Gabes Mountain Trail starts at the Cosby Campground in the northeast corner of the Smokies
Gabes Mountain Trail elevation profile (outbound direction only, reverse for inbound) I had a harder time than expected with this trail, possibly thanks to the summer-like humidity
Blue Ridge Parkway - Stops for a few pictures on the way to Gatlinburg Friday night.
Blue Ridge Parkway - Plott Balsam overlook
Blue Ridge Parkway - A group of bikers training for the Tour de'Tuck
Blue Ridge Parkway - Small purple violet (type?) at the Big Witch Gap overlook
Blue Ridge Parkway - Big Witch Gap
Blue Ridge Parkway - You can tell I like this overlook. Why did I forget to use my panorama feature?
Blue Ridge Parkway - Ok, one more
Newfound Gap Road - A lone bull elk cruising through the fields near Oconaluftee
Cosby Campground - Stimulus funds at work and Cosby has received quite a facelift.
Gabes Mountain trailhead near the hiker parking area
Gabes Mountain Trail - Consider yourself warned. No bears for me today though
Gabes Mountain Trail - Heading up the rocky trail
Gabes Mountain Trail - Rock creek
Gabes Mountain Trail - Another entrance spur that comes in from the campground. I'd return to the car that way this afternoon.
Gabes Mountain Trail - Several places on this trail have huge old chestnut stumps
Gabes Mountain Trail - Today's first crossing, I believe this is Rock Creek
Gabes Mountain Trail - Rock Creek
Gabes Mountain Trail - Tons of massive trees on this walk
Gabes Mountain Trail - Another gigantic stump and fallen chestnut. Those forests must have been pretty impressive before the blight whiped them out
Gabes Mountain Trail - A beech stands on its roots near a crossing
Gabes Mountain Trail - One of many massive hemlocks beside the trail
Gabes Mountain Trail - A fresh fallen hemlock
Gabes Mountain Trail - Partridgeberry was common along the sides of the trail
Gabes Mountain Trail - Another long footbridge
Gabes Mountain Trail - Heading through a rhododendron tunnel
Gabes Mountain Trail - Another crossing on an old footlog
Gabes Mountain Trail - The forest was thick and pleasant with lots of massive trees
Gabes Mountain Trail - A rhodo grows on top of an old chestnut stump
Gabes Mountain Trail - An impressive rock bridge built by the CCC
Gabes Mountain Trail - In general the mushrooms aren't out yet, but these polypores were.
Gabes Mountain Trail - Sometimes you have to slow down to see the smaller critters the Smokies have to offer
Gabes Mountain Trail - A heavily settled area near the traffic circle with many piles of rock and old foundations
Gabes Mountain Trail - At the traffic circle where the former Hen Wallow Falls Trail, now not used, used to come in.
Gabes Mountain Trail - A monument to Herb sitting on the trail sign
Gabes Mountain Trail - More rock foundations
Gabes Mountain Trail - Phacelia
Gabes Mountain Trail - Purple phacelia
Gabes Mountain Trail - After a switchback the trail is a wide former road
Gabes Mountain Trail - This was cool, I happened to spot a Luna Moth napping or laying eggs under a branch
Gabes Mountain Trail - Luna moth
Gabes Mountain Trail - Sweet White Trillium
Gabes Mountain Trail - My guess is Meadow Parsnip
Gabes Mountain Trail - Starting to crest the ridge
Gabes Mountain Trail - I believe that's Round Mountain
Gabes Mountain Trail - Soon large boulders begin to appear
Gabes Mountain Trail - More large boulders
Gabes Mountain Trail - Looking through the trees to ridges beyond
Gabes Mountain Trail - Star Chickweed
Gabes Mountain Trail - An area of huge rocks
Gabes Mountain Trail - A big tree had fallen right into the V of another across the trail
Gabes Mountain Trail - Looking toward Three Top Mountain
Gabes Mountain Trail - The 0.1 surprising steep spur trail over to the falls
Gabes Mountain Trail - Nice views along the spur
Gabes Mountain Trail - Hard to get a sense of scale from the picture, but that's a huge hemlock growing on top of an even more huge boulder
Gabes Mountain Trail - Hen Wallow Falls
Gabes Mountain Trail - Hen Wallow Falls. Unfortunately I tried a few fancy shots at the falls but they didn't turn out. I have to get used to my new camera.
Gabes Mountain Trail - Hen Wallow Falls.
Gabes Mountain Trail - A big boulder beside the trail.
Gabes Mountain Trail - The back side of the giant boulder
Gabes Mountain Trail - Looking at Gabes Mountain
Gabes Mountain Trail - Gabes Mountain
Gabes Mountain Trail - This trail was swarming with wildflowers and big trees..a real beauty
Gabes Mountain Trail - Several places had large expanses of phacelia.
Gabes Mountain Trail - Painted Trillium
Gabes Mountain Trail - Maybe a Speckled Wood Lily in early bloom
Gabes Mountain Trail - Chickweed and Wood Lily
Gabes Mountain Trail - Peaceful walking through old woods
Gabes Mountain Trail - Now switching around to view Snake Den Ridge
Gabes Mountain Trail - The high mountaintops of Snake Den Ridge
Gabes Mountain Trail - Snake Den Ridge
Gabes Mountain Trail - Roots of huge blowdown beside the trail
Gabes Mountain Trail - The woods are awesome
Gabes Mountain Trail - Brook Lettuce at a crossing of Gabes Creek
Gabes Mountain Trail - Foamflower
Gabes Mountain Trail - A pretty dry creekbed
Gabes Mountain Trail - Approaching Sugar Cove...sometimes you have to pause and take in the forest
Gabes Mountain Trail - Approaching Sugar Cove
Gabes Mountain Trail - An illegal campsite beside the trail
Gabes Mountain Trail - A huge chunk of quartz sitting down in a hollow
Gabes Mountain Trail - More gorgeous phacelia
Gabes Mountain Trail - Ya gotta love Spring in Smokies
Gabes Mountain Trail - Gorgeous Greenbrier Creek
Gabes Mountain Trail - Greenbrier Creek
Gabes Mountain Trail - This is the only somewhat tricky crossing of the day, across Greenbrier Creek at Campsite #34
Gabes Mountain Trail - I spent a lot of time at this nice spot
Gabes Mountain Trail - You'd be hard pressed to find a nicer backcountry site than Sugar Cove camp, a.k.a. Campsite #34, directly beside beautiful Greenbrier Creek
Gabes Mountain Trail - Looking at the creek from the campsite
Gabes Mountain Trail - More views of campsite #34
Gabes Mountain Trail - Unidentified non-venemous snake just past the camp
Gabes Mountain Trail - Another huge hemlock blowdown
Gabes Mountain Trail - The crossings beyond the camp were pleasant
Gabes Mountain Trail - Close-up of a nurse log
Gabes Mountain Trail - Another crossing
Gabes Mountain Trail - Looking up the towering hemlocks
Gabes Mountain Trail - End of the trail
Maddron Bald Trail/Old Settlers Trail/Gabes Mountain Trail intersection - Looking south up Maddron Bald Trail
Maddron Bald Trail/Old Settlers Trail/Gabes Mountain Trail intersection - Looking north, Old Settlers Trail on the left and Maddron Bald Trail on the right
Gabes Mountain Trail - More Speckled Wood Lily on the return trip
Gabes Mountain Trail - Toothwort
Gabes Mountain Trail - Crosssing Cole Creek
Gabes Mountain Trail - Storm clouds brewing
Gabes Mountain Trail - Vaseys Trillium
Gabes Mountain Trail - Back at Greenbrier Creek
Gabes Mountain Trail - Heading back east
Gabes Mountain Trail - The ridge exploding in purple
Gabes Mountain Trail - Huge hemlock growing out of a rock
Gabes Mountain Trail - Umbrella Leaf flowers at a nice cascade area
Gabes Mountain Trail - A few huge Sweet White Trillium
Gabes Mountain Trail - Catching more views
Gabes Mountain Trail - Another view of Gabes
Gabes Mountain Trail - You can never have too many creek photos
Gabes Mountain Trail - Now I'll return via the campground spur
Gabes Mountain Trail - This spur travels through a large flat area that probably had many settlements
Gabes Mountain Trail - Approaching the campground. RV site #22 is visible straight ahead. (empty today)
Gabes Mountain Trail - The end of my 13.4 mile trek and the spur trail
Gabes Mountain Trail - A look at the federal stimulus refurbishments at all campsites in Cosby
East Foothills Parkway - A panorama from the parkway
