Hiking the Benton MacKaye Trail starting at the North end of the Great Smoky Mountains NP at Big Creek.
My friend Pete and I car camped the first night at the Smokemont campground inside GSMNP where our friend Sgt. Rock met us the next morning and all drove to Big Creek to begin hiking.
From the trailhead at BC it’s a steady 6.2-mile climb with 4,136’ of elevation gain to reach the summit of Mount Sterling…and then there’s the tower to climb for the view.
Near the summit of Mount Sterling, gnomes live here
Fire tower on Mount Sterling
Cozy amp
Better than breakfast at Tiffany’s
Sgt Rock and morning chow
Other than the view from the tower this section of the BMT has very few views this time of year, this will change once the leaves drop; the trail is entirely woods walking and mostly on horse shared trails. Long stretches of ankle roller rocks can make it tiring and the occasional fancy footwork required to skirt around the mud hole aka wild pig wallow is always interesting.
Nothing purty about a pig wallow…unless you’re a pig
Bridge across Enloe Creek, camp was at the other end of the bridge
I used Sgt. Rocks, Benton MacKaye Thru-Hikers Guide 2014/15 edition and the Great Smoky Mountains NP reservation website for planning this trip.
Tagged: backpacking, camping, nature
