Brief Description:
A weekend of hiking in the Cades Cove
area of the Smokies.
Post Trip Report:
Seven
members participated in the Cades Cove camping/hiking
trip for the weekend July 25-27. It's hard to
believe it has already been one
year since we camped at Gee Creek Campground for our first club outing.
That o
ne
was hampered by bad storms
which
made us even more determined this year to accomplish completed hikes.
Friday evening we were able to establish the campsite and set out for a
2.5 mile evening hike with Ranger Mike and his intern Owen. There were a
total of 65 participants in this event. They first had us place
red cellophane on our flashlight
beams to preserve our night vision as we walked along the cove road to
Sparks
Lane where we actually completed a small stream crossing
and then headed back to the information center via a
road through the park stables. While on the road Ranger
Mike shared historical data and some myths
regarding the life in Cades Cove. He allowed us to listen to bat radar
through a radar device and shared a cove mystery around Josiah Gregory's
cave. Many wondered through the years on whether Josiah really had a
nightclub and a still in the cave. Josiah would only say
"maybe and then again maybe not."
Saturday morning we woke to
a down pour of rain which didn't stop us
from
cooking our pancake and bacon
breakfast, accented by blueberry flavored coffee (a special treat). Our
canopy was large enough to provide shelter from the rain. Ron, Joann and
Paul Ketron did most of the cooking. Paul and Barbara brought the
special coffee from their site. We hung around for a couple of
hours to see if the rain would let us set out for a
hike. We finally decided to start
down the cove road in the auto tour. We were determined that this trip
was not going to keep us at the campsite. When we visited the
first stop at the Oliver residence the rain stopped
and never restarted for the rest of
the day. We observed several doe and wild turkeys along the cove road.
We then hiked to Josiah's cave to inspect this cove mystery. We found
the cave has been barred by park officials (no exploring) and we also
agree that maybe this was the place for underground activities but then
maybe not. We did a couple more off road hikes. One in particular was to
the John Oliver house where we met a park volunteer guarding a
copperhead that had sought refuge in a hollow stump. He actually came to
observe it
because
he has a keen interest in snakes. We viewed this snake which appeared to
be satisfied at its location.
Of course Ron had to take a picture
of the snake. Along this trail we had the chance to observe a small fawn
and its mother. The fawn was very curious of us and would run
back to mom upon several attempts to
investigate us. Upon returning to
our vehicles we noticed five bucks in the field and took sometime to
observe
them (total miles hiked at this point 3+). By
the time we made it to Abrams Falls trailhead (total 4.6 miles) it
seemed a definite go. The skies looked
fairly clear so we packed up our gear and set on the trail. The trail
was very busy and seemed to be a busy
thoroughfare at one point
with people coming down the trail passing as many people heading up the
trail. Once we reached the falls we
enjoyed a snack and putting our feet in the water, a refreshing break.
We spent one-half hour at the falls before heading back. On the
way down the trail some of us enjoyed dips in the cool stream. Along
this trail we found some wild blueberries, bleeding hearts and several
of the little brown Jug
plant.
We continued our adventure to the Old Grist Mill site and store,
taking a bathroom break and
recovering. We proceeded to the campsite where we enjoyed homemade
chili, fruit salad, slaw, veggies and homemade ice cream
(Butterfinger flavoring) around a campfire. How did we have homemade ice
cream? We took turns cranking a hand
crank ice cream machine! -five minutes a piece-Sunday
we broke campsite and had a light breakfast of instant oatmeal. We said
goodbye to Barbara and Paul who planned to complete a 7.1 mile hike out
of the cove themselves before heading home. We continued to
Metcalf Bottoms to hike the trail to the Little Greenbrier School house
and the Walker Sister's house (total 3.6 miles). It just happened to be
homecoming day at the school so when we emerged from the
wooded trail area we found tables
of
food and many people congregating inside and outside the school house.
We were invited to stay but
humbly bowed out and continued another 1.1 miles to the Walker Sister's
homestead. On this trail we came within 20-feet of two deer
peacefully grazing on the edge of the roadway to
the homestead. We took a few minutes
to enjoy their presence before they decided to continue deeper into
the woods. We spent a few minutes walking around the homestead
checking out the spring and the rooms in
the house before heading back toward
the school house. We stopped by the creek for a short snack break and
preceded to the school where
we tried to connect to our trailhead without interrupting the
homecoming, park officials were there. Toward the end of the
trail we spotted a snake near a stump marked similar to a
copperhead but it didn't have a
broad head, we suppose it may be a corn
snake.
We parted at Metcalf Bottoms at about 1 p.m. and headed home. We
hiked a total of approximately 13 miles for the total trip including a
few off road
hikes along the cove road.
Park personnel were fabulous and we
wouldn't hesitate to do a return trip. All had a good time. The
wildlife
was great Special thanks to Ron for his kitchen expertise and yummy
chili, Barb and Paul Ketron for
good food and some spur of the
moment hike exploration, Joann for bacon and veggies, Sherri for
homemade Butterfinger ice
cream, and Jane for hot dogs and for being the fire wood marshal. It
couldn't have been a success
without everyone contributing. Participants were, Paul and Barbara
Ketron, Jane Bohannon, Joann
Jackson, Sherri
Stewart, and leaders, Esther and Ron Nunley.
Contact the Webmaster