Consistently rated as one of the top hikes in the Smokies, I decided to give Charlies Bunion a try. I also tacked on the Jumpoff detour, making for about 9 miles total.
1 The drive into the park from Townsend is gorgeous with river crossings and endless green.
2 Morning fog hovering over one of the cascades alongside the road.
3 The trailhead for Charlies Bunion is at Newfound Gap on the border between Tennessee and North Carolina.
4 Nice views from Newfound Gap.
5 The Charlies Bunion trail runs entirely along the AT.
6 Awesome trail sign. Can you imagine your hike destination being 1,972 miles away!?
7 The trail is very literally gnarly for much of the way.
8 Wet and green.
9 The familiar white blazes of the Appalachian Trail.
10 The trail has been worn quite deep in places.
11 The dense forest is starting to open up for some great views.
12 "Closely Control Children". Easier said then done!
13 Made it to Charlie's Bunion. The peak is named after exactly what it sounds like. The person who originally named the peak was hiking with his friend Charlie who had an unusually shaped bunion on his foot that evidently looked like the rock outcropping here.
14 Some nice views from the bunion.
15 So much green.
16 Like most trails in the Smokies during the summer, it was extremely crowded. The conversation was mostly about how incredibly difficult people thought the trail was. Definitely a tourist crowd. I didn't stay for long.
17 Purple azalea.
18 As soon as the tourist crowd ends at Charlie's Bunion, the Appalachian Trail instantly narrows and gets overgrown. I was very tempted to continue on for a ways, but I had decided to try the Alum Cave trail next. So it was time to head back.
19 On the way back, I took the detour to the Jump Off, which was supposed to have an amazing view.
20 More great grooved single track.
21 The trail was empty compared to the main Charlies Bunion route.
22 When I reached the Jump Off, this was unfortunately the amazing view.
23 The clouds started to clear briefly, but never by much.
24 An entire cliff side covered in orange Azalea, though it's hard to see the color here. I waited for a while longer for the clouds to break. They didn't, so I headed back to find my next adventure.
