Cataloochee - Day Two - Now We're Hikin'

Friday, May 23 - Rough Fork/Caldwell Fork/Boogerman/Caldwell Fork - 15 miles

I am choosing my hike routes based primarily on Elizabeth Etnier's book, Day Hiker's Guide To All The Trails In The Greaty Smoky Mountains. This book is invaluable to me starting from scratch but is also meticulously written for any hiker. I have tried several times to outsmart her but have had no luck yet. The lady has done her homework! Anyway, Stephanie and I had one car until friends were scheduled to arrive later in the afternoon, so to maximize our time and minimize our repeated trail miles or off-trail miles, we chose a hike that ended nearest the campground but began a couple of miles away at the dead end of the road in the Cataloochee Valley. For those of you playing at home, this is Hike #4 in the Cataloochee section of Etnier's book. The theory was that our friends would arrive at camp by the time we would be ending our hike and they would give us a ride to pick up the car. Two miles is entirely too far to walk on a gravel road, especially after walking 15 miles in the pretty woods.

Camp life seems to move slower, which is a good thing if your goal is to sit in a chair by the creek, but we had miles to go before we slept. We at a quick breakfast of oatmeal (yuck) and bagels (yum) and finally left our car at the trailhead at 8:20 AM. After using the modern facilities (who can resist Jethro's Johnnies?) we set off on the Rough Fork Trail.

We crossed Rough Fork Creek several times on foot bridges. (After Hazel Creek I was very grateful for these!).

At 1 mile we had our first stop to check out the Steve Woody Place. The main house and a small springhouse are all that remain of a large farm. The trees have reclaimed the fields and there is no sign of the barn, chicken house, tool house, wood shed and other buildings that were once part of family life.

We left the Woody Place behind and passed Campsite 40, one of the backcountry campsites where folks are allowed to camp in the Park. Camping is limited to these sites and the nice Park Service people have provided cable pulley systems at all of these sites to hang your food, etc. out of reach of animals (read: bears). Some of the backcountry sites are rationed and must be reserved, but Campsite 40 is first come, first served. Nice place, easy access to water, and a pretty short walk out.

Past #40 the fun began as we gained 1,000 feet in elevation in a mile-and-a-half. We did not talk much, just tried to listen to the bird calls (read: breathe). We turned left onto the beginning of the Caldwell Fork Trail and headed back down again, a very gentle and extremely pleasant walk. Huge hemlock trees are numerous because they were not commercially valuable when these woods were logged - sadly, the hemlocks are dying because of an invasive insect. As the other trees are leafing out it is evident that the hemlocks are perishing. They looked ashen, as though someone had burned each one individually.

One species of tree that is doing well is tulip trees or poplars and there is an area along Caldwell Fork Trail marked indicating "Big Poplars". We stopped for a snack and marveled at the size of these giants. The last time I was here I walked around the largest tree and saw that some people think it makes a good bathroom stop - toilet paper everywhere. All together now: Gross! Fortunately there was none on this day.

Eventually we met a fellow hiker coming up the trail. I find that hikers are always happy to stop and chat for a moment, where are you going, where did you start, have a good day. This fellow told us that he had seen two bears, one about an hour earlier and one about 20 minutes earlier. Stephanie's goal was to see a bear without losing control of herself, so after this meeting we were on the lookout. No need to skip ahead - we did not see a bear today.

We stopped for lunch at the intersection of Caldwell Fork and McKee Branch Trail and then went on to turn right onto the Boogerman Trail. Keep in mind that most of these trails are named for people who once lived here. Much of this property here was owned by Robert "Booger" Palmer (not to be confused with the recently deceased artist who brought us "Addicted To Love" and my personal favorite "Sneaking Sally Through The Alley").

Up to this point the trails had been wide because they are used by hikers and horses, but the Boogerman loop is just for hikers, so the path narrowed. The Boogerman Trail is a 4-mile horseshoe-shaped trail that, when combined with Caldwell Fork from the parking lot, makes a terrific 6.6-mile lollipop hike. On this trail you find evidence of past lives, including an incredible stacked stone wall that is 100 yards long and 2 feet wide. A great photo op is a huge tree that has been burned out on the inside - wonder who and why?

Soon we were back at Caldwell Fork Trail, where a right turn leads .8 miles to the road and the end of the hike - for most people, including Stephanie. For Smoky Scout, though, I had to turn left and go up Caldwell Fork for 1.9 miles to close the loop where we had left off for the Boogerman Trail. For this section of trail I was interested in time so I moved fast to see how well I could do. I covered the 1.9 miles in about 35 minutes, pretty good considering we had been going about 2 miles an hour all day while taking pictures and enjoying sights and sounds. This was a horse trail again, with foot bridges, and I was glad it was not muddy. I learned a lesson, though: I met one couple simply standing in the trail and when I did slow down to say hello they pointed out a huge display of pink lady slippers (flowers, you know) on the side of the trail. I would have glided right past them.

Back at camp, our friends had arrived soon after Stephanie did and her car had been retrieved. They were in the process of erecting the world's biggest blue tarp over our campsite. I believe it could be seen from space. One friend, Nora, had begged to be the camp cook for the weekend and we grudgingly (NOT) agreed, and before we knew it we were sitting down to a feast of a chicken/raisin/water chestnut/cashew dish that I had more than one serving of..and still managed to polish off three servings of a chocolate chip cake thing with peanut butter melted over it.

Tired, stuffed and sluggish, Stephanie and I prepared for Saturday's 17-mile hike for which we planned an early start (leave camp by 6:30 AM). Little did we know...