Great Smoky Mountains June 2009
entrance to the park
I recently went to the Phish show in Knoxville and because it is so far away, and I am not as young as I use to be, I spent the night. Driving eight hours, watching the show, and driving another eight hours back home just didn’t seem like fun to me. Plus I have a job and can afford to get a hotel room for the night. Since I was going to be in Knoxville for the night I decided to find a place to hike before I started my drive back home.
A quick search of hiking places around Knoxville turned up the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, enough looking, this was where I was going. I have heard people talk about how great this national forest is and I was eager to get hiking. The hotel I picked was only 20 minutes from the entrance to the park so this would afford me plenty of time to get a solid hike in before heading home.
When I arrived at the park I didn’t know what trail I was going to hike so I stopped by the visitor center for a quick check of what was available. I looked around for some maps of the park, other than the normal National Park Service maps I didn’t find any specific to hiking. One of the rangers was talking to another couple about places to hike so I listened in on where to go, but this proved fruitless as all the places he referred to were back near Gatlinburg at the entrance to the park and I was not about to back track. So the official map would have to be my guide and I found a trail called Chimney Tops not to far up the road from the visitor center.
My drive up was rather peaceful and tranquil while I made my way to the trail head. I didn’t have any details on the trail so I was putting all my eggs into one basket hoping it would be a good hike. I didn’t have time to head further into the park to find another trail considering I needed to drive back to Virginia the same day. When I arrived the little pull off area was full of cars, always a good sign. At the entrance to the trail it had a small description of the trail: 2 miles, 1700′ elevation change, 2-3 hours, perfect! I didn’t want anything to small or to long, this was just right.
running river
At the start of the trail you cross over a river several times, fortunately you don’t have to do this over the rocks. The park has provided several bridges to make traversing the river easy. With all the rain in the recent days all the rivers were flooded and running fast, easily sweeping you off your feet if you tried to cross over the rocks. In fact as I was driving into the park it was raining in the mountains. Crossing over the rivers provided some spectacular shots of the river and boulders. Once past the first set of rocks the humidity quickly set it. The temperatures were not particularly hot, but with almost 100% humidity it made things pretty tough. I started to wonder if I had brought enough water with me the further up the mountain I went.
Remember I said it was 1700′ elevation change? This change is not spanned over several miles, so for most of the hike it is straight up that you have to climb. This definitely made it a work out when you through in the humidity. As I got further up the mountain I just kept reminding myself of the view from the top over looking the surrounding valley and how peaceful it would be. This kept me motivated to climb higher and higher.
Fortunately the hike up the mountain provided some great views of the local vegetation and surrounding hills. There were several more river crossings where I would stop and just listen to the roaring water. Beside, it was a little cooler being next to the water so I took the opportunity to cool off. Several times there were perfect shots of the forest, I would have completely passed over them if I didn’t stop. Near the rivers the sun was able to just barely poke through the trees. With the high humidity and mist from the raging water the sun would glisten in the daylight as it poked through the leaves. It was so perfect when I would see it. I tried several times to get a shot with my camera, but the results never did it justice to actually being there. This is why you must always get out and see the places I hike in person. Pictures are one thing, but being there is completely different. Two words: Grand Canyon!
As I neared the top the trail started to clear the surrounding mountain side and open up. Occasionally the tree cover would break and you could see clear across the valley towards the other side of the mountains. About 200′ from the summit the trees completely disappear and you were presented with an open face rock scramble to the top. Originally the trail forked to the right of the rocks, but it is now closed. A fellow hiker said a rock slide a few years back completely covered the trail and made it impassable. The only way to the top now was a over the rocks.
surrouding valley/mountains
Ahead of me were about a dozen people in various stages of getting to the top. As I made my way I had to pick and choose my footing carefully. It would have been easy to slip and fall right off the mountain, probably to my death or at a minimum, serious injury. A large family was making their way down with a mother worried about her children getting hurt. And I passed a rather elderly lady with a cane who was determined to make it to the top on her own, that woman had spunk and I admired her. Quite and eclectic crowd of people on the trail that afternoon.
I carefully darted my way up, invigorated by the thought of almost being to the top and reaching my goal. I was like a mountain goat in my steps, grabbing every hand hold with ease and placing my feet in just the right spot to launch me to the next step. When I made it to the summit it I was completely blown away, the view was spectacular. I had an almost 360 degree view of the surrounding mountains and valley. It was a little cloudy but that is to be expected in the Smoky Mountains. The longer I stayed on the summit I noticed thick storm clouds rolling in, but for a little longer I enjoyed the sounds and views of nature.
One think that I almost immediately noticed was the number of dead and dying trees. Whole mountain sides have been devastated by a weavel or other type of infectious bug. A fellow hiker on the mountain said it was a destructive non-native species that had invaded the park. Not sure what the plans are to eradicate the species, or even if it is possible. Hopefully one day in the future the park will be restored to its original beauty.
second chimney top
I must have spent 30 minutes on the top of that mountain just relaxing. I ate my lunch, took a ton of pictures and simply enjoyed the peace. After a few minutes of eating a very brave and curious squirrel started poking its head around. It had been tamed and was looking for a free handout. Of course you don’t feed the animals, but it did allow me to take a few close ups. When I had had enough I started to make my way down the mountain back to my car. The storm clouds where rolling in and I needed to get home.
On my way down I kept running into people making their way to the top and I could see the pain in their faces. I kept telling everyone that the view from the top was worth the effort getting there. I like to think I gave them that boost of encouragement to continue on and keep pushing through the pain. Some of them only had 10 minutes left to hike, others still needed over 30 minutes, but I knew all of them would make it eventually.
When I finally reached my car I took several minutes to cool down and stretch. I was about to pass out from dehydration so I quickly downed a bottle of water I had stowed my truck. Being hydrated and cooled down my next mission was food and I knew there would be plenty of options on my way through town. As I reached the base of the mountain I started to scan for places to eat, I was hoping for a dive place but with the town being a tourist trap I was not holding much hope for a local only place to eat. Remember the storm clouds that were chasing me before? Well fortunately right as I made it outside the park they opened up and let loose with a heavy down pour. Personally I didn’t care if it rained or now. For the few hours that I was hiking the rain was held at bay and allowed me to get a fantastic hike in with some pretty incredible views of the park.
thought this was rather cool
One last bit of adventure to pass along. After I finished my lunch and was fat, dumb, and happy I was ready for my long drive home. But that drive assumes getting my truck started. With the rain still coming down in buckets I got into my truck and turned the key. Click. That was the only sound I heard, the engine didn’t even attempt to turn over, the lights didn’t come on, no radio either. I am stuck hundreds of miles from home and my truck wouldn’t start, on top of that the rain was still coming down pretty heavy. Fortunately I just needed to knock 5 years of corrosion of the battery connectors and she turned right over. But not after spending 10 minutes looking over my truck and getting wet.
From the short time I spent in the mountains I was thoroughly impressed with what I saw. I was disappointed that I couldn’t camp as there appeared to be an abundance of camp sites in addition to back country camping. The mist and fog my obscure the mountains most days, but it provides this alluring quality to the mountains, like a fine pair of lingerie on a beautiful woman. Just enough is revealed to get you excited, yet there is this mystery that keeps you coming back. I just hope I don’t have to wait years before I can get back to the Great Smoky Mountains and enjoy one of America’s great national parks.
