2012,10-27, Rocky Crag to the Real Charlies Bunion

Some Smoky Mountain Hiking Clubs friends of mine had been pioneering some really interesting routes in the steep, rocky terrain around Mt. LeConte and Charlies Bunion in the Smokies. My usual off-trail hiking partner, Ed and I were interested in their route up to The Jumpoff, and tried to persuade some of the group that had done the route previously to join us. This would be an intimidating, semi-technical route, where their previous experience would be added margin of safety. Joining us would be long time partnership of Jenny and Chris, along with Charlie and Greg. They decided that the route would be up the Rocky Crag the “righteous way”. We assumed that was a nickname for the route we had in mind, and it wasn’t until part way into the trip we realized that we were actually going use the route that finishes at the top of the “Real” Charlies Bunion, just east of the prominent overlook off the AT at the “Tourist” Bunion.

Some fun climbing sections.

The route starts with a few miles of tail hiking, then continues on a well-used manway, familiar ground to this group. Soon we split off on a side creek which was fantastic, wide and shallow. We were off the manway now, basically hiking straight up the creek. The main manway has what I call the “Mother Cairn,” a huge cairn that confirms that popular route. We passed another large cairn on the side creek which I dubbed “the daughter.” Even along this relatively large prong we needed to scramble up one small cascade.

The start of the scrambling section

Finally, we came to the critical point where the real climbing would begin. We made sure our elevation was correct, the requisite side creeks were in place, and off we went. We turned  up a very steep draw with little flow and some easy cliff faces. Further on the draw gets very tight and the really good stuff starts. Beyond this point the route seemed fairly clear, there weren’t many options on where to go. Greg did almost all the leading, but Chris and Jenny had recently done this route also. We started up a gully that soon disappeared into broken rock and laurel. There were lots of good holds, but some of this is third class climbing. I felt comfortable climbing up it, but descending would have been trickier, and the route would be dangerous with wet rock.

Chris climbing the spine of the ridge.

We ended up at the base of an east trending side ridge that is barely distinguishable on the topo map. Here was some exposed climbing on a steep slatey slope ideal for photos. I didn’t take a camera on this trip and have mixed in some photos from a 2018 visit with a few pictures I borrowed from Greg and Chris for this blog post. The side ridge hits the main ridge at “Panty Point”, one of Greg’s colorful names for the exposed sections of the route. A few beautiful, steep rocky exposed pitches lead to the Big Tooth where we had lunch at about 1 PM.

Mark enjoying the climb.

It had been foggy all day and threatened to rain. The low visibility made the route seem wilder and more private, no distractions from the job close at hand. From our first view, the Big Tooth looked to rise straight above us. To make it spookier there was even a man on top. I was Greg Hoover, peering down on us like some god from Olympus. The Gregs exchanged a lot of calls, and later I made the suggestion that yelling back and forth off trail probably wasn’t a great idea, usually the only reason to yell into the mountains is to advertise that you need help. I think Greg likes the attention, but I’d just as soon not advertise these routes to the everyday hiker. Hoover was recovering from the flu, and unable to join us for the full hike, so he had walked in from Newfound Gap via the AT.

Looking up at Big Tooth.

Normally I pack a big lunch for a big day in the mountain and this trip was no exception. Too bad I’d left the lunch in the truck of the car in my haste to reorganize myself at the trailhead. Luckily, Ed had some extra food (cliff bar, pack of crackers, and half an apple) and I got enough to power me through the rest of the day.

It turned out our lunch spot was still far from the Real Bunion. The climbing remained steep, but now it was now mostly in the trees. It took about an hour to reach my usual lunch spot on the crest.

Ed and Pam had left a vehicle the night before at Newfound Gap, so I went back on the AT with Ed and Hoover, pleading sympathy for my recent knee issues as my excuse. The others went back via a descent of the full manway, which is apparently what makes this route the “righteous way”.

It was cold and blowing at Newfound Gap, and probably the coldest part of our day. It started raining about 15 minutes after we got to the car. We hoped that the others had gotten to the trail before the rain began and missed the misery of bushwhacking in the rain. Rocky Crag proved to be all we’d imagined, and more. It is likely the most exhilarating, and technical, route I’ve done in the Smokies and rivals the Thousand Foot Scar for the most scenic. The route is worthy of multiple trips, but it would be several years before I managed to get back.

4-14-18 SMHC Trip

My friend Mark was the notable absence on our 2012 trip. This would change in 2018 when the Smoky Mountains Hiking Club added the hike to its regular schedule. Both Mark and I were leery of the large groups, and often inexperienced hikers, on some of the club hikes of this era, but the pull of the route was too strong for us to let it pass by without another visit.

The hike to the base of the climbing was routine. We travelled up the side drainage in the creek, but I did not see the “daughter cairn” from our 2012 hike. The first fork is marked by a series of steep, wet cascades. These seemed pretty safe to go up, there are generally enough holds to work. All of us did well on the climbing, but a group has to move slowly as everyone moves pass the choke points. Further up there’s another fork to the east, that’s the point where you move out of the drainage onto a “ridge” on the north side of the fork. This climbing is mixed heath and heavily fractured Anakeesta Formation. Near the top is the first airy spot which leads to the main ridge at Peregrine? Point. This climb strung us out a bit. We ate lunch at the next pinnacle.

The view down Rocky Crag.

The weather, which had looked really ominous while we were down in the drainage, now looked very clear. The rest of the climbing was steep up and over up the spine of Rocky Crag, through mixed heath and relatively solid Anakeesta Formation. From the drainage there is decently beat in path for most of the route, and once on the ridge crest there is really no other way to go than up the spine. None of the individual moves are hard, it’s just a pretty long steep scramble. Most of it is class 3, the wet sections are probably class 4 because protection would be a good idea on descent.

Scrambling up the crag.

The route tops off on the USGS or “Real” Bunion. It was early afternoon at this point and Mark, Mike, Mike, and I decided to head back via the main manway. We thought the huge group would be even slower on the descent and none of us had any appetite for descending the wet rock on the lower fork of Lester Prong. The manway was as we all remembered it. The uppermost part is a steep and wet slope, eventually leading into the sluice. We found the spot where we needed to contour ~100” west to another draw near the bottom of the sluice. The mother cairn was still in place. The rest was a mix of old manway and walking on the rocks in the creek. No flags, but a few cairns marked the route.

We reached the creek junction about two minutes after Hoover had arrived (he had descended our outbound route after eating lunch with the group, and we had a quick break with him. I’d finished my G2 and treated some creek water. It was still bright and sunny. We got back to the trailhead about 5:15.

As I got back to the trailhead, I could see Mark talking to a ranger in a pickup by the gate. It turned out that Greg had called in a report of a hiker from another party injured in a fall. Mark and I updated ranger on the route we had taken, and the rest is another story.