Hitch hike back to clingmans dome? On a rainy day?

[Gambit McCrae]

So this sat Im going to go do a couple section hikes up in nc tn and one of them is from clingmans dome to new found gap. We will have one car. It will probably be raining. What are the chances of getting a ride say by pickup truck back to the clingmans dome lot once arriving say around 12-1 at 441? (new found gap)

[TNhiker]

hard to predict.......especially on a rainy day...

however, i have hitchhiked a few times from newfound gap going down towards sugarlands----and have gotten rides before ive even stuck my thumb out.....

since that area has alot of traffic---the odds get better.................except for the rain part....

ive had pretty good luck with hitchhiking in various parts of the park----the longest have been at the cades cove entrance trying to go back out towards schoolhouse gap, and alum cave parking lot trying to go up to the gap.......had to wait, but eventually got a ride.......

but then again, it wasnt raining on those days....

[Gambit McCrae]

I think I am going to chance it and give it a shot lol

[TNhiker]

yeah.....

i would........

just hope the amount of tourist traffic is good on a rainy day and they feel sorry and/or want a good story outta ya...

thats what many of the people who pick me up want-----just wanna hear what it is like in the backcountry and how many bears i have killed with my bare hands......

give em a good story and the ride goes great......

after all, the worst that can happen is that you dont get a ride and have to walk the 7 or so miles to clingmans.....

[gregpphoto]

Sometimes rain is good for a hitchhiker. Pity rides are just as good as any other.

[PatmanTN]

To TNhikers point, the Clingmans Dome road actually has better views than the AT which it parallels. So during the time of year when that road is closed to cars, I usually choose to walk the road rather than the AT.

[Gambit McCrae]

Gotta walk the trail...lol

[PackHorse]

A few weeks ago I suggested to a young couple that needed to bail and get to their car to hitchhike out Clingman's dome road. When I saw them in Gatlinburg that night they said it took them about 20 minutes to get a ride. That was on a Thursday, with good weather. Saturdays may be better. But also there was construction on the road up from Sugarland and major traffic backups. That was putting people in bad moods.

[TNhiker]

yeah......i was going to say something about rain and getting a pity ride being in rain but it can also work in the opposite way----as in----its raining---i dont want that wet guy and all his wet gear in my vehicle....

also, since yer doing the AT near newfound gap----look for the people tunnel thats about a tenth or so of a mile from newfound gap road (going towards clingmans)...

its on the side of the trail that faces NC and the road-----its in a rock wash.............go up this wash and you'll see the tunnel..........

[gregpphoto]

yeah......i was going to say something about rain and getting a pity ride being in rain but it can also work in the opposite way----as in----its raining---i dont want that wet guy and all his wet gear in my vehicle....


Like so much of hitch hiking, its a dual edge. Will flying a sign get me rides or discourage those not going to my destination, even if theyre going halfway or more? Do I stand in this one good spot or walk and hope the shoulder is wide enough? etc etc

[TNhiker]

or do i tuck the long hair up under the hat? do i shave?

[gregpphoto]

or do i tuck the long hair up under the hat? do i shave?

I have a 9-month beard and just completed a 3 week hitch hike throughout NY (Adirondacks and lower upstate mostly), and have actually never had an easier time in my life getting rides. Dont know why, I guess the pack and my indiana jones hat convey adventurer and not homeless bum?

[TNhiker]

yeah.....

it works both ways i think....

so of the more high fluttin people dont want to pick up straggling looking people------other people dont care...

and one of the easiest hitches that i have had in the park-----hadnt even had time to tuck the waist long hair up under the hat, let alone stick out thumb before someone offered me a ride.....

[gregpphoto]

yeah.....

it works both ways i think....

so of the more high fluttin people dont want to pick up straggling looking people------other people dont care...


I think its about looking the part. I have a beard, but I also wear an indiana jones-ish hat and have a 50L pack on. So people assume (correctly) that Im out hiking around and need a ride.

[Bearleg]

Just did Clingman's dome, this week, you might have better luck parking your car at the Gap and asking drivers around you for a ride to the top. That way when you are done your car is there, no waiting.

[HooKooDooKu]

Gotta walk the trail...lol
Plan to hike the trail and then hike the road back... and perhaps you'll manage to hitch a ride while walking the road.

[Dogwood]

If it's raining, my guess you'll be drenched and muddy by the time you get to Hwy 441. That stretch of the AT from Clingmans to Newfound Gap is steep and rocky at times and can get muddy and become a waterfall in places when it rains heavily. I'd leave the car at Newfound Gap and get my hitch done early on, when I'm clean, preferably not starting my hitch from NG no earlier than 8 a.m. It's not hard getting hitches either way in my experiences though. I've hitched both ways in the rain getting rides always with 20 mins. If ya have a choice definitely hike down the AT in that section rather than up to Clingmans on the AT. There are steps!

One other option that a friend and myself did in a fast and furious weekend was park at Chimney Tops after getting our permits. The Rangers said it was OK to leave a car overnight there with a note in the window w/ our permit # on it at the small parking area. I don't know if GSMNP still allows overnight parking here so check first. I think they will let ya though. Do Chimney Tops. See where the Chimney Tops Tr loops real close to Sugarland Mountain Tr? http://www.nps.gov/grsm/planyourvisit/upload/GSMNP-Map_JUNE14-complete4-2.pdf It's not on maps anymore but there's an old manway trail connecting the two trails on a small ridge through overgrowth. Go from Sugarland Mt Tr to Rough Creek Tr to Goshen Prong Tr up to the AT. Head up the AT northbound past Clingmans Dome to Newfound Gap. You have Campsite #23, #24, Double Gap Shelter(gotta backtrack south on the AT just a bit but hey if it's raining...?), and, if you're a strong hiker getting an early start, perhaps, Mt Collins Shelter(just off the AT) to pick from for your first night. Walk or hitch back to your car at Chimney Tops. What we did though was continue on the AT north to Icewater Spring Shelter through Newfound Gap and did and out and back to Charles Bunion. Then we took the Boulevard Tr past the Jump Off and over Mt LeConte and back down to the car via Alum cave Tr. The Alum Cave TH is a short walk back to Chimney Tops parking area.

[TNhiker]

Im surprised that the ranger suggested to put permit number in window...

to me---that just opens up the possibility of having someone break into car....

especially in that parking lot (that one and alum cave's were pretty bad with break ins)........

the time we did the manway, we just left vehicle there and the rangers did call the owners house and got wife and was wondering why it was there......

That happened, though, after a tree had gotten blown over and killed a lady in her car just below chimneys so not sure if that's typical for them to call..

we did the manway up to sugar land mountain trail and dropped down to 24...

Man way was easy to follow---basically following ridge all the way up.......but it does have some steepness to it....

ya do get a really good view of the chimneys though as you're basically looking down on them......

[HooKooDooKu]

Im surprised that the ranger suggested to put permit number in window...

to me---that just opens up the possibility of having someone break into car....

I don't see the issue... if someone sees the permit number, they can not figure out how long you're going to be in the woods. You might be returning to your car at any minute finishing up your overnight stay. If it is night time (late), you pretty much already know the owner is camping overnight, permit or not.



...The Rangers said it was OK to leave a car overnight there with a note in the window w/ our permit # on it at the small parking area. I don't know if GSMNP still allows overnight parking here so check first...
With the exception of signs posted at 'day use' areas (such as picnic areas that close at night), there are no published rules that I can find (such as searching thru the GSMNP Compendium of Rules and Regulations) that limit where you can park your car overnight (other than rules that limit parking in general to designated parking lots). After all, the Chimney Tops trail head is a legitimate trailhead that leads to other back country trails without traveling an unmaintained manway (specifically there is Road Prong Trail).

However, because that parking lot is used almost exclusively by day hikers going to Chimney Tops, I can see where any car left there over night would lead a ranger to suspect someone has gotten lost, injured, or otherwise stuck in the woods along Chimney Tops trail. As such, it seems only the polite thing to do for our Rangers to let them know one way or another that a vehicle parked over night at Chimney Tops has been left there by a hiker legitimately staying over night in the back country.

[Dogwood]

THX HKDK. If any of us are ticketed for parking there can we say you told us it was OK to park there? :)

[HooKooDooKu]

THX HKDK. If any of us are ticketed for parking there can we say you told us it was OK to park there? :)
As I said, it's just a question of looking for signs. I do not know with 100% certainty if the Chimney Tops Parking Lot is or is not a 'day use' only area. But I can say with certainty that if it is a 'day use' only parking lot, there will be some sort of sign at the parking lot letting you know you can't park overnight there. After all, the park service can't exactly maintain a secret list of what trailheads hikers are and are not allowed to park overnight at.

BTW,
I would be EXTREMELY surprised if the Chimney Tops Parking Lot were labeled as a 'day use' area... mainly because I can not see any purpose in it. The only places that come to mind that I have seen labeled as 'day use only' are picnic areas that have only one road that serves as both the entrance and the exit to the area. Such areas get their gates locked and night. At the least, it would make for an awkward situation if someone returned to their car and couldn't leave because of a locked gate... and at most, such a situation would encourage damage and other ills as such a person might try to force their way out.

[TNhiker]

to me---there is no need to put the permit number (or copy of permit) in car at all.....

i dont wanna give any onlooker anything to give away what im doing...........

also, and not sure about the new reservation system---but on the old one, one had to list license tag info and all that..........this was especially the case on reservations for the rationed sites where one had to call in.......

so the rangers already have that info that they can refer to...........(and yes, i realize that they wouldnt often check the paper permits that were stuff in the boxes that often)...

also, when i used to call the BC office for reservations---they would ask me where i was going in at........

so the only polite thing by leaving permit number in car, is to let thiefs know what one is doing...

i dont wanna do that.....

and, fwiw, in the over 15 years that ive been around the park, parking in some questionable areas (along with many places outside of the park), luckily, ive never had my car broken into......

and no, they wont ticket ones car at chimney tops....

i do know, however, and not that i was the one doing it, but they will ticket ya in you're parked in front of a gate.......such as the one along clingmans dome road for noland divide trail....

[HooKooDooKu]

The new reservation system also asks for Make/Model/Tag of your vehicle, but nothing about where you're going in at (though I've still had them ask that question when changing plans over the phone).


...they will ticket ya in you're parked in front of a gate.......such as the one along clingmans dome road for noland divide trail....
Good point. Because so many trails used to be old roadways, many trailheads have a gate. I don't recall if there are no parking signs at the gates, or if most of the gates are positioned such that they don't look like a parking place. For instance, I do believe the gate at noland divide is away from the roadway. So to park in front of it, you would have to drive off the paves pulloff onto dirt/grass... correct?

[TNhiker]

yeah.......it was either at that gate or a gate close to it along clingmans dome road that someone i know got a ticket for parking in front of the gate...

to me---it was a dumb ass thing to do to begin with so it was well deserved of a ticket..............

and its been a while since ive been in park, and not sure about signs on gates, but to me, its not rocket surgery to not park in front of a locked gate...


and speaking of gates----fwiw, if one is behind the gate at cataloochee after hours, and you think its locked----its not really locked........i know this from first hand experiences.......