The Mountains-to-Sea Trail (MST) starts at Clingmans Dome in the Smokies and winds it’s way 1175 miles across North Carolina to the Outer Banks. My hiking friend, David and I had been talking about hiking segment 1 from Clingmans Dome to Waterrock Knob for some time and the planets finally aligned for us to give it a go. David assembled a great hiking group of he and I, plus our hiking friend Tom aka Rocket Man and a lovely young couple, Mae and Oscar who were doing a shakedown hike for their upcoming John Muir Trail hike.
Day 1
We had an early meet up at Waterrock Knob for our shuttle to Clingmans Dome. Our shuttle driver, Bob was a retired information officer for the Great Smokies National Park so naturally relayed lots of interesting details about the park on the drive to our destination. Every time I have passed over Clingmans Dome it has been socked in with fog and/or rain and this time proved to be no different. Misting rain and fog obscured the wonderful views that evidently can be seen on a clear day, but did not dampen our excitement to start the hike.
The first 3.9 miles followed my beloved Appalachian Trail and brought back fond memories of when Mudsmeller, Cutie, and I hiked through here in November of 2017. By the time we reached our turn on to the Fork Ridge Trail the rain had thankfully stopped and the sun began to peek out. It was a pleasant hike as we descended 2800 feet down to Deep Creek.
I have switched back to hiking in Altra Lone Peak trail runners, which previously hadn’t worked well for me on the Florida Trail. I went up a size and this time they proved to be very comfortable, plus made the Deep Creek crossing a breeze because I didn’t have to remove them since they dry so quickly.
After the creek crossing we turned on the Deep Creek Trail which was sorely in need of some maintenance. We pushed through overgrown foliage and had to climb over multiple blowdowns. I honestly have not hiked on any Smokies trails that were in such need of some TLC.
Despite the trail becoming quite the obstacle course there were still some beautiful sights along the creek and some amazing huge old-growth trees to be seen!
At mile 12.6 we reached our reserved backcountry campsite #55 for the evening. We had originally reserved #57 a mile further and the site of Horace Kephart’s last campsite in the Smokies, but the reservation had to be changed because of an aggressive bear.
Day 2
Some young fellas arrived after we had retired for the evening last night and moved my food bag on the bear cables and hung it with some trash that previous campers had left behind. It didn’t sit well with me and regrettably I let off some expletives in their direction. I later apologized, as did they and we put it all behind us.
Lovely wildflowers and interesting lichen were observed as David and I hiked ahead of the others on the Sunkota Ridge Trail, eventually reaching the Thomas Divide Trail.
We stopped for lunch at Campsite #52 and to wait for the others to catch up. David and Rocket Man decided to wait for Oscar and Mae and take the more direct Newton Bald Trail to our front country campsite at Smokemont. I was feeling that I wanted to be a purist and follow the MST route on the Mingus Creek Trail down to Hwy 441, although that would require a 2.5 mile road walk to the campground. Fortunately we ran into a hiking group based out of Knoxville heading in the same direction I would be hiking and I was able to yogi a ride to avoid the road walk on the condition that we drank a celebratory post-hike beer when we got to their vehicle. Bill and Neil were great company and we chatted about life in general and all things hiking. They drove me to Smokemont Campground and loaded me up with 5 additional beers for my companions. Much appreciated generous trail magic!!!! 13.8 hiking miles for me today!
Day 3
David negotiated a ride back to the trailhead from our neighboring campers thus avoiding the 2.5 mile road walk yet again. We loaded ourselves and gear into the back of the pickup and headed to Oconaluftee Visitor Center to begin todays hike.
Unfortunately there was no avoiding road walking today but first up was a pleasant stroll along the River Trail where an elk cow was spotted in the adjacent woods. Somehow we walked right past our turn on to the Blue Ridge Parkway (BRP) and wandered towards Cherokee adding another mile to todays mileage. Interesting to see the street signs written in English and the Cherokee language.
The remainder of the day was spent walking over 7 plus miles on the BRP grassy shoulder except for some detours over and around tunnels, then several miles of gravel road walking. The good news was that traffic was light in the morning and there were some amazing views from the overlooks, the bad news was we were road walking and it was for the most part uphill. Rocket Man began to struggle with the road walking and the heat and was sweating profusely. He was running out of jet fuel! As we walked around the first tunnel, he announced he was done and intended to hitch back to his car. In retrospect I wished we had stayed with him in case he was suffering a more serious health concern. We later learned it took him about an hour to catch a ride and thankfully he had safely made it home, though we certainly missed his presence for the rest of the hike. It was a good reminder to us all to pay attention to our bodies signals and not push on past the point of harming oneself.
Clingmans Dome. where we had started our hike could be seen in the far distance as well as Newton Bald where we had enjoyed lunch yesterday. No one was unhappy when we finally left the BRP and began hiking the gravel road toward Mile High Campground. We were still on tribal lands that prohibit stealth camping and there really weren’t any suitable spots anyway. We planned on staying at the campground and were especially excited to learn they had hot showers. It turned out to be a very special spot with amazing views from every campsite and lots of space between sites and did I mention hot showers! The owner and campground hosts were extremely nice and very kind. Definitely would like to return here! Gaia app says 14.6 miles hiked today!
Day 4
Just a short distance of road walking today and then we were back in the woods on trail. It was a pleasant 7.6 miles of hiking to Waterrock Knob and we arrived by noon.
What a great hike with fantastic people!! Segment 2 anybody?
What an awesome write up. Thanks for sharing
Thank you Janice!