Trees on campsite 13 in Smokies?

“Has anyone camped at campsite #13 in the Smokies near Gregory Bald? I need to know if there are sufficient trees there to hang my Hennessey Hammock when I camp there this weekend.”

“well my guess. never been there. it's a maintained bald.. or an artificial bald.. I forget.. one or the other.. the point being?.. there will be trees, depending on the tree line.. cos it is were a natural bald.. the trees tend to be all blown away.

:)”

“hennessey hammock question.

considering trying mine out for the first time.. in two weeks.. my wesser2fontana trip.

what do you end up leaving behind when you take your hammock. I realize the tent is not with ya.. but ya know??.. in the summer.. could you get away with leaving your sleeping bag too?”

“Yes, there are trees. And CS13 is not on Gregory Bald, but about ½ downhill from the Bald.

Each visit there the downed trees make me think of a dinosaur park. BTW, water is a block or so away on the Gregory Bald Trail going downtrail towards the Parson Branch Road. First there is a seepage, which did not look too good and then there is a good source to your left, 10 to 20 feet from the trail. I believe it was mainly spring fed.”

“"½" should be "½ mile."”

“Is that the campsite at Sheeps Pen Gap?”

“Yes, according to claims in one book. But any sheep and pen are long gone. However, boars like the area.”

“Been there...nice campsite as I remember. The only bad thing was that the 2 available bear boxes were stuffed with trash...old sleeping bags, food garbage etc...”

“OMG, I hope you didn't disturb those geocache boxes!”

“LOL @ NS!

There are no bear boxes at 13 anymore. They replaced them with a cable system like those used elsewhere in the park.

Plenty of places to hang a hammock at 13.

It is a maintained bald not artificial. All they do is cut back encroaching growth.”

“Hi,
How do you like your Hammock ?
I just order one yesterday from www.backpackingdeals.com
Thanks
Tim”

“Yes, plenty of trees there for hammock hangers.

:)

Wish I was going with you guys Katibug, but I gotta drive down to South AL and pick my kid up from Summer camp. blah!!”

“:).. there ya go Katibug!.. All you ever wanted to know. :).. NowSlimmer and HPM never cease to amaze me with their first hand accounts tho. Good reading.. :)”

“there's a whole bunch of yellow birch trees at that campsite....much better for hanging hammocks on than burning for firewood...i've spent some chilly nights there...this weekend won't be..in fact weatherman sayz good and some hiker friends that went up last weekend think that the azaleas will be peaking on the bald!”

“The birches are very nice.

It's amazing the difference between that campsite in winter and in summer.

Oh, be warned. Y'all mentioned about the mice at 37 your last trip? There's a heap of them at 13 too. There is a large downed tree that has a massive colony of mice in it. You will know the tree when you see it. If the squeakers bother you then don't set up near that tree.”

“Thanks everyone for the information. Always nice to know something about an unfamiliar place. MDS-sorry you can't be with us. Maybe next time. :) BTW, I saw Yam tonight. She's doing really well.”