In early April 2016, we planned to hike from the Clingmans Dome parking area to Andrews Bald to see the vista. We hiked just over ½ mile on the rebuilt Forney Ridge Trail before the clouds arrived to obstruct the view. Since visiting the bald in a cold fog was not on our plan, we retraced our steps back to the parking area to try again on another day. A post about a completed trip to the bald in December 2012 is available here. The upper portion of the trail has deteriorated in the intervening years as water has eroded gravel from some of the timber-framed steps.
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| Trailhead |
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| Trail threads its way through a boulder field |
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| Fault lines in the rock |
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| Biological staining |
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| More boulders |
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| Trail junction |
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| Trail descends rapidly |
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| Water flows down the trail |
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| Typical waterbar |
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| Stone stairs |
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| Stone waterbar |
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| Clouds rolling in signaled our turnaround |
Entry to Great Smoky Mountains National Park is free.
The park website is http://www.nps.gov/grsm/index.htm.
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