Chimney Tops Trail 9-7-2015

It was time for my wife and I to head off on a trip.  Our third wedding anniversary was coming up and we both desperately needed to get away.  That is one of the good things about living where we do, the Smoky Mountains, the most visited park in the USA is about two hours from our home.  So any time we get a wild hair to go on a hike, it is not that long of a drive.

Borrowed from HikingtheSmokys.com definitely want
to make sure that I give full credit for 

Ever since we first started dating, there have been trails that we have wanted to do, Bridal Veil Falls, Savage Falls, Abrams Falls and others come to mind.  Chimney Tops has been on the list for a while now, but for some reason we just never took the time to go.  I made sure that it would be on our list for this vacation; as a matter of fact, I wanted it to be the first trail that we hit on this vacation.  So we loaded up the car and worked it out with our hotel to have an early check in and went to Gatlinburg.  We made good time and stopped at the Subway in Townsend for a lunch sandwich, hey when a craving for Subway hits I guess it has to answered, and made it to the room by 1.30.  We had our stuff unpacked and backpacks in the car and were back on the road by 2.  I began to worry after we passed the Sugarlands Visitor Center and all the signs about road work between there and Cherokee NC began to show up, but hey, it was Labor Day and surely they would not be doing road work on Labor Day.  Right?  

Sign at the Trail Head

After the 7 mile trip from the Sugarlands, I discovered that I was right, they would not be doing road work on Labor Day.  The problem was, it was Labor Day and the parking lot was at capacity, even beyond capacity.  There were people parked every where and every which way.  I told my wife that I might not have thought this trip through as thoroughly as I had imagined.  She just laughed and said we would find a spot.  I had to drive over the loop before I could find a place to turn around and then waited for what felt like an hour before I could pull back out on the road to drive back to the parking area.  I got lucky and was able to parallel park across from the parking lot and we did not have to walk from the spiral like  some people did.

We walked over to the start of the trail and began going down.  There were several groups of people coming out, and that gave me hope that the trail would not be crowded and that we were going to have the Tops with minimal people.  I could see the new bridge that the Trails Forever people put in and it has to be one of the nicest hiking bridges I have seen.  I was duly impressed.  But it is a narrow bridge.  I had my new Osprey Exos 48 Backpack on, filled with my day hike choices, along with a 2 Liter bladder, and my full Trangia kit and was a little wide for some of the more wider people standing on the bridge.  I had to grab the bottom of my pack with one hand and shove it up over the railing, turning sideways and hang my pack over the rail to squeeze by them.  I must not have said, "Excuse me," loud enough, but I did try and give them a pleasant smile.  After crossing the first bridge, the trail goes to the right and across another bridge.  I liked the view from this bridge more than the first due to Road Prong cascading down the mountains to join the West Prong of the Little Pigeon River.  Then the trail turns back left and goes up a ridge before coming to bridge number 3 over Road prong and climbing again.  Then after about 0.8 of a mile, the trail goes over bridge number 4, which is another scenic little setting.  There were several groups of people here taking pictures and splashing in the water.

The sign at the split, Chimney Tops goes right

The Stairs

After 0.9 miles, the trail splits.  Chimney Tops Trail goes off to the right, while Road Prong Trail goes strait to link up with the AT in 2.4 miles.  I knew that we would be climbing up the mountain the entire trail.  I knew that it was a practical 1,500 foot climb from the bridge to the top.  I was expecting an uphill slog the entire way, and I knew that it was a steep climb.  I can deal with the climbs, I do not mind following a trail all the way up to the top of a mountain, but after turning on to the Chimney Tops Trail proper, we ran into something that I was not expecting at all.  Something that takes the wind right out of my sails and leaves me begging for mercy.  Torture devices that are guaranteed to have me crying for Momma.  We found, stairs!  I am making it sound a lot worse than it really is.  The stairs are nice and made out of stone found, I assume, on the mountain or close by.  Without these stairs, the trail would not be hikeable at all.  The rain would wash the trail away to nothing in one season I would assume without these stairs.  My heart does go out to the men and women who had to carry all of those stones though and lay them into place.  According to one older hiker that we ran into, there were 437(ish) stairs that one has to climb.  I would say it was the stairs that made this trail more friendly.  We met lots of people encouraging us that we were almost there, and saying how wonderful the view was today.  We would take breaks to let families pass us and they would all say hi and how great the view was.  Before reaching the stairs, not many fellow hikers would even say hi to us as we passed, and I like to try and be a friendly hiker and speak to everyone, even if it is just to say hi.  My dad swore I would grow out of it when I was younger.  We spoke to a couple who we had passed and then passed us in turn.  I told them we were going to leap frog the rest of the way.  The woman laughed.  She asked everyone she saw how much longer it was to the top.  When my wife and I left them, we went a little ways before running into the step counting man mentioned earlier.  I made sure to have him tell her she was about there.

View right before the rain.

The problem with the stair section is that there are not any real views to be had.  The stairs climb up by a stream for most of their way.  The Pale Jewelweed was in bloom when we went and it made the trek a little nicer having all of the yellow flowers lining our way.  We even stopped and watched a bee go in and pollinate a couple flowers while we were chugging water on one of our stops.

After about 0.9 miles, the trail tops out.  There is a view looking out over the mountains.  Then the trail evens out for the last .2 miles.  I felt like I was walking the knife's edge of the mountain in this spot as we were literally on the top of the mountain going for the tops.  I loved it.  There were several larger groups of people at the tops when we arrived.  Many were sitting at the bottom drinking water and eating snack.  Many more were up on the tops lounging around and laughing.  I pulled my camera out and took the picture to the right and turned to my wife and asked if she was read.  At that moment, it started to pour the rain.  I dropped my pack and grabbed my rain jacket and my pack cover and slid them on fairly quickly and my wife did the same with hers.  People started scrambling down from the top, I watched an older couple ease their way down and slide to a stop on the roots in the picture.  Many people just slid and jumped their way down the rocks.  I stood there with my First Aid senses going bezerk.  I just knew someone was going to take a bad tumble off those rocks and get hurt.  Thankfully, no one was injured at all.  Then except for another couple who had came up when we did, we were the only people on the tops.  I couldn't help but laugh when my wife said that the blog was living up to its name in this situation.  Then, just as suddenly as it came, the rain quit.  I could not come here and not try to climb some part of the rocks.  My wife said she was not interested at all in going all the way up.  With my fear of heights, I knew I was not going to the top, but I had to climb some of the tops.  Even in my high top hiking boots, I was sliding on some of the rocks and knew better than to push my luck.  I climbed less than half way looked around and then came back down.  The bottom picture is looking back down the towards the first picture.  The rocks do not look it, but trust me it was slippery.

So, with us reaching the end of the trail and setting foot on one of the few clear mountain tops in the Smoky Mountains, my wife and I headed back towards the car.  It was a tough hike, I will not lie to you.  The uphill trudge goes on and on and on, but if you tough it out and make it to the top, the effort is worth it.  Even with the rain and the cloudy views, I enjoyed this trail.  The steps are uneven and not at all level, so if stairs give you trouble, you may want to keep that in mind.  People say that if you do not go out onto the tops you are cheating yourself, but I know my limits and I know the conditions of the day that I went and I am super satisfied with my experience.  I would recommend this trail to anyone looking for a little adventure, or to those who just like to get out and climb a mountain from time to time.  If you feel like seeing a waterfall after hiking to the top, turn right when you come to the trail sign again.  There are two waterfalls to see.  One is about 0.3 miles up and the other is roughly 0.6 miles up the trail.  We did not hike to the falls and we have not seen them, I am just letting you all know that they are there.

Rainbow Falls Hike GSMNP

Elevation Profile shamelessly borrowed from
hikingthesmokys.com

     A month ago, Jackie and I went to Rainbow Falls in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.  We were planning on hiking Chimney Tops, but Jackie was not into scrambling over the rocks.  We were hoping to catch Chimney Tops on a weekday when the pressure would be less, but the Park is doing work and the trail is only open on the weekends.  So going through my Smoky Hiking books, I chose Rainbow Falls.  This was an area of the park that we had not hiked before.  I was hoping for an early, early start so that we might possibly be able to go to Rainbow Falls and Groto Falls, which would have us hiking about 6-7 miles, but we did not get that early of a start.

The trail head just passed the signs

     We left our home about 12 and got to the trail head around 2 PM.  There are some restrooms at the trailhead.  They are the standard pit toilets that are found throughout National Parks and Forest Service areas.  If needed, the restrooms are some of the best ones I have seen.  The trail head is on the Roar Fork Nature Trail out of Gatlinburg.  This makes it one of the more popular trails within the park.  Something about being easy to drive to, translates to being popular.  One thing I must say though, be ready to hike up hill the whole way.  This is one trail that starts off on an uphill and only ends when you get to your destination.  The Rainbow Falls trail is one of the trails that allows you to hike to the top of Mount LeConte and the Mount LeConte Lodge.
     The trail starts off innocently enough.  Make sure to stay close to the signs though, many people have made short cuts to save a couple of steps.  Just after the left turn in the picture above, the trail begins to get into its normal swing.  There are rocks and roots that fill the trail and it is pretty much constant for the first mile.  There was a power couple who were crunching through the trail and stopping to take pictures every tenth of a mile or so.  I was amazed at how they were never getting sweaty.  I was about to sweat to death and they were still cool as a cucumber.  The trail switch backed several times in its climb.  The trail follows LeConte Creek for the first half mile or so and then it leaves it behind and the trail becomes a forest walk with switchbacks occurring fairly regularly.

The bridge at mile 1.7

     After 1.7 miles, the trail comes back to LeConte Creek again.  There is a log bridge built over the creek.  It was a nice place to catch our breath.  The picture takers ended their hike here.  I guess they felt a little sweat on their brow or had something else to do.  We were snacking when a girl caught up to us.  We had passed her earlier while she was going to the bathroom right on the side of the trail.  I know when you have to go, you have to go, but with your feet still in the trail and no brush cover?  I quickly figured out what was going on and turned around and talked to Jackie until she was done.  Getting back on track, the bridge is a one person affair and is a level spot on the trail.  With the creek making a waterfall behind/uphill from the bridge, it makes a good place for a quick photo op.
     After we passed the bridge, we kept going up the trail.  I let Jackie take the lead on the trail and we were talking about how the Park did not mark the trails with i's or paint or anything like that when we ran into two deer in the middle of the trail.  They looked at us and began to walk up the trail away from us.  Jackie kept trying to get close and take pictures, but with one of the deer being a faun, I was afraid of her getting too close and having mom come after her.  Another power hiking couple caught up to us, right after the deer turned a corner.  I told them about the deer being up ahead and they said thanks.  They guy started talking about how he hoped that they ran into a bear.  I rolled my eyes and told Jackie if they saw a bear, I was going to trip the guy as we ran down hill away from it.  They ran into the deer and took out their phones and started snapping pictures.  The deer began walking up the side of the mountain eating as they went.  It was a neat experience for us, something that had not happened before.  We were really excited about it.

Rainbow Falls!

     After seeing the deer and going up another switchback, I began to wonder if we would ever get to the waterfall.  I like to hike, but an uphill slog the entire way was not something that I was expecting.  I was really happy to run into the second bridge at mile 2.4.  The speed couple was there taking some selfies by the waterfall behind the bridge.  We hiked across the bridge, turned a curve and could hear the waterfall roughly two tenths of a mile away.  It had not rained much before we went on our hike.  I was hoping that there would be water going over the falls.  All of the information on the hike I had been able to find said that the hike should be good, even with little water.  The falls gets its name from a rainbow showing in the mist from the falls that appears in the afternoon.  We reach the falls around 4 PM and I was hoping for the rainbow effect, but we did not see it.  After a little scrambling, we were able to sit at the base of the falls.  We ate our snacks and drank some water and took a break.  It was a long climb up from the parking lot and we were both happy to take the rest break.  Unfortunately, we did not really plan for the time that it would take us to reach the falls, and the time it would take us to drive to the trail head.  So we were both really ready for lunch.
     We needed to rest further, but our hunger pushed us from the falls.  We started going back, and when we were about 2 miles from the car, I did something to my knee.  I do not know what I did, but it made the hike a long two miles back to the car.  The trail is a tough trail, with lots of rocks and tree roots.  If you are not ready for it, the trail can get you when you least suspect it as any trail can.  I did not want to say anything to Jackie, but by the time we reach the car, I was ready to start asking people in the lot for some hydros or morphine.  The doctors say that I just stretched the tendon that runs up the outside of my knee.  I know that I was glad that I was able to complete the 5.4 miles we hiked and made it to the car under my own power.
     We had ran into several people going up to the falls, and with it being after 4 PM, I did not expect to run into many other people.   Instead as we kept getting closer and closer to the car, we ran into more and more people going to the falls.  It took us a little over 2 hours to get to the falls and these people were just starting out.  Most did not have any water and the few I saw with drinks were taking Coke's and Dr. Peppers along.  I told Jackie that I wished them well but did not think that they would make it to the falls.
     Over all we enjoyed this hike.  True I messed up my knee some how but overall it was a good hike.  There is something about taking your special someone to a place they want to go to.  Plus being in the woods is always a good thing.  As long as the water is running, this hike would be a good one to do.  Always be ready for anything!  We had the two deer on the trail with us and as we were leaving, we saw a Momma Bear and two cubs with her.  I would recommend this trail to anyone with some time to spare in the Gatlinburg area.
     Directions:  Turn onto Historic Nature Trail Road at red light number 8 at Ripley's Believe It or Not.  Go out this road until it turns into the Roaring Fork Motor Nature Trail.  The first trail head is on the right.  If it and the parallel parking areas are full, there is another parking area on the right.  Parking at the second parking area will add about .5 miles to the hike.