AT to Charlie’s Bunion/Sweat Heifer Creek Trail/Kephart
Prong Trail – 10/5/12 - 12 Miles
Very excited this morning, anticipating a trifecta of my
favorite things: (1) hiking on a
gorgeous fall day in the Great Smoky Mountains (2) with new friends who have
never been to Charlie’s Bunion (3) plus a few extra miles on my own. I must figure out a way to do this for a
living.
After breakfast this morning Christine, our GSMNP
ranger-leader-friend for our Trails Forever volunteer week, treated us to a slide presentation she had created from
our work week and gave each of us a DVD copy.
A great catalogue of memories of our unique experience! After that, our group began to dissolve, a
couple of people leaving for the long drive home, some hiking in different
areas. Sarah and Helen and I headed to
Newfound Gap to check out the Appalachian Trail – Charlie’s Bunion, here we
come!
A beautiful beginning
The AT was busy, of course, because Charlie’s Bunion is one
of the most popular and iconic points in the Park. The hike is moderate, gradually gaining
elevation, and in many places you can look down on both sides as though you are
straddling a wide fence dividing North Carolina and Tennessee. For many visitors this is the only place they
set foot on the AT and not everyone makes it the four miles out to the Bunion
(remember, it’s four miles back). But
every step of the way was a celebration for me.
Dog hobble showing its fall colors was the stand-out of the
day
We passed Tina, Frieda and David along the way and caught up
with the other Sarah from our work crew at Icewater Spring Shelter. We had a leisurely lunch, enjoying the
sunshine after work days in the rain, and the four of us pushed on to the Bunion.
Charlie’s Bunion is a magnificent rock bluff facing
Tennessee, once sleeping underneath the typical Smokies soil and trees and then
uncovered by two events: a fire in 1925
that destroyed the vegetation followed by a particularly vicious cloudburst in
1929 that washed away the exposed soil. A
crew that included Horace Kephart and his friend Charlie Conner took a hike to
check out the damage after the storm.
The story goes that when Charlie removed his boots and socks to tend to
his sore feet, Kephart likened Charlie’s bunion to the rocky outcropping.
Helen and I out on the farthest point of the Bunion
Our Trails Forever crew with a random guy from Atlanta. He took photos of us first and we invited him
to join in. Loads of people at the
Bunion today and we had to take turns to get pictures.
Mount LeConte, the second highest point of Tennessee and third highest point in the Smokies.
We left Charlie’s Bunion and began our backtrack on the
AT. My friends were hiking back to our
starting point at Newfound Gap and I planned a longer route via Sweat Heifer
Creek Trail and Kephart Prong Trail. At
Icewater Spring Shelter we parted ways.
The intersection of Sweat Heifer Creek Trail and the
AT. From here I’ve got about 3,000 feet
of descent. Hope my knees are ready for
it!
I’ve hiked Sweat Heifer Creek Trail only once before, in the
opposite direction, climbing up from Kephart Prong to the AT, so this excursion
was a sweet treat indeed, in a different season and rolling downhill. The previous hike was solo, cold and crunchy
with snow and there was evidence that I had company ahead of me. Never met them face-to-face, though.
The first quarter mile of trail appeared unloved, narrow and
faint, but eventually it grew more distinct.
Purple asters, the last of the fall flowers, were hanging on.
A very recent blowdown.
I had to suck in my belly to scoot around this one.
“Hiking Trails Of The Smokies,” aka the “brown book”
contains descriptions of every trail in the GSMNP, but the write-up of this
trail is surprisingly lacking. At about
the halfway point there is a sharp left turn (going downhill)at a gap where
there are rusted buckets and other artifacts, perhaps evidence of a work crew
from years long past. There is no
mention of this spot in the brown book.
Soon after this point I heard a rush of water that grew
louder and louder. Funny, I didn’t make
much note of water features on my prior hike.
I wonder why not? The first
cascade didn’t photograph well but was really beautiful in person, sparkling in
the afternoon sun. This is a tributary
to Sweat Heifer Creek.
The thick carpet of leaves crunched with each step and I
made many attempts to photograph the trail at ground level. How about if I blow this up to life size and
hang it on the inside of my front door?
Then every time I leave home I’ll feel like I’m walking right into the
Smokies.
Again, the increasing roar of water and this time it was the
real thing, Sweat Heifer Cascades, where the creek tumbles across the trail,
spilling from ledges into pools and forming more cascades. This hike just kept getting better! My heart was joyful.
Just before the junction with Kephart Prong Trail I reached
a footbridge crossing Kephart Prong.
I didn’t realize at the time how close I was to the
intersection and the Kephart Shelter. I
sat on the bridge to have a snack and watch the ever-changing flow of
water. Paraphrasing a saying attributed
to Heraclitus, “You can never step in the same river twice,” what does it mean
for you? Many interpretations.
A few steps later, I walked up to Kephart Shelter and
chatted with the fellows who were stopping there for the night – oh, how I
envied them!
The two-mile walk down Kephart Prong Trail went quickly and
soon I was at my car, set to return to base camp for one last night with the
trail crew. This was a rare time when I
was not ready to end my hike – I felt I could keep going for miles. But the sun was going down soon and all good
things must come to an end…until next time.
“Climb the mountains and get their good tidings. Nature’s peace will
flow into you as sunshine flows into trees. The winds will blow their own
freshness into you, and the storms their energy, while cares drop off like
autumn leaves.” ~John Muir
