Backpack - Clingmans Dome to Cades Cove (AT, Bote Mtn, Anthony Creek)

Date: 7/19/14 - 7/20/14
Distance: 21.4
New Map Miles: 8.5
Total Map Miles: 439.8

This weekend I backpacked with the GSHAG group from Clingmans Dome to Cades Cove.  We met at the Y and shuttled cars to the Cades Cove Campground and then shuttled up to Clingman's Dome.  This took about 2 hours.

The day was very rainy and the hike started in a downpour.  The hike up the Clingman's Dome trail was brutal as usual.  Fortunately there are 2 shelters in the 1st 5 miles.  We stopped in each and dried out a bit and regrouped.  The final 5 miles to Derrick Knob was the toughest part of the day with a few good climbs.

At Derrick Knob we arrived to a shelter packed full of people.  A trail maintenance crew was tent camping at the shelter, but due to the weather, they were all hanging out in the shelter.  There were also a few other hikers who packed up and left when we arrived.  The looked pretty disappointed.

The shelter was in good shape.  It didn't have a privy and there were some mice. A few food bags were attacked by a critter while up on the bear pulleys.  We were instructed to open all of the pockets on our packs to avoid damage to our packs in the shelter.

I had the Mountain House spaghetti and enjoyed it.

I tried a NyQuil to help me sleep, but I still didn't sleep much.  It rained or the wind blew water from the trees most of the night.  It was pretty cold, but I was comfortable in my bag.

On Sunday morning, we headed out about 8:20 in the pouring rain.  Thankfully, about 15 minutes in, the rain slacked off and eventually it stopped completely.  The 5 mile hike to Rocky Top was tough with a big climb over Thunderhead.  It took 2.5 hours to get to Rocky Top.  We waited for about 40 minutes and then decided to head on down the mountain and wait at the bottom.  I got to the picnic area at 2:00.

It took till about 4:30 before enough hikers exited to start the shuttle.  Jeff drove us to the Y and I drove Conrad and Warren up to Clingman's.  I left Clingman's at 6:00, getting home about 7:45 after sitting in traffic due to an accident and picking up a pizza.

Even with the foul weather, the hike was enjoyable.  It was a nice challenge to hike over Thunderhead and the views from Rocky Top were nice.