Not Quite A Humdinger

Ashley and I were hoping we could both participate in today's St. Thomas youth outing to the Smokies even though it was a repeat of a past Humdinger Hike. She wasn't able to join us, but we did run into some familiar faces along the way. You can read about the hike here.

Short, Sweet, and Saucy: Chimney Tops Trail

For this year's annual Holy Thursday hike, we decided to do the Chimney Tops trail. Last year we cut it close, and with a little less than an hour to spare, we made it back in time for mass. To avoid that anxiety, we chose Chimneys because it's short. Going up, climbing to the top of the rock formations, eating lunch, and coming down took right around 3 hours for our crew. For the first time in awhile, we also had some friends join us! Curt and Kay Sheldon had their first Humdinger hike, and our longtime Humdinger hiker Ken Naumann joined us yet again.

We also chose this trail because of the payoff at the end - the Chimneys. Though I didn't climb all the way to the top to admire the view, I still had an incredible view from my perch halfway up the rock formation. Fr. Christian climbed all the way to the top, and I think he'll write about his experience and the view. I'm not a weenie by any means, but I do know my limits. What with my inability to walk in a straight line, my uncanny ability to trip over nothing on a flat surface, and my cumbersome boots, it wasn't advisable to clamber up the Chimneys. I wasn't the only one from our group to not climb all the way to the top: Curt, Kay, and Ken stayed at the bottom.

Chimney Tops trail is a short hike, only 2 miles up. However, I'd caution that statement with the fact that you climb 1700 feet in those 2 miles, and to state the obvious, you have to come back down those 2 miles! Depending on your preference and your physical limitations (for me, that would be my hip and for Fr. Christian, his knees), the steepness could be a challenge. Fortunately for me, my hip issue didn't rear it's painful head, so I was able to fully enjoy the climb up and down. My only regret is that I forgot to bring my hiking stick. If you haven't done this trail yet, I'd advise bringing yours because it will be immeasurably helpful.

Because the view is incredible (and that it's short), Chimneys is a very popular trail. Very popular. Our merry band of 5 ended up spreading out across the trail into 2 groups, and each group leapfrogged with other people/families/groups on the trail. There were very few moments when it was just us on the trail.

I also learned on this hike that I much rather prefer trails that are less popular and less crowded. Until Chimneys, I hadn't made the conscious decision of what I like and don't like. This is probably why I've been so loath to hike other incredibly well-known and well-visited trails in the park.

What comes with an increased human presence? Garbage. And lots of it! I couldn't believe it. At the end of the hike, I had picked up 2 handfuls worth of trash that other people left behind willy nilly. I actually watched someone hurl an apple core off the Chimneys. At one point I ended up sitting next to the apple thrower, and I looked off to the side of the rock formation and saw orange peels in the dirt. Letting my annoyance be heard by all around me, I picked up the orange peels and so began my trash collection. I found plastic bottle caps, plastic wrappers, and with less than half a mile to the trail head on the way down, I found another pile of orange peels. Except this pile was much worse and scattered all over the place.

Sometimes our posts have little rants in them, and I guess this is one of my rant posts. It's one thing to leave behind something that's biodegradable, but if you're gonna do that, at least throw it somewhere so that the rest of us can't see it. Actually, don't even do that. Bring a plastic bag (or something) and put your trash in it. Packs are convenient, temporary storage places for all sorts of things...water, lunch, a first-aid kit, and even trash. Would you throw trash in your front yard or in your neighbor's yard? No. So why would you do it on the trail? Makes no sense to me.

I also watched a kid whack the heck out of some branches and low-lying plants around a section of the trail that looks like it could be a shortcut, but it's not! It was clearly marked with a sign that says something along the lines of, "this is not a trail. Don't walk here. If you do, you damage..." This is a beautiful national park, and I just wish people would show it more respect. Don't mess with my mountains!

My annoyances with humanity aside, this trail is awesome. It's short with a pretty sweet view, and if you're like me, you might end up being a little saucy at the end of it.

Seems More Like A Road

It has been too long since our last Humdinger Hike, but we are still committed to finishing the project. The theme for our most current hike is "Seems More Like A Road". We decided on a loop hike that would begin with the short Gatlinburg Trail and later include the Twin Creeks and Old Sugarlands Trails.

Hiking Trails of the Smokies lists as highlights on the Gatlinburg Trail: lack of hills, homesites. To this I would agree and add that it is really not so much of trail as it is part of a road and what amounts to a city park walk. The "trail" begins with views of the park maintenance center on the left and the Little Pigeon River on the right.



In order to get to the Twin Creeks trailhead, we had to walk through Gatlinburg. As has been mentioned on this blog in the past, I am not the biggest fan of Gatlinburg, but at least we saw some wildlife on our way through the town.


The Twin Creeks Trail is much more of the typical trail one would find in the park. It is relatively flat and would probably make a good short hike to do with kids, especially if taken in the opposite direction that we hiked it. There are a couple of stream crossings that could present a challenge after it has rained, but overall it is an easy hike.


Hiking Trails of the Smokies states that the hardest part of hiking this trail is finding it.


If you are starting from Ogle Cabin, I would agree. There are no clear signs that mark where the trail begins. There is a path marked as a nature trail which if followed straight to the creek leads to an old mill. This short walk would be great for those who are not looking for a hike, but simply a short stroll through the woods.


We happened upon the mill by accident when we turned right instead of left upon arriving at the end of the Twin Creeks Trail. If you want to start this trail from Ogle Cabin, simply follow the nature trail until you come to the first trail to the right. The trail is just under two miles of mostly downhill travel from this direction.


Since we were traveling the other direction, our path was to lead us 3/4 of a mile up Cherokee Orchard Road to Ashley's least favorite trail in the park so far, Rainbow Falls. We easily found Old Sugarlands trailhead at the top of the hill and began the descent to Sugarlands Visitor Center. Old Sugarlands Trail is one of my favorites in this part of the park as it winds through an old settlement. You can still see signs of the days when people lived and worked in this area.


A good part of the trail follows the Little Pigeon River, but unlike the Gatlinburg Trail there are no signs of modern civilization. A friend and I once happened upon a mother bear with several cubs while walking this trail.

I am glad that we found a day to pick back up on the Humdinger Project. Our hope is to get back to more frequent hikes. If any of our readers are interested in joining us, you are always welcome!

Lunch on the Bunion

As a follow up to Fr. Christian's post, I'd like to say that one aspect that I consider crucial to hiking is going with friends! At least, for the Humdinger Project, the more the merrier.

FC and I have been way behind on hikes, but I'm glad we picked Charlie's Bunion to restart the project. It is a fun trail that offers several spots where you can take a "beauty break" and soak up all the awesome. Since the hike to Charlie's Bunion is on the Appalachian Trail, I can finally be christened with a trail name.

Starting off in the Newfound Gap parking lot offers you a chance to people-watch, if you're into that. Newfound Gap is a popular GSMNP tourist/drive-by/stop and take the traditional picture spot. Some people are adventurous enough to walk along the trail for a bit, but most turn back before they even get a 1/2 mile in. Basically after the first mile traffic clears up. If you're a peepee princess like me, you'll love having bathrooms right at the trailhead.

On the way to the trailhead, we drove out of the cloud bank. There was something like a 60% chance of spotty showers the day we went hiking, so we all packed our rain gear. Luckily, we didn't have to don the rain gear and were able to see the sights along the trail.

Hiking to Charlie's Bunion and back is a total of 8.1 miles. For some reason, I didn't notice the elevation change as much on the way to the Bunion as I did on the way back, and if you look at the elevation profile on Hiking in the Smokys (they totally spelled it wrong), I'm sure you can see why. I'm a weenie, but I'm also way out of shape. I felt the burn, but it's always a good burn. So if you're a brave tourist looking for a great view, I would suggest this trail. If you don't regularly hike and/or walk or whatever, you may find it a bit difficult.

If I remember correctly, we did the entire hike in almost 4 hours. Of course, hiking with Fr. David Boettner and Fr. Christian means the pace is faster than most normal people, but I love them anyway. Hope Feist and I did eventually take the lead and slowed things down. But hey, we all made it back to Knoxville and Lenoir City in time for the beginning of the Holy Week liturgies.

We all ate our subs and chips while sitting on the Bunion, and I've got to tell you, it was awesome. Simply beautiful! I feel like hiking to Charlie's Bunion and eating lunch there should be on someone's bucket list. Eating lunch on the Bunion may very well have been my favorite part of the entire hike. I even made a new friend.

For me, this hike was a chance to hang out with people I love who I don't see very often. It was also a chance to be outside and enjoy a gorgeous day that was supposed to be rainy. The hike to Charlie's Bunion was also a nice reminder of how good it feels to just go outside and walk, I mean, really walk.

Charlie's Bunion

Yesterday was the perfect spring day for a hike. My friend Ashley and I have been away from the Humdinger Project since September, but it is far from forgotten. Warmer weather should lead to more hikes in the near future. Here is a great picture from Charlie's Bunion, looking out at the clouds below.

Here are the highlights of this hike for me. First, I was able to spend time with three people that I love. Later in the evening Fr. David and I both celebrated the beginning of the Holy Week liturgies with our hiking partners Ashley and Hope serving as incense bearers. The day began with hiking and ended with prayer. That is always a good combination for me. Perhaps the best thing about the day, however, was meeting two thruhikers who were looking for a way to town. We strapped their packs to the top of Fr. David's car and took a short detour to get them into town. This is trail magic at it's best. I wish the two of them luck as they make their way north towards Mt. Katahdin.

Stay tuned for more updates on humdinger hikes soon!

Climbing Mt. Leconte

It has been a couple of weeks since our latest Humdinger Hike, but I wanted to weigh in with thoughts on Mt. Leconte. Our most recent hike was to the top of this well known mountain in the Smokies by way of the Alum Cave trail, which is by the way one of my favorite hikes in the park. Alum Cave trail has some of the most spectacular rock formations and views in the park, but it is also steep and I would even consider certain sections of the trail to be dangerous. The first time I hiked this trail was in the winter and patches of ice made me cling close to the cliff walls for fear of plummeting to my death off the side of the mountain.

There are four other trails that lead to the top of the mountain, two of which we have already hiked as a part of the Humdinger Project. The other four trails are Rainbow Falls, Bull Head, The Boulevard and Trillium Gap. I have never been on the Boulevard Trail, but Trillium Gap is one that I am looking forward to hiking again. Trillium Gap is the only trail in the park where one can walk behind a waterfall at Grotto Falls and it is not unusual to encounter llamas coming up or down the trail carrying supplies to Leconte Lodge.

As you can see from our pictures, the views are great and there is ample opportunity to take in some relaxation between the work of hiking up some steep inclines.




Leconte Lodge is an interesting place. It sits atop the third highest mountain in the Smokies at 6593 feet. It is one of the highest places to stay overnight in the Eastern US. I have stayed at the Lodge twice and for those who can get a reservation, I highly recommend it. The benefits of staying at the lodge are that one gets two days of hiking in beautiful country, a nice beef stroganoff dinner and breakfast the next morning, a bed to sleep in and a great place to be with friends and make new ones.



We are always looking for new friends who like to hike. If you would like to join us for a visit to the Smokies, please let us know. We would be happy to have you join us for a walk in the woods!

A Cave Named Alum

On Labor Day, Fr. Christian and I were finally able to go on a hike! It was an excellent day for hiking, but at the very beginning of our day, we broke our first rule. There is no adequate substitute for an early start!

In spite of hitting the trail way later than usual, we made pretty good time to the cave that also shares the same name as the trail we were on, Alum Cave Trail. I think our hike took me a bit longer after the cave, closer to reaching Mt. LeConte. This trail is one of the trails that takes you all the way to up to Mt. LeConte. It is also the shortest, 5 miles. I believe it's something like 3,000 feet of elevation change. In 5 miles.

Which proved to be a problem for me. You see, at the time, I was recovering from the tail end of a cold. This made it difficult to breath when hiking up so high in such a short distance.

I'm slightly embarrassed at the number of times that I had to stop, just to catch my breath. Now, part of it was also being way out of shape, but I believe it was mostly due to the poor breathing issues. When we were 0.1 mile away from the Mt. LeConte lodge, FC asked me if I wanted to go down a short trail that connects to the Rainbow Falls trail. We missed that little section on our first Humdinger hike because I hurt my leg and vehemently opposed walking up to the lodge. Or crawling. I'm saying "NOOOOO" in the picture:

In spite of all my whining and being mean to Fr. Christian every time he said, "I think we're close", it was a rather enjoyable hike. There are countless breathtaking views. Walking up the stone steps through Bishop's Arch was cool, but it's a one way street so you don't get a lot of time to admire it as there are other people waiting to go through.

Speaking of other people, this trail is very popular. I'd say it's almost crowded compared to the last hike I went on. We didn't see anyone but ourselves, at least until we got to the Little River swimming hole. On this hike, there were a few groups/pairs that we kept leapfrogging with. A lot of people just go to Alum Cave and then turn around, so traffic essentially cuts down after the cave. Once at the lodge, we did run into our friends Vince Chiaro and Fr. Dan Whitman. It seems every Humdinger hike we either A) Go with a group of friends or B) Run into people we know on the trail. How cool is that?

Overall, I'd say this is a pretty fun and yet challenging hike for the beginner. I would know.

If you want to get to Mt. LeConte in the shortest distance, take Alum Cave Trail. And yes, in spite of the steepness of the trail, it really is a fun hike. But don't be fooled by the short distance to the top because it is killer if you can't breath and if you're out of shape. If wicked awesome geological formations tickle your fancy, this is also a good trail. As a former geology major (I am so indecisive), the rock faces, the cave, and Bishop's Arch are extremely fascinating. If nice views where you can count multiple ridge lines are your thing, there are many of those opportunities.

Fall is rapidly approaching, so go on a hike!