This was a Clyde-led SMHC trip, and I was technically the coleader, filling in for Terri Cox. I recorded a GPS track for the route, but do not have any digital pictures from the trip. We had a group of six, including Charlie, Alan Householder, Jack Payne, and David Smith(?). The route started up the Bote Mountain Trail, dropped cross-country down to the West Prong, climbed up the valley of Edens Garden to Defeat Ridge, went down the ridge to Hornet Tree Top, then descended Long Branch to Thunderhead Prong. We had shuttled cars to the upper Tremont Trailhead.
The
first off trail section from the Bote Mountain Trail down to the West Prong of
the Little River was easy. The 1931 map shows an old trail here, but we found
no trace of it. At West Prong we found some downed trees, and were able to
cross the West Prong with dry feet. The lower section of Edens Garden proved to
be the toughest part of the trip, but was very pretty with nearly a nonstop
series of cascades. There were no long rhodo sections, just steep, slow
climbing.
Near
the top of the lower section a creek comes in from the left. I followed Charlie
down from a higher route to join the group at the confluence. Unfortunately,
Jack kept to the high route and missed the group. Alan Householder and I gave
chase. Both of us were chasing Jack, who
was busy chasing us. Clyde claimed Alan’s llama wrangling skills were what
enabled him to reel Jack back in. Having our group split up, even for a short
time, scared the heck out of us.
In
the flatter “middle” section of the creek Alan found an orange fleece coat
caught on some rhodo. Clyde identified it as the coat Terri had lost on their
scouting trip. We dubbed it the golden fleece, and as her proxy I returned it
to her, holes and all.
The
middle section of Edens Garden was easier, with mostly dog hobble in the
understory. Then the upper section was steep, but in open hardwoods. We hit Defeat
Ridge on target. At lunch I figured out we must be close to the Defeat Ridge
manway where it switchbacks onto the ridge climbing up from New World. A quick
side trip found the manway only 50 feet away. The 1931 map showed an old trail
down the ridge, and then down Long Branch, but on the ridge the manway was hit
or miss at best through occasional thick underbrush.
The
exit off Hornet Tree Top is tough. On the map it looks like a 90 degree turn,
but on the ground it seemed more like 180 degrees. The descent down Long Branch
was steep, but clear and rhodo free. We saw traces of the old railroad grade in
the branch as we descended. Once we reached Thunderhead Prong, it was a
familiar mile back to our cars at upper Tremont TH for a total of about seven
miles. We passed one hiker with a dog on along Thunderhead Prong.
We
were back at the cars at 5:30PM after a 9AM start. This was a great route, and
almost all of it new to me. But I was more interested in coming back to try
some of the creeks parallel to Edens Garden, such as the neighboring Devils
Nest, just for variety. Charlie described them all as about the same as what we
had just hiked.
Mike
Harrington planned a return hike to Hornet Tree Top for the SMHC in 2023, but
unfortunately had to cancel the hike due to bad weather. But Mike would
certainly have scouted the hike and would have far more current information on
the route.
