On October 1, that’s yesterday, North Carolina made it legal to hunt on Sunday, but only on private land. The main reason I’m writing this post is to dispel rumors and false beliefs about the new law. So hikers aren’t supposed to be on other people’s private land, anyhow, so no worries there.

Hunting is still illegal on public land on Sunday.

But hunting season is around the corner. So while I’m here, a recap of our hunting laws might be useful.

Hunting is not allowed

• in National Parks. So don’t worry about hiking in Great Smoky Mountains National Park or on the Blue Ridge Parkway. But the parkway has a thin strip of land, so you should realize that hunters don’t know exactly where the boundary is.

•  The Appalachian Trail, though a National Scenic Trail, follows the laws of the managing agency, i.e. Pisgah National Forest, so you’ll have to pay attention there.

• In state parks. So don’t worry about Mt. Mitchell State Park  or any other state park. The Mountains-to-Sea Trail, though a state trail, doesn’t have that protection since it takes on the laws of the land it’s on, just like the A.T.

• Dupont State Forest is a recreational forest, but it does allow hunting in a very limited area. You’ll see signs when you enter the hunting zone. Check out the website for all the rules and regs.

So where do you have to wear orange in Western North Carolina? Basically in national forests such as Pisgah National Forests and Nantahala National Forests.

When do you have to start worrying? Here’s the link to the dates on the NC Wildlife Resources Commission site.

For Western North Carolina, bear season is Oct 12 to Nov. 21 and Dec 14 to Jan 1.

Deer season has three types of weapons

1.  Archery Oct 11 to Nov 22
2. Black powder Sept 28 to Oct 10
3. Nov 23 to Dec 12

If those dates are too complicated, remember that bear or deer season lasts until January 1, but not on Sunday.

A few days ago, I went to see Everest, a gripping film about the 1996 climbing disaster.

Eight climbers died in two days when an unexpected blizzard came in. At the time, the events held me spell bound. I read and watched everything about it. The book at the time was Into Thin Air by Jon Krakauer, still one of my favorite books of all times.

You don’t have to have remembered the incident to find the movie fascinating. It was the beginning of commercialization of mountain climbing. Companies like those owned by Rob Hall of New Zealand and Scott Fisher of the United States took anyone they saw fit on the mountain. A quick scene shows a guide teaching his clients how to put on crampons. Most hadn’t had climbing experience; they were “treadmill fit.”

The preparations and life at Everest base camp are well depicted. They show the acclimatization (even the word is hard to write and say) climbs, the partying, and the packing of oxygen tanks. The doctor gives a lecture, where she says that people are not meant to climb this high.

Professional reviews stress the beauty of the filming in 3D over the human aspects but they are wrong. Sure, Keira Knightley plays the teary pregnant wife back in New Zealand. But the struggle of the clients and leaders against the mountain are heart-breaking. They made mistakes in an environment that allows for none. And they never used the word “issue” when they had a problem.

But it’s the cold that seemed so visceral to me.

Like many others, inquiries about climbing shot up. Even I looked into what it meant to attempt to reach the top. Hah! Two years later, I completed the Appalachian Trail, a much-more achievable goal.

I’m back from Ireland only four days and I’ve already been to Great Smoky Mountains National Park twice. There’s no better way to work on jet lag than to go hiking. I got up at 5:15 am today and it’s a great improvement from three o’clock.

Seventeen hikers came on the September Friends of the Smokies Hike today to walk the Boogerman Trail in Cataloochee. Even with four bridges out of commission on the Caldwell Fork Trail, we all were eager to hike on a perfect walking day. For many, it was the first time in Cataloochee. For a few new members, it was their first time in the national park.

“Please, plan to walk through the water with your boots on. With five water crossings, there’s no time to change out of boots and put on water shoes and then reverse the process,” I said.

“Besides wearing boots is the safest thing in a river. You don’t know what you’re going to find at the bottom.”

Four bridges are out but one water crossing is done twice. We had scheduled this hike in September, because we thought that the water level would be at its lowest. And it was quite low, not going more than above my knees.

But there’s much more to the Boogerman Trail than the water crossings. I hoped that the lack of bridges didn’t overwhelm the hike. We saw several classic fall flowers: bowman’s root, cucumber root with its blood red leaves, asters and pink turtleheads. The stone walls, built by the former residents, are very impressive.

And there’s the whole Cataloochee story, a community that lasted only a hundred years from 1834 to about 1935 when the park was established.

Having said that, most people did think about plunging into the water. You’d think that once you got your feet and boots wet, the next time wouldn’t be a big deal but it was. The crossings were slow and careful and no one fell into Caldwell Fork.

Holly Jones from the Tennessee office of Friends of the Smokies co-led the hike. I really appreciated her driving from Sevierville to help lead the hike. Thank you, Holly!

The Boogerman Trail is a classic hike. I hope the park sees this trail as a priority and replace the bridges. Though we had a good time and enjoyed the day, the water crossings is deterring most visitors from going on this trail.

The next Friends of the Smokies hike will be on Tuesday October 13. We’ll be going to Purchase Knob and the Cataloochee Divide Trail. No bridges, or lack thereof, will be involved.

To sign up, contact Anna Lee at [email protected] or 828-452-0720.

When a hiker asks me what trails they should start with in Western North Carolina, I always suggest climbing Mt. Pisgah. Not only is it a classic, but it allows you to orient yourself to the area. Mt. Pisgah is a classic and a basic hike.

From the top of Mt. Pisgah, you’ll see Cold Mountain, Looking Glass Rock, and the Frying Pan Mountain tower.

Sunday, I went on the Carolina Mountain Club half-day hike, led by Bobbi Powers. Since the climb is just 2.6 miles and 750 feet of elevation gain, Bobbi needed a couple more miles to make it a decent half-day hike. So we started and ended at Pisgah Inn. The mile from Pisgah Inn to the bottom of Mt. Pisgah must be the most manicured mile on the Mountains-to-Sea Trail in the mountains.

We went past the Buckspring Lodge site and peeked into the Spring house, just off the trail.

Some hikers call it a secret. It’s not a secret, folks. Read Walt Weber’s book Trail Profiles and maps from the Great Smokies to Mount Mitchell and Beyond and my two hiking guides.

Then we started climbing Mt. Pisgah. I had forgotten how steep and rocky the trail is.

I’ve been hiking in the Smokies for so long that I sometimes forget that most WNC trails in Pisgah National Forest and the Blue Ridge Parkway are full of rocks and roots. I have become so spoiled.

I had to stop a couple of times to take a drink and catch my breath. Since this was an afternoon hike, we were walking in the hottest part of the July day. It wasn’t easy.

Look at the picture to the left.

Now look at the quality of the Chimney Tops Trail. It’s longer and steeper but the trail quality is so good.

Of course, Chimney Tops has been completely rehabilitated with money from Trails Forever, donated by Friends of the Smokies. I wrote about this a few weeks ago.

What does it all means?

*  Mt. Pisgah is actually on Blue Ridge Parkway land. But the Parkway puts fewer resources into quality trails than the Smokies.

* When deciding on a trail, look at distance, altitude gain and terrain. The latter is the hardest information to get, but it’s important.

* Hike up to Mt. Pisgah. It’s worth the effort.

 

 We strode up in the mist undaunted
To capture a prize we all wanted
Despite portents of doom
We marched through the gloom
So now we can say we’ve “LeConted”.

By Rob Howard

I spent the past two days with sixty friends at LeConte Lodge in Great Smoky Mountains National Park. I didn’t know I had that many friends, other than on Facebook. Friends of the Smokies had organized a trip to LeConte Lodge and we took over the whole place. Friends came from Texas, Wisconsin, Ohio and Asheville to be on this trip.

Remember that the Smokies is a national park.

LeConte Lodge is a full-service lodge at the top of Mt. Le Conte at 6,593 feet. Technically, that is the top of the mountain; the lodge is a little lower. The lodge offers cabins with sheets and blankets; so you don’t have to carry a sleeping bag. The stay includes dinner, breakfast and unlimited coffee. This is luxury. But, everyone, guests and staff, has to walk up and down. There’s no road. But the effort is worth it.

Anna Lee Z., the development and outreach associate at Friends of the Smokies, worked out all the details, with the help of Holly Demuth, the North Carolina director. It’s not easy to organize 60 people of varying hiking abilities.

Several Friends staff came on the trip. Dana Soehn, the press officer for the park, came as did Karen Chavez, the outdoor editor for the Asheville Citizen-Times.

We hiked up the Boulevard Trail from Newfound Gap. I led the “moderate/a little faster” group of 30 up with the help of Holly Jones and Beth Ransom as sweeps at various points in the line. It was hot and humid, but the rain held off. So, to me, the weather was perfect. My group arrived about 3:30 pm or so and settled in our assigned cabins-another detail that Anna Lee worked on.

The second group dribbled in later and by 5 pm, almost everyone was enjoying a social hour at the picnic tables. People brought boxed and bottled wine, cheeses, and dips. We could have made a meal out of the offerings. But at 6 pm, the LeConte Lodge crew struck a triangle, round and round, to call us for dinner – soup, stew, mashed potatoes, … It was a hardy meal, probably much more than we needed for the eight miles we walked.

By then, the last few folks made it and had a late dinner. We gathered at the office/library for fun and games – literally. Anna Lee (again) had organized a social planning committee, that worked on the evening program. We had to draw a pig to figure out our personality. I turned out to be a “optimist/realist, analytical and a good listener”. I thought I was just terrible at drawing. Rob read a few limericks, one which is shown at the top.

Dana, the voice of the mountains, spoke about what national parks, and especially, the Smokies means to her. Unlike most career national parks people who move around a lot, she came to the Smokies as a college intern in 1989 and stayed, working her way up. The Smokies continues to be a source of discovery for her and for many of us.

The leaders were concerned about the well-being of the hikers who had come up late and tired to the top. Were they going to be safe to go down at a reasonable speed? Who was going to shepherd them down the slippery Rainbow Falls trail?

Dana called Mark Eckert, a medic ranger, to help sweep the second group down. Mark showed up at 8:15 am, while we were having breakfast. He must have run up the trail, with a large backpack and whistle at the ready. I continue to be amazed at the care and thought that the park showers on its visitors.

Now don’t think that you’ll have Ranger Eckert at your side on your next hike; you have to take care of yourself. But in this case, it was the right call.

I led 15 hardy hikers down Rainbow Falls Trail back to the cars. By the time we got down around the falls, the trail was crowded with visitors wearing flip-flops, without a pack or water.

All sixty friends came down safely, on either Rainbow Falls or Trillium Gap.

Thank you all who came and contributed time and effort to the success of this trip. Our next hike will be on Tuesday August 11 on Big Creek, a much simpler and easier hike.

To sign up, contact Anna Lee Zanetti at [email protected] at Friends of the Smokies or on 828.452.0720.