ME AND BOBBY, MCGEE
J
Bob, Bob J, and I had planned a backpacking trip in Smokies
over Labor Day weekend. Our goal was to
do a shakedown trip a couple of weeks before we headed out to Colorado. We would be spending 2 weeks in the Colorado
Rockies, car camping and dayhiking for almost a week and backpacking for 8
days.
We
planned an easy 3-day trip in the Balsam Mountain section of the park. We’d spend our first night at McGee Springs
and our second night at Raven Fork.
Along the way we’d do an off-trail hike to Three Forks, where the Raven
Fork of the Oconoluftee River officially begins. It’s supposed to be a magical spot, as three
streams come together at a large, deep pool.
I also hoped to visit an obscure waterfall on Enloe
Creek and explore some other parts of the Raven Fork.
Unfortunately
J Bob hurt his back shortly before our trip.
He decided to skip the trip, and spent the weekend resting and
recovering. At this point he’s hopeful
that he will still be able to join us in Colorado.
Bob
J and I went ahead with the trip.
However, due to a variety of reasons, we decided to shorten it to a
single night. I was pretty confident
that we could still do the same trip as planned in two days. It turns out I was wrong about that, but we
still accomplished our primary goals – getting out in the woods and trying out
some new gear.
I
met Bob at the Wal-Mart in Morganton and rode with him from there. We took highway 19 south from Waynesville and
made a brief stop at Soco Falls. For some reason I’d never visited this
waterfall. There is a new overlook,
which provides a good view, but not a particularly good vantage point for
photos. I descended a steep, slippery
slope to the base, where I had a better view of the falls. There are actually two waterfalls side by
side here, on separate streams. I took a
few photos before rejoining Bob for the short hike back up to the car.
We
weren’t in a big hurry. We only had to
hike a few miles to the campsite at Raven Fork, as we were planning to make the
off-trail hike to Three Forks the following morning. Since we had plenty of time, we took the scenic
route. Bob drove to the Parkway towards
Cherokee, but we turned off towards Balsam Mountain. We stopped at the campground and picked up
our backpacking permit. From there we
took the long, winding dirt road over to the trailhead at Round Bottom. I’d never visited this part of the park, and
was delighted by the beauty of the drive.
We had to stop twice because of wild turkeys in the road, but never saw
another car.
We
finally reached Round Bottom after noon.
This was the trailhead where we would end our hike. We ate lunch at the car and then continued
down Straight Fork Road on foot. We
hiked a little over a mile to the Hyatt Ridge Trailhead. There was a large group of college kids
there, waiting for a ride. They had just
come from Raven Fork, and wished us well on our trip. We didn’t see anybody else before we reached
the campsites.
A
long but uneventful climb led us to a gap on Hyatt Ridge. From there it was a quicker descent down the Enloe Creek Trail into the Raven Fork Gorge. We crossed a sturdy bridge high above the
river, which is a chaotic jumble of massive boulders and deep pools. We found the campsites on the far side. At first we were a bit puzzled. There is a small meadow here, with fire rings
at either end. There was a tent near one
of the fire rings, but no other camping spots were immediately apparent. I explored upstream briefly, and found
another tent perched under an overhang, along with a camping hammock between
two trees. There were no other options,
so we set up in the meadow. A few
minutes later 4 or 5 guys showed up.
This seemed like entirely too many people for such a small camping
area. However, that evening the folks
that were already camped there (representing the hammock and the two original
tents) packed up and hiked out.
After
setting up camp we took a short exploratory hike in search of a waterfall. I first heard about the waterfall on Enloe Creek because it is on the Carolina Mountain Clubs
Waterfall Challenge:
It
caught my eye, because it is one of the few on the list (of 100) that I hadn’t
visited, and it was the only one I hadn’t heard of. The waterfall is on Enloe
Creek a short distance upstream from where it joins the Raven Fork. Since it was so close, I was determined to
see it.
We
continued on the Enloe Creek Trail high above the
river. Before long we contoured away
from the river, now high above Enloe Creek. The only tricky part of this hike was
determining where to descend to the creek.
I was hoping there would be something of a path, but we had no such
luck. Eventually I picked a spot that
looked reasonable. The creek was roaring
far below, and I could see a glimpse of white water. We were part of the way down the hill when we
passed a tree with a tri-colored blaze. In
fact we saw several along here, and I’m guessing that the CMC used it to mark
the route.
We
arrived near the base of the falls a few minutes later. We were on a steep hillside that is covered
in stinging nettle. Unfortunately I
couldn’t find a safe place to get down to the creek. The final drop was short but sudden, and I
didn’t see a place where I could get down and back up safely. There is a large sloping rock right below the
falls, but it was wet and looked treacherous.
Eventually I had to settle for a photo from the side. Afterwards we were more than ready to get out
of all of those nettles!
We
returned to camp and spent some time exploring the river. The boulders along that stretch of river make
impressive obstacles, so I didn’t get very far.
Eventually we returned to camp, where we spent the rest of the evening
relaxing. We went to bed early, but were
awakened by a huge thunderstorm after midnight.
We were both in new tents, so the storm gave our new gear a serious
challenge. I’m pleased to say that our
Big Agnes Fly Creek tents held up quite well.
I
originally planned an early start on Monday.
However, it was raining when my alarm went off. I dozed for awhile, and finally got up at
7:30 after the rain cleared. We made
breakfast and broke camp, hiking back up to Hyatt Ridge. From the gap on the ridge, we followed the
Hyatt Ridge Trail along the crest. Hyatt
Bald used to feature a grassy meadow, but it is now overgrown. Although there weren’t any views, the forest
was gorgeous. We were up above 5,000’,
and we were treated to lovely northern hardwoods as well as stands of spruce. There were some monster trees, and the understory
was a neon green, a testament to the rainy summer the Smokies experienced.
We
reached the junction with the trail to McGee Springs a bit later. We hiked this trail, which continues along
Hyatt Ridge. This trail was beautiful,
too. The McGree
Springs campsite is lovely, easily exceeding my expectations. Although it doesn’t have a river, I thought it
was much prettier than our site at Raven Fork.
We had lunch there and visited the namesake spring. After eating, it was time to consider our
options.
Originally
I planned to hike back down in the Raven Fork gorge in search of Three
Forks. However, we were a long way above
the river. I was having second thoughts
about embarking on a long, difficult bushwhack.
It was already early afternoon, and more rain seemed likely. Bob didn’t have any problem skipping it, so
we started back down towards the road.
We
arrived at the car around mid-afternoon, having seen nobody all day. From there we drove into Cherokee. Along the way we stopped at Mingo Falls. The water level was a bit down, but the
waterfall was still spectacular. I
eventually managed to take a few photos without any random tourists in the
foreground.
From
there we headed home, but not before we drove through another downpour in
Cherokee. It was a wet weekend, but our
timing was good. One huge storm hit at
night, while another waited until after we were on the road. Still, I hope for drier weather the next time
I contemplate a hike to Three Forks!
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