Smokies Trip Planning

Blog Post March 19, 2013

While the world outside our home in Michigan is still wrapped in winter’s icy grip of death, our first backpacking trip of the season is drawing near!  Ten days from tomorrow we will depart in the early morning hours and begin the half-a-day drive to the mountains of Tennessee.  Our new tent arrived in the mail today, and soon we’ll be planning and shopping for our meals during the hike.  I thought today would be a good day to provide some of the details about our trip plan. 

We’ll depart from the Big Creek Campground in the northeast corner of the park.  We were planning to camp right at Big Creek Campground the night before our hike began, but the combination of federal sequester cuts and a late spring has pushed back the opening date for a number of front-country campgrounds, Big Creek included.  We did some online shopping and found a cheap hotel in nearby Newport, TN, putting us only a thirty-minute drive from the trailhead.  The hotel will have the added bonus of letting us watch our Michigan State Spartans play in the sweet sixteen of the NCAA tournament if they make it that far.

Our first day of hiking we’ll follow the Big Creek for several miles, before making the steep climb at Low Gap to joint the Appalachian Trail, a climb of 3,000 feet over 8.4 miles.  Since this will be our first day hiking with packs on since last summer, and our packs will be at their heaviest with 7 days worth of food, this promises to be a rugged day.  We’ll at least have the comforts of a shelter to look forward to that night, with reservations at Cosby Knob Shelter.

We’ll spend the next couple of days marching counter to the AT thru-hikers making their way north.  At Peck’s Corner we’ll drop off of the crest of the Smokies and follow the Hughes Ridge Trail down to Enloe Creek.  This day presents our only significant stream crossing of the trip.  We’ll camp at Enloe Creek, and then make another grueling climb up to Laurel Gap, where another shelter will await us. 

Our last full day of hiking will take us up the ridge of Mount Sterling to the summit, where we’ll spend our last night hopefully watching the sunset from the fire tower.  We’ll make a quick 4,000 foot decent down the Baxter Creek Trail the last morning, returning to Big Creek.  I’m sure we’ll be ready for hot showers and cold beverages by then!

In all, our itinerary will take us from a starting elevation of 1,700 feet to high points of 5,920 and 5,820 at separate points.  We’ll follow several mountains streams, hopefully catch a glimpse of some spring flowers and take in some stunning vistas from the high country.  Now it’s just time to start crossing our fingers for some warmer temps and clear skies…never a guarantee in the mountains in April.

Eulogy For a Tent

I can still remember the first time I got into it.  The tent had been a birthday gift from Mary in January, but we waited until we had a sleeping bag and pad that fit before we tried it out.  It was a couple of weeks before our first backcountry trip when the two-person, down filled bag arrived in the mail.  We decided to set the Marmot Earlylight backpacking tent in the living room of our apartment just to try it out.  It was a 2 person tent, provided the two people really liked each other, a domed tent with pumpkin orange sides and an entirely screen top.  With the rain fly off, it provided great site lines in all directions.  Our Big Agnes 2 person sleeping bag fit perfectly.  I was able to lie on my back and extend my legs completely without pushing against the far wall.  I remember us laying there in our apartment, trying to imagine what it would be like sleeping on a mountain, our two cats peering in curiously from outside the new contraption.

The first voyage was quite a bit less cozy.  We spent the inaugural night in our new digs on an exposed ridge in Shenandoah National Park during a severe thunderstorm.  The winds howled in ever increasing gusts that threatened to tear the tent in two.  We cowered inside; imagining every noise in the dark of the woods was a bloodthirsty bear stalking towards us.  Needless to say, we didn’t sleep a wink!

We would go on to have better nights in the Marmot tent.  Some of my favorites: sleeping beneath the towering mass of Rising Wolf Mountain in Glacier National Park, watching the sun melt into the horizon from the summit of Killington on the Long Trail in Vermont, waiting out days worth of rain in the Boundary Waters of Minnesota, the rain eventually soaking our every piece of equipment.  On Isle Royale, camped at East Chickenbone Lake, we listened to a pair of Great Horned Owls call back and forth over our tent.  At Seawall Campground in Acadia National Park, our tent was shelter from a terrifying storm that blasted the Atlantic Coast, taking two lives in neighboring New Hampshire. 

In all we’ve spent over a hundred nights in the Marmot Earlylight.  It’s been our home away from home in the north woods of Canada, the mountains of Appalachia and along many a lakeshore.  I can’t help but wonder how many woodland critters have scurried or lumbered past it, pausing to sniff its contents while we slept. 

It has been a good tent, but its time has come and gone.  Holes have appeared in the screen, an unforgivable weakness during mosquito season!  Nostalgia aside, I am always eager to pick out new gear and take advantage of advances in technology.  That said, our next tent may be lighter and may be roomier, but it will have a lot of nights to log to catch up to this one!     

The Ides of March

The signs are all around. When I leave for work in the morning, there is light in the eastern sky and my walk to the car is accompanied by an increasing number of bird songs everyday. Oh, sure, to the untrained eye winter still has us firmly in its grasp. A hard icy crust covers the earth, sculpted from the repeated process of melting and refreezing the past month. The skies are still mostly gray, the forecast still bleak. To the observant, optimistic outdoorsman, though, spring is coming, more and more everyday. Yesterday I watched four Sandhill Cranes fly over my house. The day before that brought a couple of vultures circling in the sky. The squirrels in my backyard now have to compete with a chipmunk while foraging for food. All are signs that the natural word knows winter is fading, and the world is waking up.

Inside my house, the signs are no less conspicuous. Maps and guidebooks cover every available counter and table space. The outdoor season is upon us, and everything is possible! Eventually, the constraints of time and money will whittle the possible into the practical. March, though, is for dreaming big. Taking the entire summer to drive to the Pacific Northwest? Why not? Kayaking the inside passage in Alaska? Backpacking El Camino de Santiago across Europe? No idea is un-worthy of study and consideration in the planning phases of the 2013 season. Soon we'll be hauling the backpacks out of storage, organizing the dehydrated meals, cleaning the water filter, waterproofing gear and deciding what items need to be replaced.

Our season will start in a familiar location, with a backpacking trip south to the Smoky Mountains for spring break. Weekend trips in the spring will take us to the Manistee River, the Sleeping Bear Dunes Lakeshore, Whitefish Point, and Pictured Rocks. I'll be blogging through all of it, so those of you not up for a hike, or not able to get away right now can come along with us in spirit. The goal is to welcome spring with open arms and greet the waking of the earth personally. From the first wildflowers and raging creeks of the Smoky Mountains to the icy cold and crystal clear waters of the Great Lakes as they thaw, we'll follow spring's slow and steady march north.

Our grand plans for the summer remain in the planning phase, but all of our coming spring trips are listed at the top of the page. I'll blog about the planning and preparation process over the next three weeks before we begin with our trip to the Smoky Mountains. Feel free to use the comment feature below to share any of the ways you'll be welcoming spring, whether it is a multi-day backpack, or just a walk through a neighborhood park guided by songbirds beginning their courtship rituals. It won't be long before we are all infected by spring fever!

Stowe and Vicinity

After leaving the White Mountains we drove West over the Connecticut River and towards the Green Mountains and the town of Stowe.  Stowe is one of our favorite towns out east.  We've been to Stowe twice before in the winters for skiing and were excited to visit during the summer.

Stowe is located near Smuggler's Notch.  The notch is rare point along the spine of the Green Mountains that is low enough for people to pass through without climbing up and over the mountains.  Appropriately named, Smuggler's Notch has been used by a variety of smugglers.  The trade embargo on British and Canadian goods in the 1800's was avoided by bringing goods through the narrow passageway through the mountains.  Later the notch was used by abolitionists to help slaves escape on the underground railroad.  In the twentieth century, it was used by bootleggers to get a

ween Vermont's highest peak, Mt. Mansfield and another large mountain, Spruce Peak.  In the winter both are home to ski resorts, and in the summer Mansfield provides some rare above tree line climbing.  Stowe sits nestled at the foot of these large, iconic Green Mountains, with the nearby Worchester Range of mountains visible to the East.  The area is home to many olympic skiers and snowboarders who cut their teeth on the steep, icy slopes of some of the East's hardest skiing.

The village of Stowe itself is an interesting blend of locals that have lived there for generations, wealthy folks from the cities that are visiting their summer or winter homes, and a wide range of small business owners that have managed to carve out a niche in this vacation destination.

We stayed for two nights at the Green Mountain Inn, located at the center of downtown.  The Green Mountain Inn was opened in 1833 and is full of history. Although the building is historic, it has been renovated very nicely and offers high-end accommodations, complete with an outdoor swimming pool and health club with jacuzzi and sauna.  As members of the Green Mountain Club, we were able to take advantage of a 50% discount on weeknights, putting this high priced resort right in our price range!  

While in the Stowe area we visited a number of iconic businesses.  Ben and Jerry's ice cream factory is located in nearby Waterbury.  This is a can't miss destination for any ice cream fans traveling to the area.  The factory offers guided tours of their operation regularly, complete with free tasting.  The scoop shop on site also sells a variety of flavors that aren't available in stores, including Mary's favorite, "coffee coffee, buzz, buzz, buzz."

Right down the road from Ben and Jerry's is Cold Hollow Cider Mill.  Home to some of the best cider and doughnuts I've ever had, Cold Hollow is near the top of the list of reasons I love Vermont.  Practically across the street from Cold Hollow are both the Cabot Annex Store, and a Lake Champlain Chocolates store.  The Cabot store offers free samples of a wide range of cheeses, salsas, mustards, and other products.  Cabot is a cooperative owned by Vermont dairy farmers.  They specialize in white cheddars, some of which have been aged for up to two years.  Lake Champlain is similar to Godiva chocolates.  Although they don't offer any samples, they sells really, really good chocolate!

While in Stowe we drove the Jeep up to the notch to get a preview of the terrain we'll be hiking next summer when we resume our section hike.  Near the top of the notch Vermont 108 becomes a one lane road.  It is a tricky one to navigate, with sharp hairpin turns and the threat of oncoming traffic at each blind corner.  The view, however, was spectacular.  Sharp, rocky cliffs rose at a dizzying angle on both sides of the road.  It was not hard to imagine how difficult the trail down these cliffs must be, something we will have in the back of our minds as we prepare for next year's hike.

Having enjoyed all of the comforts the town of Stowe had to offer, we decided it was probably time to begin the long drive home.  Vermont is a beautiful state full of fantastic scenery and some great independent businesses worth checking out.  We were sad to drive out of the Green Mountains, but excited to get back to our family, friends and cats.  We'll both look forward to next summer when we return to continue our through-hike!

White Mountains (and a bear!)

After packing up the campsite at Quechee Gorge State Park we began the drive to nearby New Hampshire and the White Mountains.

New Hampshire shares a long border with Vermont, being separated by the Connecticut River. One would think that these two New England states would be very similar, and in some ways they are. However, they are very different in major ways. Vermont's Green Mountains are broad, rolling hills carpeted in lush green forests. With the exception of Camel's Hump and Mansfield, all of the summits are below tree line. Even the most rugged Vermont wilderness areas are only a few miles from a quaint town with a picturesque church steeple and some friendly organic farmers. Contrast this with New Hampshire, the closest thing to true rugged terrain the East Coast has. New Hampshire's White Mountains are rocky, jagged peaks that rise sharply over dense forested valleys broken by very few roads and towns. The Whites are home to over 40 Mountains that exceed 4,000 feet in elevation. Many of the summits are above tree line. It's highest, Mt. Washington, was home to the second highest speed of recorded wind gust in the world, at over 200 miles per hour. Many unprepared hikers have required rescue on the slopes of Mt. Washington, and more than a few have perished over the years. The Appalachian Trail hikers that I have met always say that the Whites are the hardest part of the whole trail. Needless to say, we were not planning a summit attempt on this trip.

We took a scenic route through New Hampshire, using our recently purchased Trails Illustrated map to navigate through the mountain passes. The highway had many pullouts with spectacular views and places for a picnic lunch. Shortly before reaching Conway we passed a roadside park at the Lower Falls site. We noticed swarms of folks in swimsuits headed for the river. Since it was another hot day and we were on no set timetable we decided to join the crowd. It turned out to be quite the find.

The river was shallow enough to wade into in most places. The water was clear as it rushed over a series of rapids and small waterfalls. Many of the rapids were tame enough to swim, creating kind of a natural water slide. The more adventurous kids were sliding over the waterfalls, bouncing noisily over the rocks along the way. It was a strange scene for me to witness as a kayaker who has been taught to fear the natural power of water. That said, the water levels were remarkably low and it seemed safe enough today.

After a lengthy swim and some sun bathing we began to make our way back to the car. Mary slipped on some loose sand on a rock and scrapped her knee pretty badly. Last winter when we were in the Whites to ski she slipped on an ice covered rock and cut open her face. Although this was a much less severe injury, I don't think Mary is going to become friends with the White Mountains anytime soon!

After cleaning and bandaging Mary's knee we resumed the scenic drive into Conway and North Conway. We stopped for lunch at a cute little place, "the Muddy Moose.". If reminded us of the Log Jam back home. We enjoyed some delicious nachos before resuming our drive.

We took highway 16 through Pinkham Notch. This is the best place to see Mt. Washington from the valley. We would have no such luck this time, however, as it was shrouded in clouds. I imagined it must have been disappointing to the folks that climbed it!

Our scenic drive took us into Franconia Notch State Park next. I had seen pictures of this area before, but I was completely unprepared for how stunning it was. The Mountains rise sharply over the notch in all directions. The road is in more of a slot, or crack in the mountains than it is a valley. The whole area feels almost crowded out by the towering peaks in every direction.

We pulled into Lafayette Place Campground and picked out a Campsite for the night. The park employee informed us that they "have a park bear" that had been roaming the campground each night looking for food. He said when we saw it we should just shoo it away like we would a dog.

We fired up some fancy grilled cheese sandwiches with Vermont Cheddar, organic tomatoes and bakery bread from the August First Bakery in Burlington. In light of the bruin warning we were extra careful to not spill anything in the cooking process.

We never heard nor saw sign of the bear that night. In fact, it was so quiet and we slept so well that we didn't hear it start to rain. I awoke with the startling realization that I was wet sometime in the middle of the night. Judging by how wet the sleeping bag was we had slept through a decent amount of rain! We hurried to put the rain fly back on. This was a most unpleasant way to wake up and we both struggled to fall back asleep after stumbling around in the dark with the tent.

In the morning there were on and off rain showers while we packed up camp and ate breakfast. The plan had been to go on a hike up to the Franconia Ridge, above tree line. Unfortunately, the weather forecast had changed. It now called for severe weather, with large hail, heavy winds and frequent lightning. Not a good day to hike above tree line! We ditched our hiking plan and did some more driving around the mountains, stopping to explore the Basin on the Pemi River and the cascades in Crawford Notch.

Shortly after leaving the notch I noticed something black moving on the hillside. Mary pulled the Jeep over quickly. Sure enough, there was a large, black bear about 150 yards away. We hung out for a few minutes watching the big guy (or gal) dig for food in the meadow. By the time we left, a "bear jam" had been created by all of the cars that had pulled off to gawk.

We decided to drive back to Vermont after leaving Crawford Notch. The White Mountains were amazing. I would definitely like to come back to spend some more time exploring the high country on a future trip !

Quechee Gorge

 After leaving Burlington we elected to drive around Vermont and visit some of the interesting places we had driven past while shuttling vehicles between North Troy and Williamstown.  One such place was the Quechee Gorge, in the mid-east part of the state.  The Quechee Gorge is a rock canyon about 100 feet deep.  The Ottauquechee River flows at the bottom of this gorge and has been slowly carving an ever deeper path through the canyon for thousands of years.  US 4 passes over the gorge on an impressive bridge that provides a birds-eye view of the river below.  Traffic tends to slow down drammatically as people drive across and gawk at the sudden, and often unexpected view.  Just east of the bridge is a state park with pleasant camp sites set in a stand of very tall pine trees. 

We decided to camp for two nights at the state park so we could explore the surrounding area and attractions.  Being a weekend, the park was packed with families camping.  Luckily, we were able to get one of the few sights still available.  The heat wave that had been plaguing most of the nation had finally found its way to Vermont and temperatures were in the 90's for several days. 

After setting up our camp sight we drove to nearby Bridgewater Corners and the home of Long Trail Brewing for a tour and some tasting.  Long Trail Brewing is a neat company.  All of their products are themed around the Long Trail, and the brewery is located just a few miles from where the trail crosses US 4.  We sampled some of their products, and then purchased some to take home with us.  Long Trail is only distributed in the East, meaning this would be our only chance to buy it for a while.  Their feature brew is Long Trail Ale, a very drinkable beer.  They also had a number of pale ales and IPA's on draft for the summer.  This was one of the more interesting breweries I have been to thus far. 

Next we drove back to the campsite, changed into our swim wear and took the self-guided interpretive trail to the base of the gorge, looking to cool off.  Just below the last set of rapids the river mellowed out, forming several large pools suitable for swimming.  Reaching the river required carefully climbing over some unusual rock formations formed by the river at higher levels.  The hillside above the rock walls was littered with evidence of Hurricane Irene.  I could imagine this gorge would have been an amazing, and terrifying place to be during last year's storm.  We swam in the cool waters and enjoyed being out of the heat for a while.  The canyon's steep walls blocked the sun most of the day, so the water was surprisingly cold and refreshing. 

That night we fried up some veggie burgers that we had purchased at the whole foods store in Burlington on our backcountry stove while listening to the Tigers game on my IPhone.  Not a bad way to spend a beautiful summer night.  The skies were clear, meaning we were able to leave the rain fly off our tent so we could enjoy the night skies.   In the middle of the night we were awoken by the sound of something large romping through the forest behind our campsite.  Later we heard crashing sounds coming from the dumpster at the entrance of the park.  The nighttime visitor stayed away from our tent, so we were content to go back to sleep for the night. 

In the morning a park employee came around to inform everyone that a black bear had visited the campground the previous night, and that it was imperative we take care of all of our food and food scraps each night.  It was somewhat surprising that this campsite would have bear problems, as it was not exactly wilderness!  We were careful with out food, but secretly we were both hoping to catch a glimpse of the bear if it came back.

After breakfast we filled our day packs with snacks and water and took a scenic drive to the Ludlow area in order to climb Mt. Okemo.  A ski hill that sits across the valley from Killington, Okemo is a moderate climb with a fire tower at the summit.  By the time we were on the trail, temperatures had climbed into the 80's.  The climb was only 3 miles, but it did go up 1900 feet, and the heat was stifling.  We huffed and puffed our way along the trail as it used a series of switch backs to climb up the steep hillside.  For climbing almost 2000 feet the trail was surprisingly easy.  I would recommend this hike for most people on a cooler day, especially in the fall when the trees change.  Almost all of the hike was through a deciduous forest that would make for spectacular fall colors. 

Upon reaching the summit we climbed the fire tower and enjoyed our lunch along with a hiker from Massachusetts who was already at the top.  The views were pretty good, although most of the mountains in the distance were cloaked in a thick haze.  It was almost as if the heat was visible in the skies.  After a lengthy lunch break we headed back down the trail.  The downhill went quickly and easily, and we enjoyed the forest scenery much more on the way down.

When we arrived at the Jeep we found that it was even warmer out of the forest.  The thermometer on the dash read 95 as we drove through Ludlow.  Not ready to head back to our campsite yet on such as hot day we found a coffee shop with air-conditioning in town.  We escaped the heat for a couple of hours while catching up on some reading. 

Once it had cooled down a bit we drove back to the campsite, taking a different scenic route this time.  Driving around Vermont is an activity in of itself, as all of the roads are required to climb up, over, around and down mountains to get anywhere.  The countryside here is very much like it is portrayed in popular culture.  I couldn't help but think of Bob Newheart's place, or perhaps the town of Redbud in the Chevy Chase film "Funnyfarm," rickety, covered bridge and all!

That night we listening to the bear digging through the dumpster for a while before falling to sleep.  We still did not get a look at our nighttime visitor, but judging by the sounds of his or her search for food, I'm guessing this bear isn't going anywhere until they put in some bear-proof garbage containers, or relocate it. 

The next morning we paid a visit to the Vermont Institute of Natural Science (VINS), located less than a mile from the campsite and the gorge.  VINS is a natural science center that specializes in housing and rehabilitating birds of prey that become injured.  We arrived just in time to catch the last half of a live show.  The employees brought out a number of birds to show the audience.  Some of them were even trained, and could fly from one employee's glove to another on command.  After the live show we walked the grounds and saw the large collection of birds housed there.  Included were Bald Eagles, Golden Eagles, a variety of hawks and falcons, Great Horned Owls, Barred Owls, Barn Owls, Screech Owls, Great Gray Owls, and my favorite, Snowy Owls.  VINS does some pretty fascinating work to help injured birds, and this was definitely worth the visit. 

After leavin the Quechee Gorge area we are planning to pay a visit to the nearby White Mountains in New Hampshire.  The opressive heat is making camping difficult, but it is nice to visit some of these places while we are so close!  We'll contine to hope for a cool down in the weather.

Burlington and the Return to Civilization

We picked up our rental car in Rutland about an hour late after they messed up our reservation. I immediately thought of the Seinfeld episode about rental cars. "You're good at taking the reservation, but not holding it.". Fortunately, Enterprise of Rutland came through for us in the end. In fact, we were given a brand new Camaro for the price of an economy car!

We drove our hot, new ride back to northern Vermont. A wrong turn off of the interstate lead us through Newport and passed a surprisingly beautiful lake on the boarder with Quebec. The sun was just setting and the lake was surrounded by mountains on its northern shore, a very pretty sight. It would seem that North Troy is one of the few unremarkable spots in all of Vermont!

We arrived at the b and b in North Troy in the dark. There was not much to see, however. North Troy is a US port of entry but other than sprawling cattle farms, there's not much there. Our lodging for the night appeared to be the only business in town that had not failed.

We got the key to our Jeep back from the inn keeper and were soon reunited with it (and all of our clean clothes left behind!). The innkeeper introduced us to Maya, a solo hiker who had finished the Long Trail that day. Maya was from Albuquerque, New Mexico. She had hiked the length of Vermont and now had no way to get home. If we could give her a ride to Burlington she could arrange mass transit to her next destination from there. Since Burlington was only about twenty miles out of our way back to Rutland, we were happy to help. It also gave Mary a chance to ask lots of questions about the rest of the Long Trail for our future hikes.

The Inn looked like it had seen limited recent use. It was a beautiful old house built in the nineteenth century, but it could use a little upkeep. We were still used to being on the trail, though, so we were mostly happy for a bed.

In the morning there was fabulous breakfast, causing me to raise my estimation of the whole outfit. We were served a variety of coffee cakes, rolls, cinnamon breads and organic eggs cooked with fresh veggies and lots of organic coffee. Breakfast gave us a chance to chat with Maya about her travels. It turned out she was quite an accomplished hiker, having through-hiked the Appalachian Trail in 2009. I'm always amazed at the people we meet on and around the trail.

After pigging out at breakfast we caravanned the Jeep and rental car to Burlington to drop Maya off and then on to Rutland to return the rental car.

Finally back to driving just our vehicle, we decided to head to Burlington for a couple of nights. It was hot and sunny so we figured Lake Champlain would be a good bet. The east's biggest lake, Champlain has been called the sixth great lake.

We found camping at the North Beach Park. The spots were tiny and it amounted to suburban camping, quite a contrast to the 110 mile backpack we had just done! On the plus side, a short walkway lead from our campsite to a beautiful, sandy beach. The towering Adirondacks were just barely visible on the other side of the lake, giant, white ghosts there to remind us this was not Lake Michigan. We enjoyed several refreshing swims while camped at Lake Champlain.

Burlington is Vermont's largest city. It is an interesting blend of urban living with outdoorsy pursuits. On one hand it has a large public transportation system and is home to the University of Vermont Catamounts. On the other, it has dozens of restaurants where they can tell you which family farm your dinner was raised on, and more outdoor gear shops than we had time to visit.

The downtown district was a really cool scene to check out. Most of the restaurants had outside seating right on the street. Several places had live music, and almost every corner was home to a street musician with a hat or empty case out for tips. I was amazed at how packed the streets were on a weeknight. We sampled some of the local fare and relaxed in the cool night air. Burlington seems like it would be a pretty neat place to live!

After getting our fill off the city life we are packed up and headed to Quichee Gorge State Park for some camping and hiking. I'll post a report on the gorge and surrounding area after. We're still happy to be hanging out in New England for a while.