Smoky Mountain Springtime

April 11, 2009

I'm at it again. After a drive from New England on which I encountered snow flurries on the Hudson and daffodils through Virginia, I'm headquartered in Newport, TN. 

I'll be hiking the Tennessee-North Carolina state line northward.

On my first day, I finished the last stretch of the Smokies and crossed the Pigeon River. Here's the Trail along State Line Branch, plunging down to the Pigeon River (and I-40).

 Now I'm starting up the Bald Mountains - the first hike to the top of Snowbird Mountain was socked in with low-hanging cloud cover. 

These funky trilliums (if I remember right, they're called "toad shade") are blooming in damp places.

Further up the slope, trailing arbutus are blooming along the trailside. 

You can see how foggy it is here.

More Smoky Mountains

September 21, 2007

Bob joined me for a few days of visiting the Smokies - we biked down the Clingman's Dome road and then hiked back up to the top. The summit was in a cloud - here is the World's Fair Spaceage-style tower built in 1960, with Bob doing email while he waits for me to go up and look out into the cloud.

Smoky Mountain Hiking continued

September 17, 2007

The sun came out around noon of the second day, so we all dried out nicely. We walked 9 miles Saturday, 13 on Sunday (feet were tired at the end), and 9 more Monday. Sleeping like sardines in the shelter was my least favorite aspect - it reminded my too much of the MRI machine - but everything else was fun.

Here is the group having snack time at the fire tower on Mt. Cammerer the last day. The tower was built in the 1930s by the CCC - it reminds me a lot of the ventilation tower for the West Rock Tunnel at home - same blend of Deco and Park Rustic styles.

After this we went down 3500 feet in elevation to the finish of the trip.

Smoky Mountain Hiking

September 14, 2007

The trek began on a rainy day - Hurricane Humberto brought us a day of rain, gentle in the valleys but gusty up at Newfound Gap where we started the hike. We walked mostly in a white-out but for one moment we had this glimpse out into the mountains.

My advanced planning for feet management - "flashing and counter flashing" with gaiters and rain paints - kept my feet dry successfully. We had a group of 6 tourists and 2 guides, and stayed the first night at Icewater Spring Shelter along with several other hikers (reservations required at these shelters).