Another Saturday Surprise on the AT....!
Oh yeah, it was a good day to be on the AT in the Smokies. Saturday, 9/20/2008 found
me pulling-on my long-sleeved shirt as I stepped out of my car into the 48 F temperatures near the peak of 6,643'
Clingman's Dome. Clear skies and a brisk breeze out of the north made this feel more like a November day instead of
mid-September.
I was here to check out the newly renovated Double Springs Gap hiking shelter some 3 miles to
the west along the Appalachian Trail (AT). Yeah, I know you AT purists think there are only two directions along the
AT: North or South. My compass reads WEST for this hike.
An Appalachian Trail Conservancy (ATC) van loaded with young
people pulled into the parking area just behind me and replied to my inquiry that they were bound for Andrew's Bald to improve
the routing of Forney Ridge Trail thru that area. I was invited to join-in the "fun" but opted for my version of a fun
day instead of more work--I'd already had plenty of work at home this week.
The object of my hike, Double Springs Gap shelter, was one of four
shelters remaining in the Smokies that had the old-style chain link fencing across its front. Over the past couple of weeks it had been the object of an extensive renovation project and
I was here to check out the final results.
I'm pleased to report that visitors to the renovated Double Springs
Gap shelter should be very happy with the new accommodations. Check out all of the photos I've posted for the newest place to hang your pack along the AT.
There were a few pleasant and unexpected surprises on this hike:
- Red Crossbills dining on ash from the fireplace at the shelter (do crossbills need the ash to temper their diet of conifer
seeds from spruce and fir trees?). Each time I've seen Red Crossbills in the Smokies they have been eating ash residue
from chimneys in hiking shelters. Perhaps there is some essential nutrient in ash residue that red crossbills need.
Why haven't I seen them in fire rings? Hmmm.
- Red raspberries were ripe and delicious along the trails! How is it that all of those hikers have missed these?
My good luck, eh?
- Stiff gentian flowers were in bloom around the parking area for Clingman's Dome. This near-dwarf variety of gentian is rarely
seen in the Smokies.
- Enjoy my hike via the captioned photo gallery that I've uploaded.
- Read more about the hiking shelters in the Smokies and link to photos of all of them on my Hiking Shelters webpage.
- Read the knoxnews.com story by Morgan Simmons about the shelter renovation here: Helping hikers' havens: Volunteers improve Appalachian Trail shelters
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
