I have a pair of 4 pt crampons I want to bring. I twisted my knee on ice last year and was out for two months! However, because they are sharp, I need to put them in a large tuperwear container that takes up a lot of space. Did anyone use them, wish they had them or sent them home ealrly?
thanks,
scott
scott
I used yaktrax. www.yaktrax.com. I found them convenient in weight and they were not sharp so did not have to pack them carefully. However, they did fail on me in snowy/icy trail conditions. They don’t stay on your feet well enough. took matters into my own hands and made some homemade cleats that are super cheap and simple to make. They are sharp, but if you wrap the spike ends together with the lanyards, you should be fine packing them in a side pocket. Here’s what I’m talking about: http://www.unc.edu/~mkirk/myog.html
Sweeper
Depending on how early one starts, the crampons can help in certain higher elevations. In the Smokies, I regreted not bringing them on my thru hike in this one section where the descent had lots of black ice. I fell and bruised my knee.
The funny thing was that I was told by a thru hiker from the year previously that I should not carry them. But, at the time, being from Vermont, I knew that melting snow and very cold nights after long rains leads to icy trail or slushy trail on downslopes. Crampons also help in slushy conditions which frequently visit the Smokies where the trail is a river of mud and crap. But I was assured that my March 1st start would mean that I only would see 1 to 2 inches of snow the whole way. I post holed in one and a half feet of freshly fallen snow in the Smokies. And I also encoutered several steep, narrow descents where there was no easy way to avoid ice unless I did some gymnastics.
But of all the terrain, the Smokies is the only place I would say that to carry lightweight crampons could be a useful idea since there are sections where the tread narrows through rock on the backsides of mountains. Of course, now knowing more, one can expect to post hole in snow anytime from Jan 1st to the 1st of May in the Smokies.
Mr. Boo
Mr. Boo when did you come thru the Smokies? We were at Newfound Gap March 24-26 doing trail magic.
Charles
Charles, I came through the Smokies twice…March 20th, 1999 I climb into the Smokies and came out to Davenport Gap on the 27th. I got snowed on at Peck’s Corner Knob Shelter.
In 2000, I climbed into the Smokies, I think, on the 3rd of March and came out the 8th of March. I remember the day I arrived at Mountain Mama’s was Ash Wednesday.
I plan to do so again this year, but I can’t tell you the time yet.
Mr. Boo
Thanks Boo, we will be coming thru the Smokies on our thru hike about the 27th to somewhere close to Easter with our crampons!! Last year there was a lot of black ice and 3 foot snow drifts. We took one fellow down to Gatlinburg with a pulled hip flexor from a fall on the ice. I think he had to leave the trail. I never saw any mention of his name in any journals after that day.
Maybe we will see you on the trail. I wonder if anybody knows someone who will be doing trail magic at Newfound Gap in March?
Charles
Hello Charles, My son and I just might have to do that. However this year we are also starting at Springer going to NC. in march 
So most weekends may be reserved for hike preps in the Smokies before then.
For Sure I will be out every weekend in April and May meeting the thru hikers like I did last year. Just keep a Close watch on the Ground Control Forum for my weekly posts.
Hope to meet ya if you hit in April, otherwise lets both have a great trip
Jim Deane, Rebel with a Cause !!
Jim Deane
Are the smokies the only place that ice is a problem, or is there another reason why the Smokies are the only place you wish you had them?
scott
scott
Boo is right that the Smokies are typically the worst areas for the normal northbounder to encounter dangerous ice patches. Because of the lay of the trail and the elevation. At the Lower elevations, the ice can melt off quickly while up on the Smokies ridgeline which the trail traverses, significant amounts of ice can linger in areas through April… I found the most dangerous areas for ice on my 3 traverses of the park to be the north side of Clingman’s Dome and the trail from Newfound to Charlies Bunion. However, other segments (non-smokies sections too) of the trail can have bad ice if your out early enough in the season. Southern Virgina was icy…
Sweeper
Here is a good Example of Winter in the Smokies, last year on March 28, 2001. This picture was taken on the way to Mt Chapman, on the northern end of the Smoky AT Section.
http://users.chartertn.net/jdeane/HQ43.jpg
We had up 2, 24 inches of snow and 8 inches of ice in some places. However my son and I made it fine without Crampons.
Ill leave that descision to you.
Jim Deane, Rebel with a Cause !!
Jim Deane
We hit a bunch of snow out of Erwin going over Beauty Spot, on Roan Mt. and a bit of snow over the Humps the 3rd week in March. Going down Roan was very icy after a day melt/night freeze cycle. We hit it bad in the Smokies too at the beginning of March. And in S. Va like Sweeper said, around Mt. Rogers and Grayson Highlands…kind of depends on the weather pattern though. We had mostly cold rain/mist, but a hiker 2 days ahead of us had blinding snow such that he lost the trail. (not hard to do in some sections of Grayson)
Bramble '01
Be advised that the weather can change fair rapidly and without too much advance notice. You really can’t rely on the weather forecast too much when hiking above 4500 feet areas and much of the AT is above that in the Smokies. I recently found that while me and my wife were atop of Mt. Sterling a 5842 foot peak near the AT and the forecast was calling for the next morning to be sunny and about 40-45 degrees. We awake to overcast, temp about 30 and by noon it started to snow. The night before a couple hikers recorded the low at 18 but the next night by 7pm it was 30 and by 11pm had bounced back to 38 due to wind coming out of the south, known as a temperature inversion whereby the ridges get warmer than the surrounding valleys. You can get a feel for what’s going on by checking out these sites for last 24 hrs posting weather info:
http://www.srh.noaa.gov/data/MEM/STP/MEMSTPTYS.1.txt
And local weather by going to site listed, but be sure to click on Sevier County, on the side where the pop up info says “Sevier smokey mountains TN weather information”, you’ll have to put the pointer right about on or near the NC/TN (green line) for that. And even then the 4500 foot and above can develop weather of their own without notice.
In summary be prepared for changes or also know a route to get down off the ridge in the event you need to bail off the top for awhile.
Randy & Donna
Randy
The whole thread comes down to one thing. Be prudent and be safe.
Mostly, what seems to me, that this thread is looking at, is “where is it on the trail that weather could cause me to fall down and end my thru hike.”
I would say ice in the Smokies because it almost took out my thru hike in '99. A set of mid-boot crampons that weigh all of 5oz could have gotten me safely thru the black ice without that bad fall that bruised my knee.
In the whites, I did have my winter clothes. Finally, I reached Katahdin before the end of September.
I am a klutz and can’t tell you how many times I fell down on the trail. But, in warm weather, the only thing I hurt was my pride. In the Smoky Mountains, though, I almost ruined my thru-hike because of lack of knowledge of how weather works in the higher zones of the Smokies.
Mr. Boo