I had thought about skipping the eclipse viewing, all things considered. The talk of snarled traffic and the uncertainty of weather in the higher elevations where I wanted to view the event made it an easy one to excuse away. It turned out to be worth every step.
I shared the hike with my daughter
Marissa and her boyfriend Michael. We hiked to a spot in the Smokies that fits
the grandeur of the solar eclipse on 8/21/2017. Traffic was gridlocked at 7am
trying to get into Cades Cove and we couldn’t reach the Lead Cove trailhead. We
parked in a pull off, hiked back down 0.4 miles to the Bote Mountain trail, and
started up towards Spence Field.
Walking was quicker than driving |
A hiker stood at the trailhead,
safely off the roadway behind a boulder, staring at her trail map. She was
trying to get into Cades Cove and didn’t want to walk another five or so miles
along the road. I showed her the trails that would put her in the Cades Cove picnic
area and she headed on up.
The hike was uphill and grueling at
times. The trail is wide, but rocky. As we passed the trail intersections of
Lead Cove and Anthony Creek we were joined by additional hikers. A middle aged guy
was trying to catch his breath and told me he didn’t want to end up having to
ride in one of those carts when he goes to Walmart, so here he was, struggling
up the hill. Michael and Marissa stayed ahead of me, which I told them to do.
My trail name should be Molasses because as the old saying goes, I am slower
than molasses. And clumsy if I get in a hurry.
A side note- up into the sixties
Bote Mountain Trail was a road that carried drivers close to the Appalachian
Trail.
I met an interesting guy on the way
up, after passing Lead Cove. He said I must be a botanist. He noticed my interest
in the flora and anything else that captured my fancy, which is part of the
reason I’m so slow. He told me he is slow too because he stops to look at
plants. He is much younger and in better shape but doesn’t want to miss
anything. His upbringing is such that he has both knowledge and interest in
natural remedies. He gives friends and family plants he harvests for making
into teas and remedies (he doesn’t harvest in the Smokies.) We exchanged
numbers, and I’m looking forward to hiking with him, maybe in October.
We reached the Appalachian Trail
after one final steep switchback and took a left to Spence Field.
End of Bote Mountain trail. Turn left to reach Spence Field |
The views are
magnificent, and I want to head back up soon when it isn’t as crowded. Between
Spence Field and nearby Rocky Top there were around 120 people. We had some
interesting characters, including a ukulele player and a guy that was asleep
under a lean-to, snoring loud enough to be heard by anyone within thirty feet.
Hikers that make this trek are a different breed, although this event brought
out some that don’t do this type of hike.
Looking west |
The plant guy walked by us and
headed on up another 1.2 miles and 500 feet of elevation to Rocky Top, and he
handed me a dried fig as he passed by. A good snack after the climb.
Light almost gone, minutes before totality |
During the first part of the eclipse. The harsh light softened |
The event was quite a show. We were
not in the center line of totality but with the center line passing through the
southeast corner of the park we were close. Totality lasted about 2 minutes
from what I heard, although I didn’t time it. During totality the temperature
dropped, locusts sang their night songs, and the stars came out. The bright
star may have been Saturn, from what I had read.
Looking west during totality |
With the view we
had from the mountaintop we saw classic pre-sunrise colors to the west, with
hues of purple and blue. Purple mountain majesties. Turning around and looking
to the east I saw the sky with its narrow band of color that rimmed the horizon
like a sunset disappearing into the evening’s darkness .
And then someone turned
the light on.
The first bit of light that peeked
through reminded me of a single light bulb overhead in an interrogation room,
with cops trying to pull a confession out of someone. A narrow, dim light that
quickly grew into daylight again, but not the intensity you expect at 1:30 in
the afternoon. A softness of light soaked the mountaintop, and it slowly began
its journey back into harshness of light and the humidity that comes with a
sunny August afternoon.
Light on either side of totality
was gentle. Marissa said it made her want to remove her sunglasses the way you
would in later afternoon. Crescent shaped shadows were anywhere light filtered
through. In darker sections of the path bright lights in crescent shapes dotted
the otherwise shadowed ground.
The detour we made up Bote Mountain
added distance to our hike, and my total was 14.7 miles, plus another 0.8 to
and from the trailhead to my car. Michael and Marissa added another 0.6 going
to the Spence Field shelter and the water source.
As we were nearing the end of our
hike I caught up with them, only because they stopped and waited on me. Marissa
told me about a couple from Philadelphia that had missed their trailhead coming
down and would have to walk back up the road a few miles. They had driven all
night to get there, hiked up to Spence Field, and were planning to drive home
that night, alternating drivers so they could both rest. We caught up with them
and I sent them to an alternate trail that went straight to their car same
trail as the lady that morning. He took a picture of my map showing the trail
intersection.
Last year I was hiking the Curry
Mountain trail and I struck a conversation with a gentle man at the
intersection where I planned to turn around. After a while he asked if I had a
trail map with me and I admitted I did not. He gave me a National Geographic
map and said he has given away dozens. I thanked him, and I always have one
with me now. It’s too easy to get turned around when you’re tired. I hope I run
into him again on the trails so I can let him know how much his map has helped
others.
The next solar eclipse here is only
seven years out and stateside it goes from Dallas up through Cleveland. I’m
thinking it will be worth a road trip.
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