We left Unicoi State Park on Saturday morning on our way north to Great Smoky Mountains National Park. It had rained overnight and the sky was still cloudy but the roads were mostly dry. This was a good thing as the first part of our route to the North Carolina entrance was on hilly back roads through the mountains. We have found that Speedy is a bit "skiddish" when towing the trailer on wet roads. We've slid to a stop a couple of times in those conditions, not something I want to experience on a twisty mountain road.
It was actually quite a nice drive through the country, only getting a bit crowded and touristy as we went through the Cherokee reservation near the entrance to the park. We arrived at the Oconaluftee Visitor Center at about noon, just in time for lunch. As it was still early after lunch, and the weather was still dry, we decided to go over Newfound Gap to the Tennessee side and stay at the Elkmont campground. It is a steep twisty road for Speedy and the trailer and the Roadtrek was hard pressed to keep up to the 35 mph speed limit on some of the steep sections leading to Newfound Gap. All of the trailhead parking lots were overflowing, as was the large lot at Newfound Gap—and it is still only March. The park is the most visited national park in the country and it looks like the season starts early. Later we found out that it's also school vacation week.
Only about a third of the Elkmont campground is open at this time of year and the open part was fairly full when we arrived. We found a relatively flat site, figuring that we would be able to move on Sunday as the weekend campers pulled out. Actually, they started pulling out early. Just after we set up, the campground hosts came through telling everyone that a storm cell was predicted to pass through in about an hour with 40 mph winds and possible hail, followed by a second one later. This caused a rush among some of the tent campers around us to pack up and leave, undoubtedly shortening a few weekend camping trips.
On the other hand, a trio of twenty-somethings pulled in across from us just as the rain started. They got out of their car, pulled a tent out of the trunk and started to set it up as the rain got heavier. Quickly, they stopped and stuffed the tent back in the trunk...then did something truly extraordinary. One of them pulled out a line and a small blue tarp, strung the line between two trees and threw the tarp over it. The three of them then stood under the tarp, held up by just the ridge line, as the downpour came. After about five minutes, they came to their senses and got back into the car until the rain stopped.
The second storm came and it rained pretty heavily throughout the night, but stopped by morning. After breakfast, we found a better site where we could pull in and have space to unload the motorcycles from the trailer. But they would wait for another day, for today was a hiking day. It was overcast, but looked like it might be clearing and there were several interesting trails nearby. We (especially Ellen) were itching to stretch the legs and try out our new ultra-light day packs. We packed up an extra layer, rain jackets and lunch, then headed out to walk the Little River Loop, which looked to be about five miles but turned out to be nearly 7.5 miles.
We intended to go up the Cucumber Gap Trail to the Little River Trail then take the river trail back. The park's trail map is a bit unclear. It looked like the road out of the campground ended at the Cucumber Gap trailhead. There was a right turn missing from the map. We walked to the end of the road, past the unmarked road on the right, and onto the trail, which looked like a fire road. We kept looking for the start of the Cucumber Gap Trail, but soon realized that we were on the Little River Trail, a wide gravel road. Needless to say, we did the hike in reverse.
It was a pleasant hike along the river, which seemed to be in spring flood. There were several side streams that we passed including one, the Huskey Branch, which had a small waterfall right where the trail crossed over it. There were many wildflowers in bloom, especially several varieties of Trillium (Ellen has photos) and the forest floor seemed carpeted in green. The sun even appeared a few times as we hiked along the river.
We stopped at the junction of the two trails for lunch, where there was a handily placed bench. As we were eating a trio of backpackers came by returning from an overnight in the backcountry. Asked how they rode out the storm, they said it was fine until the hail came followed by lightning which gave them a bit of a concern.
After finishing lunch, it was up the Cucumber Gap Trail. Up is the operative word. The original plan was to do the hike in reverse order so that it would be all downhill after lunch, but we were only about halfway up to the gap. The gap trail was quite a bit narrower, a trail, not a road and pretty heavily traveled, having been worn down below the tree roots and, as a result, rather lumpy walking. We forded the Huskey Branch on the way up. It was a quiet walk in the woods as the sound of the river receded and a fairly smooth downhill return.
The trail came out to another gravel fire road which led through a neighborhood of abandoned houses in various states of decrepitude. As we came out to a parking lot, there was a sign explaining that this was the remains of the Appalachian Club, an early 20th century summer community for Knoxville's well-to-do residents (not to be confused the hiking and environmental group of a similar name based in Boston). While most of the people residing on the land that was taken for the national park were forced to sell their homes, which were then torn down, the members of the club were able to negotiate lifetime leases instead. The last lease was terminated in 2001, almost 60 years after the park was established.
In the mean time, the area was designated a national historic site, putting the fate of the buildings in question. The Park Service has come up with a plan to restore some of them and they have already restored the clubhouse. The main street which passes the clubhouse is newly paved and ends with a parking lot, from which the Cucumber Gap and Jakes Creek trails start. After passing the clubhouse the road turns and intersects with the road from the campground, the unmarked intersection we passed by on the way to the trail.
We are now back at Speedy and it has clouded over, a good time for an afternoon coffee and tea and a bit of the Speedy Journal. Tomorrow is forecast to be sunny and the motorcycles are coming out.
Photos
No comments:
Post a Comment