On July 22, 2006, I did a solo overnighter to the Brown Duck Basin. Tracy had gone to
Knoxville for the weekend, so I figured this was as good as anything to do while it was 101
degrees back in the city. This was a pretty good hike, but it gained a lot of elevation, and I
hiked in about 9 miles. With the distance, elevation, heat and all the rocks on the trail, it was a
tough Saturday. But I had Island Lake all to myself, and I only saw a couple of groups out on
the trail. I was happy. I saw Brown Duck, Island and Kidney Lakes, and the water was already
really low at all three of them. But the solitude on the trail and at the lake was great, and it only
took about 2.5 hours to drive there. You can check out the GPS track log of the hike.