We got out on the road earlier today and headed east on Hwy 441 past Newfound Gap to Clingman’s Dome, where we planned to take the trail to the observation tower. Crews were working on the road, and we spent some time behind a very slow moving vehicle and then waiting at a flagger to enter a one-lane section.
Fortunately the delays weren’t too bad, and we finally got to the road leading to Clingman’s Dome. It’s a seven-mile drive in to the parking lot from the highway, and the day was gray and a bit foggy. We worried that visibility would be minimal.
Ours was only the third vehicle in the parking lot. We looked out on a sea of white clouds with mountaintops emerging darkly above the clouds. Wow! It turned out that we were lucky and visibility was actually very good. We climbed the steep half mile trail to the observation tower. Along the way we saw lots of Western Mountain Ash sporting clusters of bright red berries. Sadly, we also saw the dead skeletons of Fraser firs, killed by the Balsam woolly adelgid,an invasive species.
As we neared the tower, we could tell that we were over 6,000 feet. We gratefully stopped a few times to read sections from the interpretive booklet. When we climbed the tower itself, the wind was whipping around us and it was very chilly. The views were awesome, with mountains and ridge lines in every direction. We were alone at the top for a while before the next couple arrived and offered to take our picture.
When we returned to the parking lot, we found some park employees just loading up a mule train with heavy wooden planks. They were heading out to work on a trail and said the planks weighed over 125 pounds. Each mule carried two.
Next we drove back to the Newfound Gap parking lot to take the Appalachian Trail (AT) to Charlies Bunion. The Rockefeller Memorial dominates the area. Rockefeller provided half the funding to create the park, in memory of his wife.
Our plan was to take the four-mile hike along the AT to short spur trail to Charlies Bunion, an unusual large rock formation from which again the views are spectacular. For some time I’ve been wanting to hike at least a small part of the AT, and this was my chance. The AT runs through the park, roughly following the North Carolina/Tennessee border. We were hiking at nearly 6,000 feet along ridge lines that offer views of sheer dropoffs to the right and the left, with mountains everywhere.
The trail is often steep and rocky and narrow, but the views and the sense of walking among the clouds along the “spine of the Appalachian Mountains” made it all worthwhile. We explored the Icewater Spring shelter, one of a series of shelters that backpackers can reserve a spot in. This one offers cables to suspend backpacks and food high out of reach of bears.
As we approached the four-mile mark, we saw the sign for the cutoff to Charlies Bunion and recalled the warnings to be careful of your footing since the dropoffs here are especially steep.
As we arrived at the Bunion, a couple that had been there before us moved on, leaving us alone with the spectacular views. After admiring the views for a bit, we sat down to eat lunch. Some little chippy dark eyed juncos came to check us out, probably hoping for crumbs from our picnic.
As we were finishing lunch, another couple came up and shortly after them a single guy who offered to take our picture. After chatting for a bit, we packed up and headed back down the trail. How lucky can we be, to have two such great experiences in one day. However, by now we were tired and hungry and ready to head home.
We got back in time to run the generator for a little over an hour and got to 97% SOC before quiet hours at 8:00 p.m. We drove over to a nearby water fountain this morning and filled up some jugs with water, which we started to pour into our fresh water tank. We have to go pretty slowly at this for some reason, or else the water just starts backing up and pours out on the ground.
We poured another gallon or so in this evening and celebrated by taking a modified “shower.” This involves running a gallon or so of hot water into a pail in the shower and then pouring it over yourself while washing up. We definitely felt much better after a wash up and dinner. Tomorrow we’ll set the alarm for 7:00 a.m. and head out a little later to hike to Rainbow Falls and Grotto Falls and drive the Roaring Falls Motor Nature Trail.
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