After completing the Great Smoky Mountains Big Loop in 2018 (https://fastestknowntime.com/route/great-smoky-mountains-peak-loop-nc-tn) I wondered if there would be a way to include Cade’s Cove, Gregory’s Bald, and Fontana into an even larger route around the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. A quick review of the maps confirmed this was possible and an idea was born. After sitting on this plan for a few years, I decided to commit to the effort and started preparing in late 2022.
My journey began and finished at the park entrance in Townsend, TN. I had one amazing crew member, Jason, that was going to meet me at Fontana, Clingman’s Dome, Smokemont Campground, Big Creek Campground, and Sugarland Visitor Center. With a larger crew, there could be additional hike-in aid stations, but I actually enjoyed the challenge of the longer sections. Any of these road access points would work for a start/finish location.
I started on May 8th, 2023 at 3:50AM and finished back in Townsend on Thursday, May 11th at 11:51AM for a total time of 80 hours and 1 minute. During that time I took three one-hour naps and a 30 minute nap. Sleep deprivation and exhaustion led to some pretty spectacular hallucinations.
Townsend to Fontana - A few showers and overgrown trails meant I was wet for most of the first day. When I changed socks at Gregory’s Bald, my feet looked about as bad as I’ve ever seen them. A waist deep crossing of Abram’s Creek was a little worrisome, but I made it to Fontana without major incident. A quick refuel from my crew and I was back on trail again.
Fontana to Clingmans - About a quarter mile back on trail and I startled two bears which quickly ran toward the lake. I made it to Proctor as the sun was setting and started the steep climb up to the Appalachian Trail (AT). The AT was in almost a complete whiteout, so my headlamp was mostly useless. This meant a slow hike to sunrise which included my first boar encounter in the Smokies. I arrived at Derick’s Knob shelter before sunrise and decided to rest for a few minutes and see if the predicted storms were going to arrive. After seeing some very mild lightning in the clouds, I decided to keep moving. After a quick shower, I thought the ‘storms’ had passed. I couldn’t have been more wrong because right around sunrise, I was hit with the strongest storm I’ve ever been out in. Significant wind, hail, and lightning whipped across the narrow ridges for the next 30 minutes or so. I was far enough from the next shelter that I had to keep moving. Even with full rain gear, I was soaked and starting to get cold in the early morning. This was my main motivation to get to Clingman’s Dome and my next aid station.
Clingman’s to Smokemont - The sun was up and the storms were gone. Beautiful new day and there is a lot of downhill to Smokemont. These factors changed my attitude dramatically. I moved well and made it to Smokemont without any issues.
Smokemont to Big Creek - After a one hour nap, I left the Smokemont Campground for my second night out. After a couple of steep ups and downs, I started my climb toward Laurel Gap and Mount Sterling. I had several more boar encounters in this area. At some point my energy levels started to wane and I found myself falling asleep while moving. I had to sit for a while and generally this section was extremely slow. Luckily, the sun was beginning to rise on my descent into Big Creek where I got another one-hour nap before heading back to the AT.
Big Creek to Sugarland - After my power nap, I felt really good on the AT section. I chose this direction because I knew that I’d see plenty of north bound hikers and I needed motivation this late in the journey. Besides the two sections of the AT, I didn’t see another person on trail. This is incredible considering the Smokies is the most visited national park in the country. The sun was beginning to set when I was crossing the Boulevard Trail to Mount LeConte. I felt fine when I arrived at LeConte, but the descent to the Sugarland Visitor Center included some fully immersive hallucinations. Luckily, my amazing crew had hiked in to join me for the descent. This was extremely helpful to distinguish reality from hallucination.
Sugarland to Townsend - One final nap and I started out on my last ~20 mile section to Townsend. The sun rose on my ascent of Cove Mountain and I was feeling great. One final hallucination at Wear Cove Gap convinced me that the trail was closed a mere 7 miles from the finish. After Jason convinced me it was all made up, I finished the Roundtop Trail to complete the loop.
This loop really pushed me to the limit of what I’m capable of. I was looking for something that didn’t have guaranteed success and that’s exactly what I found. Without my amazing crew, there is no way that I would have successfully completed this journey. Always grateful.