Smoky Mtns/Newfound Gap BC TR-2/20/2010

[teledave]

Or the reason I missed the Beech Summit.



Myself and some others had been scoping out some lines off of the Clingman's Dome Rd. for the past few years, waiting on that day when all the stars aligned to hit them up. Well, with 30+ inches of snow on the ground at Newfound Gap this past Saturday was that day.



I met up with X and DD around 10 at the Newfound Gap parking lot. The Clingman’s Dome Rd. (our originally planned access point) was closed to ALL traffic due to construction of new bathrooms. So we decided we'd have to hike the AT along the ridge to get to where we wanted to drop in, instead of hiking along the road and then the ridgeline. We set our shuttle and got ready to hit some real SE powder.



Getting the skins ready:





X and DD gearing up









There was about 2-3' of snow on the AT and we spent nearly an hour and a half getting to where we thought we needed to be. It was slow moving in snow that was quickly becoming very wet due to the rising daytime temperatures. X and DD were able to hang in there while boot packing through the very deep snow pretty well. I stopped occasionally to let them catch up. The skin/hike up provided some amazing views of some of the most beautiful scenery you'll find anywhere (not just on the East Coast).









Dave D struggling in the deep snow (X and DD switched off breaking trail as the skins were not packing it down nearly enough to make a difference):







We finally reached the other side of the ridge we knew was where we needed to drop in to end up where the vehicles were parked nearly 1400 ft below at the Walker Camp Prong along US 441. We knew we needed to be further left but were spent after 90 minutes of hiking and decided we would drop in and traverse hard left to avoid a creek that would spell a quick end to our day (stuck in a small gorge full of rhododendren in 2-3' of snow, with a flat gradient all the way to the bottom).



Looking down where we planned to drop in - it looked incredible and hopes were still very high at this point. We were anticipating an epic descent, but first it was time to enjoy a frosty beverage and take in the views













After dropping in, the snow was wet but manageable. The temperature was probably in the mid 40s by now, 2 days ago this would have been dry powder. But I've definitely seen worse: The trees were tightly spaced, but not too bad.











Look out for those hidden branches





We came to a downed tree and decided to abandon our traverse left policy because the right looked clear, this was our first mistake





Another tree forced us further right and we found ourselves within feet of the creek and the thick Southeastern Rhododendron that tends to grow in shaded, wet creek and river gorges. This was not good. My altimeter indicated that we had only dropped around 300 ft, we had over 1000 vertical ft to go and we were finished. We decided to head down the side of the creek a little ways and look for an opening to move back left and towards the top of the ridge again. This resulted in some interesting downhill sledding and scrambling



Eventually we managed to find an opening that allowed us to move several hundred yards away from the creek. We were tired and didn't have the discipline to keep moving in the knee to waist deep wet snow to get further away. Morale picked up again as we found what looked like a clearing and some more rideable snow. We hiked over and after stopping to enjoy another frosty beverage headed downhill with a little excitement again.











Can you find X in the trees?





Dave D and myself basking in the sunlight and our second chance:







Our skiing/riding quickly came to an end as the terrain sent us back to the creekbed. But this time the gorge was a little deeper, the rhodo a little thicker, and our day had turned from skiing/riding to epic bushwhacking. My altimeter showed that we had about 600 vertical ft to go, it was going to be a long afternoon. There were many times where I just started hysterically laughing. I'm not sure if it was at our stupidity for trying this or just trying to enjoy the moment no matter what. We are claiming a first descent on this run.







Somewhere along the way I caught a branch across my face and cut my lip. Amazing how much a tiny cut can bleed when you are hiking your azs off.





From here on down this pretty much describes things:









The bushwhack, slog, climb, hike took 2-3 hours until we finally found ourselves at US 441, at 4200 ft...which meant we only had a short downhill hike on the road to where our cars were parked.



I approve this trip:





Text from X when I got home: "When I close my eyes all I see is rhodo"





I hated missing the Summit, but this was a day I've been waiting a couple of years for. Epic adventure, some would say Epic FAIL adventure, not as much skiing as I would have liked, way more bushwhacking than I would have liked. Hell of a great day though. Given the right conditions I would do it again. Next time we'll go farther out along the AT before dropping in. Next time I'll have some GlopStopper to keep my skins from clogging with snow and weighing 20 lbs apiece. Next time we'll go the first day the road is open. Next time we'll get an earlier start. Next time I'll make sure X brings a chain saw.



And most importantly, NEXT TIME WE'LL BRING MORE BEER!

[Freeheel Tarheel]

Wow. You guys are hard core. Great pictures of a crazy day.

[Murphy]

Major props for effort! Next time, get your buddies some snowshoes.

[skiing rules]

haha I'd imagine that would be pretty rough in alpine boots, I know it would be in mine, especially w/o skins

[angel]

THAT'S Rhododendron??? And I always thought it was mountain laurel!!!!



This is a great TR. Only one way to know if it's a go and that's to get out there and try it, and you did! And you're even still smiling all the way to the end!!! You should name this spot The Teleddexx Pass!!!!!!! Way to go after it!

[skipanther]

Great pics,what did your altimeter read at the top?

[teledave]

Roughly 5500'

[Joshua8200]

@teledave 209907 wrote: There were many times where I just started hysterically laughing.



This is the first stage of "Rhodo-Rage". The DSM-IV criteria have yet to be officially recognized, but any climber (particularly ice climbers) in the southeast knows the signs/symptoms.



If "Rhodo-Rage" is left unchecked it can lead to wild flailing and hysteria.

[EastCoaster]

You guys are much more core than us guys. The most underbrush we had to deal with were the single bushes at the bottom to get back to the road



Srsly though, hardcore effort. I wonder if we could get in there this summer and do some very select trimming of underbrush and branches...though I can't imagine park rangers would be too happy about that.

[jbc28]

I'm bummed that it wasn't a complete success. I was down in Gburg Sunday morning ready for another assault on it. Had to ski Ober, instead.