Great Smoky Mountains - Mount Sterling - January 16, 2004 - Member Trip Report
| Hike Name: | Great Smoky Mountains - Mount Sterling |
|---|---|
| Country: | United States |
| State: | Tennessee |
| Trip Rating: |  |
| Trip Date: | January 16, 2004 |
| Duration: | 2 days |
| Trail Conditions: | Good |
| Trail Traffic: | Light |
| Trip Weather: | Sunny, Partly Sunny, Partly Cloudy, Cloudy |
| Trip Winds: | Moderate |
| Trip Precipitation: | None |
| Trip Temperature: | High: 51-60, Low: 31-40 degrees Fahrenheit |
| Trip Report: | Friday (1/16/04) – Sunny and nice to 50’s H, 30’s L. Spent two hours this afternoon packing up for the backpacking trip to the Smokies this weekend and downloaded some GPS data until McKinney showed up around 5pm. He and I decided on the GA 400 route to the Gainesville El Sombrero and that turned out to be a great call due to heavy traffic and accidents on I-985 and I-85. We made it to the shopping center after dark and were the first to arrive this evening around 7pm. Had a huge meal and skipped town around 9pm tonight for Wayesville, N.C. It took us about three hours to get there and we found a motel for $36/night where a previous MLK group stayed a few years back. Kennedy, McKinney and I bunked up, had some latenight brews, then sacked out around 1am after Kennedy made Tucker a food bowl out of a plastic ice bucket. Saturday (1/17/04) – Mostly cloudy with temps to 40’s H, 30’s L. DeLisle got us up at 6am today to check out of the motel by 7am and grab some breakfast at the nearby McDonalds. It was a forty-five minute drive from Waynesville to the parking area near Mount Sterling ranger station and McKinney spotted three wild turkeys near the campground as we pulled into the parking area. I tried to get some photos but had no luck. Kennedy and I shuttled a car to the ranger station and we left the other two trucks at the campground parking area. Hit the trail by 9am and spent most of the morning climbing to the lookout tower at Mount Sterling. There was almost 4000 feet of elevation to climb from the parking lot to the firetower at 5820’. DeLisle, Ewing, Nause, Tucker and Porter put a forty-five minute gap between the front and the back of the pack. Brunn and I arrived at the same time followed by McKinney and Kennedy by 1pm. Took a lunch break on the summit, climbed the firetower for some photos, then hit the trail again with Porter. About a mile from the shelter, we split up when I stopped for water. #3 Wake played #2 Duke today and I tried to get it on the radio but had no luck (yet picked up three other hoops games.) By 4pm, everyone had rolled into the Laurel Gap Shelter with rain coming down only an hour earlier. Two college students, Grant and John, from Ohio University were in the shelter with us tonight and we all spent most of the evening huddled around the picnic bench and the fire. Porter led a fireside chat, followed by Brunn and DeLisle. Everyone was pretty much crashed out by 11pm and the mice were relatively quiet tonight. |
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