Great Smoky Mountain National Park - Albright Grove Loop

Every year my son and I go to "The Smokies" for his spring break. This year (Easter weekend) will be the fourth consecutive year, so in preparation I thought I would add some of our hikes from previous years.
This hike was completed during our 2010 trip and we were in search of the elusive virgin stand of timber.

We eventually found the trailhead (hidden behind a Jellystone campground), and it was also difficult to find a parking spot. We geared up and watered up in preparation for the near 3-mile hike to the Albright Grove of virgin timber.

The entire 3-mile hike was uphill, so there were a few stops to rest. Ross always finds the best places to relax.

Another mile or so of climbing and it was time for another rest.

About 2.5 miles in you cross Indian Camp Creek, a beautiful little brookie stream....getting closer.

Shortly after crossing Indian Camp Creek, we start noticing a few larger trees, and Ross decides it's time to take another break.....getting close.

You know when you are in the Albright Grove - even without the trail marker. In my 40+ years on the east side of the Mississippi, I've never seen a virgin stand of timber - they just don't exist.

I've been among the ancient ones, 2000+ year old Colorado bristlecones and 4000+ year old California bristlecones, but these trees were impressive in their own right. They are survivors, somehow they survived the late 19th and early 20th century logging boom.

We decided to have a light lunch among the east coast giants. While we were having lunch, I noticed the sound of running water over the mountain behind us. After we finished eating, we bushwhacked through the rhododendron to another nice brookie stream.

After picking up a couple of little Smoky Mountain gems, it was time to head out - at least it was all downhill on the way out. Being downhill the entire way we had time to make a few stops, the first being Indian Camp Creek.

As we neared the bottom, we stopped along a small stream that I had noticed on the way up. What caught my eye on the way up was not the water but the structure alongside it.

I'm not sure what the puprose of the stone wall was, but I'm sure it took somebody quite a while to build. Could it be part of the (now rebuilt) homestead along the trail near the trailhead? Could a be from a family that was forced out of the park when the National Park was created?

Prior to this trip Ross had been running every day during basketball practice, so he was in decent shape, but he was still relieved when we made it back to the trailhead. Over 7 miles and half of it uphill - this is the sign of relief.

I'm looking forward to our 2012 adventure and reliving some of our other hikes in GSMNP.

Chris

Gila Wilderness, New Mexico - 74 Mountain Trail

I completed this nearly 16-mile day hike in July, 2010. The destination on this hike was Mogollon Creek and the once, nearly extinct, Gila trout. This was also my first adventure with my new SPOT II satellite tracking device.

Gila Trout

Share your Adventures with SpotAdventures

My partner and I arrived at the trailhead at 11:30 PM after almost 29 hours on the road. We awoke early the next morning to see what the area looked like in the daylight. Our destination would be well beyond the far ridge to the right of the trailhead marker.

The first couple of miles of the hike was relatively flat, but then we had a short climb up to the first ridge. The trail may have been flat but the cobble-filled trail made for a knee knocking hike.

When we made it to the top of the first ridge, the views of the New Mexico backcountry were amazing.

From this point, the trail wound for 3-4 miles along the multiple ridge lines. The hiking was easy, but you can see in the next photo the cobble that littered the trail - making the hike more difficult than it should have been.

The trail stays high on the ridge line as it weaves along the contour lines of the topography. The views were unlike anything I had witnessed before - this was my first trip to New Mexico and the United States southwest.

When we finally reached the final ridge we could see our destination - and it appeared to be straight down! The canyon directly across from us was the North Fork of Mogollon Creek, downstream of the section of main Mogollon we were searching for.

From this point it was just over a mile of steep descent to Mogollon Creek.

As you can tell by the photo of the North Fork of Mogollon Creek, the crystal clear main branch cuts through a steep canyon as well.



We fished for a few hours in this beautiful, but extremely rugged canyon, before making the decision to turn for the nearly 8-mile hike out.

I always carry a water filter and a 100 ounce hydration bladder. I made sure the bladder was full for the hike out in the July mid-day New Mexico heat.

The steep downhill last mile of the hike in would be brutal on the way out. The canyon had experienced a burn at some point so there was no canopy to protect us from the sun and heat. A slow steady pace put us back up on the ridge line with no issues.

From here it was just a matter of slowly winding along the ridges - taking it all in.

This last photo is probably my favorite of the entire hike. It is just before we drop off the ridge into the bottom where the trailhead was located. It shows the extreme vastness of New Mexico.

The final few miles were flat but not without incident. Hiking on rubbery legs, it was more difficult to step over some of the cobble and I stubbed my toes on multiple occasions. I also emptied my 100 ounce hydration bladder about a half-mile from the trailhead.

I finally made it back to the vehicle and quickly downed two bottles of water. Later I would find that this hike would cost me six toe nails - and this was the first day of our two week adventure across NM, AZ, CA, OR, NV, and CO.

Chris

DeCaLiBron - Colorado 14ers

This past August I added three more 14ers to my personal life list. The 7.25 mile loop would put me on top of three summits - the fourth (Mt. Bross) is currently closed.

The trailhead (12,000 feet) is located a few miles above Alma at Kite Lake, and it was crowded that early Sunday morning.

The first half-mile or so was a gradual climb but as you started through the scree to the saddle between Democrat and Cameron, the incline increased significantly. I love the early morning shadows of the Colorado Rockies - I stopped to look back toward the trailhead and I snapped this shot of the shadows.

It seemed like no time at all before I hit the first saddle and the view of the extreme headwaters of the South Platte was amazing.

After a quick stop at the saddle, it was a sharp left turn up Democrat's east slope. This is where the trail gets much steeper and there were several switchbacks to the false summit. It was a slow go between the saddle and the false summit but once to the top of the false summit the Democrat summit was in view. Even though I was hiking solo, I would not be alone on this trek.

A short distance later, I was standing on the summit of Mt. Democrat (14,148) - my third 14er.

I love the views from these summits. From the summit of Democrat I could see Mt. Elbert, which I summited in 2008 - I could not believe how much snow remained in August.



After a short rest on Democrat, it was back down to the saddle on my way to my next two summits. From the edge of the Democrat summit I could see my next two stops Cameron and Lincoln (in the background).

I always struggle on the downhill, it's hard on my old knees, but it was nice to get a breather before starting the climb to the Cameron summit. The climb up Cameron's ridge was not nearly as difficult as the Democrat climb and as the trail swung from the right side of the ridge to the left, I snapped this shot across the valley.

Then, looking back as the trail levels out before the Cameron summit.

From this point it was an easy hike to the large, flat summit of Cameron. I wasn't like a summit at all, more like a football field at 14,000 feet. I stopped only long enough to take a self-portrait on Cameron (14,238), the wind was howling to the point I was nearly blown down, time to find relief from the wind!



My next, and final, summit of the loop is Lincoln - a short distance from the Cameron summit.

After the climb up Democrat, then Cameron, the short trek to Lincoln was relatively easy. I say "relatively easy" because over 13,000 feet nothing is EASY. You can see the well-defined trail from near the Lincoln summit.

I didn't get a summit portrait on the small summit of Lincoln (sharp contrast to the size of Cameron's summit), but I did get a couple of other shots . Mt. Lincoln summit (14,286 feet) and 14er number five for me.

A much better shot to the north of the alpine lake and Quandary Peak.

After another quick summit stop, it was all downhill! The trail below the Cameron summit was very nice allowing me to make very good time on the way down.

After passing below the Cameron summit I stopped the Cameron - Bross saddle to take a look back at where I had been earlier. From this saddle you can see the incline I climbed to get to the Democrat summit.

Then looking back at the large Cameron summit (left) and the small Lincoln summit (right)...

...then, finally, looking down at the Kite Lake trailhead.

If the summit for Mt. Bross was not on private property I could have added another 14er to my list.



I mentioned that downhill is hard on my old knees, well, I've never experienced downhill of this magnitude. Between the steepness of this downhill and the loose scree, this was quite a challenge.

I'm not sure what part of this loop was slower the climb of the final descent, but I made it down without falling.

The entire loop is just over seven miles with 3,700 feet of elevation gain and I made it back to the trailhead in under four hours.

 I enjoy taking time out of my fishing trips to knock these 14ers out...here's to my next summit!

Chris

The Search for Methuselah

This is a continuation of my trip into the Nevada desert in search of Lahontan cutthroat...there were no trout harmed in the making of this entry.

From the Lahontan stream I drove to Bishop, California in preparation for my hike into the bristlecone grove - my first time to California.

I rose early the next morning to get some nice shots of the Sierras in alpenglow. I was amazed at how much snow remained up high. This snow is what pointed me to Bishop when I wanted to go to Lone Pine in search of my first true golden.

Due to snow, the road into the bristlecones was closed two from the trailhead, so I parked at the gate and the Sierra overlook.

You can see why the road was closed, but it probably won't be long before it opens.

I had the 4.5-mile loop trail all to myself, didn't realize until later that this may not have been a good idea.

Shortly into the trail, the sign says, "stay right", so I went right. I soon found that all north-facing slopes had a good bit of snow remaining. After about 1/4 mile of intermittent searching for the trail and post holing, the trail disappeared.

At this point I turned around and decided to take the left fork of the trail. As I made my way around to the east and south facing slopes the trail opened up and became much easier to follow. I soon found myself among the ancient ones.

These California bristlecones (Pinus longaeva) are a different species than the bristlecones I visited in Colorado (Pinus aristata) and much older. This loop and this grove is said to contain the oldest tree in the world Methuselah, which has an estimated germination date of 2832 BC - and this is why I made this journey.

I didn't know the exact location, all I had were GPS coordinates and a photo. Unfortunately, my GPS is in dire need of a charging cable, so I was "flying blind".

I started the hike with three layers (it was in the upper 30s) but as the sun rose higher it turned into a beautiful day.

I believe Methuselah is somewhere in the vicinity of the next photo, but without my GPS I couldn't pinpoint it exactly.

As I made it to the 3.5-mile mark of the trail, I knew that I would soon be encountering the section of the tail that remained buried beneath a few feet of snow, so when I intersected the Schulman cabin trail I made a very good decision. I was now out of water (1.5 liters) and solo, so I made the decision to take the shortest route back to the vehicle.

The cabin trail took me up several switchbacks to a saddle where I could see the road to the trailhead.

From the saddle, I abandoned the trail (I normally abide by the off-trail restrictions) and headed straight downhill to the road. I stopped one last time to take a shot of this solo tree....

...and this unusual remnant.

One last note from my first adventure in the Sierras: it amazes me to see cactus around 10,000 feet!

This specimen was somewhere around 8,000 feet on the way back to the main road.

Finally, this guy that just screams "Do Not Touch", were quite common in the California and Nevada desert floor.

I did not find Methuselah but it was a nice hike (8-10 miles) and it was nice to be back up in altitude. I'll take 50% on a short trip like this!

I plan to revisit the Sierras later this year, but next time I will be packing a fly rod and (hopefully) there will be a few trout involved.

Chris