The best way to get the battery recharged and the running juices flowing is to head for the mountains in the summertime. I have run many mountain trails over the course of our seven years of RV travels. From north Georgia to Canada and Alaska I have encountered many fantastic running venues. Cades Cove in the southwestern portion of the Smoky Mountains near Townsend, Tennessee is certainly one that I have written about often. Another favorite close to home is the Moses Cone Carriage Trails at Milepost 294 on the Blue Ridge Parkway.

   Moses Cone was in the textile industry when he became plagued by poor health. He was drawn to the mountains of North Carolina and in the mid-1890's he bought a 3,516 acre estate on top of Flat Top Mountain and Rich Mountain. He and his family built a 20 room mansion and planted 32,000 apple trees along with acres of white pines and hemlocks.

   The most fascinating aspect of the estate is the 25 miles of beautiful carriage roads. The carriage roads are multi-use rough ballast rock trails, very similar to the carriage trails in Acadia National Park in Bar Harbor, Maine. The roads were built primarily for folks to get around on while working on the estate. The trails are now used for hiking, horse back riding and of course running and cross country skiing in the winter. The trails wander through the apple orchards, past a cemetery, through grassy meadows, woods filled with rhododendrons and mountain laurels. One of the trails is the Flat Top Road trail which winds up to the top of Flat Top Mountain with an elevation of roughly 3,700 feet mean sea level. When you get to the top you must climb up the 150 feet tower to see a panoramic view of the area mountains.

   Mountain trail running is probably one of the quickest way to drop some body fat, but you have to take it easy at first to avoid low back, knee, and foot injuries. My appetite gets out of control in this supercharged running environment and soon I find the pounds creeping back. What could, however, be more fun than eating and burning it off?    The Moses Cone Trails are used by the Zapfittness running organization in their running camp programs. I have seen a number of high school cross country runners on the trails as well.

To visit the ZapFittness web site, click here.