That is until we discovered an obscure jewel of a mountain park in our backyard. Okay, not so obscure and not quite as in our backyard as we would like, but nevertheless Great Smoky Mountain National Park is quickly becoming one of our favorite destinations. The key? Don't go during peak visiting seasons, and go into the back country. JP and I started a tradition last year, by going to GSMNP on boxing day, so we decided to go on New Year's Eve this year. Last year the temperatures were in the 60s and we saw nary a snow flake. So this year, we decided to head up to the top of the mountain and summit Rocky Top, the peak made famous in the fight song of state's flagship university and inspiration to rednecks everywhere.
After driving down, we stayed new year's eve night in the Cades Cove campground, which was mostly deserted. We sat by the fire discussing our new year's resolution and when we had burned the firewood out, played Qwirkle in our tent until midnight, when we toasted the new year and slept as soundly as our malfunctioning self-inflating sleeping pads allowed.
(Note to those interested in camping and hiking here. In the winter, the campground is pretty empty and no reservations are needed. You can arrive very late at night and set up, making it possible to leave after the workday and still set up camp. Car camping is $17. The overnight parking for all of the adjacent mountain trails are in the parking lot next to the campground store.)
Although the whole point of going down the night before was to get an early start on the trail, there was no point of rushing things on a holiday. So not very early on New Year's day, we finally rolled out of our sleeping bags and made a leisurely breakfast. Then we stowed our car camping gear in our bearproof metal box on wheel and retrieved our backpacking gear. Our original plan had been to hike all the way up to the Spence Field shelter ( 5.2 miles) on the Appalachian Trail that day, sleep there overnight, and then to hike to Rocky Top the next morning before descending. But both this shelter and all of the nearest other shelters on the AT were already fully reserved, so we had made a reservation for backcountry campsite #9 instead ( #10 had bear activity.) which is lower down on the trail (3 miles in) and nicely situated on Anthony's Creek. Our plan was then to summit and return to the campsite in one day.
As we climbed from the Cades Cove campground at elevation 1965 feet to the campsite #9 at 3200 ft, we passed from no snow, to traces of snow, and finally to where the ground was completely covered with snow.
Nevertheless, the work of climbing up the trail had us quickly stripping off all of our layers to keep from sweating too much. We started around 10:45 am and by 12:30 pm we had reach the campsite. My lack of conditioning was evident and I was glad I would not have to haul my full backpack all the way to the top of the mountain. We found a semi-level spot well away from the campfire site and put up our tent and then hoisted our packs on the provided bear cables. While we were setting up, we were joined by another father and son who set up their tent near by.
By 1:15 pm, JP and I head out, hoping to make it to Rocky Top summit (elevation 5441 ft) and back by dark (~ 4:45 pm.) Our map showed the distance from our campsite to the junction with the Appalachian Trail to be 2.2 miles and then we were just guessing from the map that it was another mile along the AT to Rocky Top.
The trail is a bridle path that can be used in the summer by lazy equestrians, so it is generally easy hiking, but climbing 1800 ft in 2.2 miles is still a lot of hard work for an out-of-shape, overweight guy. Thankfully, JP did much better and was able to fully enjoy the breathtaking beauty. Because of my sluggishness, we didn't reach the junction with the Appalachian Trail (elevation 4887 ft) and the ridge line until 2:55 pm. By then, we realized we couldn't make it to Rocky Top and back to camp before dark.
As we reached the ridgeline and the AT, I also realized I had also made an error in my expectations. Because I grew up with the Rocky Mountains, where the ridge line of most mountains are well above the treeline( ~9000 ft), I had assumed that simply by reaching the ridge line, we would have unobstructed views of the valley and beyond. But at 5,000 ft, the ridge line of the Smokies are still well covered in trees, and at least on this day, the smoky mist of the clouds obscured any panoramic view. Which is not to say that it wasn't really cool to be standing on the top of the mountain range, its just that it didn't look so different except that instead of always looking up the hill, we were looking at open sky above us and trees below us.
After a quick snack, we headed back down the mountain, passing all the backpackers who did have reservations for the shelter. It still took me slightly more than an hour to make it back to camp, arriving as darkness fell. Our fellow campers had already got a nice fire going, and invited us over, so we cooked our dinner and conversed with them through the early hours of darkness. I have written previously of the great joy and intimacy that comes from sitting by a back country campfire with strangers. This evening didn't disappoint. The father spoke with something like a German accent and was co-owner and engineer in a CNC manufacturing shop in the county adjacent to ours His son was the same age as JP and their scout troop had been to Philmont. So they shared their adventures.
After the fire burned down, we hung our packs on the bear cables again, and settled down for the night around 8 pm. I read from the book I had given to my wife for Christmas, "Three Cups of Tea" (because it was on her wish list and what bibliophile can resist giving someone a book they want to read?) and then snuggled down into my sleeping bag.
During the night, the temperature dropped from the 20s into the teens. Even bundled up in my sleeping bag, I felt cold, mostly because my stuffy nose made me feel like I was suffocating if I fully cinched up my mummy bag and because my rapidly deflated sleeping pad was no longer giving me much insulation or cushioning from the cold ground. After laying there for hours and hours, and with my bladder urging me to get up, I finally looked at my watch. It was 10:49 pm! Oh boy, I thought, this is going to be a long night. But after answering the call of nature, and blowing my nose as thoroughly as I could, and putting on my outer jacket, and finally fully cinching up my bag, I felt warm enough to fall asleep. Still every so often, I would have to extract myself from the warm but claustrophobia-inducing confines of my bag and blow my nose. JP tells me he kept thinking there was a bear in the tent. The other family was kind enough not to mention it in the morning.
When we woke up, our tent was covered with snow and more was still falling. Although it was still bitterly cold, it was thrilling walking around in the crunching snow. (Well thrilling for me because my shoes were waterproof, not so thrilling for JP whose shoes quickly got wet.) We tried to rescue enough downed branches to start a fire, but couldn't coax more than a relatively small one. Enough to melt the water in our metal water bottles but not much else. Fortunately for us, when the other father woke up, he located some good dry stuff and turned our pitiful little fire into a roaring blaze.After a warm meal of oatmeal and hot cocoa and more fireside chats, we finally had to leave our little frozen paradise and hike out. The other family decided to hike out with us.
