On Sunday, in the Greenbrier section of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park (GSMNP), I closed out my quest for the third, Hike the Smokies, Pin, the 250 Miles one. This was, as I mentioned in a previous blog, I did this hike with friends from the Harvey Broome Group of the Sierra Club. This wasn't the original hike to top 250 miles, I had planned to do another hike and then finish up with an outing to Charlies Bunion. But, I decided to do the Bunion hike early and that left the 250 slot open.
So, after some discussion with others in my hike group, I decided on the hike up the Grapeyard Ridge Trail to the old steam engine that sits in Injun Creek. However, the hike was in question, after the storms late last week. While the GSMNP Twitter Road page didn't have Greenbrier section closed, the Hotline Number did. What is ironic, I had planned to do this hike back in November, the day of the Chimney Tops 2 Fire, so I thought there was a chance it might get canceled...again. After some thought we decided to forge ahead and meet-up at the Greenbrier Ranger Station. Turns out it wasn't closed, so it was a good call (which I didn't make).
We did decide to tweak the hike slightly, Margaret said we could take the Rhododendron Creek Manway up to the Grapeyard Ridge Trail, then backtrack to the Train Engine and then hike out on the Grapeyard to Ramsey Prong. This hike involved a shuttle so we left my car at Ramsey Prong and then drove back down, about a mile or so, to the pull-off for the manway.
I will say that the manway (which is just a name for an unofficial trail) was a very good trail, except for something we would deal with all day...blowdown. It should have been expected since we had seen plenty of trees that had been cleared from the road. What is funny was the worst blowdown we encountered was one of the first ones we had to wade through. This was the right call as this trail (that is what I am calling it) was really picturesque.
There were a number of waterfalls, about seven, and some of them are really nice, plus there were numerous remains of old homesteads. I don't know why this isn't an official trail because it is better, scenery wise, then some I have been on in the park.
Eventually, the "manway" intersected with Grapeyard Ridge Trail, and we took a right. The trip up, to the train engine, featured plenty of blowdowns, some creek crossings, and rhododendron tunnels.
Then we reached the old train engine, which is one of those small ones used for logging years ago. It is one of those cool things you will find in the Smokies. After lunch, it was time for the return trip.
Except for some uphill early, it was mostly downhill all the way. Once on the part of the Grapeyard Ridge Trail we hadn't done, there were only a few blowdowns. Right before reaching Ramsey Prong, we took a detour to an old cemetery. While I always like these side trips, what made it doubly worth the time was the beautiful pair of Mountain Laurel trees...& they were in full bloom!
Well, finally made it back to the cars and while my friend's journey was over I still had one to Sugarlands Visitor Center to collect my 250 Miles Pin. First I did another mile to Cataract Falls (best water flow ever here) and then I got my pin, it was another great day in the Smokies.
There were a number of waterfalls, about seven, and some of them are really nice, plus there were numerous remains of old homesteads. I don't know why this isn't an official trail because it is better, scenery wise, then some I have been on in the park.
Eventually, the "manway" intersected with Grapeyard Ridge Trail, and we took a right. The trip up, to the train engine, featured plenty of blowdowns, some creek crossings, and rhododendron tunnels.
Then we reached the old train engine, which is one of those small ones used for logging years ago. It is one of those cool things you will find in the Smokies. After lunch, it was time for the return trip.
Except for some uphill early, it was mostly downhill all the way. Once on the part of the Grapeyard Ridge Trail we hadn't done, there were only a few blowdowns. Right before reaching Ramsey Prong, we took a detour to an old cemetery. While I always like these side trips, what made it doubly worth the time was the beautiful pair of Mountain Laurel trees...& they were in full bloom!
Well, finally made it back to the cars and while my friend's journey was over I still had one to Sugarlands Visitor Center to collect my 250 Miles Pin. First I did another mile to Cataract Falls (best water flow ever here) and then I got my pin, it was another great day in the Smokies.
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