Chimney Tops Trail Closed.....temporarily at times.

This just in....
Gatlinburg - Officials at Great Smoky Mountains National Park have announced that the popular Chimney Tops Trail will be closed each Monday through Thursday from Monday, April 30 through Thursday, October 18 while the trail undergoes a major facelift. The work is expected to take two seasons to complete. The combination of heavy use, abundant rainfall, and steep terrain has turned the Chimney Tops trail into a badly eroded obstacle course of slick, broken rock, exposed tree roots and mud. The hazards that now exist on the trail encourage hikers to pick their way across the uneven surface or to divert them off the edges of the trail, causing extensive soil erosion and resource damage. The Park’s Trails Forever Crew and will be rebuilding the trail using rock and timber. The planned work includes: Constructing rock steps to carry hikers up the steepest areas and prevent erosion; building elevated “turnpikes”- logs laid parallel and packed with dirt, to carry the trail across wetland areas, and creating numerous “waterbars” – logs or stone partially buried diagonally across the trail to divert rainwater off the trail before it can erode the walking surface. Park managers say that the extensive use of durable stone and rot-resistant black locust timbers in the reconstruction will stabilize the trail for decades to come, reducing annual maintenance, and greatly improving the visitor experience.
According to Tobias Miller, the Foreman of the Park’s Trails Forever Crew,” Because of the narrow trail corridor, and steep drop-offs along the edges of the trail, we could not get the work done safely or efficiently with hikers streaming through. Much of the needed work involves moving and breaking large rock which will require extensive rigging of cable systems that will make the trail virtually impassable. Trying to accommodate hikers through the work zones with this type of work underway would be hazardous.” The Park is scheduling the work so as to allow the Chimney Tops Trail to be re-opened for peak visitor use each Friday through Sunday. During the closure days the Park is suggesting alternative trails including: Alum Cave Trail which is two miles south of Chimney Tops along Newfound Gap Road, the Appalachian Trail north to Charlies Bunion, the Rainbow Falls Trail from the Cherokee Orchard Road to the falls, or the Forney Ridge Trail from the Clingmans Dome Parking Area two miles to Andrews Bald. Park managers are especially encouraging people to hike the Forney Ridge Trail, because until recently it had the same sort of problems as the Chimney Tops Trail and is an example of the kind of work that is ongoing at Chimney Tops. The Park’s Trails Forever Crew is funded through a partnership between the Park and the Friends of the Smokies. The Friends are donating $121,000 this year to support the program.
The Park’s professional Trails Forever crew will also be reinforced by volunteers who sign up to work with the crew on scheduled workdays, as individuals or part of organized groups. The Park invites interested trail work volunteers to visit the Trails Forever website at

www.smokiestrailsforever.org or contact Trails & Facilities Volunteer Coordinator at (828) 497-1949 for more information.

More blooms as I walked today

These are some pretty awesome flowers (May Apples) in their beauty and the way they bloom under their large leafs.







The "Mysterious One" described this camouflage as making the hidden flowers "only for the small animals" hiding them from larger critters like us. Peace

Cool Spring Days, Hot Spring Blooms!

Dudes and Dudettes! Today was a good day for walking in the woods. With sunny skies, cool temps (low to mid 60's) and an often strong wind blowing cool air through the mountains I was able enjoy two hikes totaling 9+ mls. The blooms along Rich Mtn. trail are very pretty and the Trillium is kicking it along this route starting from Rich Mtn. rd. at Ace Gap trailhead. There were also an array of other colorful blooms in white, purple, pink, and yellow.
Sunday the mysterious one and I hiked about 9mls beginning at Fighting Creek Gap along the Sugarlands Mtn trail and down the Huskey Gap trail to campsite #21, which sits along the Little River. We then returned up Huskey Gap trail and followed it out to the parking area for this trailhead on Hwy #411. Where we had left a car after leaving a conference we had been attending in Gatlinburg. Dude! there like 1/2 acre fields of Trillium along this route. I mean like fields or mountainsides of white blooms! Oh, yea. I forgot my camera....guess you'll have to come see for yourself. E-mail me and we'll arrange something or help you find the trails you seek. Peace

Just the other day

Just the other day I got a the opportunity to visit Hector's farm and walk up to, on top of, and over the waterfalls he's still trying to protect. The water was flowing in all his streams and the few flat areas were covered in an awesome array of wild flowers.


The one Woofer whose staying with him will be leaving soon and there remains lots of work to do so I am going to visit again soon for a few days to work on the farm.

Last week on a Loop

This walk was taken last week and followed the Lumber Ridge Trail out of Tremont to the intersection 4mls.up the trail and then down the manway to Spruce Flat Falls. It was a quiet day with some blooms happening and I did not see anyone along the route.
I did see my first confirmed wild hog as I was coming down the manway though! Dudes and Dudettes! I stop after getting about 15 casual minutes down the trail from the intersection and stop because I am hearing something off the the right of me that ain't no squirrel. As I listen I begin to eliminate the possibilities of what the noises are coming from and I say "noises" due to fact that there are loud "thumps and cracks" coming from a couple locations close by and not so far up a ridge. Then I catch a glimpse of some thing moving which turns out to be a bunch of little tan and black piglets. A minute or three later I begin to hear this snorting sound that is getting closer and I started looking for trees to climb and other escape routes. For a few seconds I got a glimpse of a large adult boar walking through the rodo's and apparently rounding up it's little ones. A wildlife moment that I was unable to document on a film do to the foliage and and the moving animals. Peace