Smokies Weekend - Trip Report & Pictures

“Great Smoky Mountains National Park
SCJack & Amy - Mini Vacation
March 17-21, 2004

Pictures:
http://community.webshots.com/album/127141888higxlQ
http://community.webshots.com/album/127169399JbZAut

Wednesday, March 17th, 2004

After checking into the cabin that we rented for our mini vacation/4-day weekend we headed to downtown Gatlinburg for some dinner. Gatlinburg can get a little too busy for my tastes, but since it was early in the season and during the week we were able to explore the little shops and enjoy a nice meal without being overwhelmed by crowds and traffic.

Thursday, March 18th, 2004

Roaring Fork Motor Nature Trail
Since the day started with a steady rain, we decided to stay in the car and drive the Roaring Fork Motor Nature Trail. This is a great 5-mile loop drive through a very pretty section of the Smokies. There are lots of places to stop and see along the way and for 50-cents you can pick up a little guidebook at the start of the drive. The rain did not stop us from manning the umbrellas and taking some nice photographs. My favorite stop along the way was the Place of a Thousand Drips where dozens of small waterfalls cascade down the moss covered rocks.

Laurel Falls
The Laurel Falls trail is paved for the first 1.3 miles (2.6 miles round trip) making for a very easy hike to Laurel Falls. This is a very popular tourist stop, which can get very crowded. We figured the rain would keep most of the tourist away and we were right. Plus the cloud cover that comes along with the rain makes for much better waterfall photography. I highly recommend this waterfall, but since it is a popular tourist destination, try to do it first thing in the morning.

Meigs Falls & The Sinks
After Laurel Falls we drove west on Little River Road for a couple of miles and checked out Meigs Falls which can be seen from the road. The Sinks is a popular cascade / swimming hole along the Little River. Both of these are worth the stop if you are driving past them along Little River Road, but I wouldn’t plan a special trip just to see them.

Grotto Falls
The rain had let up a bit and all the tourists came out in full force to hike Grotto Falls. I don’t think I ever saw so many people on one trail. After passing about 30 people on the trail I left Amy behind and sprinted to the falls so I could hopefully snap a few shots before the mobs of people arrived. This is a steady, fairly easy, but all up-hill hike of about 1.3 miles (2.6 miles round trip) to this nice waterfall. But again, this is a very popular tourist stop, so plan your trip accordingly if you don’t want to face the crowds. We learned earlier in the day that the Roaring Fork Nature Trail ends up less than a half mile from our Cabin, so after Grotto Falls we drove back to our cabin and called it a day.


Friday, March 19th, 2004
Waterfall Wanderings Dayhike to Ramsay Cascades, Drinkwater Pool Falls, & Upper Ramsay Cascades

The Yahoo Group, Waterfall Wanderings had a dayhike planned for today that fit into our schedule, so we joined Dana, TNWaterfallBill, and Craig on this Waterfall Wanderings Adventure.

We met up with the group at about 8:00am and headed on to the Ramsay Cascades Trailhead. It is about a 4.0-mile hike to Ramsay Cascades. This hike is a steady up-hill all the way making it moderately difficult, but no real steep sections. I highly recommend the trail and the waterfall at the end (Ramsay Cascades) is spectacular. My pictures do not do it justice. The waterfall was roaring and spraying a cool mist all over making it just about impossible to avoid water drops on the camera lens. There wasn’t a cloud in the sky, making for a beautiful day for a hike, but horrible for photographing this wonderful waterfall.

After about 5-minutes at Ramsay Cascades a mass mob of obnoxious teenagers came hooting and hollering. We quickly made our escape hoping they wouldn’t follow us. The Ramsay Cascades Trail officially ends at Ramsay Cascades, but for this hike we ventured beyond the official trail. It was a steep climb, but fairly easy to follow to the top of the falls where we crossed the creek and entered into Rhododendron Hell!

While it wasn’t long distance wise, this bushwhack through the thick Rhododendron snarls was the most difficult I have ever done. While I enjoy this type of challenge, Amy absolutely hated the bushwhack. When we finally arrive at Drinkwater Pool Falls, Amy decided that she did not want to go any further. I felt bad about leaving her behind, but I made it this far and didn’t want to stop now.

It took us about an hour to bushwhack the short distance to Upper Ramsay Cascades. While it is a very impressive waterfall, I couldn’t really enjoy it because it had taken us much longer than I expected to get there and I was worried about Amy all alone at Drinkwater Pool. So Craig and I decided to try and get back to Amy as quickly as possible. We thought the other side of the creek might be easier going and it started out that way, but when we couldn’t go any further we crossed back over to bushwhack through Rhododendron Hell again.

Meanwhile, back at Drinkwater Pool, Amy had awakened from a nap and realized that we had been gone for close to 2-hours. This was much longer than she had expected us to be gone since it was only “about a quarter mile further” to Upper Ramsay Cascades. She got worried and started screaming for us.

Craig and I had veered off-course and were much to far up-hill from the creek when we heard Amy yelling in the distance. The Rhododendron between us and the creek was as thick as I have ever seen, but I just followed the sounds of Amy’s yells, and made my way down the bank through Rhododendron Hell before finally finding Amy where I received a big hug along with an evil look of worry and frustration.

Craig made his way down shortly after I did and the three of us had a little snack while waiting for Dana and Bill. Just as we started to worry about what was taking them so long, they popped out through the brush.

All of our boots where already soaked and none of us wanted to face any more Rhododendrons, so we decided to wade through the creek and rock hop along the side downstream. This proved to be much easier, what took us close to an hour through Rhododendron Hell, took no more than 15-minutes to get back to the top of Ramsay Falls.

It felt so good to get back to the main trail and the easy downhill 4-mile return hike was very enjoyable.

Overall, a great hike and great company. I would have never ventured past Ramsay Falls on my own and I enjoyed the adventure. Amy on the other hand, absolutely hated the whole bushwhack experience and has told me that she will never, ever bushwhack again unless her life depended on it. However, she did say that Dana, Bill, and Craig were great people and she would welcome the opportunity to hike with them again as long as it is not a bushwhack!


Saturday, March 20th, 2004
Amy was so sore from the Ramsay Cascades hike that she could barely move, but I was ready for some more hiking! We came up with a plan that satisfied both of our urges. She would drop me off at the Rainbow Falls trailhead and meet me back there 2.5-hours later to pick me up. She could use the time to do some shopping, reading, and relaxing.

Rainbow Falls
It’s about a 2.8-mile out and back (5.6 mile round trip) hike to Rainbow Falls. Like most trails in the Smokies, this one is very nice with plenty to see along the way. Many nice cascades and even some sections along a ridge with some nice views. There is one real nice smaller waterfall along the way. Rainbow Falls is a very impressive 75-ft plunge type waterfall.

Baskins Creek Falls
Amy joined me for this hike of 1.5 miles (3.0 miles round trip) to Baskin Creek Falls. This trail was not that interesting, but Baskins Creek Falls was very nice and well worth the short hike.

Old Sugarlands Trail
I wanted to get another hike in, but Amy wasn’t up for it so she dropped me off at the Old Sugarlands Trailhead near the Sugarlands Visitor Center with plans to pick me up 2-hrs later at the Rainbow falls parking area.
This 3.9-mile hike starts by following the Little Pigeon River for the first 1.5, which is a very nice easy hike. After that the trail is just an old gravel road which heads steadily uphill and is not very interesting. I would not really recommend this hike. However, I did not see another person along this trail and I enjoyed the little bit of solitude.

Cataract Falls / Fighting Creek Nature Trail
After dinner there was still enough daylight to check out Cataract Falls near the Sugarlands Visitors Center. Nothing spectacular, but a nice little waterfall well worth the short walk. Since we were right at the trailhead we also decided to do the 1.0 mile Fighting Creek Nature Trail, a nice and easy leisurely stroll. About half way through the loop, while checking out an old cabin along the trail we heard the thunder, so we picked up the pace. Just as the visitors center was in view the skies opened up on us, and by the time we got back to the car we were drenched!


Sunday, March 21, 2004
I would have liked to get another hike in, but since Amy had to be in Raleigh later in the day we got an early start and headed back to Spartanburg!


Overall, a great mini vacation! I love the Smokies and will definitely be planning more trips there in the future!

SCJack”

“Those are some wonderful waterfalls!”

“Nice pics! Thanks.”

“Great trip report and great pics, scjack! Thanks.”

“oooohh. Nice pics. Going to look again when I get to work - (nice flat screen and T1). Thanks for posting.”

“Thanks for your good report and pictures.”

“scjack, nice pics. Gatlinburg use to be nice till it got so commericalized. If you hit it right like you did there is not a lot of tourist esp when you go into the Smokies.
That is one reason I like hiking there. Get 2-3 miles down the trail and the tourist are gone.”

“Cool, scjack!! Thanks for sharing!”