Rock Creek SMHC

The SMHC came to hike Rock Creek from the Retro Hughes trailhead to the cascades and back.
Cindy brought a carload of hikers, 4 + her, I met them there. Doris had helped scout these southern segments of the CT so hearing her stories about the early days of the trail was neat. It started out cool, so I kept my fleece on going into the gorge and didn't take it off until we started back out. Rock Creek had very little water, but the pool at the bridge was nice. We had lunch here on the huge boulder. And there was a pool by the campsite. No rain for the last 45 days makes a huge difference in the creek gorges. No water at the cascade at all.

Coming into the gorge, one hiker saw a weird looking root on the ledge that looked like a snake; it was a snake. A big black snake that Doris managed to piss off. She got a little too close for his comfort so he coiled up and struck at her. Of course then we all had to pass by the pissed off snake...
Just don't understand.

Nice day for a hike, thanks to Cindy and the SMHC.

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SMHC Backpack

I drove to Maryville to meet up with the SMHC for a backpack/trail maintenance day. We were ready for the drive to Newfound Gap and then to Smokemont to drop off a car. Steve and Tim brought tools for the four of us. Tim carried the loppers, Steve carried the weed whacker and a saw, Amanda had clippers and a folding saw, I had clippers. Ready for battle. We got stopped right away by a group wanting to take our pic and give us trail snacks. They were with the Tremont scavenger hunt team and thought we were thru hikers. There was a lot of traffic between Newfound Gap and Charlies Bunion. We started our maintenance after the Bunion, leaving the crowd behind. Clipping with stitches in my hand from a week ago was challenging (builds character) and sawing limbs left handed was not as easy as I hoped. We managed to wrestle some trees out of the trail but a few are going to have to wait for the chainsaw crew. We cleared trail all the way to Pecks Corner.

There were beautiful views all along the way and we had to stop and soak up as much as we could of all those gorgeous mountains. The Sawteeth always are impressive; Tim pinpointed Bradley's View.

It was supper time by the time we got the shelter. It was a full house with tents all around. I claimed my spot inside but was willing to go hang my hammock if necessary. Evidently hammocks are a no no around the shelters per the head Ranger. With all the thru hikers it's necessary for tents to be allowed. I don't understand how the hammocks would be worse.... The hiker next to the wall was already in his sleeping bag when I got there. Early midnight for him I guess.

I heard a lot of comments from some of the NOBOs about coming back to the Smokies after they finish the AT; they want to see more of this beautiful place. They were all in bed by 7. Thru hikers midnight. It poured down rain during the early morning. It was a good time to sleep in, but two hikers were up and ready to go before daylight, must have been the 23 miles per day pair.  By daylight most of the rain was gone. We cooked, packed, and then started cleaning up around the shelter. One of the thru hikers got a bag and started picking up trash, old socks and things people had left. We filled up the mulch buckets for the privy, and picked up everything but the tissue blooms, that's above and beyond what we do even with gloves on. Tim tied the trash onto his pack, the other guy must have carried the bag out with him (many thanks) after thanking us for all we were doing. This was my first work trip with the club. The rest of the AT maintainers are the hard workers. Read their work reports, you already see their efforts where you hike and sleep and get your water. Their work goes on all year long.

We left with our rain gear on and started up the hill, noticing a couple of hammocks hanging a little ways from the shelter. Then I heard the thump thump thump of a grouse, then a woodpecker laughing. and later another grouse thumping. There sure was a lot of uphill going down Hughes Ridge, getting the 2.6 miles segment I needed for my map :) The rain stopped and it got warm.

Then Chasteen Creek where we went straight down watching for a spur that we somehow missed, seeing beautiful cascades and enjoying the creek views. Stopped at campsite 48 for lunch and resting our feet from the rocky trail. Then to Bradley Fork and out to Smokemont. We piled into Tim's vehicle and started up the road climbing into the rain cloud. I rode back to Maryville with Amanda and managed to leave my shoes in her car. I didn't notice it until I was 30 minutes away. I sent her a message and she sent back one saying she also found my poles and water bottle. Oh my! She said she would mail them ASAP.

She did and the box was at my garage on Tuesday evening. I think she sent a drone to deliver so quickly :)

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SMHC Abrams Falls-Cooper Road

Billy and Steve from the SMHC organized a great hike with Jeremy Lloyd, Naturalist from Tremont Institute. We started in Cades Cove at the parking lot for Elijah Oliver cabin. There were more than 15, less than 20 hikers.The forest around here had been burned at some point and Jeremy was teaching us to look at the forest as we hiked. We saw some interesting things today. A bear paw print beside a deer hoof print in the dirt. Some old coyote scat with persimmon seeds in it. A pitch pine among a white pine forest, and learned to recognize it. And Abrams Creek is the lowest elevation in the Park. And you can see Look Rock tower from the trail.

We hiked from Abrams Falls to Hatcher Mountain; it was good to see the pines growing again after the tornado in 2011 ripped the forest apart here. The forest renews itself after fires and tornados, it just takes time. Some of the pines were 5 years old; we learned from Jeremy how to count the whorls of limbs to count the age of the pines. We found a sunny place on the trail to have lunch, and a few found a good spot to stretch out for a little while.

From Hatcher Mountain to Cooper Road, the 5.5 miles I needed for map marking! And back to the cars. 13-14 miles. Didn't get Wet Bottoms this time. Maybe next trip. We came out with more than 15 less than 20 hikers so I guess the 10% rule worked.

Thanks Jeremy, Billy and Steve for a great hike!

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