HikingWNC

This was one of those challenges that seemed far-fetched. The idea of hiking every mile of trails in the Great Smoky Mountain National Park was a tall order and not something I seriously considered until September of 2022. Nothing about wanting to do the challenge occurred that day, and what got me started on this quest was the completion of another goal. The goal I had been working on was MST as part of the CMC MST/AT challenge. Having completed the required MST portion, I elected to hike the 26-mile piece from Clingman’s Dome to Mingus Mill. It marked the longest hike I had ever completed, and it got me curious as to how much of the 800 miler I had completed. It was a bit disappointing when I tallied up the whopping 96.2 miles. With only a scant 703.8 miles remaining, the challenge went onto the back burner, like all the way in the back. In March of 2023, the far-fetched idea moved to the top of the to-do list.

The list below is the hikes I’ve completed. There are easier ways to do this challenge, but I did many of the hikes by myself, making too many repeat miles. A lot of the hikes I did were ones I drew up, but I also got to hike with a lot of fellow enthusiasts, which made some of the longer, logistics-intensive hikes much easier.

July 5 2024 –

Date	Miles	Elevation	Time	Trails
7-5-24	26.9	4767	9H 15M	AT – Snake Den
7-2-24	22.1	5666	7H 55M	Gregory Ridge – Long Hungry Ridge – AT – Gregory Bald
7-1-24	22	5410	7H 16M	Middle Prong – Greenbrier Ridge – AT – Miry Ridge – Lynn Camp
6-30-24	12.6	1736	3H 42M	Meigs Mountain – Curry Mountain
6-26-24	21.8	2510	7H 11M	Forney Ridge – Springhouse Branch – Noland Creek
6-24-26	1	72	23M	Rich Mountain Loop
6-20-24	24.2	5289	8H 6M	Hannah Mountain – Gregory Bald – Wolf Ridge
6-19-24	17.6	4501	6H 14M	Wolf Ridge – Twenty Mile Loop – Twenty Mile – Lost Cove
6-13-24	16.6	3806	5H 28M	Rich Mountain – Indian Grave – Scott Mountain – Crooked Arm Ridge – Rich Mountain Loop
6-12-24	19.5	3940	7H 2M	Ace Gap – Beard Cane – Cooper Road
6-11-24	19.5	3940	7H 2M	Lead Cove – Bote Mountain – AT – Jenkins Ridge – Hazel Creek
5-28-24	19.9	4390	7H 39M	Chimney Tops – Road Prong – Sugarland Mountain
4-13-24	21.5	5128	7H 18M	Twenty Mile Ridge – AT – Russell Field
3-23-24	3.75	1030	1H 22M	AT – Davenport Gap to Chestnut Branch
3-20-24	17.9	3284	7H 4M	Maddron Bald – Old Settlers
2-22-24	19.1	4442	7H 10M	Kephart Prong – Grassy Branch – Dry Sluice – Cabin Flats – Bradley Fork – Smokemont Loop
1-20-24	16	3150	5H 50M	Lower Mount Cammerer – AT – Chestnut Branch
12-27-23	19.3	3947	7H 17M	Rabbit Creek – Wet Bottom – Abrams Falls – Hannah Mountain
12-26-23	18	2490	6H 3M	Cooper Road – Gold Mine – Hatcher Mountain – Little Bottoms
12-8-23	20.4	3694	6H 54M	Chestnut Top – Turkeypen Ridge – Lead Cove – West Prong
12-7-23	4.9	620	1H 26M	Schoolhouse Gap – Bote Mountain
12-7-23	11.3	1453	3H 30M	Old Sugarlands – Twin Creeks – Gatlinburg
12-3-23	22.6	4705	7H 50M	Indian Creek – Deeplow Gap – Indian Creek Motor Road – Stone Pile Gap
11-17-23	22.2	4475	6H 53M	Laurel Falls – Little Greenbrier – Cove Mountain
11-16-23	25.7	3986	8H 8M	Roundtop Mountain – Little Greenbrier – Little Brier Gap – Metcalf Bottoms – Meigs Creek – Lumber Ridge
11-11-23	20.5	4019	9H 33M	Eagle Creek – AT – Bote Mountain – Finley Cane – Crib Gap
11-10-23	4.5	591	1H 20M	Tow String
11-9-23	26.2	5420	9H 17M	Bradley Fork – Chasteen Creek – Enloe Creek – Hughes Ridge