Hiking in the Smokies

Nineteen of us met at the Fontana Reservoir marina, in North Carolina, at 8:45 am to meet the boat shuttle to take us to campsite 77 on Lakeshore trail in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Information on directions to Fontana, and contact numbers for the boat shuttle can be found in my Day Hiker’s Guide.

It was overcast and windy for the boat ride, but most of us had brought layers to bundle up in. Fontana is 70 feet below normal summer pool, and the exposed banks made hiking into campsite 77 a bit time consuming. The photo above shows the entrance into 77 via Pilkey Creek. We estimated that we added on about ¼ mile each way just gaining access to the boat. We didn’t start the hike until 10:45, and most of us felt a bit stressed to hike the 13+ miles to campsite 90 at Eagle Creek, where the boat was meeting us at 3:30. But, it turned out to be a beautiful day, and although Lakeshore Trail stays at the lower elevations, once again, there was some pretty fall foliage.

The sections of Lakeshore between campsite 81 and 90 at Eagle Creek proved to have some very strenuous climbs, much to our surprise. We got to the old town of Proctor on Hazel Creek right at 1:30, leaving us 2 hours to hike the 5 miles to the boat at Eagle Creek and campsite 90. Most of the old buildings at Proctor have disappeared, but the bridge is still present. If you turn to the right onto the Hazel Creek trail, just over the bridge, you can still see some old foundations evident. Calhoun House, across Hazel Creek, is the only building still standing, and it is utilized by the Park Service for temporary housing. We noticed an array of solar panels in the back yard, indicating that the house has some capacity for electricity. We continued to the left after crossing the bridge, passing by Calhoun House, and on these last 4.4 miles of Lakeshore, we saw lots of evidence of previous habitation. Remains of several old cars can be seen, as well as some old chimneys and stone walls. Click on the photos link, above, to see some more photos. This section of trail is new, built to replace the eroded Pinnacle Ridge trail that once connected Jenkins Ridge trail to campsite 90 (the Pinnacle Ridge trail is officially closed to hikers and horseback riders).

When we finally arrived at Eagle Creek, we found we had to hike quite a distance to get to the boat. Eagle Creek had enough water running in it that we had to wade it, but since most of us were already late for the 3:30 pickup, most of us just walked across with our boots on. Those with long legs were able to find some convenient rocks to hop across. The “Miss Hazel,” a large pontoon boat was waiting for us at the end of our hike. It took another 30 minutes to get back to the marina, and a 2-hour drive to get back home – a long day. Click on the photo link to see a few more photos taken during this hike and the drive home.

Several of us hiked up to Spence Field via Lead Cove and Bote Mountain trails in the Smokies. The hike is 10 miles roundtrip. You can find directions and a hike description in my Day Hiker’s Guide. Click on the link to my photo albums (above) to see pictures of this hike.

East Tennessee has had very little rain for the past 5 months, and it was evident on the hike with all the rhododendrons curled and drooping, and the ground dusty and dry. It was a sunny, warm day when we started out, but by the time we hiked the 4.7 miles up to the Appalachian Trail, it had clouded over and started to sprinkle. The rain was welcome, but the wind picked up, and we were cold when we sat on Spence Field eating our lunch. The bald has grown over a lot since I was first up there in 1997. At that time, it was quite large, and there were good views down to Fontana Reservoir from anywhere on it.

At this time, there was just one spot between the grown up trees where we could see the lake (see photo above). The foliage was just beginning to turn, and we saw some beautiful reds on the sourwood and red maples trees.

We also saw purple swallowtails everywhere, and their brilliant turquoise spots on the underside of their wings were beautiful as they reflected the light. They seemed to be attracted to the goldenrod.

After we had lunch and relaxed on the bald, we hiked over to see the new renovated Spence Field shelter on the AT. The addition of skylights and seating areas outside have greatly improved the shelters, and hopefully made them less attractive to visiting bears.

This past Wednesday, June 6, over 20 of us headed up to Newfound Gap in the Smokies to hike the Appalachian Trail (AT) north to Charlie's Bunyon, and down Dry Sluice, Grassy Branch, and Kephart Prong to the road (a little over 10 miles). About half of that group, myself included, cut the hike shorter by hiking down Sweat Heifer trail directly to Kephart Prong trail (7.5 miles). Both of these hikes are discussed in my Day Hiker's Guide to all the Trails in the Smoky Mountains.

It was an absolutely beautiful day, about 75 degrees by the afternoon, with full sun. There was a breeze, and on the AT in the morning it was a bit chilly. We started at Newfound Gap at an elevation of 5000 feet, and climbed to 5800 feet to the intersection with Sweat Heifer. We walked downhill to 3500 feet on Sweat Heifer to Kephart Prong trail, and had to watch our feet most of the way as the trail was narrow and rocky. The views along the AT, and at the intersection with Sweat Heifer were spectacular.

There weren't many wildflowers blooming, although we saw some purple rhododendron and mountain laurel. Photos of flowers we saw can be found in the Sweat Heifer photo gallery.

My wildflower garden is about done, and I'm leaving for two weeks hiking in England. I expect there won't be many left by the time I get back. Still blooming are some of the trilliums: T. rugelii, T. luteum, T. cuneatum, T. simile (see photo album for "Wildflower Garden 2" and "Late spring wildflowers").

I also have blooming Indian paintbrush, hearts a'busting, several jack-in-the-pulpit, both the dark ones with the purple striped spathe and the almost black spadix, and some light green ones. Some of us had thought the Easter freezes might have killed the jacks, but apparently not. Also blooming are our yellow ladyslippers (see photo album).

All of these wildflowers can be seen in the Smoky Mountains, although some are fairly rare there.

My wildflower garden is still doing amazingly well, in spite of the three nights of 20 degree temperatures over Easter. The shooting stars didn't seem to be phased by the weather, nor did many of my trilliums. Look at the photo album called wildflower garden 2 for more pictures.

Many of these wildflowers can be seen in the Smoky Mountains, and there are descriptions of good trails for wildflower viewing in my Day Hiker's Guide to All the Trails in the Smokies.