The Midday Rambler: Lone Oak is No Joke

I was enjoying the view from Tip Top on Buffalo Mountain a while back when a young man emerged from something called Lone Oak Trail. He was in his 20s, but he was huffing and puffing as he put his backpack down on the picnic table and sat down to soak in the view. I'm always looking for a challenge, so I waited for him to catch his breath before asking, "Tough hike?" "Toughest on this mountain," he replied. The most intense hike I had tackled on Buffalo Mountain up to this point was The Noggin. Once a reader named Helga reached out to recommended the hike to me and fill me in on the history of the trail, I was all in. Hike: Lone Oak Trail to Tip Top Location: Buffalo Mountain/Buffalo Mountain Park Distance: 4.0 miles The Prep I'd highly recommend hiking sticks for this one, and you have to wear hiking boots or other footwear with really good tread. This is a steep hike with a grade that averages around 13.5 degrees. As always, pack a lot of water. Given the difficulty of this trail, I'd plan on taking your time unless you happen to be one of those hikers I pass on the trail with calves the size of cantalopes. Pack a lunch and take the time to enjoy it at the picnic table located just 0.75 miles up the trail, and tuck another snack in your backpack to enjoy once you get to the top. The extra prep this week is learning the history of the trail. Just a few steps up the trail, you'll see a sign in honor of the late A.T. Dosser, III. Dosser worked tirelessly to build and maintain Lone Oak Trail, and Dr. Craig Haire has carried on his work of keeping the trail maintained and open. The Price Unlike other hikes on Buffalo Mountain, the trailhead for Lone Oak Trail is outside the park. To get there from Johnson City, take Cherokee Road off of University Parkway. When you get to the intersection at Cherokee Elementary (on your right), turn left on Lone Oak Road, which quickly becomes Dry Creek Road. You'll see a brown sign marking the entrance to the trail, and there is a gravel area to pull off and park. Once you get on the trail, it doesn't take long for the switchbacks to start, and those will take you up to the top of your first ridge. At 0.75 miles, you'll get a reprieve once you've complete your first steep climb. There is a picnic table here, and I'd recommend taking a rest before the second half of the hike. Aside from the entrance to the trail, the only flat portion of this hike comes between 0.75 and 0.95 miles. From there, you are going up the rest of the way, and it is steep - this 2-mile trek takes you up about 1,300 feet, and you'll feel every inch. The half-mile of this hike is unrelenting as you climb up a steep incline to reach Tip Top. The Payoff We're probably a month away from the entire hike being a payoff. At the moment, the leaves in the trees block spectacular views throughout the hike that will be visible as soon as the leaves come off the trees. But for now, it's hard to beat the view from Tip Top. From the highest point on Buffalo Mountain, you can see Johnson City in one direction and the beautiful mountains of Unicoi County in the other. Also, when somebody asks you what you did today, there are worse answers than, "I climbed a mountain." The Verdict Difficulty: 4.4 That young whippersnapper was right. This is the toughest hike on Buffalo Mountain, and slightly edges out Whitehouse Cliffs Trail in Rocky Fork State Park as the most intense hike in the short history of this column. Whitehouse Trail was just as intense, but it was half as long, and the elevation change was only 1,000 feet. With only about three-tenths of a mile of flat hiking, Lone Oak Trail will push your fitness, but the reward is undeniably worth the effort. There are several unsung heroes in our region who tirelessly maintain our trails with little to no fanfare. A tip of the cap to all of you, especially Dosser - who blazed a trail - and Haire - who maintains a trail - that continues to give us the opportunity to immerse ourselves in nature. If you have any pictures from this hike or know of a hike you think I should go on, send me them along to me at: dongie@sixriversmedia.com. Previous Hikes The Noggin - Buffalo Mountain Park Upper White Rocks Loop to Huckleberry Knob and Sunset Point - Buffalo Mountain Park Whitehouse Cliffs Trail - Lamar Alexander Rocky Fork State Park Carver's Gap to Round Bald/Carver's Gap to Jane Bald - Roan Mountain