In the last few weeks I did quite a bit of hiking (around 32 miles) and learned some interesting things about the park (like Upper Tremont Road is closed during the winter). It’s been quite a fun few weeks, and this past weekend was no exception. I decided to take a little “me time” to put some big numbers on my map and use the time to reflect on everything going on in my life. It was a noble intention, however my relative peace was shattered half way through my hike. More on that later though…

My day started far earlier than I would have liked it to. You see almost every Friday night I go dancing at Academy Ballroom in Knoxville. It’s been a passion of mine for about a year and a half now. It works well with my schedule because people tend to filter out around 10:00 or 10:30. This leaves plenty of time for me to get home, get a good nights sleep, and be up early for long hikes. However this Friday was different. This Friday I stood in the parking lot of Academy Ballroom until 1:00am talking to my friend Julie. This in itself was a lot of fun, however waking up at 6am for a 14 mile hike was NOT FUN! I had reset my alarm in anticipation of doing a shorter hike, but my internal alarm must have missed the memo and I was out of bed as of 6:15am. It definitely was among the more interesting ways to start a long day of hiking.

I started my hike from the top of the Metcalf Bottoms Hill (where you enter from Wears Valley). The plan was to hike from Metcalf Bottoms to the Sugarlands Visitors Center. Great plan right? Well, what do you do once you’re at Sugarlands Visitors Center? Hike back? I like to hike, but 30 miles in a single day isn’t exactly my idea of a good time. Fortunately for me the Great Smokies Hiking and Adventure Group was scheduled to hike the Old Sugarlands Trail that day. I arranged the times to meet up with them and made sure they knew not to leave me behind.

The hike up Little Greenbriar to Cove Mountain was a pretty hefty climb. I spent the first couple hours of my day on an uphill slope. At first there wasn’t much to look at because the previous days rains kept me in a pretty view reducing fog. That all changed however at about the point I crossed 2800′. I turned the corner and there in front of me was an island in the sky. I can’t even begin to tell you how cool it was. I had hiked above the fog, above the clouds, and above everything else except all the other mountains that were higher than 2800′. Unfortunately the lookouts were somewhat restricted by trees, but it was very cool none the less!

I continued my hike until I came to the Laurel Falls Trail intersection. I wasn’t going to be on Laurel Falls Trail very long, around .9 miles as a cut over trail to Cove Mountain. Things were pretty uneventful until I got to Cove Mountain. There’s actually a fire tower at the top of the mountain where Laurel Falls and Cove Mountain intersect. Since it was only a .2 mile round trip I decided to make it up there and see. It’s actually not a fire tower at all. It’s especially not one of those awesome stone ones like you see on Mt. Cammerer. This one is steel, and modern looking. It does serve a pretty good purpose though. It’s an atmosphere monitoring station that is a joint venture between the National Parks Service (NPS) and the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA). If you look in my pictures you’ll see the infographic that is posted on the fire tower. I didn’t stay long at the tower because the modernness and overall feel of the area was a little unsettling. Definitely not something I wanted to hang around. I did have the opportunity to speak with a few people that were also up there. They were the only people I would see on my entire hike. That is to say the only people I’d see up close enough to talk to…

I was very grateful when I got to Cove Mountain Trail. I was tired, and far more sore than usual. I was probably overdoing it for only having gotten 5 hours of sleep and having danced a lot the night before, but c’est la vie. Luckily I had come to the end of my uphill journey. For the last 8 miles of my trip I would be taking a nice downhill stroll to Sugarlands. There I was strolling along happily reflecting on life and all things therein when I suddenly hear a booming voice say “Please stay behind the line. Ready? HERE WE GO!”

I stumbled over my trekking poles.

There I stood in the middle of the trail approximately 6 miles from the nearest trail head, and I kept hearing a booming female voice say “Please stay behind the line. Ready? HERE WE GO!” I wasn’t really sure what to think. I’ll admit I questioned whether I had finally tumbled off the edge of sanity. Eventually I gave up on trying to find/see the source of the sound and continued hiking. A very short while later I turned a bend, and there in front of me, in all it’s hideousness, was Ober Gatlinburg.

For those that aren’t familiar with Ober Gatlinburg, it’s skiing in the Smokies. Fake, hideous, low elevation skiing. Am I not being contemptuous enough of it? I try not to be an elitist or anything. In fact most of the time I wouldn’t even have something bad to say about Ober Gatlinburg. I mean, sometimes you take what you can get, right? Well on this particular day I was rather upset about the whole endeavor. I knew the trail I was on skirted the Northern boundary of the park, but I wasn’t aware that there we so much right on the edge of the park. I felt like Bill Bryson as he and Katz emerge from the woods to be confronted by a strip mall. Only instead of having become accustomed to the peace of nature over many days, I had just had my one day of the week in which I would be at relative peace in the mountains robbed from me. I’ll admit, at that very moment I wanted nothing more than to be off that trail.

Fortunately my mood quickly recovered and I found my stride again. It was a pretty uneventful trip for the remainder, and not long after the Ober Gatlinburg adventure I found myself among many people at Sugarlands Vistors Center. I took a little bit of time to rest, use the restroom, and people watch. I noticed that my friends cars were in the parking lot so I knew my ride was still around. Unfortunately I grew impatient after a few minutes of waiting and decided to setup off down the trail to intersect them on their way back. In hindsight I was tired, sore, and had already hiked over 14 miles. I probably should have stayed put. I didn’t. Luckily, I quickly found them and only tacked on a couple more miles to my trip. All told I probably covered around 16 miles that day. It was a good day.

I got some descent photos out of all of it. This was probably the last hiking I’ll do before my trip to Mt. Kilimanjaro in 15 days. 15 DAYS! WOOOOOOO! Okay, got that out of my system. Look for a lot of photographs and a lot of stories from that particular trip!

Cove Mountain Trail 1-23-10

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Viewing images 1-35 of 35

Be careful out there folks. No matter how careful or good you may be, some things are just out of your control.

Warbonnet Outdoors is a relatively unknown company. In fact, chances are pretty good that unless you’ve stumbled across it while Googling hammock terms, or are a member of the Hammock Forums then you’ve never even heard of it. The company itself is really just one very talented individual making hammocks, and hammock equipment, in his garage. This is about as old fashioned and simple as it gets. If you are interested in a product, or have questions, you send him an email, and he usually responds back in a day or two. If you wanted to have a more direct conversation, then work it out and give him a call. Ordering a product is just as simple. When you want to order something, email him your request. He will give you a time frame on how long it will take to make your product, and then when it’s done he’ll send you a PayPal request for payment. There really isn’t that much more to it. It’s about as old fashioned and straight forward as it comes. If you’re uncomfortable forking over a couple hundred dollars to someone like that, well head on over to the Hammock Forums where there is no shortage of people singing his praises. In fact Brandon’s now gotten more than several hundred dollars of my money and I wouldn’t hesitate to buy other things from him!

The particular item that I purchased from Warbonnet is his new 4 season Winter Yeti Underquilt. An Underquilt is kind of like a sleeping bag for your hammock, only instead of going inside of your hammock, it hangs underneath of it. The bottom of your hammock is where most heat loss occurs. This results in what hammockers refer to as CBS, or Cold Butt Syndrome. It is one of our primary enemies, and it is what keeps you awake at night! Underquilts, just like sleeping bags, come in a wide variety of ratings, shapes, sizes, etc. This particular model is a 2/3 length quilt that’s good down to around 0 degrees. The 2/3 length refers to the size of a average human. This model is 2/3 length meaning it will typically go from your knees to your head. There is much debate on 2/3 vs. 3/4 vs. Full Length. I won’t go into that. If you’re truly interested, visit the Hammock Forums where there is a wealth of knowledge. Alrighty, on to the review!

Cliff Notes

Temperatures and Weather

• The temperatures dipped down to the mid twenties, or 63 degrees if you ask Walter’s (Weisenber) left wrist
• It snowed for most of the night, there was a solid covering on the ground and my tarp when I woke up

All Insulation Used

• Winter Yeti 2/3 length UQ
• GG Thinlite ¼” pad folded over under feet/legs
• Mountain Hardwear Ultra Lamina 15 degree sleeping bag

Clothing Worn

• Synthetic Thermal Pants
• SmartWool Thermal Shirt
• Fleece Lined Rain Pants
• Wind Proof Fleece Shirt
• Balaclava on my head

Note: I had more than this initially, but had to shed layers because I was hot.

Pros of Winter Yeti

• Very, very, very well made – feels solid
• Incredibly easy to setup – Almost idiot proof (too many good idiots in the world)
• Keeps you warm – I fell asleep in it accidentally while testing

Cons of the Winter Yeti

• It slipped off my left shoulder a couple of the times I woke up to roll over/readjust
• The stuff sack is too small for my hand to fit in making stuffing a bit of a challenge at times

Final thought(s)

• Brandon makes remarkable products and the Winter Yeti is no exception
• If I could find something else that is not a pad for under my feet, I’d be in heaven.

Me Being Long Winded

I just got back from my first winter hang this weekend, and with it come my initial thoughts of the Winter Yeti. The trip itself was nothing too special, a single overnight trip with my hiking group, The Great Smokies Hiking and Adventure Group. We travelled to Virgin Falls in Crossevill, TN. This was the 4th in a series of backpacks I did to Virgin Falls which I named “4 Seasons at Virgin Falls.” It’s best not to ask why, how, or where I come up with these things. Just smile and nod!

The weather for the trip was quite enjoyable. During the hike the temps hovered in the mid-thirties most of the day. I stayed warm with just a base layer and windproof fleece on. The temperature at night sunk down into the mid twenties at the coldest. Our camp was at the base of the 40’ Big Laurel Falls. The falls were in rare form with much more volume flowing than the previous three times I had been to them. As such there was a great deal of spray coming off the falls. Fortunately I found some nice trees a distance away and didn’t have to worry about it. It started snowing about 6pm and continued to snow for most of the night. It wasn’t a heavy snow, but enough to give the ground a solid covering. Okay, enough about the weather and the camp, on to the topic at hand: The Winter Yeti.[
I was very skeptical when I purchased the Winter Yeti. Not because I thought it would be a bad product, but because I was breaking one of my cardinal rules: don’t buy something unless you’ve laid your hands on it! This is actually the second time I’ve broken this rule for Brandon, and I can say I intend to break it again, and again. When I took the Winter Yeti out of the box I was absolutely amazed at how solid it felt. It didn’t feel fragile at all. I was very, very, impressed by this. The amount of fill in the WY was quite exceptional, and I just knew it would keep me warm down to the lower temperatures. It wasn’t until I got out into the field I realized just how nice a piece of gear this is.

Setup for the WY was a breeze. In fact I would rank it very highly just for how absolutely idiot proof the thing is. If you can tell the difference between a white snap and a black snap, then you can probably set this thing up correctly, and I only say “probably” because I’ve met a lot of really dumb people. There’s no worrying about sag or hang because the differential baffles ensure you won’t compress your down when you lay on top of it, and this means there’s really nothing more to do with it than put the shockcord loops over the gathering at the ends of the hammock. I’m a big fan of easy setup simply because after a long day of hiking the last thing I want to do is worry about using brain cells to hang my insulation properly.

So it’s easy to setup, but how well does it keep you warm? Well, my first experience sleeping in it was absolutely inadvertent. I setup the hammock, WY, and put the ¼” GG Thinlite sleeping pad under my feet. Then I laid down in it to test the hang and make sure everything was good. I hadn’t gotten my top insulation out, and still managed to fall asleep for a good 30 minute power nap. The only clothes I was wearing were thermal pants and shirt, fleece rain pants, and a fleece wind shirt. I was quite surprised that I’d managed to doze off and that I managed to sleep that long when the temps were in the mid thirties. For the night I used my Mountain Hardwear UltraLamina sleeping bag (yes, sleeping bag, I’m not made of money).

The combination of these things kept me warm the entire night and the only time I was really woke up was when I got up to answer the call of nature. Occasionally I would wake up to roll over or readjust at which point I would check my setup to make sure everything was still good. I woke up the next morning after sleeping from 6:30pm-8:00am. Yes, for almost 14 hours I slept. I hadn’t felt that comfortable and that cozy ever in the back country.

A couple of potential downsides I noticed. Sometimes when rolling over or readjusting I’d stick my hand out to see if everything was okay and to make sure I hadn’t slipped down to the ground. A couple of those times the WY had come out from over my left shoulder. I sleep on a VERY wide diagonal, so this wasn’t that surprising. Additionally, and this is a very minor thing, the stuff sack for the WY is difficult to get my hand in making it a little harder to stuff the thing. Another inch diameter would have been great! It’s a small thing, but the small things count for something. Now if I could just find something to put under my feet that is not a bulky sleeping pad…

Overall this product is absolutely wonderful, and I’m glad I bought it. I fully intend to keep a close eye on any other innovations Brandon comes up with. Below are some pictures. Feel free to ask any questions you may have.

For those not familiar with Polartec, they make various cloth materials that are used by outdoor clothing manufacturers like Mountain Hardwear, Marmot, and Outdoor Research. In fact many of you may have something made of their material and not even realize it.

Happy Holidays
Lyttle Bryan

I won’t go into a great deal of depth about each of my adventures to Virgin Falls. If you’d like, you can read about them throughout my blog where I’ve chronicled most of my adventures. When I first traveled to Virgin Falls in March of this year, I never imagined that I would return there 3 more times throughout the year. Well I did, and as it worked out, it was for each of the seasons. I decided to write this post when I noticed the way the falls changed throughout the seasons. I’ll not do it any justice describing it with words, no matter how long winded I am. Instead I’ll let this picture speak for itself…

Unlike the three previous trips to Virgin Falls I decided to post this backpack for the Great Smokies Hiking and Adventure Group. When people first started RSVPing for it, they indicated they were really only interested in a hike and not an overnight. I decided that since so many people wanted to hike, that I’d have it be both a hike AND a backpack! I was planning to hike out with the group after I dropped my backpack off, but fortunately the group named a new Assistant Organizer, Denita, and she volunteered to lead the day hike portion of the trip. Unfortunately a slight typo on my part resulted in much confusion for those that didn’t actually read my emails. Fortunately I can blame them entirely since they didn’t read the emails! Plausible deniability, Aint it grand? I’ll spare the details but in one place I listed the leave time for carpooling as 9am. Everywhere else I’d listed it as 7:30am and so some people weren’t there at 7:30. Fortunately everyone got to the trail head. We just had to hike in at different times.

So aside from everyone showing up at different times, everyone got their without a problem. The trails were muddy and cold from long weeks of rains, freezes, thaws, and everything else Mother Nature tends to throw you during the winter. That’s okay though, because it’s all part of the fun. What wasn’t part of the fun though was the insanity that was the Laurel Creek crossing! In the other time’s I’d been to Virgin Falls I’ve never seen that crossing so complicated. The flow and power made it so difficult to cross that most people opted for simply taking off their shows to cross. I knew at that point that the falls were going to be something remarkable that day.

We continued on the trail stopping occasionally to take in the marvels that were Laurel Creek and allowing people to catch their breath. Originally we had planned to stay at the Overlook for the night, but due to imminent freezing we decided climbing frozen ladders was a safety hazard I wasn’t willing to put the group through. I’m always more willing to do things when I’m not responsible for multiple people. Well that and the thought of having to carry someone out is not my idea of a good time! So instead of staying at the overlook we decided to setup basecamp at Big Laurel Falls, an area we have never stayed at before. And after staying there for the night, I can say I don’t want to do it again outside of the hottest of Summers! More on that later though.

One we got to Big Laurel Falls we stopped to have a break. Everyone from the day hiking group ate lunch while the backpackers staked out their claim for sleeping spots. Since I was hanging, I staked out trees. Fortunately there are quite a few REALLY nice trees in that area. Once we got everyone setup we continued on to the hikes namesake, Virgin Falls. I can honestly say that in all of my years hiking I have never seen anything like Virgin Falls on that day. The raw strength, power, and volume of the falls were amazing. I actually couldn’t even get a clean shot from the “usual lookout” because the spray from the falls was that powerful. Man just thinking about it right now gives me chills.

We played around the falls and explored the area for quite a bit before I decided it was time to head out. I was a little concerned about the day hikers having enough daylight to get back to their cars. Fortunately enough people had lights that I wasn’t too concerned about them. Once back to Big Laurel we bid farewell to the hikers and began preparations for an evening of fun. Actually there wasn’t much preparation to make because everyone had carried in firelogs and I’d already setup my hammock! it was nice. So instead of doing any work I got out a flask of Crown Royal I’d packed in and ate some dinner. Over all it was an uneventful and enjoyable evening. The only downside was the falls we were staying next to. Just like Virgin Falls, Big Laurel was in rare form. The spray from the falls was hitting us a hundred yards away. Additionally the only place to get water was next to the falls themselves! This was quite unpleasant because it was a rocky climb down and the spray was ice cold. Definitely not something I want to deal with again in the Winter time. Fortunately I’d switched to chemical treatment so i just had to fill up a Platypus instead of standing there pumping. Definitely points for the chemical treatment department.

After dinner, drinks, and general campfire fun, we all retired to our sleep areas. And sleep we did! I slept for almost 14 hours. it was glorious, especially considering that it was in the 20s out! I don’t sleep that well in my bed in my apartment! I fully give credit to the new Warbonnet Blackbird and Warbonnet Winter Yeti. I have a review written up and will be posting it soon. Brand, at Warbonnet, is definitely a homegrown shop, and he’s doing amazing things!

Below are some pictures from the trip, enjoy!

Virgin Falls December 2009

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Viewing images 1-56 of 56

I thought about it for a couple of days before deciding on Big Creek Trail to Mouse Creek Falls. I decided that the ever so slight incline of the trail was easy enough that anyone could go. I really like that side of the park as well. I’d done the Big Creek->Low Gap->AT->Chestnut Branch loop once when I was by myself and feeling completely nuts. I figured this would be a good opportunity to get out and really enjoy a stroll and maybe meet some new people. Unfortunately mother nature had other plans for the trip!

The general plan was pretty typical, meet about 8:30 or so to carpool down to the trail head, hang out there to wait for late folks, and then hit the trail. I wasn’t really concerned with the times or anything since it was only a 4 mile round trip hike. It’s funny, I can remember a time when 4 miles was about the max I’d do. The 4 quickly became 7 which not so quickly became 11 which has somehow grown to 15 and then 20. Life is good! Anyway, when I woke up I walked to my kitchen and was greeted with about half an inch of snow. Now, I grew up in St. Louis. Unless that half an inch of snow is accompanied with ice, it doesn’t mean much. Well, I’m not in St. Louis anymore, and in Knoxville, snow means just about everything and everyone shuts down. I knew immediately the hike was going to be much smaller than I anticipated. I’d checked with Chuck before and made sure he was in come rain or shine. Fortunately the rain part extends to snow! He and I met to carpool, and as it would turn out, he and I were the only ones. Since it was just he and I we decided to extend the hike a little further than originally anticipated.

The hike itself was absolutely gorgeous, unfortunately I managed to forget my camera at home. I sat down with my cat in the recliner for a bit before leaving and it slid out of my pocket and into the chair. I didn’t realize it was missing until I got to the trail head. Fortunately Chuck had a spare camera, so if the pictures below are terrible, blame him. The snow fell pretty steadily the entire trip up. The midnight hole was rushing so much that you couldn’t see the portion for which it earns it’s namesake! Mouse Creek Falls were absolutely amazing. It was almost more of a falls than the usual cascade. All told we wound up hiking around 11 miles total. We stopped at campsite 37 for lunch. I was really hoping we could do a longer loop, but unfortunately Chuck had to be back by 6pm for a friends birthday. It was probably for the best, Chuck has complained about his knee hurting for a couple of days now. Sorry man! Anyway this weekend I’m returning to the first trail I hiked in the Smokie Mountains. Actually, it’s not a hike a trail at all. How funny is that?

Big Creek Trail In The Snow

Went for a hike in the snow with my friend Chuck

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Viewing images 1-12 of 12

We had originally hoped for an early Friday afternoon departure so as to make to camp before dark. Unfortunately after a late departure and a 3 hour drive we were already well into dusk before we set foot on the trail. Luckily everyone was experienced and prepared for some night hiking. We left from the Elk Garden Parking area on the Appalachian Trail (AT). I always enjoy hiking the AT. It’s fun knowing that the trail stretches for thousands of miles. It really staggers the mind if you think about it. The hike wasn’t too bad, even at night. there were occasionally some pesky rocks and roots, but nothing that wouldn’t slip us up during the day time. We got into camp around 9:00pm that night. Adam and Guen retired almost immediately while Jessica, Bode, and myself stayed up to have dinner and enjoy the relative piece. There were a fair number of folks in the area (there always seems to be). After a while we all retired for some sleep.

Saturday morning saw everyone awake and refreshed for another day of packing. We tore down camp and set out to explore the peak of Mt. Rogers. I can say with complete honesty that the peak of Mt. Rogers was about as boring as you can get. There’s absolutely no view, and you can barely see the sky. If it weren’t for the fact that it’s the highest point in VA, then it really wouldn’t have much going for it! Still it was enjoyable, and the woods surrounding it are actually quite neat looking. We all agreed that if an elf or a dwarf popped out from behind a tree none of us would bat an eye lash. It had a very Tolkien feel to it. After the trip to the summit we made our way back toward the look out near Rhododendron Gap. I don’t know if this rock has a name or not, but I keep calling it the “Lion King Rock.” If you have seen the Lion King then you know what I’m talking about. It’s the rock that the primate holds the baby lion over so everyone can see. Anyway, I digress. I personally love the rock because you can see forever. It’s also very convenient because it’s the spot where many of the trails in the area converge. There are always people around and it makes for a generally nice experience. From there we stopped for lunch and mutually decided that we would back track and find a spot to setup camp for the night. Fortunately we found a good one and claimed it as our own.

As we setup camp Adam and Guen left to find water. And as Adam and Guen tend to do, they got lost. Fortunately they found water and their way back. The rest of the night passed pretty peacefully with a wonderful campfire (thanks to a 5lb firelog we carried in), and plenty of good food and drink. We we retired at around 9pm for the night. Well, we thought it was 9pm. Unfortunately the person who’s time piece we went by hadn’t adjusted for DST yet so we actually went to bed at 8pm. I guess that’s why I was WIDE awake at 5am. I wasn’t the only one either. Everyone was up before the sun. This actually worked out to our advantage as we had time to hike back to the “Lion King Rock” and watch the sun rise. I think those pictures are some of the best I’ve ever had! After the sunrise we tore down camp and began prep for our departure. While putting my sleeping base layers in my pack, my spare pair of underwear fell out of my clothes bag. Without hesitation Bode, jessica’s dog, runs over and steals them. He spent the next 5 minutes running around camp with my underwear hanging out of his mouth. I’m just glad they were a clean pair! After everyone had a good laugh and plenty of pictures were taken, Jessica was able to tackle him and I was able to get my (now not-so-clean) underwear back. It was one of the funniest things I’d experienced.

We had a nice hike out and were able to get home with some daylight left. I look forward to going back and exploring this area again. It really was quite beautiful!

Also a quick note, I’m moving away from direct image uploads. I’m trying to get a picas plugin working, but for some reason it won’t put the pictures directly in the post. I’ll keep working on that, but for now just click the link below to see all the images! Later all

Mt Rogers November 09

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Mt. Rogers

Backpacking and camping on the Appalachian Trail through Mt. Rogers, VA

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Viewing images 1-76 of 76