Alex Hauck: Hiking Adventure

Showing posts with label Hiking Adventure. Show all posts

Friday, March 15, 2024

Laurel Falls via The Little Greenbrier

Smoky Mountain National Park
Sunday, February 17, 2024

Like Laurel Falls, but do not like crowds? Well then this just might be the hike for you if you do not mind putting in some mileage. There are a few ways you can do this hike but on this one I started at the Little Greenbrier Trail in Wares Valley and hiked 4.3 miles to where it intersects the Laurel Falls Trail. From there hiked another 2.2 miles to Laurel Falls and then took the same route back.

You could also take Little Brier Gap to Little Greenbrier to Laurel Falls. If you do not want to hike there and back and if you are hiking with someone else, you could always leave a car at the end of one of the trails and then drive to where you want to start. I did it this way several years ago and started with the Laurel Falls Trail.

My Route:
(1)	Little Greenbrier Trail	4.3 Miles
(2)	Laurel Falls Trail	2.3 Miles
(3)	Laurel Falls Trail	2.3 Miles
(4)	Little Greenbrier Trail	4.3 Miles

You are going to have some elevation gain, but it is not too bad for the Smoky Mountains, and when the leaves are off the trees you will get some fantastic view over Little Greenbrier Trail. After the trail junction with Little Brier Gap there will be a couple sections of trail that will be narrow with a slight downward slope but nothing too serious.

At the 4.3-mile mark you will hit the trail junction with the Laurel Falls Trail. To get to the falls you will want to go right or south but if you go left or north it will lead to an old fire tower. I have not been to this fire tower yet, but it is on my list of places to get to. From this junction heading to the falls, it will be a nice easy hike just over two miles or so.

Laurel Falls probably is the most visited waterfall in the Smoky Mountain National Park as the main trail is only about a 2.5-mile round trip. It was also paved up to the waterfall though a lot of the pavement is now washing away. The park in the very recent past has intuited a trial run of issuing permits for this trail and limiting parking to try and cut down overcrowding and damage to the landscape.

With all this being said Laurel Falls is stunning and worth the trip, just make sure there are not any special steps you have to take before going. I spent about fifteen minutes or so viewing and filming the waterfall before making my way back up the trail.

I had thought about having my coffee and lunch at the falls, but there were just too many people to be able to boil up coffee and relax, so I found a nice rock with a view a little way up the trail. The hike out was uneventful and relaxing, and made me think about spending more time in the location of the park. There are not any backcountry campsites around this area, so it will have to be day hikes.

Stay tuned for my next adventure at my website http://www.alexhauck.com. As always, my friends hike on and stay safe!

Pictures:

Video:

Thursday, August 24, 2023

In Search of Gregory's Bald

AlexHauck.Com

Great Smoky Mountain National Park
June 22 - 25, 2023

The past two years went by fast, faster than I would like to admit, but it was time again for the bi-annual trip with my buddy Greg. We decided to return once again to the Great Smoky Mountains and make Smokemont our basecamp for a second time. Our adventure this year was a hike up to Gregory’s Bald with an overnight at backcountry site #13 Sheep Pen Gap at 4,640 ft.

Greg and I before I hike up to Gregory Bald

Day 1 – The first day of our trip of course is always travel. Greg drove down from Indy to my house and then we took my Jeep and trailer into the park. We were able to get everything set up and squared away before our traditional rain shower. For those of you who do not know, on about every one of our trips we always get a fair amount of rain and by fair amount it is usually a torrential downpour. We were able to get a fire going and cook a good dinner before calling it a night.

Day 2 – Can not start an adventure off without some coffee and a hearty breakfast. We then packed our bags and headed out on the road to the Twentymile Ranger Station where the trailhead started. Below I listed the route we took for this loop hike.

Our Route:

Twenitymile ...................... 3.1 Miles
Long Hungry Ridge ............ 4.6 Miles
Gregory Bald .................... 1.2 Miles
Wolf Ridge ....................... 6.3 Miles
Twentymile ...................... 0.5 Miles

Area Trail Map GSMNP

I hiked this same route going the opposite direction back in April of 2022 and I will list all the information from that hike in the link section at the end of this blog. The reason for hiking it starting with Long Hungry Ridge is while a longer hike up it is not as steep this direction. In hindsight I might take the greater elevation gain with the shorter distance after slugging all that way up with an overnight pack on.

The morning was rainy and gave way to the sun around 11:00 but by the time we started to reach the top of the mountain a thick fog / haze moved in. By the time we reached Gregory Bald the view was totally obscured in a thick fog however the Flame Azaleas were in full bloom and popped against the grey sky. It really did feel as if we were on a different planet.

After taking it all in for a few minutes we stumbled on into camp and started setting up. We tried to start a fire but I was pretty sure it was not going to take off. Between all the rain, humidity, and mist all the wood was just saturated. We could at least get it started but could not get it to catch so we settled in for a couple of adult beverages and dinner before calling it a night.

My sleep setup for this outing

Day 3 – I was planning to get up with a couple of other guys who camped with us that night and go and try and get a view back a Gregory Bald. When my alarm went off, I stuck my head out from underneath the tarp and saw the mist had turned into a deep fog and some light rain. There was not any sense of getting up for another fogged in view, so I curled up back in my sleeping bag and got some more shuteye.

Story Links:

Finally got up a couple of hours later and got my coffee going. Greg got up around 9:00 am or so and we had breakfast, broke camp, and started back down the mountain. The weather could not make up its mind and fluctuated from mist to rain then sun and back again. The downhill was more pleasant than the uphill and we made pretty good time. Parson’s Bald was really grown over from the last time I was there. We missed the rattlesnake who had made the Parson’s Bald sign his home according to a few other hikers coming up the trail. As we moved lower streams started to reappear and the sounds of running water stayed with us until we got back to the Jeep.

Got back to Smokemont and took a quick dip in the stream and almost went swimming with a couple of snakes. We then had a celebratory steak with a few more adult beverages. Another great trip and Smoky Mountain adventure in the books the next day we packed up and headed home. The mountains never disappoint.

YouTube Video:

Past Blogs and Videos on Gregory Bald:

Hiking Gregory Bald
April 22, 2023

My blog post on my very first hike up to Gregory Bald. This was the same way Greg and I went but hiked the loop in reverse.

- Click Here For Blog Page -

Hiking Gregory Bald
April 22, 2023

AllTrails recording of my first hike. See my time elevation gain and all that happy stuff.

- Click Here For Recording -

Hiking Gregory Bald - Part 1

April 22, 2023

I have wanted to do this hike for a few years now. I have not yet been to Gregory Bald and I had heard it is a sight... - Video -

Hiking Gregory Bald - Part 2

April 22, 2023

This video will take you to Gregory Bald then down Long Hungry Ridge and Twentymile and we will stop at the Twentymile Cascade... - Video -

- www.alexhauck.com -

Saturday, June 17, 2023

Wandering Along the Cumberland & Angel Falls

AlexHauck.Com

Big Southfork National River and Recreation Area

Friday, April 7, 2023

I was lucky enough to get Good Friday off this year, so I decided to spend it in nature. The forecast was calling for rain and I had two different hikes picked out. One was Sterling Mountain via Baxter Creek in the Smoky Mountains and the other one was Angel Falls Overlook in Big South Fork. I chose Angel Falls Overlook as the weather was predicting most of the rain moving east. Like most “weather predictions” it turned out to be wrong and followed me north. It rained on me for most of the day, but at least it did not turn out to be heavy.

US Topo Man of Hike Location

Saw a hike on AllTrails that takes the Angel Falls Overlook Trail then does a little loop before heading back down the Overlook trail. I really did not commit and decided to just follow it loosely and do a bit of wandering. This was nice for a change of pace as l usually always have a set route. This gave me a lot more flexibility and an opportunity to just relax. In the end I did the Angel Falls Overlook there and back then the Angel Falls Trail there and back that ended up being roughly fifteen total miles.

The Angel Falls Overlook Trail starts across the bridge from the trail head and peacefully follows the Cumberland River for a good chunk of the hike. At about the 2.5-mile mark you hit most of the elevation gain that lasts only for around a half mile or so. The bridge across the creek is currently out at the writing of this blog, so you will have to cross the creek to continue on this trail. After crossing the creek, the fun section of the hike begins as there are some stone shelves you hike around with the help of a cable and a ladder.

At this point it started to rain a little harder and there was a rock overhang just off the side of the trail, so I thought it would be a suitable time for a cup of Joe and a sandwich. With it being bone dry under the overhang I took my time and enjoyed my break. The Angel Falls overlook is about a five-minute hike from this point and is also close to the Grand Gap Loop trail junction. I would love to go back and complete the Grand Gap Loop trail as it rounds the whole plateau area.

The Overlook is beautiful and gives a spectacular view of the Cumberland River. The next time I go I need to remember binoculars as I could not make out where the rapid was at. If it were not for the rain this would have been a fine place to take my coffee break. It was here I decided to head back instead of doing the loop section of the hike as I wanted to see Angel Falls since I could not spot it from the overlook.

The Angel Falls hike is an easy 2.5-mile roundtrip that follows the Cumberland River the whole way. There are a few runoffs that create little waterfalls along the way and close to the rapid itself there are some interpretive signs about how to run them. Angel Falls rapid does look intense and it would be fun to watch people run it in real time.

After my trip out to Angel Falls, I took another short break along one of the runoffs and then headed back to the Jeep. This was a wonderful day and made me realize I need to do more of these loose style hikes. I am planning to come back to do the overview hike again and hike the rest of the Grand Gap Loop hopefully on a clearer day.

As always, my friends, Hike On and stay Safe!