Switched my campsite planning after a rainy night in the Smokies

I used to just pick any flat spot near water on the map for my overnight stops. Last August I camped at Backcountry Site 18 near Fontana Lake in the Smokies and the rain came down hard all night. The trail runoff flooded my tent because I was too close to a low drain path. Now I always check the elevation and slope on a topo map before picking a site. Anybody else have a bad weather camping spot story that made you change your route plans?

2 comments

2 Comments

campbell.nora19d ago

Actually @troykim nailed it with that comment - its wild how one bad night can totally rewrite your whole planning system. Did you end up mapping out the exact drain lines before setting up now, or do you just eyeball the terrain? I got caught similar once but in the Smokies it was more about the soil type being so clay-heavy that water just sits. Rain hammered us from like 2am to dawn and my pad was basically floating by morning. That trip made me start checking not just elevation but also what kind of ground cover is around. Do you also factor in stuff like leaf litter density or is that overthinking it?

troykim19d ago

Too close to a low drain path" yeah learned that one the hard way myself.