks: These are the best. Again--wet feet all day and no blisters
Patagonia Houdini Jacket: I didn't end up using this because weather was amazing BUT I will never go out for a mountain day without it. It's just a great layer to have if temps drop. It packs up super small and lightweight. People of the internet have yelled at me and told me it's just water repellent and not waterproof.
Silly Sun Hat: Love this thing for when I'm running and there's no shade. Sally Mcrae wears it so that makes it cool right?! I have never worn the piece that goes over your face but I imagine if you do some desert running it would come in handy
Biolite Headlamp: It charges with a cable so you can plug it into a power bank and run with it plugged in if needed
Trekking Poles: This was my first time using trekking poles. A friend had these at trail camp last year and I loved how lightweight they were and that they folded up for easy storage in a pack. I was sooo glad I had these!
Garmin Enduro 2: It's big and expensive but the battery will never die. I've had my watch battery die on me too many times with previous watches and need something that can handle me uploading a map and using it to navigate for long days on the trails. This plus the pocket map were how I navigated. I pulled up All Trails a few times
Pocket Map: This thing is awesome. It's waterproof. It's lightweight. Shows all the water spots, camping, intersections to watch out for, etc... highly recommend. I used it a lot more than I anticipated as this trail was not marked super well
Other random stuff I brought: wipes, sunscreen, bug spray wipe, pepper spray, pocket knife, Birdie alarm, chapstick. I didn't use it but the MST app has the Art Loeb trail and has camp sites/water/etc marked on it
Nutrition: Food & Water
As a Registered Dietitian that works with runners this is usually my favorite part. But I have to say for this adventure it really came down to what would be easiest to carry. I originally planned on doing half salty snacks and half sweet snacks. In the end the sweet snacks pack a bigger carb punch in smaller size so I ended up ditching most of my salty snacks for the sake of room in my pack. I would have loved to have some heartier stuff in my pack but space and weight were concerns. Here's what I ended up packing:
Sour Patch Kids Lemonade Fest: I was going to eat a handful of those every hour (about 10). One medium ish size bag of this would be enough for about 12 hours.
Kodiak Cake Chewy Granola Bars: eat either 1/2 of this or 1/2 of a Fuel For Fire Pouch for a source of protein. I brought 6 granola bars and 2 pouches which was enough for 16 hours
3 scoops Skratch Labs (if you use that link you'll save 20% on your first order) High Carb Mix + 1 scoop Skratch Everyday Drink Mix in each of my 500mL bottles. I had 5 bottles to start and had 10 individual bags with the drink mix portioned out in my pack. I LOVE these bags because they make it so easy to refill on the go
Cape Cod BBQ chips. I used a sandwich sized bag and filled it to the top. Would have loved more of these but they take up so much space
Bobos PBJ sandwich--will bring more of these next time (oh snap she said next time)
Country Archer Jerky
Salt tabs, caffeine pills, and ginger chews just in case
I was out there for almost 16 hours and should have had zero food left. I had EIGHT packs of the hydration mix. That meant I only consumed HALF of what I was supposed to in terms of fluids and electrolytes. I kick ass at fueling long trail runs here at home because it's flat and it's what I'm used to. In the mountains I'm not as good. I will be using the nutrition reminder on my watch and hopefully that will help. Not only would I not have been as hungry but I also would have been carrying less weight. I ate all the chips, all my protein sources, PBJ. I did have sour patch left so I should have ate more of those too.
Immediately following the run/hike I wanted nothing to do with food and this is not unusual. The combination of my body temp being higher and the stress I just put my body through can suppress appetite. Luckily when I was at the store I grabbed 2 Promised Land Dairy whole milk chocolate milks. They have almost 400 calories, 14g fat and I think 15g protein and almost 500mg sodium. What a freaking delicious and awesome option for scenarios like this where you need to replenish but have zero appetite. I chugged that and ate some watermelon. The next morning I was ready to crush some food and cooked my favorite camp breakfast: hashbrowns, bacon, and eggs on the camp stove. It was so cool that morning that I ate my breakfast in front a fire while wearing a hoodie and drinking hot tea. The thought of doing that back here in Charleston sounds insane!
Final Thoughts
That was an awesome adventure. Moments of it were hard and stressful but I knew that going into it. There is lots of climbing and descending but even though the first 12 miles (if going SOBO) are mostly up it still didn't feel terrible. I really enjoyed going SOBO and would love to do it during a non summer month to see what it looks like! If you're thinking about doing it---go for it!
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