Hiking in the Smoky (more like charred) Mountains with Crosby

To me, spending time with family tops just about any other activity that I can be doing. Add in something fun and a family tradition, and you’re looking at one of the top 5 weekends of the year. This edition of family tradition comes in the form of the Anderson annual hiking trip in the Smoky Mountains.

Crosby and I got up early on a Saturday to drive to the airport and catch our planes to Knoxville. He’s a flying pro and we thankfully had no repeats of the trouble we experienced last year. Mom and Dad picked us up and we made our way to our lunch staple of Texas Roadhouse. Portions are generous, the rolls are delicious, and everything is reasonably priced.

After that we drove over to meet Melissa, Jason, and Annabel at the not-so-luxurious, but highly convenient LeConte View Motor Lodge. We decided to let the kids swim for a bit. Melissa was originally going to bring Crosby a puddle jumper, but her forgetting it may have turned out to be the best thing possible. That meant I needed to watch Crosby like a hawk, but it also started the process of him showing a bit more interest in learning to swim.

After about an hour in the pool / basically hot tub, we got cleaned up and drove up to the Chimney picnic area. It was amazing and sad to see all the damage that was caused by the wildfires back in November. The Chimney Tops were absolutely scorched. 😦

Despite looking at the weather, it started to drizzle a bit, but thankfully it didn’t last long. Dad got the charcoal going while the rest of us went down to the stream to toss some rocks in the water. Crosby and Annabel were having a blast playing together. The water was flowing pretty good, but there was a set of rocks that were all close enough together that I was able to make it all the way to the other side for the first time in a very long time. The burgers were excellent. Dad used a bit of dry rub on them that really hit the spot. Shock Top and Grapefruit Shady topped off a great dinner in the park. If there was a downside, though perhaps it would be more accurately described as comic relief, that would be attributed to me trying to get some big rocks for Crosby to through in the water, slipping a bit and the whole right side of my body getting totally soaked.

Saturday night in Gatlinburg is always a sight to see from a people watching perspective, so the night wouldn’t have been complete without taking a walk down “The Strip” to check everything out. We capped off the night by watching the Penguins win game 2 of their playoff series.

The next day we met Bob and Sharon for pancakes at the Pancake House. Bob hasn’t been feeling 100% so they decided not to climb to the top this year, but it was great to get a chance to see them — even if the kids sat somewhat separated. I couldn’t resist getting my normal sweet potato pancakes.

After breakfast, we decided to try a new trail, Baskin’s Creek. It was only about 1.5 miles each way, but the trail was really steep. It also went through a lot of the area that had been burned in the fire which was pretty crazy to see so close. Nearly everything was burned in it’s path, but surprisingly, some new growth had started. Many acorns sprouted forming little oak trees. Some of the maple trees had new growth coming out of the bases. And when you looked really hard, you could even see some miniature pine trees starting to grow.

Along the path, we saw a sign for a cemetery, so we took the .75 mile detour to go back and see it. You have to really wonder how a cemetery ends up in the middle of the national park and what the people did that used to live there, but it was pretty neat to see. It’s certainly unlike most other cemeteries out there. It had mostly hand carved natural stone headstones that had become essentially unreadable.

At the end of the trail, there was a really nice waterfall that had a shallow area along side it which was great for the kids. Everyone except Dad took off their shoes and we all played around in the shallow water for quite awhile. We also came across several salamanders hanging out in the cold water.

By the time we hiked out, we decided that we’d just take it easy the rest of the day, and go back to the hotel. Crosby and Annabel were itching to get back in the swimming pool. We tried out the inside pool this time, and I convinced Crosby that he could hold his breath and close his eyes and touch the bottom of the 3 foot part of the pool. I don’t think he ever made it to the bottom, but he was doing great with it. There’s no doubt that I felt strange pushing my kid underwater as if you were drowning somebody, but he really started to get the hang of it. By the time we made it out into the outdoor pool he was doggy paddling for at least a full breath. I was really excited about his progress, especially since he’s shown so little interest to date. After the swimming, we embraced some of Gatlingburg’s finest pizza — courtesy of Domino’s.

The next morning, we didn’t rush out like we normally would since we were hoping that the large storm system would pass by before we started hiking up to Mount LeConte. After a bit of rain, the sun came out at breakfast at the Pancake Pantry again, we were thinking we just might luck out. One fun side story from breakfast was that each morning, the staff would let Crosby and I step into the kitchen and watch them crank out the orders. They cook like a well oiled machine, and you could see why. Three of the four we talked to had been working there over 40 years! One of these older cooks gave Crosby a cup full of M&Ms too!

When we got all packed up and checked out, we drove over to the Alum Cave trailhead only for it to start pouring again. By looks of the radar, the system was on it’s last pass and we decided to wait it out a bit more in the car before starting. It did slow down and we started out dry; however, we didn’t stay that way for long.

We pulled out our rain gear and started to find out about the worst part of the forecast that proved to be true — high winds / a wind advisory. I used my rain jacket to form a makeshift tent over the top of the backpack so Crosby said very dry. Annabel was in a full rain suit, but we came to find out that didn’t help much as the water was flowing in through her face hole and her clothes were soaked by the time we hit Alum Cave.

The wind was whipping around so much that it was an easy decision to not stop for long. Moo and Jason changed all of her clothes and I scarfed down my sandwich. The dust blowing around was yet another obstacle to deal with. Jason even considered hiking Annabel back down and staying in town instead. That thought passed and we all continued our trek up the mountain.

I reassembled my Crosby tent, and after another 20 minutes of us all hiking together, I accepted everyone else’s offer to go ahead on my own so that we could get out of the weather. After that point, I pretty much went full speed ahead, taking only a few short breaks to look at the map or catch my breath as needed. The rain did finally seem to slow down, but the wind definitely continued to get worse as we got higher up the mountain and crossed over onto the other side. I never felt unsafe, but it was by far the windiest conditions I had ever hiked in. I won’t be upset if that remains that way either.

When I finally made it to the top, I got us checked in and changed clothes from head to toe as I was pretty wet since I gave up my rain gear. About 40 minutes later the rest of the gang got up and we all enjoyed some much anticipated hot chocolate together. We hung out in the lodge with all the other people that fought to get up there and just relaxed a bit. Crosby found the bananagrams game and was having fun playing that with Nonna too.

One nice thing about hiking Alum was that even with the later start, we got up there with enough time to do some things before dinner. And while the wind was still howling, the skies had completely cleared, so we all hiked up to the summit to put some ceremonial rocks on the pile and to go visit the memorial rock we’d put up there for Elijah.

Crosby and I started up there on our own, and we met a really nice guy who said he always tried to give things to young hikers. Granted this was the first time Crosby had stepped foot on a trail all day, but the guy pulled a 1 oz Silver Dollar and gave it to Crosby. Obviously a really nice gesture!

Before long it was time for dinner though, and the Anderson’s spent our first dinner in a very long time without the Spenser’s. However, that did allow us to eat with Doug and Jennifer and hear about everything going on in their lives. It’s pretty amazing how you can only see some people 2 days a year (but over a really long time) and you feel like you really get to know them.

While we were finishing dinner (and several glasses of wine), we were able to share stories while Crosby and Annabel played and chased each other around our table as we closed down the dining room.

Mom, Dad, Crosby and I made our way up to High Top for sunset which given all the weather that went through earlier in the day, turned out to be a pretty good sunset — even if it was still very windy. [The staff at dinner said they were measuring gusts at 65 mph!]

After sunset, we all piled into the lodge to hang out and play some games. Crosby was highly interested, so he and I played Yahtzee, numerous games of connect 4, and Triominoes before finally calling it a night. He, Mom, and I all squeezed into the top bunk for what turned out to be a pretty good night’s rest.

Tuesday morning hit quickly, and it was all of the sudden almost time to go home. Before that happened though, Crosby and Annabel got a chance to play a bit more on the bunk beds. Then we piled into the dining room for the regular breakfast of pancakes, biscuits, grits (yuck), eggs and Canadian bacon. Then it was time to take our pictures in front of the dining room and head out.

Going down the mountain is always a lot less work from a cardio perspective, but still a lot of work controlling your speed. Crosby wanted to stay up for most of the time, but finally decided he should do some hiking too once we found a new stick. The trip down was far more enjoyable with the sun out and wind back to a light breeze. I was also glad to be able to hang out with everyone on the way down as that was the piece I missed most on the second half of the trip up.

However, before I knew it, we were down the mountain and in the car with the trip almost over. We stopped at a random sandwich place I found on Yelp and then were off to the airport for Crosby and I to head back home. I always hate to say goodbye, but it’s nice to know that we’ll see everyone again in a few months on our way to Michigan.

Even though it was a quick trip, and the weather didn’t completely cooperate, I’m so thankful that I’m able to carry on this tradition. I know Crosby had fun too, which is equally as important. It was as busy weekend for both of us though. We’re flying to Dallas as I write this and somebody just couldn’t quite make it home.