Smokies 900 Round 2: Forney Ridge & Forney Creek Loop Backpack - Day 3

Smokies 900 Round 2: Forney Ridge & Forney Creek Loop Backpack – Day 3
Springhouse Branch Trail/Forney Ridge Trail to Andrews Bald and Clingmans Dome Road 8/28/20 – 9.8 miles

My notes from this hike are mostly whining and moaning, only half a dozen photos, so I’ll put on my big girl panties and try to summarize:

Carol and I hiked in pouring rain from Campsite 71 to the Clingman’s Dome parking lot, a distance of 9.8 miles, a few flat spots, and nearly 5,000 feet elevation gain. It wasn’t pretty but we did it.

I didn’t eat enough to start out. At the intersection of Springhouse Branch Trail and Forney Ridge Trail, Carol handed me a piece of pita bread and a packet of tuna and I struggled to choke it down. I gagged on every small bite until I figured out that eating bits of dried apricot helped. The experience severed my relationship with tuna on the trail.

Not for the first time, I was grateful that our JMT trip had not worked out. The first part of that hike was supposed to be 8 days without a food resupply. How could I possibly have carried enough food to be able to…carry food? Circular impossible task.

Staying focused on Carol's blue rain cover as I put one foot in front of the other

Andrews Bald was socked in clouds and impossible to discern that it actually was a bald; it seemed more like a ridge with small open areas, not the expansive open fields and long range views that we knew were there. Two guys sitting on a rock said hello.

Andrews Bald

We took our last break at the intersection of Forney Ridge and Forney Creek Trail, and from there the psychological light at the end of the tunnel pulled me up the last mile. In total, the hike was 6.5 hours including all stops, much faster than the 7-8 hours I was anticipating. Must have been doing something right after all.

At the parking lot, two guys asked for a ride. They were attempting to run the AT section from Fontana Dam to Newfound Gap, but they decided to call it quits because of the poor conditions. We all had masks, so we drove them to their car at Newfound Gap. It lifted our own spirits to be trail angels after a hard day.

Another backpacking trip in the Great Smoky Mountains that kicked my butt,
and I’m sure we’ll be back again

Epilogue: Dairy Queen!

“Because in the end, you won’t rememberthe time you spent working in the office
or mowing your lawn.
Climb that goddamn mountain.”
~Jack Kerouac