GSMNP Bike -n- Hike TR

“Friday afternoon Karo and I met in Townsend and got settled into a hotel. We still had daylight so we drove over to the park and Karo did some fly fishing...no luck. After that it was getting dark so we had dinner at the Backporch restaurant in Townsend. We had the all-you-can-eat catfish dinner while a musician played guitar and harmonica. Both of us ate wwaaayyy too much and stumbled out of the place...slowly. Back at the hotel we packed up our gear for the next two days.

Saturday morning we got up early and ate a quick breakfast. We got to Cades Cove about 7:30am and it was raining...hard. That didn't seem to stop the other 100 people on bikes so we figured we might as well hit the road. We put on our rain coats because it was rather cool out that morning. After a few miles of riding the rain stopped and we took off our rain coats while we had a little break. We continued on around the loop and stopped at the visitors center for a restroom break and water. There were deer everywhere and even bucks were out in the open grazing in the early morning fog. I saw a few turkeys too, but no other critters. We continued on around the loop and came upon a bike accident. Karo inquired as to what happened and was told two different stories. One story was that a guy broke his arm, and the other was that he had a heart attack. Maybe it was both? Anyway, it wasn't soon after that an ambulance was coming around the loop for its patient. The ride around the loop took about 2hrs and that included breaks. I will definitely do that bike ride again as it was probably the best part of the weekend.

After we got cleaned up and changed clothes, we headed to Pigeon Forge for lunch. Then we headed to Sugarlands visitor center to get our backcountry permit. While I was there talking to the people working the backcountry desk, I accidently knocked over a cup of coffee sitting on the counter. Since a few of them had guns, I quickly said bye and disappeared. We drove up to Newfound Gap and left Karo's truck there and then drove up to Clingmons Dome where we would start our hike.

It was foggy at the Dome and it also rained on and off. It took us a few hours to reach Mount Collins shelter via the AT. We found out earlier that the bear warning for this shelter had been cancelled and I could see that the shetler had been recently "cleaned up". The fire pit was empty and I didn't see any trash anywhere...I only heard one mouse that night but didn't even see it. That's good news...shelters need to be kept clean so everyone can enjoy them. After dark a hiker came in and went straight to sleep. He had hiked from Tricorner Shelter which was about 20m away...it was a long day for him.

Sunday morning we were lazy and slept late. Karo cooked breakfast which included some excellent bacon and of course I scored a few pieces. We headed out for the 5m trip to Newfound Gap and the weather was clear but very warm and muggy. The trail was muddy from all the rain in the past week but we still enjoyed the hike. When we got to Newfound Gap it was crowded as usual. Karo had some cool drinks in his truck and we drank one while we prepared to head home.

We took some pics and will get them online when time permits. I had a good time getting to know Karo better and overall the trip was excellent!!”

“Thanks for the report. Glad you both had a good weekend.

How come you did not stay at Hotel Chili's?”

“Sounds like a great trip! Did you at least clean up the coffee? lol”

“Thanks for the report. I'll bet that was quite a haul from CC to Pigeon Forge for lunch. MDS is a touron, MDS is a touron,...j/k.

Look forward to the pics.

I still remember that turkey we saw when we did that Gregory Bald trip a few years back. That thing looked like a boulder.”

“I've never biked through the mountains. Was car traffic a problem?”

“Thanks Paul ! <--- nowslimmer”

“It's good to see that some people aren't scared off by the rain :-)”

“Well, if I had more notice on this, I could have joined you for the hike.

I got Karo's email too late.”

“That's ok chili, I'll plan another one real soon. I can be in Townsend in less than 4 hours so I hope to go again asap. Sorry I haven't posted before now, but I have been real busy and went back to work on Monday. We did have a great trip and again I need to thank MDS for this trip idea. Since I didn't get much of a vacation during our 2 week shutdown, this had to suffice. Not a lot more to add to Micheal's trip report except I really enjoyed our trip. I found out lots I didn't know about TT and realized I miss alot by not reading some of the threads. I knew it might rain on this trip (or any other trip to the Smokies for that matter) but I didn't let a little rain dampen my trip. After the rain let up it was much cooler biking the Cades Cove loop. I did finally get new contacts after about 5 years and hiked (and biked)in them just fine. No more stopping to wipe off my glasses, I can finally see where I am going! I can't wait till cooler weather gets here, but in the meantime we can always hike the AT where it is lots cooler than at our altitude. And I will get my pics up asap.
last edited: 7/20/05 10:27:18 PM”

“

I found out lots I didn't know about TT"
karo

Gossip exchange!”

“NS - I was thinking the same thing.

You go gurlz”

“dayhiker - No entry found for gurlz?
.
last edited: 7/21/05 6:58:23 AM”

“That's the plural of gurl.”

“gurl:- n. A young person of either sex

Thanks, dayhiker.

Johnson: "I feel young again!" They got my name right. I, too, do feel younger after a good performance, hike, swim or workout on the mats.”