GSMNP Hike(s)!

Some friends and I are heading off next weekend to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.  This park is practically in our back yard being only 1 ½ hours away, so we like to take advantage of that as often as possible.

Tommy and I are planning on going up on Friday and hiking Andrew’s Bald and then hiking Ramsey Cascades Saturday morning with Darrin and Mike and possibly Jason if he can get free to go.  I plan on having a trip report ASAP after the trip!

-David

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Big South Fork – Honey Creek Loop Trail

I’ve been itching to do more hiking in BSF lately so Tommy and I decided to head out Saturday morning to hike the Honey Creek Loop trail.

Most of our hikes start off with food and end with food so on our way north to BSF, we decided to stop off at one of my favorite BBQ joints for breakfast (yes, they recently started opening for breakfast).  I had my doubts about stopping for breakfast at a BBQ place, but it turned out to be pretty good and all was well in the world.

Now…on to the hike!

The hike is rated as strenuous and depending on where you look, 4.5 to 5.5 miles in length. The trail also has the nickname of the “obstacle course” for a good reason I might add.  The trail is said to be the most challenging trail in Big South Fork and has numerous creek crossings, slick boulders, steep narrow sections and confusing trail junctions.  Over the course of the trip, we had to backtrack 4 or 5 times just to find our way back to the correct trail.

Unfortunately, we only had our camera phones so the pictures could be better.  My next purchase will be a highly portable, decent camera to help document my trips.  If you have any suggestions, let me know!

As you can see the trail goes up through this creek crossing (See the trail marker on the upper right of the pic below).  Luckily the water level was down, making this a bit easier.

At 2.89 Miles you reach Indian Rock House Loop that loops back to the main trail.

Honey Creek Falls listed below – again, low water levels so not much water coming off.

Here’s an older picture of the falls a year or so ago when another group of friends went.

Nice place to take a rest!

After completing the hike, we decided to go out to the overlook.

View from the Honey Creek Overlook

Turned out to be a great day for hiking.  The temperature started in the mid-40’s and topped out in the low 70’s.

Stay Tuned for more!

-David