Clingman's Dome to Davenport Gap

Appalachian Trail Journal
October 4th through 9th, 2003

October 4, 2003

We plan to do the rest of the AT through the Smoky Mountains this trip. From where we've got to start, Clingman's Dome, it will be about 40 miles to Davenport Gap. We had made arrangements with a shuttle service north of Gatlinburg, "A Walk in the Woods," for a shuttle, parking, and a place to stay tonight. We drove through Townsend, stopped by the Orvis Outfitter and had our first disappointment. Last year they had a tremendous sale of outdoor clothing, some gear and other items. This year there is no outdoor clothing or gear at all. They apparently were clearing out all the items not associated with fly fishing last year and it appears they did a good job. We drove on through Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg and made it to our efficiency apartment about 4 p.m. Gatlinburg was bumper to bumper and we were glad when we finally made it through that traffic. We finished watching the Alabama / Georgia ballgame, (Bama lost), and then watched Auburn beat Tennessee.

October 5, 2003

We got up early and took a shower before hunting a place to eat breakfast. We stopped at a small store / restaurant and had a good breakfast. We went through our packs again and I took out several of the snack food items we had extra. My pack weighed 35 pounds with 3 quarts of water and 4 days of food for two people. Patsy's pack weighed 25 pounds.

Eric, of "A Walk In The Woods" shuttle service, was waiting for us. We loaded our gear in his van and parked our truck at his house. At 8:05 a.m. we were headed toward the Clingmans Dome parking lot. Eric is well versed in the flora and animal life found in this area and we enjoyed talking with him during the trip. He pointed out that the trees in the median of the Clingmans Dome parking lot were core drilled and found to be a little over 400 years old. They are not much bigger around than I am.

We left the van at 9:05 a.m. and headed up to the paved walkway leading to the Clingmans Dome Tower. We met several people coming down and a few passed us going up. The weather is much different this year compared with last year. We have high overcast skies but the visibility is 78 miles according to the Ranger station. It was the best we've ever had on any visit to the Smokies.

We dropped our packs below the tower and climbed the ramp for a look over the mountains. This is the highest point on the AT, 6643 feet, but not the highest point in the Smokies although it is close. The view is spectacular. I took several pictures and we were soon on our way north, on the AT, actually east as this trail goes. We have about 12 miles to hike today. Our home for the night is Icewater Springs Shelter, 3 miles east of Newfound Gap. The trail descends steeply for awhile and is eroded badly. There are several places the drop offs in the trail are 2 and 3 feet deep. In some places the trail was actually that deep. It would be impossible to walk on during a heavy rain, as the water would be up to your knees or higher. The leaves had started to change and we saw evidence of a recent frost along the ground vegetation. The views are outstanding and we stopped frequently to enjoy them.

Patsy was making good time considering the trail conditions. The temperature was in the high 50’s all day. About 3.4 miles from Clingmans the Sugarland Mountain trail intersects the AT. The first shelter east of Clingmans, Mt. Collins, is a half-mile down that trail. It took us 2 hours and 35 minutes to get here. We ate lunch before reaching Indian Gap. A day hiker came by, stopped and asked us if we'd seen the fresh bear scat on the trail near where we stopped for lunch. It took us 2 hours to cover the 2.8 miles between the trail to Mt. Collins shelter and Indian Gap. Indian Gap comes out to the road going to Clingmans Dome parking lot. There is a small parking area here. We are 1.7 miles away from Newfound Gap.

Not far up the trail from Indian Gap the NPS has put up web wire "hog barriers" to protect the vegetation in the area. The sign explains there are 20 such sites in the Smoky Mountains. We are hiking through a huge stand of Balsam Fir trees with beech and spruce mixed in also. The forest is beautiful. We climbed up to the road at Newfound Gap in about an hour from Indian Gap. We had to wait 4 minutes before the traffic was spaced far enough for us to cross to the parking area. I'll bet there were 300 to 400 people there. It was so crowded we had trouble getting through with our packs on. Patsy was interested in using the facilities, the last modern one for a few days and we finally made our way to the public restroom. You can imagine what kind of condition they were in with that crowd of people around.

The trail from Newfound Gap to Icewater Springs shelter is said to be the most used section of the AT. It is 3 miles to Icewater Springs and 3.8 miles to the popular overlook "Charlies Bunion". There is also a trail that intersects the AT at 2.7 miles that hikers use to reach LeConte Lodge and shelter. We met dozens of hikers coming back down the trail. One of the most unique trail names in the Smokies is found on this section: Sweat Heifer Creek Trail intersects the AT from the North Carolina side. The views into North Carolina are great. We had dropped off the ridgeline and are climbing back up now.

We made the 3 miles to Icewater Springs Shelter in just about 2 hours. It took us 7 hours and 35 minutes total time to reach the shelter from the parking lot at Clingmans. 11.4 miles total mileage for today. There were 6 people already in the shelter. Randy and Micki from Michigan were the friendliest. They are hiking the same way and using the same shelters as we have planned. I took off my wet tee shirt and put on my long sleeve fleece shirt and my pullover. Patsy bundled up in her rain jacket and pants. We hadn't noticed how cool it was until we stopped hiking. We rolled out our pads and sleeping bags and I began to get supper ready. The water source is a spring another 50 yards or so past the shelter on the trail. We could see Cherokee, NC from the front of the shelter.

The weather has been just right today. The temperature stayed in the low to mid 50's all day and the sky was slightly overcast although the sun did break through a few times. The yellows and reds of the changing foliage were nice along the trail. Patsy and I enjoyed supper and soon were ready to bear bag all our stuff. The bear cable is less than 50 feet from the shelter and is one of the lowest I've seen. Still plenty high enough but lower than several we've used in the Smokies.

Most were in bed by 7:30 p.m. but that is way to early for me. I gave Patsy a "Hot Hands" packet that I had packed for her to warm her sleeping bag. I sat out by the fire ring and watched the Moon and Mars hide and then shine out from behind the clouds. I tried to take several pictures of them in the clouds. I didn't remember to get my journal out of my pack so it is pulled up on the bear cable and more trouble than I want to go through to retrieve it for tonight. So I sat out and tried to make out the constellations, looked at the Milky Way and enjoyed the peaceful setting. I was thankful Patsy had enjoyed the day and made it without any feet problems. She set a good pace and we enjoyed the trail together. We are slower than most hikers but that's OK with us.

I went to bed around 10 p.m. when the clouds completely covered the sky. The temperature was 50 degrees. I put my tee shirt that I wore today inside my sleeping bag so it would be dry by morning.

October 6, 2003

We had a hard downpour of rain around 1 a.m. and then again at 3 a.m. It stopped raining about 5 a.m. The temperature was mild; 50 degrees at 1 a.m. I didn't rest well as everyone but Patsy and me snored and I'm not so sure about Patsy. I got up at 6 a.m. and brought our packs to the shelter from the bear cable. All the remodeled shelters, if there is a bear cable available, have the fences removed. We carried a 50-gallon construction grade garbage bag and put both packs in it. I placed the hook of the bear cable under the hand hold straps between the shoulder straps of our packs and then twisted the open end of the bag shut around the bear cable and tied it with a piece of string. The packs stayed dry and our food was safe.

It was a little chilly with a light breeze blowing as we ate breakfast. I took a couple of pictures of the shelter and we were on the trail at 7:05 a.m. The trail weaves along a narrow ledge most of the day. In some places the ledge was only 2 feet wide! It ranged from 2 feet to almost 5 feet in several places. It made for interesting hiking. The views again today are breath taking. We walked through Rhodedendrum tunnels, Mountain Laurel and thick ferns for most of the morning. The first landmark as such today is the poplar day hike destination, Charlies Bunion. The small rock out cropping is called "Fodder Stack" and the higher peak Charlies Bunion. Patsy and I climbed to the top of Charlie Bunion and another hiker who had spent the night at Icewater Springs was already there. There is a 360-degree view from the top of the Bunion and it is very nice. We spent 45 minutes looking around before heading on toward Tri Corner Knob Shelter, still 11 miles away.

At the intersection with the Dry Sluice Gap Trail some thoughtless person had left a large stuff sack with several cans of vegetables and even a Wal-Mart type mess kit. I estimated it weighed 20 or more pounds. After thinking about it we thought it might have fallen off a packhorse as horses are allowed on this part of the trail. The Dry Sluice Gap Trail leads to the Smokemont Campground and is used by horse riders to ride to the AT. If it hadn't been so heavy I would have carried it to the next shelter. Leaving food on or near the trail is a sure way to invite bear trouble. I hung it on the signpost and we left it there.

It started raining and we stopped to put our raincoats on but soon removed them. The rain slowed down to heavy drizzle and we felt better hiking without the rain gear. It continued for about an hour and soaked all the vegetation and our pant legs. We stopped for lunch at a scenic overlook and several times through the day at various places to enjoy the view. We were higher than the clouds as we hiked along the ridgeline of the Smoky Mountains. Most of the AT through the Smokies follows the state lines of Tennessee and North Carolina.

This section has several long pulls uphill. My right knee started aching for some reason. We made it to the Hughes Ridge Trail in 6 hours. Peck's Corner Shelter is located a half mile down that trail. Near this junction we met several hikers and someone's hound, equipped with a radar collar. He was headed toward the shelter with the hikers hoping for a handout. As several other hikers we had met had done, a couple of these guys commented on what a good idea Patsy had by hiking in "scrubs." It is her favorite hiking garb in nice weather.

We were still 5.2 miles away from Tri Corner Knob Shelter and were getting tired. After another 3 hours and 30 minutes we finally saw the turnoff to the shelter. We had covered 12.6 miles today in a total time from Icewater Springs of 9 hours 35 minutes. While Patsy changed into dry and warmer clothes, I started boiling water for supper. This was the worst water source yet only a pencil size stream but it is sufficient. I caught our water in a gallon zip lock bag and boiled what we needed for supper and for tomorrow morning. There is a southbound Thru-hiker here, Talon from Connecticut. He started in Maine on June 8th and said he planned on finishing in 2 weeks.

Tri Corner knob is one of the older shelters and doesn't have a bear cable. All the packs are stored inside the shelter behind the fence on "factory made" hangers. The privy smells so bad I didn't even take a picture of it. Randy and Micki finally hiked in just before dark. They had gone to Pecks Corner to get water thinking it was only 2 tenths of a mile off the trail. It turned out to be a half-mile and steep downhill so they regretted that decision. Micki is not feeling well and Patsy gave her some Tums for her indigestion. She went to bed almost immediately and I offered Randy some of our water so he wouldn't have to purify at this late hour. Everyone, 9 of us here in the shelter and a couple in a tent nearby, were in their sleeping bags by 7 p.m. I could soon tell that it was going to be a long night.

Not long after we lay down an animal screamed that we thought sounded like a panther. It sounded like a woman's scream, kinda. Either that or one of those screaming monkeys you see at the zoo!

October 7, 2003

We had a shelter full of prize-winning snorers last night. I don't sleep much anyway and lying down at 7 p.m. doesn't help me rest any better. Patsy and I were awake several times at the same time. She was cold last night when we first went to bed and I gave her my fleece pullover to help insulate her. We can roll over and make just a little noise and the snoring will stop for a little while. The trouble with doing that is we usually wake each up other making the noise! Later in the day, the lady of the couple who stayed in their tent told Patsy they could hear the snores from the shelter inside their tent 100 feet away last night.

At 6 a.m., before just before first light, I got up and everyone else soon followed. It was a little chilly: 44 degrees and clear skies. We got packed, ate breakfast and were on the trail by 6:50 a.m. The climb out of Tri Corner Knob Shelter was steep and long. But the views were great. The trail started out in good conditions but before long was covered with rocks about the size of a fist. They are hard to walk on especially with a loaded pack. It slowed us down considerably but we had all day so it didn't bother us except for the fatigue factor. I was thankful that I had boots on to help support my ankles the way they were twisting and rolling along this section of trail.

We enjoyed several more great views as we hiked along the trail. We made it to Cosby Knob Shelter, 7.7 miles in 5 hours. This shelter is in the prettiest location yet. Poplars, Beech, and Oaks are the color makers here. We had reservations to stay here tonight but had decided to hike another 3 miles to Mt. Cammerer Lookout and stay there. We purified some water and ate our lunch. There is a one eyed gentleman, John, here who is also a southbound thru-hiker. The couple who was tenting at Tri Corner Knob arrived just as we were getting lunch ready. The privy at Cosby Knob is an above ground composting type, very open to the air. As a result it is clean and doesn't smell bad at all. Patsy didn't believe it and wouldn't go near the thing.

We headed on up the trail after lunch and dropped over 700 feet in .7 mile. But that soon changed as we began a steep climb out of Low Gap. For the next 2.3 miles it is all uphill and we regained 800 feet of elevation. It took us 2 hours and 9 minutes to reach the Mt. Cammerer Lookout side trail from Cosby Knob Shelter. The forest has changed to a more deciduous forest now and lots more color along the trail was noticeable.

There had been a lot of recent horse traffic from Low Gap but we never saw one. We did have to dodge their droppings all day. The trail was eroded much worse in the sections where horses were allowed. At the next intersection the sign notes that Mt. Cammerer Lookout is .6 mile off the AT. It is well worth the time and effort to visit Mt. Cammerer Lookout. The view there rivals any I've seen in the Smokies, even the view from Shuckstack Fire Tower, on the other end of the Smokies. The different color foliage looks like a carpet spread across the mountains below us.

Mt. Cammerer was built in the late 1930's by the CCC and restored again several years back. It is built right over and on a rock ledge and was used for fire watches for several decades. There is a book inside the Lookout left there and donated by the widow of the first fire watchman at Mt. Cammerer. We enjoyed the view for over an hour before starting supper. We sat on the rocks outside the Lookout and enjoyed the view, meal and time together.

We were joined by 4 hikers from Iowa, one of them a six year old boy, and after dark by a guy with a dog. The sunset was beautiful. Patsy and I slept on the inside of the Lookout and everyone else slept on the overlook surrounding the building. The wind howled all night long and I expected them to join us on the inside but they never did.


October 8, 2003

I woke up several times overnight as the wind whistled and howled through the missing windows in the Lookout. They are all here but several have been removed for recaulking and maintenance. Patsy and I started packing up around 5:45 a.m. waiting for the sunrise. It was beautiful also. After the sunrise we walked back down the trail several hundred feet to "use the bathroom." That's one of the disadvantages and probably one of the reasons camping is not allowed at the Lookout; there is no good place in the area to "use the bathroom." There is no water source nearby either.

After breakfast we said goodbye to the Iowa hikers and we gave the youngster a hot hands packet to warm his sleeping bag tonight. We both heard him tell his dad last night that he was cold. The guy and the dog were still asleep when we left. He's taking a big risk. Not only is he camping in an illegal spot but it is also against Park regulations to have a dog on the trail. Our hike out to the AT is nice. The clouds are still lying between the mountains in the valleys and we are above the clouds looking down on them as we walk. It is indescribable if you've never seen it.

When we got back to the AT we brushed our teeth and got ready for the 4.1-mile downhill to Davenport Gap Shelter. The first mile or so of the trail was badly eroded and made for even slower hiking. The foliage is beautiful as the trail winds through Poplar, Beech, Maple, and Oak trees. Years ago someone, the CCC I suspect, did an enormous amount of stone masonry work along side the trail, building a retaining wall out of huge stones. After a couple of miles it was evident that someone was working on the trail. The tread had been sloped and new water bars had been installed to help stop the erosion.

As I mentioned earlier horses share this trail with hikers and it griped me to see that the horses had been going around the water bars on the uphill side. The trail maintainers had worked so hard to stop the tread from washing and the horses had made another path for water to run around the water bars. The water bars form a long series of 3 or 4 feet steps. I guess it is smoother on the riders for the horses to go around rather than walk the tread between the water bars.

About 3 miles from Mt. Cammerer we met the first of 8 trail maintainers, Mr. Bob Reed. He will be 70 years old in November and is carrying 2 packs, one on his back and another one across the front. He is an ATC volunteer. He said they get a tee shirt and their food for a week's work. We thanked him and expressed our appreciation for the good job done on the trail. He warned us we would meet 7 other hikers, 4 of which would be over 70 years old, all volunteering for a week of work on the AT.

We finally made it to Davenport Gap shelter, covering the 4.1 miles in 3 hours and 12 minutes. The shelter had been renovated but still had a fence, which means no bear cable. It doesn’t have a privy either. The shelter was clean. We got water from the nearby spring and ate lunch. We were only .9 mile from the road at Davenport Gap and decided to hike on out and call our shuttle for an early pickup if possible. We had scheduled to meet him on tomorrow morning but they had told us if we could call them before 3 p.m. they could pick us up this afternoon. So we are in a race against the clock now. Not really we have plenty of time and make it to the trailhead in 45 minutes.

There is a ranger station and a famous local spot, Mountain Momma’s about a mile away and our plans were to walk there to use a phone. As we reached the Gap, Patsy saw Micki, our friend from Michigan sitting near the sign. They had passed us while we were eating at the shelter and Randy had gone to the ranger station to get their vehicle. It was truly our lucky day as they were going to Gatlinburg and offered to carry us with them. Our vehicle was parked north of Gatlinburg so we accepted their generosity.

It just so happened that the route Randy took back to Gatlinburg went directly by our vehicle so he dropped us off there. I offered to pay him but he would not have any of that at all. We thanked them and said our good-byes. Now our luck changed somewhat. Our truck keys were inside Eric’s house and no one was home! Patsy noticed their cell phone in their van and used it to call them, left a message on the machine hoping they might check in before long. After about an hour they drove up, and indicated they had called to check their messages before going out for the evening. We were lucky indeed.

We settled up with Eric for the apartment, shuttle and parking and headed to find a motel with a hot shower. We stayed at the Super 8 motel on HWY 321 north of Gatlinburg, cleaned up and ate supper at the Hard Rock Café. Life is good.

We covered a little over 40 miles and saw some of the most beautiful scenery ever. We really enjoyed completing this section of the AT. Maybe next year, Davenport Gap to Hot Springs.

__________________
Uncle Wayne