Clingman's Dome

Sunday June 24 to Wednesday June 27

On a fine warm North Carolina morning I set out to climb Clingman's Dome. Here are a few factoids about it, before we get started:

• It's the highest point on the Appalachian Trail.


• It's the highest point in the state of Tennessee.


• Its summit observation tower is pretty close to ADA-accessible. Wheelchairs and stroller will make it, but not without assistance (the steep grade, mostly)


• It's a great place to see the Smoky Mountains


• Other than the access road, it's probably a 20-mile round trip (and at least 3-4000 feet of elevation) to the summit.
  

The National Park authorities require (free) permits before going into the backcountry. This is probably a Good Thing, since they know where to look for you. Camping in the backcountry is free, and restricted to campsites, most of which are fairly basic -- fire grates, food-hanging cables (to bearproof your site), some nearby water, and flat ground for your tent. The food-hanging cables were a new contraption to me, but easy to use.

Day 1 started with a brief 2+ hour hike (with full pack, thank you), to camp 74, which is near to Fontana Lake. After establishing camp, I spent the afternoon alternating between swimming in the lake (which was about 2-3 feet below "normal", and thus not that attractive, and fully exposed to summer sun), and relaxing in camp (shaded, moderately cool, but buggy).

Some of the trails in the park are open to horse-riding. This would be a recurring "feature" of the trail -- avoiding the horse droppings.

Day 2 was the first half of the Big Push: climb up about 2500' with a full pack, over a distance of about 8 miles. This was accomplished in about 6 1/2 hours, made exciting by a significant number of stream crossings (all manageable, but some were a fair amount of work when carrying a full load), and one ornery rattlesnake. The day ended at camp 68, where camp was erected in near-record time to be ready before rain arrived.

Day 3 was the second half of the Big Push: climb another 2500' with a day bag, an 8 mile round trip, plus another 2-3 miles of downhill under load to camp 69. The summit was a typical tourist-infested summit, but the views that day were quite nice (probably due to the rains of the day before).

Day 4 was the return to civilization -- about 8 miles of mostly downhill, but a spurt of up-and-down at the very end that is usually annoying because the muscles are all saying "we like going down, thank you".

After 3 1/2 days of not showering, hotel rooms are mighty nice.

Dinner was at Mela, a fine Indian restaurant in Asheville. I had quite possibly the best (certainly the freshest) Shahi Paneer I've ever had.

Happy trails!