Yellow Mountain and Nettle Creek Bald, April 1st-2nd

Yellow Mountain and Shortoff Mountain, April 1

I was going to try and hike on the 31st, but heavy rain convinced me otherwise. Nevertheless, after camping at the trailhead and discovering that the roof of my van wasn't caulked as well as it could have been in a rainstorm, I set off on the trail - well maintained. Shortoff was a nice little peak, although I wasn't able to find the cliff face that supposedly has all the nice views. The hike from Shortoff to yellow was painful if for nothing else than lost elevation you have to regain is never fun. The summit of Yellow was spectacular though, and I would recommend the hike if for no other reason than to get the view from around the fire tower

Nettle Creek Bald and Newton Bald, April 2nd

My first hike in the Smokies was solidly average, with Nettle Creek Bald and Newton Bald both having no views, as far as I am aware. I parked at the Thompson Gap Trailhead and hiked along the trail about 5.5 miles each way. The trial is well maintained and is relatively gradual, which is always a nice thing. I do not know why these are called Balds though, because they neither have the open meadow or thorny vegetation that I've found to characterize balds in my week and a half hiking down here - perhaps I have more to learn in this regard