Most People Go Their Entire Lives Without Being Locked Inside a National Park

On January 29, 2010, Jeff and I did a hike to Little Greenbrier School and the Walker Sisters Home.  The trailhead is at Metcalf Bottoms picnic area in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. While we were on the trail it started snowing.  It was awesome being on trail when the snow started and we were quite content.  The school and the homesite were both fun places to visit and I took several photographs of those locations, as well as snowy footbridges and rhododendrun. The hike had begun with brown winter surroundings and was ending with snow-covered hillsides, valleys, and vegetation.

Jeff in the snow.

By the time we got done with the hike there was a layer of snow on the jeep and icicles had formed on the back hatch.  The nearby bridge hadn't even been driven across so I took a photo of it with the fresh snow.  Then I did a slow-shutter water shot near the road.  It was at this point that a passerby stopped his SUV and told me the gate at the end of the shortcut road to Wears Valley was down and locked.  I thanked him for the info and loaded up.  We needed to go to Wears Valley to our cabin so we just headed toward Townsend.  While we were going that way we met the same guy coming from the direction of Townsend.  He had stopped in the road to tell us the gate into the Townsend Road was locked, too.  They did not have a cell signal and neither did we so the two vehicles headed off toward the Gatlinburg entrance of the park.

It was strange and eerie to be the only two cars driving Smoky Mountain roadways.  It was also fun and exciting!  Jeff mentioned that the other car was driving really fast and that he should slow down before he hit an icy spot.   The snow had turned to sleet after we learned the Townsend gate was closed, and there were some slick spots on Little River Road.  We lost sight of the other car, while Jeff drove very conservatively in his 4-wheel drive Jeep Patriot with off-road tires.  Even with the 4WD and off-road tires, we did feel a few slippery spots.  The guy in front of us was driving a SUV crossover with road tires.  I'll call him "Crossover Guy" henceforward.

A few miles later, we noticed that Crossover Guy's tire tracks indicated he left the road momentarily.  Fortunately he recovered nicely and we did not have to administer CPR to CG or MCG (Mrs. Crossover Guy.)

A brief break in cell signal purgatory opened up and I called the official GSMNP number, only to hear an endless series of pre-recorded messages with no option to talk to a real person.

A call to 411 got us the phone number for the Sevier County Sheriff's Department.  The dispatch officer assured me that the gate at Sugarlands was open to people wanting to leave the park via Gatlinburg.  We were relieved.

Then, we caught up with Crossover Guy only to see him pull over.  Rolling windows down, we discovered they were wanting us to lead so they could drive in our tracks.  Apparently Mrs. Crossover Guy had chewed out her husband about his rate of speed because after we took the lead, Crossover Guy religiously maintained an earth-scorching pace of 10 mph.  Not wanting to leave them stranded, we also slowed down to about 15 mph and stopped periodically to wait.  Jeff would have been happy to go 30 mph (except on the curves), as it felt safe with our setup.

So, we finally got to the gate (that we had been assured was open) only to find it locked.  Thankfully, we did have a cell phone signal at this point and Jeff called 911, who, in turn, put us through to a real-life talking ranger.

Fifteen minutes later a ranger driving a snow plow pulled up to open the gate for us.  We thanked him and drove off at about 30 mpg, leaving Mr. and Mrs. Crossover Guy to be a distant memory.  The Good Lord knows I crave adventure so He obliges from time to time.

Above:  Mr. Ranger comes to open the gate.