Why it is on the list?
I don't really remember. It just seemed like one of those things that everyone should do once in their life. I love to hike and I love to see the view from high vantage points so this seemed like a no brainer.
The Process
It's weird how things work out sometimes. I had planned on conquering Mount St. Helens on a trip to WA that my wife and I are going to take later this year. However, this past weekend we had some friends visiting us and we decided to go on a hike. My wife and I have hiked in the Smoky Mountains on a couple of different occasions and I figured this hike would be a nice walk through the countryside as usual.
Well I was wrong.
It was a cloudy cool day as we set out for the Chimney Tops trail. I knew that it was supposed to be a nice view at the end of the trail and that it was about a 2 mi hike to the top. What I did not know was that Chimney Tops is a mountain with an elevation of 4800ft. Not that big, but hey it counts!. Especially with what awaited us at the top.
We arrived at the top with a Class 3 Scramble awaiting us to reach the summit. My wife and friend's wife decided to stay below while my friend and I began the ascent. About halfway up, as I saw nothing below me but clouds, I decided that I was out of my mind. No safety gear and there I am hugging the side of this mountain at about a 70 degree angle. Eventually I made it to the top and it was just gorgeous. It was nasty down below, but up top we were above the clouds and it was easily 15 degrees warmers. The top of the mountain was like an island in an ocean of clouds.
The trip back down wasn't as hard as I thought it was going to be, but my adrenaline must have been pumping because on the hike back my legs were shaking for a mile or so.
This trip has definitely given me the hiking bug. We're still planning to hit Mount St. Helens, using a day trip to Mount Le Conte as a trial run. But after dangling from the side of the mountain top, I'm officially scratching this item off my list!
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