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Fresh snow on the Appalachian Trail at sunrise, between Siler's Bald shelter
and Derrick's Knob shelter |
Total Mileage: Approximately 57 mi
Straddling the mountainous border between Tennessee and North Carolina, Great Smoky Mountains National Park is the most visited national park in the country. Though over nine million travelers visit the park each year, only 15% visit the North Carolina side of the park. In fact, the largest stretch of 'un-roaded' wilderness east of the Mississippi river lies in the western section of the park, bounded by US 441 to the east, Fontana Lake to the south, and Cade's Cove to the north. This region affords many hiking opportunities, such as the Hazel Creek Trail (one among many, many others).
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| Trace of the entire hike through the park |
Day 1:
We left Atlanta fairly early on Friday, Dec. 13th, close to 6:00 AM. The drive to the Fontana Trailhead is somewhat longer than the drive the Cherokee, as the roads are more winding and there isn't as direct a route. Needless to say, we arrived at the trailhead near 10:00 AM. Last year, I learned the hard way that there is a parking lot at the trailhead. If you park at the Fontana Dam visitor center, the hike to the trailhead adds an additional 1.5 miles on pavement - not terrible to start off your hike with, but miserable to end your hike with.
Two trails leave from the trailhead. The Appalachian Trail (AT) begins a steep ascent to the Shuckstack on one side of the parking lot, and the Lakeshore Trail meanders its way along the north shore on Fontana Lake to the right. The trails are very well marked, and given the arduous climb to the Shuckstack, it would be difficult to mistake the AT for the Lakeshore Trail.
The first 5.2 miles from the trailhead until backcountry site (BC) #90 is relatively uneventful. The Lakeshore Trail keeps a fair distance from Fontana Lake, so most of your views are obstructed. There is one minor climb involved over a small ridge (probably 500 ft or so), but at the beginning of the hike this was no problem. The trail itself follows an old road, so there's adequate room for 2 hikers to walk side-by-side. Some relics from the old settlements can be seen along this trail, mainly warped pieces of metal and old car frames.
Numerous residents and several small towns were entirely displaced following the creation of the lake in the early 1940's (the dam was needed to provide power for increased aluminum production to aid the war effort). To placate displaced residents, the TVA promised to construct a road on the north shore of the lake, connecting Fontana Dam to Bryson City, allowing relatives to visit their family graves. The National Park Service purchased the land, and the construction of the road was delayed. Eventually, it was determined that the road would cost $770 million to complete, and cause quite an environmental impact. The NPS (and TVA, I presume) compromised by providing relatives free boat rides from Fontana Marina to visit graves.
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| Eagle Creek, at BC #90, with the large clearing to the right |
The Benton MacKaye Trail merges with the Lakeshore Trail about half a mile before BC #90, having come down along the Lost Cove Trail from the AT. The Lakeshore Trail turns and follows a small creek until BC #90 is reached. The site itself is pretty nice, sheltered in the woods next to a pretty large clearing on the shore of Eagle Creek. We walked down to Eagle Creek and made lunch on the shore. The clearing has some tall grasses, but is also pretty muddy. I wouldn't be surprised if the lake reaches this high occasionally.
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| My friend's pack while stopped for lunch |
The Lakeshore Trail continues by heading up Eagle Creek for 0.8 mi., crossing a small footbridge and a much larger bridge over Eagle Creek. Once Eagle Creek is crossed, the Eagle Creek Trail continues up Eagle Creek to the left (eventually emerging on the AT at Spence Field Shelter), and the Lakeshore Trail begins another climb to the right (500 to 700 ft.). Once again, the trail from here is relatively uneventful, with an occasional view of the lake. Once BC #88 is passed on the right, more ruins from the town of Proctor appear.
Most notably, on a small side trail to the left is a small sign indicating 'no horses allowed'. We ditched our packs, as I knew there were several graveyards in the area. The side trail began a (maybe) 0.5 mile strenuous climb to s small graveyard located on a ridge above Proctor. Many of the graves were from the mid 1800's, including several Confederate soldiers ('CSA' - Confederate States Army). I heard that those living on the NC side of the Smokies supported the Confederacy, while those living in Cade's Cove were pro-Union, leading to 'bushwacker' raids across the mountains. Continuing down the Lakeshore Trail, another larger graveyard (without the climb) is encountered, containing the graves of Moses and Patience Proctor, the first settlers in the area.
The Hazel Creek Trail is reached just after passing a small cabin that's still maintained by the Park Service. A bridge crosses Hazel Creek, and after a short distance to the right BC #86 is reached (this site is actually where the town's baseball field once was). The site has several good spots, though the access to Hazel Creek is more difficult than most creek-side sites. There was quite a bit of down wood in the area, most of which was dry due to a recent lack of rain. I knew that rain was forecast for late that night, so we strung up a cheap $7 tarp I bought at REI before the trip.
Day 2:
As predicted, a steady rain began at some point during the night. We were happy to have strung up the tarp the night before, as our tent door opened under the tarp rather than into the rain. We slept later than I normally would have, in hopes that the rain would subside. Also, we only planned a short hike for the day, approximately 9 miles up the Hazel Creek Trail to BC #82.
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| A wet start to day #2, at BC #86 on Hazel Creek |
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The location of the old lumber mill is a short distance up the Hazel Creek Trail.
Thankfully, the structure gave a good respite from the rain. |
Continuing our wet hike up Hazel Creek, we decided to take a short break underneath a bridge over Hazel Creek. Thankfully, during our break the rain tapered down, eventually subsiding. Hazel Creek is pretty wide during the first 4.5 miles of the trail, requiring large bridges to cross. There are quite a few cascades on the creek, but due to the rain I wasn't able to get any decent pictures. The whole area had been logged in the late 1800's and early 1900's; it was pretty incredible to see how quickly the land had recovered.
About halfway up the first 4.5 mile section of the Hazel Creek Trail is BC #85; this site is right on Hazel Creek, and is a good place to stay (stayed there one night at about this time last year). The trail continues to follow Hazel Creek very closely until the next backcountry site (#84, I think). At this location, the Jenkins Ridge Trail leaves Hazel Creek and follows another smaller creek for several miles before beginning a brutal ascent of Jenkins Ridge. A large vein of copper was discovered in the area in the last century; legal issues precluded the owner of the land from ever extracting any quantity of copper. The Jenkins Ridge Trail is notorious for its onerous climb to the AT (which I can attest to, after hiking the trail a year ago in the rain). The ascent to the AT via the Hazel Creek Trail is longer, but no where near as brutal.
Another several miles up the Hazel Creek Trail past the junction with the Jenkins Ridge Trail is BC #83. We debated staying at this site rather than #82 if the rain hadn't subsided; thankfully, the rain had long since ceased. BC #83 is a very large site, and could handle quite a few groups of hikers. Some old structures must have once existed here, evidenced by an old stone wall along an embankment. Also at this location is the junction with the Bone Valley Trail; for the sake of time and the inclement weather, we decided to continue up the Hazel Creek Trail rather than explore the Bone Valley Trail.
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| Crossing the Bone Valley Creek, at BC #83 |
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| Looking up the Bone Valley Creek |
The trail is fairly typical between the Bone Valley Trail and BC #82; occasional views of the creek, and mostly deciduous forest. A small cabin outpost for backcountry park service employees is passed at the junction with the Cold Spring Gap trail (another trail which I've heard is notoriously difficult). BC # 82 is a good site right next to the creek, though not very large. In the anticipation of more rain, we once again set up the tent with the entrance underneath a tarp. Thankfully, the remoteness of the site and the time of year meant there was ample availability of downed wood, allowing us to make a good fire.
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| BC #82 on Hazel Creek |
Day 3:
It began raining during the night, with the rain eventually turning into an icy mix of snow and sleet. Thankfully, by the time we exited the tent the ice had stopped falling. One reason I loved having the tarp with us was the space to pack up the tent and backpacks on dry ground - there's nothing worse than packing wet items into a backpack in the rain!
As we continued our hike up the Hazel Creek Trail, the amount of accumulated snow and ice began to build. It's surprising that such a slight difference in elevation can have such a pronounced impact on the weather. Several miles up the trail from BC #82, the trail crosses a foot bridge over a small tributary, signifying the start of the 'no horses allowed portion of the trail.
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| Hazel Creek slowly meandering through the woods |
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| The trail stays very close to Hazel Creek |
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| More accumulated snow with increasing elevation |
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| Footbridge signifying the upper portion of the Hazel Creek Trail |
At this point, the trail begins to climb at a steeper pace, and Hazel Creek becomes more tumultuous as a result. Unfortunately for us, this location also signifies the end of convenient foot bridges - river crossings are required beyond this point. The total number of river crossings is probably a dozen. I didn't count; I was too busy changing from boots to water shoes and back again. The frigid water was extremely painful on the feet; so cold, in fact, that the pain from constricting veins was almost excruciating.
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| Small cascade along Hazel Creek |
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| Me at a typical crossing of Hazel Creek - just deep enough to need sandals/water shoes |
Unfortunately, the cold and river crossings prevented me from really enjoying this part of the creek and also from being able to take many quality pictures. The trail begins a small climb shortly before the Hazel Creek Cascades; you can hear the cascades through the trees at this point. The trail crosses the creek for the last time above the cascades, and begins an arduous ascent up the Welch Ridge Trail. Much more snow had fallen along the upper switchbacks of the Hazel Creek Trail.
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| The Hazel Creek Trail switch-backing to the Welch Ridge Trail |
It was a great relief to finally see the sign indicating the Welch Ridge Trail, and a distance to the AT (near which was our shelter for the night). By this point in the late afternoon, the temperature had plummeted significantly and the wind was relatively intense. As a welcome relief, the sun finally broke through the clouds, creating some interesting (and difficult) photo opportunities. The Welch Ridge Trail by itself isn't terribly difficult, but after crossing Hazel Creek a dozen times and then climbing several thousand feet, the short climbs that do exist along the Welch Ridge felt amplified well-beyond their actual difficulty.
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| Finally, the Welch Ridge Trail! |
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| Sunlight along the Welch Ridge Trail |
We finally reached the AT, and immediately began a short climb to the top of Siler's Bald, which was our high point along the entire loop at 5607'. There were some fantastic vistas from the top, but once again I was too exhausted to really take advantage of the opportunity. I was just too excited to reach the shelter and take off my pack for the night. By this point, anything that was wet from crossing the river had frozen totally solid.
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| The Appalachian Trail heading 'south' towards Siler's Bald Shelter |
Not much too say about reaching Siler's Bald Shelter. We were fairly exhausted by this point, by collected a good heap of firewood anyway just to keep busy and stay warm. The wood felt dry and cracked nicely when broken, but alas, was soaking wet but frozen solid. We tried in vain for quite some time, but were never able to get the fire going. The sun set very early, as it was close to the winter solstice. The full moon rose shortly thereafter, and created some nice night time pictures. Sleep came quickly, despite the best efforts of a hearty colony of rodents in the shelter.
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| Full moon over Siler's Bald Shelter |
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| Siler's Bald Shelter at night - note the stars. |
Day 4:
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| Beautiful sunrise near Buckeye Gap |
We were decently rewarded for our efforts the previous day with a beautiful sunrise along the AT heading 'south' from Siler's Bald Shelter. I say 'south' because this is the general direction to get to Springer Mountain on the AT, though you are actually heading west at this particular spot. Though generally downhill, our hike along the AT was by no means easy. The trail often undulates severely, descending only to ascend to near the same elevation, time and time again. We encountered another group near Derrick's Knob Shelter around 9:00 AM - I was relatively impressed to hear that they had left that morning from Spence Field - that's quite a hike, and I'm sure they didn't sleep much the night before.
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| Derrick Knob Shelter |
The hike along the AT is nice, though there aren't as many fantastic views as you would expect - even less so in the summer months. The trail continues it's incessant undulations until Thunderhead Mountain, at which point you climb significantly to the summit at 5527' elevation. This should indicate the difficulty of the day - even though we had traveled about 8 miles from Siler's Bald, our net elevation loss was only 70 feet or so. The views from Rocky Top, just beyond Thunderhead Mountain, are by far the best of this portion of the trail. Not a whole considering how many climbs and falls there are in between. By this point in the day, the sun had melted most of the snow. Unfortunately, the wind continued to knock pieces of hard ice on us all day from the trees.
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| Thunderhead Mountain looming in the distance |
Our original plan was to stay at Spence Field, but we decided to push on to Mollie's Ridge Shelter since we didn't want to brave the much larger river crossings along the Eagle Creek Trail. We took a break at Spence Field to recharge, and refilled our water bottles from the small spring about a quarter mile down the Eagle Creek Trail. The trail between Spence Field and Russell Field is unimpressive, and very much resembles the rest of the AT in the vicinity. We ate a quick dinner at Russell Field, and talked to some overnight hikers staying at the shelter. It was dark by this point, so we donned our headlamps, descended sharply to Big Abrams Gap, and ascended to Devil's Tater Patch / Little Bald at 4800'. Mollie's Ridge Shelter is just beyond this point - thankfully, we had the shelter to ourselves, as we were getting in somewhat late. It was one of those nights where you get to the shelter and just collapse into your sleeping bag for a fitful night of sleep. The lights of several cities in eastern TN are visible from the shelter, taunting you with their false promises of greasy fast food and warm beds.
Day 5:
Another very early morning - we got up around 4:00 AM to hike the last segment of the AT to Fontana Dam. It was another bitterly cold morning, accentuated by having to fill up water bottles in the meager spring below the shelter. The trail falls and climbs several miles to Doe Knob, at which point the steepest descents begin. The sun didn't begin to rise until near Greer Knob. I wish I had a better view and the motivation to get out the camera, as the sun was rising in the east over a mist-filled Fontana Lake while the moon set in the west over Gregory Bald. If it wasn't for the thick trees in the area, this would have been a stunning panoramic shot. The trail makes several minor rises and falls before the side trail to backcountry site #113, at which point the trail climbs fairly consistently to the Shuckstack at 4020'. Both times I've hiked by Shuckstack I've been too tired to actually climb it. One of these trips I'll finally make it to the top. Shuckstack marks the last and final climb of the day - from this point on, it's a brutally steep descent to Fontana Dam, with several nice views along the way.
