The woods were greening (especially the forest floor) in the valley along Jeremy's Run. I hiked up the Knob Mt. Trail which is a fine trail that steadily climbs to the ridge. Toward the top, since the trees still haven't leafed out, there were pretty great views to the west, south, and up the Jeremy's Run valley. I saw a reddish/brownish hawk, a vulture, and a grouse as I reached the ridge. Walking along the ridge was a delight. Peekaboo views to left and right. The top of Knob Mt. was no panoramic vista but, unusually, there was a marker identifying the summit. The day was sunny and hazy. By the time I reached the top I had stripped down to t-shirt and shorts and it was still pretty hot. I hotfooted it over to Mathews Arm Campground from the summit. It took less time to get to the campground road and longer to walk along the road than I had expected. Mind you, I had previously walked this long road system (twice) when I hiked the Heiskell Hollow trail so it was no surprise but it wasn't particularly pleasant. I sat down for a quick lunch at the picnic table next to the entrance kiosk for the campground and then took the lovely Elkwallow Trail over to the A.T. at Elkwallow Wayside. By 2 PM it had clouded over. I descended via the Jeremy's Run trail, taking a short sidetrip up the Knob Mt. Cutoff up (and up and up) to the junction with the Knob Mt. Trail. Because of the heat, I got a headache and took an ibuprofen and a salt tablet when I got to the trail junction. At 3, as I started my descent, the thunder started. I quickened my pace. Just after I started back down the Jeremy's Run Trail, the lightening and thunder got worse and I found myself in a thunderstorm. I was very glad I had chosen to do the Knob Mt. part of the hike first. In order to save time, I decided just to wade through all the stream crossings (13 I believe). The sun came out briefly, about half way back to the car, but then the fireworks started again. There were a fair number of blowdowns on the trail and a few were difficult to negotiate. Jeremy's Run has a number of lovely cascades and pools that would make this a terrific summer walk. It was such a pleasure to walk along it the 5 or so miles back to the car.
Total miles hiked: 18
New sidetrail miles: 16.6 (according to guidebook)
New Trails: 4
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