Cades Cove Weekend - Day Two - An OMG Moment

Middle Prong Trail/Lynn Camp Prong Trail/Miry Ridge Trail/Panther Creek Trail/Back out on Middle Prong - 14.9 Miles

I confess, I was not looking forward to today's hike. After yesterday's miles and downhill ending, my feet hurt and I was hearing from some muscles that don't usually say anything. Also, I had seen Lynn Camp Prong Trail described in an online forum as the second-worst trail in the Park (don't remember what the first one supposedly is). But I chose this hike for two reasons: (1) Jim was with me and he loves me anyway and (2) the hike is accessed from the end of Tremont Road, which is closed in winter, so my time frame for hiking it is limited unless I want to walk 3 extra miles in cold weather to reach the trailhead. (Note: yesterday's hike was similar in that Parson Branch Road is closed in winter.)

So we got up early - again - and drove over to Tremont Road, passing the Tremont Institute, an environmental education facility with many wonderful programs and info. Past the Institute the pavement ends and the gravel begins, and three miles later it too ends at a parking area and a steel bridge crossing the convergence of Lynn Camp Prong and Thunderhead Prong to form Middle Prong of Little River (prong means creek, by the way). So the first step on the trail is in front of a wonderful cascade of thundering water - not a bad way to begin!

Middle Prong Trail follows the railroad bed used to haul lumber out of the Tremont area during logging's heyday. We walked along trying to imagine the lumber camp there, complete with homes, a post office, a hotel and the company store where currency was scrip or coins made by the company that could not be used anywhere else (cue Tennessee Ernie Ford .) Middle Prong Trail is a pleasant walk, which is good because we will be coming out the same way. At 2.3 miles we pass the junction with Panther Creek Trail, where we will be coming back to in a loop, and we check out where we will have to cross Lynn Camp Prong (creek, remember?) without a bridge. We have brought water shoes just in case, but it doesn't look too bad. Might feel good by the end of the day!

At 4.1 miles we come to (eek!) Lynn Camp Prong Trail and 3.7 miles of pure....not too bad! In fact, we had a pretty nice walk. This is a horse trail, as are many in the Smokies, but because there has not been much rain lately the trails are dry, so no mud wrestling. We reached the intersection with Miry Ridge Trail where 3 men, 1 teenage boy and 1 elementary age boy were taking a rest break as they were backpacking in the same direction we were headed. Trail junctions are great places to pause and chat with fellow hikers, who are always interested in where you are coming from, where you are going, etc.

Left onto Miry Ridge and our favorite hiking: little ups and downs on the ridge line. After just a short while the trees changed and we found ourselves at..the beach? The tall trees were gone, the ground was sandy and there were mountain laurel bushes blooming all around, reminding me of a beach path through blooming oleander shrubs. Wow! We've seen azaleas, rhododendrons, and now mountain laurel blooming at their peak. What a treat! And if only someone had cut a few down over there to the left maybe we could see a view! Let's see if we can go up a little higher off to the side...We took a few steps off the trail and....Oh My God!

Now, this was not a taking-the-Lord's-name-in-vain thing, this was truly an exclamation for what God had done. It was truly grand.

As we set off along Miry Ridge Trail again I noticed the petals of mountain laurel along the path, looking like a wedding had taken place earlier in the day.

We soon came to our last new trail of the day, Panther Creek, which was 2.3 miles of downhill again. Well, at least it wasn't 5! We crossed Panther Creek 9 times, all easy rock hops. There were many clusters of galax blooming along the way.

We reached the end of Panther Creek Trail and made it across Lynn Camp Prong without needing water shoes. Rock hopping is great fun but one false move can get your foot stuck and bones broken. Walking back out on Middle Prong Trail again we checked out all the little side paths down to this creek, which was growing larger with each step. There are many small waterfalls and cascades. This is an easy and delightful trail that I would recommend to everyone.

Near the end we plunged our feet in nature's spa and congratulated each other. This hike was nearly as long as yesterday's but seemed easier. Happy hiker tip: frequent intersections make us feel like we are making more progress. Two 2.5-mile sections is easier than one 5-mile section any day!

Our reward was going out to dinner in Townsend at the Back Porch Restaurant where you must save room for peach, apple, blackberry or pecan cobbler. I ate so much pecan cobbler that I hated myself. Apparently they take a quarter of a pecan pie and dump it upside down in a bowl and put a spoon in it. All together now: YUUUMMMM!