June 2013 – Virginia Trail Guide

Cucumber Gap is a lovely 5.6 mile loop known for wildflowers, stream scenery and the historic Elkmont cabins.

View the full album of photos from this hike

A Peek Into Elkmont — A peek inside one of the dilapidated Elkmont cabins. Below: Adam walks the Little River Trail; the Spence Cabin; We saw lots of big snails on the trail.

Adam Says…

For our last day of hiking in the Smokies, we opted for something easy compared to our previous two days, which had us hiking over difficult terrain for 10+ miles each day. We decided a hike along a pretty stream with a taste of history would be a nice choice.

The hike started on the Little River Trail. We crossed the gate that led to the gravel road. Almost immediately to the left, you come across some of the Elkmont cabins. There are signs posted asking that you not enter the houses. These do look dangerous, with caved-in roofs and rotting wood, so don’t risk it. The Little River Logging Company established this small town in 1908 to serve as a central location for its logging efforts. In 1910, they started selling parcels of land to interested outdoorsmen, who established the Appalachian Club. In 1912, the Wonderland Park Hotel was built and in 1919 a group of businessmen bought the hotel and established the Wonderland Club. As the wealthy began traveling to this area, the Appalachian Club and Wonderland Club served as social outlets for the elite. Most of these houses are in complete ruin, as the park has taken over the property after not renewing the leases of those previous owners. There is a plan to maintain and renovate 19 of these houses (mostly in the “Daisy Town” area).

We continued along the trail that is flanked by the Little River to the left. There are many places that you can duck off the main trail and enjoy watching the flowing river. At 2.4 miles, you reach the junction with the Cucumber Gap Trail right after passing a bench. Take a right and head on the Cucumber Gap Trail, which begins an ascent. We came across a woman, who was glad to see us since she said we could “scare the bear away”. She had been walking on this trail many times and has seen bears frequently here. We were excited to possibly see a bear on the trail, but we weren’t lucky enough this time.

Adam Enjoys the Little River — Adam takes in the lovely Little River. Below: Huskey Branch Falls; Tall, lush trees on the hike.

At 2.7 miles, you will rock-hop across Huskey Branch. The trail continues to ascend, but slightly more steeply until you reach the top of Cucumber Gap at mile 3.8. Off to the right, you may have an obstructed view of Burnt Mountain and the Bear Wallow Creek valley below. Near the top of the gap, you may see Fraser magnolias, often referred as “cucumber trees”, giving this trail its name. The trail descends at this point and crosses Tulip Branch at 4.4 miles. At 4.8 miles, the Cucumber Gap Trail ends and you willl take a right when you reach this junction with the Jakes Creek Trail. At 5.1 miles, the trail reaches another junction. Head right again at this fork. Soon, you will pass by more abandoned Elkmont houses until the trail opens up into the larger area of homes known as “Daisy Town”. Walking down the main street, you will reach the Appalachian Club, which has a large wooden porch and some historical signs that you can read to learn more about this area. From the club, make your way to the right and you should shortly reach your car again.

This was a nice leg-stretcher of a hike, and one that you’ll likely want to take slowly to enjoy the scenery along the way. The houses are interesting to check out and you may want to take a few minutes to enjoy the heavy-flowing Little River. If you are someone that is interested in the history of this area right before the park was established, this is a great hike to check out.

Christine Says…

After two days of long, tough hikes, we began our final day in the Smokies looking for something a little more relaxing and low-key. While enjoying amazing (honestly… this is not an overstatement) donuts from The Donut Friar, we skimmed our guidebook. In the end, we settled on the Cucumber Gap Loop. It’s known as one of the Smokies’ nicest, more moderate hikes. It boasts abundant wildflowers, beautiful river scenery and a chance to visit the historic Elkmont cottages.

The trailhead is just a short drive from Gatlinburg, near the Elkmont campground. We set off on the Little River Trail, which is really more of a wide, gravel road than a trail. Almost immediately, the Spence Cabin came into view. This historic cabin has been restored by the park service, and is available for day-use special event rental. The other cabins dotting the river alongside the Spence Cabin haven’t been so lucky. Most of them are dilapidated, sagging and fading back into the forest. ‘Keep Out’ signs are posted along the trail. Although you cannot enter (or even touch) the buildings, you can still peek through the windows and imagine what life may have been like in the area’s heyday.

Rock Hopping — Christine does some rock hopping. Below: Violets were abundant on the hike; Adam crosses Huskey Branch; Heading into ‘Daisy Town’.

After spending a little time peering into the cottages, we continued along the path. I looked for wildflowers, but we really didn’t spot much beyond bluets, wild violets, sporadic mountain laurel and a few fading trilliums. It was several weeks past peak bloom in the park’s lower elevations.

We stopped several times to enjoy and photograph the beautiful Little River. The water here tumbles over boulders and rock shelves, making many small cascades and rapids. The day was sunny and cloudless, so it was hard to take decent pictures. I did manage to find a few shady spots that were nice for photos. At one particular spot, I set up my tripod and sent Adam out to sit on a rock. He noticed a brown snake, sitting half in and half out of the water. I tried to get a photo, but as soon as I pointed my lens in his direction, the snake ducked into the water. It popped its head up one last time before diving deeper and disappearing for good. I did a little research on what kind of snake he might have been and came up with a common brown water snake.

We tried not to stop or stand still for too long, because the mosquitoes on this hike were outrageous. Even when we were moving, we were swatting. Standing still was almost unbearable. It was definitely the warmest, stillest, most humid day of our trip, so I suppose we shouldn’t have been surprised to find a riverside hike so buggy! I ended up putting a little DEET on my face. I’ve had a few mosquito bites on my eyelids that have swollen to softball size and stayed that puffy for days. It’s a very bad look for me. 🙂

We soon passed a small waterfall entering from the right side of the trail. I didn’t see it mentioned in our guidebook, but apparently it’s called Huskey Branch Falls. It’s a pretty spot!

Shortly after the waterfall, we came to the junction with the Cucumber Gap Trail. Adam mentioned meeting the woman who passed along the bear warning. What I didn’t know at the time was that the only fatal bear attack in the Smokies happened close to this spot. I have a healthy respect for bears, but I’m not frightened of encountering them on the trail. Fatal encounters are rare and tragic. In the end, all we saw were lots of big snails, squirrels, and a couple pileated woodpeckers.

The Cucumber Gap trail contains the steepest climbing of the hike. About half the elevation gain on this hike takes place over a single mile on this section of trail. There wasn’t anything remarkable or unique about this part of the hike – pretty violets, tall trees, and a couple shallow stream crossings. We also managed to pick up a bit of a breeze, which helped keep the bugs away.

We soon found ourselves at a junction with a wide gravel road, we turned right and made our way to another junction with the Jakes Creek Trail. The remainder of the Elkmont cottages sit along this section of the hike. There are cabins in just about every rustic style imaginable. Apparently, Elkmont has been a controversial issue in the Smokies for years. Some people would like to see all of the buildings torn down, so that nature can take over. Others would like to see the homes restored so that the park’s origins and history can be visited and remembered. Currently, the plan lets each side of the argument win in a way.

The Appalachian Club Porch has several nice rocking chairs. Below: Another Elkmont cottage; Historical information at the site; A bear on the drive back into town!

Many of the cottages will be demolished and removed, but those that are in better condition or are historically significant will be repaired and eventually opened to the public. The area has already been added to the National Register of Historic Places.

Near the end of the hike, we reached a paved road that passes through the densest section of Elkmont cottages. This area is definitely worth a little exploration! We enjoyed sitting on the chairs on the porch of the Appalachian Clubhouse. This building, like Spence Cabin, has already been restored and is available for event rental. The front of the building has a few signs with historical information and old photos. It sounds like it was quite the place to be back in the day!

From the clubhouse, the return to our car was just a short walk along the road. While the Cucumber Gap Loop wasn’t the most thrilling hike of our trip, it was still fun and interesting.

On our way back into Gatlinburg, Adam spotted a mother bear and two tiny cubs along the road. So, even though we didn’t see bears on the hike, we didn’t leave the Smokies without a great look at wildlife. It was a fitting final experience!

Trail Notes

Distance –5.6 miles
(Check out the stats from MapMyHike)*
Elevation Change – About 900 ft.
Difficulty – 1.5. The trail along Little River is fairly flat. There is a little elevation on the Cucumber Gap trail, but it wasn’t too tough.
Trail Conditions – 4. The Little River Trail and Jakes Creek Trail are both gravel fire roads that are very easy to walk on. The Cucumber Gap trail was well-maintained, but somewhat overgrown in some areas.
Views – 1. You may get an obstructed view of Burnt Mountain from the top of Cucumber Gap, but not much else.
Streams/Waterfalls – 4. The Little River Trail has some of the best stream viewing you can see. There were some rapids, but no significant waterfalls.
Wildlife – 3. A great spot for birding. Deer and bear have been spotted here often.
Ease to Navigate – 3.5. There aren’t great signs around so that you know exactly how to get back to your car, but we were able to find it fairly easily (and now you should be able to as well).
Solitude – 3. We saw a few people along the trail, but this is a little quieter than a lot of the popular trails in the park. Many people on the trail may be camping nearby.

Directions to trailhead: From the edge of Gatlinburg, enter Great Smoky Mountains National Park and head south on US-441 South for 1.7 miles. Turn right on to Little River Road and go 4.9 miles. Take a left onto Elkmont Road and continue on it past the campground for a total of 2.0 miles. Park in the small parking lot and the Little River Trail is past the locked gate.

* MapMyHike is not necessarily accurate, as the GPS signal fades in and out – but it still provides some fun and interesting information.

Silers Bald (NC)

June 18, 2013September 4, 20182 Comments

Introductory Guide to Visiting Great Smoky Mountains National Park

This ten-mile hike follows the Appalachian Trail along the Tennessee-North Carolina border. Most of the hike is above a mile high, so in open spots you get some very impressive views of the Smokies. The bald itself is rather disappointing, as it’s been mostly reclaimed by the forest, but we did enjoy the vistas and visiting two Appalachian Trail shelters.

View the full album of photos from this hike

Views from High — Since much of the hike is along a mile-high ridge, views can be spectacular (when you’re not in the clouds). Below: Adam climbs the foggy path to the Clingmans Dome Observation Tower, The tower looks kind of like a space ship; The Appalachian Trail in the fog.

Christine Says…

This is a hike we planned on doing on our Spring 2012 Smokies trip, but we had so much stormy weather that we didn’t want to risk a long, mostly unprotected hike along mile-high ridgeline. So, we settled for the shorter trip to Andrews Bald. In the end, it actually turned out that Andrews Bald was a larger, more scenic bald than Silers. But, we still found many reasons beyond the slightly disappointing bald to enjoy this hike.

We started pretty early on Tuesday morning, after a lavish breakfast at The Pancake Pantry (Swedish Crepes with lingonberries!!). It was sunny in Gatlinburg, but as we made the drive toward the summit of Clingmans Dome, clouds began to envelop the mountain. At the very top, we were completely socked in. We knew it would burn off over the course of the morning, so we started the climb up the paved road to the observation tower.

From there, we picked up the Appalachian Trail. We followed it, descending downhill, sometimes steeply and sometimes gently. There were some sections of descent that caused Adam and I to look at each other and say ‘This is not going to be a fun climb back up!’

Since we were completely in the fog, we had no idea what views or scenery the trail would have to offer on the return hike. It was almost like doing one hike in the morning, and a completely different hike in the afternoon. I kind of like that! Also, the fog made the woods extremely beautiful and mysterious. There’s just something about mist and evergreens!

We saw lots of wildflowers, including some spectacular red trillium that Adam spotted. We listened to birds singing in the fog and watched the sky become increasingly brighter.

When we came to the first vista that wasn’t covered by fog, I got out my wide angle lens. Unfortunately, it had been sitting too close to my icy cold CamelBak water bag, so as soon as I got it out, it fogged up so badly I couldn’t take a single photo until it acclimated and dried out.

By the time we got to Double Springs Shelter, larger patches of blue were already opening in the sky. We took some time to read the shelter journal – lots of fun entries.

From Double Springs, the trail seemed to ascend and descend repeatedly. We watched the mileage on our GPS and thought that it was about time that we should be approaching the bald. Honestly, we could have passed it without notice. It wasn’t really much of a bald. It had been described in our guide as ‘a large, mostly grassy bald with a few heathers and berry bushes’. What we found was a small clearing with no grass, covered completely by tall bushes.

Mossy Woods — The forest is so beautiful, dense and ethereal.

We thought ‘This can’t possibly be it!?’ But, it was – as confirmed by GPS data and our imminent arrival at the second shelter – Silers Bald Shelter. We ate lunch at the shelter – Subway and these awesome locally-made trail bars by Granola Naturals (Toffee and Chocolate Granola Crunch Bar – YUM!) that we picked up at the NOC.

Right after lunch, we headed back the way we came. The hike back was tough, hiking ten miles after climbing LeConte the day before was probably not the best plan. But when we’re in the Smokies – we hike ‘til we drop.

Most of the way was hard, but not unbearably tough. However, the last push to Clingmans Dome was about a mile of very steep climbing. My legs were screaming and all I could think was ‘put one foot in front of the other, repeat, repeat, repeat’. The only thing that softened the pain of the climb were the spectacular views! These views made me oooh and ahhh repeatedly. Despite my exhaustion, I kept thinking ‘This is so darn gorgeous – worth every sore muscle and drop of sweat!’

There is nothing like hiking a mile-high ridge that offers views of the Smokies rolling out beneath you.

Inside the Double Springs Shelter — Adam checks out the shelter log at the Double Springs shelter. Below: Arriving at the shelter; It was interesting to read entries. Many thru-hikers struggled through deep snow in the Smokies.

Back at the Clingmans Dome observation tower, we were met by massive crowds. Lots of people had questions and made comments about our trekking poles. An older guy called us ‘show-offs’ – not really sure why, but it was done jokingly. Adam and I really enjoyed seeing our first clear view from the tower. The two previous visits had both been low visibility/cloudy, so this visit was a real treat!

After the hike, we headed back into town for a massive feast on Mellow Mushroom pizza followed by Kilwins Ice Cream and free samples of just about every wine, whiskey and moonshine offered in Gatlinburg. I think the town offers so many free alcohol samples to loosen tourists’ purse-strings. After 14 moonshine samples, who knows – you may just wake up owning a new airbrushed t-shirt that says ‘Sexy and I Know It’ (not that I did that).

Adam Says…

Christine and I had tried to get into good hiking shape for our trip to the Smokies. We had grand ideas of all we wanted to accomplish – Christine had picked about 120 miles of hiking trails she wanted to do. Christine did a much better job than I of getting in to shape. Accomplishing this 10 mile hike after finishing about 11.5 miles of hiking through steep terrain up Mount LeConte the previous day, took a toll on me. Since this hike is almost all downhill until you reach the bald and the shelter, I was dreading the return trip.

We enjoyed our trip last year to Andrews Bald where we were able to relax at a scenic spot from the bald area. Silers Bald is not very “bald” at all. In fact, I would say it doesn’t even show much of a receding hairline. But, there were some nice views along the trail elsewhere.

As Christine mentioned, we started off the hike in the thick fog. Visibility was minimal. We were hoping that the hike would be similar to our first hike up Mount Rogers, where it felt like a different hike on the return trip. Luckily, the fog lifted to give us this same experience. It also made us feel that we were continuing to hike to get the best views; otherwise, this hike would have been more of a disappointment if we had the best views early.

We started off by hiking from the Clingman’s Dome parking lot up the steep hill for .5 miles. The walk on the paved road is short, but very steep. There is a reason there are benches on the side of the paved trail. – it can be a challenge for those out of shape. Most of the people that are visiting Clingman’s Dome will just walk up the paved trail and return without venturing further. Expect to see a ton of people on this part of the trail, but you’ll have a lot of seclusion for the rest of the trail. After you near the winding tower of Clingman’s Dome, take the trail to the left that begins your hike on the Appalachian Trail. You’ll stay on the Appalachian Trail throughout your hike. At .75 miles, the trail opens up into an area filled with views along the trail. Continue to go downhill (you’ll descend about 1100 feet over a little over the next two miles). At 2.75 miles, you’ll reach a junction with the Goshen Prong Trail. Continue to go downhill and at 3.25 miles, you’ll reach the Double Spring Gap Shelter. The trail goes up and down slightly over this next section and at 3.75 miles, you’ll reach a smaller bald area known as Jenkins Knob.

Hiking Back — By the time we hiked back, skies had cleared and we had better views. Below: Silers Shelter – our lunch stop; The return hike had some tough climbing.

We found Jenkins Knob to be a little more impressive than Silers Bald in terms of views and openness. The trail continues to mostly go downhill until it finally bottoms out around 4.5 miles. At this point, the trail begins an uphill climb to Silers Bald. At 4.7 miles, you pass the junction with the Welch Ridge Trail. The trail becomes quite steep at this point until you reach the top of Silers Bald. We found a USGS benchmark on the ground to signify the top of Silers Bald. The trail begins to descend from the benchmark and opens up to the area that is Silers Bald. The trail goes through the small bald area and reaches the Silers Bald overnight shelter at 5.1 miles. Retrace your steps, largely uphill, to make your way back.

Back to Clingmans Dome — The views were much better from the tower on the return leg of our hike. Below: Adam at the end of the hike; Views from the observation tower.

We were dreading the climb back up, especially after hiking up Mount LeConte the day before, but we were rewarded with great views as the fog and clouds lifted. As we reached the paved trail to Clingman’s Dome, we climbed up to the top of the tower and we really felt like we earned the 360-degree views. The elevation is 6643 feet (the tower adds another 45 feet) and you can stand at the top of the tower knowing you are at the highest part of the Great Smoky Mountains. This spot is actually the third highest peak east of the Mississippi, to only be beaten by Mount Mitchell and Mount Craig. We enjoyed spotting Mount LeConte from the tower, since it is the sixth highest peak east of the Mississippi. We were ecstatic to see views from Clingman’s Dome, since the last two times we had visited we had clouds hanging on the mountain. The clouds were still taking up a lot of the skies, but it didn’t prevent us from seeing miles of mountain ranges around us.

Christine mentioned that we enjoyed going back to Gatlinburg, TN and eating some pizza and drinking some free moonshine and whiskey samples. While we didn’t feel the need to buy cheesy T-shirts, I definitely felt the need to visit the Hollywood Star Cars Museum. While Christine waited for me, I toured around quickly but the highlight for me was to sit in the Batmobile from the 1966 TV show with Adam West. I grew up watching re-runs of that show and it was my older brother’s favorite show as a child, so it was great to have something to make him jealous. You can pay a little extra on the tour to have your photo taken within some of the cars. I also got to see Ecto-1 from Ghostbusters, a DeLorean from Back to the Future, KITT from Knight Rider, and the General Lee from the Dukes of Hazzard. It’s a neat place to check out if you’re into Hollywood cars.

Trail Notes

Distance –10 miles
(Check out the stats from MapMyHike)*
Elevation Change – About 2200 ft. – it looks like closer to 1500 ft on GPS, but with all the rolling climbs it adds up to quite a bit more!
Difficulty – 4. The climbing and descending never seem to end on this hike.
Trail Conditions – 4. This was mostly nice, well-worn Appalachian Trail walking. The climb to the observation tower in paved.
Views – 3.5. Very nice, but not quite panoramic.
Streams/Waterfalls – 0. None on the hike.
Wildlife – 2. We saw a lot of fresh bear scat on the hike, but no bears. Clearly, they frequent the area.
Ease to Navigate – 4. The trail is well-marked with white blazes and signed at each junction.
Solitude – 3. Expect thick crowds at the observation tower, thinning toward Double Spring Shelter. After Double Spring, we only saw a couple people.

Directions to trailhead: From US-441, head south a short distance from Newfound Gap. Take a right on to Clingmans Dome Road. Go 6.4 miles until you reach the large parking lot area. The paved trail up to Clingmans Dome starts at the end of the parking lot, passing a visitors center/gift shop.

* MapMyHike is not necessarily accurate, as the GPS signal fades in and out – but it still provides some fun and interesting information.

Alum Cave to Mount LeConte (TN)

June 13, 2013September 4, 201813 Comments

Introductory Guide to Visiting Great Smoky Mountains National Park

This eleven mile hike of Mount LeConte is beautiful and lots of fun! The scenery is diverse – streams, views, towering bluffs, an arched rock that you get to climb through, and a visit to the famous LeConte Lodge.

View the full album of photos from this hike

View from LeConte Summit — LeConte provides great vistas from the Cliff Tops viewpoint, located about .2 miles above the lodge. Below: The Walker Camp Prong at the very beginning of the hike; A lot of the hike had views; The famous LeConte llamas.

Adam Says…

When we were planning our trip to Great Smoky Mountains National Park, the hike that we were most excited to do was the hike up Mount LeConte. We hiked this trail last year by taking the Trillium Gap Trail, so it was time to try an alternate route. Last time we had talked to several people that had taken the Alum Cave trail, so we thought it may be a good option.

The weather was gorgeous this day, but we knew we had a chance for thunderstorms in the afternoon, so we decided to get as early of a start as we could. When we had hiked up via the Trillium Gap Trail, we didn’t run into a lot of hikers; however, it was evident early on this route was going to be a different story. While Christine was taking advantage of the facilities near the trailhead, I was getting nervous as I saw large groups of people starting the trail. We’re fairly fast hikers and I was worried we were going to get stuck in a jam behind families with small kids that would slow us down. Christine arrived and we got on our way.

We both jumped into the hiking and started hiking at a frenetic pace. We wanted to get in a spot that was far enough ahead of others where we could stop periodically and snap some photos. It took us a while to get separated from the larger groups, so we didn’t take as much time to enjoy the scenery in the first mile. We convinced ourselves that we could have more time to amble along on the return trip.

Waiting to Pass Through Arch Rock — Adam waits his turn to pass through Arch Rock. Below: Early parts of the hike have gentle elevation gain and lots of roots; Christine crosses a foot bridge; The trail was extremely crowded.

The trailhead starts from the Alum Cave Bluff parking lot on US-441. At the trailhead, there is a larger map and some trail information guides you can purchase for $ .50. You will immediately cross a bridge over the Walker Camp Prong stream. The trail starts off very flat, but you know you’ll have lots of climbing to do later on in the hike. The first mile of the hike goes along the Alum Cave Creek. There are several options to jump slightly off the main trail to take in the scenes of the cascading creek. At 1.4 miles, you will reach a footbridge to cross Styx Branch before you reach the interesting geological feature known as Arch Rock. Arch Rock is basically a hollowed-out rock tunnel. You will climb up some steep stairs with a guideline as you go through to the top. Once you emerge out of the top, you go a little further and then reach another footbridge to cross Styx Branch one more time.

The trail begins to climb more steeply at this point as you make your way to Alum Cave Bluffs. At 2.4 miles, you start to come across a larger rock outcropping. As the trail starts to climb around this, you behold the enormous Alum Cave Bluffs. With the word “cave” being in the title, your initial expectations would be a large cave would be here. However, the cave bluffs are basically a humongous rock overhang. It is still jaw-dropping impressive and unlike anything I’ve seen. The ground underneath is dry and dusty. We saw a few drops of moisture come over the edge, but the overhang reaches out about 60 feet. Standing at one end of the outcrop looking at people at the other end, gives you a perspective of how large of an area this is.

From the Alum Cave Bluffs, you will see a sign that shows the direction to continue up Mount LeConte. The trail climbs steeply for the next .4 miles, passing some views of Little Duck Hawk Ridge. The trail reaches a peak and then descends into a saddle for another .4 miles. The trail begins to climb again rather steeply for a good portion of the remainder of the hike as you make your way up the mountain. Along the way, you will pass by a rock slide, which opens up to some gorgeous views with nothing but layers of mountain ridges to see. At 3.8 miles, you reach a set of stairs on a switchback to continue your climb. The trail eventually comes into a steep, rocky climb with cables put in to use as handrails (since this trail gets very icy with little sun in the winter).

The trail finally starts to level off at mile 4.75 as you enter into a tunnel of fraser fir trees. Continue on a short distance and then you’ll reach a junction with the Rainbow Falls Trail. Continue a few hundred feet and you’ll reach the LeConte lodge.

Getting a spot at the LeConte Lodge is competitive and highly coveted by Smokies visitors. Reservations are made by lottery and typically start booking in early October for the following year, so it takes some planning and a little luck to be able to stay in one of these spots on top of the mountain. We were lucky enough to get a spot here last year and we hope that we’ll do it again in the future.

Great Views — The Alum Cave Bluffs trail had lots of nice views along the way. Below: Some slick, rocky areas along the trail had cables to provide assistance with staying upright; Parts of the trail were quite narrow; The last stretch toward the lodge is flat and passes through evergreens.

From the cabin area, we wanted to get some nice views and headed up the main path until we reached a junction. Hang to the right to go to the Cliff Top trail. This trail is rocky and quite steep. The sign says that it is .2 miles to the top, but it feels longer than that. However, when you get to the Cliff Top area, you will have great views for miles on a clear day. After taking in the views, we grabbed a sack lunch from the dining room to refuel for our trip back down. We talked with some fellow hikers at the top and relaxed for a while. After staying up there a previous year, it was hard to motivate ourselves to head back down.

On our way back down, the trip went by fairly quickly since everything was downhill. It’s always interesting when you see people hiking uphill that look like they are in complete misery. We spotted one woman, who was staring daggers at her husband (who I’m guessing convinced her to go hiking). Her daughter was hanging back with her and said, “I love you, mom”. The mother’s response was, “That’s nice”. She was definitely not having a good time hiking. We imagined how the father was going to get an earful for the rest of day.

If you are interested in geocaching, there are not a lot that are available in Great Smoky Mountains National Park since the national park prevents physical caches from being placed. However, there is a virtual cache on the trail to find – Alum Cave Bluff.

Christine Says…

Monday morning dawned in spectacular fashion. It was cool, sunny and crystal clear. Even the typical haze that makes the Smokies seem smoky was absent. That was such a treat, because clear air really lets you appreciate the magnificent, green, lushness of the mountains in this area.

We kicked off our morning with breakfast at Mountain Perks – a little café and espresso bar across from the train depot in Bryson City. The owners, Jeff and Pam Pulley are so friendly and are ready to serve local tips alongside their tasty breakfast and even better coffee. I left there with a pound of their ‘Black Widow’ roast coffee to enjoy at home after the trip.

Fully fed and caffeinated, we made our way into the park. On the way to the Alum Cave Bluff trailhead, we spotted a couple elk grazing in a pasture just north of the Occonaluftee visitor center. What a treat!

Llama — We were happily surprised to find the llamas still at camp! Below: Adam arrives at LeConte lodge; The obligatory pose with the elevation sign; We purchased bag lunches from the lodge for $10.00. Lunch came with bottomless lemonade -of which we took full advantage.

We got to the Alum Cave Bluff parking area around 9:30, and found that it was already 100% full. We had to park a ways up the road on a pullout. We geared up, and hit the trail – along with dozens and dozens and dozens of other people. I’ve rarely hiked with so many people on the trail at the same time – even on Old Rag. I’ll admit, it made me a little stressed. As you might have guessed, I stop frequently to take photos along the way. Also, Adam and I are relatively fast hikers. So, when I stop to take photos, we end up leap-frogging the same people over and over again. That’s not a problem when there are only a few groups on a trail, but coming up on the heels of large multi-generational families time after time makes me feel bad. It’s easy to pass a couple, it’s more disruptive to squeeze past ten people, six of them kids under the age of ten. I probably didn’t take as many photos early in the hike as usual so that I could avoid being disruptive.

The first couple miles of the hike were relatively easy, following a stream and climbing very gently through the moss covered forest. The terrain changed when we reached Arch Rock. After crossing a log footbridge, stone steps led uphill steeply through an arch of stone. Very cool!

After the arch, the trail began to climb more steeply. In several places, wire was affixed to the rocky side of the trail to help you keep your footing over narrow, slick areas. We climbed uphill for about .7 of a mile before reaching the famous Alum Cave Bluff. Along the way, the trail alternated between rocky and forested. There was even one nice view on a rocky, sand myrtle-covered turn in the trail.

WOW! I had seen photos of the Bluffs, but they were even more impressive in person. The rock wall soared and arched overhead, forming an immense overhang. The terrain beneath the arch was dry and silty. It was tough to walk on and I imagine this area is tough to traverse when it’s wet and rainy.

Cliff Tops View — The nice view from Cliff Tops. Below: Time to leave the lodge; Adam walks along the trunk of a fallen giant; The steep and rocky descent.

I think a good number of people stop at the Bluff and then return to the parking area, so the trail traffic was much lighter after passing that area. We pressed on toward the summit of LeConte.

After the Bluff, the climbing is serious and steady. There are also a number of great views along the way. The Smokies really take my breath away. I kept thinking about how lucky and blessed I am to visit such places and have the physical capability to enjoy the tough climbs.

Eventually the trail turned a corner and leveled out and passed arrow-straight through an evergreen forest. The trail bed looked almost like cobblestones – white, round, smooth rocks. From that point, we had an easy .75 mile walk until we arrived at LeConte lodge.

At LeConte, we did all the obligatory things – took our photo in front of the dining hall with the elevation marker/date, said hello to the llamas, visited the office to get our exclusive summit-shop-only 2013 shirts, sat on rocking chairs, drank copious amounts of LeConte lemonade with our bagged lunches and made the .2 mile climb to enjoy the view from Cliff Tops.

Being at the top on a nice day was such a different experience than our 2012 visit in the rain! However, as the afternoon wore on, we noticed that some darker clouds were starting to build in the sky. We headed back down after about an hour at the summit.

The hike down went very quickly – all downhill! It’s amazing how much faster you can descend 2700 feet than you can climb it! We saw several cute red squirrels that took the time to chatter loudly at us. We scared a grouse from it’s resting spot – and the grouse scared us equally back! They really explode out of the brush when they startle!

Adam at the Bluffs — Adam rests at Alum Cave Bluffs. Below: Climbing back down through Arch Rock. Notice the tiny people waiting at the bottom; Painted trillium; This pretty stream follows the beginning and end of the hike.

We enjoyed passing back under Arch Rock and taking some time to enjoy the beautiful stream beside the trail. We were back at the car before 3:00, tired but really happy with our day.

That evening for dinner, we rewarded ourselves with a feast at the Smoky Mountain Brewery. I got the Brewery Ale Steak, which might be one of the tastiest steaks I’ve ever eaten. I also really liked their Tuckaleechee Porter.

Trail Notes

Distance –11 miles + a little extra for walking around the lodge grounds and up to the Cliff Tops Viewpoint
(Check out the stats from MapMyHike)*
Elevation Change – About 2650 ft.
Difficulty – 4. The hike up Mount LeConte is a steady uphill.
Trail Conditions – 4. The trail is well-used and maintained, so we didn’t find much difficulty. During heavy times of rain or ice, parts of the rocky areas could be incredibly slick.
Views – 4. The best views are along the hike up to Mount LeConte and at the Cliff Top overlook.
Streams/Waterfalls – 3. Early in the hike, you do get some nice views of Alum Cave Creek and Styx Branch.
Wildlife – 2. We did see some cute red squirrels, but last year people had seen a bear. There were some nice spots for birdwatching though.
Ease to Navigate – 4. There are not many places to get steered wrong based on signage and the trail was always clear.
Solitude – 0. On a nice day, expect heavy crowds on the way up to Alum Cave Bluffs. After that point, there should be fewer people on the way up Mount LeConte; however, this is definitely the most popular way up Mount LeConte.

Directions to trailhead: From Gatlinburg, TN take US 441-S into Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Go 11 miles. Parking is available in a large lot on the left or alongside the road. The trailhead starts near an opening on the southern side of the parking lot.

* MapMyHike is not necessarily accurate, as the GPS signal fades in and out – but it still provides some fun and interesting information.

Kephart Prong (NC)

June 9, 2013September 4, 2018Leave a comment

Introductory Guide to Visiting Great Smoky Mountains National Park

The 4-mile Kephart Prong hike ascends gently along a beautiful stream and end at the backcountry campsite – Kephart Shelter. This hike offers lovely cascades, wildflowers and history.

View the full album of photos from this hike

Adam Crossing Foot Log — Adam crosses one of several log bridges over Kephart Prong. Below: The trailhead is located on the side of Rt.441. The first bridge takes you across the Oconaluftee River; The Oconaluftee is beautiful and cascading; So much of the Smokies seems to be wet, green and covered with moss.

Christine Says…

Our second day in the Smokies was earmarked for a hike to the summit of Mount LeConte, but we woke to gloomy weather. We decided that we didn’t want to hike ten tough miles and not even get payoffs in terms of views, so we devised a new plan! After redoing our Deep Creek Waterfall Loop Hike to get better photos, we were still ready for more hiking.

I perused our hiking guide and found a trail called Kephart Prong. It sounded interesting – remnants of an old railroad and a CCC camp, a backcountry camping shelter and the trail followed a (possibly pretty) stream. After redoing the earlier hike, the 4-mile length of the Kephart Prong was appealing, too – short and sweet! Also, it had the benefit of being closer to the Bryson City side of the park where we were staying for the early part of our trip.

It was still morning, so we grabbed a snack and made our way to the trail. What we found exceeded my expectations. The stream was incredibly beautiful – rapids and small waterfalls tumbling over mossy rocks and fallen hemlocks. In at least four places, rough, hewn log bridges traversed the stream. The sounds of running water carried through the entire hike. We saw lots of wildflowers – pink lady slippers, wild geranium, ragwort and many others I couldn’t name.

Wildflower — There were many kinds of wildflowers along the trail. This might be a wild geranium? Below: Adam explores the ruins of the old CCC camp in the area. This chimney was supposedly located in the barracks; There was once a railroad and a trout hatchery in this part of the Smokies, so look for abandoned rails, train parts and pipes from the hatchery. The item below appears to be an old pipe joint possibly; Another beautiful, mossy, log bridge over the stream.

The hike climbed gently the entire two miles until eventually arriving at the Kephart shelter – a sturdy stone and timber hut intended for backcountry camping. We chatted with other dayhikers using the hut for a lunch stop and one man who was there for an overnight stay.

Signs near the shelter showed that the Kephart Trail connects to the Sweat Heifer and Appalachian Trails. If we had continued to climb past the shelter, we would have arrived at Charlie’s Bunion in several miles.

Despite the draw of the Bunion, lunch was a higher calling, so we made our way back down the trail. It’s amazing how much faster the climb down always goes! We got back to the car around 1:00 and were back in Cherokee by 1:30. We couldn’t find anything that sounded good and was actually open on Sunday, so we pressed on back to Bryson City and ended up at a place we found on Yelp – The Bar-B-Que Wagon. They served great, traditional Carolina style pit barbecue with all the expected sides. We sat at a picnic table by the river and enjoyed an enormous, late lunch.

After lunch, we thought about going back to the hotel to shower, but instead we pushed on to visit the NOC (Nantahala Outdoor Center). The complex has a fantastic outdoor outfitter and a super cool riverside patio bar (Big Wesser BBQ + Brew). We got a few drinks and watched rafters and kayakers working the rapids. So relaxing! What a great day!

Adam Says…

The Kephart Prong Trail is one of the most definitive picturesque, riverside trails you’ll find. The lush forests surround you in a sea of green in every direction you turn.

The trail starts off by crossing a large bridge, giving you great views of the Oconaluftee River. Once you cross the bridge, the trail starts off as wide and gravel-covered. At .2 miles, you will come across the remnants of the Civilian Conservation Corps camp that was here from 1933-1942. You’ll see signs of a stone plaque and a tall chimney, among other partial walls.

At the .5 mile mark, you’ll reach your first footbridge over the stream. As you continue further, the trail continues a slow, gradual ascent to the end. You’ll cross three other footbridges, but these consist of narrow, split logs with wood handrails. The last of these was the only one I was a little concerned with crossing, since the handrail required you to stoop to be able to touch it and the log bounced some in the middle. The trail leads to the Kephart shelter, which was well-constructed. From the shelter, you can proceed on the Sweet Heifer Creek Trail which joins the Appalachian Trail in 3.7 miles or take the Grassy Branch Trail to the Sluice Gap Trail for a total of 3.8 miles to reach Charlies Bunion. Since this is a nice junction for an overnight trip, expect other people staying at the shelter in the nice summer-fall weekends. Backcountry reservations for overnight campers is $4/night and is required to be made in advance. See here for further regulations regarding backpacking permits.

Kephart Shelter sits under the shady evergreens. You must have a permit to stay the night in this shelter. The stream runs behind/left of the shelter. There used to be a logging camp where the shelter now stands. Below: Most of the trail follows the stream closely; Adam makes his way across the bridge; A trail sign near the shelter shows the directions to other trails higher up the mountain.

The Kephart Prong is named after Horace Kephart, who was instrumental in the establishment of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. He was an extremely intelligent man, enrolling in graduate school at Cornell University at the age of 17. He became the head of the St. Louis Mercantile Libray, but he lost his job. He had turned to drinking and his wife and family left him for New York. He decided he wanted to re-establish himself in the wilderness of western North Carolina and Tennessee. There he wrote the book Camping and Wildlife, which was considered the “bible” of camping. When he became concerned that the Smoky Mountains were going to be heavily logged, he started writing letters to advocate for the establishment of this area as a national park. He soon became friends with a photographer, George Masa and together they started photographing and mapping this area. It was the partnering of Kephart’s words with Masa’s pictures that caught John D. Rockefeller Jr.’s attention, who donated $5 million to help purchase the lands to help secure the area to become a park. Kephart died in a car crash before the park was to be established, but Mount Collins was renamed Mount Kephart in his honor.

The Nantahala Outdoor Center — Big Wesser BBQ + Brew at the Nantahala Outdoor Center is a great place to enjoy drinks after a day on the trails. You can see the canoe/kayak course gates in the river. It’s fun to watch people coming down the rapids. Below: Carolina-style BBQ in Bryson City.

Another interesting spot almost immediately on the trail are the remnants of the site of the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) camp 411 here. You can see the large chimney and camp signboard on the side of the trail. This group of nearly 200 built rock walls, roads, trails, and footbridges that are still in use today. There is an interesting history of this from one of the leaders, James William Biggs.

We enjoyed this beautiful trail and I can see incorporating this trail as part of a backpacking trip in the future.

Trail Notes

Distance –4 miles
(Check out the stats from MapMyHike)*
Elevation Change – About 770 ft.
Difficulty – 1.5. The ascent on this hike is very gradual and easy.
Trail Conditions – 4. The trail is well-graded and in great condition.
Views – 0. No scenic views.
Streams/Waterfalls – 5. Very beautiful!
Wildlife – 2. We didn’t see anything other than chipmunks and squirrels.
Ease to Navigate – 4. The trail is very easy to follow to the shelter. Once you reach the Kephart Shelter, you may decide to continue on.
Solitude – 2. Because of the relatively short length and easiness of this hike, you will probably see a fair number of people.

Directions to trailhead: Head north on US-441 N from Cherokee, NC. Head 4 miles north of the Smokemont Campground. Parking is available on the shoulder of the road and the trail starts after crossing the bridge over the Oconaluftee River.

* MapMyHike is not necessarily accurate, as the GPS signal fades in and out – but it still provides some fun and interesting information.

Deep Creek Area Waterfall Loop (NC)

June 4, 2013September 4, 2018Leave a comment

Introductory Guide to Visiting Great Smoky Mountains National Park

Deep Creek is an area of the Smokies popular with tubers, bikers, horseback riders and hikers. This (roughly) 5.4 mile hiking route provides spectacular views of three waterfalls and the beautiful streams that feed them. We ended up hiking this trail twice on our trip – the second time was mostly to get better photos. 🙂

View the full album of photos from this hike

Toms Branch Falls is the first waterfall you’ll come to on the loop. It’s only about a quarter mile from the parking area. Below: Another angle of Toms Branch Falls; Horseback riders love the Deep Creek area; Tubers on Deep Creek; Christine enjoys stream scenery.

Adam Says…

We rolled into Bryson City, NC around 2:15 and almost immediately headed out for a hike. We were tired but our hotel wouldn’t let us check in even 45 minutes early. Evidently, the Microtel in Bryson City is very strict with their policies! We decided to do something close by, so we headed to Deep Creek campground for this hike with three waterfalls.

We knew we were getting close to the campground when we saw tons of “TUBES” signs. People were waving as we drove by, hoping that we would stop and rent tubes from them for floating down the river.

We arrived and got changed in the parking lot and made our way to the trailhead. The parking lot was crowded, mainly for tubing people. We followed the masses heading out carrying their inner tubes to their drop-in spots.

We started on the Deep Creek trail and soon passed the junction with the Juney Whank trail on the left. In just about .25 miles, we came across the first waterfall on the right, Toms Branch falls. This is a gorgeous waterfall that drops about 60 feet over several different rock shelves before plummeting into Deep Creek. We saw several people floating down the creek as we stopped for some photographs.

At .75 miles, we reached the junction with the Indian Creek Trail. This is actually the last spot where people can drop their tubes into the creek, but we continued on the Deep Creek trail. At 1.75 miles, this trail intersects with the Loop Trail. We took a right on to the Loop Trail which starts a steep ascent. At 2.4 miles, the trail reaches its peak and intersects with the Sunkota Ridge Trail. Continue on the Loop Trail which now descends at about the same rate as it ascended. At 3.0 miles, you reach the junction with the Indian Creek Trail. Take a right here.

At 3.8 miles, you’ll see a side trail that descends to Indian Creek Falls. Indian Creek Falls is a wide waterfall that has a gradual, sliding cascade into the water. After taking in the sight, head back to the trail and continue to the right. Shortly after passing the waterfall, you will reach the junction again with the Deep Creek Trail. Take a left here to retrace your steps. You could make this a shorter trip by initially taking a right at the junction, but we enjoyed putting a little extra effort to earn all three waterfalls.

Right before you reach the parking lot, you’ll see the junction trail again with the Juney Whank trail at 4.5 miles. Take the steep trail to the right up for .3 miles. Once you reach the top, you’ll see Asian which points you to the next waterfall. Descend down a short path and you’ll reach a footbridge and the waterfall. Juney Whank Falls is another great waterfall that plunges down after about a 80 foot cascade.

Continue to the other side of the footbridge and continue on the trail, heading left at the first junction. The trail descends rather steeply. You’ll see signs that lead you to the parking lot and back to your car.

We had a great time on this trail that maximizes your waterfall experience. The Deep Creek Trail and Indian Creek Trail both gave you great creek views almost the entire walk and it was fun to watch everyone float by us. I can see why this is such a popular place to hike and tube for families. We saw one person with a foot cast and met one woman with a pacemaker along the way, so most people should be able to handle this. If you want to see some great Smokies waterfalls, this is a hike for you!

Christine Says…

We wanted to do this hike last year when we visited Bryson City, but with so much to do in the Smokies, we just ran out of time. This year, we knew the lay of the land a bit better, and we ready to hit the ground running (or hiking, so to speak!)

We arrived to the area mid-afternoon on the Saturday of Memorial Day weekend. We tried to get into our hotel one before official check-in, but the desk clerk turned us away. We decided to drive over to the Deep Creek Campground, and check out an easy loop hike that took us by a couple waterfalls – Toms Branch Falls and Indian Creek Falls.

I changed clothes in the crowded parking lot. Let me tell you… switching from jeans and a shirt into shorts, wicking shirt and sports bra without flashing anyone is quite a feat!

We started off along a wide, road-like trail that followed parallel to Indian Creek. It was packed with people out enjoying the warm, sunny weather. Apparently, the Smokies have had an exceedingly cold and wet spring, so the bright, 80-degree Memorial Day weekend was a great chance for everyone in eastern Tennessee to go outside. Deep Creek is very popular with tubers. All up and down the road leading to the campground, various vendors have set up shop renting tubes for roughly $5 a day. Once you have a tube, you walk about a mile up the trail, and then bob and bump along the shallow, but rapid-y river. It looks like a lot of fun! As hikers, we were in the definite minority.

Juney Whank Falls — Juney Whank may be the prettiest waterfall on the loop. Below: Adam enjoys the falls from the bridge; Juney Whank is beautiful from every angle; Below the falls.

Walking along the Deep Creek Trail for about .25 miles, we came to the lovely Toms Branch Falls. It’s a tall waterfall that enters Deep Creek from the bank opposite the trail. Very impressive!

We walked along the creek until reaching a junction that makes a lollipop loop on the route. We decided to follow the longer arm of the loop so that we could visit Indian Creek Falls closer to the end of our hike. The trail mostly followed the stream before turning and climbing steadily uphill for about half a mile. At the highest point, the trail met the Sunkota Ridge Trail, which leads to higher elevations and a larger trail system. We remained on the loop and descended another half mile to meet another trail junction.

At this junction, we met a group of horseback riders. One rider was really struggling with her mule. She had dismounted because he had become so skittish. When we passed, he was bellowing and dancing around. She eventually got him under control and was able to ride on. He looked like quite a handful though!

In a few more tenths of a mile, we came upon Indian Creek Falls. These falls are not as steep, and are made up of a couple of small ‘shelf-drops’ before falling into one larger fall. Very beautiful!

About a tenth of a mile past the falls, you join back up with the beginning of the lollipop loop. From there, just follow the trail and the tubers back to the parking area.

The Nantahala Brewing Company – a good post-hike stop in Bryson City.

To be honest, I was really unhappy with my photos from this hike. Waterfalls, sunny conditions and photography simply don’t go together. So, I left this hike feeling a little disappointed with the photos I had to share. That regret quickly faded after a few beers at the Nantahala Brewing Company. What an awesome place! If you like craft beer, don’t miss a visit. After beers, we went for pizza at Anthony’s. It hit the spot and we loved our outdoor table facing the train depot.

I thought our experience with the waterfall hike was over, but the next morning we woke to gloomy, drizzly weather. Since it was such an easy hike, we went back and did it again so I could get better photos. And the second time, we added the .6 mile loop to visit Juney Whank Falls to the trip. These falls required a short, but steep climb, but may have been the prettiest of the three! And the better photos gained from a second trip around made this hike twice as nice!

Trail Notes

Distance –5.4 miles
(Check out the stats from MapMyHike)*
These stats are from the first time we hiked the loop, so Juney Whank Falls are not included in the MapMyHike mileage or elevation.
Elevation Change – About 630 ft.
Difficulty – 2. The only tough parts of this hike are the steep trail on the Loop Trail and the side trail to the Juney Whank falls
Trail Conditions – 4. Most of the trail is gravel except for the Loop Trail. This is a multi-use trail and you will see hikers, bikers, and horses on this trail. The trails were in great shape with no blowdowns or rough footing.
Views – 0. No scenic views from the trail, but this is more for the waterfalls.
Streams/Waterfalls – 5. You’ll have the best stream views along Deep Creek and three gorgeous waterfalls.
Wildlife – 2. Don’t expect larger wildlife due to the crowds of people on this trail. We did hear lots of pretty warblers in the tree.
Ease to Navigate – 4. Good signage at the trail junctions for the most part except for coming off the Juney Whank falls trail.
Solitude – 1. Expect to see lots of people for most of the trail. A lot of people choose not to do the Loop Trail.

Directions to trailhead: Take exit 67 off of NC-74 towards Veterans Blvd. Go .6 miles and take a right on Main Street/NC-19. Take the second left on to Everett Street. You’ll see signs directing you to Deep Creek Campground. Go .3 miles and take a right on Depot Street. This road makes a quick left on Collins Street and then a quick right to continue on to Depot Street. This becomes Deep Creek Road. Go .3 miles and take a left on to West Deep Creek Road. Continue 2.4 miles until you enter the Great Smoky Mountains National Park – Deep Creek campground. A parking lot is on the left. The trailhead starts near the drop-off roundabout next to this parking lot.

* MapMyHike is not necessarily accurate, as the GPS signal fades in and out – but it still provides some fun and interesting information.

Month: June 2013

Cucumber Gap Loop (TN)

Trail Notes

Silers Bald (NC)

Trail Notes

Alum Cave to Mount LeConte (TN)

Trail Notes

Kephart Prong (NC)

Trail Notes

Deep Creek Area Waterfall Loop (NC)

Trail Notes