AT Section hike 2023 part 3: Clingman’s Dome to Lemon Gap.

The Smokies were the hardest thing I’d ever done but yet the most rewarding, so far. It was worth it to climb those difficult but amazing mountains, to see the grandeur and majesty, and to experience the wonder of this beautiful place.

Carla, my daughter -in-law and my grandson, Kenaniah came to pick us all up from Clingmans Dome at the parking lot. We walked down the paved trail and loaded into her Expedition. We all went to enjoy pizza in Cherokee, the nearest town, about 17 miles away. Then she dropped Suzie and I off at the hotel we had reserved. It was a much needed rest, but we had some regrouping to do. Kris, my weatherman, noted it was to get extremely cold the next few days in the Smokies- down in the teens. Suzie and I were not equipped to handle such weather. It was our intention originally to go back up there and finish. We stayed an extra day in the hotel as the worst of the weather came through. There was a strip mall near by and we walked uptown to explore the casino shops.

With Kris’ help, we planned a new route, while Suzie and I hunkered down in the hotel in Cherokee. In the mountains up in the Smokies the nights were as low as 13 degrees and they’d had a few inches of snow. Suzie and I were not prepared to do that extreme of cold, nor did we have our ice spikes.

So we changed our plans. One has to be ready to switch it up when things don’t go exactly as planned. So it is with backpacking! Gotta roll with the punches.

We decided to start back at a lower elevation. We would get on the trail at the underpass of I-40 and go up the stairs to head towards Snowbird mountain and Max Patch Bald. With the elevation being a couple of thousand less, it should be more tolerable temperatures.

We grew impatient to get back on trail . We couldn’t find a shuttle or even a Uber driver who would take us. Finally, we called our trail angel, Carla, and she drove over 3 hours to get us and put us back on the AT. Kris and Kenaniah joined us too, to see us off.

She dropped us off at the I- 40 underpass. It was pretty late in the day. Suzie and I were headed to Painter branch, a camping area not too far, about 3.5 miles. However, it was getting dark and we were getting nervous about finding camp. Down at the road where the hostel turn off was, a couple of miles back, there was a sign warning about bears in the area. We wanted to get settled in and find a good branch for a food hang before dark. We came upon a place near a creek we thought would work, but the campsites were very sloped. We took it anyway. We slid down in our sleeping bags all night. I woke up with my mattress half way up the side of my tent! I did get some sleep tho. The moon was bright and it was a quiet night.

The next morning I checked our food bear hang. It made it through the night untouched! It was not a good hang- we could easily touch our bags, they were so low. I prayed over it that night and asked the Lord to keep it safe.

I walked up the trail a little ways to find a good bathroom place, and lo and behold! Not 100 feet from our camp was the Painter’s branch! Flat spots to camp for several tents! 🤷🏻‍♀️

We hiked on that day through beautiful fall colors. The leaves were turning on the vegetation, bringing in the glory of autumn. Reds, yellows oranges and purples were on display.

Up and up we went. From 2865 feet to 4263 feet we climbed in 2.4 miles. We arrived around noon st Snowbird Mountain. The first thing one noticed was this odd white building. It is an FAA tower. One can walk all the way around it and get a 360 degree view. We could look to the south and see the Smokies and Clingman’s Dome. We noticed storm clouds brewing, so after lunch, we headed down to the shelter.

1800 feet descent in 2.5 miles later, we arrived at Groundhog Creek Shelter. It was mid afternoon, but we decided since it looked like rain and was forecasted, we would spend the night here an enjoy the protection of a shelter instead of our tents.

We made a fire. An older man “Just Lonnie” came hiking in. He was a sobo hiker. He’d lost his wife to cancer and decided that hiking the AT was what he wanted to do. He was in his 70s. He’d hiked several miles that day. We enjoyed his company and got a good night’s sleep in the shelter. It did rain some in the evening and the night, but no rain on the morning.

The next day, we hiked 8 miles to one of my favorite views so far of the AT, up Max Patch Bald. Wow! What a view. I cried when I reached the top and looked around at all the majesty of those mountains. Oh God, how great you are! Thank you for creating all this. You said in your Word, you create all things to enjoy! Thank you Lord, for allowing me to enjoy this majestic beauty!

I got word the night before that a good friend and sister in the Lord has passed away. I wanted to be at her funeral. I knew it was time to go home. On our way down from Max Patch, while we had good signal, we attempted to call shuttlers. We finally found one who would come to get us for $150 and take us to Suzie’s car. We decided to call our angel again! Carla and Kenaniah would come to the rescue the next day, to meet us at Lemon Gap.

Our last night, we camped at Roaring Fork shelter. This was a busy place. It was just a few miles from Max Patch. We arrived about 7 pm. All the tent sites were full, so we stayed in the shelter. There was a guy who slept in it too, on the other end, but he was nice. We hung our food bags on the bear cable. It was a cooler night, probably was in the low 40s by morning.

We hiked down a beautiful trail along a creek to Lemon Fap, about 4 miles. Suzie had not fallen the entire time until she hit a patch of mud and fell face first. She was ok though! We made it to Lemon Gap about 11am.

The road Carla traveled up to Max Patch was no joke. No wonder Reuter wanted $150! It took Carla awhile to get to us. There was no signal so we couldn’t reach her. We said we’d meet at 11am. At 12 pm Carla and Kenaniah pulled in. We headed back down that arduous road and drove on to Hot Springs, where Suzie had her car parked. Originally, we thought we’d make it that far, but plans always change, especially the farther one goes. We found a restaurant open- Rocky Mountain Diner was closed. We were told due to COVID, the restaurants take turns who’s open when, because they don’t have enough workers.

Finally, about 3pm, Suzie and I part from our trail angels Carla and grandson Kenaniah, and we head for home. It was a long night, but we had lots of laughs sharing and reminiscing about our trail experiences and life in general. I met up with Kenneth at Culver’s in Columbus, IN around 11 pm. We still had 2 hours to go. It was 1:30 am when we got back.

Oh what a time I had, but so good to be back with my best trail angels and hiking buddy husband.

Total mileage for this year 2023- I hiked 130.8 miles.

AT miles so far hiked, counting the Approach Trail: 291.3 miles! It’s worth every step.

To God be all the glory!