3-in-1: Clingman's Dome, Chimney Tops and Mount LeConte

The Smoky Mountains are a great place to hike, but it is a long drive. In this event we'll have 3 hikes and only one trip.

Friday: Drive to campground. We'll stop along the way to eat something quick (probably Subway or Publix.) We'll set up the tents at night. Have your lights at hand.

Saturday: Drive to the trailhead. We'll start the hike on the Appalachian Trail at the Newfound Gap. An alternative would be to start at the Chimney Tops trailhead which would bring down the total mileage to 20 miles. If we have good weather, we'll take a right on Road Prong Trail and climb Chimney Tops. There may be a lot of scrambling on this trail and you may not enjoy it if you are afraid of heights. After climbing Chimney Tops we'll get back on the Appalachian Trail and then continue to Clingman's Dome. We may have a quick side hike to Mount Collins (I doubt it.) After reaching the top, we'll return straight to the cars. Total mileage: 23 miles (or 20 miles). Estimated elevation change: 4000 7000 ft. Bring your headlamps with you, just in case.

Sunday: Pack up in the morning. Drive to Alum Cave Trailhead. Out and back hike to Mount LeConte. Total mileage: About 11 miles. Elevation Change: 3500 ft. After the hike, we'll drive back to the carpool.

The total hike is 31-34 miles in 2 days. We'll camp next to the cars. We are carrying our daypacks on the hikes.

Do not expect this to be an easy hike. Only sign-up if you are capable of completing a hike longer than 20 miles with a lot of elevation change and still have energy left to do a D5 hike the next day. If you don't have any recent D5 hikes with the AOC, I may contact you to check if you really want to be in this hike.

Since this is an exploratory event, I'll ask to regroup at every intersection as plans may change. If you don't like to wait, you can hike back to the group.

Write in the notes if you are planning to share a tent with someone else. One of the things that limit the number of people in this trip is the space we'll have in the campsite. We'll have to fit 2 tents in each 13 x 13 ft pad.

Warning 1: This is an explorer event. I haven't hiked these trails before. This is one of the reasons there are not many details on this page. It is unlikely that we'll have any problems finding our way. The trails in the Smokies are usually well marked. I just don't know if the plan is too ambitious. The itinerary may change as we go. Please be flexible about it.

Warning 2: I'm going to make the reservations a few days before the trip when we have a reasonably accurate weather forecast. If I can't find any space available I may either cancel the trip or change it to a day trip with a very early departure on Saturday morning (6:30 AM) and hike Chimney Tops and Clingman's Dome.

Two nights of camping. You wll reimburse the trip leader before you set your tent. We'll share the actual cost of the reservations, which should be from $20 to $25.