Deep Creek in the Smoky Mountains

Deep Creek Trail: 7 miles

Pole Road Trail: 3.3

Noland Creek Trail: 2

Noland Divide Trail: 7.9

Lora and I headed to the Smoky Mountains for our Anniversary hike. We started at Deep Creek campground which was absolutely packed on this Sunday afternoon. Right off the bat, when dropping our trash into the dumpster I also dropped my map. I asked Lora to hold the heavy lid up so I could retrieve the map with my hiking poles. After dropping it once, I got it up on top of the trash pile when Lora let go of the lid and smashed my head. I did manage to retrieve the map even though I couldn't see anymore and had a bad headache.

For the first backpack of the season it didn't take long to wear ourselves out. The humidity was high so the sweat just poured off me. We hiked to campsite #58. There was a couple at the main site so we camped across the trail at a smaller site. We got set up, washed up, and had time to collect fire wood. We enjoyed the evening by the fire and listened to an owl.

Day Two:

We got up and had a good breakfast. Started off refreshed which turned into sweat quite quickly. We hiked up to the Pole Road Creek Trail where we found a couple of sleeping bags leaning up against the sign. We crossed Deep Creek and headed up the trail which was a little overgrown. We had plenty of water crossings, but the water felt good. We saw another sleeping bag along side the trail which was a little wore out by critters. We stopped before the trail connection for lunch enjoying the views from up high with some color showing. 

We stopped at the Noland Divide Trail for a break. A trail runner came along and visited with us a couple of minutes and then took off the wrong way. Lora stopped her and asked her which way she was suppose to go. She showed her the right trail which made me very proud of her. 

We did the steep downhill to campsite #61 along Bald Creek. They still had the signs up where the campsite  had been closed for bear. We set up, washed up, and collected firewood. Lora let out one of her famous screams and then I heard other voices. She had her mind on those bears when our new neighbors showed up. 

We had time to sit by the creek where I spotted a Hellbender Salamander. It was really cool and Lora got to see it too. Second one we have seen ever. Later we got more neighbors. We visited with Quincy and Kendall by the fire. They had seen a Timber Rattler coming out of it's skin a few hundred yards before getting to camp. He was a horse Jockey and she worked with the race horses as well. 

Day three:

We got up and headed out. We visited with the other two ladies that camped with us before we left camp. On the way back up to Noland Divide we saw the snake skin on the trail. I have never seen the amount of bear scat on the trail as we did on this one. They were huge piles too. Right about snack time Quincy and Kendall passed us by on the trail. Later they would pass us again as they had stopped at the Lone Pine overlook. 

Over all it was a good hike. We were tired but enjoyed the beauty and peace of being out on the trail again.

Pictures:

Deep Creek - Smoky Mt. Hiking Club

I drove to Bryson City to meet up with SMHC for a Deep Creek overnight. Tim and Steve picked me up. Lynn had started on a different trail to meet up with us at the campsite. We drove thru Cherokee to 441, to the upper trailhead for Deep Creek. The trail dropped steeply and we crossed little streams. Campsite 53 was in much better condition than the last time I saw it, no trash left behind. Then more streams, all heading toward Deep Creek. We did have to switch to water shoes a couple of times. We found Lynn at campsite 55 with her tent already set up. #55 is a large site/horse camp; but it was clean and had two sets of bear cables. The set up for the horses was broken down but still had rubber mats. Steve and I had to search a little for perfectly spaced trees for our hammocks, lots of trees, some too close ,some too far apart, finally just right (read Goldilocks and the Three Bears). We decided we didn’t have enough time to hike the Pole Road Creek trail before dark, so we gathered firewood and kicked back for a while. The moon came up and we had a nice fire and watched some stars pop out.

Our plans were to get up EARLY and start, we were all awake at 5:30 but managed to go back to sleep till daylight. Got a fire going and packed up, hung our packs and started Pole Creek with water and snacks; except for Lynn who after Pole Creek was heading out Noland Divide. We left her and started out. We crossed Deep Creek on a nice long bridge. The first crossing of Pole Creek was too high to rock hop, so Steve demonstrated his balancing technique on a tree that had fallen across the creek. I was carrying my water bottle and pitched it across to free up my hands in case I needed to crawl across the tree.  (did I mention I throw like a girl) only to have it land on the rocks, the lid popped off, Steve grabbed it up and saved a little bit of my water. We had a lot of creek crossings, with one more big tree in just the right place, flat, Tim assured us, with spongy moss covering it, no slick places. Sweet!

We arrived at the junction of Noland Divide/Noland Creek only to have Lynn catch us with her full pack, dry shoes. Back down, crossed creeks again, back at camp, lunch, packs on. Tim went back across the creek to look for signs of an old manway. He had gotten an email from a man who remembers the trail from the 1940’s, and gave Tim clues to search for.

Then we started down. Only it’s up and down. You follow Deep Creek sometimes right beside it, sometimes way up above it, brings back memories of the Lakeshore Trail.  We met a group from Ohio heading to #55, they will appreciate the firewood we left. The road walk had nice bridges and some Tonka Toys and Tom Branch Falls was really pretty. Lots of hikers on this section, with three waterfalls not far from the parking lot. Lynn had already finished her trail and was gone.

After a 13.6 mile hike it felt really good to sit in the car for the ride back to the upper trailhead. When we got to 441 there was a flashing sign “441 closed due to snow and ice.” Uh oh. We were hoping they had forgot to turn off the sign, but found a barricade further up the road with a Ranger turning people around. Cars coming down the mountain had snow on them??? Plan B: We asked the Ranger if we could go up to get Tim’s truck. He offered to drive one of us up, but had to wait for another Ranger to get there to direct traffic. Steve and I waited for them to get up there and back. When Tim go back his truck was covered with snow. Drove back to Cherokee, and parted ways trying to find the quickest route home. I went back via 19, 74, 64, 60, 30, navigate off road, (GPS) home. In Andrews I could see snow on the mountain tops. Tim said they went the long way around, thru Maggie Valley to I-40 then to Maryville. Lots of choices for routes, all long.

Great time with the SMHC backpackers.

Pictures:

Deep Creek II

Lillian suggested a weekend of hiking. We decided on the Deep Creek area. She and Karen spent Saturday at the Sandhill Crane festival in Birchwood, then joined me in Cherokee in time for dinner.

I had driven to Bryson City earlier in the day, to check out the Thomas Divide trailhead. It was up a dirt road, mostly one lane. Judi and I had come off the trail here before. As I started back down the road I met a Ranger in a truck coming up. One of us had to back up.....me. I am glad Craig has made me practice backing the boat trailer. Backed up, moved over and got a big smile from the guys inside that seemed surprised that I didn't run off the side of the bank using my sideview mirrors :)
Then on the Cherokee and to Smokemont. 

I hiked part of the Tow String Rd trail that joined the Bradley Fork Trail. I spent some time at the Oconaluftee Visitors Center, walking along the River Trail, and exploring the museum. I just missed the concert they had there, but the beautiful sunshiny day I would rather be outside. Later in the afternoon, on a tip from a volunteer at the museum, I found the elk in a field on Big Cove Road. Just after dark Lillian and Karen met me at Pauls Diner for a supper of Buffalo burgers and Indian tacos. We crashed for the night at Great Smokies Inn. 

Sunday we woke up to snow coming down and a warning from the guy at the convenience store about road conditions driving to Deep Creek. Three brave souls drove thru the snow showers to Bryson City and Deep Creek Campground to drop off a car. We drove back a little way to try and find the trailhead for the Cooper Road Trail. On the way we saw a hawk sitting in the road holding onto something dead, he didn't fly away...strange. Anyway, we found "No Parking", and No Trespassing" signs and a locked gate at a trout farm. On to Plan B. 

The snow had stopped.  Thomas Divide Trailhead. We did a loop of Indian Creek Motor Trail, Deeplow Gap, Indian Creek, Stone Pile Gap x 2, and Thomas Divide out to the parking lot for Deep Creek, then hiked the Juney Whank Trail. Est 11.5 miles for the day. 

Fun weekend with the ladies.

Pictures:

Deep Creek in Smoky Mountains

Craig was going on a 5 day backpack with the Outcasts while I had a couple of days off and I got jealous. So I sent out messages to some folks to see who might be crazy enough to backpack in the Smokys in December. Judi answered with a YES. She and Gene were up for it. I got off work at 6:45, went home, slept 2 hours and hit the road to Bryson City, NC. Deep Creek Campground was our meetup spot. Judi and I got our packs on and headed up the Deep Creek Trail. Gene was planning to hike in the next morning to meet us at the second camp spot. Since daylight hours are short this month, we took off at a brisk pace.  We left Deep Creek trail for Indian Creek Trail. Pretty trail following the creek with its cascades. Martins Gap Trail was next with campsite #46 just a little ways in.

The camp sign looked new.  The camp is on a slope but we managed to find a couple of level enough spots to put our tents. We gathered our water and wood and made a good pile for the fire. I was testing a new water filter system on this trip. Craig had bought a gravity bag and wanted to send it with me to test. I was skeptical and at the last minute took it instead of my old familiar one. Only I didn’t pick up the little cover for the end of it. I had to leave the clean hose attached to the filter while gathering water. Since Craig had shortened the hose, it was challenging to hold it and the bag and keep it out of the creek, or off the ground while rolling the top of the bag closed. It worked fine at filtering.

We were just starting our campfire at dusk when we heard voices and horses. Company coming. 2 cowboys rode up to the camp, right up to our fire. Those poor horses can’t read the sign that said “NO HORSES” so they didn’t know not to invade the camp. The cowboys wanted to know what in the world we were doing staying out on this cold night. And where we had started and where we were going. And boy were they loud. When we asked where they were going, we hoped they weren’t planning to  camp here. They were headed back to Deep Creek, and with  loud Yee Haws headed their horses down the trail. They sat there with their buddies for a little while before heading on. We got that fire going great. Plenty of heat. The stars came out and put on a show.

I left the water bag out that night, it still had a lot of water. Since I had to leave the hose on to keep it from all draining out, the hose froze during the night. 22 degrees. Fun stuff. We got our fire going that morning, ate, packed up and started uphill. Always right after you eat. Uphill. Martins Gap to Sunkota Ridge, to Thomas Divide. Once up there it was ridge walking with pretty winter views both ways. We didn’t find any good open spots for pictures of the surrounding mountains. But we did find bear prints in the snow.  We got off the ridge at Deep Low Gap. This trail is a rocky roadbed with lots of downed trees, seeps, water running down the trail. We were glad to see the camp sign. We were also glad to find Gene already there, set up with water and wood gathered. Now that’s a treat. He got Judy a hot drink, collected water for me, and then got supper going. My sweetheart had packed my food for me so I had noodles with meatballs. Tasty stuff. Lots of chocolate for dessert. We had a nice fire, the stars popped out. We were tired and well fed and headed to bed. It wasn’t as cold tonight, but I warmed up my feet and socks before heading into the tent.

Woke up to Gene getting the fire going. Sweet. We ate and packed up. Judi and I headed out while Gene finished packing up. We had a few miles to hike out and I had to work tonight. We hiked Indian Creek Motor Trail, nice roadbed, not rocky, not too steep but all uphill.  Back to Thomas Divide and mostly downhill to the car at Galbraith Road parking lot. This is the southern trailhead for Thomas Divide. Just a little way from Deep Creek Campground. I got a pic of Judi with her 900 miler sticker on her car. I plan to have one of those one of these days. She took me to my car and then back to pick up Gene.

I headed to Bryson City to pick up lunch to go. Back to Tennessee…..not jealous anymore of my sweetheart still out on the trail somewhere.

Beautiful hike with good friends.

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