Sally & Ali on the Appalachian Trail

[Sally]

It was a happy day when our son-in-law, Jason, finally got his dream job. But it was also sad because he would be taking our daughter Alison and my two grandsons to Tennessee. His new "office" was to be the Great Smokey Mountain National Park. At first I thought Alison would get horribly homesick living in a strange land away from her family and friends and the beautiful tall mountains of California. But much to my surprise she fell in love with Tennessee and was anxious to get us out there for a visit. She planned a 3-day backpack trip on the Appalachian Trail for us. My husband, Larry, would hang out with Jason and the grandkids.

So, a couple of weeks ago I shipped my backpack, bear canister, tent and other essentials to Ali's house. Larry and I flew out to Tennessee on the 24th of July.

On our 1st full day there Alison took us to Cades Cove in Great Smokey NP. It is a huge valley with lots of historical interest - old churches and settler's cabins. There's also lots of tourists (think Yosemite Valley).

The next day we called the Ranger office to clear up a few questions about food storage and shelter reservations. It turns out that hikers on the Appalachian Trail MUST use the bear cables (storing food in bear canisters alone is NOT allowed.) Also, you MUST sleep in your reserved shelter (tents are not allowed unless you are a thru-hiker.) I had shipped a bunch of equipment that wasn't needed.

On Saturday AM we all drove to the trailhead together. The Smokies were living up to their name and we were surrounded by fog. Our starting point was Clingmans Dome, at 6,643', the highest point in the Great Smokey Mountain NP. We walked to the top of the tower on a spiral walkway and back down to the junction to the Appalachian Trail (the AT). We headed in the "Southbounder's" direction (which was actually more westerly for us.) We only had to walk a little less than 3 miles to our destination, Double Springs Gap Shelter. We got there at about 1:00 and claimed our space. Several groups of hikers stopped to have lunch there and continued on to the next shelter, Silers Bald. As it turned out Ali and I were the only campers in our shelter. It rained hard that night and we were grateful to not have to roll up a wet tent in the morning. The next day we headed to Siler's Bald Shelter and spoke to some of the hikers we'd met the previous day. We learned that 16 campers were at Siler's that night. The shelter will accommodate 12 people comfortably. You must have a reservation to stay at the shelter unless you are a thru hiker, in which case you are allowed to use a tent if the shelter is full. So a couple of hikers used tents that night.

We had a 14 mile day ahead of us, so we moved on. The weather man had forecast rain for the whole day, but just as in California, he was wrong. We didn't get a drop but we were in and out of the mist through the morning.

We were on a ridge the entire time but there was no long-distance view because it is so densely forested. However, there was plenty to see: flowers, ferns, mushrooms, fungi, lichen, shrubs and lots of trees. The ridge gains and loses lots of elevation and we had 3 rather steep climbs. Elevation ranged from about 4500 to 5600. At long last we made it to a few "balds" (peaks with no trees) and the view of the Smokies opened up. Wow!

At about 5:00 PM we reached the day's destination, Spence Field Shelter. There were two groups of hikers there already, a man and his daughter (Dan and Erin) and another man and his daughter and her best friend (Al, Emily, and Mary.) We all bonded immediately and were one big family until we all went our separate ways in the morning.

Ali and I continued on the AT for a few more miles and then turned off on one of the trails that lead back down to Cades Cove where Jason had left a car for us.

I must admit that, being a high altitude alpine country junkie, I was skeptical about giving up my annual Sierra trip for a few days in mountains that don't exceed the height of most of the trailheads in California's mountains. But I am a believer now! the Smokies are magnificent, worthy of 5 stars.

I could have spent many pages describing the sights on the trails, but the pictures I took will do a better job of getting the point across. Enjoy!

https://picasaweb.google.com/1009477359 ... directlink

[Ulysses]

Great pictures. Thanks for sharing. We are heading to North Carolina later this month to visit family. Planning to visit GSMNP but hadn't planned on hiking. Your trip report has me re-thinking my plans.

[climbant]

Awesome pictures! How was staying in those shelters?

[Andy]

Looks like a wonderful trip Sally. I knew the Appalachians were more green than So Cal (what isn't?). But wow, that is lush! I'm gonna need to bump that up on my to do list for sure. Thanks for sharing your experience.

[Hikin_Jim]

Pretty cool, Sally. Glad you got to go even if it meant missing the Sierra and high altitudes.

Love this photo:


Bear canisters are not allowed? That's just plain weird. Wish that weirdness would make it out to California.

HJ

[Sally]

Ulysses - DO take a hike in GSMNP, even if it's a short one. BTW, the AT runs right along the border of North Carolina and Tennessee. I guess I may have had one leg in both states from time to time.

Thank you, climbant. We loved the shelters, although it diminished the "roughing it" quotient quite a bit. It was great to not have to hunker down in a tent on the night that it rained. The shelters were clean, and having tables to cook on and benches to sit on was nice. There is a lack of privacy when you are sharing the shelter with other hikers, but I found everyone to be so nice that I didn't mind it so much.

Hi Andy, it definitely belongs on your to do list!

HJ, those Turk's Cap Lilies were sure photogenic. As for the bear canisters not being allowed, I suppose you COULD use them, but you would still have to hoist them up the bear cable.

By not schlepping our bear canisters and tent with us Ali and I really lightened our loads!

[Hikin_Jim]

I wonder if those cables would work here. Sierra bears seem to be pretty wily.

HJ

[arocknoid]

What a delightful hike, fun family time.

Quite a contrast to our hiking Out West.
"What is all this wet stuff? What is all this green stuff--everywhere?"
What happened to the rocks, and dirt? Oh, I found more dirt--never mind."

Beautiful flower pics, Sally. And behold the rampant fungi!

Thanks for the post.

kind regards,
arocknois

[HH8]

Alison planned a 3-day backpack trip on the Appalachian Trail for us.

Wow, fungus amoung us.
How different from standard desert fare.


GRRRRR


Hikin jim, why won't it show?

______

HJ Note: I fixed the first one. The second one (same photo) won't ever work because it's a link to the page not to the photo itself. You must link directly to the photo.

[Sally]

Yep, HH8, we really enjoyed the fun guys. They prefer to hang out in damp forests.