Smoky Mountain Hiking

USA Today has a great article on the improving air quality in the Smoky Mountains.

At Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Renfro says, “air quality is improving across all areas since the late 1990s. That’s great news, and we want to stay on that path.”

From 2003 to 2005, for example, the park exceeded ozone standards an average of seven days a year. This year, the park has had eight bad ozone days. During the 1990s, ozone pollution exceeded legal limits about 19 days a year. The drop is due primarily to tougher pollution controls on power plants, Renfro says.

Great news! I hope the air quality continues to improve.

Wow, I have really negleted this blog. Sorry to the 3 of you that like to read it. Anyway, I am going to be heading to the Smokies for Labor Day weekend with the family and some friends. It looks like I am gonna be hiking LeConte, probably via Alum Cave. We are considering coming down a different way, but aren’t sure yet.

Keep an eye out for more news as the hike date gets closer.

Great Smoky Mountains National Park is featured in the August issue of National Geographic. If you don’t have a subscription or haven’t had a chance to pick it up, you can get a pretty good preview at the National Geographic website.

Its loaded with travel tips for what to do when you are there, a great photo gallery, and some notes from the author and photographer that filed the report. Check it out when you get a chance.

If you happen to be in the Smokies on July 22, make your way to the Appalachian Trail near Clingman’s Dome for a guided hike with park rangers. Meet the rangers at the Indian Gap/Road Prong trailhead parking area, which is located on Clingman’s Dome Road about 1.5 miles from its intersection with Newfound Gap Road.

The guided hike follows the Appalachian Trail through the red spruce-fraser fir forest, one of the most distinctive forest types, which grows only in the highlands of the southern Appalachians, above 4,500 feet. During the hike, the ranger will talk about the history of the trail and the unique high elevation ecosystems which share characteristics with forests in Canada.

In addition to the guided hike, the rangers will also be talking about the impact of nonnative species on the Smokies, such as the balsam woolly adelgid, a pest from Asia that has killed almost 70% of the frasier firs in the park.

For information, call the Oconaluftee Visitor Center at (828) 497-1904.

The Great Smoky Mountains Institute at Tremont is coordinating the First Annual Appalachian Celebration with the Great Smoky Mountains Heritage Center in Townsend. The event will be held at the Heritage Center Amphitheatre on July 14 at 7 p.m. The cost is only $5 at the door and kids 6 and under are free.

There will be traditional mountain stories by Elizabeth Rose, southern Appalachian music by artists like well known and beautiful vocals of, Nancy Brennan-Strange (of the Tennessee Sheiks) and Lost Mill String Band based out of East Tennessee. Jerry and Joan Paul of the Lost Mill String Band will proudly represent the unique string band music of our great Appalachian mountains. Joan plays clawhammer banjo, guitar and harmonica and Jerry plays the upright doghouse bass. Tune selections are authentic to mountain and early American culture, with songs and stories that will take the listeners back in time to days gone by.

Learn more at the GSMIT events page.

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.

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A few days ago, I wrote about some of the alternate routes that are available to get to the Smokies. Many people, once they get there, find themselves stuck in traffic on the parkway in Gatlinburg or Pigeon Forge, or somewhere in between. Once you become familiar with some of the backroads of the area, your trip will be much more relaxing knowing that you won’t be sitting in traffic for hours.

The more obvious shortcut is the Gatlinburg By-Pass. If you are coming from Pigeon Forge or Sevierville, this is a no-brainer if you want to get to the park without getting stuck in the ‘Burg. It is also a pretty good choice if you are staying near that end of Gatlinburg.

If you are shopping in Pigeon Forge near the Tanger Outlets or Belz, Teaster Lane is your new best friend. You can take it all the way to near Dollywood for a quick bypass of the traffic on the parkway.

If you are in Gatlinburg, try using River Road instead of the Parkway. You can also take Airport to Cherokee Orchard Road, then take the Baskins Creek Bypass near Johnson’s Inn for a quick route to 321.

If you are out near Greenbriar/Pittman and want to get over to Pigeon Forge, take Buckhorn Road near Battle’s to Upper Creek Road. This will bring you into Pigeon Forge near the entrance to Dollywood, where you can then connect to Teaster Lane for a quick route to the outlet malls.

So those are a few of the shortcuts I have used to get around the often congested roads of the towns around the Smoky Mountains. If you have any other tips, leave them in the comments.