FKT: Chris Deming - Iron Trail ( CT) - 2022-06-26

Athletes
Route variation
Stone Mtn, out & back (11 miles)
Multi-sport
No
Gender category
Male
Style
Unsupported
Start date
Finish date
Total time
2h 15m 32s
Photos
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The CT Forest & Park Association has decommissioned the Iron Trail due to motorized vehicle abuse, so the blue blazes and signs have been removed. (A few faded blue blazes are still visible here and there.)

The Great Mountain Forest orange-blazed Iron Trail (Stone Man Mountain) continues to be maintained, and that section is in great shape!

The entire trail is still runnable, and during this dry early Summer, the minimal amount of mud didn't slow me down at all, which is a first for non-Winter runs of this trail for me. I started and finished at the Beckley Furnace, turning around at the 5 foot cairn at the summit of Stone Man Mountain - after snapping a couple of photos.

On the way up, I spotted a bear and her cub on the trail about half a mile from the summit. They started running away, and the cub started climbing a tree, but the mother bear turned around and stared at me for a second. The cub climbed back down, and they both ran off! I stood there for a while to let them get some distance away.