[caption id="attachment_1187" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Views of Thomas Ridge from the trail"]
[/caption] To skip the chatter and go right to the pics of this walk, click the link below:
Smokemont Loop(Opens in new window) 6.1 mile loop walk on the Smokemont Loop Trail. The walk started and ended at the Bradley Fork trailhead in the Smokemont Campground and included Bradley Fork Trail and Smokemont Loop Trail – February 14, 2010 More than six weeks are already gone in 2010 and I’ve finally put foot to Smokies ground for the first time. But not without first dealing with a few weather related plan changes. The Smokies locals that I’ve talked to are pretty tired of seeing the white stuff fall from the sky. It has been a colder and snowier winter than they’ve seen in a few years, and one side effect has been many closures of Newfound Gap Road and other roads around the area, making travel a challenge. Such was the case for me on my first 2010 walk, and I’d have to go all the way to Plan D. Plan A was to be on the north side of the Park, but Newfound Gap Road was closed once again for snow and ice. Plan B was to be a trail off of Straight Fork Road in Cherokee…nope, closed also. When they close Newfound Gap Road they typically close it north of the Smokemont Campground entrance, so after driving up the road and nearly sliding off one curve on the ice I made it safely and parked at the snowy and deserted campground for today’s walk. [caption id="attachment_1179" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Snowy Bradley Fork trailhead"]
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Ice Skating on Bradley Fork Trail I started out around 9:30 at the familiar gate at the Bradley Fork trailhead. This nice trail follows large and wide Bradley Fork upstream as it tumbles down from headwaters high on the Smoky’s crest. It is a trail I’m very familiar with as the starting point for many of my nice dayhikes originating at the campground. Even this flat and wide trail would be a challenge today though. One side effect of the gentle grade is the fact that water doesn’t run off like it would on a steeper grade, and in many places it was doing my best Scott Hamilton impersonation. Snow and ice were everywhere and I what normally would be a pleasant stroll upstream turned into somewhat of an adventure trying to stay off my backside. When I reached the Chasteen Creek Trail intersection at 1.2 miles I decided to scrap my Plan C walk for today due to the conditions. The Smokies haven’t thawed out much this winter and snow was expected again later today to add insult to injury. With the abundance of ice and snow on the trail and slow going I decided I wasn’t going to try any hero stuff today, so I made the switch to Plan D, an old familiar short loop just 0.5 miles up the trail. [caption id="attachment_1180" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Bradley Fork footbridge"]
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Surprising beauty on Smokemont Loop Trail The Smokemont Loop Trail intersection is another 0.5 mile up Bradley Fork. Here I turn left and descend a set of ice covered steps to walk across Bradley Fork on a long narrow footbridge. I’m thankful for the hand cable because snow covered the footbridge as well. The trail turns left after the crossing to follow Bradley Fork for a short distance before turning away from the creek and starting a long ascent up the side of Richland Mountain. The ascent swings through a second growth forest once logged extensively by the Champion Fibre Company. Young poplars stretch to try to out-duel each other for rights to the canopy. The trail ascends roughly 1200 feet over the next 1.7 miles, so the effects of winter inactivity are knocked off in a hurry. [caption id="attachment_1184" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="A snowy rhodo tunnel"]
[/caption] One thing I notice immediately is despite this being my third visit the trail is new to me once again. It is a completely different experience climbing through think snow and bare trees to view ridges that were covered on my two previous walks. Another rare treat is the silence. This trail is very close to Newfound Gap Road and skirts the Oconaluftee Valley and hence loud thunder of motorcycles echoes off the mountains on a visit any other time of year. Not so today, and in fact with the road closed the only sound I hear is the river itself way down in the valley. At the top of the climb the spectacular sight of snow-covered Newton Bald and Thomas Ridge come clearly into view to the west. Plan D has turned out to be a grade A experience indeed. I recommend that if you haven’t tried this trail in the winter, give it a shot even if you’ve been here before…I doubt you’ll be disappointed. [caption id="attachment_1185" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="I believe this is Mount Clark"]
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Taking a pause I ascend through think snow, stopping often to gawk at the awesome sight of neighboring ridges also blanketed in snow. Even Newfound Gap is in sight as I enjoy the unique perspective up the Oconaluftee Valley only available this time of year. Finally reaching the top of the climb I pause to put my jacket back on and take in the cold silence. On the ascent thoughts were on a decision to take a pause in my hiking and blogging hobby to focus on other life priorities, but standing at this place looking out at these views….how can I? Very soon I move out of base camp and my walks are sure to decline, but I can’t imagine leaving this special place for any extended period of time. I start the slippery descent on the southern slope thinking about next week, reaching the bridge at the end of the walk just as the first snowflakes start to fall. [caption id="attachment_1186" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="More views of Thomas Ridge"]
[/caption] Low elevation on today’s 6.1 mile loop walk was around 2200’ on the Smokemont Loop Trail and high elevation was near 3500’, also on Smokemont Loop Trail. The loop included about 2070’ of overall climbing. For pics of this walk, click the link below:
Smokemont Loop(Opens in new window)
Dan DeSetto
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A decent snow finally falls in the Columbia, SC area – February 13, 2010
Ok, so this post has absolutely nothing to do with hiking in the Smokies, but I couldn't resist posting pictures of an extremely rare event for this area of the world. What started as a forecast for about 1/4" of snow turned into a bonefide winter event, with somewhere north of 5" falling on my home in central South Carolina. The Columbia area is in what they call the Midlands of South Carolina...midway from the beaches to the southeast and the mountains to the northwest. It rarely snows. In fact it often snows just a few miles north of us, and my sons watch with frustration as they miss out on the 'fun'. But every once in a while the exact right conditions occur and we get a nice snow, as was the case Friday and Saturday. It was our biggest snowfall since 2002 and is probably going to wind up being in the top 10 on record for the area. We had a lot of fun with it, but I'm long overdue for a strenous walk in the mountains. Hopefully soon I'll be back up there.
[caption id="attachment_1165" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="A rare scene for the Deep South"]
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For pics of the top 10 snow, click the link below:
Snow in Southtown(Opens in new window)
