Need some Help with a Smoky Mountain Trip

[aclawrence]

Hey guys I'm going on a trip to the Smoky Mountains for my brothers "graduation present trip". We were planning to go January 18th-21st. Everything was good until the govt. shutdown and and now we are unsure of a few things. We had dates and campsites booked but we had to change dates and I'm not sure yet if my brother was able to reschedule or not. The main thing we are concerned with is as far as we understand the trucks and snow plows and stuff that keep the roads cleaned off are not working now. So if the shutdown is still going on when our trip starts we are not sure if we'll be able to get to the trailheads or not. I was hoping maybe someone here on Hammock forums might live in the area and could give me some info on what the weather and roads are like. We had planned to start at the Twenty Mile trail head. Thanks for any help!

[Smckinney0031]

Honestly there is a chance that even if it reopens, and there is bad weather, you may not get there easily. It takes a bit in bad weather for them to get the backroads cleared

[aclawrence]

Ok thanks. Hopefully we can get some feedback before we head up there.


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[Caminante]

Unfortunately, two things nobody knows:

1) If the NPS will be operating 100% again by then &
2) What the weather will be in GSMNP two weeks from now, or even two days.

But in any case, Twenty Mile is directly off of NC 28, a primary state highway maintained by NC. The NPS road there is only a few hundred feet long, so as long as NC 28 is clear and you can find somewhere safe to park, it shouldn't much affect your hike. You can check the status of NC 28 here:

https://tims.ncdot.gov/tims/RegionSu...erica/New_York

and click on 'Adverse Weather'.

Hopefully it works out for you.

[TrailSlug]

You guys going up to Gregory Bald?

[aclawrence]

Unfortunately, two things nobody knows:

1) If the NPS will be operating 100% again by then &
2) What the weather will be in GSMNP two weeks from now, or even two days.

But in any case, Twenty Mile is directly off of NC 28, a primary state highway maintained by NC. The NPS road there is only a few hundred feet long, so as long as NC 28 is clear and you can find somewhere safe to park, it shouldn't much affect your hike. You can check the status of NC 28 here:

https://tims.ncdot.gov/tims/RegionSu...erica/New_York

and click on 'Adverse Weather'.

Hopefully it works out for you.

Thanks, that really helpful. I think we'll carry along with our original plan.

[aclawrence]

You guys going up to Gregory Bald?

Yes, I think we are. I remember seeing the Gregory Bald trail on our plans. Is it pretty cool? I've never hiked up there before.

[TrailSlug]

Yes, Gregory Bald is very very nice. Some of the nicest views in the Smoky Mnts.