November 9-12, 1995

November 9-12, 1995

I went hiking with an old college roommate to Smoky Mountain National Park again. We want to climb Rocky Top, the Appalachian peak made famous by the song we liked in college. The trail to the top starts on the south side of the park on Fontana Lake. Getting to this remote location was an adventure itself. The narrow road wound tightly through the backwoods hills of Appalachia. I later learned this curvy road is famously known as the Tail of the Dragon and is popular with racing enthusiasts. This area was also a filming location for the 1993 movie The Fugitive.

The first part of the Eagle Creek Trail is mostly flat as it follows an arm of Fontana Lake north. We spent the night at a campsite next to a roaring river. Unfortunately, we woke up to snow. Shortly into the trail this morning it dead-ends at a stream. We spent the next few hours trying to find the trail. It could involve wading across the stream but in this cold weather neither one of us wants to have wet boots. That is a prescription for pneumonia. After spending most of the day in frustration we returned to last night’s campsite. Dejected, we hiked back to the car in pouring rain and we got soaked. My hiking boots are either no longer waterproof, or we need gaiters. When we get home, I find that this Rocky Top trail is notorious for having 19 stream crossings. Not a trail to be done in the winter.