CEMETERY WALK
http://youtu.be/WBEVbKKJYqw
Christy
and I spent most of spring break in the Smokies. The goal for this year’s trip was to make up
for last year’s trip, which didn’t happen.
Last year we were supposed to spend spring break with friends in
Cleveland, TN. We were looking forward
to visiting with Marsha and Ian and their kids, Audrey and Ben. Unfortunately Christy injured her back the
day before we were supposed to leave.
Marsha,
Ian and the family moved to Michigan last summer, but they decided to return to
Tennessee for a visit over spring break.
They have a time share, and were able to get two condos at the Tree Tops
resort along Roaring Fork just outside of Gatlinburg. The condo was quite nice, and it was a
pleasant change of pace from our tent! It
ended up being a great way to spend the week.
Christy and I really appreciated it.
I
dropped the dogs off at the sitter’s on Saturday morning while Christy packed
my new car. After driving my ’99 Toyota
Corolla over 255K miles, I finally gave in and bought a new car – a Toyota
Prius. Aside from getting great gas
mileage, it holds a surprising amount of cargo.
We managed to fit Christy’s bike, her swimming, cycling, and running
gear, our hiking gear, my laptop, and a week’s worth of clothes in the
back. And there was still plenty of
space for more stuff. We never would’ve
managed that in the Corolla.
We
drove to Asheville and headed over to the Lucky Otter for lunch. We arrived at 11, but the Lucky Otter opens
at 11:30. We were a little pressed for
time, so we drove on towards the Smokies. We enjoyed a scenic (and rather fun) drive
through the Pigeon River Gorge on I-40.
Along the way I noticed countless waterfalls cascading down adjacent to the
highway. Many of them are only noticeable
after wet weather, but there were a few that were quite impressive, and rather
enticing. Unfortunately there really isn’t
anywhere to pull off along this stretch of the freeway. Still, there were a couple of waterfalls between
the Harmon Den exit and the state line that were quite impressive. I’ll have to think about a plan….
We
drove to the Cosby area and stopped at The Front Porch for lunch. I’d heard good things about this restaurant,
but I’d never found it open when I was in the area. I knew they had Mexican food, which would be
a good replacement for the burritos we didn’t get at the Lucky Otter. Also, Christy recently found out that she is
allergic to gluten. Gluten is in nearly
everything, but Mexican food is generally safe if corn tortillas are an option.
It
turns out the The Front Porch recently changed
owners, and they no longer serve Mexican food.
Christy had a salad, while I enjoyed a delicious shrimp Po’boy.
From
there we drove on to the Greenbrier section of the Smokies. The Prius got to experience its first dirt
road, but at least it was in pretty good shape.
We got one of the last parking spots at the Porters Creek Trailhead and
eventually dug our hiking gear out of the back.
We headed up the trail on a cloudy, cool afternoon that hadn’t scared
too many people away. The trail was
quite busy most of the day.
The
Porters Creek Trail starts out as a continuation of the dirt road along Porters
Creek. It’s very easy walking, with just
a gentle uphill grade. Early on we
passed numerous signs of old settlements, including rock walls, an old chimney,
and a 100-year-old cemetery. We explored
one such area, and found the first wildflowers of the trip blooming near a
small stream. It was just a small patch
of ragged Trout Lilies, but it was encouraging.
There’d been little sign of spring over the last few weeks. Porters Creek is supposed to be one of the
best wildflower hikes in the park, but I was afraid there wouldn’t be much to
see.
We
resumed the hike and continued to the end of the road. There we took a brief side trip over to a
restored barn, a spring house, and an old lodge that once housed the Smoky
Mountain Hiking Club. Then we returned
to the trail and continued upstream. A
few minutes later we arrived at a narrow footlog with
a single railing spanning the raging creek.
The bridge was stable, but the crossing was still pretty intense. On the far side we found the best wildflowers
of the day. The next ¼ mile featured
Trout Lilies, Spring Beauties, White Fringed Phalacia,
and tons of Hepatica. The blooms were
still a week or two shy of peak – for instance, there were many trillium up, but not yet blooming.
The
trail was a little more difficult after the bridge. Before long we reached the base of Fern Branch
Falls. This one is a little confusing,
as the location of the falls noted on the Trails Illustrated map is wildly
inaccurate. It’s farther up the valley,
and on a tributary. Based on what I’d heard, I wasn’t expecting
much from this waterfall. I’m pleased to
report that this one really exceeded those expectations! The high water volume certainly helped, but I
definitely found it to be much more impressive than advertised. I took photos from the trail and scrambled up
to the base for a closer look.
The
trail had been quite busy early on, but apparently most folks turn around at
the falls. We saw only a few people
farther up the trail. The hike did get
more difficult, as the path began to climb more purposefully. After a mile or so Christy
was ready to turn back. I let her
get a head start while I hurried ahead, as I wanted to finish the trail and see
the campsite at the end.
The
upper part of the trail featured more wildflowers and some large trees. The campsite is ok, but not remarkable. Its best feature is a thru-the-trees view of
the rugged peaks along the crest of the Smokies,
including Charlie’s Bunion. On this
occasion those mountains were white from the snow leftover from the most recent
storm. That storm had left 18” of snow
on Mount LeConte!
I
headed back quickly, eager to catch up with Christy. However, I stopped to take photos of Porters
Creek in a couple of places. She was
waiting in the car for me when I finished the hike.
From
there were drove into Gatlinburg and on to the
condo. Along the way we had a minor
snafu thanks to my car’s navigation system.
It got us to the condo, but not by the easiest route. It took us over a rather formidable mountain,
when driving around would’ve been much easier.
The
condo was wonderful. The complex
featured a swimming pool (which we didn’t take advantage of) and a hot tub
(which we did). The resort has all sorts
of family activities, too. I glanced at
the schedule, and noticed that they were offering a “virtual hike” on
Sunday. I made a mental note of that
just in case I didn’t feel like doing a real one.
We
took showers and drove into town for dinner.
We eventually navigated the horrific traffic and figured out where to
park. We ended up at No Way Jose, so
after three tries we finally got our Mexican food.
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Please remember to Leave No Trace!