Post 900 Hike #96: Cove Mountain Trail

Because we were not sure that U.S. 441 would be open to enable Doug Jerger and I to X-C on the road to Clingmans Dome, we decided to hike up Cove Mtn Trail in hopes of finding enough snow at altitude to X-C ski. Much of this trail is adjacent to private property since it runs along the Park's Northern edge. Doug had not yet done it; thus whatever done today might help him in his trek for completing all trails. Although I had originally planned to start from the West, any route taken would necessitate hiking 4-5 mi. prior to reaching Cove Mtn trail; if we started from the East, we would be on it immediately and thus know its status much sooner. Doug parked his SUV in the Park Headquarters parking lot and we attached our skis to our backpacks (see pic Doug took of me) and headed up Cove Mtn. Trail ~09:30. The next picture shows the peaks of LeConte.





The branches overhanging the trail were overloaded with snow; this frequently resulted in "snow showers" down my neck as I did not always allow for the height of my ski-tips. (Because Doug carried his skis obliquely, he did not get "snowed upon" as much.) The third picture captures a short-lived winter moment on our trip up Cove Mtn.



Although the amount of snow on the trail increased, it was not that deep and somewhat crystalline; thus on downhill sections it could be most difficult to control speed and make turns. Nevertheless, we decided to hike on in hopes that we would come to a spot that we would recognize should we attempt to finish this trail by starting from the West-end or, assuming we could find an accessible spot from an "out of the Park" road, starting where we stopped. Had it been cloudy today and Sunday, conditions probably would have been much better because much of the trail was on the N-side of Cove Mtn and was getting a bit of sun.

When we came to the third "housing area" adjacent to the trail (~1700' of the trail's 2500' of gain), we ate lunch and then retraced our steps. The last picture is of Clingmans Dome; because this mountain is so big, it seemed as though it was always present for much of our downward trek.