Kitty Williams: Adventurer Explorer

In recent summers I have had the good fortune to spend a long weekend hiking in the Smokies. It’s often during the solstice. The longest day of the year is spent outdoors with tents, bugs, streams, trees, campfires and my brother’s extraordinary cooking. This was my sixth visit — yet it never ceases to amaze me how different the trips are. Saturday was devoted to tent camping in Elkmont campgrounds. Sunday morning we broke camp during thunderstorms to hike up Mt. Le Conte. We parked a car at Alum Cave and then piled in a second car and drove up to Newfound Gap. Up in the parking lot that occupies this big break in the ridge it was WINDY.  We watched dark clouds blow up the forested slopes and poured though the gap like water spilling out a break in a dam. The Smokies get their name from a fog that clings to the slopes and appears to be smoke. Trees were whipping around like toy props in some bad movie. For the first time ever my rain coat made it into my pack. Although we start up at the gap this route is an interspersed 3.5 miles of downhill and 4.5 miles of uphill hiking. The total climb is about 3,700 feet.

The hike starts with 2.7 miles on the Appalachian Trail. Walking a tiny segment of this 2,178 mile long trail is a wonderful honor. Down by the parking lot the AT is full of tourists who aren’t hiking and look at us funny. Half a mile in we have the trail to ourselves. Sometimes we pass real AT hikers. People who are walking long distances over many moons. We ogle their gear and I’m sure they think we are looking at them funny. The trail runs along ridge lines and normally affords amazing views, but this year we hiked in clouds. Once a momentary view opened on the leeward side of the ridge line before the clouds cleared the ridge and started down the slope. The path can be challenging, with large rocks and steep climbs. In the rain the trail becomes a stream.  It rained and rained on this hike. 

We reached the 5.4 mile long Boulevard Trail which cuts up to Mount Le Conte and bid adieu to the AT. Normally we stop at a rock outcropping and eat a long lunch and take off our boots and enjoy a good view. In the rain we did not sit down. We took short breaks and ate lunch standing up in under a dense thicket of lovely rhododendrons.  Like the AT this trail runs along many ridge lines where the mountain is dropping away on both sides of the trail. On this rainy day these saddles were loud gusty places compared to the protected calm of fur and spruce stands. Two miles into the Boulevard the rain stopped. A couple of miles later I was almost dry. 

The last mile of trail to High Tops is an assent of 700 feet. This stretch has many rock slide areas with steel cables to hold onto.  This climb is always very challenging but this year it was blanketed in a thunder cloud. We walked right up to the thundercloud and could hear it raining inside. I stopped and took pictures of the group hiking into it. Jon is right behind Gretchen and John but you can barely see them. I put on my rain coat and started hiking. Lighting was striking the hillside around us and it was pouring rain. A strike hit within 100 yards of Gretchen and I! Fear flooded my system with adrenaline and the last climb was EASY! All my aches and pain melted away and the rain was fun. We sped to the top and then 1/2 mile down to the lodge. 

At 6,360 feet the lodge is the highest hiking lodge on the east coast. Its a series of cabins on a terraced slope overlooking Gatlinburg. There are no roads to Le Conte and all the supplies are brought up by helicopter or llama. We unpacked in our cabin and warmed up. I could pour half a cup of water out of my boots. The rain stopped and we walked down to the dinning hall with little bottles of coffee liquor to spike some hot chocolate. Dinner was served and everyone came to the hall to eat. We skipped the sunset on the bald, which we had done every year till now. I didn’t want to put on my wet boots. Instead we played Uno in the office, drank rum and ate cookies.

The next morning it was dry but still cloudy. After breakfast and group photos we started down Alum Cave trail. The 5.3 mile downhill hike is beautiful. Its makes me feel like a super hero to walk down Alum Cave. Passing hikers on their third or fourth mile of uphill reminds me of how easy the downhill dance with gravity is. I was all smiles. Alum Cave trail has many stream crossings. The sounds of water permeate the hike. Mountain Laurel was blooming. It rained a bit but not like the day before and we were happy. I thought we got to the bottom in fine time, but we were pulling off our boots in the parking lot when Bill pulled up. He had hiked all 8 miles of the Boulevard Trail, and driven from the gap down to Alum Cave parking lot. We offered him a beer. He declined but told us about all the bear tracks they had seen in the fresh mud. Cool.

The neighborhood play group traveled to the NC Zoo.

Two toddlers, three little kids and three mommies.

Lions, no tigers, and bears! Oh my.

Everybody was beautifully behaved, even the mommies. 

A short drive from Cary through Fuquay Varina, Raven’s Rock is a complete treat! The temperature was beautiful and gusty winds occasionally thrashed around the tree tops. Lizards scattered in the crunchy leaves as I walked by.  At first the trails seemed like nothing special but only a quarter of a mile into the woods the Forest transitioned to a giant stand of blooming Mountain Laural. It was unbelievable to walk under a canopy of white flowers.

After too short a walk a wooden stairwell spilled down the 150 foot bluffs to the Cape Fear River. Uncommon angles made every landing a unique experience but they all felt like tree houses. Near the bottom a sudden rustling noise rose directly  beneath my landing. A wild turkey strutted out onto the trail below. She made several low clucks. There was a long pause and then she clucked many times. Eight little chicks started moving. They appeared out of nowhere and one by one crossed the trail into the woods on the river’s banks. She followed, stopped, looked back and clucked. A straggler chic materialized from the forest floor and joined the flock.

The Cape Fear River is a nice big fat juicy river at Raven’s Rock. The power of the river carved out a mile of the bank leaving a beautiful rock cliff. Undercutting of the bank created massive, cantilevered cliffs overhead. It is truly a sublime landscape. Rhododendrons sprout off the lip of the cliff, high above, and shower down purple blooms with chartreuse speckled throats. Even the trees are dwarfed by the scale of the rocks. Little toads are everywhere.

Walking up to the Overlook above the bluffs I came face to face with hosta’s most fierce predator: a white tail deer. We stared each other down until another hiker broke it’s gaze and it escaped.  Deer are like cats in that you can trap them with an unwavering look.  The Overlook allows for a  larger glimpse of this amazing river system. A Blue Heron sailed high above the river slowly gliding downstream. It was amazing to be above such a graceful flight.