Forney Ridge

Date: 8/22/15
Distance: 11.2 miles

Today's hike started from the Clingmans Dome parking area.  As I drove through Newfound Gap, I was in a cloud, but up at the Dome, the sun was shining and the temperature was great.

The first part of the trail has been heavily "improved"  there are a number of rock stairs, many wood stairs and a few boardwalks in the 1st 1.7 miles down to Andrews Bald.

 

At the Bald, it was pretty cloudy as I passed by, so I just kept moving on down the trail after a few photos.

 After passing the bald, the trail is pretty rocky and difficult for about 0.5 miles, but then it smooths out nicely for the hike down to Springhouse Branch Trail.  The trail is quite steep at time, so on the way down I had a bit of dread as I knew I had to climb back up.  Much of the trail is right on a ridge. (Forney Ridge I presume)  I could imagine in the winter there would be nice views off of both sides of the trail, but in the Summer, there weren't any vistas.  There were a few huge trees.

 And a few flowers.

 At Springhouse Branch, I turned around and started climbing.  It was a tough climb back up to the Bald.   The trail lost about 2400' on the way down, so I had to gain all of it back to get to the car.

Back at the Bald, the sun was out and there were a few views.

I got on the trail about 9:00 a.m.  It was nice to start early as I enjoyed the solitude in the early morning.  I only passed 2 other hikers until I was back up at the bald.  I did pass about 40 hikers on the 1.7 miles from the Bald back to the parking lot, but it was nice to have a few folks to chat with by then.  About 1:00, I was in the car and headed for the house.  It was nearly 3:00 before I got home.