by Danny Bernstein
The August “challenging” Trails Forever Hike was a twofer around Clingmans Dome.
Continuing the flexible theme for hikes in Great Smoky Mountains National Park mentioned in previous blog posts, hike leader Steve Pierce originally planned on an epic route on Sugarland Mountain Trail. It’s a hike which is not done often. The views were going to be fantastic. With help from a shuttle bus, the hike would have been mostly downhill. But when Steve scouted the trail recently with a couple of helpers, he found it was overgrown and too steep with many blowdowns. It was not appropriate for a group hike.
Instead, Steve and Olivia Wright, Friends of the Smokies outreach coordinator, decided to resurrect the Clingmans Dome hike we didn’t get to do in May due to thunderstorms. It’s always good to keep a hike or two in your back pocket.
The Hike
Twelve hikers met in the Clingmans Dome parking lot before 9 a.m. It was a beautiful, sunny day, perfect for the highest point in the park. The day was divided into two parts. In the morning, we planned to hike a section of the Appalachian Trail and Mountains-to-Sea trail that runs concurrently until reaching the summit of Clingmans Dome. In the afternoon, the group would go to Andrews Bald, a 3.6-mile round trip, to see an outstanding view.
After introductions and the obligatory group shot, we piled into a bus that takes us down to the intersection of Clingmans Dome Road and Fork Ridge Trail. From here it is almost four miles back up to Clingmans Dome and the paved road. The trail is uphill directionally but there are several downhill spots.
Steve, our leader, orients us. He explains:
By the time A.T. thru-hikers get to Clingmans Dome, they will have hiked about two hundred miles and have almost two thousand miles left to go. Clingmans Dome is also the western terminus of the Mountains-to-Sea Trail that zigzags through North Carolina for almost 1,200 miles and ends at Jockey’s Ridge State Park on the Atlantic Ocean.
We climb up to Mt. Collins but there are no views other than the canopy of the high spruce forest. Two sets of long-distance hikers pass us heading north on the A.T. I wanted to ask them if they were going all the way to Katahdin in Maine, but I doubt it. It is too late for thru-hikers to be in the Smokies; at this point they should be well into New Hampshire. I love to talk to hikers going the other way, but these backpackers seem resolute and on a mission. Besides, with our group, they would be here talking forever instead of walking.
The trail is very wooded and there are no views on this hike. The height of the flower season is mostly over but at 6,000 feet, we spot pink turtleheads. Dana Soehn, President and CEO of Friends of the Smokies, joined us on this morning hike and points out a flower called Rugel’s Ragwort. It is not a pretty flower and could not compete with the spring wildflowers we love. But it is endemic to this area and considered rare. The Wildflowers of the Smokies book states that it is found only in the park.
Up and down and then we climbed up Mt. Love. And finally, up to Clingmans Dome where we see our first MST marker, a white circle. Missy Kane is our sweep, the hiker assigned to the back to make sure everyone makes it to our destination. We take a sharp left turn for a very short distance, and we are on the paved path close to the Clingmans Dome Tower.
Now, we have choices. Some hikers go up to the observation tower. Others go down the half-mile paved trail to pick up their lunches in their cars and then meet to eat together on benches opposite the Clingmans Dome Visitor Station and store. Still others have an afternoon commitment and leave.
MST Western Terminus Marker
Dana and I stay at the top on Clingmans Dome Trail. We look at the gravel between the entrance to the MST trail and the paved path beside the observation tower. This is the beginning of the western end of the MST but there is no marker. Long-distance hikers who start the MST here want to take a photo with a marker to memorialize this momentous beginning. Those who have walked from the North Carolina coast want the same photo to celebrate their great feat. Right now, there is nothing.
On the eastern end of the MST, Friends of the Mountains-to-Sea Trail has erected a large wooden marker to commemorate the eastern end of the trail at Jockeys Ridge State Park. Such a wooden sign would not be suitable for Clingmans Dome at 6,643 feet. The marker needs to be able to withstand the harsh winter conditions.
But a more modest stone marker would be appropriate on the gravel in the developed area of the road. I have collected a couple of aspirational photos of what might work.
Dana stands where a marker could be placed. Visitors sitting on the stone benches at the base of the observation tower could see the marker and find out about the MST.
Friends of the Mountains-to-Sea Trail, with the help of Carolina Mountain Club, is working with the park to place an appropriate MST marker. Friends of the Smokies supports this project, for which I am very grateful.
TRAILS FOREVER HIKES – Spots Available through October 2024
Take a hike and help restore the most loved trails in the Smokies. The Forever Trails Hikes program offers expert guided hikes twice a month now through October 2024. It’s just $25 per hike and all proceeds go to Trails Forever. Space is limited, so check out the schedule and register at https://friendsofthesmokies.org/hike-with-trails-forever/
