Another posting from my "Did you read about the time when I hiked......" series
Autumn hike (October) from Clingman's Dome along the AT, Welch Ridge, Bear Creek, Forney
Creek and Lakeshore trails.
Date of Hike: Saturday, October 21, 2006
Route: Forney Ridge Trail-->Clingmans Dome
Bypass Trail-->AT-->Welch Ridge Trail-->Bear Creek Trail-->Forney Creek Trail-->Lakeshore Trail-->Tunnel
@ Lakeview Drive (Road-to-Nowhere).
Distance: 20 miles at an average hiking speed
of 2-1/2 mph
Elevation range: From a starting elevation
of about 6,315' to a low point of 1,758' at Forney Creek and finally ending at an elevation of about 2,110' at the tunnel.
Click image to see full photo gallery (opens in new window)
An assortment of people are tending
to about 20 or 30 tripod-mounted cameras perched around the periphery of the parking area at Clingmans Dome when I arrive
at 8 am--just after sunrise--on Saturday morning. The 53 mile drive from my home (only 25 miles northwest of here
as the crow flies) was pleasant with the eastern horizon going from darkness to a lovely rose-pink glow as I got
closer and closer to the top of the mountain. My car thermometer says it is 35 F outside. That is actually a bit
warmer than it was at some lower elevations I'd driven-thru on my way uphill this morning. The attractions today are
the beautifully clear skies, stunning visibility and a chance to snap that "perfect" Smoky Mountain sunrise. Scattered
around me are enough cameras and tripods to stock a photo equipment trade show. When in Paris act like a Parisian, eh?
I linger long enough to setup my $275 camera+tripod right next to a monster-size rig which has a screw-on lens filter that
probably cost more than all of my stuff! Well, size does matter and since I've traveled here to start a
20 mile hike I've brought my smallest, most lightweight photo gear; I did not want to lug 12 or 15 pounds of tripod and
camera glass along with me (those items were left at home for days when wildflowers would be in abundance!).
The photos I snap over the next 2 minutes right before hitting the trails turn out to be very nice indeed. Those
of you wondering where to go for good sunrise & sunset photos during spring and fall seasons should check out Clingmans
Dome. Note: I'm often asked how to take good photos
and the answer is worth repeating here: First locate a nice subject to photograph; second, use a tripod; finally, practice,
practice, practice.
Readers of my Hike Journals are by
now familiar with the start of hikes from Clingmans Dome, after all, why hike uphill when you can start at the top and work
your way down?!! Today I mix it up a bit and select the Clingmans Dome Bypass trail (via Forney Ridge trail) as
a way to get to the AT instead of humping up the 1/2 mile long paved tourist path to join the AT at the peak of the mountain.
The Dome Bypass trail is very wet and
rocky but at least I have solitude and the route turns out to be more enjoyable than I'd remembered from my last hike
here some three years ago. Very fresh bear scat filled with red Mountain Ash berries show that the bears know about this route too.
Walking along the AT I'm almost overwhelmed by the views on both sides of
the narrow ridgetop trail. Just the views from this area make the journey worthwhile. I pass enough eastbound hikers
with backpacks this morning to make me glad I hadn't spent the night in Silers Bald shelter where most of them said they'd
overnighted. Mixed among them were:
An old couple ("old" is defined these days as someone at least five or ten
years older than me) who remarked it had been a very cold night in Double Spring Gap shelter,
Two college-age northbound AT thru-hikers from Michigan (they'd started at
Springer Mountain, GA and said they were going as far north as they could get before the weather stopped them--that
might be quite a while from now since even in the 35 F weather they were dressed in shorts, short-sleeve shirts and tennis
shoes!),
Two young Asian adult men who spoke very poor English and were almost jogging
in their apparent haste to either escape or get somewhere fast,
Five or six young men who asked how steep the route to Clingmans Dome was
going to be (they'd come up Jakes Creek trail and thought that was enough hill climbing for one trip), and
An attractive, smiling young woman without any apparent hiking partner
(a bit unusual these days).
I'm pleased to report there is a "moldering privy" located at Double Spring Gap shelter (honest, that is the name the park service has given these outhouses). The door
is sprung open (probably by that same bear I encountered at Spence Field shelter!) and one must bring their own paper.
I wonder why this old-style shelter rates a privy while more popular and recently renovated Silers Bald shelter still relies
upon "dig your own pit behind the bushes" technology?
Five miles after my start from Clingmans Dome, Welch Ridge trail takes me
south--down and away from the AT. Today I'll walk all but one mile of the 7.3 mile Welch Ridge trail. This will
complete for me the four miles of Welch Ridge trail between Jonas Creek and Bear
Creek trails that I'd not previously hiked. I'd taken a few photos of Welch Ridge from the parking area at Clingmans
Dome and one of these is inserted below complete with labels for various locations along the ridge.
Click image to view full size in a new window
Welch Ridge trail--what's not to like?
I like Welch Ridge trail. It needs a bit of work to cut the encroaching
8' high briars and other chest-high vegetation that threaten to retake it from us hikers but fortunately I am wearing
rain pants over my hiking trousers and they act as a welcome set of brush chaps today. I'd expected heavy dew on all
the vegetation like what I'd encountered the last time I walked this trail (see my Silers Bald-->Hazel Creek Trail hike report) but it turned out that the dew today was in the form of FROST. It's a good thing those rain pants are warm
too. I pass the junctions for Hazel Creek then Jonas Creek
trails followed by a climb up and around the ridges of Mt. Glory where I spook a couple of
Ruffed Grouse. Just about lunch time I arrive at the Bear Creek trailhead where I decide
to eat and put away some of the now-too-warm clothing I'd been wearing. It is just 6/10ths of a mile on up the trail
to High Rocks--the former fire tower site I'd visited about 10 days ago following a hike from Hazel Creek up the tortuously steep and rocky Cold Spring Gap trail.
Bear Creek trail
Six mile long Bear Creek trail wasn't anything
like the wicked route I'd been warned about by the park service trail crew I'd met on High Rocks several days ago. This
route was formerly named Jumpup Ridge trail because of the steep slope of the trail running up Jumpup
Ridge. However, aside from being a bit on the steep side (from beginning to end it drops 3,100'), Bear Creek
trail is as pleasant a walk as anyone could expect. I don't see much in the way of wildflowers or mushrooms but then
this is a mostly dry route along its upper four miles before approaching its namesake stream. I'm only about one mile
down the trail when I meet another solo hiker going uphill. We pause and chat about hiking and he reports
he'd just seen a bear near the trail; I'm hopeful I'll spot the critter but it must have gotten our scent because it is long
gone by the time I pass. Soon I'm passing Campsite #75 in an area called Poplar Flats. This is a lovely place which
I mentally tag for a future overnight visit. The trail now runs along an old railroad grade so it becomes wider and
less steep. Soon I'm at Forney Creek bridge--the end of Bear Creek trail. Note:
Place names in red font are labeled on the Welch Ridge photo (above).
Visiting Woody Cemetery along Lakeshore trail
I now retrace the route I'd taken just two days earlier walking down
Forney Creek trail and then Lakeshore trail on my way to the tunnel on Lakeview Drive (Road-to-Nowhere). This time I
make a side trip at Gray Wolf Creek to see the Woody Cemetery where I find an interesting tombstone that has
the name spelled Wooddy. I wonder which is correct? Woody Cemetery
is located near Forney Creek along the Lakeshore trail approximately one mile up on Gray Wolf Branch from Fontana Lake
high water mark. 200 yards northwest from branch on crest of third ridge left of branch. 63 Graves. Last Burial 1913.
Logistics for a hike like this are difficult at best
Janice has given-up her afternoon and driven over two hours (90 miles)
via a route that includes the infamous stretch of U.S. Hwy 129 known as The Dragon with its 218 curves
over a length of only 11 miles. She is waiting for me at the parking area at the end of the Road-to-Nowhere
near the tunnel. We make our way back to Clingmans Dome parking where I retrieve my car. Unfortunately we encounter the
worst traffic snarl we've ever experienced in the Smokies: Bumper-to-bumper crawling traffic that takes us two hours
to go from Newfound Gap to Sugarlands Visitor Center (only 12 miles). A motorcycle rider who was stopped
at a pull-out told us they'd just came from Pigeon Forge and that the traffic was moving at creeping speed only, bumper-to-bumper,
all the way thru Gatlinburg and into Pigeon Forge! Yikes. He also reported at around 9 am that morning
it had been bumper-to-bumper going uphill toward Newfound Gap. We'd noted that when arriving at Clingmans Dome to retrieve
my car that there were still cars parked on the shoulder almost 1/2 mile down the hill from the main parking area. Apparently
that area had been packed to the gills earlier in the day. Advice: Stay away from the Smokies during
leaf season on the weekends if you wish to avoid the traffic jams.
