The third leg of our late October 2016 hike from Clingmans Dome to Newfound Gap on the Appalachian National Scenic Trail or AT was from Fork Ridge Trail to Road Prong Trail at Indian Gap. This 2.3 mile section of the trail continues the generally downhill nature of the trail from Clingmans Dome to Newfound Gap with the loss of another 800 feet of elevation. At about 0.6 miles, the trail passes by a very small spring at the headwaters of Tomahawk Prong. As mentioned previously, parking at Fork Ridge Trail is very limited. However, thirteen parking spaces are available at the Road Prong Trail trailhead at Indian Gap.
 |
| Topographic map with GPS route |
 |
| Elevation profile |
 |
| Just a walk in the woods |
 |
| American Mountain-Ash (Sorbus americana) |
 |
| Portions of a downed tree have been removed from the trail |
 |
| White blaze |
 |
| Boardwalk along the crest of the Smokies |
 |
| Passing the shallow root ball of a blown down tree |
 |
| Small spring at headwaters of Tomahawk Prong |
 |
| Roots and rocks |
 |
| A boulder is suspended in a root ball |
 |
| Daylight dapples the ground near a small clearing |
 |
| Another root ball |
 |
| Bridge over a currently dry channel |
 |
| Trail maintainers have sawn and rolled the remnants of this tree off of the trail |
 |
| Another bridge |
 |
| Maintainers have cut out enough limbs for the trail to be open |
 |
| Moss covered log |
 |
| Steep descent requires a switchback |
 |
| More downed timber |
 |
| Timber stairs |
 |
| An easy step over |
 |
| Oddly shaped tree |
 |
| More steps on a switchback |
 |
| A small meadow at the Indian Gap parking area |
Entry to Great Smoky Mountains National Park is free.
The park website is https://www.nps.gov/grsm.
No comments:
Post a Comment