Journal / 2017-04-01

Inten(t)se Camping

I just got back a pretty extreme camping trip down in the Smoky Mountains. Ironically, I have never been camping before, so I do not really have anything to compare it to, but from what I was told, it was not your average trip.

We got a call from a park ranger a few days before we embarked on the journey, and he informed us that some of the peek wind chills could creep down to 17 degrees below zero. Luckily, our campsites were at lower elevations, and it ultimately did not get that cold, but the five nights of originally planned camping ended up turning into three nights with a few hotel recovery nights in between.

After successfully avoiding ongoing highway closures the first afternoon in preparation for the upcoming storm, we made it to the entrance of Cataloochee Valley only to find out that the road to that trailhead was also closed. Thus, our expected 1.5 mile quick hike into the campsite that night turned into 8 miles in the dark, rain, sleet, mist, and snow. Upon arriving at the campsite, we managed to quickly set up the tent without getting it too wet, but our external layers were pretty soaked from the hike in.

We woke up the next morning to a fresh coat of snow and were admittedly not looking forward to the uphill hike out of the park. After maneuvering around an elk herd, we stumbled across a park ranger who graciously agreed to drive us up to our parked car where we left it the night before. We spent the night drying out in Maggie Valley.

With the nasty precipitation behind us, we had a great hike into a campsite on Big Creek Trail the following day. Not surprisingly, the trail paralleled a creek and was augmented with frozen rocks, icicles, and waterfalls. Arriving at the campsite late afternoon, we collected a bunch of dry wood, made a fire, and kept relatively warm for most of the evening. It was a cold night in the tent, but we were welcomed by a sunny morning and made our way back down Big Creek Trail the following morning.

We saved our most strenuous hike for last: a 2000+ foot incline in only a couple of miles on Low Gap Trail. The climb would have been taxing in any conditions, but the packed snow and decreasingly cold temperatures certainly did not speed things up. We eventually made it to Cosby Knob Shelter, our accommodations for the night. Known for its bear activity, we were startled by a couple of thru-hikers that arrived at Cosby Knob almost immediately after we had zipped up our sleeping bags. After calming down from the unexpected encounter, we got some sleep, awoke at sunrise, and made great time retracing our steps back down the mountain.

Recently, I noticed that I am primarily consumed by future concerns. What meetups can I attend next week? What book will I read next? How can I continue progressing in my career? This trip provided me with a unique change of pace that really forced me to live in the moment – to focus on the physical task at hand; to replace technological distractions with authentic human relationships; to put routines on hold and truly appreciate natural beauty.