Hiking Trails Blogs

Ash tree mapping volunteers needed

Smoky Mountain Hiker — Sun, 05 Sep 2010 11:42:00 +0000

The Great Smoky Mountains National Park is once again looking for Citizen Scientist volunteers to help researchers collect scientific data on ash trees by mapping the locations of these trees within the Park.

The last three volunteer mapping days for the year will occur within the next 30 days. The project, which will take several years to complete, will be used to monitor future threats from a non-native insect.

Volunteers are being invited to join park biologists and educators during field days on September 11, September 25 and October 2 (9 a.m. to 1 p.m. on each of those days). Volunteers will learn how to identify ash and other common trees found within the Smoky Mountains, read a topographic map, and use a GPS (Global Positioning System) unit.

Ash trees are at risk from the invasive, non-native Emerald Ash Borer (EAB), a beetle that can travel undetected in firewood and nursery stock from quarantined areas of the country into new locations in the Park. In 2009 the park installed EAB traps as part of a detection plan.

The traps are the bright purple triangular objects hanging in trees near campgrounds and picnic areas. U.S. Department of Agriculture research indicates the beetles are attracted to the color purple and a lure that smells like a stressed ash tree. The trap exterior is coated with a sticky material which captures insects for periodic removal by park staff.

So far no EABs have been found.

For more information on the EAB, please click here.

To volunteer, contact Ranger Susan Simpson at 865-436-1200, ext. 762, to RSVP and for the meeting location.

Jeff
HikingintheSmokys.com Detailed information on trails in the Smoky Mountains; includes trail descriptions, key features, pictures, video, maps, elevation profiles, news, hiking gear store, and more.

Grandfather Mountain – Attic Window via Grandfather Trail

tom — Sat, 04 Sep 2010 16:13:15 +0000

I needed a week to recover from this one. The Grandfather Trail along the summit ridge at Grandfather Mountain State Park is a crazy obstacle course of ladders, cable routes and 50-ton boulders. Strong hikers can do all the trails between the Mile-High Swinging Bridge and Calloway Peak in a day, I suppose, but the rest of us have to settle for saner outings like the one I did last Saturday.

This is my second try at these trails. The first took me to the Swinging Bridge and MacRae Peak; this time I decided to skip the bridge (mostly) and see if I could manage the Calloway Peak out-and-back in one outing. Not hardly. It was another of those four-miles-in-six-hours days. (See why I have to hike solo? Banana slugs make better time).

After revisiting MacRae Peak, I navigated a boulder zone and scrambled up The Chute to a cool cut between the rocks called Attic Window. From there I headed downhill, passing a fine campground called Alpine Meadow. I turned back about three hours in, when my GPS receiver informed me I’d covered a whopping 1.9 miles.

I guess I should not have waited till way down here to mention it was a perfect day for a hike and I brought home some of my best pictures in months. Then again I don’t want anybody thinking Grandfather Trail is a pleasant stroll. Invigorating, awe-inspiring and occasionally terrifying (depending on your issues with heights) describe it about right. If this blog post helps make up your mind about checking it out, you can’t say you weren’t warned.

What say we look at some pictures?

That’s MacRae Peak — the hike up there is a great test of your own nerve, and your shoes’ tread.

Excellent outcrop on Grandfather Trail.

Flumes of a mushroom, from underneath. (Trying to get pictures like this to come out is another reason why my hikes take so long.)

Here’s where it starts to get interesting. After Grandfather Gap, the trail turns right and comes to this rocky section where you grab this cable to make your way up. Sweaty hands increase the fun factor.

The fun continues with this ladder up between a gap in the rocks. This is looking down after I’d climbed the ladder.

The ladder-to-the-sky vibe is priceless.

Came across a bunch of young backpackers, including this guy carrying a whole lantern. Don’t think he’d been reading up on his ultra-light principles.

This great big dark chunk of rock is the actual summit of MacRae Peak.

Yet another ladder goes up to MacRae Peak.

Finally got some cool sky on one of my hikes.

Summit marker, placed in 1933. Must’ve been real fun to get up here back then.

This is where I’m headed next. A cleft in the rock is faintly visible on the left side of the knob. The trail climbs pretty much straight up it via The Chute.

Before you get there, though, you have to follow the trail through the middle of this pile of boulders.

A group of teens navigating The Chute. They were practicing for their big Grand Canyon adventure next spring. I wonder if the Grand Canyon has any trails this severe.

Here’s the Attic Window, which has lots of great views and scrambling opportunities. (Use your common sense, a fall off the cliffs up here would kill you dead for sure.)

Not sure how far I made it past Attic Window; all I know is the campground at Alpine Meadow is a nice place to break for lunch, if you didn’t mind the flies.

I followed Grandfather Trail back to MacRae Gap, the took a right on the Underwood Trail, which rejoins the Grandfather Trail near Grandfather Gap. Underwood is shady and downhill, but it’s a boulder field most of the way, so it’s not exactly a respite.

If you stay on Grandfather Trail long enough, you eventually reach a break in the trees where the new Top Shop is visible. The famed Swinging Bridge is over to the right.

One more look at the Blue Ridge Mountains from the summit parking lot.

Speaking of parking, two reminders:

It costs $15 a head to enter Grandfather Mountain at the main entrance. You can hike in for free from the Blue Ridge Parkway at Mile 299.5, and from the Profile Trail on the west side of the mountain. Don’t be lured by the free entrances unless you’re in really good physical condition — the hike to Grandfather Trail is wicked enough; any hiking on the actual trail will double the exertion.
After you’ve paid the fee, drive to the Black Rock Parking Area and park there if you’re planning to hike. Don’t start your hike from the summit lot next to the Swinging Bridge.

Links for this hike:

Google map

View 8-29-10-Grandfather Mountain Summit in a larger map

Challenging the South Beyond 6000 Challenge

Smoky Mountain Hiker — Sat, 04 Sep 2010 14:17:00 +0000

The September issue of Blue Ridge Outdoors Magazine has an interesting article concerning the Carolina Mountain Club's South Beyond 6000 Challenge.

The South Beyond 6000 Challenge, also known as SB6K, involves climbing 40 peaks in the Southern Appalachians that exceed 6,000 feet in elevation. Although the challenge is jointly sponsored by both the Carolina Mountain Club (CMC) and the Tennessee Eastman Hiking and Canoeing Club, the CMC is the club that administers the program.

Upon completion of all 40 peaks, hikers receive a certificate of recognition and a patch.

The 40 peaks included in the SB6K are contained within 6 mountain ranges: the Smokies, Plotts, Balsams, Craggies, Blacks, and Roans. You can click here to see the complete list of peaks included in the Challenge.

In the aforementioned article, Blue Ridge Outdoors makes the point that the Challenge is ignoring 64 other peaks in the region that exceed 6000 feet in elevation. They make the claim that for the SB6K to be truly legitimate, it should include all 104 peaks. I think I tend to agree.

Please click here to read the article.

Jeff
HikingintheSmokys.com

Cabins for your fall visit to the Smokies

Smoky Mountain Hiker — Sat, 04 Sep 2010 11:24:00 +0000

For anyone considering a trip to see the fall colors in the Great Smoky Mountains this autumn, it's probably a good idea to make your plans and reservations in the very near future. October in the Smokies is the second most popular month in terms of number of park visitors. And with the awesome beauty the fall season provides, it's really no wonder.

So, now is the time to find that perfect cabin or chalet before it's too late.

Many of you already know that HikingintheSmokys.com provides detailed hiking information for many of the trails in the Smoky Mountains; however, we also provide cabin and chalet listings for Gatlinburg, Townsend, Pigeon Forge and the North Carolina side of the Smokies.

If you are planning a visit to the Smokies this fall, please take the time to check out our cabin and chalet listings by clicking here. Supporting our sponsors helps keep this blog and the hiking website up and running.

Thank you!

P.S. If you are a planning a trip to the Smokies this autumn, be sure to check-in next week to see my list of recommended hikes throughout the fall season.

Jeff
HikingintheSmokys.com

Clingmans Dome Road to close for one week

Smoky Mountain Hiker — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 15:51:00 +0000

Clingmans Dome Road in the Great Smoky Mountains will be closed from September 13-17 for improvements to the Clingmans Dome parking area.

The work is the final phase of the repaving project that began back in February. Contractors will be doing paving, striping and regrading of the gravel shoulders on the visitor parking lot to the observation tower.

Jeff
HikingintheSmokys.com