Dave's Hiking Blog: GSMNP - September 2013

After our last experience at the Great Smoky Mountain National Park we decided we had to come back in better weather. With the kids on break again we headed down for a week in the park. We drove down on a Saturday with some serious rain falling in the area. We stopped at Fontana Dam on the way down and checked it out in the rain and then headed over to Smokemont to camp for the night. We took a quick trip over to Mingo Falls just outside the park as the rain stopped before settling in to our soggy campsite.

View of the road and AT going over Fontana Dam.

View looking down Fontana Dam.

Mingo Falls flowing pretty strong after a long day of rain.

Our soggy Smokemont campsite.

The next morning we woke up early and drove up to Clingmans Dome. We went up to the observation tower and got some great clear views before heading back to the parking lot to begin our hike. We left down the Forney Ridge trail to the Forney Creek Trail. With the rains the day before the crossings of Forney Creek were a little rough. For adults they still weren't much of an issue, but with the kids they are just not setup for shorter legs. But we helped each other out and other than one crossing where my younger daughter lost her legs and I had to grab here we made it over all the crossings. At one point we just hiked with our stream crossing shoes on because the crossings were so close together. Once we were passed the crossings the trail got a little easier and we made it to our campsite. There was a nice couple there that we shared a fire with until we retired to our tent for the night.

View from the road on the way up to Clingmans Dome.

View from the Clingmans Dome parking lot.

The AT passes right through the path leading to the observation tower.

View from the Clingmans Dome observation tower.

The kids enjoying the view.

First stream crossing of Forney Creek.

Second crossing of Forney Creek.

Third crossing of Forney Creek.

View from the other side of the third crossing.

Forth crossing of Forney Creek. Picture does not do justice to how hard it was flowing.

Old chimney at campsite 70.

Forney Creek near our campsite 74.

Campsite night one at site number 74.

Fontana Lake near campsite 74.

Huge tree snapped in half over Forney Creek.

Before we had left for the trip I was so sick I had to call into work 2 days the week before the trip. I was worried I wasn't going to be make the trip, but I felt better as we left and figured me sick is still stronger than my two kids. But as we awoke the next morning and I was packing up I started to get really dizzy. I sat and ate some food and drank some water and added up what I had eaten the day before. Because I was sick I still wasn't putting down food like I normally would and realized I had maybe 1000 calories and did 13+ miles with a 40 pound pack. So we sat and I ate as much as I could. We decided rather than doing another 3-4 days at 13 miles we would change plans and take an easy 3 mile uphill day going up the Bear Creek trail. With the new plan we would have a hard day, followed by an easy day, hard day, easy day, etc... Give us all a little break. As we left camp I had put some trail mix in my pocket for the hike. We stopped for lunch and the kids asked to see the map so I reached in .... and all our maps and permits were gone! I must have pulled out the trail mix and pulled the maps with and dropped them all! We had changed our permit that morning so after a few calls to my wife she actually talked to the ranger that changed our permit that morning and he emailed it over so I had something on my phone in case were checked.

There were toads EVERYWHERE. We must have seen thousands of these guys.

With that adventure over we made it to our campsite. There was a nice creek near the site that the kids played in all afternoon. They had a blast going up and down the creek and playing in the small falls there. We were joined by 3 other backpackers at the campsite and had a good time around the fire talking with them.

Mushrooms on a tree near our camp at site 75.

Campsite night 2 at site 75.

The next morning we woke up and began to finish the climb up the Bear Creek Trail to the Welch Ridge Trail. We had planned on visiting High Rocks, but when we reached the junction we realized it was 3.6 miles round trip along with a lot of climbing so we just kept on and headed down the Welch Ridge Trail. This trail was VERY overgrown in parts. There were thorny bushes taller than me that stretched all across the trail. I was doing my best to clear the way for the kids, but with short sleeves on I ended up looking pretty beat up. After stopping for lunch on the trail we eventually made it to the AT! It was a celebration for all of us to be back on the AT and the views did not disappoint. It was a beautiful days and we could see lots in the breaks of the trees. We made our way over to Double Spring Gap shelter and setup for the night. There were lots of day hikers that stopped by and a few groups of sectioners that were headed to Silers Bald. But we ended up with the shelter all to ourselves for the night.

Me at our first white blaze of the trip!

View from the AT.

Double Spring Gap shelter.

It started pouring rain again about 9 that night. It was probably seemed like a heavier rain than it was in the shelter with the plastic roof, but we awoke inside a cloud with the AT flooded in front of the shelter. We waited around a little till it was just a mist falling and headed out. It was actually nice to hike in a light mist even with the rain gear on. Other than obstructing the views it was cooler out and I'm sure it kept the day hikers off the trail. We made it back to Clingmans Dome and were happy to see the dry car!

Double Spring Gap shelter in the fog and rain.

Since our permit change we now had a night to kill before heading up to Mt Leconte the next day. Originally we planned to stay the night in the front country, but after checking the weather and seeing another 24 hours of rain we decided to head to Gatlinburg to dry off for the night. We got a nice $40 room and hung out in the city through the rain well we got our gear dried out.

The next morning we woke up and headed to the Alum Cave trailhead. With construction going on at one of the lots, the remaining parking lot was packed by 9 when we got there. We got one of the last spots. We headed up the trail enjoying the sites as best we could since the mountain was still stuck in a cloud. There were what we thought was a lot of people on the trail as we made our way up, but we were flying by these day hikers and lodgers with our packs like they were standing still. When we got to the top we came to the Lodge first. It was pretty cool looking in the fog. But we didn't stop and headed over to the backpacking shelter to setup. There were 2 other guys there that were already setup and we talked to them and got our gear out. It was already getting cold so I took the kids to check out the Lodge and get some hot chocolate. While drinking their hot chocolate my one daughter was still shivering with all her layers on and inside! She said her feet were cold. She took off her shoes and socks and they were soaked through. I rang out a couple of cups of water from her socks and let her air her feet out till we had to leave the dining area so they could get ready for dinner. So we headed over to the office to dry out her socks some more and warm back up. We hung out there for a hour or so till everything was dry and then headed back to the shelter. We went to Cliff Tops for the sunset but there wasn't much to see other than the inside of a cloud (and a bunch of annoying lodgers) so we headed back to the shelter for some good times and some rest. Another backpacker had joined our group and we had a good time hanging out there.

View along trail of a nice cascade.

Arch rock.

Stairs leading through Arch Rock. It was a tight fit with my pack on.

Alum Cave Bluffs.

Cool steps made out of a tree.

First view of the lodge.

Not much of a view at Cliff Tops.

Mt Leconte backpacking shelter.

Leconte Lodge dining room.

Trying to enjoy the sunset. Not much to see.

I awoke early and tried taking pictures of the stars as they were amazing. Saw two shooting stars as well. Of course my camera got wet in all this and now I had only my cell phone for what was sure to be a great sunrise as the sky was clear. But we walked over to Myrtle point and say and enjoyed the sunrise. Of course the annoying lodgers showed up eventually making a ton of noise and texting and making stupid videos of themselves. But we just laid there ignoring them as best we good enjoying the beauty of the area. After breakfast at the shelter we packed up and checked out Cliff Tops to actually see what the view is like without the fog and then started to head down. If we thought the trail was crowded on the Thursday in the fog when we were headed up, that was NOTHING compared to the trail on a clear Friday as we were heading down. Tons of people just flowing up the mountain. We didn't stop too much on the way down other than to enjoy a few views and quickly made it back to the car. With some time to kill we deiceded to check out Cades Cove again and hit up the loop before heading to the hotel for some showers and warm beds.