Benton MacKaye Trail in the Smokies: Laurel Gap Shelter to Raven Fork Campsite 47

Benton MacKaye Trail: Smokies Backpack Day 2 - 3/17/19 – 9.8 Miles

At 7:40 a.m. Lane said, “Is anybody going hiking today?” We were all reluctant to get out of our sleeping bags. The Florida guy had decided to cut his trip short because of the cold.  He was up and out at 6:00 a.m. to hike 19 miles back to Smokemont. I wondered if that was feasible for me, decided it wasn’t, and I’d have to tough it out another night. I had all day to plan how to stay warmer.

Chris announced that it was 25 degrees. We all cringed putting on cold boots. The young woman from TN was hiking out to Cataloochee today so she was happy.

Lane and Nancy enjoying a frigid al fresco breakfast

While others heated water, I found that I had brought a hard-boiled egg to pair with my Clif bar. It was almost 9:00 a.m. when we started out on Balsam Mountain Trail and I was intentionally last. The moderate uphill warmup to Balsam High Top helped my frozen fingers thaw; then the trail continued downhill to intersect the high end of Beech Gap I Trail. [Note: The midpoint trailhead for the two sections of Beech Gap Trail is a place called Round Bottom, at the intersection of two gravel roads – Balsam Mtn Road and Straight Fork Road – thus the confusing names of Beech Gap I and Beech Gap II Trail. This probably doesn't help without a map in front of you.]

Cold start

Anyhow, Beech Gap I was 2.5 miles down, steep enough that I couldn’t get up any speed, and surprisingly I felt my left leg IT band twinging.  The trail was littered with branches and some blowdowns, making me think that the horse people hadn’t been out yet for spring cleaning. Under a stellar blue sky, though, I warmed up enough to take off layers and gloves. No wind, no rain, no clouds, a beautiful day in the Smokies.

At Round Bottom, the end of Beech Gap I Trail, I walked across the hefty steel bridge spanning Straight Fork (a note of gratitude that the bridge exists – not too long ago the creek flowed across a cement automobile ford). The gang was stopped at the Beech Gap II trailhead but about ready to move on. 

 

This trail was the thing to conquer today – 2.8 miles, almost 2,000 feet elevation gain. Nancy and Chris and Lane continued on as I sat down to eat another bar and psyche myself up. I started out hiking slowly, determined not to get out of breath, but my lungs were not the problem – my legs were weak from yesterday’s climb. I sang aloud, I hummed, I counted my steps to 1,000, then rested for 30 seconds. Near the end (is there an end?) I switched to counting to 300, then resting for 30 seconds.  I knew it wasn’t going to get any better and was very discouraged, dismayed that age was affecting my stamina – or was it? Is there such a big difference between 50 and 60? (yes) Or could it be my lack of training? Was it the extra weight of the backpack? If I did this every weekend for six weeks would it be as hard? But I couldn’t reason it out in the moment, could only keep trudging uphill.

I reached the gap intersection with Hyatt Ridge Trail and was encouraged to find Nancy and Lane still there.  Lane was finishing a snack and Nancy looked cold like she’d been there long enough. It took me about 1 hour 45 minutes for the climb and Lane said it took him about the same, and he stopped for a few one-minute breaks.  That made me feel better. As before, they left as I took a break.

Hyatt Ridge Trail was a respite, a combination of flat and gentle downhill grade, one little bump that still felt hard but manageable. I turned onto Enloe Creek Trail, a one-mile steep slide down into Raven Fork Gorge to Campsite 47, now feeling good in the home stretch, and it was early afternoon. [Hiking Trails of the Smokies contains an in-depth description of Enloe Creek Trail’s geology and the namesake family’s history.]  

Enloe Creek Trail crosses over a sweet cascade

A massive steel bridge crosses Raven Fork Creek. I don’t know in what year, but the bridge was built after a backpacker drowned trying to ford at this point during high water. The creek is powerful here, several thundering waterfalls, not tall, but wide and pounding. We won’t hear any animals during the night. Not sure if that’s good or bad…

 

 My first hike across this bridge with Jim during my Smokies 900 adventures in 2008

Campsite 47 is on the far side of the bridge, very small, room for five or six tents. Before 2:30 p.m. we were all set up and stretched out in the afternoon sun, so unusual to be at a backcountry site so early. Felt strange but then luxurious as we talked and lazed around. The morning’s cold 25 degrees was gone.

 

Around 5:00 p.m. we each prepared our own meal, ate, cleaned up. The afternoon glow on the surrounding mountaintops was lovely, but all warmth faded with the sun. Remarking that it takes him an hour to warm up to start going to sleep, Lane opted to turn in for the night. Nancy built and tended a small fire (I think as a treat for me) while Chris and I stood around talking with her and not helping at all.  If it had been 20 degrees warmer it would have been a laid-back campfire, but we doused it before full dark and headed to our sleeping bags.

Campsite 47 is at 3,500 feet (2,000 feet lower than Laurel Gap Shelter). How cold will it get tonight?

 

"The wise man knows that it is better to sit on the banks of a remote mountain stream than to be emperor of the whole world." ~Zhuangzi

Benton MacKaye Trail In the Smokies: Big Creek to Laurel Gap Shelter

Benton MacKaye Trail: Smokies Backpack Day 1 - 3/16/19 – 12 Miles

Looking at my gear scattered around the bedroom floor, the thought crossed my mind that I was in over my head. What.Have.I.Done.

I met Nancy several years ago through this blog. At that time I knew her as a homeschooler, outdoors lover and blogger, and we would comment on each other’s writings from time to time. Since then I’ve learned she is a very accomplished hiker, backpacker, outdoor-advice-giver, search-and-rescue volunteer, veterinarian, baker, spouse and parent – all in the same 24 hours that the rest of us get each day.  I had never met Nancy in person, though, until she extended an invitation to folks in GSHAG (Great Smokies Hiking Adventure Group, of which I am a lurking member) for an adventure, backpacking the Smokies section of the Benton MacKaye Trail from Big Creek to Fontana Dam. I was excited, to say the least, for the opportunity to meet Nancy, enjoy a few days in my beloved Smokies, and hang with SAR experts so I stood a good chance of emerging safely.

 

Many folks expressed interest but ultimately it boiled down to four people in our group.  There were voluminous detailed emails flying around discussing weather, apps, maps, gear, logistics of cars and shuttling. I haven’t hauled a backpack since June of last year and these people hike every weekend. A couple of days before leaving home my anxiety level was physical, a racing heartbeat and a nervous stomach.

I drove to Cherokee, NC on Friday to meet Lane and Chris at Smokemont Campground in Great Smoky Mountains National Park, where Chris and I left cars for our arrival on Day 3 (Monday). At that point I’d head home to Charlotte. Nancy and the guys would pick up their resupply from Chris’s car, change out some gear, indulge in a meal and adult beverages in town, spend the night at the campground, then backpack several more days on the BMT to reach Fontana Dam. They were all in and I was a weekend warrior.

I had to make all my pack decisions before leaving my car at Smokemont. We were spending Friday night at Nancy’s, shuttling early Saturday morning. Do I have enough food? Most important, do I have enough clothes to be warm? Is it all too heavy? Pressure!

My nervousness receded once I met Lane and Chris.  Like me, they are both Smokies 900 Milers and have spent many nights in the woods. Chris had recently completed an AT thru-hike and was preparing for a PCT thru-hike. Lane teaches backpacking and other outdoor skills, leads many hikes for GSHAG, and also is an SAR volunteer. He mentioned starting the SB6K challenge sometime and I mentioned that we would pass right by one tomorrow (Big Cataloochee) if he wanted to tag it. Lots of trail chatter as we drove to Nancy’s home.

What a delight to meet Nancy and her husband (he’s a cyclist, what a surprise!) More trail and gear talk, more weather speculation, until I went to my room to rearrange my pack yet again. Sleep evaded me, as I knew it would, the trail jitters ballooning to fill my head.

Saturday Morning

Nancy’s husband drove us to Big Creek, one of my favorite areas of the Smokies in eastern Tennessee. Nancy and I shared a laugh when we saw that we wore the same Dirty Girl gaiters and teal-colored fleece jackets. We stepped onto the bridge spanning thundering Big Creek…and we’re off.

Baxter Creek Trail, as we all well knew, is 6.2 miles long and 4,000 feet elevation gain, all up, no relief, a reputation as the longest steep grade in the Smokies. I’ve hiked down it twice as the last part of a long loop and can tell you it’s a knee-breaker. Coffee and adrenaline swept over me, though, and the grade didn’t feel as drastic as I anticipated – for about ten minutes. Then my three new friends quickly moved ahead and I was alone with my own self as reality settled in for the long haul.

 

Lane waited for me to catch up at about halfway, said I wasn’t too far, and Chris and Nancy waited a little further up.  We regrouped and started again, and I was comfortable bringing up the rear. The second three miles was slower, as I was determined not to get too winded.

The temperature dropped noticeably as the zone changed to alpine spruce-fir forest, frost particles on the ground, hoarfrost along the trail edges. I realized my phone battery was draining rapidly – I hadn’t anticipated the cold when I decided not to carry a battery charger.  I powered it off for much of the trip, turning it back on judiciously for photos. Funny, I didn’t much miss it and soon got used to just experiencing the hike rather than documenting all of it.

The final half-mile to Mount Sterling fire tower was the steepest, especially above the side trail to the water source designated for the campsite there (who would ever go get water there?)

We stopped at the campfire ring to eat but it was very chilly.  Nancy and Chris and I climbed to the top of the tower – who knows when we’ll be there again on a blue-sky day?  The view was magnificently clear. We could see the Cataloochee area and Hemphill Bald, and views far to the north and south. Do you see Mount LeConte? Grandfather Mountain? Grayson Highlands, VA?

Looking down at the campfire ring

Leaving the fire tower, we walked half a mile on Mount Sterling Trail to its junction with Mount Sterling Ridge Trail. Turning right, the ridge trail slides about a mile-and-a-half down to Pretty Hollow Gap, where Pretty Hollow Gap Trail rises up from Cataloochee to meet Swallow Fork Gap rising up from Big Creek. In another month this little meadow gap would be teeming with wildflowers.

From that junction, the ridge trail is about four miles of flat, easy walking. I was still in last place, no longer breathless from exertion, now filled with joy on a cold day rambling on a mountain ridge.  The trail gently curves around the slopes of Big Butt and Big Cataloochee Mountains. Cold and damp: icicles, mushy wet spots, some frozen, steady water flow from the high side of the trail where it’s likely just a seep in the summertime. Curious observation: lots of green spruce “droppings” on the trail, not cones, but bright green tips of branches.

 

Lane and Chris and Nancy had decided to tag the summit of Big Cataloochee Mountain as part of the SB6K since they were in the neighborhood. At the next junction they turned left onto Balsam Mountain Trail and hiked a quarter-mile to Laurel Gap Shelter, our home for the night, to drop their packs to go off-trail. There is no established trail up Big Cataloochee but the easiest route (not to be confused with “easy”) starts from Mount Sterling Ridge Trail.  On the tail end of winter, this was an ideal time to bushwhack to the summit (6,155 feet).

They were ahead of me, of course, and I had no desire to revisit the summit of Big Cat (read about my prior hike to Big Cat here). When I arrived at the shelter, they were just getting ready to leave. Two other hikers had arrived, so my buddies had spread out their gear to claim space in case others showed up (no one else did). I made myself at home.

 

The two backpackers – a young woman from Tennessee and a young man from Florida - were not together and were not interested in deep conversation.  I got water from the source way down the hill (cold cold cold) and sat in a little patch of sunshine waiting for my friends to return.  Took longer than I expected – they hiked 2.5 miles, not as straightforward as one might expect – but they were happy. Another hiking challenge list started!

Laurel Gap Shelter sits at 5,500 feet and did I mention it was cold cold cold? Cooking and eating and worrying about the dropping temperature, not much leisurely end-of-day chatter. Park trail maintainers had put up the customary heavy duty winter tarp across the shelter opening, which helps to keep the wind out and a couple of degrees more heat in, especially with a fire in the fireplace – but none among us was eager to build and maintain a fire.  All six hardy souls were cocooning inside sleeping bags before 8:00 p.m.

Lane said he doesn’t like winter camping and had been preparing for weeks for this trip. He makes most of his own gear, sewed his own booties and sleeping bag, knows all the products and hacks. He loaned me toe warmers that worked so well I was afraid they might burn my skin if I fell asleep with them in my socks. After an hour, I returned them and Lane put them into a sealed plastic bag; they will be good for more use. Just one of the things I learned from these amazing folks!

15-degree sleeping bag
sleeping pad
silk liner for sleeping bag
short-sleeved tee shirt
long underwear top and bottoms
thick stretch ski pants
Smartwool medium weight half-zip shirt
heavy weight fleece jacket (thank goodness I chose to bring it despite the bulk!)
purple Marmot puffy coat
head band and fleece Liberty hat
neck gaiter
thick wool gloves

The only clothing I didn’t sleep in were my hiking pants, rain pants and rain jacket. I remember waking from a dream at one point, so I must have slept, but I was chilled all night long. Dreading night #2 in a campsite, although sleeping in a tent is warmer – I hope.

Read Nancy's blog at Hope and Feather Travels - here.

Find Nancy's Facebook Group Backpacking & Hiking Gear Deals with Outdoor Education - here 

“Cold! If the thermometer had been an inch longer we'd have frozen to death.” ~Mark Twain

“What good is the warmth of summer without the cold of winter to give it sweetness?”  ~John Steinbeck