Post 900 Hike #57: Smokemont Loop

Although I thought the two Sweat Heifer hikes off the AT out of Newfound Gap would be cancelled Wednesday because of snow possibility in the late afternoon, one was done (major problem was getting into their iced-up vehicle in late afternoon). Thus when Dick Ledyard contacted me about doing a short hike out of Smokemont Thursday in honor of Frank Marsh’s finishing qualifications for The 900 Miler Association, I jumped at the chance. Our hike was to be a short one (Smokemont Loop) since Dick had a dental appointment in the A.M.

We started our hike shortly after 13:00. In the first mile of our 2.2 mi. stint on Bradley Fork we saw a boar; although I have had several on-trail bear sightings since completing requirements for The 900 Miler Association, I had never seen a boar. Unfortunately the boar scuttled away before I could get my camera out; nevertheless, on the basis past elk and bear sightings in the GSMNP, I am estimating his weight to be ~400 lbs. He was flat out huge! The first picture is of Dick Ledyard at our completion of Bradley Fork; Dick took the second picture of me crossing a very nice foot bridge (Note cable instead of a wood-branch rail).

The Smokemont Loop trail (3.9 mi.) has a lot of up; although this is true regardless of whether one is going CC or C, most aver that the CC direction that we went is a little bit easier (Dick took the picture of me on a bit of the up). I neglected to bring my HR monitor, but this time (possibly because I had lifted weights in the A.M.) I never tried to get a good aerobic push; thus I doubt that my pulse ever even reached 140. We finished the 6.1 miles in ~2 hrs. 30 min. Because we had hoped to greet Frank where our vehicles were parked, we had time to kill, Dick suggested we hike that portion of the Benton—MacKaye in Smokemont (that particular portion is not one of the 900 requirements), by my new (& fairly expensive) pedometer, we covered ~7.5 miles on today’s afternoon hike and arrived Dick’s car at 16:30.

Since Frank had estimated that they would finish by 17:30, we decided to wait there until 18:00 in hopes of congratulating him (one of Frank’s sons and Richard Ryburn were with him). We knew that Frank and Richard often hiked well into total darkness, and because Frank's son is a very strong hiker, we decided that we did not have to worry about them; thus we to get a sandwich at Calhoun’s in Gatlinburg in hopes that they too might come there. (We subsequently learned that they had run into a bit of ice on the AT; it was the ice that had considerably slowed their pace.)

Post 900 Hike: X-C Ski Interlude

I apologize to regular readers of my blog for this hiatus. With Xmas and New Years Eve falling on Wednesdays, doubt if anyone hiked. I believe we had bad weather on 1/7; my presentation at Wilderness Wildlife Week on X-C Skiing & Hiking in the Snow in the G.S.M.N.P. on 1/14 precluded hiking that day.

Most all hikes this week were cancelled because U.S. 441 was closed because of snow and ice; however, this did not stop Manfred Grote and me from going to the Park in hopes that this road would open and allow us to get to Newfound Gape--our X-C ski starting point on the road to Clingmans Dome.

Manfred picked me up at Lowes on John Sevier highway at 9:30; at this time U.S. 441 was still closed. When we arrived in the G.S.M.N.P., it had opened with caution warnings; Manfred’s 4-wheel drive Jeep made the trip to Newfound Gap quite comfortable. At 11:30 we embarked on our skis on the Clingmans Dome Road.

Although we were the first skiers on the most recent snow, there was only ~a 4” base; in the picture of Manfred you'll note that the sun sometimes plays havoc with snow conditions. Thus my usual goal of trying to reach Clingmans Dome had to be put aside. After lunch I suggested to Manfred that we endeavor to reach Fork Ridge Trailhead (which is directly across the Clingmans Dome Road from Sugarland Mountain Trailhead). I forget what time that I arrived there; Manfred arrived a few minutes later—he was pleased that he had made it that far since he was dealing with a hip adductor strain.

On the way down we met a fellow taking a break; I did not even note his skis at first and thought he might be a backpacker or just out for a walk. When I saw his skis, I suggested to Manfred that he continue for I wanted to talk to this fellow. Since my wife thinks that it is inappropriate for a 74 year old man to try to ski to Clingmans Dome alone, I am always looking for new ski partners. His name is Maurizio Conti; he identified himself as my hiking buddy Jim Harb’s Italian friend; I hope that Maurizio and I can ski together in the future.

I then proceeded to catch Manfred; however, I then met Christopher Hibbard walking towards me armed with photographic equipment. Although I did not know him nor had I hiked with him, he is a very interesting fellow who I found had happened to read a few of my hiking blogs and knew some of my hiking friends. Although not a potential recruit for skiing, I assume that he and I will cross paths again.

I caught Manfred shortly after Indian Gap. In my last picture I was looking down at U.S. 441 in North Carolina; the small white stretches indicate its presence with switchbacks. Even though the snow conditions were not nearly as good as I had anticipated, Manifred and I got a fairly good 8+ mile skiing workout; I also met two very interesting people.