SYNCHRONICITY
Last week, Bob and I got out
for one final training backpacking trip.
Initially, I had a tough time picking a destination. I was looking for a 2-day trip that would
closely mimic what we expected to face on the John Muir Trail. In other words, I wanted big miles, with
serious climbs, on well-designed and maintained trails.
Most of the trips I
initially thought of featured a monster first day, but a relatively easy,
largely downhill, second day. We won’t
be getting many easy days on the JMT though, so I hunted for a trip with two
tough days in a row.
Eventually I got around to
examining my Smokies map. I’ve wanted to get there for a couple of
years now, and I knew I wouldn’t be brining Saucony
on a challenging trip, anyway. Eventually
I took a long look at a loop starting and ending near
Bob liked the idea, and we
met in Morganton the next morning. Bob
drove us from there, and we reached
From there, we eventually
found the back way over to
A few months ago, the
controversy over this road was finally resolved.
It was a bit of a relief to
pass the spot where a sign used to welcome travelers to “The Road to
Nowhere”. Although I’d heard about the
financial settlement several months ago, it wasn’t until I saw that the sign was
absent that I was sure that construction of the road had finally been halted
for good.
We drove down
From the parking area, we
continued up the road past a gate to the tunnel. Our route took us through the tunnel, which was
an interesting way to begin the hike.
The tunnel is fairly long, and it’s quite dark once you reach the middle
of it. On this day, the best thing about
the tunnel is that it got us out of the heat and sun for a few minutes!
On the far side of the
tunnel, we found ourselves in a different world. The road reverted to a trail, and towering hardwoods
provided shade. Magically, the
temperature seemed to drop 15 degrees.
We hiked on, passing vibrant green ferns and the first of many blooming
Flame Azaleas we’d see. Whoever first
dubbed
After some pleasant walking,
we turned off the Lakeshore Trail onto the Whiteoak
Branch Trail. I’d never hiked this path
before, and was looking forward to seeing some new territory. My guidebook indicates that there are some
old homesites along this trail, but somehow we missed
them. The surrounding vegetation was quite
dense. I imagine it’s a lot easier to
find old ruins in the winter.
A mild climb led to a gentle
descent to Forney Creek. Forney Creek
must be one of the biggest creeks in the
After a quick lunch, we
followed Forney Creek upstream passing through a large camping area situated
near some old ruins. There is an
impressive chimney still standing here.
From there, more easy hiking led to a junction with the Jonas Creek
Trail. Beyond, our trail became much
more primitive. A few minutes later, we
reached our first creek crossing.
At first, we thought we
might be able to rock hop. Water levels
had dropped recently, leaving numerous exposed rocks. However, those rocks were still damp and exceptionally
slippery. Bob found out the hard way, as
he slipped and briefly dunked a boot.
After watching this, I was convinced.
I changed into water shoes, and waded across the creek.
Several more crossings
followed. Each was similar to the first,
and we didn’t attempt to rock hop them.
In between crossings, the trail followed the creek upstream. Occasionally though, the
trail ascended on switchbacks away from the creek. It was while climbing one of these
switchbacks that we passed an incredible rock wall. The wall was probably 10 feet high, and ran
for perhaps 100 yards or so. I’ve seen
lots of man-made rock walls, but this was easily the tallest and longest I’ve
ever seen.
We crossed the creek for the
fifth time, but this time we were able to rock hop. The creek was getting smaller as we climbed
farther towards its headwaters. From
there, we endured one more climb before reaching campsite #68, and our
destination for the night. As we
approached the camp, I was disappointed to see that there was a tent already
there. We had only seen one other person
on the trail, and that had been near the tunnel. I had hoped that our solitude would last, but
it seemed that we would have some company for the evening.
We met Todd a few minutes
later. He was on a solo, 2-week
backpacking trip. Todd was from
Campsite #68 isn’t one of
the nicer ones in the park. There’s
really just one communal camping area, in a small clearing near the creek. Todd had the only really decent tent site,
but I found a respectable spot on the other side of the clearing. Bob had a more difficult time. He ended up pitching his tarp in 3 different
places before finally finding a passable spot.
That evening, Bob and I
dined on rehydrated pasta and sauce. Did you know you can dehydrate pasta? I discovered this recently, while researching
meals for our trip. For this meal, I
boiled the pasta at home, and then dried it with our dehydrator. In camp, all I had to do was soak it in water
and heat it up. This saved quite a bit
of time and fuel. Christy and I have
been dehydrating pasta sauce for years, and we used some to add to the
meal. The pasta, along with fresh salad,
strawberries, and bread, made a great meal.
We didn’t quite finish the salad, so we offered the leftovers to
Todd. I guess Todd hasn’t had a lot of
fresh green vegetables the last few weeks, because he virtually shredded the ziplock bag trying to get at the greens!
After dinner, we conversed
with Todd and enjoyed a couple of adult beverages. It had been a long, tiring day, and I was
contemplating going to bed, when the entertainment started. It had just gotten dark, and the evening’s
first fireflies were coming out. It
wasn’t long though before I realized that these weren’t ordinary
fireflies. Typical fireflies seem to light
up at random. However, the illuminations
of these flies were synchronized. The
entire clearing would be dark for 10 seconds or so. Then, without warning, every firefly in the
area would light up at exactly the same time.
The fireflies would blink on and off, rapidly, but in perfect
coordination. It was almost as if
someone had turned on a strobe light.
Then, after 10 seconds or so, darkness would fall again. Then the pattern would repeat.
I watched this show for a
good hour or so, fascinated. Although
the display never varied, I didn’t get tired of witnessing it. I had heard of the marginally famous
synchronous fireflies of Elkmont, which draw hordes
of tourists for a couple of weeks each June.
However, I didn’t realize that they could be found in other parts of the
park as well.
Eventually I dragged myself
to bed. I needed some sleep, as Bob and
I had a 13 mile hike ahead of us the next day.
We got up fairly early the
next morning and had a cold breakfast of cereal with dehydrated milk. We broke camp around 8:30, and bid Todd, who
was still in his tent, farewell. Todd
was planning to spend 2 layover days there, so he wasn’t motivated to get an
early start.
We climbed away from the
creek on switchbacks, before the trail leveled off. A few minutes later, we encountered the creek
again at another campsite #68. It’s odd
– there are two marked campsites along here with the same number, but they are
probably a ½ mile apart. The upper 68 is
probably the nicer of the two, as it is situated right at the base of Forney
Creek Cascades. If we had known about
this spot, we probably would have continued up here the previous
afternoon. On the other hand, there’s no
telling if we would’ve seen the fireflies at the upper site. I wouldn’t trade that show for 5-star
camping.
Forney Creek Cascades is a
nice waterfall. First there is a nice
run of cascades over open rock, followed by a pool. Beyond is a longer, more gradual slide. The most interesting thing about the falls is
the presence of several fractures in the bedrock, underwater. I attempted a few photos, but my options were
limited, as I had only brought a tiny, lightweight tripod on the trip.
From there, we began the
toughest climb of the trip. We hiked up
into the headwaters of Forney Creek, which featured the dense vegetation of a
tropical rain forest. Eventually we
found ourselves hiking below a mixture of hemlocks and spruces. The hemlocks here appeared to be healthy,
unlike the hundreds of dead trees we’d seen in the valley below. It’s possible that these hemlocks were
vaccinated – we passed one tree that was tagged with a number.
We continued to climb on a
trail that was either rocky, muddy, or both.
Eventually we straggled up to a gap on Forney Ridge, and met the wide,
tourist-trampled trail coming down from the
A minute later, a family
with two children race by us. Dorothy, I
don’t think we’re in Forney Creek anymore!
A few minutes later we crested a wooded summit and descended to the edge
of the bald. Andrews Bald is a natural
grassy bald, but it features quite a few shrubs, including Catawba Rhododendron
and Flame Azalea. Both were just
beginning to bloom when we were there.
I’m guessing that peak bloom this year is probably this weekend (June 21st).
The area reminded me a bit
of
Although we had many miles
to go, there was no way we were rushing by.
We dropped our packs and took a lengthy break, while I roamed the
meadows in search of the best blooms.
It was after 11am when we
finally left Andrews Bald. That wasn’t
ideal, as we still had 10 miles of trail ahead of us. Initially, our progress was slow. The upper part of Forney Ridge was a bit brushy,
and a couple of blowdowns delayed us further. It was a relief when we finally reached the
junction with the Springhouse Branch Trail.
We followed this path down towards Noland Creek, but stopped after a
mile or so at a small creek. We were
both out of water, and it was well past lunch time. Our resting spot wasn’t very comfortable
though, so we kept our break to a minimum.
From there, we continued
down to Mill Creek, and passed through another area of old homesites. A bit later, we reached a luxurious
campground (with picnic tables!) at Noland Creek. From there, we only had to walk somewhere
between 4 and 6 miles (depending on the map or book you’re looking at) down an
old gravel road to get back to the car.
Fortunately the correct distance was closer to 4 miles, as we managed to
cover the distance in about 90 minutes.
Shortly before reaching the
road, I spotted some pretty pink flowers blooming between the road and Noland
Creek. I couldn’t tell what they were,
so I decided to check them out. Upon
closer inspection, they appeared to be some sort of wild rose. I was attempting photos, when I realized that
the tree I was leaning against was draped with a vine. I looked a little closer, and realized that I
was fondling poison ivy. At that point I
looked down, and noticed that I was knee-deep in more of it. Yikes!
I was right next to a small stream, so I jumped in and frantically
scrubbed my hands, arms, and legs. I
guess that worked, because I never acquired a rash.
We reached the car at 4pm,
and began the long drive home.
Fortunately we hit
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