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  1. 12-17-2010, 08:33 #1
    moytoy
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    Default Doom and Gloom in the Smokys

    I'm stuck in a 13' Scotty on the edge of OcalaNational Forest with a turned ankle. So I turned to rereading "Then The Hail Came" by George Steffanos (online). The Smokys almost did George in on his 1983 trek. He talked of the oppressing mountains and jungle growth as a dark place. He describes it as a very dark and foreboding place that he was glad to get out of. I spent the first 21 years of my life in and around those mountains and go back there often now. I guess I just became accustomed to the rain and constant cloudiness. Does anyone else who goes there from other parts of the country feel the same way as George.
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  2. 12-17-2010, 08:41 #2
    Lone Wolf
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    what's a 13' scotty?
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  3. 12-17-2010, 08:46 #3
    Roland
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    Quote Originally Posted by Lone Wolf View Post
    what's a 13' scotty?
    A pocket travel trailer
    Roland

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  4. 12-17-2010, 08:50 #4
    TheChop
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    Quote Originally Posted by Lone Wolf View Post
    what's a 13' scotty?
    A Scotty with 13 inches?

    Impressive.

    The only time I have ever felt that way about the Smokies was doing the Pole Road Creek Trail. That little 3.3 mile stretch was an oppressive jungle growthed trail. It only felt like that on the way down from the Noland Divide and as soon as we hit Deep Creek Trail it changed but that is one overgrown, twisty, wet trail. It was a very unpleasant 3 miles.

    The other 197 miles of that hike don't seem like that to me at all.
    No man should go through life without once experiencing healthy even bored solitude in the wilderness, finding himself depending solely on himself and thereby learning his true and hidden strength.
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  5. 12-17-2010, 08:53 #5
    10-K
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    Sounds like several miles of trail in Maine just before BSP.....
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  6. 12-17-2010, 08:56 #6
    earlyriser26
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    I love the smokies because they are different. I will admit to being a little dark when after 5 straight days of rain we could not stop for lunch at a shelter because it was occupied by a possible rabid racoon.
    There are so many miles and so many mountains between here and there that it is hardly worth thinking about
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  7. 12-17-2010, 09:06 #7
    Rick500
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    I started going to the Smokies as a child, and still get out there whenever I can. Dark, sometimes; foreboding, I never felt that way. I love the place.
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  8. 12-17-2010, 09:12 #8
    Lilred
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    How can it be dark and forboding when you're on the ridge line half the time. I loved the Smokies. Love the Scotty too!!!
    "It was on the first of May, in the year 1769, that I resigned my domestic happiness for a time, and left my family and peaceable habitation on the Yadkin River, in North Carolina, to wander through the wilderness of America." - Daniel Boone
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  9. 12-17-2010, 09:15 #9
    Ender
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    "Then the Hail Came" is still one of the very best trail journals out there I think. It was a big inspiration for me when I was still planning my hike. I think I've read through that 3 full times now. Worth checking out for those who haven't read it.
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  10. 12-17-2010, 09:29 #10
    Blissful
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    Quote Originally Posted by Lilred View Post
    How can it be dark and forboding when you're on the ridge line half the time. I loved the Smokies. Love the Scotty too!!!
    Sprained ankles can do that to you.
    Last edited by Blissful; 12-17-2010 at 09:31.







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  11. 12-17-2010, 18:11 #11
    Lilred
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    Quote Originally Posted by Ender View Post
    "Then the Hail Came" is still one of the very best trail journals out there I think. It was a big inspiration for me when I was still planning my hike. I think I've read through that 3 full times now. Worth checking out for those who haven't read it.
    That was the first AT book I read. Still one of my favorites.
    "It was on the first of May, in the year 1769, that I resigned my domestic happiness for a time, and left my family and peaceable habitation on the Yadkin River, in North Carolina, to wander through the wilderness of America." - Daniel Boone
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  12. 12-17-2010, 19:40 #12
    Chenango
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    Quote Originally Posted by Ender View Post
    "Then the Hail Came" is still one of the very best trail journals out there I think. It was a big inspiration for me when I was still planning my hike. I think I've read through that 3 full times now. Worth checking out for those who haven't read it.
    Ditto. I love that journal.
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  13. 12-17-2010, 19:51 #13
    Many Walks
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    I was fascinated with the GSMNP. Parts of it had a Jurassic Park sort of feel to it with the Rhododendron tunnels and tropical rain forest kind of environment. Way different than most places.
    That man is the richest whose pleasures are the cheapest. Henry David Thoreau
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  14. 12-19-2010, 08:57 #14
    Firefighter503
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    Another +1 for 'Then the Hail came'. I have only read it once (a few months back) but I will be reading it again before March '11.
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  15. 12-19-2010, 09:22 #15
    LockJaww
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    The Smokies were my playground for years. I cant wait to see them again.
    Absinthe.......It's not just for breakfast anymore.
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