Thursday, September 28, 2017 😊 🎉 🌹! 61 Miles to the Great Smokies!
Before getting to Waterton Knob, we stopped at the highest point on the BRP. Then we drove the final 61 miles to get to the Oconaluftee Visitor Center.
While at Waterknob, we huffed and puffed our way up an extremely steep trail. It was much steeper than the path leading to the pinnacle of Mt. Mitchell that we use as a test of our stamina. We did OK on this trail too, but we ran out of time in our effort to get to the top.
After some discussion, we secured a campsite at Smokemont for the three days before our reservations at Cataloochee. When camp was made, we drove to Bryson City to check out the train. While there, we had lunch. On the way back, we talked to Rose via phone. Today marks her 11th birthday. We shopped at a few stores in Cherokee. We even saw a herd of Elk in the field adjacent to the Oconaluftee Visitor Center.
Back at camp, it was time to light a fire, chill and play the Uke. Thus ends what we did on Rose’s 11th birthday!
Friday, September 29, 2017 Exploring the Smokies!
Today’s exploration of the Smokies included stops at Mingus Mill where we bought a small bag of corn meal, the mountain farm at the Oconaluftee VC, and finally, Clingman’s Dome, the highest point in the Smokies at 6645 feet (Mt. Mitchell, not in the Smokies, is 6684). Our planned wagon ride didn’t happen because the wagon left 20 minutes earlier than we were told.
Saturday, September 30, 2017 Yikes! A Problem to be Solved!
How about this, Anna Marie, returning from her usual morning constitutional, opens the door and announces that a tire on the van is “soft.” Sure enough, the tire pressure was low, too low to drive on it. We removed the tire and found a self tapping screw perfectly embedded in the tread.
This added another project to our list which included laundry and provisioning for our two week stay in the Cataloochee Valley. By 1500 hours, all the tasks on our list were accomplished and we were back in the campground.
All we wanted to do was chill out. At around 1700 I started the campfire and brought out the Uke. A few folks stopped by to comment on the music and neighbors from across the street invited themselves over to listen. Their names are Mike and Nancy and they are from Michigan. We exchanged camping tales and stories from back home, and even managed to squeeze in a few tunes. They were delightful and we certainly enjoyed meeting them.
Sunday, October 1, 2017 Winter?
Holy Smokies, it is cold this morning. I’m guessing the wake up temp is in the low 40s! It was so cold last night, we had to break out the heavy weight sleeping bag.
As the sun warmed the day, we set out to break our Smokemont camp. We did so with what has become our usual efficiency. After dumping the holding tank, we were on our way. It was about 1000 hours as we were leaving the campground.
We stopped at Country Vittles in Maggie Valley to fortify ourselves for the run to Cataloochee. And what a run it was! The four mile unpaved section of road was steep, winding, with many hairpin turns and, to top it off, it was mostly a single lane! And, did I mention no guard rails? It was interesting to approach a hairpin turn only to have another vehicle appear out of nowhere, bearing down on you with no place to go. It was much worse driving that road than the Bear Tooth Highway.
We made it to the CG finally and set up camp in our usual efficient manner. By 1430, we were participating in a Ranger program about the reintroduction of elk into the Cataloochee Valley. It wasn’t the best program we’ve ever attended, but the volunteer presenter was full of energy!
Monday, October 2, 2017 Sauntering and Fishing!
For the first time this trip, we converted the bed back into a dinette where we had our morning brews and oatmeal. The overnight temperature was very chilly, but we stayed toasty with the heavy sleeping bag. The window frames were soaked with condensation but a little fresh air circulation dried them in no time.
Outside, the sun shone brightly and warmed us as we sat in our chairs above the creekside. Our plan for the day was to saunter into the woods. We choose the Pretty Hollow Gap trail and decided to walk about two miles and then retrace our steps.
The Beach Grove School House (circa 1903), was near the trail so we stopped to have a look. It was a sturdy two classroom building. One can only imagine the teaching/learning that went on here. Surely it was very different than today’s classrooms.
Our trail led us past the Cataloochee Horse Camp where two sites were occupied. After the horse camp, we walked along a picturesque creek that offered many cascades as the water fell from the mountain to join the larger stream below.
We probably did a round trip of four or five miles. Going uphill, the first leg took an hour. It was slow going, but not too steep, just constantly up hill. The return downhill was a cinch.
We walked through the horse camp on the way back and saw how they handle the manure. At least how it gets the the manure wagon. We don’t know where the wagon takes it.
Back at the car, we took a little tour across the wooden bridge and the schoolhouse. We came across the Caldwell House, a very attractive home with delightful porches. The family also had a large barn.
Finally, our tour took us to the Palmer Chapel, the Methodist Church of the community.
When we finally made it back to camp, we toasted the day with a beverage before breaking out the fishing gear. I didn’t have far to go. I just went down the steps adjacent to our campsite and fished the stream that runs by our campsite. It was a disaster! The water looked shallow enough, but it was just about as deep as my waders, so my pants got wet. I slipped on an underwater rock and got my shirt sleeve wet too! Still, I found a spot where I could present the fly to any fish waiting for a meal. After a few casts with no results, I tried to sharpen my casting skills and promptly got my fly snagged on a tree limb. That mishap brought my first babbling brook fishing experience to a close.
I don’t usually write about our meals, but I made Portobello Rubens on the Cobb Grill. They were very tasty!
Tuesday, October 3, 2017 Settled In!
Well we’re old hands at Cataloochee now. We’ve driven both roads in the valley so there’s no need to drive unless it's to a Ranger Program. We’ve seen many elk, heard lots of bugling, especially today, during and after our Ranger walk to what used to be the elk acclimatization pen, where the first group of elk stayed four two months (January and February, 2001). We even saw some big bulls bugling as they attempted to attract females.
As we were driving to the program, we saw a black bear cub coming down the Palmer Chapel Cemetery trail. He vanished into the woods before I could get a picture. We looked around, from the confines of the car, for mama bear, but saw or heard nothing from her.
Earlier in the day, we sauntered up the Roaring Fork trail to Woody’s Place, another of the few homesites that have survived. According to the 1910 census, 1200 people lived in Cataloochee Valley. The population was larger than that of Cades Cove (800 residents). It was a most pleasant walk that included three river crossings over log bridges.
Wednesday, October 4, 2017 Goodbye Cataloochee!
Even though our reservation for this intriguing campground runs until October 14, we decided to leave today. We visited all the historical structures within reach (we missed three that were on the Little Cataloochee Trail). We saw elk, turkeys and a black bear cub. I dipped a fly in the stream near our campsite and, we attended the two Ranger talks that were offered during the period of our reservation. We hiked or sauntered along three trails and got a good perspective of the valley. So, we decided to pack up and head to Cade's Cove CG, also in the Smokies. It’s been 41 years since we’ve camped there.
Since we made the decision to leave last night, we had extra duties to perform in breaking camp. We had to disassemble and pack the fly rod, fold and stow the chairs, and roll up the awning, before we could start our normal breaking camp activities.
We set about completing our tasks and were ready to leave in about 45 minutes. Although we weren’t looking forward to driving that crazy, mostly single lane, dirt road, we reasoned that we’d be leaving before the day trippers and new campers would arrive. That’s pretty much what happened as we only passed five vehicles and one camping trailer that was much larger than our Scamp.
Our drive to Cades Cove was uneventful. A short portion of the drive took us through Gatlinburg, the tourist town that pretty much burned to the ground a few years ago. It has been rebuilt and seems easier to negotiate than before. It’s more touristy than ever.
Once in GSNP, the 24 mile ride to Cade's Cove seemed to take a long time. Par for the course when driving a twisty, turning mountain road at a max speed 35 mph. We arrive at Cades Cove at 1600 hours, about five hours after leaving Cataloochee. Funny, but as the crow flies, it’s about 55 miles.
We hoped to stay at Cades Cove until Monday, but all sites are reserved for Columbus weekend. We didn’t count on it being a holiday weekend. So we’ll stay for two days and try Smokemont again on Friday. NOTE: Upon checking with the Ranger, we found that Smokemont is full for the weekend too. If that’s true, we get a site at Deep Creek near Bryson City. It’s sites are first come first served. We hope to get there before some weekend campers!
Just like last night, we cooked over the open fire only this time we were using “Biofuel” that we bought at the camp store. It’s an alternative to wood and is made of compressed hardwood sawdust. Although not as esthetically pleasing as real wood logs, it burned well and evenly and put out as much heat as hardwood logs would have. We only used five of the twelve blocks in the package, but the fire lasted about three hours, plenty for relaxing, cooking chili and making popcorn.
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| Highest elevation on the Blue Ridge Parkway is located between Pisgah and Waterton Knob. |
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| The view from Waterton Knob |
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| Mingus Mill |
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| A scene from the village at the Oconaluftee visitor's center |
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| Climbing the rocks at Clingman's Dome |
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| The view from the visitor's center at Clingman's Dome |
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| Entering Cataloochee Valley |
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| Our Campsite in Cataloochee CG is on the creek |
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| Campsite at Cataloochee |
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| Bull Elk |
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| Grazing elk |
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| Brook |
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| Cataloochee selfie |
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| The Palmer House |
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| About the Palmer House |
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| The Methodist Church |
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| Crossing one of several Log Bridges on the trail |
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| Woody's Place |
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| Pretty Hollow Gap Trail |
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| Elk |
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| Cataloochee Panorama |
