Ramsey Cascades manway - anybody done it?

[coheterojo]

A couple of years ago I was camped at campsite #49 at the end of Cabin Flats Trail. I pretty much had the place to myself except for one other guy camped at the other end. At some point or another we introduced ourselves and he invited me to have a seat around his fire. Seeing as how I didn't have a fire I took him up on his kind offer. We talked about the park and what trails we had hiked. I told him of my up and coming thru-hike and also my secondary goal of hiking all 900 odd miles of trails in the Smokies.

He then brought up the various "manways" throughout the park and described 2 or 3 of them. Apart from that interesting bit of info my host was also recently divorced and was still ranting and lamenting(as the recently divorced are wont to do) and so I retired to the more tranquil confines of my tent.

When I returned home I began researching the manways and really only found anything on the Porter's Creek manway. I incorporated the manway into a 3 day hike that I did with three friends Labor Day 07. It was quite the adventure.

Looking at my map of the Smokies I can see the logical progression from the end of Ramsey Cascades right up the drainage to Mount Guyot. Is it really that simple? Somehow I doubt it.

[Egads]

I have not but recalled reading about it http://www.griztrax.net/hiking/RamseyProng/RamseyProng.html

Griztrax is one of my favorite GSMNP related websites. Great pictures.

I personally would not try to bushwack it until after the leaves are down so I could navigate, and not fear running into wasps / yellow jackets while being trapped in an inescapable rhodo thicket.

[Hikerhead]

I have not but recalled reading about it http://www.griztrax.net/hiking/RamseyProng/RamseyProng.html

Griztrax is one of my favorite GSMNP related websites. Great pictures.

I personally would not try to bushwack it until after the leaves are down so I could navigate, and not fear running into wasps / yellow jackets while being trapped in an inescapable rhodo thicket.

Excellent advice.

[coheterojo]

Thanks for the link there Egads. But the rhody leaves are never down and I've always liked that kinda zingy feeling you get coursing through you system after a yellow jacket sting or two.:)

Just the length of the journey makes it look more challenging too. We ended up going down the Porter's Creek manway from the AT. We jumped off right across from the Dry Sluice Gap trail. I originally had planned to go up the manway at the end of our trip but Mt Leconte shelter was booked for Sat. night so I had to reverse the trip route. Thank goodness I did because had my three buddies had to hike up the manway with full packs.....well I'm not so certain they'd be my friends anymore!

As it was it worked out great. We camped at #31 and hiked downed to Brushy Mtn. trail and Trillium Gap to Mt. Leconte. The next morning we hiked the Boulevard trail back to the AT and s to the car at Newfound Gap.

Doesn't look like such an easy loop will be possible w the Ramsey Prong route

[JoshStover]

Ok, I my sound stupid but what is a "Manway"?

[Egads]

Thanks for the link there Egads. But the rhody leaves are never down and I've always liked that kinda zingy feeling you get coursing through you system after a yellow jacket sting or two.:)

Just the length of the journey makes it look more challenging too. We ended up going down the Porter's Creek manway from the AT. We jumped off right across from the Dry Sluice Gap trail. I originally had planned to go up the manway at the end of our trip but Mt Leconte shelter was booked for Sat. night so I had to reverse the trip route. Thank goodness I did because had my three buddies had to hike up the manway with full packs.....well I'm not so certain they'd be my friends anymore!

As it was it worked out great. We camped at #31 and hiked downed to Brushy Mtn. trail and Trillium Gap to Mt. Leconte. The next morning we hiked the Boulevard trail back to the AT and s to the car at Newfound Gap.

Doesn't look like such an easy loop will be possible w the Ramsey Prong route

You are correct about the Rhodo leaves not falling off the shrubs, but they do tend to curl up and hang down offering more visibility in the winter.


Ok, I my sound stupid but what is a "Manway"?

A manway is an unmarked, unmaintained, & overgrown passageway (trail). They are often steep and may include scrambling through boulders or cliffs. The 70+ yo ridge runner who was "lost" in the park a few weeks ago used a manway to climb to the ridge top before S&R found him. IIRC, they saw his yellow tent from a distance them made their way up to assist his removal from the thickets

[JoshStover]

oh ok. I wasn't sure what it was but now I do. Thanks for filling me in.

[Cabin Fever]

Buy one of the sacred little brown books that have all of the trails in the Smokies in it. There is actually not 900 miles in the 900 miler. It's like 750 or something.

[humunuku]

manways are not in the brown book, but some are in the out of print " Hiking Trails of the Great Smoky Mountains : A Comprehensive Guide"

by Kenneth Wise (Author)

[coheterojo]

manways are not in the brown book, but some are in the out of print " Hiking Trails of the Great Smoky Mountains : A Comprehensive Guide"

by Kenneth Wise (Author)


Thanks for the title and author there humunuku. I'll see what I can come up with.

The brown book Hiking Trails of the Smokies doesn't even mention the existence of manways. I love the book and have put some serious wear and tear on my copy. I have not found anything else as comprehensive. It's helped me hike about 363 miles of the marked trails in the park since 2004.

But after doing the Porter's Creek manway, and experiencing the park in a far more personal and intense way, I'm a hankerin' to explore some more of 'em before I depart this veil of tears. Iff'n ya know what I mean.

[Doctari]

The last time I was there (15+ years ago) the Ramsey Cascade trail did continue up the hill. SO, there MAY be some visible trail left even if it is no longer maintained. The trail to the cascades was fairly level, but it did look to go in a more upwardly direction after the falls, sorry I can't give more than that as I couldn't cross the creek, it was flooded. The falls were WAY impressive though!!! All of the pics I have seen show the falls show them about 1' - 2' wide, I saw them at over 10' wide.

[gollwoods]

three forks has always been on my list to do. some hiking clubs do it as a day hike and it's a manway

[coheterojo]

Is Three Forks the spot where 3 forks of something-or-other meet to make a phantasmagorical display of swirling waters? That was another of the manways mentioned by my fellow camper in my 1st post.

At any rate I ordered a copy of the book Humunuku mentioned and should have it in my greasy little palms this week.

[humunuku]

Here and super-new off trail smoky trip.
http://www.blueridgeoutdoors.com/index.php/bush-whacked-wandering-off-trail-opens-new-worlds-of-adventure-for-three-smokies-hikers/

[Ashepabst]

Here and super-new off trail smoky trip.
http://www.blueridgeoutdoors.com/index.php/bush-whacked-wandering-off-trail-opens-new-worlds-of-adventure-for-three-smokies-hikers/

holy crap... the light at the end of the tunnel was TP?

[coheterojo]

I just received my copy of Wise's Hiking Trails ot the Great Smoky Mountains. What a great addition to my library. It goes into marvelous detail about every trail in the park. The book's maps have alot more trails shown than my official map. Wise shows both the Porter's Creek trail and the Ramsey Cascades trail continuing up to the AT. Rather than list the manways as separate trails he describes them as the more difficult part of the ascents. The book says to allow 5 hrs to climb the 6.5 miles from parking area to the AT on the Ramsay Cascades trail.

Three Forks is shown as the destination of the Breakneck Ridge trail. A separate manway veering off to the left of campsite 44 on the Hyatt Ridge trail. Wise says Three Forks is "one of the mystical places in the Smokies".

I hiked past the side trail to campsite 44 back in the spring of 06. I guess I need to go back and explore in more detail!

[Misterpres]

I have hiked Ramsey Prong from the trail to the AT on Guyot. I can testify that at the time of hiking in 2005, there was absolutely no evidence of a manway on either side of the creek. While the drainage was easy to follow, the vegetation is prohibitively thick on both sides of the creek for pack-wearing travel. For much of the journey, I resorted to creek-walking, which came with its own hazards but was faster than bushwhacking. Despite being young, fit, and an experienced hiker, it took me seventeen hours to make it from Ramsey Cascade to the AT at Ramsey Prong. If you choose to attempt this route, be mentally prepared for the unrelentingly dense vegetation as far as the eye can see for the entire length of the trip.

[TIDE-HSV]

Thanks for the title and author there humunuku. I'll see what I can come up with.

The brown book Hiking Trails of the Smokies doesn't even mention the existence of manways. I love the book and have put some serious wear and tear on my copy. I have not found anything else as comprehensive. It's helped me hike about 363 miles of the marked trails in the park since 2004.

But after doing the Porter's Creek manway, and experiencing the park in a far more personal and intense way, I'm a hankerin' to explore some more of 'em before I depart this veil of tears. Iff'n ya know what I mean.

The Ramsey Cascades manway is not mentioned in the old (blue) book. I just looked. However, the Porter's Creek manway to Dry Sluice Gap is. I've hiked it down. I tried to hike it up and took the left draw instead and ended up like a fly on a wall on a scree slope. I finally got up and hiked on top of the Rhodos, which were growing straight downhill. I finally came out on a little pig trail on top of Porter Mtn and followed that south into the AT. I managed to hike it correctly coming down.

Years ago (like 35), a kid got lost in winter in deep snow and tried to take the Ramsey Cascades manway down. They found his body about half-way between the AT and the Cascades...

[HeartFire]

If I recall correctly, the manway from Ramsey Cascade goes up to Charlies Bunion. It's there if you know where to look for it, some of the map software for GPS units have all the old trails still on them. I've hiked a few of the manways, but always with someone that had a GPS and knew where he was going. There are enough people that know about all the old trails that they still have a pretty good path through the woods.

The manways are the old trails that are no longer maintained for whatever reason. there used to be 900 miles of trails hence the term "Smoky 900". On Tuesday I will have only 75 miles left till I've "hiked 'em all"

[TIDE-HSV]

If I recall correctly, the manway from Ramsey Cascade goes up to Charlies Bunion. It's there if you know where to look for it, some of the map software for GPS units have all the old trails still on them. I've hiked a few of the manways, but always with someone that had a GPS and knew where he was going. There are enough people that know about all the old trails that they still have a pretty good path through the woods.

The manways are the old trails that are no longer maintained for whatever reason. there used to be 900 miles of trails hence the term "Smoky 900". On Tuesday I will have only 75 miles left till I've "hiked 'em all"

No, the Porters Flat manway goes up to Charlie's Bunion. The Ramsey Cascades manway comes in farther to the east...

[EAnderson]

Years ago (like 35), a kid got lost in winter in deep snow and tried to take the Ramsey Cascades manway down. They found his body about half-way between the AT and the Cascades...

I think that may be Boy Scout Geoff Hague who you are refering to (1970?). He was actually found off of the Boulevard Trail on Walker Camp drainage after becoming lost. He and his troop were at Icewater the previous night, and somehow he turned onto the Boulevard Trail while his troop went back to Newfound Gap. The search and rescue thought he was trying to take the creek down to hit 441 below.

[TIDE-HSV]

I don't think that's the same incident. The case I'm thinking about is not as early as '70, and there were two adult hikers. I really don't remember why there was one survivor, but the guy who died actually made it almost all the way down to the Cascades. How he even found the opening in all that snow is a mystery. There was a ranger named Arthur Whitehead, out of Cades Cove and a native of Maryville, who was in charge of searches for quite a long period of time. We became friends and discussed a number of fatalities, including this one...

Edit - I think the incident was detailed in the book titled ''Lost,'' which I can´t seem to lay my hands on at the moment...

[TIDE-HSV]

Talking about ''lost,'' and Boy Scouts, I remembered a backpack my wife and I were on around 15 years or so ago. We were hiking with a friend, who went on to thru hike later, and we decided to drop down to a back country campsite just above Smokemont for lunch. She left before us and we tried to follow the trail out, but it petered out at the creek. We had a topo and it was clear. I ended up wading down the creek, trying to find the trail. Finally, we backtracked to the trail we had left and followed it to to the beautiful new bridge which I was only one bend in the creek from discovering. A few years after that, a Boy Scout troop got trapped by snow in that same campsite, occasioning a lengthy search for them. I´m sure they were relying on old topos also...