Diversity. That is what I wanted for my hike Monday, 4/30/07,
and the 11.6 mile trek in the Smokies along Kanati Fork, Thomas Divide and Newton Bald trails delivered the goods. Mondays
are usually good times to be on park roads since it seems all those tourists that plug-up the asphalt on the weekends have
disappeared. It took me only 90 minutes to drive to the trailhead at Newton Bald trail (near Cherokee, NC) using some
of that $3.02/gallon gasoline I'd purchased earlier in the morning (yes, my buggy drinks premium).
Click here to see a high resolution custom topo map of this area.
I parked at Newton Bald trailhead partly because the Kanati Fork parking
area was closed for use as a turn-around for the construction vehicles paving the road in that area. I stuck out my
thumb and the very first car stopped to give me a ride the 4 miles back to Kanati Fork trailhead. Blow me down, I've
rarely been so lucky. I hit the trail around noon and exited at my car at Newton Bald trailhead around 6:15 pm.
Kanati Fork trail climbs steeply almost 3 miles to join Thomas Divide
trail at an elevation of 4,975' - a gain of about 2,125'. I hardly noticed the grade because of all the beauty along
this trail. The trail never actually crosses Kanati Fork but there are numerous little feeder streams that slice
thru the trail again and again. This is the ideal situation for wildflower viewing. I highly recommend Kanati
Fork as a spring wildflower hike. Even after that nasty early April freeze this trail still had plenty of showy flowers.
It is also an excellent trail for Turk's Cap Lily but those won't be blooming for another couple of months. It
looked to me as though the wildflower show started here in early April so if you're thinking of a hike in April, pick Kanati
Fork. You'll probably have it completely to yourself. My favorite find on this trail: Painted Trillium!
Thomas Divide trail is an old friend from many hikes during times when
the valley areas are sweltering with hot, humid weather. April is just a wee bit early to enjoy wildflowers at the 5,000'
elevations found along this trail but I still enjoyed seeing early foliage for thousands of small false hellebore and hundreds
of Turk's cap lily plants. I even spotted a few pink lady's slippers that were nearly ready to bloom. The section
of Thomas Divide trail between Sunkota Ridge and Newton Bald is showing lots of damage from overuse by horses and will need
repair soon. They've just about destroyed the trail surface in this area.
Turning onto Newton Bald trail the sign said I had 5.4 miles to go.
After lots of hill climbing I was about ready for some downhill stuff. Newton Bald delivers that in spades as it drops
from around 5,075' to about 2,175' along its length. It is mostly a steady descent but I did remember a few of those
hot summer days when I was going the other direction (up!) along this trail. Downhill is good--especially for
the last section of a hike. The flowers and other foliage along Newton Bald trail are much like that along Kanati
Fork. The trails aren't far apart and are on the same (eastern) side of the mountain. Both trails cross several
small feeder streams and are generally more moist than dry although none of the streams are large enough to cause trouble
for crossing by hikers.
I paused for a quick lunch and change of socks around 3 pm just a mile
or so along Newton Bald trail. The biting gnats just about persuaded me to skip lunch. It is that time of year
again so remember to take a hat, glasses and bug repellent--all three seem to be needed to fend-off the bloodsuckers.
Without glasses they tend to fly directly into your eyes (Kamikaze Gnats).
Mother of All Bears?
About 1/2 way down Newton Bald I heard what sounded like the Mother
of All Bears crashing thru the brush just around the curve ahead. Turns out it was two large elk galloping down
the trail in front of me. This is the first time I'd encountered elk on a trail in the Smokies. They ran down
the trail ahead of me about 1/2 mile before turning off into the thickets. That was quite exciting!
All three trails had lots of new windfalls (downed trees). I
was able to pass over/under/around but it would have been a bit tricky for a backpacker. Hopefully the park service
will get these cleared over the next few weeks. Many of the windfalls were large diameter trees and in one place the
root ball had completely taken-out the trail.
Highlights for the Newton Bald trail were the elk, another nice stand
of painted trillium and, near the bottom, a solitary pink lady's slipper in full bloom. This is one of the best trails in the park for speckled wood lily, aka Clinton's Lily; these should begin
blooming about mid-May. Overall this 11.6 mile loop is a nice day hike route with moderate difficulty. If
you don't have a 2 car shuttle then be prepared to walk an additional 4 miles between trailheads along Newfound Gap road,
unless of course you get lucky like me and have another hiker-friendly driver give you a ride. Check out my photo gallery for this hike to get the rest of the story.
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