Smokies Tomahawk Prong, OT, 8-12-06

This SMHC hike was led by Alan Householder and Kris Johnson. For many years Alan was the llama packer supplying LeConte Lodge. Kris was the park’s long time Supervisory Forester. Together they made a formidable pair in the backcountry.

Eight hikers made the trip which started from the Chimneys Trailhead on US 441, went up the Road Prong Trail, then cross country up Tomahawk Prong to the Falls. Then we reversed back down Road Prong Trail to an unnamed drainage near Indian Grave Flats which we followed to the Sugarland Mountain Trail. We then hiked a short distance down Sugarland Mountain Trail before turning off onto the manway connecting to the Chimneys. The last section followed Chimney Tops Trail back to US 441 for a total of seven miles.

Despite our high powered leaders, the long term impact of this hike came from another hiker. This hike was the first time I ever got to hike with  Ed. We would soon go on to a steady partnership on scores of off trail hikes from epic ascents of LeConte with hikers like Mark, to old home sites and manways with Jean and Claudia.

Road Prong in 2014.

To get to the hike I drove through heavy rain on the Little River Road, and wasn’t even sure the hike would go. It was still raining at the trailhead, and continued for the first mile of the hike. But the rain would slack off as we approached the mouth of Tomahawk Prong. To get to the falls from the trail, we scrambled down a steep back to cross Road Prong. We had to pass by one unnamed side creek, before going up Road Prong to a logjam at the mouth of Tomahawk Prong. From there we walked up the prong for about 20-30 minutes. The falls was about 25’ high, just downstream was an 8’ falls that we nicknamed Hatchet.

Next, we retraced our route back to Indian Grave Flats and began an ascent of an unnamed branch, this time with the intent to go all the way to the Sugarland Mountain Trail. Apparently, this route had been pioneered by brown book contributor Woody Brinegar. We saw no sign of the manway shown on the 1931 and 1949 maps in this branch. Surprisingly, the climb was the first point in the hike that my feet got wet. The draw was not too brushy, and only had one modestly long stretch of stand up rhodo. The top got very open, and we hit the Sugarland Mountain Trail in open forest. Nearby was a 14’ circumference Yellow Pine that Kris thought was near record size, and might be 200 years old. We also saw the remains of a low rock fireplace along the bank of the creek.

Our next treat was the descent of the Chimneys manway down to the base of the south chimney. I had done this manway on 9-5-99 with Jean and our friends Steve and Francelia. It is an obvious route where two trails come close together, but don’t quit meet. I had mentioned once to a club member how close the Chimneys were to Sugarland Mountain and that I thought it likely there was a manway connecting them. They told me about the manway and told me how to find an arrow carved on a tree that marked the upper end. The four of us then planned a loop hike up Road Prong, over the AT and Sugarland Mountain, then down the manway and the Chimneys Trail, a route that turned out to be a regular for the club. Things went well, we found the manway in good shape and popped out at the Chimneys as expected.

The manway in 2006 seemed clearer than it had been in 1999, but maybe I was more accustomed to Smokies manways by then. But the club hike arrival at the Chimneys matched the return of the rain. We skipped the short side trip to the base of the south Chimney, and just sloshed our way down the steep, eroded trail. We passed all sorts of wet looking hikers on our way back to the cars. The hike took from 9AM to 330PM and covered about seven miles.

My next visit with Jean to the Chimneys Manway would come on 8-3-14, after a reconstruction of the trail by the Trails Forever Crew. The 2104 trip would repeat the Road Prong-AT-Sugarland Mountain- Chimneys loop that we hiked in 1995. I got a GPS track and pictures. We ascended the chimneys first, hoping to avoid the crowds, but found that the new overlook was a popular spot to watch the sunrise. We admired all the hard work the Trails Forever crew had done on the formerly badly eroded trail.

The Trails Forever Crew Trailer, 2014.

The new overlook blocked the old access to the base of the chimney, but we were still able to access the lower end of the manway. It was reasonably clear, and we paid our dues snapping branches and doing light clearing. The tree with the arrow at the top was gone but there was a stump encasing a block of vein quartz to mark the turn.

The top of the chimneys manway in 2014.

Heading down Road Prong Trail we passed the end of fresh washout. I suspected that the washout resulted from a recent slide on Mt Mingus that looked alluring as a climbing route, though I haven’t yet gotten the chance to explore it.

The bottom of the Chimneys manway in 2014.