NS: GSMNP 2003 - mid-October 23, 2003 HA ZEL CREEK

“Introduction – Hazel Creek has five backcountry campsites. They are:

82 – Calhoun

83 – Bone Valley

84 – Sugar Fork

85 – Sawdust Pile

86 – Proctor

In my estimate each of these campsites rates in the top five of the backcountry campsites in GSMNP. This is based upon:

I have backpacked to and stayed at least one night at 85 of the 99 backcountry campsites. (There are our other sites that can only be reached by a water crossing.) In addition I have backpacked to and stayed at least one night at 14 of 15 of the Park’s Shelters.



October 14, Tuesday – Stayed at the Fontana Hilton Shelter to avoid a storm with high winds. Met a nice Texas woman, hiking south, who was using a Sierra Zip Stove. She, too, enjoyed it. She was 58, in great shape, married, and her husband supported her backpacking trips.. Heard some creature during the night. I go up and looked for it, but never saw it. However, in the morning there were a lot of shells in the room and my shoes contained four nuts in one and two in the other, one half eaten!

October 15, Wednesday = Took a shuttle boat from the Fontana Marina to Hazel Creek. Saved two hard days of backpacking at each end of the trip. Established a campsite at CS#68. It was a beautiful location and had some buildings across the creek. But I had not brought my sleeping bag, hiking shirt and some fresh bread! Enjoyed a great campfire during the evening. From another post:

I froze without a sleeping bag!

"Don't do like I did last week! At GSMNP I took a boat shuttle across Fontana Lake, hiked to a campsite and discovered that I did not have my sleeping bag. I wore everything that night as the temperature dropped to 30º or lower. I wrapped myself in a nylon tarp in my tent and even used an aluminum survival blanket, which only crinkled. I finally put on my boots, which helped. I survived and made another boat shuttle trip the next day to get my sleeping bag. The next night was just about as cold, but I did not experience any problem.

October 16, Thursday - I still had an ace in the hole during the first night. I had collected extra firewood. If I had started to shiver, I would have build a campfire.

That morning I had a campfire going at 7 a.m., as I prepared a nice hot breakfast(toast, coffee and oatmeal). Got some sap on my fingers. Leaves on the ground made good washcloths. They were wet on the bottom and dry on the top. After breakfast I hiked uptrail for firewood and helped a man watch wild turkeys across a bridge.

Yesterday the boat left me near Bridge 1 (of 8?). At the ends of the bridge, and along much of the shore, the mud was knee deep. I was deposited near some rocks, from where I could climb to higher and dryer ground. Nearby, at the current end of the road, there was a large Chevy station wagon, like a GMC vehicle. The 0.5 mi. or so hike to CS#86 was on a dirt road that in some places was wide enough for a two-lane highway. Shortly after the Chevy was a 4 X4 Kawasaki Mule 2510. It looked like an overgrown golf cart, but it had a hitch for towing.

This morning the Chevy was gone. Tire tracks showed that it had been turned around. They use the vehicles to transport people to the cemeteries. But, on Hazel Creek Trail, some road work was needed. Fortunately, the shuttle boat arrived and I was able to get my sleeping bag. After paying an additional $45 (Three people only pay a total of $55.) I did receive two cups of coffee and some old donuts free.

Five or 6 horsemen set-up camp a short distance from me. Naturally, they ignored many Park Rules. After lunch I decided to remain at CS#86 a second night. Had another good fire.

October 17, Friday – Overnight was much better in the sleeping bag. Bp’ed uptrail past CS#85 to 84. It was real nice. No horses were allowed. It was a split-level between two creeks, just across a bridge. After supper I looked around and found many old pipes and tool parts nearby. Hiked about 0.5 mi. on what is now part of the Jenkins Ridge Trail. Without a bp the trail seemed level, but on the return I could I was now walking on a downgrade.

October 18, Saturday – Bp’ed to CS#82. After CS#83 there were a number of steep uphill stretches. Hiking was great. The trail has not been ruined, yet! Every so often I would see a side trail with a small sign saying, "No Horses." These sidetrails, no doubt, went to cemeteries. The mountain folks wanted to be buried high so that floodwaters would not wash them away. CS#82 is long and is along Hazel Creek. The trail is behind and above the campsite, and there is a large horsecamp on the other side of the trail.

Hazel Creek is one of the nicest trails and has the best backcountry campsites that I have seen in the Park.

Had to don a jacket late in the afternoon. Enjoyed a good dinner, a nice fire, and many stars in the sky. It may get pretty cold tonight.

October 19, Sunday – It did get cold! My 20-degree Campmor bag should be rated 40-degrees. Anything colder requires additional clothing. And I did have to add additional clothing during the night.

Took my time about getting up in the morning. Burr. This time of the year the sun does not reach the campsite until the afternoon! Took it slow going downhill. It was a beautiful, fall day without clouds. Enjoyed hearing the crinkle of leaves under my boots. And I paused often to graze at the beautiful fall colors around me. The woods were semi-open so that one could see a ways. It’s amazing the amount of noise that a dry leaf can make as it falls through a tree to the ground. Although many leaves had fallen, there remained an abundance of color___green, brown, yellow, red and orange. It reminded me that Halloween was near and that I had better send a birthday gift to My Old Flame. Even moving slowly, I reached CS#83 in two hours.

Walked partly up Bone Valley Trail/Road collecting firewood. That part was another pretty trail and nice and level. Trying to start some cheap firestarter from Walmart I found that it did not want to burn, and it dripped hot wax burning my finger. I have some pictures and I’m going to write to Walmart about it.

October 20, Monday – Slept good until 9:30. The sun was just hitting the campsite. Blue sky, still. Have not seen a cloud for three days! This is life at its best. City dwellers only see scenes like this in pictures, but this is real, and even includes actual bird sounds. Just stop and listen! Oops, there goes 5 young hikers. They never even looked over my way or waved___quite intent upon the trail. They did pause a moment on the bridge.

I feel so good and relaxed just sitting in these beautiful surroundings that I don’t want to leave. Finally, aftger lunch, I broke camp, leaving at 2 p.m. Bp’ed to CS#64 in 25 minutes and on to CS#65 in another 50 minutes. This site is great, too. It is about 100 yards long and no matter where you are situated, there is a nice view of Hazel Creek. The horse area is across the trail.

October 21, Tuesday – After an easy hike I caught the shuttle boat and eventually arrived in Bryson City. Unable to decide whether to do another hike or to drive north, at 7 p.m. I decided to drive home. Arrived home in Melbourne, Florida, at 6 a.m.”

“WooHoo!!

Thanks for the report !

MDSHiker”

“Cool report and some good info.
I'd like to explore Hazel Creek a little more.”

“That sounds wonderful!”

“Great trip report Nowslimmer! Glad you had a good time.

I guess one day I will actually do some hiking in the GSMNP.”

“Thanks, NS. I haven't done much hiking in that area. Those sound like some really sweet spots.”

“Great report. Thanks for sharing, NS.”