Out On Trail

Day 6 would be our final day in Great Smoky Mountains National Park. After packing up and cleaning up camp, our day of hiking would begin with a climb, of a little over 2 miles, on the Forney Creek Trail. Though we had arrived in the early afternoon, we camped in the lower portion of Campsite 68. We stopped briefly at the upper portion, next to the Forney Creek Cascade, and made a note that the upper portion was the better of the two options.  As we made our way steadily uphill, the trail became at times rocky and at others was laced with tree roots. It was a departure from the road/railroad bed feel on the lower section of the trail. As the canopy above us began to thin, and we were able to catch an occasional glimpse of the surrounding mountains, we knew we were approaching the ridge that would take us to Andrews Bald.   Upon reaching the intersection with the Forney Ridge Trail, we consulted the trail signs to verify the remaining distance we needed to cover. From this poin...

In relation to the previous few days, Day 5 would be a relatively short day of hiking. We would follow the Forney Creek Trail from Campsite 70 to Campsite 68. While this would be a shorter day, in terms of mileage, we would be traveling uphill and would have to cross Forney Creek several times. With that said, the uphill grade would be relatively mild compared to the end of Day 4's hike. We crossed the footbridge back to the Forney Creek Trail and almost immediately encountered a tree blown down across the trail. While the trails throughout our trip were in pretty good condition, we did inevitably have to deal with a few of these types of situations. For the most part, they were easier to navigate than the water crossings.  Tom was able to stay relatively dry today, using stepping stones and conveniently-placed logs to avoid stepping in the water. Mike generally took the more direct route -- no longer phased by hiking with wet feet. There was, however, one crossing where the creek ...

We began Day 4 with a breakfast of biscuits and gravy (review posted separately) at Kirkland Creek Campsite (Site 76). By this stage of the hike, Mike had begun to develop blisters. It's important to take care of your feet when hiking in wet conditions, and it's equally important to tend to issues as soon as you notice them developing, to prevent the situation from worsening. After ensuring the injured areas were properly protected, we hit the trail for our last "full" (10+ mile) day of hiking. The start of Day 4's hike was similar to the end of Day 3's, providing consistent glimpses of Fontana Lake through the trees, with an occasional scenic overlook. The views had a different tone this morning, as the sun had been replaced by thick, dark clouds. On this section of trail, we continued to encounter stone walls, rusted metallic relics, and other evidence that human civilization had once thrived in the area. We continued to enjoy the prevalent mountain laurel ...

We began Day 3 with a breakfast of egg scrambles (reviews to be provided in a separate post!). As we were breaking down camp, we chatted with one of the friendly local fisherman with whom we shared the camp. He was full of fascinating knowledge: from stories about the clearing of Proctor, prior to the building of the dam, to the current black bear and wild hog activity within the park. Having stayed a bit longer than we had intended, we eventually parted ways and got started on the Lakeshore Trail. A few minutes into the first uphill section of the hike (there would be many literal ups and downs throughout the day), we passed a couple of hikers carrying fishing poles who inquired about the creek. We informed them they weren't far off and continued on our way. We didn't know it, at that point, but those hikers would be the last people we would see for the next 27 hours!   Most of the work was in the early part of this day. After a couple of fairly long, steep inclines, we reache...

We awoke to find a dampness permeating the air, our gear, and well...basically everything. We were fairly certain in hadn't rained the prior evening, but it felt as though it had. The famed humidity of the Smokies was living up to its reputation. We made some coffee and began to break down our camp. After a brief chat with our only neighbors from the previous evening, a couple of fisherman, we set out to make the required mileage for the day. We started out along the creek and continued a little over a mile, until we reached Campsite 83 (Bone Valley). We conversed with a couple more fisherman, who would be spending the night there. Leaving our packs on the bear cables, we side-tripped down the Bone Valley Trail (a 3.6-mile round trip). There were several water crossings, with a couple of them being pretty deep. It being May, the water was moving pretty quickly, but after our initial stint on the Hazel Creek Trail, we were already somewhat acclimated to it.   At the end of the Bone ...