Going to the Smokies, Gonna Drink a Lotta Moonshine

So I haven't updated this blog for a while. Probably because I got a dog, so the hiking just...hasn't been happening. Too much puppy to deal with. But soon it shall be better.

A friend of mine proposed an idea many months ago to set up a large reunion somewhere and hangout for a few days. We settled on Tennessee, in the Great Smokey Mountains. I've never been anywhere close to that area so I was totally on board with that. Another National park knocked off the list, a new state knocked off the list, great stuff. Lets do it. We did.

I'll be honest there wasn't much hiking here either. There was a lot more drinking and chilling. But it was still a great time.

We arrived in Atlanta Thursday morning then got picked up by our GA friends, who proceeded to drive us up into Tennessee. The trip took roughly 4-5 hours, mostly because we took the scenic route through some Georgia mountains. The scenery was fine, but nothing special on our route, in retrospect I kind of wish we just rushed there.

The cabin that we decided to stay in was another story. All 9 of us pitched in for a luxury cabin in the northern edges of the Smokies near Pigeon Forge and it was crazy good. Our cabin was on the edge of a cliff facing Southwest and we had an incredible view the whole time. Most of the photos in this post are going to be from that view. 

Our first night in we just chilled, ate some pizza in town, and chilled some more. A quick side note: dear lord is Pigeon Forge possibly the tackiest place I've ever seen. Go karts, mini golf, absurd tourist family nonsense at every turn. Nary a door in town existed that wasn't framed by some giant plastic animal looking to bite you and there must have been at least 3 pancake restaurants per block. 

The next day we got up early and set out for a hike. Due to our group's size and the fact that we were all variously different levels of hiker, we aimed for a fairly simple route that everyone could enjoy. Nothing like the usual leg punishment I subject myself too on a regular basis out here. Honestly it was kind of nice to do a hike and not feel like shit afterward. 

We went to Clingmans Dome, which is the highest point in the Smokies and the third highest point east of the Mississippi. You can drive there then walk a quick half mile strut up a paved path. It has a neat lookout tower on top. Sadly, due to... well... smoke (fog), you couldn't actually see anything. They don't call them the Smokies for nothing. We walked back down to the parking lot and started the real hike.

Our goal was Andrew's Bald, a big meadow to the south. The Forney Ridge Trail descends from the parking lot down some very well constructed stairs and then slowly goes downhill over the next two miles, with a brief uphill in the middle. The trail is very well graded and maintained, nothing too rough or iffy. The perks of east coast hiking. It is just a path through the woods. It is very pretty. We didn't move too fast because we spent most of the time talking to each other. I usually go out in the woods for solitude but there's certainly some pleasure to be had hiking with a big group arguing about nonsense. It's a different sort of fun. 

Andrew's Bald is just a big 'ol meadow on the ridgetop. The view here wasn't anything special. There was too much fog in the air to really see all that far and judging from photos I've looked at online we got maybe a 3rd of the view we would normally get on a clear day. Plus, the meadow has a lot of small bushes and trees in it, which are just tall enough to prevent a really good view as it is. A clear day and less overgrowth and I can see why this place could be special. We didn't catch it at its best. 

We walked back to the parking lot. There is a split near the lot that cuts up to the Appalachian Trail and then rejoins the path near Clingman's Dome. 3 of us decided to head back up this way for an extra mile of fitness and to see if the fog from early morning had cleared up. It had not. It wasn't a total loss though, because halfway up this connector trail we saw a bear!

It wasn't that big. Not as big as the one I saw out here. It looked like a teenager bear. It had big black ears and was very cute. It shuffled off the trail before I got my camera out, and we spotted it looking at us down the hill in the woods but again it moved too quickly for me to snap a photo in time. Three of us saw a bear and have no photo proof. No one will ever believe us.

That was our hike for the day. On the way out we stopped at the Newfound Gap overlook and took some good pics, then we went home and had some BBQ. The hike was  just over 6 miles, maybe 1000 feet of elevation gain. 

We debated getting up early for another hike on our last day, but that's when the weather went nuts. A huge storm enveloped Tennessee and we stayed up watching the lighting and the rain for most of the night. It knocked our power out for hours. So we were just a bunch of fairly young attractive people in the middle of nowhere, with no power, and we were kinda drunk. I'm still surprised we didn't get murdered by a horror movie monster. 

The following day we just went into Gatlinburg and did the tourist thing. It's a tourist town, but not quite as horribly tacky as Pigeon Forge. We all did a moonshine tasting at Sugarlands Distilling where we drank 12 mini-shots of moonshine in a row, and we spent the rest of our time very happy. Moonshine: confirmed for delicious. 

A fun night in playing games and watching the sunset closed out the trip and we all sadly packed up early the next day and promised to get together again soon. I would love to go back with an increased emphasis on hiking and exploring, because we definitely only saw a fraction of what the Smokies can be.