Hope you enjoy this trip report. HB said I should post it.
Cookie
Many Miles To Go
The Dome to the Dam
Clingmans Dome to Fontana Dam
47 mile assault on the AT, Great Smokey Mountain National Park
4/26/12 – 4/30/12
Team: Tony (“Hanging Burrito”), Todd (“Pod”), David (“Chef”), Dave, (“Cookie”)
Milestones:
• 47 miles in 3 days.
• 21 miles in 1 day.
• Hike highest to lowest point in the GSNMP.
• Bear sighting.
Rendezvous
As Chef and I left Atlanta, I thought back on all the planning and packing that had led up to this hike. Known as one of the most difficult sections of the AT, Chef and I spoke with some trepidation about the upcoming challenge. My hiking buddy HB (Hanging Burrito) had been talking about the Dome to the Dam hike for the last 2 years. Around many campfires on past hikes HB had told me about his dream hike and now it was started. Our plan was for Chef and me to drive up from Atlanta on Wednesday after work and meet HB and Pod who were coming in from Hendersonville North Carolina. Our rendezvous was to be the Hike Inn about 5 miles south of Fontana Dam. We would stay at the Hike Inn Wednesday night and then catch a shuttle up to the top of Clingmans Dome and hike for the next four days to Fontana Dam.
Our original plan was to hike only on the AT and stay at shelters. This would have been a 32 mile hike. But, as this was the peak of the thru-hiker season we knew the shelters would be crowded. We decided to take side hikes off the AT every night to back country campsites. This added an additional 15 miles and 8000 feet of elevation gain and loss. We planned to do all this in 4 days.
We arrived at the Hike Inn to find HB and Pod relaxing on the front porch with the owners Jeff and Nancy. We joined them for adult beverages and hiking war stories. Jeff and Nancy started the Hike Inn 20 years ago. They only cater to hikers and have had more than 30,000 stay with them over the years. Shuttle service, hot showers and AC are a welcome respite for weary thru hikers. There are 5 rooms and the main house. The living room of the house is really a kind of museum filled with artifacts that Jeff and Nancy have collected from the local area. Arrow heads, fossils and pioneer antiques fill the space. Jeff is a fountain of knowledge about the GSNMP trails and history.
We went to bed late…..just as the first rain drops began to fall.
A Big Red Blob
I awoke from a sound sleep with a pounding on the door. It was 6:00 AM and HB was getting us up and rolling. Chef and I had shared a room and HB and Pod were next door.
“We’re burning daylight boys!” yelled HB. “Are you going to sleep all day?”
I opened the door and looked over HB’s shoulder.
“What daylight?” I asked.
The dim pre-dawn light was made even dimmer by dark, low clouds scudding across the sky.
“Hey we got coffee in the room. That’ll make you feel better” HB said.
I changed clothes and made my way to their room. Pod was watching the weather on TV.
“Wow, there’s a big red blob coming our way.” He said.
On the radar was indeed a big red blob, with lightning and a warning box to boot. The weather babe was announcing severe storm warnings to hit us in an hour and last most of the day.
“That’s why we carry all that rain gear, right?” Chef asked bravely.
We all gave him a sideways look.
We gathered in the parking lot and loaded up Jeff’s 4 wheel ’95 Jeep Cherokee. We piled in and as we drove Jeff started his safety talk.
“First of all, always keep your backpack with you. And, if you can’t, then hang it in a tree. Bears will stalk hikers for miles. Not to eat you but to grab that backpack as soon as you walk away from it.
Second, speaking of bears, our bears are hunted with dogs just outside of the park. If a bear comes around you, bark like a dog, don’t run, it works like magic!
Third, we don’t have wild pigs here, we have real honest to God boars. They have tusks, are big and rangy and aint scared of nothing. If you see one run, do not stand and bark, run. They mainly come out at night.
Fourth, don’t wander around at night!” (More on this one later).
We stopped in town for a quick breakfast then re-entered the park. About half way up Clingmans, the rain started, then the hail and lightning, then the 40 mile per hour winds.
“Good thing I got 4 wheel drive” said Jeff. “It’s a beautiful day for a hike!” he laughed.
Ten More Minutes!
Jeff dropped us off on top of Clingmans Dome at the tourist / trail head parking lot. We had planned to walk 500 feet to the summit and up the observation tower. This is a magnificent structure with a spiral walkway leading to a saucer shaped lookout above the high forest. Sadly, the unrelenting 40 mile hour winds, rain and ice pellets discouraged our side hike. So, we ran to the only shelter; the bathroom.
It was a sturdily built structure about eight feet square with a toilet seat, urinal and trashcan. The four of us crowded in with our packs and put on our rain gear. As we stood there we could hear the rain hammering the side of the bathroom. After a while the rain seemed to let up.
“Hey Man, maybe it’s time to go.” Pod said.
With that, Pod opened the door and a huge gust of wind ripped it from his hand and slammed the door against the wall. Pod struggled to close it at which point HB jumped in and they both pulled it shut.
“Ten more minutes!” exclaimed Pod.
That became our mantra throughout the rest of the hike. When someone would ask “How far is it to the next water source” or “break is over” someone would say “Ten more minutes!”
Day 1, Thursday, 12 miles:
After an hour and a half we finally left the shelter of the bathroom and struggled up the trail. As we hiked along, the trail became rocky, and slick, and muddy and steep. The rain lightened a bit but it became a mud bog interspersed with rocks made slick from the water. I had to focus on every step, never letting up my concentration. My boots were making squishing sucking sounds in the ankle deep mud.
Starting at 6600 feet, the trail follows a ridge top that steadily looses altitude and finally levels out at around 5500. The ridge top is narrow with only a few feet on either side of the trail leading to steep drop offs. The normally incredible views were blocked by heavy fog. It didn’t matter much as I had to commit total focus on my footing. The trail was littered with fist sized rocks made slick by the rain. There was no relaxing or taking my eyes off the trail. One wrong step meant a twisted knee or ankle.
The team fell into that familiar hiking rhythm. At times we would bunch together for a while with different leaders then, separating at times as much as a half mile with the team strung out over a mile of trail. The temperature hovered in the low 60’s, perfect for full rain gear, not too hot.
At 7.6 miles we turned right on the Miry Ridge Trail. After 2.5 miles we turned left on the Lynn Camp Prong Trail and 2 miles to camp 28 our campsite for the night. We had hiked down off the ridge with over 1500 feet elevation loss. We arrived at camp one at a time around 7:00 to 7:30. Set camp, ate dinner, no fire. Strung up the packs on the bear cable and went to bed. As I lay in my hammock the sound of rain on the tarp, I fell asleep thinking of that 1500 foot elevation to be made back up to the top of the ridge.
Day 2, Friday, 15 miles:
We woke up at 6:30 and started rolling at 7:30. I had breakfast bars, jerky, and trail mix for breakfast as I hiked. No time for cooking, this was going to be a big miles day for us. We had to regain the ridge 1500 feet above us and meet the AT for the assault on Thunderhead Mountain at 5500 feet. The trail had started to drain and was much drier now. It had stopped raining and the sky was lifting. Cool in the low 50’s, perfect hiking.
After an easy 2 miles on the valley floor we turned left on the Greenbrier Ridge Trail. Gaining 1500 feet in 4.2 miles we turned right and headed up the AT. Five miles ahead of us was a big shouldered mountain called Thunderhead followed by Rocky Top. These are renowned for spectacular views and I was looking forward to a clear day.
And a clear day it became! Blue skies washed clean by the storm. When we reached the AT on the ridge we could see Clingmans Dome some 8 miles behind us. Ahead loomed Thunderhead Mountain. At 5500 feet it looked deceptively close but was more than 5 miles away. The problem was that we would loose altitude to less than 4500 feet at Beechnut Gap at the base of Thunderhead. Classic AT ridge hiking. Up and down with thigh burning knee aching efficiency. Awe but the views from atop Thunderhead and next door Rocky Top were well worth it. From here we could basically see our whole ridge route stretching before and behind us. This is the tallest, longest ridge in the Smokys. The temps stayed in the 70’s and the sky was clear. I figure we could see a good 75 miles. Beautiful….
After clearing Thunderhead and Rocky Top we ambled down the trail a mile to the Bote Mountain Trail. Turned right and at 1.7 miles turned left on the Anthony Creek Trail to arrive at our second campsite #9. Once again we had hiked down off the ridge and lost about a thousand feet. I arrived last at about 8:30. We set up and settled down to dinner. The 100 proof vodka and tang and excellent conversation lasted till 11:30. No rain, the moon and stars were bright enough to see by.
Day 3, Saturday, 21 Miles
We got rolling again at 7:30. The first mile was along the valley next to a creek. Very easy walk. After an hour we reached the intersection with Russell Field Trail. HB and Pod were in the front and took off. They are much faster than Chef and I but they are 15 years younger! Chef and I stopped at the intersection and cooked a nice hot breakfast for a change. Hot coffee and Mary’s home made dehydrated sausage and gravy on flat bread (substitute for biscuits).
Chef and I reached the AT a couple hours later and stopped at the Russell Field shelter. A couple of thru hikers told us that the campsite they had stayed at the night before had been taken over by 4 bears. They had to keep scaring them off all night. Thing was, this turned out to be 113, that was to be our camp that night.
As we hiked along we ran into a couple more hikers and the stories about 113 started to take an ominous turn. Apparently someone’s tent had been torn up and the bears were not very scared of people. Then the worst news was that the Forest Ranger had closed the camp. Chef and I decided to hike on. HB and Pod were somewhere ahead of us. This was to have been a 14 mile day to camp 113, then finish the last 6 miles on Sunday.
Chef and I made it to camp 113 at 7:30. It was still closed. We had to keep going and hike off trail to the next camp or keep going to the end. About a mile south of 113 at a trail intersection to the next camp 2 miles away, we found tied to the marker a note from HB and Pod. They had decided to continue on and finish the hike. We decided to do the same. It had already been a 16 mile day. What was another 5 miles? How hard could it be?
This is where we broke Jeff’s rule “never wander around after dark!” We saw a beautiful sunset while on the trail. We hiked the last 2 hours with our headlamps on. I remember standing atop Shuckstack Mountain at over 4000 feet. Far below us we could see the half crescent of light formed by the street lights on top of Fontana Dam’s curved shape. It was tiny and twinkled in the night. A long ways to go.
Chef and I finally set foot on Fontana Dam at 11:30. We crossed the dam and hiked another mile and crashed on the side of the trail. We had both hiked a personal best 21 miles in a day and over 45 miles in 3 days. Our 4 day hike had become a 3 day hike. Over some of the toughest ridges in the Smokies.
Next day we ate breakfast near the road and HB and Pod drove up. They had gotten to the trail head a couple of hours before us the night before, thumbed a ride back to the Hike Inn and drove into town for a Subway. At first Chef and I were a little jealous of this but then all was forgiven when HB unveiled a cooler full of ice cold beers and a couple of subs.
We spent the next couple of hours telling our stories. HB and Pod had gone into 113 to fill up on water and spotted the bears. They high tailed it out and ran into the Ranger down the trail. He had a shot gun loaded with bean bags. They shoot these at unruly bears to scare them out.
HB and Pod dropped us off at the Hike Inn to pick up my truck. They headed back to North Carolina. Chef and I drove a few miles to the NOC (Nantahala Outdoor Center). We had a couple of giant burgers and dark beers as we watched the kayaker’s shoot the white water rapids of the Nantahala River.
“Not bad for a couple of desk jockey’s like us.” Chef said.
“Na,” I said through clenched teeth as a Charlie horse spasmed in my leg, “Piece of cake!”
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Originally Posted by FLRider
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