2015, 9-12 Cumberland Trail Run Obed/Catoosa

I had volunteered to lead the Obed River section of the Cumberland Trail with Mark Shipley for the Smoky Mountains Hiking Club as part of their 2016 schedule. I had last hiked this section of the CT in 2006, and suspected I’d need to scout it again. I also was trying to build up my running conditioning at the time and thought it might be fun to try the trail as a run. With sweeping duties for the Barkley Fall Classic 50K coming up the following week, I needed to get a good workout in without totally exhausting myself. Mark wasn’t able to come, but I was able to corral my go to guy for key swap hikes/runs, Brian Williams. Brian is a fun guy to be around, but he is far too fast for me to run with. Consequently, we’d paired up for several key swaps where we ended up driving each other’s car to opposite ends of a trail ,and swapping off the keys as we passed on the trail.

Brian would be running with his friend William, and I’d assembled Leonard, DK, and Tony from our Haw Ridge Tuesday Group. The pictures I have from the run are from one of them, most likely Tony, as I was too busy trying to navigate and keep up while we were on the trail. My group drove Brian’s car to the Rock Creek Trailhead and hiked east to west to Daddy’s Creek aka Devils Breakfast Table Trailhead.

The Obed River from the Cumberland Trail.

Leonard on the trail.

Our section started on the Obed Wild and Scenic River, managed by the  NPS. Though I’d been hearing stories of poor trail conditions, including impassable trail sections, the start was in pretty good shape, mostly because the trail was in an old forest where little light was getting to the understory. We were able to run most of the NPS section to Alley Ford  and much of the plateau section past Breakaway Bluff, though I missed the side trail to the bluff. But beyond that in the Catoosa WMA, going down into the gorge and through it was very technical with plenty of rocks, roots, twists, and turns. The descent down to Anvil Rock at the end of the plateau section was particularly steep.

Rock Steps.

Just past Anvil Rock we encountered Brian and William and swapped our keys. They mentioned they had run little to that point because of rough footing. We found the trail along the river to be mostly rocky, uneven old railroad grade with the ties long since rotted out. Once we climbed out of the gorge bottom, we reached a band of cliffs where there were several rock houses and a rock passage. Back up on the rim we checked out all the overlooks, and Rain House.

Trail in the gorge.

Overlook above the gorge.

We walked the final section into the Daddy’s Creek Trailhead in roughly six hours for the 14 miles, which didn’t bode well for a quick SMHC trip. We’d seen no other people on the hike, and little sign of any other recent hikers, but DK and Tony did see a sounder of five wild hogs. On the drive back I noted that the gravel WMA roads were completely unsigned, and that I’d need to make sure all the drivers had maps to the trailheads for the club trip. Still, the roads are well maintained and good for mountain biking. Catoosa Mountain Bike Blog 

The CT thru the Obed and Catoosa.

The SMHC trip that followed the next May could have gone better. My group from Rock Creek to Daddy’s Creek was a little slow working through all the rocks and poison ivy. Mark had been unable to scout his route beforehand, and wore out some of his group with 40 minutes of bushwhacking just trying to find the start of the trail, before they finally gave up and bushwhacked to it. When the two groups met, my group was well past halfway and so we picked up one tired hiker from Mark’s group.

Jean on the SMHC trip.

View from the CT to the Obed River.

2015, 8-22, Mount LeConte via Roaring Fork

In the early years of hiking in the Smokies Roaring Fork was one of the main routes to the top of Mt LeConte. Many a Smoky Mountains Hiking Club adventure began with a trip to Gatlinburg followed by the long, steep climb to LeConte Lodge up Roaring Fork. Once the CCC trails were built in the Smokies in the 1930s, Roaring Fork, and the other pre-CCC routes, became less popular as people wisely opted for the maintained trails.

But the hiking club has always maintained a fondness for off trail hiking up LeConte. Whether it is just to keep the old traditions alive, to prove oneself rugged enough to make the climb, or simply to enjoy the beauty of the rarely followed creeks with their endless cascades and huge trees, the club periodically schedules hikes up Roaring Fork. The climb is a long and difficult day full of wading creeks, scrambling over rocky bluffs, and wrestling the Smokey’s famously thick brush. But the payoff is well worth it; the chance to pass the tests of fitness, endurance, and route finding, and the chance to experience the Smokies in their primal state devoid of the signs of mankind.

The 2015 Roaring Fork hike showed all the pleasures and pitfalls of making the trip with the club. Twenty-two hikers showed up, far too many for a single group on a difficult route. The leaders had attempted to prescreen the hikers to determine if they were all prepared for the upcoming test, but several were clearly not ready for what awaited them. Among the prepared were two of my usual off trail partners; Mark and Ed, along with three of my hard core running buddies, Kathy, Tony, and Kirby. We planned to hike up with the group, then return by running back down the mountain, so we were hoping for a fast group overall.

But right away it was apparent this would be a slow group. We moved OK up the Trillium Gap Trail, but it took us 30 minutes just to make the slight detour around Grotto Falls at the start of the off trail section. A couple of the hikers were already having troubles, but the leaders were unable to convince them to turn around. Then the leader shot off up the creek with two others in tow, and the rest of the hikers just trying to hang on. Fortunately, despite a lot of recent rain, the creek was low and the going easy, for walking up a creek. The lower part of Roaring Fork is really pretty, we got a chance to enjoy the pools and cascades up close. Our first break was another very long one.

Finally, the leader turned around to send the laggards back down to Grotto Falls. Mark and Ed, who had both done the route before, led the group on, while I waited with Ken for the remaining hikers to rejoin us. Two hikers were persuaded to leave the group and the leader went down to Grotto Falls with them, planning to return to the main group. Next the sweeper finally arrived at our break spot with another hiker who then decided to return to the falls from that point. The sweeper then needed to return with the last hiker so now we were without either of our leaders and spread all over the mountain. If this sounds like a complicated mess, well yes it was. But fortunately, enough of us had been on the route to keep the group moving along.

I hiked up to the confluence at 4600.’ The main group had missed the turn and was reassembling there. We went up the right fork with me sweeping. We ended up following the creek more closely than I had on either previous trip (2006 and 2012). I remember a small twin stream cascade (Twin Falls?) followed by a larger one before reaching Dome Falls where we stopped for lunch. My GPS had trouble tracking here so my map isn’t 100% right. Climbing the cliffs past Dome Falls looked pretty nasty, but we got around on the left side. The next set of cliffs was trickier. Some of the group looked right and I got nominated to check left. It took a while to confirm the left side would go and by that time the group had committed to the right fork. I was with two of the Page sisters. We climbed to the left side of what we thought was the main fork parallel to the group and often within sight or hearing of them. In between the two groups was a nasty draw full of blowdowns, so we made no effort to connect back up.

This section was a series of steep short cliffs and pulling ourselves up through the forest. There were no bad briers or rhodo, but still steep, hard going. Above the falls, Roaring Fork barely flowed. We finally got back in the creek bed, and joined the tail end of the main group at around 6000’.The forest here was easier walking then we remembered. We came out on the Rainbow Falls Trail just a few 100 feet from the junction with the Alum Cave Trail near LeConte Lodge, so somehow we’d gone a bit too far right. Mark had made it up an hour before me, and Kirby, Kathy, and Tony had arrived about 30 minutes later. I jogged off to the summit then returned to the group at the Lodge.

Mark and I ran down via Trillium Gap. I don’t remember how Kathy, Tony, and Kirby returned. Trillium Gap is very tough running above the prominent switch back, but then is smoother below. Lucky for me it had just been weed whacked, so I had no smashed toes this time. I took it really easy, not wanting to hurt my toes or knees. I saw Greg Hoover hiking back up, and 1 other hiker from our group, Peter who supplied us some pictures. I got to the Lodge about 3:15, left the top about 3:39. At 6:30 we were still in Gatlinburg, and I didn’t get home until 8PM. My GPS recorded 10.1 miles for the loop.

Dome Falls.

A few notes from my previous trips up Roaring Fork 

7-8-2012, Mount LeConte via Roaring Fork

This SMHC trip was led by Jenny Bennett and used the standard route with access via Trillium Gap and Grotto Falls, and a return via the Brushy Mountain and Trillium Gap trails. Basically, we hiked up the creek to the base of Dome Falls. We started with a steep first pitch to the falls above Grotto Falls, then we did two short side trips on the right, passed a small island in the creek, and reached the major junction at 4600’. Soon there were some cliffs to our right and a long thin cascade with two strands that possibly was Double Falls. We cut right through thick brush, and then weren’t able to find a clear way to get back down to the creek. We ended up going far to the right (west) of our 2006 route. There were no scary spots like on the 2006 route, but a lot of 5-10’ cliff bands to navigate. The two toughest were around 5000’, one was a 6-foot slot  and the other a 20’ cliff that we worked around the right side of. This steep section took a lot of time, but had the advantage of keeping us out of the rhodo. Eventually the grade eased, and we entered a stand of mature fir. We passed one fir with a NPS survey tag on it and knew “civilization” was finally close. We reached the Rainbow Falls Trail a few hundred yards before the Alum Cave Trail junction. I walked on the summit cairn, before our group of six headed down. We arrived back at the cars around 9:30PM after about 11 miles.

Jenny’s blog, and photos about the scouting trip for the hike are here: https://streamsandforests.wordpress.com/2012/06/18/roaring-fork/

6-24-2006, Mount LeConte via Roaring Fork and Rocky Spur

My first trip up Roaring Fork was a Smoky Mountains Hiking Club trip led by Alan Householder. There were six of us, including Mark, Tom, and David. We took the standard route up Trillium Gap Trail to Grotto Falls and then moved to the manway on the right side of the falls. The start was very steep, but we kept close to the creek with just a few detours. Alan told us the first fork at 4600’ was a good spot to cut up to the Trillium Gap Trail if a bail out was needed. Beyond 4600’ the route got much steeper with a series of rock walls, most of which we passed on the right side. The whole route is difficult with little easy walking and a lot of sections needing hand holds. We saw Dome Falls, a series of three cascades, supposedly the highest combined falls in the park. The crux of the trip was bypassing the falls on the right. The rocks here were wet, loose, and moss covered. One hiker banged his head on an overhang while trying to stand up, releasing a torrent of blood that fortunately proved less severe than it was scenic. The route finally eased as we approached the fir forest, but placed one last batch of blowdowns in our path. With Alan’s guidance we arrived right at the spring at the Lodge, which is the ultimate source for Roaring Fork.

Tom went back with David by trail, and the remaining four of us returned via Rocky Spur. We left the Rainbow Falls Trail at 5200’ just as a light rain began to fall briefly. Initially the route was a narrow rhodo tunnel which we mostly slid down on our butts. At a saddle just below 4800’ we turned left off the ridge to a hemlock forest that hid a massive boulder pile. I gingerly stepped through the moss covered holes thinking about how easy it would be to get hurt falling in the holes between the rocks. But soon we were enjoying some open forest before we headed down to a small creek to do battle with a little more rhodo. Near the very end we pulled out of the creek onto a small ridge and emerged right at the trailhead for a total hike of about 7 miles. My notes show the entire hike took nine hours, with the descent taking three.

2015, 8-1, Rocky Mountain National Park

Our original goal for our 2015 vacation was Glacier National Park, but early on in our planning we realized Glacier was just too big an area to visit in just a weeklong trip. We turned our focus to Rocky, in part because of its easy access and direct flights from Knoxville to Denver. That’s not to imply that Rocky is a second class destination, it still one of the finest hiking areas in the NPS system. Jean had visited the park once with her family, and I had been there twice before on short peak bagging visits.

2015 was a really busy year for both of us, so we decided to make the trip as simple as possible. Like our last vacation to Oregon and Washington in 2013, we decided to skip any backpacking, and just took gear for day hikes. We also decided to stay the entire week in Estes Park, booking an apparent record 8 nights in a row at the America’s Best Value Inn on US 34.

8-1-15 Cub Lake Loop, 6.2 miles

We took a United flight from Knoxville to Denver and rented a car from the disorganized folks at Thrifty. We drove to Estes Park and got to our room about 2PM for a quick rest. Next, we stopped at the VC for some hiking ideas before hitting the Cub Lake TH. We hiked a loop to west including Cub Lake, The Pool, and the Fern Lake Trailhead. Right away we knew we were in luck with the wildflowers in full bloom. The tight rocky gorge around the Fern Lake Trail was amazing. After the green tunnels of the Smokies, we appreciated the towering peaks and almost nonstop views. We finished the loop about 7PM mountain. time, and found out that Estes Park was a real zoo on Saturday evenings.

Deer near Cub Lake.

8-2-15, Bear Lake Loop, 8.1 miles and

Bear Lake to Bierstadt, 4.2 miles

Jean has had problems in the past with altitude sickness, so we decided to stay low and string together some of the prettiest destinations in our day hikers guide. Rocky has a convenient free trailhead shuttle, so we rode it to Glacier Gorge and did a loop with Alberta Falls, Mills Lake, Dream Lake, Emerald Lake, and around Bear Lake. We had a nice surprise at Lake Haiyaya, we pulled out our Trails Illustrated Map and found we were at the exact spot where the cover picture had been taken. Rocky is a popular park, but even so, Dream Lake was as crowded a backcountry spot as I’ve seen.

We took the shuttle back into town to grab an afternoon nap, then shuttled back out to Bear Lake for the shorter one way hike to Bierstadt Lake. We thought the route was poorly signed but maybe that was why the trails were so nice and quiet. This was the park’s 100^th anniversary which may have caused some of the congestion. Conditions included heavy rain in June and early July with great flowers and lush forests. Temperatures were ~80F during the day and ~50F in the AM. We hiked mostly in shorts and tee shirts throughout the trip.

Lake Haiyaya.

Alberta Falls.

8-3-15, Alpine Ridge and Rock Cut 1.8 miles

Lulu City and Little Yellowstone. 9.0 miles

To give Jean a little bit of altitude exposure we decided to drive over Trail Ridge Road and try a hike on the west side of the park. On the drive we stopped at the Alpine VC and walked the short, paved trail, which was enough to give Jean a mild headache. Then we hiked to the old mining town of Lulu City and added on a trip north to the Little Yellowstone Trail, both low elevation enough that her headache abated. The trail was in great shape, and we enjoyed exploring the ruins around the Shipley Cabins. We decided on any later visits to spend more time on the less crowded west side. On the return we stopped again at Alpine VC, and made the mistake of buying lunch at the crowded cafeteria, yuck. Next, we hiked the paved interpretive trail at Rock Cut where we saw some bighorn sheep. Drove back to Estes Park on US 34 for variety.

Jean on the trail to Lulu City.

Bighorn sheep on the Ute Trail.

8-4-15, Ute Trails West and East, 8.4 and 4.0 miles

Hoping that Jean was better used to the altitude, we planned to hike the Ute Trail west of the Alpine VC. It was windy in town, so we packed warm gear and found it to be gusty and 41F at the VC. I wore a hooded fleece top with mittens and long pants all day long. The first 1.25 miles was so windy we hardly noticed all the blooming flowers, but beyond two small ponds the trail was more sheltered. Even below tree line in the spruce and fir we were getting good views. This was perhaps the most scenic trail of the trip so far, and a nice easy grade, at least until the steep drop down to Milner Pass.

We ate a snack at the VC on the way back then drove out to the east section of the Ute Trail. We hadn’t counted on the return of the wind, which was ferocious. We struggled out to the end of the gentle alpine section at about two miles. Going back against the wind was even tougher, we were jostled around enough that sometimes even our booted feet were being blown off course.

Wild Flowers along the Ute Trail.

Fighting the wind on the Ute Trail.

8-5-15, Deer Mtn. Loop, 11.1 miles

At 10,013’ Deer Mountain isn’t a giant of the range, but it’s a great, relatively overlooked hike. Despite having the longest mileage of any single hike on our trip, we picked it for an easy day, as we ended up doing the full loop. We especially enjoyed the summit views stretching from the Twin Sisters to the Mummy Range, and the open forest o

Jean and I on the summit of Deer Mtn.

n the lower section, reminiscent of the Black Hills. On the return drive we discovered a low tire on the rental car and spent 2 hours at the Big O in Estes Park. After dinner, we found a town greenway in back of our hotel and got in a 1.5 mile walk around Estes Lake.

Mt. Ypsilon from Deer Mtn.

8-6-15, Flattop Mountain, 8.8 miles

Deer Mtn was our warmup for the climb to 12,324’ Flattop Mountain, the highest peak in the park with an official trail, excluding Longs Peak. I had climbed Flattop in 1989 on a visit to the park with my folks. We were too early for the Bear Lake shuttle, and pulled into the TH at 6:30 with ~20 cars already there. Shorts and t-shirts and 55F at the start. The trail was rocky, and I was glad to have my pole. We got above tree line near Emerald Lake Overlook. We put on heavier clothes here to break the wind. Jean had some altitude issues near the top (~8:50) and we were glad to find some partial shelter for lunch with a view of Tyndall Glacier. We were back down to the trailhead at noon with enough energy to walk the far side of the Bear Lake Loop. On the return Sprague Lake parking was full. We also walked the Alluvial Fan Trail, and another 1.5 mi on the Estes Lake Trail. We’d been eating dinner mostly at Subway or from the Safeway, but decided to head for the new restaurant near the Fall River VC, Great idea, good food and no crowds.

Morning light ascending Flattop.

Jean and I on Flattop Mountain.

8-7-15, Twin Sisters Peak, 6.9 miles

Beaver Mountain Loop, 5.9 miles

Twin Sisters Peak had been on my list since my first visits to the park in the 1980s. the peaks sit just east of the main range across from Longs, and are renowned for their early morning views of the heart of the Rocky Mountains. Just after spotting some elk and just before the start of the switchbacks we hit our first surprise, a huge landslide scar 50-100’ across remaining from the 2013 floods. The summit is crowded with towers, but the views of Longs, the Continental Divide and the Mummy Range are fantastic.

Back at the trailhead we elected to hike around Lily Lake (2.4 miles). Part way around, a photographer waved us over for a look at a pair of moose grazing along the lake. Grazing might be too polite a term, these guys were demolishing a grove of small aspen.

Jean was looking for some hangout time, so we headed over to the Beaver Meadows Campground. She stayed at the Picnic Area, and I ran a loop around the Lower Ute and Beaver Mountain trails. It had been a long time since I’d run at that elevation, so the climbs were slow, but I was able to stride out on some of the gentler terrain. We ate again at the restaurant near the US 34 entrance.

On the top of Twin Sisters.

Landslide scar on Twin Sisters.

Moose at Lily Lake.

8-8-15, Ouzel Lake, 10.3 miles

With time running short, we headed over to the Wild Basin area. We checked out Copeland, Calypso, and Ouzel falls and some of the backcountry sites. The weather was chilly again, so we didn’t linger long at Ouzel Lake or the falls. This is a part of the park that deserves much more exploration and looked to be great for backpacking. I felt good enough back at the hotel to run the full 4 miles of the Lake Estes Loop Trail in 36 minutes, a decent time for me in those days.

Jean in Wild basin.

Jean and Hiram.

8-9-15, Lily Mountain Trail, Roosevelt NF, 4.0 miles

St Vrain State Park, Pelican Trail, 1.3 miles

Somehow, we’d managed to spend 8 days in the park with little overlap in our hikes, but we decided to hit the adjacent national forest anyway. Lily Mtn. 9,786’ was a perfect morning hike, a rolling opening mile and then a much steeper one to the summit with its views of the Front and Mummy ranges. Driving back, we ate lunch again in the Perkins in Longmont, then made a quick stop and walk in St Vrain SP to kill a little time before getting to the airport and flying back to Knoxville. The easy air access to Denver had allowed to add on two short hike days to what otherwise would have been a seven day trip.

Hiram on top of Lily Mountain.

Smokies Off-trail, Long Arm Ridge, 6-15-15,

Longarm Ridge was a hike on the 2015 SMHC schedule suggested by George Ritter. George had hiked it many years back, and remembered that the long, narrow ridge had been used to transport logs in the early days before the park. But it didn’t appear that the ridge had been hiked recently, and by handbook time, no one had volunteered to lead the hike.

In the meantime, Jean and I had discovered the wonderful Meigs home sites route in the same area on a March visit. We told the SMHC that I was not signing up to lead Longarm, but that I was willing to scout the route. I suggested that if the Longarm route wasn’t good for the SMHC trip, we could lead the home sites route instead. That was a perfect fit for the use of Ed’s skills at both route finding and discovering and interpreting old home site, so we were lucky to have him along on the trip. We planned to spot a shuttle car at the small pullout near Longarm Bridge on the Little River Road, drive over to Elkmont, and hike back for seven miles.

George's Long Arm map.

For the hike we met Ed at Longarm Bridge, and shuttled over to Elkmont with him. The lower end of Longarm Ridge pushes the Little River north into a hairpin turn. At the top of the turn, the bridge crosses the creek. This meant reaching the road on the east side would require a ford of the river. A west side route was no picnic either, with a steep rocky roadcut to descend, and no shoulder along the road.

We started at Elkmont walking through the old summer home area. At the upper end of Elkmont we detoured on a side trail over to the NPS horse barn where Ed found a stash of sycamore logs he’d been hunting for his trail maintenance work.

The Chattanooga Chimney.

On the Meigs Mountain Trail we passed a large party camped at CS 20. We easily found the east end of the home sites manway, and proceeded to show Ed the sites we’d seen in March. We had no trouble finding the home sites again, including the Eli Owenby (aka the leaning) chimney. Lunch was at the Meigs/Curry junction at the west end of the manway.

The leaning chimney.

Unfortunately, Longarm Ridge proved heavily overgrown from start to finish. The underbrush was a mix of laurel and greenbrier, neither conductive to forward progress. The easiest part was a patch of tall, mature rhodo near the start. Despite the narrowness of the ridge, we needed GPS to mark turns in two locations because our visibility was so short. We saw no sign of an old road along the ridge top, and doubted one had ever existed. We did see the trace of some old grade crossing our path in a small saddle. My GPS plot showed us mostly on the west side of the ridge, though we generally followed the ridge crest. The west slope looked too thick with rhodo to walk.

We followed the ridge to its northern end where we could look down on the road below us. We backtracked 50-100 yards to where we remembered a slight break in the roadcut that we thought we could descend. The descent route worked, but dumped us into midsummer park traffic. With limited visibility, it was hard to cross the road to where there was a shoulder. We were standing right next to the passing cars where we recognized the SMHC Program Committee chair whizzing by. We joked she was checking in on us within a minute of our finishing the scouting trip!

The Long Arm Ridge route.

 

We eventually made it back to our car in the pullout. The temperature was 87F at the trailhead, and it would later reach 97F in Alcoa on the drive home.

All three of us were convinced that Longarm Ridge would not be an appealing club hike. We told the Board that Ed and I would lead the Meigs home sites instead. Ray was initially reluctant to make the change, maybe thinking we were just being skittish about a little brush. But he relented when he realized that there was still no one to lead Longarm. George was understanding. He knew the character of unmaintained routes in the Smokies changes over time, and that this was a case where the change was not for the better. We went on to lead the Meigs home sites trip for the club on 12-5-15. I plan to make a separate write up for the Meigs Home sites routes covering all four visits, including a 11-24-19 club trip.

The December 2015 SMHC hikers.

Pickett State Forest TN, John Muir Trail, 5-30-2015

In our quest to hike or bike all the trails around the Big South Fork NRRA (BSF Map) Jean and I had the opportunity to visit some obscure destinations. The west side of the Big South Fork and adjacent Pickett State Park were less known to us, primarily because the drive was so much longer from Knoxville. But I’d gotten a chance to see some of that west side in 2001 and 2002 when Steven and I had entered the Pickett Adventure Races put on by Riversports. Both editions of the race had explored west of the State Park out into the surrounding State Forest combining long mountain bike rides with visits to spectacular cliffside overlooks. 

Start of the trail at TN 154.

But some of that mountain biking hadn’t been that much fun. Both years had included a stretch of the John Muir Trail along Rock Creek west of TN 154 in the State Forest. At first glance that route looks like easy, streamside riding. But the trail is an old railroad grade. Usually when a rail line was abandoned the rails and ties are removed for salvage. But in this case, the ties were left in place to rot, leaving tie-shaped divots across the grade. I remembered that many bikers chose to walk their bikes along the flat grade just to avoid the fierce jouncing each time a bike tire dropped into the divots left by the ties.

Beaver Dam on Rock Creek.

Jean and I had planned one earlier trip to the Muir Trail, but had abandoned that trip on a cold day when we reached the first of the many wet crossings of Rock Creek and were hardly out of site of the road. But we expected that a late May trip after rainless month would be warm enough for wet feet, and that hiking, rather than bike hauling, would make for a good second chance trip. We planned to hike from TN 154 west to the end of the trail at Wagon Gap Road. We parked in a new trailhead just south of where Rock Creek crosses TN 154.

We found our first stream crossing to be directly at the bottom of the stairs that led to the creek from the highway. There was a snake basking in the sun by the shin deep crossing. I knew we had dragged bikes through here in the 2001 race, but did not retain much of the detail from that long day. The trail now seemed much rougher, I doubted any riding would be possible. The trail was poorly maintained with lots of blow downs, fallen limbs, and overgrowth in any place where the canopy was thin. Luckily this was mostly dense, old forest. The well-built railroad grade was obvious for the first 5 miles out to Blackhorse Mtn. Road. 

The old railroad grade along Rock Creek.

We saw one pile of metal parts, a piece of sheet metal, and endless ruts from the rotted ties. There were over 30 crossings of Rock Creek. Most were wet crossings, but all were less than shin deep. I fell at one crossing, and hit hard enough to break the top off my water bottle.

BSF had first introduced bears into the park in 1996 and 1997 to study their behavior in advancement of a natural resettlement of the park lands by bears moving in from Kentucky. Of the original 14 females released from the Smokies, most took to the area, especially those “soft” released as mothers with cubs in winter dens. The park lacks a population estimate for the bears, but they’ve become gradually more common in the park. But even with all our exploring in and around the BSF Jean and I had yet to see a bear. But on the Muir Trail there were several bear scratched trees and lots of bear droppings. It seemed the bears used the trail more than the hikers did. 

Damaged bridge along upper Rock Creek.

The upper end of the trail along the main fork of Rock Creek goes through a tighter, narrower canyon, but still is densely forested. It was hard to keep oriented and hard to see the side creeks coming in.

At 2.85 miles I took a waypoint at the first of a pair of beaver dams. This marked the start of a long overgrown section. Thick laurel and holly brought our speed down well below 2 mph. There were three ruined bridges past the beaver dams. Two were tilted sideways from floodwaters, and the third had collapsed with its center section underwater. The last mile of the trail was out of the canyon and very fast walking.

Slot canyon in western end of John Muir Trail.

There were 3 trucks at the Blackhorse Mountain Trailhead parking lot, presumably partaking of ATV use of the forest roads. We’d taken 2.5 hours to cover about 5 miles. We tried to have lunch at the lot, but both Jean and I got our first ticks of the season there. 

Walking in the creek bottom.

The middle of the next section was spectacular, in the creek bottom often with steep rock walls on both sides. It was a close to a slot canyon as I’d seen on the plateau away from Honey Creek. We just walked along the creek bottom seeing another set of boot prints. This section also needed some maintenance. The trail ended at what seemed like a random point along a Wagon Gap Road, but at least there was a sign. 

Jean at Blackhorse Mtn. Road.

We retraced our route back to the TN 154 Trailhead, with Jean perking up when we got through the worst of the blowdowns. We got a few more ticks, and possibly heard a bear huffing as we crossed a creek. 

Sign at the western end at Wagon Gap Road.

Start time was 9AM, and we were back at 4PM after 13.8 miles. We also briefly checked out the Muir Trail to the east of TN 154. It started down a paved road from the trailhead. We ate dinner at Bacaras (near Sharps Place, and now permanently closed). The restaurant was quirky, not accepting credit cards, requiring reservations, and you needed to bring your own liquor. But the food was amazing. I had the pork loin with a sweet potato fritter. Jean and I stayed the night in the Jordan Motel in Jamestown. We hiked the next day in Pickett SP and the BSF checking out the east side of the John Muir Trail, Pouge Creek, plus the Ladder and Natural Bridge Trails in Pickett State Park. 

Map of the west end of the John Muir Trail, 2015.

I am not sure about the current designation of the western end of the John Muir Trail, and it is possible that the trail has been abandoned. As of early 2025 the Muir Trail does not appear on the Forest’s Road Designation Map, but “Temporary usage restrictions on roads and trails in the northwest portion of the forest have been extended until February 1, 2025.” The closure was due to “The extensive damage caused by ATVs and UTVs in the forest”. Remediation of the NW corner of the forest is 60% complete. More than 1,300 hours have been spent, and more than 1,500 tons of rock have been hauled to the forest to make repairs.” See https://www.tn.gov/agriculture/forests/state-forests/pickett.html for more Forest information.

Pickett State Park was damaged by the storm effects of Hurricane Helene in the fall of 2024, and several park hiking trails are still listed as closed as of January 2025. The John Muir Trail as described in this report west of TN 154 is also not shown on the current park map.

War at Windrock 11 Mile Trail Race, 4-11-15

Usually after Barkley I’m in no shape for anything strenuous for a couple of weeks after the race. But even after getting to Bald Knob on lap two in 2015 I recovered quickly. I’d heard a lot about the War at Windrock series and when Aaron suggested we try a race there I was excited to see what they had to offer, especially since the entire 11 mile course would be new trail for me. In their first few years, these races had been a three day event, with a hill climb, short cross country run, and a longer trail race. Despite WR’s focus as an ATV park, all the local runners I’d talked to had enjoyed racing there. For 2015 there would be just one day of racing with an 11 mile loop in the main Windrock area, and a 50K course that would visit the Windmills on Buffalo Mountain.

On race day, Aaron and I ran into problems right away. We managed to find our way to the Windrock parking area, but there was a huge ATV event going on, and no sign of our race. We drove back to Oliver Springs looking for another entrance we might have missed, but we saw no other way into Windrock. We were getting worried when we got back to the parking area, and still found no sign of our event. Luckily Aaron spotted another runner who told us that the race was set up was just above (but out of sight of) the main parking area. We cruised up there and got signed in. Just before the start someone got a great shot of the local runners who also included Steve Barber, Brian Williams, and Sho.

Some of the local runners before the race start.

Once underway, the race was a near disaster. The course was poorly marked and in lousy shape. Luckily I had taken a copy of the course map with me, but I don’t recall seeing anyone else in the race with one. Many of the 11 mile runners ended up on the 50K course, and almost everyone got lost at least once. I towed one guy along with me. I guess he figured if I could follow the Barkley course I could follow this one.

We did the first half of the CW loop as planned and I recognized the “upper Windrock” aid station #1 as the spot where I’d previously parked for runs with DK. Things got really sketchy after that as I needed to do a ton of navigating. Aid Station 2 was not set up as the crew had blown a tire along the way. So, our main reference point for the second half of the loop was gone. The last couple miles were along the valley floor and saw very heavy use by ATVs and were essentially just long mud scars. We saw no runner tracks as the ATVs pushing through the mud holes “washed” the trails clean. I’m not sure how much energy I had recovered after Barkley, but it was the navigation, not fatigue, that was the focus.

Close to the end on the final trails my parasite pulled ahead of me. We pulled into the start finish area unsure if the race was over. There were only two runners and computer person there to tell us we were done. It must have been a nightmare out there. Almost everyone had gotten lost, and most couldn’t tell the 50K from the 11 mile course. At one point there was an hour wait between finishing runners. There were multiple 5, 6, and 7 hour finishers for the 11 miler. Several runners ended up being driven in on ATVs. Aaron told me he’d gotten lost three times, and spent much of his time on the 50K course. I finished three hours ahead of him, and I’m sure he had some explaining to do when he arrived back home much later than expected.

The 11 mile course was on Windrock trails 22, 21, 15?, 24, G11?, 16, 2, and 1. The loop was around 11.5-12 miles. I finished in 2:23, 4^th out of 26 runners. Of the trails we’d run on, only 21 and 24 would have been worth repeating. Running new trails with DK was far more fun than what we did in the race.

The War at Windrock was not held again. With Windrock scheduling an ATV event on top of our race it was obvious that their priorities don’t include running races. I’m sure the organizers decided to take their races to venues where they felt more welcome. It’s unfortunate because Windrock has enough of the right type of rugged property for trail runs and other nonmotorized adventure sports, but I suppose they’re able to make enough money off the ATV riders that they don’t need to mess with their business model.

Smokies, Meigs Homesites, Off Trail, 3-15-15

The Meigs homesites trip was suggested to us by Cheryl and Curtis Travis, who had done the hike recently. The pair was doing a lot of off trail hiking at the time, with an emphasis on old homesites. Even with all their experience, they were impressed by the number of home sites, and their abundance of artifacts and easy access. They gave us their fresh intel, and such an interesting route was too good for us to pass up.

Practicalities ensued. Driving in, we found the Little River Road was closed, but the ranger told us it would open later that morning. To kill a bit of time we hiked up Chestnut Top Trail to the bend and back to enjoy the early season flowers. A quick call to park HQ confirmed the road was back open.

We hiked in from Metcalf Bottoms PC area via the Curry Mountain Trail, which is an old road and is great walking. The manway begins by heading NE from the junction of the Curry Mtn. and Megis Mtn. trails. Another less used manway heads west from the same junction. I was recording a GPS track and Jean took photos. We had a map of the homesites from C&C, but I don’t remember if I had waypoints for the homesites in advance. Total distance for the two hikes was 14.3 miles. 

The west end of the manway.

We followed an old road down into the valley, then lost the road at the crossing of a small creek, where we found a damaged hiking pole. We found the first homesite in a large open area. The first was distinguished by a large porcelain flush toilet, something I’d never expected to see in the Smokies backcountry.

Namesake for the first homesite in June 2015.

We were able to follow the manway east past some stove parts. The second homesite is a tall, but leaning chimney, which may have been the home of Eli Ownby. We had lunch at the leaning chimney. 

The leaning chimney.

In just 100’ or so on the left or north side is another chimney marking homesite #3. It had stove parts made in Chattanooga. These first three homesites are shown on the 1931 park map, along with manways heading north along Mannis Branch. Next on the left was #4, just a rock pile with a double birch nearby.

Made in Chattanooga!

We then crossed the creek again, and went over the ridge dividing Mannis Branch and Sugar Maple Branch. At the next small creek was another chimney pile with more stove parts (#5). We were astonished to find so many homesites, and so many artifacts so close to a main trail without having had any idea of what we had walked by so many times. Beyond the last homesite the manway turns up the draw to meet the Meigs Mountain Trail.

Unnamed home site.

We kept east on the Meigs Mountain Trail to cross Blanket Creek and saw another rock pile homesite at Kiver Branch. This site was potentially that of Isaac Ownby, according to our map. Our next goal was to find the Andy Brackett chimney south of us in the narrow strip between Blanket Creek and Kiver Branch. We spread out to keep the entire width of the strip in view while we walked. We had gone far enough up stream to start to assume we had missed the chimney when Jean got inspired. Instead of looking for the chimney, she looked for where the chimney should be. In this case a high spot close to the water. Almost a half mile in she finally spotted it, on the bank above Blanket Creek. The chimney was more massive than is typical for Smokies homesites, We wondered if it was built later, or if the family had been wealthier.

The Andy Brackett Chimney.

Looking at satellite photos of the area I was able to find the homesite, not by seeing its massive chimney, but by recognizing the even larger shadow it cast in the image. Generally, the Smokies are a monotonous green in summer satellite images, this was a rare case of the images being useful for exploring off trail.

Our route through the homesites.

The Meigs route shows on the 1931 map, when these home sites were likely still occupied. But it does not show on the park 1949 map. It is curious that the CCC elected to build the Meigs Mountain Trail just south of the home sites without any particular feature to justify the change. Perhaps families still lived there in the CCC era, and didn’t want to be disturbed by the trail?

Be careful exploring the rock piles.

We would be back to this area in three months with Ed as we attempted to determine if the Meigs homesite route would be a viable alternative to the SMHC’s scheduled trip to Long Arm Branch. After our scouting trip (June 2015), Longarm Ridge was off the schedule and the Meigs Homesite route ended up being the club trip. Our 12-5-15 hike included Ed, Claudia, and Dan.

It is greener in midsummer.

We would also make a follow up trip to the homesites on 11-24-19 with Clyde, Connie, and John. Clyde had not done the route before, so we were proud to be able to show him a new route. This was a chance to pay him back just a little bit for all the great places he had shown us.

Our 2019 crew.

The big surprise for this trip was at the leaning chimney. Unfortunately, we found that the top section had sloughed off. I found out later that the slump had happened between Sept 2018, and Jan 2019, presumably via someone who had been there on those dates.

The leaning chimney in 2015 (L) and 2019 (R).