"... and then the Mama Bear threw her cub up to the food line..."

3/25/2007 We spent the past week in one of the most visited national parks, Great Smokey Mountain National Park. Famous for it's hazy ridge lines, wide variety of salamanders, and of course, the bold black bears. The back country of the Smokies can be an exciting place. But first, you have to get there. The AT is a ridge line trail, and the ridge line here is between 4,000 and 6,500 feet. At Fontana Dam (the southern entrance to the park), we were about 1,700 feet. Up we went. Our packs bulged with 8 days of food (in case we were stranded in bad weather), and the climb was continuous all day. For eleven miles, we trudged up never-ending hills, including Shuckstack Mountain, which had a rickety fire tower on top, providing 360 degree views of even taller mountains. Because so many people visit the Smokies, special regulations apply. To concentrate the areas of impact, thereby protecting the surrounding wilderness, you must stay in a shelter. Only if the shelter is full, are you permitted to set up a tent, and then you must do so right next to the shelter. However, it would be impossible to actually patrol the hundreds of miles of back country for violators, so they do their best to scare you into staying in the shelters before you even get into the park. Here are a few of my favorites.


1) Do not attempt to hike at dawn, dusk or god-forbid, dark, lest you run into a wild boar. Worse than an angry bear.
2) Carry 10 days worth of food. Back in 1996, it snowed 18 inches and hikers were stranded for weeks.
3) At the Siler Bald shelter, there is a legendary bear who will throw her cub up to food-hoist cables so it can rip the bags down and feast while you sleep.

None of these warnings seemed to pan out. Instead, we found the first section of the park to be physically exhausting, and I was not too happy about the park's convention of not having a privy at the shelters; instead they use "toilet areas" which are disgusting, designated areas where you are supposed to dig a hole and do your thing. However, everybody else has been there already, so it is hard enough to find an unused spot. Plus, the siting of these areas was somewhat questionable. I spent far too long one chilly morning clinging to a tree on a nearly vertical hill, while gale force winds whipped up the side of the mountain onto my... well, you get the idea.
Other than THAT, the smokes were awesome. The views from the ridge were very clear. I decided that I want to paint my bedroom walls with the over-lapping, grayish silhouettes of these ancient mountains. It would be very relaxing to wake up to that every morning.
Although most of the "front-country" (visitor center, campgrounds, lodges and roads) is still closed for the winter, there were tons of people in the back country, most on spring break trips. We met some very cool people, including 3 boys from Alabama who wowed us with their salamander-catching skills.

So we survived the Smokies.

-K