This was the middle trip of an amazing three week run of off trail hikes that Jean
and I were able to do with Ed. The previous weekend we had all done the trip I
led for the SMHC up Toms Creek to Mt Cammerer, and the next week up we would
climb up the Bent Arm Manway and descend down Newt Prong. But of the three,
West Prong might have been our favorite. We hit perfect fall weather at peak
colors and spent the day in a dome of gold and orange listening to Ed’s stories
and descriptions of the wild forest around us.
The West Prong.
Our
plan was simple. We would hike up the Bote Mountain Trail, then go east on the
“Cross Trail” to the head of the West Prong of the Little River. We would
descend the West Prong all the way to Campsite 18 on the official West Prong
Trail. Then we would take the trail back to Bote Mountain to form a long,
skinny loop. I would briefly cross the route of our Edens Garden hike from the
previous year, but otherwise the off trail descent would all be new to us.
Though this drainage was likely one of the last logged before the creation of
the park, the 1931 map only showed two short connectors from Bote Mountain down
to the valley, and the 1949 map showed no active routes in the valley. Based on
some follow up trips that I’ll describe briefly, this 2007 trip found
remarkably open forest compared to normal conditions, or maybe it was just Ed’s
skill in reading the forest that got us through so easily. We were also luckily
to have low water, making the many crossings of the West Prong easier.
Along the West Prong.
We
left the Schoolhouse Gap Trailhead at 8:30 and arrived at the Cross Trail at
10:30. I recorded a GPS track and Jean took pictures. Despite its nickname, the
Cross Trail is an unmaintained manway that connects the Bote Mountain Trail to
the Defeat Ridge manway by contouring at around 3800’. By 11AM we reached the
dry, upper reaches of the West Prong.
Ed and I at lunch time.
We
started down a small ridge just to the east and joined the main stem of the
West Prong where its first tributary enters from the east. We continued down
the right, or east side which was beautiful open country with lots of huge
trees. Ed knows all the Smokies trees and pointed out holly, cherry, and
sassafras among others. We hit a small amount of rhodo just above Bee Cove, but
we were always able to work our way around any rhodo on this trip. This would
be all stand up walking with no badly tangled areas. Our footing was good all
day. But we were far enough off on the right side and missed the mouths of
several of the creeks. 
Fall colors from the Bote Mountain Trail.
We
saw the first sign of an old railroad grade between Bee Cove and Long Branch. There
was one old bucket above the railroad grade, and a few sections of decent path
remained. We did not use the grade much until we reached a narrow section of
the valley near Edens Garden, where the grade was mostly on the left bank.
Above BM 2084’ we found a plastic tarp and remains of an old campsite. Near BM
2084’ there was a 50’ vertical rock on the right side of the creek. We wondered
if the BM was on top of it.
Below
Edens Garden the canyon narrowed and there were approximately 20 crossings, but
all were easy due to the low water. As the valley opened up again we saw two
open areas that might have been used for old logging camps. We reached CS 18 at
3:30 PM after 4.2 miles, 4:30 of off trail hiking, and a total of 12 miles of
hiking.
We
saw a horse group of 9 as we hiked the trail out. The weather had been perfect;
clear, cool, and no wind. I had hiked mostly in a T-shirt.
We
decided this trip would make a great SMHC hike, but only at low water .
My
next trip into the West Prong would be on the 5-14-11 SMHC trip up Bee Cove to
the top of Thunderhead Mountain that crosses this route at the base of Bee
Cove. Bee Cove rates as a separate trip, but there would be three later
attempts to recreate the magic of this trip All three trips served to teach the
lesson of how access to the Smokies off trail changes with time. I took GPS
tracks of each route, but only have a few pictures.
10-16-11
This
trip included Jean, Ed, and Claudia. To save time we hiked up Bote Mountain
Trail to the Lead Cove Trail junction at Sandy Gap, then followed the West
Prong Downstream to Campsite 18 for a 9.6 mile hike. The hike took 6:30. I took
a GPS track and Jean took pictures. The upper valley was wide open, and in the
full glory of fall colors. We found a “cave” formed under a large boulder.
Getting ready to descend to the West Fork.
But
water levels were higher vs 2007, and once we were in the narrow section below
Edens Garden, we needed to make many crossings. But the valley opened back up
above Lower Chestnut Branch. We found two propane canisters and some pink
flags, and retrieved a nearly new tarp from CS 18.
10-7-12
This
SMHC trip was designed to walk the full descent of the West Prong from the
Cross Trail to CS 18, but fell prey to rainy weather that moved in after lunch.
The group abandoned soggy West Prong and climbed out to the Bote Mountain Trail
at Hickory Tree Gap. Hikers included Clyde, Mike, Jenny, and Andy Zimmerman. I
was happy to be bailing out. I wore sneakers instead of boots, didn’t have good
mitts, and needed more warm clothes.
10-15-16
Jean
and I gave West Prong another shot and brought Claudia along for this 9 mile
hike. We started at the Cross Trail, and made it down to Sandy Gap at the Lead
Cove/Bote Mountain trails junction. The upper valley was still gloriously open
and home to numerous huge trees, but we soon found ourselves trudging through
far more rhodo and dog hobble than we had bargained for. We ate lunch at the
Bee Cove junction and there we made the decision to head up to the trail. One
positive was the state of the Cross Trail. We’d heard from friends Cheryl and
Curtis that it was getting some elf maintenance. The short section we saw was
in good shape, with rhodo up to 2” having been cut. This would lead to our
April 2017 rehike of the Cross Trail between Bote Mtn. and Thunderhead Prong.
Fall colors from the Bote Mountain Trail.
