This was the first hike that Jean and I took specifically to look at old homesites off the Old Settlers Trail. I had done one hike over Copeland Divide with the SMHC in 2003, and Jean and I had done another hike up Soak Ash Creek and down Little Bird Branch in 2015; but both those trips were done mostly to explore, any old homesites we saw were just an added treat.
The
hike of course was Ed’s idea, it is essentially in his backyard. Ed’s research
into the early days of the park is extensive, and he has focused on locating
and identifying as many old homesites as possible. His usual companion on these
trips is Frank March, but on this trip it would just be the three of us. Our
goal was to explore the upper ends of Timothy Creek and Cat Stairs Branch.
Stone wall at Timothy Creek/Old Settlers junction.
We
started at the Steiner Bell church retreat, just a half mile off US 321. The
church allowed parking in its lower lot, and there was access to a wide open
manway from the lot. Skies were clear and temperatures would range from 25 to 40F.
It was a perfect day for winter hiking.
Detail of Timothy Creek corn crib.
We
walked down the manway to intersect the Old Settlers Trail (OST) at Evan
Branch. The streams were up all day, but we managed to make all our crossings
with dry feet. We then hiked east on OST to where a chimney base, and very long
stone wall, mark the intersection with Timothy Creek. There is also the remains
of an old corn crib with dovetail notched corners just out of sight of the
junction. 
Chimney base at Timothy Creek/Old Settlers Trail junction.
Here
we turned south off the trail and up the creek looking for homesites that were
shown on the 1931 park map. We found the first two sites on the map, but both had
only rock piles left over from old chimney collapses. But the third site on the
map, on Cat Stairs Branch, had a tall, impressive chimney. Among the other
artifacts we found there was the blade of a long hand saw. Moving further
stream up, we found one more homesite on Timothy Creek marked only by a rock
pile. The upper parts of Timothy and Cat Stairs branch were mixed manway and
cross country, but we were in mostly open forest all day. 
Tall chimney on Cat Stairs Branch.
The
homesite farthest up Cat Stairs Branch had a fallen chimney stack but an intact
base. On the return leg we took a different route, going cross-country between
the two branches. Ed’s strategy paid off and we found one more homesite that
was not shown on the 1931 map. Below the confluence, we simply followed Timothy
Creek back to the OST.
The
1931 map showed three more sites north of the current OST. We hiked off trail
down the creek but did not find any of the sites. But there were a huge number
of rock piles, most likely from efforts to clear the rocky fields for farming.
We then traversed back to Timothy Creek and followed it west to an orange
flagged route. That route led to US 321, so we left it, crossed the creek, and
came to a bizarre area screened off with some type of sheeting. There were lots
of plastic barrels and big wooden spools inside. None of us had any ideas what
it was, but the place seemed spooky to me.
Screened area near Steiner Bell.
We detoured well around the screening, and climbed a small ridge extending southeast from Steiner Bell to avoid it. At the ridge top, we were back at the cars without having seen anyone else all day. We all thought this would make an excellent SMHC trip.
2-24-18, Timothy Creek SMHC Trip
This
trip was the SMHC version of our 2016 hike with Ed leading and me as coleader.
The trip was memorable primarily for some misadventure getting to the start. We
were driving down TN 454 toward Greenbrier when we hit a road closure for a
crew repairing the powerline. They were not giving any info to drivers on how
long the repair might take. We called Ed at Steiner Bell, and he said other
hikers had “gotten through”, but those hikers had neglected to tell Ed they had
“gotten through” by driving around the closure. We waited a while before Claudia
used her cell phone to find us a detour. I think the route was by backtracking
to Middle Creek and then using Veterans to come in via the east side of
Gatlinburg. We ended up being 45 minutes late to the TH, bringing new meaning
to the “rear” in rear leader.
Ed
had left on time with the group, but he was showing them all the cemeteries and
features along the way. We caught up to the group just as they were preparing
to go off trail up Timothy Creek. We hiked through beautiful open forest up to
the homesites above the Timothy/Cat Stairs split, visiting all but one of the
ones that we had found last year. We stopped for lunch at the lone standing
chimney of the group. On this trip we were seeing large amounts of bear scat.
Our return route was on the west side of Timothy Creek. This differed from the scout, but we did not see any new artifacts. There had been rain overnight, but it was clear and warm for the hike.
10-4-19, Up Soak Ash and down Timothy Creek
This
hike added two new segments to our explorations around Timothy Creek, a loop
near the start to Evans Chapel, and a cross country connection between Soak Ash
and Timothy Creek. Ed had been exploring here, and had previously hiked the
Evans Chapel area.
Homesite near Evans Chapel.
From
Frasier Cemetery near Steiner Bell, we walked cross country west to the site of
Evans Chapel, which was marked by a 1’ diameter cedar tree. We then followed an
old road to the OST and turned up Soak Ash Creek. I took a picture and waypoint
of most of the homesites, but at this point I’d learned that I couldn’t keep up
with the wealth of information Ed had on the area. We stopped at the large
chimney on Soak Ash before venturing on the section new to Ed, the cross
country connection between Soak Ash and Timothy.
Tall chimney on Soak Ash Creek.
We
started cross country northeast to the base of a small ridge, then turned up
the ridge to the southeast. When we reached the dividing ridge with Timothy, we
turned northeast down the slope. Most of the new section was fairly open forest
and would be suitable for a club hike, without too much rough rhodo. The old
road up Timothy Creek was more overgrown than was the road up Soak Ash. 
Tall chimney on Timothy Creek.
Once
down along Timothy we continued upstream to the large chimney where I took my
only picture in that drainage. We then went cross country down Timothy Creek to
the OST, and then back to Steiner Bell. The summer heat was finally breaking,
but the high for the day was still 87F. The area made for fine summer exploring
without a thick understory.
