Our trip was a counter clockwise loop out of Clingman’s Dome via the AT, Welch Ridge, Jonas Creek, Forney Creek, Springhouse Branch, and Forney Ridge trails. The distances were not that great, but the steep elevation changes made it a challenge. We got a relatively late start on Saturday, so by the time we were on the AT the Thru-hikers were already up and active. We enjoyed making small talk with them as we went and regretted not having a small bit of trail magic to hand out to them. We stopped for lunch at Double Spring Gap Shelter where we had a nice long talk with a thru-hiker from Michigan that went by the trail name of Smitters. He said the name was a play on his real name and better than some that others had tried to give him. When asked what he was looking forward to most about Gatlinburg he said an “All you can eat Chinese buffet.” I hope he found that buffet and that the rest of the trip goes well for him.

It wasn’t long past the shelter that we turned from the AT as we made our way down Welch Ridge Trail. The trail was very enjoyable and Julie and I both agree that the small strip of the AT and that section of Welch Ridge were amazing. Things didn’t start getting rough until we began making our way down Jonas Creek. Now Jonas Creek isn’t that rough of a trail. In fact it’s pretty good footing, but the steepness is hard on the quads and calves and even now I feel the sting on my legs. There were several crossings back and forth across Jonas Creek that didn’t help the perception of the trail. Some were easily traversible, some better done wading. Julie swears I didn’t warn her ahead of time, but I was sure I had. Maybe not though, who knows?

We saw a small family of boar along the trail and were thankful that they ran the other direction, because they were directly uphill of us. I hate boar. They are far more scary to me than a black bear.

Once we got to the end of Jonas Creek we also came to campsite #70. The first time I had been at campsite #70 in the Smokies it had a half dozen horses and a ton of people that had made it look wholly unappealing and downright bad. This time it was pleasantly empty, and I have to say somewhat appealing. I again got in trouble with Jules when I informed her that we still had a mile to go. Fortunately it was an easy mile on Forney Creek with just a little up and over ridge section before we came to our final stop for the night at campsite #71.

Campsite #71 is an old CCC camp. It’s still got the foundation and chimney stack of one of the buildings that were on the site. There are artifacts littered throughout such as pipes and other odd metal pieces. We setup camp and gathered what firewood we could before settling in to practice our wedding vows together. That was a lot of fun and I’m looking forward to expressing them in earnest on our wedding day.

The campsite, despite being one of the biggest in the park, was relatively empty. I figure it was due to being Easter weekend. There was only one other group, a small family with their family friend out for a long vacation. We made small talk with them throughout our time at #71 and the father even shared some Easter candy that he said the bunny had delivered outside their tent that morning. I figure they didn’t have the same mice that we did if that candy was still outside their tent in the morning! They were very nice, and the son actually recognized me from my blog. Shout out to “Jester”, and thanks for reminding me that this is actually read by folks other than my parents!

I got up early the next morning around 7:30am. I didn’t sleep real well the night before due to coughing fits throughout the night. Julie got up not long after and joined me. We had just enough fuel for a hot cup of coffee and some lukewarm oatmeal. Almost perfect planning. Almost. We set out from camp around 9:00am and began making our way up Springhouse Branch Trail. We’d come down Springhouse before and I have to say I think it was more enjoyable going down! Truthfully it wasn’t that bad and we were at the gap where Forney Ridge intersects in what seemed like no time. We stopped here for a long while to lunch and simply relax. It’s easy to forget that this is a relaxing hobby and get caught up in putting one foot in front of the other. After a nice break we began the climb up Forney Ridge, and what a climb it was. Now, Forney Ridge is a trail I really loved. It was also a trail I absolutely hated. There didn’t seem to be any middle ground. It was either a crazy-steep washed out trail, or a nice pleasant walk through grassy sections. All told by the time we got to Andrews Bald, we were glad to be toward the end of the hike.

We enjoyed some time at the bald and eventually began hiking out making pleasantries with the tourist types out to see the Bald. The great weather had them out in droves and I can only hope my backcountry odor offended them greatly! There was one couple though that were very upset and stopped to ask us if we had seen a 10 year old boy wearing a red hoodie. We couldn’t remember seeing one, but told them we would keep an eye out before continuing on. The final push to the parking lot was brutal, but we made it.

We stopped in the visitors center to see if they had any soda, but they didn’t. We stretched for a while and eventually made our way to the car to start the drive back. Before leaving the parking lot though we spied a small boy sitting next to a van by himself. He was wearing a red hoodie. Julie stopped the car and jumped out to see if it was the lost boy, and in fact it was. We told him that we had spoken to his parents and that he should go to the visitors center to tell the Rangers. Julie walked him over while I parked the car. He was crying and very obviously upset. We got him into the visitors center and prepped a note to put on the parents car in case they came back looking for him. When we left the volunteers were phoning rangers to send them out to find his parents. Hopefully they didn’t venture off trail looking for him. It could have been a very scary ending and I hope everything worked out well. It was definitely an exciting finish to a weekend!

I probably won’t update for another month or so, but when I do I may very well have moved into a new house and married a beautiful woman. I hope that is a good enough excuse

Jonas Creek Backpack 4-7-2012

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Our trip was straight forward enough. We dropped a car off at the Twenty Mile Ranger Station and then carpooled over to Fontana Dam. From there we took the AT up to Gregory Bald Trail over to Campsite #13 for the night. The next morning we took Long Hungry Ridge Trail down to Twenty Mile and on to the Ranger Station.

The Appalachian Trail from Fontana up to Doe Knob is a very pleasant ridge hike. I’d been told by multiple people how brutal the climb up from Fontana Dam is, but I was pleasantly surprised to find that it was a fantastic hike. In fact, there were only two or three half mile sections that were too steep to walk and talk. Something worth noting about the hike though is that it is very exposed on the Western side, so wind coming up the ridge is brutal. Julie made the comment that she’d put on and taken off her layers so many times that she’d lost count. The day was warm (especially for January), but every time the wind blew it stole every bit of warmth you’d earned from the climb. It didn’t help that about the time we got to Shuchstack fire tower a cloud front blew in and cut visibility to almost 0. It was another 2 or so hours before the sun managed to cut through the clouds. Fortunately it made for a dramatic sunset on the bald, which we arrived at just in time to see. I was surprised to find the bald relatively warm with little wind. I had been prepared for brutal winds given the way the day had gone. We discovered later that all the wind and cold had been down at the campsite.

After some time snapping photos on the bald we made our way down to Campsite #13 at Sheep Pen Gap to setup camp. It was colder than my words can do justice and even after putting on all my cold weather layers (see photo), I still couldn’t get warm. I guess there’s no amount of insulation that will work when you’re body has given up on producing heat. It didn’t help that it was so cold at the campsite that water was freezing instantly in some cases. We amused ourselves by putting things in a cup of water and then watching the ice crystals form as you pull it out. It was that cold. Needless to say we made it an early night and climbed into our snug sleeping bags. Even inside a 0 degree down bag it took the help of some hand warmers before I was warm enough to actually give the sleeping bag something to insulate.

After a good nights sleep we got up to find that it had warmed considerably overnight and even with the sun still below the Eastern ridge, it was far warmer than the night before. After a relaxing breakfast we made our way up to the bald and were delighted to find the most amazing views I’ve ever seen on Gregory Bald. I’ve been up there 5 times now and this was easily the most beautiful I’d seen it. We could very clearly see the cars down in Cades Cove and after some orienting we were able to identify the Watts Bar Lake smoke stacks in Kingston, TN as well as the Doe Run stacks up in Oak Ridge. It was truly an amazingly beautiful morning. It really set a great tone for the hike down, which was beautiful and uneventful.

Julie and I are planning one more trip up to Gregory Bald before our wedding in May. We’re going to use it as a time to practice our vows. The wedding plans are coming along nicely and our goal is to have everything finalized before March. I posted some extra albums below. It’s mostly trips that I didn’t find time to post a story about.

Gregory Bald-AT Backpack

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Palmers Creek

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Ace Gap Rich Mountain and Indian Grave Gap Trails

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Albright Grove Loop

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Okay, that was the programmer in me speaking. I apologize for not posting in so long. It's been over 2 months since my last post, and Memorial Day was my last personal post. I've been on a bit of dry spell for posting, but that's not to say I've been on a dry spell for everything else. I've actually been very active, including a trip to Bolivia, South America! I just haven’t been posting those stories. Maybe it’s the wedding planning (which is going great), or everything else I have going on, including fundraising for The Ultimate Hike, a fundraiser for CureSearch for Children’s Cancer. All of that aside, I do apologize for not posting.

I did want to take some time to post about a recent mega backpack I went on with a few friends in the Smokies. Our trip lasted 5 days and covered just over 60 miles in the Hazel Creek area of the Smoky Mountains. My companions on this trip were my friends Adam and Tim, with Julie joining us on the 3rd day for the remainder of the trip. Overall it was a great trip, with great weather, and a lot of fun was had.

We started on Wednesday from the Lakeshore trail head at Fontana. This was the last stretch of Lakeshore Trail that remained unexplored, and it didn’t disappoint. It was a beautiful section of rolling hills that had just enough uphill to make things interesting before a nice break of down hill ensued. Unfortunately it was on this stretch of trail that my boots started hurting. They weren’t new boots, but they had waited until a long backpack to begin the pain, and the pain was intense. More on that throughout. Just after lunch time we made it to campsite #90 at Eagle Creek. #90 is a nice large campsite that’s prone to “boat campers” throughout the season. The low lake in the Fall usually means it’s empty though, and we found ourselves alone. We had a relaxing lunch on the flood plane deemed “Barkenhinge” by Adam. After lunch we continued on and the day was mostly uneventful as we enjoyed the views and history of the area. We made it to campsite #85 in the early evening and setup camp. Unsurprisingly we were alone. The campsite was nice, but nothing too spectacular. There was a lot of churned earth from hog activity, but they never made an appearance.

Thursday (day 2)was set to be our shortest day with little progress made going up Hazel Creek and a large side trip to Bone Valley Trail. On our way there we passed campsites #84 and #83. #84 was small and quaint, while #84 was massive. I’d stay at both campsites readily, as they were both nicer than #85 we had stayed at the night before. I’ll admit, Bone Valley did not disappoint. It’s regularly regarded as the most remote trail in the Smokies. It’s a shame that it is, because it’s a great trail. The 4 water crossings made things interesting, and while I managed to rock hop on my way down, I just crock hiked it on the way back and went through the water. The graveyard and cabin at the end of the trail are really spectacular and worth seeing. After our little side trip to Bone Valley we continued on to campsite #82. It was a nice wide campsite with sections above and below the trail. I would gladly stay here again. We got to camp very early, around 2pm. It made for a very relaxing afternoon with plenty of time to clean up in the creek and find fire wood. The only odd thing to occur was several rounds of gunfire throughout the day. We attributed it to rangers hunting hogs, but who knows?

Day 3 saw our first real climb of the trip as we made our way up Hazel Creek to Welch Ridge. Hazel Creek Trail got much nicer when it went from “gravel road” to “trail.” I’ll be honest, I didn’t much like Hazel Creek until that point. It was just, well, a gravel road! Once we got to Welch Ridge, we were treated to what quickly became one of my favorite ridge lines in the park. It was a bit windy and cold, but just really spectacular in feel. After Welch Ridge we made our way down Bear Creek to campsite #75, and my darling fiance, awaited us. It was a nice, small, campsite with plenty of firewood. Definitely one of the nicer of the trip. I recommend it. We caught her up on the happenings, and I got some much needed sympathy for my heel, which was throbbing constantly at this point. Still, seeing Jules warmed my spirit.

Day 4 of the trip we were treated to the best views of the trip, and the worst trail I’ve ever hiked in the Smokies. Making our way up Bear Creek was a bit rough. It was a climb, but the wind was howling so it made it hard to take breaks without getting cold. Once we were to the top we continued on Welch Ridge to High Rocks Trail. Now High Rocks Trail isn’t in the Little Brown Book, so we weren’t sure what to expect. What we got was the best views of Lake Fontana that I can remember. Truly spectacular! Unfortunately it was all downhill from that point! We made our way to Cold Spring Gap Trail and, well, I’m going to struggle remembering the trail because I blocked it out. The trail was essentially a creek bed with large rocks that goes straight down. Seriously. It was awful and I intend on never going back. Ever. The day was the longest we had, and it wore on us. Julie didn’t have her trail legs yet so she was getting tired, and the blisters on my heel had burst on one side and was now openly bleeding. It was rough. To top it off the “early stop” campsite we had (#85) was full of fisherman and not welcoming. So we had to push on as to campsite #86, which we feared would be full of fisherman as well. We were pleasantly surprised that it wasn’t full, and the site was really nice. It had a lot of room, and the soft pine needles made for a very warm feeling campsite. We slept well that night, and were ready for the final day.

We didn’t have any new trail left by day 5, it was all backtracking. We made our way at a steady pace, and by the time we had got to the car I had tears on my face from my heels. One side was still openly bleeding, and the other had a hard knot to it. Writing this now one looks like zombie meet and the other looks like a bone deformity. Healing is the most frustrating part because I can’t do anything. Needless to say I won’t be wearing those boots again!

It was a great backpack, and I got to spend a lot of great time with friends. I highly recommend this circuit to those with the stamina and time. Especially this time of year! The pictures are all below.

Also, We passed a lot of campsites on this trip, so I wanted to take some time to share my thoughts on them.

• #90 – A very large campsite along a beautiful creek. It’s very beautiful here, but the water access means it’s prone to boat campers who bring in a lot of stuff. Best time to go is when the Fall and Winter when the water is low or it’s too cold for boating. Firewood seemed scared.
• #88 – A newer site that’s set back from the trail a good distance. It’s in a quiet area and the few times I’ve been past it, no one was there.
• #86 – A large campsite right on the creek. It’s popular with fisherman, but seems large enough to support everyone. Finding a restroom was a bit of a haul though.
• #85 – A small site that splits the trail. Bugs seemed to be a big problem and there was a lot of obvious hog activity. When we came back through on Saturday it was so full that it was almost funny. Wouldn’t stay here again unless I had no other options.
• #84 – A small site right at the Jenkins Ridge Trail intersection. Very small and well worn. I’d stay here if a bit begrudgingly. There was also about 8 picnic tables lined up next to it.
• #83 – There’s 2 sections to this site. The giant dirt section from what I can only assume is over use. And the giant grassy section on the other side of a small hill. The grassy section was nice, and definitely large enough to support may folks.
• #82 – A nice site that splits the trail. While it’s large, all of the fire rings seemed nicely secluded.
• #75 – A small cozy site right on Bear Creek. I liked this site, but it probably wouldn’t be that great it if were full. Given that it’s non-reservation, this could happen.

Hazel Creek Backpack 10-1-11

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Great Smoky Mountains National Park
Media Briefing, Monday, July 11, 2011
Drowning at Townsend wye

A drowning victim was recovered from Great Smoky Mountains National
Park today in a section of the Little River at the Townsend Wye, a popular
day use area in Blount County.

Dick Chijioke, 34, from Plano, Tex., was tubing with his family when
his rental tube tipped and he fell into a 12-foot deep pool of water.
Eyewitnesses reported that he failed to resurface after he slipped out of
the innertube. Several people from his group, along with other visitors,
attempted to find him underwater before the emergency personnel arrived.

The Park received a report about the accident at 11:22 a.m. from
Blount County 911. The Blount County Special Operations Dive team was
called in to assist with their underwater rescue gear and they located
Chijioke at 12:26 p.m. near the area where he fell into the water. Rural
Metro paramedics tried to resuscitate him on the way to Blount Memorial
Hospital, but he was pronounced dead by hospital officials at 1:05 p.m.

Other emergency crews assisting Park Rangers were the Townsend Police
and Volunteer Fire Departments, Blount County Sheriff’s Office, and Blount
County Fire Department.

For more information, contact Nancy Gray at 865-436-1208.

Nancy Gray
Great Smoky Mountains National Park
107 Park Headquarters Road
Gatlinburg, TN 37738
865/436-1208 phone
865/436-1204 fax
e:mail: Nancy_Gray@NPS.GOV

“Everybody needs beauty as well as bread, places to play in and pray in,
where nature may heal and give strength to body and soul alike.” John Muir

CADES COVE ROAD WILL CLOSE FOR MORNING OPERATION
Two areas will be closed temporarily this week to install new precast concrete public restrooms (vault toilets) at popular trailheads in Great Smoky Mountains National Park.
The Cades Cove Loop Road will close on Thursday, June 16, until 12 p.m. to accommodate the transport and installation of a vault toilet at the Abrams Falls Trailhead.
The road closure is necessary so that the tractor trailer carrying the vault toilets can enter Cades Cove via the exit side of the one-way loop road in order to avoid driving over the Abrams Creek bridge. The load capacity of the tractor trailer exceeds the design of the Abrams Creek bridge.
In addition, the north portion of the Alum Cave Trail parking area along Newfound Gap Road also will be closed starting at 6 p.m. Thursday, June 16 – 8 p.m., Friday, June 17, to install a vault toilet at that popular location. Overnight backpackers who wish to hike the Alum Cave Trail to Mt. LeConte on Thursday for an overnight stay must park their vehicles in the adjacent parking area. The north parking lot will be the staging area for the large equipment that will be used to install the vault toilet near the trailhead.
“The placement of these ADA-compliant vault toilet systems will satisfy visitor needs as well as to help to reduce the sanitary issues associated with the heavy use that these areas receive,” said Park Superintendent Dale Ditmanson.
-NPS-

Great Smoky Mountains National Park
Three Men Sentenced For Park Violations

On April 20th, three North Carolina men were convicted and sentenced in federal court in two separate cases, one involving ginseng poaching and the other theft. Billy Joe Hurley, 42, and Jeffrey Hurley, 34, of Bryson City, were both found guilty and sentenced to a jail term for illegal possession of American ginseng. On the same day in court, Gregory Cline, 35, also of Bryson City, pled guilty to one count of tampering in the theft of funds from a self-pay collection box located at a trailhead. He also received jail time. In the ginseng case, each defendant pled guilty to the poaching charges. Billy Joe Hurley was sentenced to 75 days in jail and fined $5,540 in restitution to the park for possessing 554 wild ginseng roots, and Jeffrey N. Hurley was sentenced to 14 days in jail and fined $2,510 in restitution to the park for possessing 251 roots. He has appealed his conviction. In late October 2010, as part of an ongoing investigation, a ranger apprehended the Hurley brothers in the North Carolina area of the park with over 11 pounds of freshly dug roots that had been poached in one day’s time. The roots were later aged by park biologists. They determined that most of the roots were at least 10 years old, but that some of the larger ones were 30 to 40 years old. Each man was charged with possession of plants/parts (harvesting ginseng). The offense carries a maximum misdemeanor penalty of up to six months in jail and/or fine of up to $5,000. “Due to the high market value of ginseng, the illegal harvest of this plant continues to be a serious problem in Great Smoky Mountains National Park,” said Clay Jordan, the park’s chief ranger. “In the international and domestic legal trade market, wild ginseng can bring between $500 and $800 per pound of dried roots. The larger and older the root, the more profitable and valuable it is.” On the same day in court, Gregory Cline was convicted of one count of tampering. After rangers determined that money was being stolen from a self-pay trail map collection box, an extended surveillance operation was conducted which netted Cline as a suspect. A federal magistrate judge for the Western District of North Carolina sentenced Cline to 57 days in jail and ordered him to pay $57 restitution to the park, the amount he had stolen. Cline has appealed the case. Over the last several years, rangers throughout the park have observed an increase in thefts from these self-pay pamphlet collection boxes. Investigations into the thefts have resulted in convictions against numerous individuals. [Submitted by Nancy Gray, Public Affairs Officer]

Day 1

We met up with everyone at Clingman’s Dome where we staged our cars to trim off a couple miles of road walking. Then we crammed into one vehicle and drove to the Noland Divide trail head. Our destination for the first day was campsite #63 along Noland Creek. This meant a lot of downhill hiking, which was fine by me. I still have fond memories of hiking up Noland Divide with Julie last year, or rather I have memories of Julie making me look like a sissy. The upper part of Noland was a beautiful hike through spruce trees and that upper tree line feeling. Flowers were in bloom and the weather was just right. Going down hill is more an exercise in supporting yourself than physical exertion. Gravity does most of the work, but it’s sometimes over zealous at 9.8 meters per second squared. Eventually we made it to Noland Creek and began our big descent.

It was my first time on Noland Creek, and I understand why everyone enjoys it. There are quite a few campsites along the way and we enjoyed stopping to check them all out. In my opinion, #61 was a clean, but small site with limited room and not many hammock options. While #62 and #63 left me with a feeling of grossness due to bugs and the smell of horse manure. As I mentioned we were slated to stay at #63, but upon arrival we were met with a group of horse campers, and along with them all the wonderful smells of the horses. We decided that campsite #64 couldn’t be worse, so we pushed to do an extra couple miles. The hike was enjoyable and we got to see the graveyard along the way. When we got to campsite #64 we were pleasantly surprised at the site. The area was full, but it was beautiful. The group wasn’t too stamped down and there was a nice little field in the middle of the campsite. Not only that, but there were picnic tables! We looked around for places to setup tent and hammock alike, and in doing so introduced ourselves to the rest of the groups sharing the site. We spoke with them for a little while and one of the women, Melissa, mentioned I look familiar. We went through all the usual places we could have met, and then she asked “Do you have a website?” I mentioned my blog, and she realized that she had actually read my blog. Apparently someone other than my mother and my fiance read this, so hello to Melissa on the Trail if you happen to read this. We finished setting up and then began the process of finding fire wood and doing the usual camp chores. As we did so, more and more people kept showing up. In fact they kept showing up until it was almost dark. By the time all was said and done there were over 30 people in the campsite. It was easily the most largest group I’d ever seen at one back country site. The night continued pleasantly, but not without incident. At one point one of the other groups came over and asked if there was a doctor or nurse in our group. One of the guys in their camp was having a seizure. Unfortunately, no one in the camp was qualified, which is unusual because usually we have a nurse or two with us. Fortunately, it wasn’t the first time it happened to the gentleman, and he was prepared for it. Nothing major came of it, but scary none the less. The night continued without incident and we eventually headed off to sleep.

Day 2

The day started off on a high note when a mother deer and her adolescent fawn decided to stroll through the camp. I had my camera handy, so we got some good shots. It was the right way to start the day. Surprisingly, it wasn’t going to be the last wildlife we came across. In fact we managed to see a couple of snakes and many frogs of varying colors. I’d never seen a red frog before outside of the zoo, so that kind of cool. Our route for the day would take us up and over Springhouse Branch to Forney Creek. The uphill wasn’t too bad and made for a pleasant enough hike. I really enjoyed this trail and look forward to using it in future backpacks. It’s a convenient cut across for several different routes. We stopped at campsite #71 along the way and was surprised at it’s size. It was easily one of the biggest flattest sites I’ve seen in the park. I suppose over use was why they turned this into a reservation site, and not limited space. I definitely plan on staying here at some point! We stayed there for a long time and actually ran into a couple of groups headed to the same campsite as us, #70. We hung out at #71 for a while relaxing and cooling off in the (ice cold) water. When we finally set out we were looking forward to the short hike up to #70. So, it was no surprise at all when the site was full of people and horses, and we decided to move on. The hike to #69 from #70 isn’t a bad hike, but the three major water crossings along the way definitely put a damper on things. I was proud to have mastered my water crossing dance and managed to do all three without getting wet, and without taking off my boots. Something a few of the others didn’t quite manage (sorry Alex!). Water crossings are tiring, and by the time we got to #69, we were all beat. #69 is a nice site with lots of options and easy access to water. The only downside is that the two crossings on each side make finding a privy difficult. It was obvious that others thought so too, because not many made an effort to get very far from the sites. Frustrating, but a reality in the back country.

The rest of the evening was passed in relative peace with each of us taking turns having a bath in the river. It was cold, but man did it feel great to get some clean dry clothes on. We made it an early evening with the intention of getting up early. I slept well for the most part except for when I woke up at 5am to the feeling of my cat burrowing in my hammock with me. Of course it was at that point I shot wide awake at the realization I was in the Smoky Mountains and whatever it was burrowing in my hammock, was not my cat. I have no idea what it was, but something had been interested in my hammock and was pawing at it. Julie confirmed that it actually happened and wasn’t a figment of my imagination when she mentioned the same critter woke her around the same time. Exciting times!

Day 3

Uphill, uphill, uphill, water crossing, water crossing, uphill. That pretty much sums up the entire day. All that glorious downhill from two days prior was now being made up for, with the added tax of being on day 3 of a backpack. It wasn’t bad, but Forney creek from campsite #68 to Forney Ridge Trail is a mixture of poor drainage and large rocks. It was a little rough going, but we got through it. We decided that instead of stopping to wait for everyone, we would just get to Forney Ridge and wait. The result was a nice hour and a half break at the trail intersection and lots of tourists on their way to Andrew’s Bald. It was humorous seeing the kids in flip flops contrasted against 6 backpackers. We had a good time relaxing and even had time to make a pot of coffee. It tasted great! Eventually everyone caught up and we made the last mile and a half out a fun time. Clingman’s Dome and that was a shock to the senses. It’s like going from pure nature, to an amusement park!

Overall it was a spectacular time and went off without a hitch. I’m already looking forward to next year, of course next year I very well may be in Alaska on my honeymoon! The many pictures I took are below, enjoy!

Memorial Day Backpack 2011

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Great Smoky Mountains Tornado Damage Movie

Before my parents visited I traveled down to the Balsam Mountain area and did Hyatt Bald Trail. The trip didn’t go exactly as planned as my GPS went splat and I got myself lost. The road on Newfound Gap was also stop light controlled so I was way behind. I was supposed to meet Terri J, but she wound up leaving before me. I wasn’t afraid to hike alone, so off I went. I thoroughly enjoyed the trail once I got up to the ridge. There wasn’t much left of the bald portion of Hyatt Bald, it’s mostly been reclaimed by nature. Overall the area is very pretty, it’s a shame it’s not easier to get to.

While my parents were in town we had a picnic at Metcalf Bottoms. We BBQed, socialized, and explored the Little Green Briar School. I like it when my parents come to visit, it’s an enjoyable reminder of the relaxed side of the Smokies.

Then this last weekend I chanced Mother Nature’s fury and went down to Thomas Divide Trail off Newfound Gap Road. Not many people mention Thomas Divide Trail. It’s a loooong trail, among the longest in the park (excluding the AT, Benton McKaye, and the like). It goes from Newfound Gap Road to Deep Creek. This particular trip we traveled from NFG Road to Sunkota Ridge Trail and then back track to take Kanati Fork the rest of the way. I will be the first to admit, there wasn’t much to see along the trail. There’s no epic views, waterfalls, or the like. That being said, it is still probably among my favorite trails in the Smokies. There’s just something about it that makes it thoroughly enjoyable. Maybe it’s the pristine condition the trail seems to be in, or maybe it’s the gentle rolling hills along the divide. I don’t know, but it very quickly earned it’s way into my top 10 hikes, if not my top 5. I highly recommend it for a very pleasurable walk in the woods!

Here’s some pictures form the various hikes, until next time!

Thomas Divide Trail 5-14-2011

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Mother's Day Picnic 5-8-2011

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Hyatt Bald 4-30-2011

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If the Government implements a shutdown, nearly the entire Park would
be closed beginning Saturday, April 9, all Great Smoky Mountains National
Park facilities would be closed, including visitor centers, campgrounds,
picnic areas, trails, concession operations, restrooms, and all roads, with
the exception of the Newfound Gap Road between Gatlinburg and Cherokee.
Newfound Gap Road (U.S. 441) would remain open to through traffic
only. No stopping or parking along the road or at trailheads and overlooks
is permitted, and all restroom facilities would be closed, including those
at Sugarlands Visitor Center near Gatlinburg, Tenn., the Oconaluftee
Visitor Center near Cherokee, NC, and Newfound Gap. The Clingmans Dome Road
which is accessed off Newfound Gap Road would be closed.

There you have it…