Hiking – Travel with Goneguru

Grand Tetons BackCountry Vacation on a Budget

In an earlier post we promised to tell you how to do a Grand Teton backpacking vacation on a budget even though Jackson Hole is one of the highest per capita income places in the USA. Here’s how you do it.

First, fly into Jackson, Wyoming airport. We used our credit card reward program miles to get there, so the cost was the redemption fee and giving up using the miles for another trip. Then, take a taxi to the Jenny Lake Ranger Station.

You have to go to the ranger station to get your backcountry permits, so while you are there get the permit and check into the backpackers campground. The campground for one night should run you about $8.00. The permit will cost you $35.00 regardless of how many nights you spend on the trail, so plan your trip to start with a walk up the Paintbrush from Jenny Lake. Your first night you’ll need a permit in the camping zones just east of Paintbrush Divide. This day hike should get you acclimated to the altitude because you’ll go over Paintbrush Divide at over 10000 feet into the North Fork of Cascade Canyon the next day, passing Lake Solitude.

Put the North Fork of Cascade Canyon on your permit for the second night and rest up to cross Hurricane Pass, also over 10,000 in elevation on the third day.

The third day will take you into the Alaska Basin where a short day will give you plenty of time to set up camp near Sunset Lake and enjoy the backcountry. No permit is needed to camp in the Alaska Basin as it is not in the Grand Teton National Park. Accordingly, you may have a number of campers around you instead of the solitude you get in the Park.

Leaving the Alaska Basin spend a day and a night on the Death Canyon Shelf or at Marion Lake, or if you don’t have time to relax on the trip, skip the night in the Basin and spend the third night on the Shelf.

Looking toward Mt. Meek from Death Canyon Shelf

From the Shelf, you’ll go down past Marion Lake and pick up the trail up Rendezvous Mountain to the top of the TRAM, also above 10,000 feet. The Tram will take you down to Teton Village and there is no charge for the ride down. They only check tickets on the way up. If you ride up, it will cost you $35.00.

In the Village you can find low-cost accommodations at the Hostel. You can shower, shave, sleep and get ready to catch a shuttle to the airport, perhaps for as low as $3.

So, there’s your itinerary for the budget trip. Remember that the permits are limited and in short supply so you might want to try to secure them online before you go. This trek should be made in August or early September, so try to get your permits at recreation.gov between the preceding January 1 and March 15. You will still have to pick the permit up at the Jenny Lake Ranger Station when you get to Jackson Hole.

What will the trip cost you? Your airfare or credit card miles, one way taxi fare, $8.00 to camp at Jenny Lake, $35.00 for the backcountry permit, your night at the Hostel, the cost of the shuttle to the Airport and whatever food you eat. For a trip of a lifetime, that is a bargain. Of course, you’ll have to come back on another trip to explore the rest of Jackson Hole.

Grand Teton Backpacking on the Granite Canyon Trail

When my spouse came home from a hike to Len Foote Inn gushing with excitement over the photographs a fellow backpacker had shared about the Grant Teton National Park, it took no encouragement to convince me to revisit one of the places I had seen as a teen. The next few posts will chronicle our backpacking trip and then I’ll tell you how to backpack the Grand Teton on a real budget. Lets begin at the Granite Canyon Trailhead.

In the backcountry we didn’t see a lot of people, but many of the backpackers and trail runners we encountered were starting at the top of the Tram in Teton Village. We thought we’d get better acclimated to the altitude, which varied during our trek from about 6500 to 10400 feet above sea level, by walking up the Granite Canyon Trail past Marion Lake to the Death Canyon Shelf. It was a great decision because the Granite Canyon Trail should not be missed when wild flowers are in bloom.

The trailhead is inside the Grand Teton National Park, about three miles north of Teton Village on the Wilson-Moose road. Because we didn’t want to pay to leave a rental car sitting at the trailhead and because we weren’t making a loop, we hired OLD WEST Transportation in Jackson to take us to the trailhead.

Initially, the trail starts off toward Granite Canyon by passing through a sagebrush meadow with a number of birch trees along the way, however Granite Canyon Trail has many personalities.

Before too long we cross a small bridge over Granite Creek which flows through the canyon. As you might expect, Granite Canyon Trail somewhat parallels the creek but doesn’t follow the bank of the creek. Once into Granite Canyon, you soon come to one of three camping zones designated by the Park Service. As with all the backcountry controlled by the National Park Service, you will need to get a permit for overnight camping. The first is the Lower Granite Canyon Zone and runs for about three and one half miles along the canyon. In this zone, the designated camping sites are numbered with small signs adjacent the trail and short side trails leading to the individual campsites and the one group campsite. The campsites are well spread out and there is no problem with neighbors being too close.

We shortly begin our acclimation to the altitude and the weight of our backpacks. This was an unsupported trip, so we had everything we needed for five days on the trail on our backs. Our acclimation began as the trail began to rise and change.

The birches faded away and the trail side became more forested with evergreens. We were expecting to gain 2000 to 2500 feet in elevation on the way to our first campsite and we weren’t disappointed. The well used trail had improvements like the set of steps we encountered as the trail began to rise and change. Did I mention bears? Apparently, the bears are quite active, so when we got our permits from the Jenny Lake Ranger Station, we were required to carry bear canisters, in which all of our food had to be stored. It took some reconfiguring of the backpacks to get these inside with the food in them.

Bear Canister for food Storage — Bear Canister

I mention that because as we got further from the trailhead, we realized that the possibility of bears was quite real. In addition to keeping the food in the canisters, we each were dutifully equipped with our bear strength pepper spray and one of us wore a bell, which we allowed to jingle when we were passing though heavy growth. Of course, Granite Canyon trail didn’t stay the same so the bell didn’t always ring.

Just a little further down the trail, it veered away from the creek and took us through a boulder field. As always, we’re thankful for those who laid the trail out and cleared a path across these boulders to the next stretch of soil. That stretch of soil gave us our first real look at the wild flowers found along Granite Canyon trail.

Our circuit took us past some amazing sights including some that took your breath away, but nowhere along our hike did we find wildflowers as gorgeous as we saw in the first two days. The yellow ones you can see in the picture above were dominant early in the hike but as you’ll see in our post on the Wildflowers of the Grand Teton, the colors along the trail matched the rainbow.

The yellow flowers gave way, temporarily to thicker brush with light lavender blossoms and the vegetation changed back from meadow to forest. Of course we are going ever higher in elevation and beginning to breathe a little heavier. One of the great rules of hiking is to always remember to look behind you and when we did, we realized why our breathing was a little labored even though the rise seemed gentle.

After just a couple of hours, looking back down the canyon toward the trailhead brought an instant smile from the fact that we had already gained so much in elevation. There was a lot more elevation to come, but at this point the joy of being on the trail in a beautiful setting made us think we’d risen to the clouds.

Toward the end of the day, we reached a divide in the trail with the left fork leading to the South Granite Canyon Camping Zone and the right leading to the Upper Granite Camping Zone. We took the fork to the right as our permit was for the Upper Granite zone. This zone is not as long and the sites are not designated by signage, except for the group site and the horse site, but rather are recognized by the recommended repeated usage of an older site to avoid creating numerous open areas for camping. The sites are easily identified as they are relatively near the trail and have clearly defined side trails leading to them.

We didn’t venture into the South Granite Canyon Camping Zone, however the trail through there leads to a trail to the top of Rendezvous Mountain and the Tram before rejoining the Upper Granite trail for the ascent to Marion Lake.

At the end of the Upper Granite Canyon camping zone, the trail comes to the meadow pictured above. The meadow was filled with the yellow flowers such that it changed color in the morning. We stopped at the last campsite in the zone, which was about 75 yards from the end of the zone and adjacent the creek. What we didn’t know that the three campsites at Marion Lake, which is about a mile further into the back country, sit on this side of the lake and are elevated by about 1000 feet looking out over the meadow. The next morning, we met a party that had hiked from the Tram to Marion Lake to spend the night and was headed out down Granite Canyon Trail. They told us that they had been amused by watching us scurrying about in the meadow, setting up our camp and what not.

We were not phased by their comments and agreed that we had just been happy to reach the campsite after about seven and one half miles of backpacking uphill along the beautiful Granite Canyon Trail.

Our next section of the trail takes us past Marion Lake onto the Death Canyon Shelf.

Grand Teton Wildflowers

The images of the wildflowers in this post were taken during our backpacking vacation trek in the Grand Teton from Granite Canyon Trailhead to Jenny Lake. No more words, just images and captions.

This delicate bloom grows along the trail in the Grand Teton National Park

The trail runs through the wildflowers in Grand Teton NP

A trail runs through a sea of yellow in Granite Canyon

Cumberland Island – Why Is that Raccoon after my food?

We returned to Cumberland Island for another back country adventure and naturally took a little too much food with us. We could have eaten it all but we didn’t. We took our usual GRUBPACK back country food sack made of metal mesh with a heavy-duty hook and loop closure to put the food, pots, plates, and toiletries in to keep the raccoons and squirrels from destroying our tent or backpack. We strung the GRUBPACK sack between two limbs but over the course of a couple of days it moved a little too close to one of the trees.

About 4 am in the morning, Mary shook me saying ” There’s something after the food!” The rattling of the pot and lid in the sack had awakened her. Shining her headlamp out the tent toward the food she started yelling “Hey! Go away!” Then muttered “raccoon.” I had gotten to the door and saw the little culprit tugging on the rope and trying to grab the bag. I got out of the tent with my headlamp and picked up a hiking pole to flail around with. At first he ignored me, but then crawled down the tree and retreated a few yards into the palmetto fronds where his yellow eyes gave proof that he wasn’t leaving.

After checking the integrity of the bag, I crawled back into the tent. Before I could settle in, the pot was rattling again. We decided he couldn’t get to the food and if the bag fell, it would still be tied to one of the trees so we just let him work at it. About an hour later the sound stopped. At sunrise the bag was still hanging, intact with all our food and gear no worse for wear.

Smoky Mountains-Mount LeConte via Rainbow Falls Trail

We did our annual fall hike up Mount LeConte in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park . We may only make one hike up next year as we didn’t get a reservation at the lodge for the fall in the lottery. For those who may not know, the picture below shows Mt. LeConte from a cabin we rented just above Gatlinburg.

The lodge on top is between the two major peaks just to the right of the group of three peaks. I’ll just caption the pictures and tell you the story in another post.

He was actually at the bottom of Rainbow Falls trail

The leaves were peak

Here are the falls.

A welcome sight!

The marker you’ve been waiting for.

The lodge office and lounge

Morning sky.

All of these pictures were taken by Mary. She just lets me use them for your enjoyment.

Georgia State Parks: Endangered Species!

We decided to add kayaking to our skill set, partially because we attended a Georgia Conservancy/REI lecture on paddling the rivers of central Georgia and partially because a friend recommended Paddle Georgia to us as another adventure. We knew that we would like to start this outdoor activity with a group, so we decided we needed to take a lesson before we burdened any group with a pair of absolute newbies. REI’s Outdoor School offered several classes on kayaking and since I have a tender shoulder and back, we thought kayaking might be easier than canoeing, so we signed up.

Our class was held at Ft. Yargo State Park, near Winder, Georgia. We had never been to this state park, so we looked it up on their website and learned that they offer a wide variety of outdoor opportunities including camping, hiking and fishing. We checked with the park and found that we could reserve a campsite on the lake in the park for the Friday night before our class as well as Saturday night after the class. We chose a walk in campsite on the lake. The view of the lake was beautiful, and although the location is only an hour from Atlanta and just off Georgia 316, it feels like you are in a wilderness.

100_0246 — Break of day camping in Ft. Yargo State Park

While setting up we encountered another camper who said he had spent a lot of time at the park, but that he had heard that the park was likely to shut down by 2015. We decided not to take his word for it, so before we left on Sunday we decided to check with the ranger station and see if he was correct.

Before we got to talk to the ranger we found out a lot about the park ourselves. You can get details from the link to their website in the text above, but here are a few of the notables. Camping is cheap; the walk-in site with an improved tent site, fire ring and picnic table was $23 per night. If you preferred an RV site or true tent car camping site, those were $29 and $25 per night and gave closer access to running water and electricity. All the campsites were within a hundred yards of very nice toilet facilities, with flush toilets, lighting, hot and cold water and showers. If you want to bring a family to the outdoors but don’t want to camp, there are six yurts on a point of land extending into the lake. The view from the yurt balconies extending over the water is fabulous. Each yurt sleeps 6, has electricity, and a heater as well as a hardwood floor and its own canoe. The yurts were renting for $70 per night while we were there. There is a seven mile hiking trail around the lake that goes through the campgrounds; parts of the hiking trail is shared with a 12 mile mountain bike trail around the lake. There’s a beach with a large picnic area and a rental office that rents kayaks, canoes, paddle-boats, jon boats, and paddle boards. There are a lot more treasures, including an authentic 1793 log fort preserved on the grounds, that you can find by taking a visit, calling or checking their website.

By nine o’clock Saturday morning we were standing on the boat ramp inside access B to the state park, near the pier used by the University of Georgia crew teams when they come to the park to practice. The REI Outdoor School had unloaded half a dozen kayaks. Instructors Carson and Jackie greeted us and put us through the ground school phase of the instruction, then we walked the one person kayaks down to the water and gingerly followed their instructions on getting into the boat.

100_0230 — One person kayaks for REI Outdoor School class

With our foot pegs properly adjusted and our thighs pressed against the hull of the little boats, we felt locked in and ready to go. We managed to get in position to watch as Carson demonstrated the forward sweep stroke used to turn the boat, the draw stroke to move it sideways, and the forward stroke and back stroke used to move the kayak along a line. Jackie sacrificed herself for us demonstrating how to eject yourself from the kayak if you happen to tip over. (None of us did). Throughout the morning we watched their demonstration of different strokes and tried to emulate them as we paddled across the lake and back, growing ever more confident that we could do this and that it could be a lot of fun. After a short lunch/bathroom break we hit the water again for a tour of an arm of the lake and concluded our class. We are eager to put what we learned to use on an adventure. These two instructors were as good as any we have ever had in any class. There was no BS and there was no ego of how good they were that overshadowed the instruction. It was great and I highly recommend the class. They agreed with us that REI ought to incorporate the overnight camping with the kayak class and make it a multitasking weekend adventure.

Later that afternoon we pulled the hybrid bikes off the rack and rode around the park, stopping at historic Ft. Yargo and marveling at what our pioneer ancestors went through. Then, Sunday morning we hiked the seven mile trail around the lake. From a spot across the lake from the beach, we watched as a religious group baptized some of their members in the lake. Trail runners and mountain bikes were few, but we encountered a couple and in each case the behavior was courteous and sharing. It was a great walk in the woods by a lake.

Then it was time to pull up stakes and head home. Another group of fellow travelers had stopped at our campsite to borrow our stove and a few other pieces of gear for a trip to Cataloochee, so the packing was lighter than usual. Fearing the worst about this marvelous state park, we stopped at the welcome center just inside the main gate. Park Manager Ray Smith, Jr. was sitting in his office just off the welcome area when he heard us ask the staff whether there was any truth to what we had been told. With an upbeat air and an optimistic attitude, he told us that it was indeed true that there was a financial mandate from the legislature that each state park become at least 75% self sufficient by 2015 or else face some service cutbacks. He then explained that the park revenue counted in this does not include the $5 per car daily fee because that money is automatically sent directly to the general fund. Instead, the park has to reach the goal of paying its operating expenses out of such things as overnight camping rental, pavilion rentals, and other user fees that do not include the basic user entrance fee. He said they were already understaffed and expected to make more changes to try to meet the mandate, but, that Ft. Yargo was in the same boat with all the Georgia State Parks, many of whom were not quite making to the needed 75% level. We asked him how their situation would improve and he gave us a simple answer. If more users come and stay overnight or rent pavilions or take advantage of the other revenue generating features, rather than viewing the park as a day-trip, they could make their budget needs. They have the capacity, particularly during the week and during the cooler months.

So, here is the bottom line. Georgia State Parks and the state parks of the other states are a great deal. They provide tremendous value for the buck, but they are taxpayer supported and are on the block. This is something each individual outdoor enthusiasts can do something about simply by choosing to incorporate the state parks into your annual events. Make it a point to go to the state parks and learn what they have to offer and then take advantage of more than the entrance fee. Go camping there, rent a boat, have a party at a pavilion, suggest a state park as a venue for a corporate outing, and tell your friends to do the same. You don’t have to write a congressman, make a donation or do anything you wouldn’t enjoy doing. All you have to do is choose to spend some time in a particular part of the great outdoors.

Lake Louise to Lake Agnes: A vacation hike worth the walk near Banff

Lake Louise, Alberta, Canada (June 2012) If Banff is on your bucket list, then you need to fill your bucket up to the brim and drive a few miles northwest of Banff along the Trans Canada Highway to Lake Louise. The modern fascination with Banff and Lake Louise dates back to the late 1800’s when the Canadian Pacific Railroad made it possible for tourists and vacationers to get to the interior of the Canadian Rockies. Banff had and still has its hot springs while Lake Louise has this turquoise glacier feed water encircled by the towering Canadian Rockies.

Along the shore of Lake Louise

One grand chateau has replaced another over the years and today the Chateau offers all the modern conveniences and service one could ask for. But, the Chateau is not why people come here. The natural beauty of the region is surreal, even on a day such as we had when the clouds hung low, obscuring the mountain tops, and rain threatened as we stood by the lake. It was this natural beauty and a chance to walk among these giant mountains while soaking in the unending views that make you think every direction you look is more beautiful than the last that brought us here. We had a choice to make since we only had one day to hike at Lake Louise: would we hike to the Plain of Six Glaciers and visit the tea-house there, or hike up to Lake Agnes with its tea-house and head out to the Beehives? The trail-head for the two is the same, along the shore near the Chateau, however, we decided to do the Lake Agnes hike with a promise that someday we will return to hike other trails in this magical place.

Looking down at the Chateau on Lake Louise

We had read several guidebooks before this trip and the Lake Agnes hike was described as strenuous to difficult, so we anticipated significant elevation gain and potentially rough terrain to cross. Lake Louise sits at about 5600 feet above sea level and the hike is a continuous up hill with no up and down or leveling out as you might have if you were walking a ridge-line so the altitude and the constant up hill do make it strenuous. But, probably because it gets so much use in the winter and summer and probably because it was used by rangers to go to fire stations on the beehives until the late 1970’s, the lower part of the trail was practically a boulevard to walk on.

It is enticing, so we were not surprised when we were soon overtaken by two photographers dressed in street shoes and business casual attire. They smiled as us as they hurried by but three quarters of a mile up the trail, before the first switchback, we passed them panting on the side of the road. They had brought no water and did not ask for any but breathlessly asked how far to the top. We told them that the hike was about 3 miles long and that they were less than a third of the way up. They said they wanted to go to “the top” and take a picture of the lake and chateau. At this, point the lake was obscured by the trees, so when we told them that they were less than 1/3 of the way up they grimaced, looked at each other, and turned around. The image of the chateau above is probably what they wanted in the picture, but as you see a camera couldn’t really capture it. Less than a quarter mile after they turned around we came to the first switch back, which also afforded an opening for a view of the lake. We took pictures of the mountain across the lake and debated on whether we should hurry back down the trail to bring them to this spot.

Looking across Lake Louise

Moving up the trail was serenely peaceful. The trees gave way to the vista’s more often and we saw the lake below frequently. There was practically no one on the trail but us, as we had started the hike early in the morning. WARNING: If you start the hike at midday, you will be among a swarm of people for at least a part of the way up. We only encountered the large groups of tourists when we were near the bottom of the trail in the afternoon after we had made our hike.

A couple of switchbacks brings you to Mirror lake, which is a small glacially fed lake that reflects one of the formations on the way up. The trail splits here with both branches leading up to the tea-house at Lake Agnes, however, the left leads to a junction with a trail to the Plain of Six Glaciers, so be careful if you go left. It is well marked but you have to keep your head up to see the markers. We went to the right and soon encountered the horse trail (unmistakable. Why don’t horse riders carry bags to clean up after their horses? Hikers would appreciate it!) The trail is not as pristine here but is not a scramble and soon leads to a paddock where the horses have to be tied and and a wooden stairwell beside the waterfall feeding out of Lake Agnes.

Of course, we had dressed appropriately for the hike, so I had a small bead of perspiration on my brow as we passed the waterfall and began up the stairwell. As we neared the top of the stair the wall of the tea-house came into view and the wind picked up. The temperature of the air dropped twenty degrees and pellets of sleet and snow started hitting me in the face and bouncing off my rain gear. Then we saw Lake Agnes, beautifully resting partially encrusted in ice and even more surrounded by the mountains.

Lake Agnes in Summer

It was still early in the day, so we decided to press on to one of the Beehives. The Big Beehive is reached by following a path along the shoreline of Lake Agnes and making an assent around the lake. It is about a mile hiking distance and is said to be well worth the walk. We headed up the trail to the right, past the teahouse restrooms, and further up the mountain to the little bee-hive. Before too much longer the trail was covered over by snow and we saw where others had tried to make the passage before us. The problem was the tracks in the snow lead in different directions. We looked around and saw that the snow ended to the right of of us and the trail resumed, so we went to the right for a few hundred yards and cleared the snow. As I mentioned earlier, the Canadian Forest Rangers used a tower on the Little Beehive to watch over the forests and control potential fires up until 1978.

The tower was removed but the base is still there along with a bench for sitting when you’ve expended your time and energy to reach this very peaceful place. There was no snow or rain and it was a beautiful summer day as we sat and enjoyed the view.

The Big Beehive actually has a gazebo like tower on it if you elect to go that route. We came back down the trail, crossed the snow patch again and headed down to the teahouse at Lake Agnes. We began encountering a few more people and when we entered the tea-house at around noon, there were only a couple of seats available. We gladly scooted into them, because as before, the wind was howling off the little lake with sleet and snow mixed in. The effect is similar to the winds in cities between tall buildings. Remember this when you go to the tea-house at Lake Agnes. They only take cash. No checks, no credit cards, no IOU’s. We had spent very little on our trip, but we had used credit cards and only carried a small amount of cash. Scraping together our change, we had enough for one bowl of soup. Fortunately, we had packed along a couple of sandwiches and plenty of water, so the soup and sandwich meal was fabulous!!

The Lake Agnes teahouse

The tea-house is built in a style popularized by the Swiss mountain guides who came to Alberta in the 1800’s to show the tourists how to climb the mountains. Its rustic, homey, and well worth your stop on the mountain.

We crossed a bridge across the stream from the lake that feeds the waterfall and headed down the alternate route mentioned earlier. The snow was a little trickier on this side and by now there were several groups of people who had made it as far as the tea-house and were heading down. The leader of one of the groups made an ignominious landing when he showed them how not to cross a snow pack across the trail. Fortunately, all that was bruised was his ego and his buttocks.

Going down may be more beautiful that coming up. The sun was trying to break through and the clouds were a little higher and the mountains at the end of the valley were spectacular.

On the trail below Lake Agnes

We came back down around Mirror Lake from the side opposite where we left, noting the trail to the Plain of Glaciers and made it back down to the Chateau on Lake Louise without incident other than running into the groups of people making their way up the trail in the early afternoon. Should you desire to go, note that there is a campground within a couple of miles of Lake Louise and if you are making it a day trip from Banff, there is a campground in Banff as well. If you decide to go, let us know, we’d love to go back and join you.

Ponies, bikes, trails, and the Virginia Creeper

Along the Virginia – North Carolina border, near the little town of Damascus, a section of the Appalachian Trail runs out of town over the mountains and through Grayson Highlands State Park. Damascus itself is noteworthy as a resupply station for the Appalachian Trail through hikers. Grayson Highland is an amazing state park with great camping facilities set in a remote setting not too far from I-81. In between the two of them, you’ll find the Virgina Creeper, or maybe you’ll go to do the Creeper and explore Damascus or Grayson Highlands. Either way, give yourself a couple of days in the area to soak it all in.

You can start your hike on the Appalachian Trail approach trail inside Grayson Highland and head up to Mt. Rogers if you are a peak bagger. Mt. Rogers is the highest peak in Virginia and is only few miles away from the parking lot in Grayson Highlands. Expect to see the wild ponies along the way.

Wild Ponies — The wild ponies in Grayson Highlands State Park.

From the photo above, you might not guess it, but we were on the trail in August. The temperature was in the mid 60’s and there was a dense fog most of the day. A hurricane had moved up the east coast and although it wasn’t directly affecting our weather, we felt that it was. It also has something to do with the park being at about 4,000 feet above sea level. The horses are quite used to people and came right up to us as if to beg for a snack or to be petted. We gave them no snack but we did rub their backs and scratched their ears a bit. The hike was easy to moderate, however, since we were in the fog and uncertain about sundown we did not make it all the way to Mt. Rogers. Be sure to carry an accurate map and compass as the area between the parking lot is criss crossed with horse trails for riders and hiking trails with somewhat confusing markings. We did alright but we went out of our way on the return trip when we consulted with another group as to which way they had come. I can’t attest to the vistas because of our cloud cover, however, the area was largely a bald or meadow area, thus on a clear day you would have undoubtedly had a great view.

The campground at GHSP is a great car camper park with a variety of sites that can be reserved in advance to suit your camping needs including running water and electricity, or, you may elect a site that does not have electricity. It is a family friendly camping area, where one little boy ran up to us excitedly as we drove in, only to be disappointed when we told him there were no children with us. It is east of Damascus by about 30 miles and will take you the better part of an hour to get there. There is a camp store and bathhouses as shown in the link. You may want to consider checking out the Mount Rogers National Recreation area for some camping in a little less crowded area. The Beartree Recreation Area campground has primitive sites without hookups. Hurricane Campground has sites with tent pads and fire rings.

Along side the road between Damascus and the park, and in fact from Abington, Virginia adjacent Interstate 81 into Damascus and beyond for about 17 miles is the famous Virginia Creeper Trail. Total length of the trail is about 34 miles. We had decided that we would ride the Creeper’s eastern end, downhill from White Top to Damascus on our way home from camping and hiking, but we hadn’t brought bicycles with us. So we stopped along side the road at a rental shop and picked out a couple of mountain bikes to make the ride. An ordinary hybrid would do fine as the trail is well packed cinder that follows the old railroad track at a grade of less than about 7% all the way into Damascus. We budgeted two hours for the 17 miles since we consider our selves experienced cyclists on our road bikes and hybrids. What we didn’t count on was the peaceful beautiful scenery and the glimpse of the past you’ll encounter on this mellow ride.

Virginia Creeper Trestle — Beneath the Trestle

Because the trail was built for use by steam powered trains trestles were used to eliminate the ups and downs of the valleys and hollows. Stepping to the side of the trail, you will be pleased to see how well maintained the trestles are and will be amazed at the work and ingenuity that went into building the trail decades ago.

KONICA MINOLTA DIGITAL CAMERA — trestle top

Don’t limit yourself to two hours on this trial. Take a couple days and take your time. You’ll find plenty to see, an ice cream store or two, sandwich shops and other “creature comforts” along the way. Best of all, find an older local to talk to. The lady that rented us the bikes we used had lived beside the Creeper all her life. She told us things to look for, like the place she went skinning dipping 65 years ago, that you would never look for on your own. Enjoy.

Something new in the Smoky Mountain NP for the Through Hikers near the Appalachian Trail

Our little group just finished another hike to Mount LeConte near Gatlinburg, Tennessee, USA. I’ll post all the details later, but I wanted to share a part of the trip with you in a condensed version. We were at the top of Mt. LeConte for two nights spending the entire day there on April 27. As usual the weather was changeable. We had hiked up in a thunderstorm on the 26th and had intermittent clouds and sunshine most of the 27th.

As you can see above the day started off with clouds. It was somewhat humid, but the temperature by afternoon was in the mid 50’s Fahrenheit. Our intention was to spend the day hiking around the top of Mount LeConte and taking it easy. We had come up Alum trail again which is a fairly strenuous trek, particularly in the rain of a thunderstorm. We wanted to go over the top of the mountain to Myrtle Point, which affords the best views of sunrise on Mount LeConte, to spend an hour or two in the afternoon resting on the rocky ledge looking out over the Great Smoky Mountain National Park. As we pushed along we soon saw an unmistakable image of why these mountains are called the Smokies.

Looking at the above picture, the view is along a ridge that runs south from Mount LeConte. The Boulevard trail follows this ridge from LeConte to the Appalachian Trail. The wind is from the west, or moving from right to left in the picture. As the wind rises up from rises up from the valley to the crest of the ridge there are no clouds to the west, but as soon as the wind crosses the ridge, clouds boil up from the east side like smoke from a volcano, creating a vision of smoke rising out of the ground. After a couple of hours it diminished, but it was an amazing sight while it lasted.

On Myrtle Point, even with the Smokies haze, the view is what you go to the mountains for. Although, you might see something similar from a car, there is nothing like getting to the top of a 6000 foot mountain on your own feet and taking your shoes off while resting in the sun and the clouds. Yes, sometimes you are in the clouds. Myrtle Point juts out into space and is a granite point surrounded by low growing Myrtle shrubs. It is accessible only by walking at least six and a half miles up and over Mount LeConte or by hiking over seven miles from Newfound Gap along the Appalachian and Boulevard trails. Thus, the view above is not a sight everyone will see with their own eyes. You should try though, because it is incredibly peaceful and restful, to sit there and look out at the mountains and the ever-changing sky.

Near the crest of Mount LeConte, along the Boulevard trail, there is an Appalachian Trail through hiker shelter that gives the through hikers a respite if they decide to take Boulevard to LeConte and then venture down into Gatlinburg. Since our last visit to LeConte about 6 months ago, the National Park Service installed a new composting toilet for the use of the through hikers. It seems to work well, but like every thing else I’ve been talking about. It’s up hill to get there. In fact, at the bottom of the Alum Cave trail the National Park Service erected this sign which has warnings to hikers to take precautions

DSCF1697 (768x1024) — National Park Service Trail Map and Warning

because of the footing. The sign states, in part: “This trail is steep and rocky. Wear sturdy boots with adequate ankle support.” Further, if you look closely, you will see that the sign also indicates that the summit is over five miles away, at over 6,500 feet and takes four of five hours of hiking to reach.

DSCF1708 (1024x768) — An easy part of the Alum Cave Trail

The part of the trail shown above is in the lower half of the trail. As I stated earlier, the new composting toilet at the through hikers shelter is near the summit of Mount LeConte and there is no way to get there, except on the trails. So, take a look at what the National Park Service installed for the through hikers to use.

They have their very own Americans with Disabilities Act approved toilet. I have carried a back pack up or down every trail leading to this toilet on all sides of Mount LeConte. I guarantee you that any person who required such a toilet as part of his/her normal life would not be able to roll their wheel chair to this toilet, even if you carried them to a spot within a quarter of a mile from the toilet. At Goneguru, we want everyone to have a quality life and to enjoy travel and the great outdoors. We support research for such disabling diseases as Multiple Sclerosis, but some things just don’t make sense. If you can explain to me the logic in why this toilet was configured to be ADA approved, please do so.

Smoky Mountains: Hiking Serenity in The Cataloochee

The Great Smoky Mountains National Park didn’t exist before the Great Depression. Chartered in 1934, the park took in over 800 square miles in eastern Tennessee and western North Carolina. 10 million visitors per year pass through the park, with a large number of them passing along US highway 441 between Gatlinburg, Tennessee and Cherokee, North Carolina. To the east of this main tourist area, just north of Maggie Valley, NC and just off of I-40 is the Cataloochee.

Settled by white men who gradually displaced the Native Americans between 1800 and the Civil War, the Cataloochee as it is today gives a glimpse of life in the remote valleys of Appalachia at the turn of the twentieth century. The settlers descendants were themselves displaced by the creation of the park, leaving behind their houses, barns, fields, churches and cemeteries. When you go there you will feel the shadows of both the Native Americans and the white settlers, or maybe you’ll just feel the wonderful remoteness and stillness of the place. Getting there is not difficult, but don’t expect to roll in your RV; you can’t get them around some of the curves in the road. For an idea of what the road in is like you might want to take in a video someone posted on You Tube.

The campground is located on the banks of one of the streams flowing through the valley and like most National Park Service campgrounds charges a modest fee for a reservation which can be made online up to 6 months in advance of your trip. It is perfect for car campers who want to unload their gear from the back of the car onto the picnic table and sort it out from there. Bathhouses with shower are there, but note that the last time we were there, the filtration system was not working so take along a water purification system or plan to boil all the water you intend to consume.

If you proceed down the road a few yards past the campground, you’ll find the trailhead for the Boogerman loop trail. The trail climbs the mountain on the side of the valley and comes back down to the stream. Along the stream you’ll find yourself walking across a dozen or more log bridges.

Along this part of the trail, you will share space with horseback riders, but up on Boogerman loop proper you won’t see any horses. What you will find are some of the foundations of the houses of the farmers who cleared the fields on these mountains and maybe a little rusted tin from the roof of one or two. You may even feel as though you are trespassing, walking through a forest regenerated from a field cleared with back-breaking work. Along the way you will come to a low wall, three to four feet high and three feet wide stretching for a hundred yards into the forest. Most likely, as the field was cleared and plowed, the rocks in the wall were unearthed and carried to the edge of the field, where they were laid into an orderly wall. As you can see, in the 85 + years since the Park took over the farms, along these hillsides the forest has reclaimed fields.

Cataloochee wall — Something in the earth doesn’t like a wall

Look for the giant Poplar tree near the wall. Its base is hollow and two of us stood inside it. These giants haven’t been seen by everyone. I could post a picture, but you need to go see it for yourself.

The trail comes back down the mountain past the old farms and rejoins the stream. If you went along Boogerman loop clockwise, you’ll turn to the right to get back to the trail head. As we did so, we soon encountered where the forest had tried to reclaim a footbridge. We made it across, and as you see it was gracefully done.

Cataloochee tree — Footbridge 8, too far along to go back

Back at the trail head you can turn left and drive or cycle a few miles down into the valley where the meadows still grow tall grasses. You’ll likely see turkey or deer or, if you are out early in the morning or just at dusk, you may encounter a herd of Elk. Once native to these mountains, a re-population project was started a few years ago with 25 Elk. From what we have seen the project has been a success and Elk can be found over a wide area of the National Park. We intentionally went to the meadow at dusk and were literally surrounded by Elk. Although they know they have to share the meadow with mankind, they remain nervous creatures, so don’t get too close. They are wild and deserve their space.

Cataloochee Elk — Part of the herd in the meadow by the schoolhouse

If you take the road on down past the bridge and the school-house you’ll come to a farm-house and its barn. Get out and go into both. Sense the presence of a time long gone. It reminded me of my grandparents farmhouse that was built about the same time. I’ll come back with another post about the houses, barns, churches and schools left behind and the Elk who have returned.