The Birmingham News (my local paper) had a great feature in a recent Sunday paper about hiking to LeConte Lodge. You can check it out at al.com.
The article is basically the telling of the writer, her husband, and their friends hike up to the Lodge via Boulevard and out via Alum Caves. It also talks a lot about the experience of staying overnight at the lodge and some of the history.
Made me want to grab my pack and head to the mountains.
The Great Smoky Mountains Association has launched a series of podcasts that are available from their website or the iTunes podcast directory.
The podcasts vary in subject matter, including audio tours of Newfound Gap Road and tips on what to do when you encounter a bear in the backwoods. In all, they have 41 podcast episodes available and seem to be adding new episodes frequently.
Visit the GSMA website to download individual podcast episodes. If you are an iTunes user, you can subscribe to the GSMA Podcast to receive updates automatically and easily sync them to your iPod.
So it was our last full day in the Smokies and we were driving the Roaring Fork Motor Nature Trail just outside of Gatlinburg. We came up on the Grotto Falls trailhead and, even though it was sprinkling very lightly, I convinced my wife that we should hike up to the falls and back. My son was all about it.
So we hopped out of the van, I strapped on my CamelBack and we were on the trail. This trail is very wide and easy aside from a few rocky spots and some places where there are lots of roots. This is the trail that is used once a week to re-supply Leconte Lodge by Llama.
The hike to the falls is only about 1.3 miles, and is a gradual elevation climb of 500 feet or so. It is your typical Smokies trail, following the ridge of the mountain slope, crossing small streams and creeks along the way. As we got closer to the falls, the rain got heavier and by the time we arrived at the falls, it was a steady rain, although it was partially blocked by the canopy.
All in all, it was a great family hike and even though the weather could have been better, we still had a great time. Check out photos from the hike on my Flickr Photostream.
I am not sure how long this has been available, but I just discovered it today. If you are using Google Maps, point it to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, and zoom in until the zoom indicator is on the 4th tick mark from the top. Apparently, Google Maps is showing the trails inside the park. Here is a screenshot:
If you zoom in even closer, it will show the actual trail names.
If you take this and get to work on the new My Maps feature in Google Maps, you can create a custom Google Map that shows the trails you have hiked, complete with markers to show certain landmarks.
Hundreds of people have probably used Ed Wrights map of the Alum Cave Trail showing the various landmarks along the way like Dolly Parton Peaks and Bust @ss Rock.
I decided to give it a little bit of Web 2.0 by recreating it using Google’s new My Maps feature.
Here is the Alum Cave Trail Map on Google Maps.
My wife, son and I were in Gatlinburg for 5 days for Spring Break. Since we were there for so long, I was excited that I would have a chance to do some hiking in the park. I decided I was going to hike up to Alum Cave Bluff on Monday morning. With the time having changed recently, the official sunrise time was around 7:45. I awoke around 6:30 and left the chalet around 7. I made it to the trail head around 7:30 and, after making sure my pack was in order and doing a little stretching, i was on my way. Temperature was around 25 degrees according to my small thermometer.
Here is a little bit of video I shot on my hike up Alum Cave Trail to Mt. Leconte.
This is a great hike for a family to take together for an afternoon in the Smokies. With the trailhead located at the back of the Cades Cove Scenic Loop, it is usually to plan a full day of exploring the Cove. The Abrams Falls Trail is a 5 mile round-trip hike over fairly easy terrain. There are some sections near the falls where the trail gets rocky and rooty. The leg that takes you down to the falls is especially steep.
I decided to carry our son on my back (using one of those carrier packs), and this trail was well suited for that since it is pretty easy from an elevation standpoint. For most of the hike, the trail follows Abrams Creek. If you are hiking after a good bit of rain, there can be several wet and muddy spots along the trail caused by the water coming down off the hillside.
If you are going to have kids with you, this is a great hike for them. I would say 90% of the trail is wide and flat, giving them plenty of room to run up ahead or just horse around. There are also plenty of spots to stop off and drop down by the creek.
The area around Abrams Falls and the pool they spill in to is very rocky, and can be quite slippery. We rested here for a moment, letting our 3 year old son throw rocks in the water and just check the place out.
All in all, the hike is about 2 – 3 hours for the round trip, depending on your speed, how crowded the trail is, and how long you spend at the falls.
If you are in the Smokies on June 25, there will be a guided hike to Andrews Bald, leaving out of the Clingmans Dome parking area at 1 p.m.
The round-trip hike is 3.6 miles with an elevation change of about 800 feet. Although the hike is rated moderate, there are some steep sections and portions of the trail are very rocky, so participants should wear sturdy hiking shoes or boots. They should have water and may also want to pack a lunch or snack to eat once the group reaches the bald. Because weather in the Smoky Mountains can be unpredictable, particularly at the higher elevations, a light jacket and rain gear also are recommended. The guided portion of the hike will end at Andrews Bald so participants can return to the parking area at their own pace.
The Clingmans Dome parking area is about a 45-minute drive from both Cherokee and Gatlinburg. It is located near Newfound Gap. For information, call the Oconaluftee Visitor Center at (828) 497-1904. You can also read more about this in The Mountain Press.
In October of 2001 my wife and i traveled to the Smokys with our friends Rachel and Justin. This was the second trip we had made up there together. Rachel’s grandmother lives in Cosby, which is only about a half-our drive from Gatlinburg near the northeastern end of the park. She is really great, and it is nice to have a bed to sleep in that doesn’t cost an arm and a leg per night. She also makes possibly the greatest spaghetti and meatballs i have ever had!
Justin at the time was in Seminary in New Orleans, and was on fall break. The year before, we travelled with them as well, and Justin and I went hiking for day, and the girls went shopping. This seemed to suit all of us fine, so now it is almost like a yearly tradition.
We had hiked Rainbow Falls the previous fall, but were looking for something a little higher, to get some great views. We decided on hiking some of the AT, starting at Newfound Gap and hiking out to Charlie’s Bunion and back.
We arrived at the Newfound Gap parking lot around 8:45 a.m. It was already getting busy. I snapped a quick pic of the view as i was getting out of the truck. The temperature was somewhere in the upper 50s or low 60s.
The first stretch of the trail was suprisingly hard, gaining almost a 1000 feet in one mile. But after the first mile and a half, your legs are so numb that it doesn;t really bother you.
Along the way I decided to take pictures of the trail signs. The view to the east of the park was very clear. I would say a visual range of maybe 40-50 miles or more. We arrived at the Boulevard Trail junction and considered for a moment hiking to LeConte, but decided that it would probably not be a good idea to deviate from our preset plans. That would be saved for another day.
We stopped at Icewater Springs Shelter to rest a few minutes and eat a snack. The view from the shelter was also nice. While we were sitting there, a large group of people from Chicago came in to the shelter to rest as well. I think there were about 4 couples all hiking together. We commented to the men on how impressed we were that they were able to get their wives to come hiking with them, and they told us they were jealous of us that our wives were shopping. I snapped some photos for them, although didn’t take any with my camera, and we were off, leaving the loudness behind.
As we started back on the trail, we were hiking through a dried up creek bed, and it was mostly downhill, which made me happy until i realized that we were gonna have to hike back up it at some point.
When we finally arrived at the “Bunion”, it was pretty crowded. I would guess there were probably 10-15 people there already. We decided to use this opportunity to munch on some lunch and relax.
The views were spectacular and very clear. I had justin take a picture of me sitting on the rock with the view in the background.
We then hiked back the way we came, stopping again at Icewater Springs for just a few moments. After getting back to the trail head at Newfound Gap, we headed back to Cosby.
It was a great hike. You forget how awesome nature can be. When you’re a kid, you go camping and fishing and all that stuff, but as you get older, get out of school, get a job, and get settled in, you start to forget about nature. The hike was great, and i can’t wait to get back out on the trail.