Rocky Top

On December 18,2018 I did my longest hike to date, accompanied by my daughter Marissa. 20 miles with 4,587 feet of elevation gain. We started near sunrise at 7:30am and headed up the Lead Cove Trail, which intersected with Bote Mountain. We continued upward to the Appalachian Trail at Spence Field and took a break at the same spot where we experienced the solar eclipse of August 2017.

The section from Spence Field to Rocky Top is a tough hike. It starts up, and then goes back down, then up again. It’s only about a mile, but I found it to be the toughest part of the day. The scenery was fantastic from the top, so it was worth the effort.

We continued on to Thunderhead Mountain before turning around and heading along the AT. The section from Thunderhead to Russell Field shelter is a pleasant stroll, although there is the uphill section after Rocky Top.

 A few patches of leftover snow covered shaded grassy areas, but nothing was on the trail form the previous week's 18" snowfall. 

We hiked a short distance past the Russell Field Trail intersection, but turned back since this was within a day or two of the shortest day of the year. The afternoon was fading and we had a ways yet to go.

 

We made it to the car after 7pm at the Lead Cove trailhead, so it was dark at this point. A long day but full of memorable scenery and time well spent with my daughter. Making memories in the Smokies-

2017 Solar Eclipse from Spence Field

            I had thought about skipping the eclipse viewing, all things considered. The talk of snarled traffic and the uncertainty of weather in the higher elevations where I wanted to view the event made it an easy one to excuse away. It turned out to be worth every step.

I shared the hike with my daughter Marissa and her boyfriend Michael. We hiked to a spot in the Smokies that fits the grandeur of the solar eclipse on 8/21/2017. Traffic was gridlocked at 7am trying to get into Cades Cove and we couldn’t reach the Lead Cove trailhead. We parked in a pull off, hiked back down 0.4 miles to the Bote Mountain trail, and started up towards Spence Field. 

Walking was quicker than driving

                   

A hiker stood at the trailhead, safely off the roadway behind a boulder, staring at her trail map. She was trying to get into Cades Cove and didn’t want to walk another five or so miles along the road. I showed her the trails that would put her in the Cades Cove picnic area and she headed on up.

The hike was uphill and grueling at times. The trail is wide, but rocky. As we passed the trail intersections of Lead Cove and Anthony Creek we were joined by additional hikers. A middle aged guy was trying to catch his breath and told me he didn’t want to end up having to ride in one of those carts when he goes to Walmart, so here he was, struggling up the hill. Michael and Marissa stayed ahead of me, which I told them to do. My trail name should be Molasses because as the old saying goes, I am slower than molasses. And clumsy if I get in a hurry.

A side note- up into the sixties Bote Mountain Trail was a road that carried drivers close to the Appalachian Trail.

I met an interesting guy on the way up, after passing Lead Cove. He said I must be a botanist. He noticed my interest in the flora and anything else that captured my fancy, which is part of the reason I’m so slow. He told me he is slow too because he stops to look at plants. He is much younger and in better shape but doesn’t want to miss anything. His upbringing is such that he has both knowledge and interest in natural remedies. He gives friends and family plants he harvests for making into teas and remedies (he doesn’t harvest in the Smokies.) We exchanged numbers, and I’m looking forward to hiking with him, maybe in October.

We reached the Appalachian Trail after one final steep switchback and took a left to Spence Field.                 

End of Bote Mountain trail. Turn left to reach Spence Field

                    

The views are magnificent, and I want to head back up soon when it isn’t as crowded. Between Spence Field and nearby Rocky Top there were around 120 people. We had some interesting characters, including a ukulele player and a guy that was asleep under a lean-to, snoring loud enough to be heard by anyone within thirty feet. Hikers that make this trek are a different breed, although this event brought out some that don’t do this type of hike.   

Looking west

             

                  

The plant guy walked by us and headed on up another 1.2 miles and 500 feet of elevation to Rocky Top, and he handed me a dried fig as he passed by. A good snack after the climb.

Light almost gone, minutes before totality

During the first part of the eclipse. The harsh light softened

The event was quite a show. We were not in the center line of totality but with the center line passing through the southeast corner of the park we were close. Totality lasted about 2 minutes from what I heard, although I didn’t time it. During totality the temperature dropped, locusts sang their night songs, and the stars came out. The bright star may have been Saturn, from what I had read.                            

Looking west during totality

With the view we had from the mountaintop we saw classic pre-sunrise colors to the west, with hues of purple and blue. Purple mountain majesties. Turning around and looking to the east I saw the sky with its narrow band of color that rimmed the horizon like a sunset disappearing into the evening’s darkness     . 

 And then someone turned the light on.

The first bit of light that peeked through reminded me of a single light bulb overhead in an interrogation room, with cops trying to pull a confession out of someone. A narrow, dim light that quickly grew into daylight again, but not the intensity you expect at 1:30 in the afternoon. A softness of light soaked the mountaintop, and it slowly began its journey back into harshness of light and the humidity that comes with a sunny August afternoon.

Light on either side of totality was gentle. Marissa said it made her want to remove her sunglasses the way you would in later afternoon. Crescent shaped shadows were anywhere light filtered through. In darker sections of the path bright lights in crescent shapes dotted the otherwise shadowed ground.       

               

                        

                           

                              

The detour we made up Bote Mountain added distance to our hike, and my total was 14.7 miles, plus another 0.8 to and from the trailhead to my car. Michael and Marissa added another 0.6 going to the Spence Field shelter and the water source.

            

                                      

                              

As we were nearing the end of our hike I caught up with them, only because they stopped and waited on me. Marissa told me about a couple from Philadelphia that had missed their trailhead coming down and would have to walk back up the road a few miles. They had driven all night to get there, hiked up to Spence Field, and were planning to drive home that night, alternating drivers so they could both rest. We caught up with them and I sent them to an alternate trail that went straight to their car same trail as the lady that morning. He took a picture of my map showing the trail intersection.

Last year I was hiking the Curry Mountain trail and I struck a conversation with a gentle man at the intersection where I planned to turn around. After a while he asked if I had a trail map with me and I admitted I did not. He gave me a National Geographic map and said he has given away dozens. I thanked him, and I always have one with me now. It’s too easy to get turned around when you’re tired. I hope I run into him again on the trails so I can let him know how much his map has helped others.

The next solar eclipse here is only seven years out and stateside it goes from Dallas up through Cleveland. I’m thinking it will be worth a road trip.

Elkmont, Great Smoky Mountains

Elkmont is located in the Great Smoky Mountains, in Tennessee. A logging town and resort community in the past, the grounds are now property of the Smokies, with a campground now on the former location of the town of Elkmont. 

The Little River Lumber Company established the town in 1908, and the Wonderland Park Annex, pictured below, was constructed in 1912. The annex is scheduled for demolition, but 18 cottages and outbuildings will be restored.

All images below were taken in 2014. I did not enter any structures, but I did include several photos  taken through open doors or windows. All buildings are closed to the public.

This is a nice place for a writer or artist of any medium to draw inspiration from. You'll fill in all the blanks with your own creative ideas, reliving what happened back nearly a hundred years ago when this area was enjoying its heyday. My mind starts daydreaming when I see an old forlorn place like this. The stories are surely more rich that anything we can imagine.

You'll find some nice hiking trails in the area, including the Little River Trail, which isn't too tough by Smokies standards. The elevation stays flat. I will save that for another blog entry.

 

Steps going up to the Wonderland complex

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Troll Bridge

Steps going up to the former site of the Wonderland Hotel, which collapsed in 2005

The Wonderland Annex

The door has shifted to a rather odd angle

I love the rock steps. Hopefully they will survive the demo of cottages

Overgrown cottage is barely visible on the left as you walk back toward the entrance of the annex

Looking at the Wonderland Annex, from the site of the main hotel, which collapsed in 2005. A pile of bricks from the hotel is seen on the far left

Inside the Wonderland Annex, taken through a window. Looks like someone outside the window at the far wall, in long pajamas and house shoes,hanging. This place would make a nice setting for a haunted house

Pathway from the Wonderland Annex to the remaining steps of the main hotel

Sign installed by the park at the Wonderland entrance. Note the old photo showing the steps and hotel

This cemetery is accessible from a gravel road, or by walking the old road/path from the Wonderland Hotel

Looks like a cool playhouse

Restored Appalachian Clubhouse

Old power pole

Walking down the street that ends at the Appalachian Club

Beautiful cascades as you approach a second cemetery