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Northeast Smokies 6K Peakbagging: Day 1 - Great Smoky Mountains National Park, TN

1,164 views · Published 8 June 2018 · 13:25 · Indexed 11 October 2026

Channel: Zachary Robbins · 2018 · Travel & Events

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This was my 1st day of an ambitious weekend backpacking trip in northeastern Great Smoky Mountains National Park. My goal was to peakbag all 7 ranked 6,000-footers in the area for my quest to finish the South Beyond 6000 Challenge. This is easily the most daunting and dreaded portion of the challenge. These are the most remote 6K peaks in the Southeast, and some of the hardest and longest bushwhacks of the challenge. Only 1 of 7 peaks I bagged were on-trail, the other 6 were off-trail adventures. (There are 8 peaks in this region, but I already did Big Cataloochee Mountain in November 2017.)

My plan was what I considered the fastest possible route to bag all 7 of these peaks in 2 days when Heintooga Ridge Road is closed on the NC side, which would allow short access to the Laurel Gap Shelter. Beginning at Cosby Campground TN, I followed the Snake Den Ridge Trail to the Appalachian Trail. This 5.3-mile trail climbs over 3,500 feet and is known as one of the steepest in the park. I crushed it, completing the trail in 02:20. Feeling good I made a beeline to the Tricorner Knob Shelter where I was staying the night, passing by great views from the Deer Creek Gap helipad. After quickly bagging Tricorner Knob (6,145 ft), I dropped most of my camping weight at the shelter and trail ran 2.5 miles to Mount Sequoyah (6,003 ft). I accidentally deleted the clip from the top of this mountain, so you won't see it in the video. 

I trail ran 1.3 miles back north on the AT and then did the short, gnarly bushwhack up to Mount Chapman (6,431 ft) before running back to the shelter. On the first day I covered more than 16 miles and bagged three 6K peaks, 2 of them bushwhacks. The night at the shelter was not so fun, the temps dropped to around 25F and I had to sleep on the bottom bunk which had little headspace to maneuver. The second day was even tougher.

Total weekend hike was 35.3 miles with 8,012 feet elevation gain in 16 hours and 30 minutes over 2 days.

Hike location
https://goo.gl/maps/Q9m21jJHmmP2

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