Post 900 Hike #101: AT (1.7, 1.0, 1.7) Charlie's Bunion & return

I picked up Theresa Yu at Krogers and we proceeded to The GSMNP; at SVC we were joined by BZ Lane, Bob Bolinger, and Cecil Rowe. We proceeded to Newfound Gap in BZ's Jeep Wagon; from there we set out on a NE direction on the AT. As we reached a greater elevation, our temperature centered around 31.7 F. A little prior to Icewater Springs shelter, Bob donned his his new snowshoes; I'll comment more on this later.

The first picture is of the Icewater Springs shelter on the AT. (We ended up returning there for lunch, since much of this area's AT is on a windy ridge, and our sojourn to Charlies Bunion was similarly devoid of windless respites.)



Charlies Bunion provides magnificent views; Cecil is pointing out some to Theresa. The next picture is one that Bob took; from left to right it is BZ, me, and Theresa on top of "the bunion"(a big rock). (As you have probably noted in my prior blogs in which Bob has contributed a picture, the quality of his photos is truly phemomenal.





This short segment of the trail off the AT to Charlies Bunion is daunting as you approach the Bunion; all of us, however, wore crampons throughout the hike. Because I was taking many pictures, I was the last one to leave. With the slope dropping precipitously to my right (BZ had said that if you fell to the downside of the trail, one would not stop until s/he traversed ~1,500'), I found that by inverting my left foot with forcible steps I was quite comfortable.

The next picture is of Theresa going up a rise after descending from Charlies Bunion; you'll note that she is quite inboard on the trail, and when this picture was taken, was not using her hiking poles (I guess that I should reprimend her for this, for I am such a firm believer in the utility and use of them.)



In the last picture presented I wanted to get a picture of Bob on his new snowshoes prior to his taking them off at lunch. Although his snowshoes would be very useful on deep snow trails, after the trail has been tramped down and sort of a trench has been created, their utility is diminished.



After lunch we met several contingents of hikers; they included backbackers headed for Maine, college students from Mississippi who could not have been worse prepared for their plan to go to Charlies Bunion, a slightly better prepared couple, a really prepared couple, and as we approached Newfound Gap many tourists who were just endeavoring to walk a few yards on the trail. I had gone ahead of our group of five (when I am in the picture-taking mode I'm usually last) in order to take a picture of my cohorts as they descended to Newfound Gap; the mass of humanity precluded doing so.

When we were back in BZ's SUV, at my request he drove a couple of hundred yards on US 441 in order that I could determine the feasiblity of going skiing (Bob would bring his snowshoes) on the road to Clingmans Dome Thursday or Friday. However, as sort of anticipated the road (closed to vehicular traffic until April 1st but open to others) is now closed to everyone for at least a couple of months (stimulus dollars at work).

On the way down from Newfound Gap on U.S. 441, much to our surprise one vehicle had gone off the road on a cruveless section and we were held up for a few minutes. Later on after Theresa, Cecil and I were in my SUV on the West side of Sevierville on U.S. 411, we were held up again for what appeared to be quite a severe accident. Somewhat to our surprise we subsequently met emergency vehicles (probably from Seymore).

Several of us had been endeavoring to finish off our winter hiking season with unique, beautiful, and sometimes challenging hikes. We truly have had a lot of winners this year! Assuming that I present at Wilderness Wildlife Week again in Pigeon Forge next January on X-C skiing and hiking on snow and ice, I'll have a raft of new pictures.