Two Hikes in Two Parks

This week I had the opportunity to hike Wednesday and Friday. Wednesday was a hike in the Smokies like most Wednesday hikes are. Friday I scouted a Carolina Mountain Club hike in Grandfather Mountain State Park with two friends.  So, one hike in a national park and one in an NC state park.

Indian Creek - Martins Gap - Deep Creek Trails
The Deep Creek section of the GSMNP is popular for its tubing and for trailheads leading to many trails in the park. Deep Creek Trail is one of the longest trails in the park, with one end near Clingmans Dome and the other end some 14 miles away at the Deep Creek campground near Bryson City.  Several other trails begin and end in this part of the park and connect together to form a network of trails. Hiking all the trails in the Smokies means hiking over the lower part of Deep Creek Trail and others to access a needed trial.  Such was the case Wednesday. I had two trails left in the area, Indain Creek (3.7 miles) and Martins Gap (3.0 miles).  To make a loop out of the hike and to get some Deep Creek Trail miles for another hiker, we hiked 15 miles on a very warm and humid day.

The lower end of the Indian Creek Trail, the Loop Trail, and the lower part of Deep Creek Trail make a popular loop from Deep Creek Campground that passes by three waterfalls in less than 3 miles.  The Indian Creek follows an old roadbed and rises about 500 feet over the 3.7 miles.  The portion of the trail above the waterfall loop is less used.  Like many old roads in the Smokies, the trail ends with a circle/turnaround at the Martins Gap Trail junction.

Martins Gap lies halfway on the on the three-mile trail of the same name. It is the high point on the trail at the junction with the Sunkota Ridge Trail.  Martins Gap Trail is primarily a connector trail linking several trails.  After 1.5 miles up we began the 1.5 mile descent to the Deep Gap Trail junction at campsite 57.  We decided to cover a short section of the Deep Creek Trail up to the junction with Pole Road Creek Trail. Even though we were to go south to the end of Deep Creek Trail, getting this short section of 0.7 mile will save having to do it at another time, or worse, leaving an unhiked section hanging out in the middle of a long trail.  An impressive CCC-constructed bridge spans Deep Creek at the Pole Road Creek/Deep Creek junction.

When the CCC built a bridge, they built it to last.

The rest of the hike followed the Deep Creek Trail a little under 8 miles to the Deep Creek campground.  The trail follows Deep Creek; sometimes at creek level, sometimes climbing well above it.  This meant some climbing as the day continued to heat up.  The hardest part of the hike was the last mile. As I mentioned, Deep Creek is a popular tubing area, so as we hiked the last mile we could see and hear happy tubers in the cool water.  If only I had arranged for someone to meet me with a tube and carry my pack to the parking area while I tubed the last mile! Oh well.

Bottom line on the hike
Total miles: 15
New trail miles: 6.7
Smokies trail miles to date: 428.6
Total miles hiked to date: 506.4

The Profile Trail up Grandfather Mountain

Friday gave me an opportunity to hike the Profile Trail in Grandfather Mountain State Park with two CMC hiking friends, Randy and Rich.  We were scouting the hike for Randy who will be leading the hike on July 8.  I have driven by the Profile Trail access road off NC Hwy. 105 many times, but never hiked the trail.  Being a state park, hikers are required to get a permit at the trailhead.  It is an easy process, totally self service.

The Profile Trail is only 3 miles, ascending about 2,000 feet. It is another 0.4 miles on the Grandfather Trail to Calloway Peak, the high point of Grandfather Mountain, just shy of 6,000 feet.  The trail began following a creek, then began a gentle ascent for about 1 mile.  A view of the Foscoe valley and Hwy. 105 opened up.  We noticed quite a bit of road noise the first half of the hike due to the proximity of the highway.  We stopped briefly at a well tended and clean campsite them began climbing more steeply to the Profile View.

The Grandfather profile seen from the trail.

I am used to seeing the profile of the Grandfather from Hwy 105, the one that in your mind's eye is the reclining face of the old man slumbering away. Larger that life, it seems to take up the whole side of the mountain.  The profile from the trail is one cliff face; I can see the Grandfather here too.

The last mile of the Profile Trail is very rocky and steep.  Foot placement is important, and even more so on the way back down.  Once on the ridge, the Profile Trail meets the Grandfather Trail.  The trail sign showed 0.4 miles to Calloway Peak and 1.9 miles to the parking lot at the Swinging Bridge.  We took the short way to the peak and nearby Watauga View.  It was delightfully cool at 5,900 feet and a stiff breeze met us on the northwest side.

Watauga View - can you see the obscenity in the picture? Yes, I mean the high rise on Sugar Mountain.

View along the ridge.

After lunch on sunny Calloway Peak we returned the same way back, picking our way carefully down the steep trail.  There are many interesting rock formations on the trail, some like the picture below with hanging fern gardens.

Thanks to Randy and Rich for a pleasant day hiking on Grandfather Mountain.  The trail was in good shape, thanks to the state park; and getting away from the over 90 temperatures "down the mountain" felt good.