[lostnwilderness]

"I know I don't get there often enough
but God knows I surely try
its a magic kind of medicine
that no doctor could prescribe..."

-Buffett One Particular Harbor
​

Great trip. Exhausted. Hike in was a bugger headed basket weaver. Only about a mile but with no trail, cliffs, rhodo and traversing things we will never tell SWMBO about it was a handful and we were exhausted once we finally got to the stream.

Rule #1 - Don't headbutt yellow jackets...

Amazing planaral fracturing

What we came for...

Old Narrow Gauge Railroad remnants...

"Harry Potter" Rock


Up, up, up of beyond...

Further proof of the narrow gauge railroad. This wheel was 200-250 pounds. If it were within even 1 mile of a trail I would go back and haul it out. Sadly unless I have a helicopter it is staying where it is for the next 100 years... Most likely the narrow gauge going up this stream was washed out in a flood in 1921.

And this is what they were logging. This is a Chestnut stump so it has to be 80+ if not 90+ years old... My buddy in the picture is 6'6" and about 240lb for reference.

More cool bedrock


The pinkest spots I have ever seen on a speck. Sorry for the picture quality, we were in kind of a slot canyon and it was dark in there.

Getting tight...


Going up...(still)


Roll'n

So then there is another bushwack from Hades. Luckily, this one is a bit shorter than the past few weeks so it was only about 45 min and about 900 vertical feet. Got to the "Thank you Jesus" trail and started humping it back to the truck. For the 3rd time this year we revisited Rule #2 - No grabbing Rhododendron that rattle... Little brother was about 4" from my shoe when I saw him.

10 hours after we left we arrived back at the parking spot only to find out that some locals had left us a calling card. Since my tires were still fully inflated and all windows were intact all I did was laugh. 1/4 - 1/2" of tar like mud...

Hope everyone is getting out and enjoying time with family and friends. Remember how blessed you are to get to explore God's creation and have a little fun on your trip around the sun.

 

[gambusia]

Nice specs!

 

[Crummy]

Nice pics. Thanks for sharing.

 

[jonathan creason]

Once again, another awesome report. I need to make time to get some backcountry action.

 

[RouseD]

Great story and pics Bruce.

 

[fishjunky]

Nice write up amigo. Getting fired up for this weekend!

 

[Conway Twitty]

The mudhole at that FS gate looks tame, but it can be a pretty slick mud that can cause problems even for 4WD vehicles. The better fishing is further downstream where you fished on your previous report from a couple weeks ago, though.

Oh, and incidentally, I think you should consider yourself lucky that your truck only got the mud treatment. There are some rough locals over that way that can be pretty territorial. That stream was on the radar of some local guides who pound it A LOT. I think they overstayed their welcome and a few of the locals have taken issue with it. The same holds true for the feeder that comes in from the left hand side where the paved road ends. It shows that it is public water further upstream, but the locals don't see it that way and consider it trespassing on their land.

Also, that area gets hunted heavily in the fall by guys running dogs. If you go back during deer season, be sure to wear some orange and be ready for some company.

 

[smokiestroutslayer]

I know this place fairly well. Conway, since you probably know it better than me, do you think lostnwilderness hiked 3,500' feet on his report from this creek a few weeks ago? I didn't think that was even possibly much anywhere in the southeast except maybe the Rainbow Falls trail if you take it from Roaring Fork Motor Trail in Gatlinburg all the way to the peak of Mount LeConte which is close to 4,000' feet in elevation gain. Mount LeConte is 6,593'. I think it is close to 14 miles too. I know the Smokies best so I was wondering.

 

[Conway Twitty]

The area is definitely not for the faint of heart, and there is assuredly some decent elevation to negotiate. However, 3500' was probably a bit of a stretch. My guess is more like 600'-1200' tops. But you know about men and fish tales. I wasn't there that day, so I can only make conjecture, however there is just not enough elevation change from the valley to the ridges in that region to even come close to that number.
Just one old man's opinion...........it was still a cool report that could have stood on its own without the need for any embellishment.

 

[lostnwilderness]

I can't send you a PM for some reason so shoot me one if you want specifics.

 

[wademaster]

I can't send you a PM for some reason so shoot me one if you want specifics.

He'll need to make 5 total posts before sending/receiving private messages......I think....

 

[Conway Twitty]

I'm not sure if I was the intended recipient for the PM, or not, but it looks like I don't have enough posts yet to get PM privileges. In any event, I don't expect you to have to give me any specifics on your trip. I was just answering a question that was posed to me, and I gave it my honest answer. It's all just my opinion, anyway. This is one of those cases where I just happen to know that stream like most people know the street they live on.
And really, I didn't want my post to make this about your hiking exploits. My main intent was to let you know that things have been known to happen up that way and it is something to keep in mind. The fact that your truck got muddied up meant (to me) that someone was sending you a message.......and you were fortunate that it was just mud. I've heard stories of worse things happening up there - whether it is just folklore or factual, I'll leave it to others to decide. Personally, I consider you to be lucky. I'll give one more opinion, and I'll leave it at that.......people up that valley know vehicles that are not owned by locals, and they get tense & uncomfortable when they see the same one showing up multiple times, for whatever reason.