I think it is safe to say that I am smitten, obsessed, and thoroughly single-minded these days. I follow several Facebook sites that don't help the situation at all. The situation being that I cannot get my mind off the Smokeys nor can I get to the Smokeys nearly enough to satisfy my longings for hiking and exploring. It is a very emotional experience each time I am able to make a trip to the Smokeys, and I think that sums up what we are all feeling as a group.
So, on our most recent hike this weekend, we saw this bumper sticker on the back of a car parked in the trail head lot to Tunnel Bypass Trail and Goldmine Loop Trail. This is my GOAL!! The journey is the joy of it, but I SURE WOULD LOVE to be able to have that bumper sticker. It'd be too good for my car ... It will come with time, I know, LOTS AND LOTS of time, as it seems that we are not exactly making great strides in the mileage department. But we sure are having fun!!
This weekend we met up on the North Carolina side of the Smokeys (Deep Creek area) through Bryson City, with my dear sister, who was coming to pick up her kids, who had spent a week with us. It was great to add them to our hike, as well as to have our entire core group all together.
On the way from Chattanooga, we were covered with low clouds and fog for much of the time, but at the trail head, it was perfect, sunny and not too hot. (I'm still trying to figure out how to take selfies with the group. I've been removed from that job, as you will see in subsequent photos.)
We started out at the Road to Nowhere, as it is also known, and walked through the tunnel. The Tunnel Bypass Trail and Goldmine Loop Trail are actually two loop trails, one inside the other. The larger loop, Goldmine Loop Trail, is 2.0 miles in length and Tunnel Bypass Trail is 1.6 miles in length. There was a bit of backtracking we had to do, Lakeshore Trail, 0.6 miles and a bit of Tunnel Bypass trail. Because of the backtracking, we had to hike through the tunnel twice, which was a breeze, literally, and quite a cool one too, I might add.
My favorite photo of the day:
Unfortunately, humans seem to think that they must leave their mark on everything. The tunnel was covered with graffiti the whole way through. Hopefully the kids weren't looking too closely ...
The obligatory sign photos ...
One of the fireplaces remaining of a settlement on Goldmine Loop Trail. There again was quite a bit of cleared land and signs of human habitation scattered all around, with a creek running through it all.
One of the hallmarks of this hike was all the rest breaks we took. Somebody was constantly hungry and needing a break ... Part of the group took lunch at campsite 67, which was out of our way by 0.3 mile (there and back). No backpackers were seen, so we made ourselves at home:
A finger of Fontana Lake was accessible off Goldmine Loop Trail. It was quite low, as it is part of the TVA and the water level hasn't been raised for the summer yet. But it made for some beautiful scenery and we enjoyed another break taking pictures there. This was our first time hiking near Fontana Lake, but it won't be our last. We will see quite a bit of this lake as time goes on, and we are looking forward to every bit of it.
Most of the group coming up a hill. We were scouting for bears the whole time, no sightings the entire day though.
Relaxing ...
It has been deemed that Nathan is the more progressive selfie-taker and will be covering this part of the job from here on out. A picture speaks a thousand words, and here it is shouting, "He knows what he is doing!!"
So, we finished this hike in no record time, and headed down the road to the next trail, chased by gnats the whole while. Be on the lookout for the next post to follow shortly.
But in the meantime, trip STATS:
Mileage Hiked - 5.3 miles
New Miles Added to the 900 Mile Challenge: 4.3
Total Miles Hiked toward the 900 Mile Challenge: 43.7
Miles Hiked that Count for the Centennial Challenge: 5.6 (counting lunch at campsite 67)
Total Miles Hiked for Centennial Challenge: 35.4
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