2005.03.17 - Reaching the summit of Clingman's Dome is usually as easy as an easy 10 minute hike from a parking lot in Great Smoky Mountains National Park. As I've seen on many of my other hikes, though, winter isn't usual.

After visiting the highest point in Mississippi, Woodall Mountain, I started the long drive to Gatlinburg, TN. Instead of car camping as I had done earlier in the trip, I actually had a bed waiting for me tonight! My parents had won a vacation to Sevierville / Gatlinburg and offered to let me stay with them before beginning the climb on the following day. I drove long through the night, eventually arriving in eastern Tennessee at 1:00 AM. My parents and I visited for a little, however 48 hours of travelling with only 3 of that being sleep time was starting to catch up with me. We set the alarm for an all too early hour and I fell asleep quickly.

My dad and I had been talking about hiking Clingman's Dome together since finding out that we would both be in the area at the same time. Both ready for a long day, we got up, threw our gear in the car and headed into the National Park. At the Newfound Gap parking lot, a very wet snow was falling and piling up everywhere, which would make for interesting conditions later on. Like I said before, this mountain is usually accessible from a road. Since the road doesn't open until April, we were left with the choice of hiking along the Appalachian Trail for 16 miles or simply walking on the road for right at 14 miles. To really "experience" the Park, we decided on the former.

As we started hiking, the conditions were conveniently slushy. This, unfortunately, wouldn't last as the slush soon gave way to rock-solid ice covered with a thin layer of snow. I had brought along crampons for conditions such as these, but even they wouldn't bite into ice as hard as this. My dad and I both took spills as we gingerly walked across the dangerous surface. After several miles of hiking, the trail conditions had worsened such that descending on the west sides of the ridge (Mt Collins was the worst), we had to move at a snail's pace to keep from falling; these severe ice condition was caused by frequent thaw-freeze cycles, and is the reason for the Class 2 rating on this route. I definitely acknowledge that this is Class 1 when there is no ice, but this was a completely different ballgame.

Along the way, we met one of the AT ridge runners who advised us that with the length of the trail, we would probably not be back down before nightfall. We assured him that we brought headlamps along for just such a scenario, however, he still informed us of a cut-off where we could access the road and make it to the top quicker. Not wanting to give up on the AT, we decided to continue on our present route and push up to the top.

The snow-filled tree branches were buckling under the weight, forcing us to walk in a crouched position for much of the time. This, combined with the worsening ice conditions, soon brought us to the decision to bushwack through a small clearing up to the road at Collins Gap. The going became much easier on the road, however, the snow had drifted to variable depths, and we would both occasionally plunge through up to the knee. After a few more miles that seemed to take an eternity, we soon found ourselves at the base of the summit trail.

We hiked up the final slope (hobbled really for me), and finally reached the flying saucer of a tower that marks the summit. We hastened up to the top for pictures, food and water, however, the wind had picked up such that sitting on the deck was unbearable. After a few pictures and failed attempts at cellphone calls to my mom, we hurried back down to recharge. Before it was named Clingman's Dome, this peak was called Smoky Dome. I can say that the latter name was more appropriate on this particular day; fog obscured any view that we might have had.

As we started to descend I nibbled on the sandwich I had packed and my dad wolfed his down. My stomach was feeling a bit iffy after the repeated exertion and no sleep of the trip. Realizing that we still had 7 miles left to walk, we set as fast a pace as we could to get down the mountain before dark. Our efforts turned out to be futile, so the headlamps came out just as the sun was setting. Strangely enough, the fog and clouds that had been our companions throughout the day broke and allowed us to witness a spectacular sunset through the trees. The most brilliant colors came as we hit the saddle between Clingman's and Mt. Collins. With several miles of cold and darkness, we simply trudged along ready to be back to the car.

After a 2nd eternity, we finally reached the non-snowy pavement of Newfound Gap with our car happily waiting to carry us down. My dad broke out two Dr. Peppers, and I must say that a soft drink has never tasted so good! I noticed a strange yellow piece of paper under the windshield wipers, and was instantly scared that I had gotten a ticket for some reason, however, when I read it, it was a note from Frank, whom I had met on Brasstown Bald! He said that due to the weather, he decided to save Clingman's for another trip, but wished us luck nonetheless. After the physical pounding that we took on this hike, I have to say that Frank made a good decision!

As a final reflection, I'm very satisfied with the '04-'05 Winter 50 climbing season. With the last hike, I'm halfway done with this goal, though admittedly, the 2nd half will be much more of a challenge. Clingman's (Klingon's Dome as a Sevierville local referred to it) made a great finale to the season; true winter conditions and a long hike to boot. The greatest part was that my dad was able to be a part of # 25. Since we hadn't been hiking together since a 1998 trek to Philmont, the trip was long overdue!

Twenty-five down, twenty-five to go!