At least the people who labeled this trail are upfront and call it strenuous. It is totally up up up on the way in, you cross a beautiful stream 4x , we did this in January so it was frozen over. Talk about a winter wonderland. Of course the flip side of this is it was also very very slick in many places. The good news is I managed to make this 4 mile round trip without "busting it" which Archie defines as falling on your behind with potential to bust your coccyx. Ouch! None of that. Small streams run over the trail periodically probably very cute and picturesque in the summer but made for a slick as wet glass trail on the day we were heading up to the Chimneys.
This next photo was taken at the trailhead but actually it was after we had returned from the hike, it probably explains the dazed and confused look. Later that evening any dazed and confused looks would have to be blamed
on the copious amounts of alcohol consumed while we partied with two Mexicans (Patron and Jose Cuervo). One must reward oneself for a job well done and this is one of the most strenuous hikes in the park with one of the most rewarding views. It was kind of funny. The four stream crossings are in the 0.7 mile and while it is steep between them just after that 4th bridge it becomes REALLY steep. We had crossed the bridge and there was a young family in front of us with a couple of small kids and the trail turned hard to the left and I swear went almost straight up over rocks. I looked at the trail then looked at Archie and said, "Is that really the trail?" (I suspect I might have said that with dismay ) Yes he says and off he goes. Oh boy.
The family elected not to attempt the rest of the trail. The last tenth of a mile the trail runs up across a ridge with unbelieveable views ( if you don't have vertigo and can stand to dig out your camera while keeping your balance). Photo to the right is taken from the top of that ridge at some point when I wasn't tripping over a root I suppose. Then the trail goes around a steep icy sort
of precipice that has about 20 feet of steel cable for you to hang on to for balance , on around the edge of the ridge and up. This is the photo around the edge of the rock face. It is quite narrow and while you can't tell it, it is probably a 1000 foot or more drop to the left. At this point you have ascended to something over 4700 feet, ( the climb in the trail is 1700 feet in that 2 miles up there). Needless to say I am clinging to rocks and any tree that looks
like it would withstand someone clinging desperately to it. If you look at this next photo with Archie in it you'll see a bunch of brushy stuff growing to the right. These are wild rhododendrums that a fellow hiker advised us would probably break our fall at the very highest point should we slip off the
trail. I may have been staring at the boy in horror at this point. We sat up on the end of the trail at the overhang looking at some kind of spectacular view, sun was out I think it was the most comfor
table spot temperature wise that I found that day. It was however pretty soon time to go down, definitely we wanted plenty of daylight left for this hike out. So here I am headed back down. At a couple of the steepest parts I had to elect to slide over rocks on my butt because it just looked like the safest way to do it, however that doesn't count as "busting it" because I was doing it ON PURPOSE . The view and sense of
accomplishment at the end of this hike makes it well worth it. Personally I would not try it without good hiking boots due to the rocks and roots and steepness of the path. Also because I HATE BUGS this was probably a good time of year despite the snow and ice for me to go. We finished the hike with a visit to Sugarlands visitor center to make plans for the next challenging hike we'd take although probably not this weekend, and we found one called Shuckstack on the Fontana Dam side of the park that looks like the ticket. Definitely will be more on that one in March which is when we hope to attempt that. Man I hope the bugs won't be having too much of a show of force then. Cutter and Off will be my good friends on that trip.
At least the people who labeled this trail are upfront and call it strenuous. It is totally up up up on the way in, you cross a beautiful stream 4x , we did this in January so it was frozen over. Talk about a winter wonderland. Of course the flip side of this is it was also very very slick in many places. The good news is I managed to make this 4 mile round trip without "busting it" which Archie defines as falling on your behind with potential to bust your coccyx. Ouch! None of that. Small streams run over the trail periodically probably very cute and picturesque in the summer but made for a slick as wet glass trail on the day we were heading up to the Chimneys.
This next photo was taken at the trailhead but actually it was after we had returned from the hike, it probably explains the dazed and confused look. Later that evening any dazed and confused looks would have to be blamed
The family elected not to attempt the rest of the trail. The last tenth of a mile the trail runs up across a ridge with unbelieveable views ( if you don't have vertigo and can stand to dig out your camera while keeping your balance). Photo to the right is taken from the top of that ridge at some point when I wasn't tripping over a root I suppose. Then the trail goes around a steep icy sort 
of precipice that has about 20 feet of steel cable for you to hang on to for balance , on around the edge of the ridge and up. This is the photo around the edge of the rock face. It is quite narrow and while you can't tell it, it is probably a 1000 foot or more drop to the left. At this point you have ascended to something over 4700 feet, ( the climb in the trail is 1700 feet in that 2 miles up there). Needless to say I am clinging to rocks and any tree that looks 
like it would withstand someone clinging desperately to it. If you look at this next photo with Archie in it you'll see a bunch of brushy stuff growing to the right. These are wild rhododendrums that a fellow hiker advised us would probably break our fall at the very highest point should we slip off the 
trail. I may have been staring at the boy in horror at this point. We sat up on the end of the trail at the overhang looking at some kind of spectacular view, sun was out I think it was the most comfor
table spot temperature wise that I found that day. It was however pretty soon time to go down, definitely we wanted plenty of daylight left for this hike out. So here I am headed back down. At a couple of the steepest parts I had to elect to slide over rocks on my butt because it just looked like the safest way to do it, however that doesn't count as "busting it" because I was doing it ON PURPOSE . The view and sense of 
accomplishment at the end of this hike makes it well worth it. Personally I would not try it without good hiking boots due to the rocks and roots and steepness of the path. Also because I HATE BUGS this was probably a good time of year despite the snow and ice for me to go. We finished the hike with a visit to Sugarlands visitor center to make plans for the next challenging hike we'd take although probably not this weekend, and we found one called Shuckstack on the Fontana Dam side of the park that looks like the ticket. Definitely will be more on that one in March which is when we hope to attempt that. Man I hope the bugs won't be having too much of a show of force then. Cutter and Off will be my good friends on that trip.
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