OK, you'd think that by now I'd have the drill down - make plans, double check, re-check and then verify that we're both on the same page. A few years ago, a planned hike with Steve Parson to Three Forks ended up with him showing up on Saturday morning and me on Sunday morning - oops! There might be one or two others - well, I know of at least one when Gretch and I played phone tag for an hour or so trying to get me hooked up with the group heading to Maddron Bald near Cosby. I ended up having to jog for a couple of miles up the mountain on that one after they gave up on me ever showing up. So. last night Donna and I were making plans for today's trek out to Tricorner Knob (one of the coolest hikes in the Great Smoky Mountains.) and we were using our cell phones. I think that she might have been able to catch about 1 out of every three words of what I was saying - can you hear me now??? I had originally planned to meet her at the entrance to the closed (for now) Balsam Mtn. campground. Problem was that each time I tried to relay that info, the signal would get dropped. After a few minutes of that, I suggested that she call Gretch on a land line and let Gretch give her the directions. Gretch did, giving her some really good directions to the Balsam Mtn. trailhead. At 9 this morning, I got to thinking that maybe I shouldn't be sitting at the entrance to the campground after all. I tried calling her again, but figured that there was no way that I could get a signal from there. Surprise, surprise! We got a great signal - me from the campground and she from the trailhead a few miles further down the Round Bottom Road. The trailhead must be one of the very few spots in that region of the Smokies where you can get a signal. Amazing! A few minutes later we were trudging up the first little rise in the trail, heading north towards Laurel Gap.

Below, Peter's (aka Whippersnapper) post in the Tricorner Knob shelter journal from April 12 - wow, has it been that long? I always enjoy reading the shelter journals. Lots of good stuff, and I found a bunch more posts from Flying Squirrel, the lady who does such an incredible job of keeping both Tricorner Knob and Icewater Springs shelters (and maybe Pecks as well?) clean and trash free. She covers the route a lot! We found several posts from this spring where she'd stopped by to haul out trash. Outstanding!!!

Donna at the Laurel Gap shelter. There was only one guy there when we passed through. We didn't tarry and were soon heading towards Tricorner Knob. Just like last week, the weather was ideal for a long walk. Cool breezes and a good cloud cover kept the heat at bay. If you haven't hiked the Balsam Mtn. trail out to Tricorner, you've really missed a treat. It's prime Smoky Mountain high country accessed on a lightly traveled path. Today it seemed that the path was even more lightly traveled than usual, with a lot of high weeds in places. Donna really enjoyed splashing through the numerous hog bogs along the way - that seems like a pretty good way to keep the ol' feet cool on a warm summer's day : ) Look at that happy smile!

All kidding aside, it always surprises me at how quickly Laurel Gap and then Tricorner is reached on this hike. This is a fast trail with only a few climbs along the way, none major (more on that a bit further along...) Lessee, we passed about 5 hikers near Beech Gap, saw one guy at the Laurel Gap shelter and one more at the Tricorner Knob shelter. That was it for the entire 11 mile walk out to the Knob. I was hoping for a good view down Gunter Fork into the Big Creek drainage, but it was pretty fogged in down low. No matter, the view up high was great and we splashed northward at a good pace.
As you near the Knob, you start catching glimpses of Hyatt Ridge coming in from the southwest, finally passing the junction of the two ridges just a short way from the AT and the Knob. That always starts me thinking... sometime.

Below, Donna marks off the Balsam Mtn. trail as she continues to pile in the miles in her 900 quest. A few weeks ago, she did one of my favorite "moonshine" hikes, walking from Cosby to Smokemont in one long solo dayhike. The "moonshine" moniker comes from the days before the park was formed when thirsty loggers would leave logging camps near Smokemont to hike all the way across the Smokies to Cosby to buy some shine. It must have been a powerful thirst. If I'm not mistaken, the route in those days would probably have crossed over into the Raven Fork drainage, and then up Dashoga Ridge to the Tricorner region. Hey, maybe some of us could do a re-enactment sometime...

Below, the Tricorner Knob shelter, complete with bear warnings and several journal entries mentioning bears in the area. Thanks to the hard work of volunteers like Flying Squirrel, who spends countless hours cleaning up the shelters, a lot of problems between hikers and bears are avoided. It's a shame that so many hikers and horseback riders fail to carry out their trash. Donna and I picked up several freshly tossed beer cans along the Balsam Mtn. trail as we headed back. They had been tossed by some slob during the time that we were at the shelter. You've gotta really wonder about how miserably weak a person must be if they're unable to carry out their empty beer cans.

We hung out at Tricorner for a while, taking a lunch break and browsing the two journals, finally finding the post that Peter left behind as he passsed through on his way to Katahdin. There were also a few posts from hikers that had been at Icewater when the fellow allegedly died from alcohol poisoning.

The new shelter design is a huge improvement over the old 'cage' design still used at Laurel Gap.

Just as we reached the Balsam Mtn/ Sterling Ridge intersection on the way back. the first drops of rain began to spatter down. It actually felt pretty good, but we ducked into the Laurel Gap shelter to get our rain gear out and to grab a final bite to eat for the final walk out to the trailhead.
It's a little known fact that in rainy weather, mountains swell up, making climbs steeper. That's why the trip out seemed a lot rougher than the way in today. Swollen mountains - just sayin'...

Lots of rain, lots of really, really slick mud on the downhills, some pretty acrobatic mud-skiiing, and before we knew it, the trek was done. I think we might have missed one or two of the last little humps on the trail - it seems like there should have been at least one more good one to slide over.

Good hiking, good company, a really good day in the Great Smoky Mountains. Looking forward now to the next one - where to this time?