Gregory Bald

Great Smoky Mountains National Park
Twentymile Trailhead
3/17 - 3/18/22 (1 night)
2022 Bag nights: 1

Like a lot of my trips, I had great plans for spring break that did not going as planned. My plan was to head up to Gregory Bald for a night and then cross over to and descend Eagle Creek, but ...

First flowers of spring

Love trilliums

I made it up to the ridge I setup camp and then did the short hike up to Gregory Bald. The clouds made me hopeful for a great sunset.

Full moon rising in the east

Sun setting in the west

Lots of mountains to the south

I kept alternating between the sun in the west ...

The moon in the east ...

... and the mountains to the south

Moon tucked into the clouds

One last photo after a great hour on the bald.

I headed back to camp for dinner and a small fire. Woke up in the morning with lots of clouds, no point in trying for a sunrise. My bad ankle was bothering me enough that I knew descending was going to be hard enough without worrying about all the creek crossing on Eagle Creek, so I decided to head over to the AT and then down to Twentymile. This was a little bit longer than the direct route, but I could avoid a couple creek crossings on the Long Hungry Ridge Trail. 

I passed about 10 thru hikers on the 3 mile stretch of the AT. I saw this guy coming up the trail and complemented him on his fancy staff. He said it was named after the light thingy that Galadriel gave Frodo in the Lord of the Rings. The globe actually had little lights inside. I took a photo to show my son and he moved on towards Maine.