11/19/99 Hiking Little River Trail:
What? Great Smoky Mountains, Tennessee? I thought we were heading for the North Carolina coast!
Well we were. I glanced at the map and saw that US81 ran down to US40 which took me to Jordon Lake. I figured I'd stop off there because the state parks in the area are supposed to be open year round.
So off I go. I'm driving along for a while on US81, not paying much attention to anything when I see a sign that says "Welcome To Tennessee". Tennessee? But I wanted to go to North Carolina. Did I miss a turnoff or something?
When you give the map more than a glance you see US81 cuts through the southeast (I guess) corner of Tennessee. And guess what's there? Yup! The Great Smoky Mountain National Park. Half of the park is in Tennessee and half in North Carolina.
Since I'd heard about a late season category 5 hurricane brewing in the Caribbean I thought I'd take a little more time getting to the coast. So here I am. Hey, I'm flexible.
The Smoky Mountains get their name from a blue haze that usually surrounds the higher elevations (6000+ feet). The Smokies are supposed to be the most popular national park (because it's free?) and has 800-900 miles of hiking trails; only Yellowstone and Yosemite have more. The park appears to have 10 campgrounds 20 miles apart for the most part; 6 on the Tennessee side and 4 on the North Carolina side. I came through Gatlinburg and stopped at the first one, which was Elkmont. $12 a night but no showers (or hookups).
11-20-99 Hiking Little River Trail:
This morning I ran 25 minutes on a slight downgrade and back on the slight upgrade for another 5 minutes and felt pretty good. The lungs are coming back into shape but I didn't want to push anything. I'm kinda adding 5 minutes per run until I get up to an hour.
I didn't see any point in driving all over the place when there were a couple of trails making a 5 mile loop. The Little River Trail (actually an old road) winds along, duh, a little river. The trail starts out past several abandoned cabins. My first thought was they had been built during a logging operation in the area.
Immediately after that I came across a sign warning black bears are very active in this area. That got my attention and I started paying more attention to the surrounding hillsides and valleys.
The rush of numerous little waterfalls filled the morning air as the trail wound along beside the stream in a constant incline. The temperature was approaching 60 degrees (last night was in the 40's) with bright sunshine and a strong breeze. I kept looking for trout in the quiet pools below the water falls but didn't see any. There must be some in there somewhere because regulations were posted and fishermen are a frequent sight as you drive around the park.
Hillsides and mountain sides are just covered with rhododendrons 10-15 feet high. They grew beneath the much taller oak and maple but dominated the area by far. If these are similar to the domestic type with the large purple flowers, this area must be gorgeous in the spring time and probably smells pretty good too. In reality, the flowers are probably fewer and smaller but would still be awesome.
I saw many Holly trees in the 15-20 foot range sprinkled around the area too some still with red berries on them. These were much taller and fewer than the ones I saw along the Potomac. There they made up entire forests similar to the rhododendrons here.
I could see tall mountain peaks through the trees. These are much taller and appear much steeper than the ones along the Blue Ridge Mountain Range. My belief (probably misguided) is the Smokies are a younger mountain range than the Blue Ridge and have suffered less erosion over the eons.
After a couple of miles I came to a cross road indicating the Goshen Prong Trail continued on for another 1 1/2 miles while the Cumberland Gap Trail looped back towards where I had come. The only thing of special interest on the Goshen Prong Trail was a log jam of some fair sized logs on a small island in the middle of the stream. There must be some really heavy spring runoffs or heavy rains to get trees of that size down that little stream.
When I got to the top of Goshen I found a trial sign saying the Appalachian Trail 7.7 miles one way and a campground 24 miles the other. Neither sounded particularly tempting so I retraced my steps to the Cumberland Gap Trail.
This was supposed to be an easy trail but it too had an incline and the length of it made me think it should be rated more an intermediate. The trail also seemed longer than the 2.3 miles stated. At the end of the trail I ran into a whole town of abandoned cabins, some in seemingly good shape. It was kinda eerie, like walking through a ghost town.
As it turns out, there was a lot of logging in the area during the early 1900's (Geesh, that's almost in the last century) and a lot of cabins were built for the loggers. They claim trees measuring 30 feet in diameter (not circumference?) were hauled downstream. After the loggers came the resort people who added more cabins and facilities. Their lease expired in 1992 and the buildings just sit there today, rotting away.
After the hike, I drove through Gatlinburg to a super market on the other side of town. A Saturday in late November and that place was wall to wall with people. Gatlinburg itself seems to be made up entirely of motels, stores, wedding chapels and amusement arcade type places.
Tennessee really loves their football team, the Volunteers who are 8-2 this year. Many of the cars driving around town and through the park had pennants attached to them. Tennessee is also pretty proud of Al Gore.
11/21/99 Hiking Laurel Falls Trail:
Last night was almost balmy, in the 40's again. I didn't walk or run this morning because I planned a hike over some moderate terrain and wanted all the strength my legs would give me.
I was the first one the Laurel Falls trailhead about 8:30am. The first part of the trail leading to the waterfalls is paved and is one of the more popular hikes in the park. The banks along this part of the trail seemed to be clay and that would be evidence (to me) that this region was once under the ocean.
I came across one opening in the trees on the way to the falls that offered a spectacular view of adjacent mountain peaks and ranges. One small peak and valley followed another making a herringbone pattern all the way up the ridge.
The 70+ foot falls themselves didn't have a lot of water coming down. Apparently Tennessee has experienced a drought this summer the same as much of the rest of the east coast.
Most people stop at the falls and retrace the 1.3 miles back to the parking lot. The trail does go on for another 1.8 miles, all of it at a steady incline that really stretched my hamstrings and then hip muscles. The trail wanders back and forth and around hollows and through second growth forests.
Some really large trees have fallen across the trail and trail crews have cut away the portion lying directly on the trail. The rhododendrons were much in evidence up and down the hills. They must really like the hills because that's where I see them the most.
At the end of the Laurel Trail was a trail sign pointing to Cove Mountain .9 miles ahead. Oh what the hell. I might as well make the hike in an even 4 miles.
I soon saw a pretty purple vine along the trail in the shape of a water lily but much smaller. It stayed with me most of the way up to the summit. The trail along the way was lined with a thin row of rhododendrons as if they had been planted there.
The summit was a disappointment in that there was not much of a view. That was OK because my primary objective is the exercise and I enjoy just being in the woods. Another disappointment was while I could see some great looking mountain peaks and ranges through the trees, there were no open areas from which to get any pictures.
The summit contained a large steel tower that was an Air Pollution Research Station for the Tennessee Valley Association and for the National Park Service. It constantly monitors ground level ozone that is harmful to humans and vegetation.
The tower had a couple of levels, the first belonging to TVA and the upper belonging to NPS. I climbed up to the first level to see if I could get a view but no dice. I walked around a little and found the power lines coming up the mountain. That offered a so so view of the valley below and the mountain ranges on the other side.
I saw no one on the way up. On the way down I saw one couple on the upper trail and a zillion people on the lower.
11/23/99:
Last night, while lying in the sleeping bed listening to the radio I heard a couple of snorts, kinda like a pig, a rustling sound, another snort then some more rustling. This morning I found an empty bag of Doritos nearby. Yup, I put all my other food away except for that. Shame on me. Was it a bear? What else goes snort, snort and eats Doritos? I didn't hear any leaves rustling so that might leave raccoons in but do they go snort, snort?
This morning coming back from my run/walk a wild female (hen?) turkey crossed the road not 30-40 feet from me. My campsite was nearby so I rushed over and grabbed the camera and got off a couple of shots. It turns out there's a small flock nearby and these notoriously shy birds have learned to tolerate us human types as long as we don't get too close.
I moved up the road 20 miles to the Cades Cove campground. I drove into Gatlinburg to pick up some groceries because that would be a 30 mile drive one way at about 35 miles and hour from Cades Cove.
While in town I stopped at a book warehouse and found a copy of Woodall's '99 Eastern Campground Directory on sale, probably because the 2000 edition will be coming out soon. I haven't looked at it yet but the cover says modem hookup information is included. That could work out to saving me some big bucks. It would be the more expensive campgrounds with that kind of service but it beats paying $50-$100 for a motel room. They also have a web site @ www.woodalls.com.
Cades Cove is a section of the Great Smoky Mountains that has been populated by Indians and settlers for 100's of years. It's a large valley nestled in amongst some gorgeous mountain peaks and ridges. An 11 mile loop road takes you around the valley where you can stop off and see really old cabins, farm buildings and churches that have been restored somewhat. And most of the time, those mountain peaks are in view, the rest of the time you're going through really dense woods. I went around twice. Once to view the scenery and buildings, the second time after 4pm to check out the wildlife. Deer were plentiful in the fields but I didn't see any bears, bobcats and such.
11-23-99 Hiking Abrams Falls Trail:
The white tail bucks were active as I made the Cades Cove loop at 7am. In a short time I saw approximately 20 does and 4-5 bucks. Two bucks were in a field near the road. I passed up a picture of a 4-6 point buck and went after a 6-8 point fellow who was quickly browsing his way into the forest. I followed him along the road as he moved through the trees towards another meadow. I ran to park the truck (I had stopped in the middle of the road) and then ran to the other field to wait for him to appear. And he didn't.
I had been past these mountains twice yesterday and again this morning and each time, with different lighting, they look different.
The Elijah Oliver place sits back in the woods half a mile. I missed it yesterday and stopped for a look. On the way up the trail through thick growth of pines I came face to face with a 7-8 point buck. He stood there motionless figuring I wouldn't see him. I inched my forward to shoot the 24th picture on a 24 picture roll and he just stood there. I finally shot it from 30 feet away. About that time I guess he decided I wasn't going to eat him and wasn't after his harem and he walked across the trail not 20 feet away. And my camera is sitting on picture # 25. Arggghhhh! I shot it anyway but who knows how it will turn out. Sometimes I get a decent last picture with a blue line down the middle.
The homestead had a main log cabin and several log buildings. A spring house sat in the middle of a small stream under a little waterfall for keeping milk and butter cool in the summer. A small water duct fed water down from a spring off a little distance so they didn't have to walk as far. A smoke house was for preserving meat, a corn crib for storing corn and grinding meal and a barn for horses and cows with a hollowed out log for a feed trough. Neat.
As I was leaving I noticed a trail sign pointing to Abrams Falls 3.0 miles away. That kind of made up my mind for the rest of the morning. I walked the 0.5 miles to the truck for my hiking gear. While collecting it a 4-6 point buck was herding several does across the road. I grabbed the camera and moved towards them for a better shot. I think he changed his mind and wanted to come back across the road but then several cars showed up and kept interfering with him so he gave up and went bounding across the field.
The trail to Abrams (an old Cherokee Indian chief) Falls was listed as easy but I'd classify it as moderate with several hills of a 100-150 yards each. The old hamstrings got a good workout as I maintained a good pace all the way to the falls and a pretty good pace on the way back after 5 minutes at the falls.
At least there was some water coming over the falls into a fairly large boulder edged pool in a small hollow (tiny valley). The trail, as usual, was bordered with rhododendrons. Embedded in the trail were many (what appeared to be) onyx rocks and I came across several onyx outcrops. The embedded trail rocks were worn smooth and it was easy to tell that these stones didn't require a lot of polishing to be made ready for rings and other jewelry.
A couple of back country fly fishermen passed me a couple of miles into the trail. Now that's dedication or they really wanted to get away from their wives for the day. I had heard of some fly fishermen who would backpack and climb mountains for days just to get to a trout stream that no one else has fished.
There's a high probability of rain for tomorrow so I think I'll do laundry and other chores and save the hiking for a better day.
11/24/99 Hiking Rich Mountain Loop Trail:
This morning I decided it wasn't going to rain and to hell with chores. As I was sitting drinking a cup of hot chocolate, a 6-8 point buck crossed the road 50 feet from my site. I grabbed the camera out of the truck and spooked him a little because he took off. I fired off one shot and think I got him in mid-stride, assuming there was enough light.
The Rich Mountain Loop Trail looked promising at 8 miles and rated moderate so I hit the trail at 8:15am. I think their rating system goes like this: easy = work hamstrings, moderate = work calves, strenuous = work knees and thighs.
I hadn't gone 300 yards when I spotted a doe on the trail as it passed beside a meadow. She knew I was there but wasn't quite sure what to make of me because I stopped and stood still. Something was bothering her and she kept moving towards me until she was 20 feet away.
Then I saw a guy in the meadow with a video camera who seemed to be stalking something. At first I thought it was the doe but 100 feet down the trail a 8+ buck moved out of the field onto the trail. That got my attention and I brushed passed the doe who indignantly stuck her tail up in the air and bounded into deeper woods.
I started moving up the trail towards the buck who seemed unaware or unconcerned about the video guy or me. Anytime the buck lowered his head to browse or turned it away from me I moved a couple of steps closer. The buck started moving up the trail and then moved off into a wooded area with me about 100 feet behind. I still hadn't got off a shot and when he appeared to be moving deeper into the woods I finally snapped one off in desperation. It was kinda dim in there so I don't know. If the video guy could zoom and see into the woods, he must have got some great film. I watched the buck for another 10 minutes or so. If I took my eye off it for a second it became lost in the background. I finally gave up and moved on up the trail.
I have pictures of a buck in the Shenandoah National Park that might be bigger and have more points but it was half tamed and wandered right into my (nearly empty) campground. This buck, while smaller, was also wilder and in it's own environment so seeing it and working to get even a so so picture makes it much more meaningful to me.
My guess is, if you see one deer in the woods, there's probably 10 or more that you missed because they blend into the background so well. I also started paying more attention to the treetops. Black bear frequently climb trees and bobcats spend a lot of time in them also. I paid a little too much attention to the treetops and almost went down a couple of ravines.
With that mind set, I came across a big pile of what I took to be fresh bear scat (sh*t). It seemed much too large for these small deer and there are no elk or moose in the region. 5 minutes later I came across another pile a little older and started scanning the trees again.
As I worked my way up the steady incline, I started to imagine all sorts of critters staring out of the woods as I went by, huffing and puffing. Some were probably ready to run and hide for their lives while others were probably licking their chops at the sight of this poor tired old man. What's a soul to do? There could be all kinds of unreported carnivorous beasties ready to pounce on me and begin devouring all my tender parts.
Timber rattlers and copperhead snakes are common in the area too. I could imagine some huge mutant venomous killer snake waiting to leap off a bank and sink its fangs into my neck. In seconds I would be on the ground paralyzed as this monster started swallowing me whole as I watched myself slide down its throat into its belly. Well, it could happen. I saw it on National Geographic. They dislocate their jaws to get their mouth around you. Well, maybe it was a mouse or some such thang but when you're out hiking alone and have no one to talk to, your mind goes where ever it wants to (sometimes over the edge).
The trail never let up in its steady ascent. Both sides of the trail presented great views through the trees. On one side were valleys and ridges peaking out of a blue haze with the sun behind them. On the other side were mountain peaks and shadows with the sun shining on them. Both sides of the trail were lined with normal size pines and oaks with no hint of rhododendrons or hollies.
A little farther along the trail I saw more scat, this time spread out along the trail. Now I can envision a deer being startled and starting to run while still doing its duty but I can't see a fat-assed bear waddling down the trail still dropping bits of doo doo along the way. Maybe a Sasquatch has invaded the Smokies and hasn't learned to do its business off the trail somewhere.
I was walking along wondering if deer even came this high. There was certainly much better feed down in the valleys. Then I looked down and saw a couple of deer tracks in the trail. Guess that question was answered.
As the trail wound its way back and forth along the mountainside, the valleys started looking deeper and the peaks on the other side started looking smaller. Several openings in the trees presented nice views of the fields and meadows of Cades Cove (a cove is a small valley in this neck of the woods) and the hills and mountain ridges beyond. You could also see the teeny little cars as people took the 11 mile tour below.
The trail split all of a sudden and I back tracked a little to see if I had missed the trail sign but no, no sign. Don't you just hate it when that happens? So I drug out this dinky little trail map and decided the trail to the right led off to Scott Mountain and I wanted to stay to the left. 100 yards farther was a trail sign indicating what I just said so my superior navigation skills saved the day again.
All of a sudden the Rhododendrons appeared in full force as did those little purple water lily shaped vines. The trail started to look like a long corridor with the densely packed rhododendrons lining both sides.
Pretty soon I was looking down on other peaks instead of looking up at them. I didn't know how high I was but was expecting to see an angel go floating by on a cloud at any time.
The sun disappeared and everything seemed to be getting much hazier and the skies were clouding over too. As it turns out, the haze was from a fire not too far away but I didn't smell anything.
I'm walking along and the thing farthest from my mind is a four wheel ATV since they're illegal on these trails. But sure enough, here comes one around a bend in the trail. It's a fire chief who has special permission to bring several water bags to the fire a mile or two away. He didn't seem overly excited and chatted a minute or two. As he left he said I'd probably meet up with some of the firefighters on the trail and off he went.
10-15 minutes later I reached a trail sign and decided the rest of the trail would be down hill back to the road so I stopped for a rest and a couple granola bars. Pretty soon 5 firefighters come marching up from another trail, 3 men and 2 women, one of the women seemed to be second in command. They didn't seem very excited about the fire either and sat down to have lunch with me. The chief showed up shortly after and he too sat down for lunch. I was the first to leave and I wished them safe fighting as I headed down the trial. Before leaving I got a GPS position which also showed an elevation of 4200 feet.
I must have missed a side trail or something because I hit the road a mile or so from where I was supposed to. As I walked along a pasture filled with horses I saw big piles of horse sh*t and realized that's what I was seeing on the trail. I had been trying to figure why all the piles were new and there weren't any from days, weeks or months ago. Then I remembered seeing a few horseshoe prints on the trail and I had seen horse trailers parked along the way a few days ago. And of course, here was a field of 25-50 horses belonging to the rental stable and we all know how horses love to plop along as they clop along.
Oh well. At least I had something to occupy my mind on the trail.
11-25-99: Thanksgiving
Today was a washout, literally and figuratively. It rain and there was some fairly heavy fog all day long. The sun made a feeble attempt at breaking through at noon but quickly disappeared again in defeat. And it's never fun to spend a holiday alone but that's the life style I've chosen. But geesh, these folks down here don't know what pumpkin pie or mince pie is. The eat stuff like sweet potato pie and pecan pie instead.
The big buck passed by my campsite again this morning and I counted at least 4 points on one antler probably making him an 8+ pointer.
11/26/99 Hiking Finley Cane Trail:
"Smoky Mountain Rain" keeps on fallin' (Ronnie Milsap). It sure does. The rain picked up again yesterday afternoon and kept up almost all night. It continued through the morning and when it let up some I decided to go on what I hoped was an easy hike nearby.
I need to work on my tent setup some more. Water doesn't come in from the top and it doesn't come in from the bottom. The tent is 5 sided with 2 big windows and a front door. The 2 sides with nothing let in almost no water. The 2 windows and the door become saturated with (I guess) wind blown rain and the water comes right through the material and spreads over the floor. All 3 have awning type things over them and these do not seem to drip on the bottom. I'll have to figure some simple method of protecting those bottoms.
A smaller buck came by the park this morning at 7:30am. I didn't pay it much mind except to note it looked a little smaller than the one coming by the past couple of days. A few minutes later it passed behind my site going directly through the campground, something I hadn't seen it do before. It soon became apparent why when a carload of people showed up following it. This buck was only a 4-6 pointer so either I was exaggerating about the other one(s) I saw coming by the campground or there's more than one.
The temperature was in the lower 50's as I started up the Finley Crane Trail. It was 2.7 miles to nowhere particular but I didn't know how difficult it would be. I was concerned with overheating on a miserable day like this and figured if it got difficult and I started sweating a lot I'd turn back.
Except for the stupid cotton T-shirt I was dressed appropriately with a Polartec 100 sweater, Polartec socks, good hiking boots, L.L.Bean pants that were at least water resistant, a Gortex jacket with hood and a Polartec hat.
The trail turned out to be easy and I moved up the incline at a pretty good clip. I thought I was doing about 3mph but apparently was only doing about 2.5 because it took over an hour to get to the top of the 2.7 mile trail.
There were no views and nothing exceptional happened on the way up. I passed a couple riding their horses. Later, when I got back down to the road, I found a whole slew of horse trailers coming into the park.
I stopped for lunch and within 2 minutes started feeling chilled. I got up and started back down the trail. I didn't feel like I was warming up any so immediately stopped, got rid of that cotton T-shirt and put the Polartec sweater back on underneath the jacket.
On the way down, I passed a family of 20-25 coming up. They were all together enjoying each other and the Smokies for the holiday.
It's still a miserable looking day with an occasional drizzle as I sit here in the truck with the heater going full blast trying to make sure I don't pick up a stray bug.
5:00pm: Just as I wrote those words, I looked up to see the sun out and portions of blue skies while other parts looked dark and forbidding. Those combinations should make for some interesting cloud formations around the mountain peaks so I drove over to Cades Cove Loop… and sat there.
Traffic was moving about half a mile an hour. But I was right, there were some great looking scenes of the mountain peaks and ridges. I grabbed a couple of shots and started thinking about getting out of there. I really didn't want to spend another 2-3 hours going around that 11 mile loop. I passed a little road I didn't think went anywhere but when I looked at the little map I had, it was one of the two roads that cut across the loop. Damn!
So I sit in line, inch forward and sit some more. This was as bad as any traffic jam I'd ever been in. People just stop in the middle of the road, get out of their cars and take pictures of what ever, while everyone else waits. If it's something good, the next guy then stops, gets out, etc., etc.
I finally saw what was causing part of the problem and pulled over to the side (notice I didn't stop in the middle of the road), grabbed the camera and headed out into a field where 25 people were gathered in a semi-circle around a large tree as if they were having some sort of religious experience. Maybe the Virgin Mary has appeared in the tree branches.
But no, the thing that had caught my eye, was a black lump at the bottom of the tree. As I approached, that lump evolved into a black bear. It was a female and had, not one, not two, but three cubs with her. I got a couple of shots when I noticed she was paying particular attention to one of the cubs. Maybe it was hurt or something and that was why she tried not to pay attention to all these people around her.
She was much smaller than I would have thought. I guess when you think of a bear, grizzlies or polar bears come to mind as they tower over you. This black bear, on all fours was no more than 2-2.5 high. Standing, she was maybe 5 feet tall and must have been way under 150 pounds.
One dork (I can think of no other name for this guy unless it's butthole) worked his way around to the other side of the bears and then started to inch his way ever closer. Finally the she bear had enough of that and took off after the him. and she was fast. I'll say one thing for the big dumb guy, he had good reflexes and took off like a shot. The bear stopped after a few steps and went back to the cubs.
When she took off after the guy, two of the cubs just froze but the third hit the tree running and got up 5-6 feet. Mom satisfied herself the cubs were now out of harms way and turned back to them. That's when I shot my last picture. Two cubs standing there, one in the tree and mom moving towards them. And then I was outta there.
Uh oh. Temperature is dropping. Looks like a cold night ahead.
11/27/99 Hiking Bote Mountain Trail:
Man it was cold this morning. I woke up around 4am and it felt like the low 20's or teens. However, the water only had ice crystals so the temperature must have been in the low 30's. I guess the dampness from the previous 2 days of rain was eating into me, making things feel colder than they really were.
I waited till 10am for things to warm up before I started for Bote Mountain Trail. I couldn't find it yesterday but found it at the end of a picnic area during this morning's walk.
I had a stupid cotton T-shirt on again and again it presented some problems. For some reason I left the Gortex jacket in the truck and instead took my everyday jacket, which has a light fleece liner. The middle layer was the Polartec 100 sweater.
The 3.5 mile trail started out flat and then a gradual incline for the first mile or so and then began a less gradual ascent. Things got steeper after that and when I started to exert myself on the incline a problem arose. I was perspiring and was hot on the inside but it was too cold to take the coat off. I did get rid of the cotton T-shirt and hope I never wear one again out while hiking. I finally replaced the coat with a Polartec vest. My arms were still cold but my torso was warm.
The trail wound its way along beside a spring with lots of consecutive 1-2 foot waterfalls that were really pretty. Everything was still wet from the rains and the stream had a lot of water coming down from the mountains.
Just after noon I reached the top of the trail and sat down in the sunshine for a couple of granola bars. Just as I started back down, a whole herd of horses with people on them came up the same trail. Horses have the right-a-way so I stepped off the trail to let all 10 of them pass. I expected lots of horse sh*t on the way down and wasn't disappointed.
I hope I pay attention to my the little lesson that was driven home to me today. It was a gentle but forceful reminder that proper layering of clothing and material is a very important and very serious matter in the mountains, just as it is when out paddling.