23 April 2019
I went from the most peaceful, restful night of my camping career at High Falls State Park to the worst night at Fort Wilderness. Someone over on the next hill seems to have a kennel of dogs that are kept outside. They started howling and barking around 6 pm and maybe let up around 2 am. I mean loud. I think one of the bayers was a Tennessee Blue Tick Hound from the sound of it. Another sounded like a blood hound. Not to be left out was some small happy dogs. I think I counted 5 distinct barks. To add to the excitement, someone was shooting a rifle. They were apparently a very bad shot because they kept shooting. At one stage, they let off a semi-automatic round. Peaceful.
Finally around 11:30 pm I used the app on my iPhone to generate white noise. The good news is are the dogs are at it again this afternoon, so I can assume I can look forward to another baying session.
I did discover one thing about my 30F sleeping bag. You stay warm and toasty except for the top of the bag. It wasn’t terribly uncomfortable, but you could tell your upper body was cooler than your lower body. I solved the problem by putting another sleeping bag (50F) over the top of the first one. It was perfect.
Whoever said Smokemont Loop Trail was excellent for wildflowers knew what they were talking about. It was wildflower nirvana. The loop is 5.9 miles (often referred to as a 6 mile loop) but since you have to walk a ways to the trail head and then back to your car after the loop is completed, it is about 6.3 miles.
I began at an elevation of 2,080 feet and the peak elevation was 3,604 feet, so that figures out to 1,524 feet of elevation gain in about 3 miles. In other words, up, up, up. Most say it takes 3.5 hours to complete the loop. It took me four but I have a good excuse because I was stopping every few minutes to take photos.
I met four sets of hikers on their way up as I was on my way down. Many like to hike it in the opposite direction to get the steep climb over and done before the heat of the day. There were also two people working on the trail. It’s interesting about meeting hikers. Some want to stop and talk and others just grunt as they pass you. I prefer the talkers so I can stop and catch my breath while they talk.
The wildflowers were a riot. Even better, I found five species to add to my life list of plants. One of these (Bishop’s Cap) I’ve been looking for for years. It was also good to renew acquaintances with old finds of past trips.
After the hike, I headed to Clingmans Dome. I usually climb it every visit. My last visit, the observation tower was closed so I missed it. However, it was open today and it was packed. Cars were parked all down the sides of the road because the parking lot was full.
People thought me a little strange because I started to walk back down backwards. On the Smokemont hike, I could feel a tendon aching in my left knee. It sometimes does that when I have a long way to walk down.
I found that if I walk backwards while going down, it takes the stress off the tendon. There were a couple of people on the trail that knew what I was doing. Apparently, I’m not the only one with tendonitis while walking down hills.
I stopped by Chimney Tops to see if I could see how it was recovering from the fire. You can no longer walk up to the Chimneys. They have blocked the upper part of the trail due to fire damage and what they say are unstable conditions. I’m glad I got to see them before they blocked them off.
I started to drive to Cade’s Cove and got about 1/4 of the way and changed my mind. I was tired and hungry. I made it back to Fort Wilderness, had a nice shower, and had my freeze dried Italian pepper steak with rice and tomatoes. Yum.
Tomorrow, I head for South Mountain State Park near Connelly Springs, NC.
