Some time ago, I was driving through the Smokies looking for a trail that I had found on the map called the Huskey Gap Trail. This trail was listed in trail guides as being 4.2 miles round trip and moderate. According to the official Smokey Mountains trail map, the trailhead was just off Newfound Gap Round, a few miles south of the Sugarlands Visitor Center.
The Great Smoky Mountains can be a wonderful place, with fabulous scenery and lovely drives. There are hiking trails all throughout the park, with many different places to trek. However, this beauty comes at a price for the local (or semi-local) hiker.
During my brief vacation, I tried to go on another hike, but I ended up just driving around the Smokies, because of the rain. It stopped long enough for me to take a little walk to a creek, but mostly, I just wandered around in the car. But I figured, since I got some pictures, I'd go ahead and share them.
Because of the low cloud cover, the Smokies were really living up to their name. And the autumn color was continuing to spread across the mountains, adding a little bit of red or gold to the green and gray.
During my transition from working at Clemson University to working at the University of Tennessee, I took a few trips to the Smokies to try to get connected to new opportunities for wandering. To start with, I went with a hike that I had done before, the Andrews Bald hike. This hike is part of the Forney Ridge Trail, near Clingman's Dome. It's a shortish hike, about 3 to 3.5 miles round trip.
There are big changes happening in my life, and I'm preparing to open up possibilities for new places to explore. My wife and I are in the process of moving to Knoxville, Tennessee. Although that means that I won't be hiking around the South Carolina and north Georgia areas as I have for some years now, the Great Smoky Mountains are right nearby. As an example of the kinds of new places opening up for hiking and photography, this post is about a hike in the Smokies taken earlier this summer.
I opted to return to the Great Smoky Mountains for this hike, since I had some time for a mid-week trip. It's a bit farther than I normally go, since it's a few hours to the park, but when my wife and I had done some hiking in the Smokies during our vacation, I developed an interest in exploring the park further. Thus, I decided to try the Deep Creek Loop Trail.
So, my wife and I, still on our hiking vacation, decided to take some time in the Great Smoky Mountains along the border between Tennessee and North Carolina. After looking through some hiking choices, we opted to go for the Andrews Bald Trail. This trail is about 3.5 miles round trip to a peak that tops out at around 6300 feet. It is a moderate trail, with an elevation gain of about 900 feet, but it's a nice day hike.
