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.

 

 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.

So what was I doing scouting a hike which involves a lot of non-official trails and even private land?

All legal and above board, but even so–OMG. What was I doing on private land?

Anna Lee of Friends of the Smokies and I scouted our October Purchase Knob hike in the Smokies.

We started at the Appalachian Highlands Science Learning Center at Purchase Knob, located at 5,000 feet. As the name implies, the center hosts scientists and school children to work on science projects. Though there’s nothing to stop the public from parking up there to hike, it’s best to call ahead to make sure that the gate is open, if you’re not coming for a project.

We started down toward the Ferguson Cabin and then on the Cataloochee Divide Trail. Now we were on a trail, but not for long.

We headed toward The Swag, an upscale bed and breakfast and  then to Cataloochee Ranch.

We weren’t interested in going to Hemphill Bald; that was this June’s hike. Instead, we explored the ins and out of Thunderbolt Mountain, meeting other hikers and horseback riders.

On the way back, we stopped at the Swag and walked their nature trail.

But first, we had to admire the view. Anna Lee did a series of cartwheels – see the first picture above.  We didn’t have the dress to twirl to the The Hills are Alive to the Sound of Music but that would be the place to be Maria.

The Swag Nature Trail has several follies, structures that are chiefly decorative rather than serving any purpose. Dan’s Hideway and Deener Hideway, little comfortable areas to hide, have hammocks. I took a picture of Anna Lee “sleeping on the job” in a hammock but I’m not going to show that. Dan and Deener Matthews own The Swag.

We stopped at the lily pond, which might be a good place for lunch with the group. Then we walked back to Purchase Knob and our car.

Though there’s nothing secret about this hike, it might be a difficult hike to do on your own. That’s why we scout the hikes for you.

Intrigued? You know the drill by now. Contact Anna Lee Zanetti at [email protected] at Friends of the Smokies on 828.452.0720.

I remember climbing Chimney Tops Trail in Great Smoky Mountains National Park. The two-mile trail was full of uneven rocks, roots and gaps.

Now, thanks to the Trails Forever program funded by Friends of the Smokies, the trail is perfect. Yes, it’s still steep – nothing that can be done about that – but the highly skilled Trails Forever crew has put in steps,  drainage ditches and removed hazard trees.

Eric Wood, one of the trail crew leaders, showed us some “before” pictures of the trail. See the bottom of this post for the statistics on the trail.

Yesterday, I joined a celebration to recognize the trail crew, donors, and volunteers, park partners.

Superintendent Cassius Cash thanked everyone for their work. And a bunch of us climbed to the top of Chimney Tops. The staircases were amazing. In fact, one run of over 360 steps is dubbed, “the Stairway to Heaven”. This trail will last, yes, forever.

But at the top of the trail, the rock climb was still there. The park crew was not going to blast the mountain and put in a viewing platform. I dropped my pack and started climbing the rocks. At some point, I dropped my poles and went on all fours, or five (my behind) or, seven (my knees, as well). It was not a pretty sight. But I made it to the top.

Here I am with Anna Lee Zanetti on top of Chimney Tops Trail. Anna Lee is the outreach associate for Friends of the Smokies. She and I lead monthly hikes for FOTS members.

She was here, climbing on a work day. This is part of her job. Now, how lucky can you get?

Thanks to all who contributed in time, money, sweat and effort to make Chimney Tops Trail last, well, forever.

For those who love numbers, here are some:

Chimney Tops Trail Reconstruction Highlights: 

How this Classic Hikes program has grown. When I led the same hike a few years ago, we had seven hikers, including Holly Demuth and me.

Today, we had 23 hikers, including several from Georgia and Tennessee. Given that the forecast was for rain and it was foggy all the way up Heintooga Road, that was a great attendance.

Hemphill Bald is an easy classic hike from Polls Gap on Heintooga Road.

We walked at the edge of the park along a wooden fence. Well, the park has to end somewhere. Though we were at 5,000 feet, the spring flower season was almost over. We saw columbines, a few spring beauties and one lonely purple crested orchid.

We had two local celebrities. Dolly McLean, the new outdoor program and outreach market coordinator at REI Asheville, came on one of her Yeah days. As she explained, employees get two days a year to explore the outdoors on company time. Given the business they’re in, you would think that they would be more generous.

Holly Kays, the Outdoor Editor of the Smoky Mountain News, joined us to write a story about these Classic Hikes. She carried a big camera and talked to hikers.

But the big star was Judy Coker, an owner of Cataloochee Ranch.

Cataloochee Ranch has been the family for over 75 years. They now own about 800 acres, with 250 acres in a conservation easement. That means that you won’t find condos on Hemphill Bald – ever.

Judy came up to Hemphill Bald with her lunch. Then she shared the history of the ranch that her parents started. The third generation is now running the business.

We walked back down Cataloochee Ranch and saw several heads of cattle, keeping their distance from us. We  finished the hike a little after 3 pm. Some went to see the Masonic Marker on the Blue Ridge Parkway – a bonus for the day.