The Inflammation of Charlie's Big Toe

 The hike to Charlie's Bunion was by far the longest of the hikes we did, as well as the first.  All seven of us made it for the whole hike, and it was a wonderful trail.  It had good incline the whole two hour trek up and was far from any 'ol walking path.  There were plenty of roots and rocks, bumps and cliffs.   It was wonderful.  On and off during our four plus hour hike there and back we had light wintery mixes of sleet and snow (very light, but evident at times).  We met a lot of people on the path too, and struck a few short conversations with some of them (mostly dad initiating those conversations).  One lady we met was loaded with hiking gear and she informed us that she left Georgia 36 days earlier.  She was hiking the Appalachian Trail, all 2,200 miles of it, expecting to finish in Maine in October.  As we hiked along, we met a number of individuals and couples hiking the whole trail.  Though one couple mentioned they hoped to be in Maine before October - they were aiming for September.  

One of the roads through the mountains.

One of the roads tunneling through a mountain side.

Chimney Tops: The "Off Trail" Path

 Apparently the well known Chimney Tops trail and stunning peak in The Smokey Mountains National Park caught fire on November 23, 2016, burning over 11,000 acres.   Due to this fire the last leg of the trail, including its peak is blocked off to hikers such as ourselves.  However, as we reached a lookout point where we could view the peak and another mountain height view, we noticed several others climbing hiking past the gate blocking the trail and hiking up the sheer rock peak that used to be open to the public.  Our family had visited that peak years ago before the fire.  

The hike up the mountain was again, beautiful!  This time there was less cliffs and sights of nearby mountain heights before reaching the top, but rather the beauties of rushing waters, bridges and paths, bushes and tress, and many, many steep steps to climb.  

Once we reached the lookout, shortly before a gate blocked the path, we waited for everyone to catch up as we enjoyed the view, conversations and some snacks we brought along.  This first picture is of the trail, had we continued on it toward the peak, as well as the peak in the distance.  

This is that same peak zoomed up close.  Notice the speck up on top of the peak... that is another hiker that we noticed up on top.  There are several more on the path leading up to that point too.  

While enjoying the view up here, we took a few family photos.

After a good long break, we turned around and headed back down the mountain.

Well....  at least dad, Alex, and I did - and we encountered bear number four!  The more adventuresome in the group (David, Jonathan, and Abi) decided to forgo the warning about the trail being closed, as other hikers had done, and enjoyed the more challenging trek of climbing to the peak of Chimney Tops (of which included climbing over some trees that had fallen on the path).  

But the sights were stunning...

Now... just to give a better perspective of the sheerness of Chimney Tops (pictured above), this is some of our daring crew climbing the steep stone "chimney" jutting up from the earth.

And here is some of the views they encountered from those great heights and precarious edges.

 

As well as one of the burnt trees in the way...

From the top of the higher of the two peaks at Chimney Tops. . . 

WOW .  .  .  

Clingman's Dome

 On our final full day in Tennessee, which just happened to be the warmest too (somewhere in the upper 70's/lower 80's, us four siblings headed out for one final hike.  Alex stayed at the cabin, since his hip was bothering him (likely from a previous day's hike), Mikayla flew back to Houston Sunday morning to return for work, & my dad stayed back at the cabin, also to do some work, though little was accomplished with the competing games of pool with Alex.  

So, David, Jonathan, Abi, and I drove a nearly dizzying height to hike the half mile paved path up to the highest point in Tennessee, Clingman's Dome.  Winding and weaving roads through lush green mountain top greens and colors with peaks of astonishing heights and views around almost every curve.  Before we even started the hike, it was clear why this was the highest point in Tennessee.  The drive up there was probably the most beautiful drive and most enjoyable road I have ever been on.  Unfortunately, we did not get pictures of the road or anything along that drive.  It was just stunning, and to think, every square inch of it was created by God!   WOW!   

Upon arriving and finding a parking spot in this busy tourist site, the four of us Baurer kids started off on the steep half-mile hike to the top.   

These images are the view along the paved path up to Clingman's Dome. 

 

 As we reached Clingman's Dome, we found it was a large concrete spiral built in 1959 leading up to a lookout.  

 

The view was stunning.  Pictures cannot even begin to capture the depth of the beauty.  As a information sign told us at the top, on a clear day you can see up to over 70 miles away!  According to the national parks website, on a clear day expect to see over 100 miles, however air pollution often limits it to under 20 miles.  I think we were able to see at least 50 to 70, based on the map indicators and the distant peaks we could see.  The website also states that the lookout tower is 6,643 feet above sea level, standing as the highest point in the Great Smokey Mountains!

 

 

Here are a few panoramic views from the tower.

(Notice the row of three Baurer siblings looking over the rail on the right side: just after the man in the yellow shirt is David, then Jonathan, then Abi).

The path back down went a lot quicker, though we stopped more often for pictures. 

This is the view over the parking lot from the pile of rocks pictured in the upper left of the image above.  

This is the sight from the side walk by were we parked.  Again, images cannot even come close the the magnitude of beauty we saw before our eyes.