The
Groundhog Ridge manway is another of the better known manways in the Smokies.
It offers a short, but astonishingly steep route to the scenic lookout tower
atop Mt. Cammerer. The manway is fairly clear and relatively easy to follow,
you might not even be surprised to see someone else walking it. Jean and I were
interested in trying the route, and jumped at the chance to go when Phillip and
Terri led the route for the Smoky Mountains Hiking Club.
The Mt Cammerer Lookout Tower.
Our
group of fifteen had a perfect day for the hike; warm, clear, and with the
dazzlingly bright leaves of the peak fall colors. We would hike up the manway,
and return down the usual route on the Appalachian and Low Gap trails back to
the Cosby CG TH. We set up a short shuttle, and started where Groundhog Creek
crosses TN 32. I
was taking a GPS track, but like in much steep terrain reception was poor. We
took some slides, and also got copies of a few digital images from friends.
The SMHC hikers on Groundhog Ridge.
The
manway starts as a wide old road alongside Groundhog Creek. It is easy walking
to the crossing of the Lower Mount Cammerer Trail. The manway had seen some
clipping, and there were only a few blowdowns. There were a couple small
splits, but the main path was plain to see. It took 45 minutes to reach Lower
Mt Cammerer Trail, and another hour for the much steeper, and more exhilarating
leg, to the summit. One sheer pitch led to another twisting through rocky
outcrops, with periodic neck bending views of the tower above us. The last few chutes
required pullups on rhodo branches, but for the most part, all of this was good
fun.
On Groundhog Ridge.
Mt
Cammerer is popular for its fall vistas and the historic tower on the summit,
so it was a big surprise to have the tower to ourselves. The Friends of the
Smokies rehabilitated the tower later in the early 90s, but the tower was
already deteriorating. After an hour for lunch and time enjoying the views we
headed back, down the trail this time.
We
waited a suspiciously long time at the junction with the AT for the back of the
group. It turns out Terri had taken a fall at the tower, gashing her right
knee, and hurting her left wrist. The cut on the knee was bloody and deep.
After getting it wrapped, and declining the group’s attempt to build a litter
from hiking poles and old pair of blue jeans we’d found in the woods, she was
able to hobble slowly out. Jean went ahead with the main group, while I stayed back
with others to help Terri. 
With Michael on Cammerer.
The
lead group reported the accident to the park, and a ranger was able to get a
jeep about a half mile above the first split in the trail from the campground.
Terri rode down to the campground, and the rest of us were happy to be able to
walk a normal pace back to hiker parking after a 6 hour descent. I ended up
driving Terri to Baptist West, and then Phillip dropped me off at home about
8:30. We’d focused our concern on Terri’s knee because the wound was dramatic,
but her broken wrist kept her out of commission for longer than the knee wound
took to heal.
As
much fun as the Groundhog Ridge climb proved to be, we’ve since used it
primarily as a return route for other adventures on Cammerer, mostly scouting
and leading hikes for the SMHC. Heavy use of the manway has scoured it down to a
corkscrew mudslide through the rhododendron. The oddest thing I’ve found in the
manway was portable fishing set up, presumably hauled in from Big Creek.
The
NPS doesn’t sanction the pullout at the base of the manway, but they do keep
track of it. Returning from a scouting trip with Ed, we found a NPS vehicle
parked next to Ed’s old pickup and my equally old corolla. Not too long later a
ranger came by and asked us if we’d been up the manway. We assumed someone had
reported our vehicles, and that the ranger had been hiding the woods to make sure
were hadn’t been poaching.
