May 25-27
Chris Agee and I had been trying for a while since he graduated to get another backpacking trip going. After talking with a bunch of friends, we recruited James and Stephanie, who's never been backpacking before. Finally finding a good date, we loaded up the jeep Monday morning and headed up to Clingman's Dome. As we pulled up, it started raining, causing quite a hassle with trying to get the gear out of the car and lace up our boots. By the time we reached the top of the tower (6600ft), it had quit raining but gave us absolutely no view.
We took the southbound Appalachian Trail down the ridge 4mi passing many tired weekenders heading up. We were going to keep on the AT to get up to the bald, but a thundercloud right over the top told us otherwise. I took the lead with a brisk pace 3mi down a nice ridge to the left. Much easier going without the erosion on the AT. From there we reach
ed the top of Forney Creek Trail.. We descended gentle switchbacks till we reached the headwaters at a lush waterfall. From there we began an awesome puzzle game of crossing the creek.
First one we arrive at took several minutes of planning and another 10 of executing the maneuvers from rock to rock. Then a couple of hundred yards later we had to do it all over again, except this time, they removed one of the stepping stones. After Stage 20, there were no more rocks left and couldn't hop around anymore. Sick and tired of removing boots, wading through, waiting for feet to dry, and so on, we all hiked in our water shoes. So there we are in
nothing more than flip-flops carrying our heavy packs over rocks, when finally we arrived at a suitable campsite. We came to a consensus that we weren't at the planned campsite, had another 3mi to go to get there, and that this location was meant for keeping horses. Just as we asked the question whether to continue or not, a huge crash of thunder shook the valley. We start putting up the tents there, but the rain came quicker than we could prepare. In my hurry to set up the tent, I left my pack and boots uncovered in the downpour. I soon got them into the vestibule and started sanitizing water. The UV sterilization pen worked perfectly this time using a tiny touch of salt in the water. By the time I had the bottles filled, it had stopped raining. I started on dinner and laughed as James and Chris were still huddled in the tent thinking it was still raining. It rained on and off throughout the night adding to the way too sticky moisture content inside the tent. Fortunately nothing leaked. Day two started out with some oatmeal and lazy packing. We hiked on at a good pace, but took far too many half-hour snack breaks. After 3mi we arrived at the campsite (3200ft) we were supposed to stay at with a nice picnic table right by the creek. Another 2mi down and we arrived at our turn-off. I really wanted to continue on that trail to where it hits Fontana Lake, but knew there was no way to make the miles work. At the intersection was a ranger bunkhouse calling for another break. We turned left and in less than a mile had a knee deep crossing and last sight of the beautiful Forney Creek. We wasted another 45min drying our feet and getting water before starting the climb up to High Rocks. This ended up being a hard climb and seemed to take all day. We just couldn't understand why we weren't to the top yet. Finally we reach High Rocks at 5:30 and were treated to a beautiful view of Fontana Lake 8miles off and several thousand feet below.
There used to be a fire tower up top, but all that remained was a lonely folding chair. We had a backup campsite at 75 in case we couldn't make it to the lake at campsite 74. We booked it down to 75(3200ft) and debated about continuing. I was outvoted, so we left the beautiful, empty site for another trip. Another hour and a half hiking we reached 74(1700ft) at Fontana Lake. By the time Stephanie and I showed up, the 5 other groups of people had already claimed all the good tentsites. I was pretty grumpy that I had left a wonderful campsite to come to one so crowded. I'd be sleeping on all kinds of rocks and roots. I soon got over it, set up the tent, and headed for a bath in the lake. Scaring away a water moccasin at the bank, we got into the water and started sudsing up. As soon as I covered my face in soap, I hear an approaching wave of sound. "Is that wind?" I asked as Stephanie watched the wall of rain come to us. We quickly threw on our clean, soon-to-not-be dry clothes and ran back to camp to secure our gear. Drizzling for a while, we made dinner and prepared for bed, know
ing we needed plenty of sleep for the day ahead of us. The last day was rough on all of us, going from one of the lowest points in the Smokies to one of the highest, a net change of almost 5000ft. It rained on and off the whole day. The batteries for the water sterilizer ran out at our last water point forcing the use of iodine, turning great tasting spring water into "poo water". We all push hard as we could and eventually emerged from the trail to the parking lot, raining at the car just like we left it. Overall, we had a great tour of the Smokies, taking trails on ridges, valleys, creeks, lakes, and of course mountains through a variety of weather conditions. Thirty-eight miles total in 3 days, and not a single lick of complaining from the newb.
First one we arrive at took several minutes of planning and another 10 of executing the maneuvers from rock to rock. Then a couple of hundred yards later we had to do it all over again, except this time, they removed one of the stepping stones. After Stage 20, there were no more rocks left and couldn't hop around anymore. Sick and tired of removing boots, wading through, waiting for feet to dry, and so on, we all hiked in our water shoes. So there we are in
nothing more than flip-flops carrying our heavy packs over rocks, when finally we arrived at a suitable campsite. We came to a consensus that we weren't at the planned campsite, had another 3mi to go to get there, and that this location was meant for keeping horses. Just as we asked the question whether to continue or not, a huge crash of thunder shook the valley. We start putting up the tents there, but the rain came quicker than we could prepare. In my hurry to set up the tent, I left my pack and boots uncovered in the downpour. I soon got them into the vestibule and started sanitizing water. The UV sterilization pen worked perfectly this time using a tiny touch of salt in the water. By the time I had the bottles filled, it had stopped raining. I started on dinner and laughed as James and Chris were still huddled in the tent thinking it was still raining. It rained on and off throughout the night adding to the way too sticky moisture content inside the tent. Fortunately nothing leaked. Day two started out with some oatmeal and lazy packing. We hiked on at a good pace, but took far too many half-hour snack breaks. After 3mi we arrived at the campsite (3200ft) we were supposed to stay at with a nice picnic table right by the creek. Another 2mi down and we arrived at our turn-off. I really wanted to continue on that trail to where it hits Fontana Lake, but knew there was no way to make the miles work. At the intersection was a ranger bunkhouse calling for another break. We turned left and in less than a mile had a knee deep crossing and last sight of the beautiful Forney Creek. We wasted another 45min drying our feet and getting water before starting the climb up to High Rocks. This ended up being a hard climb and seemed to take all day. We just couldn't understand why we weren't to the top yet. Finally we reach High Rocks at 5:30 and were treated to a beautiful view of Fontana Lake 8miles off and several thousand feet below.
There used to be a fire tower up top, but all that remained was a lonely folding chair. We had a backup campsite at 75 in case we couldn't make it to the lake at campsite 74. We booked it down to 75(3200ft) and debated about continuing. I was outvoted, so we left the beautiful, empty site for another trip. Another hour and a half hiking we reached 74(1700ft) at Fontana Lake. By the time Stephanie and I showed up, the 5 other groups of people had already claimed all the good tentsites. I was pretty grumpy that I had left a wonderful campsite to come to one so crowded. I'd be sleeping on all kinds of rocks and roots. I soon got over it, set up the tent, and headed for a bath in the lake. Scaring away a water moccasin at the bank, we got into the water and started sudsing up. As soon as I covered my face in soap, I hear an approaching wave of sound. "Is that wind?" I asked as Stephanie watched the wall of rain come to us. We quickly threw on our clean, soon-to-not-be dry clothes and ran back to camp to secure our gear. Drizzling for a while, we made dinner and prepared for bed, know
ing we needed plenty of sleep for the day ahead of us. The last day was rough on all of us, going from one of the lowest points in the Smokies to one of the highest, a net change of almost 5000ft. It rained on and off the whole day. The batteries for the water sterilizer ran out at our last water point forcing the use of iodine, turning great tasting spring water into "poo water". We all push hard as we could and eventually emerged from the trail to the parking lot, raining at the car just like we left it. Overall, we had a great tour of the Smokies, taking trails on ridges, valleys, creeks, lakes, and of course mountains through a variety of weather conditions. Thirty-eight miles total in 3 days, and not a single lick of complaining from the newb.
