Backpacking in GSMNP - trip report

“Boar, bees, and spiders, oh my! We encountered them all this weekend. Well, I am the only one who saw the wild boar.

Saturday morning I hiked up the Curry Mountain Trail (GSMNP) to campsite #19. I was meeting a few other folks there - Ewker, Chili, Cottonsocks, Nowslimmer, and a few other people. Ewker, Chili, and Cottonsocks came in from campsite #18; Nowslimmer from campsite #20. I went a different way, and enjoyed my "alone time" hike in.

Yes, I did see a wild boar! It came out of the woods and down onto the trail about 20-30 feet in front of me. It startled me, to say the least! I squealed and it squealed, then it ran off into the woods. I wish I could have gotten a photo, but it happened to fast. At least I got to see it, though.

When I go to campsite #19, no one was there yet, so I set up my tent, hung my pack, then headed on down the trail to meet up with the folks coming from #18. I hiked about 2 miles, then backtracked a bit to Buckhorn Gap. I hung around there for a couple of hours, then gave up and went back to camp. Later on all the folks started showing up. So did the honey bees.

The honey bees were out in full force. I managed to get stung when I was pulling up my pants after taking a tinkle. Got nailed on the upper outer thigh. That sucker HURT! Later on I heard Ewker let out an explicative and when I looked his way, he was dancing around. He got stung on the top of his foot. Not long after, Nowslimmer calmly said, "I just got stung." What fun!

The spiders: After everyone showed up, we built a small fire and enjoyed hanging out and talking. Cottonsocks was tired after being drug on a hell hike, and she told us what it was like hiking with "lying a-holes" (I don't think she was too happy). I got tired so I headed down to my tent. After climbing in, I noticed a granddaddy longlegs IN my tent. For those of you who don't know me, I am terrified of spiders. Well, I didn't want to make a complete fool out of myself, so I hollered up and asked if there was anyone who wasn't afraid of spiders. Chil said he wasn't, so I told him to get down to my tent. Before he got there I discovered 2 more of those things in my tent, so I bailed out. Chili was kind of enough to do "Granddaddy Longlegs Extermination" of my tent. Finally I got to bed.

A snore fest went on all night, apparently with ME in the lead

We packed up Sunday morning and everyone went their own ways again. Chili, Cottonsocks, Ewker and I hiked out the way I came in (Curry Mountain Trail). My car was parked at the Metcalf Bottoms Picnic Area. When we got there, Cottonsocks bought a bottle of ICE COLD water from a couple who were picnicking. Oooohhh, it was GOOD! Thanks, Cottnsocks!

We did our shuttle, then headed to Townsend to eat at Dead Eye Pete's (I think that was the name of it). We filled up on burgers and beer (except me - I had diet coke), then went home.

Good trip other than the bees and spiders. And the humidity

Pics are here:

http://community.webshots.com/album/551272673SQBdUJ

The rest of the group can tell their sides of the story...”

“Cool pics and TR Woodzie!

Are you sure they were honeybees? It sounds like yellowjackets.. honeybees generally aren't aggresive like that.

Cool sighting on the wild boar!”

“They definitely were not yellow jackets. I didn't see any yellow jackets at all, but there were tons of honey bees. Ewker said whatever stung him looked different than a honey bee, but what nailed me was definiteley a honey bee. I'm not sure what got Nowslimmer.”

“Sorry I missed you guys. I hiked down there and saw your camp and your pack hanging. Met nowslimmer on the trail. Talked briefly and took some pics.

Will post a TR with pics later.

There sure was a lot of garbage around that camp, at the base, near the trail.”

“Doesn't sound like Honeybees to me. I keep several hives.”

“KP, we cleaned up the trash. It was burnable, so we put it in our campfire. Sorry I missed you. I got back to camp around 4:30ish.

SS, what stung us may not have been honey bees, but there definitely were honey bees in that area, hordes of them. Ewker, Chili, Cottonsocks, and Nowslimmer can vouch for that. My grandpa used to have bee hives, too. Trust me, I know what a honey bee looks like :-)”

“Nice shots... nice report! Good wildflowers.

I've seen bees that hang around water spouts... and also bees that will try to suck down a can of pop right with you. They're smaller than a bumble bee. Might you guys have seen any of them??

LOL, although I'm sure it sucked: "she told us what it was like hiking with 'lying a-holes'" Man, I gotta hike with Cottonsocks sometime!!!”

“here are my pics http://community.webshots.com/album/551283469oMAhYJ

The bee that stung me was black and yellow. It reminded me of a those big bumble bees but smaller.

I started off Sat morning at the Bote Mt Trail. I only had a short hike (2 mi) to meet up with Chili and Cottonsocks at campsite 18. This is a really nice site. Lots of room for tents.
We left the campsite around 10:00 and headed up the West Prong towards Tremont. It was a short climb up then downhill to Tremont. We had nice lunch at a grassy spot at Tremont.
Next was Lumber Ridge. The climb did keep going up and then leveled off then downhill. Looking at the book tonight the climb was 1200' over 2.5 miles. Even though it was hot there was some nice cool breezes coming thru the trees.
We finally hit Meigs Mountain Trail. Not sure why but the trail just changes name at a intersection. The climb up there was about 400' till it leveled off with a slight downhill. Total miles was 8 from campsite 18. I ended up with 10 since I hiked in to meet them
Woodzie was there when we got there and told us she had waited at Buckhorn Gap for a long time for us. We figured we would be the last ones to camp but we weren't. Good thing as there wasn't that many good sites. Finally a friend (Matt) of Chili/Cottonsocks showed up then Nowslimmer and finally MDShiker and his daughter. We had a full camp.
The bees were a buzzing most of the evening. This morning I heard them around my tent. I wasn't in any hurry to get up.
Matt was the first to leave then MDShiker and his daughter. We finally left and Nowslimmer was still packing.
We headed on down the trail to another cemetery. This one was so old that there were no dates or names on the rock tombstones.
The hike out was pretty much downhill and it got hotter the lower we went.
Woodzie and Chili wen to get his car while Cottonsocks and I sat around Metcalf Bottoms picnic are waiting for them.
We headed to get something to eat the nsaid our goodbyes. I rode with Woodzie back to her place and loaded up my car and drove home.
Great trip with a good bunch of folks

karma, sorry we missed you. Maybe next time”

“Hey Woodzie, nice report. I have yet to see a wild boar myself. Is the Mountain Laurel in full bloom in the Smokies, it was kicking in Shenandoah this weekend.

I was just telling my wife a couple of days ago that it's been 3 years since I've been to the Smokies. I gotta get back and soon.

Nice photos too.”

“bumble bee

yellow jacketwhat stung me looks more like the yellow jacket except the top portion was solid black. The yellow markings were on the lower half of its body just like in the above picture

honey bee

to bad it wasn't this that stung me
last edited: 6/12/06 7:29:07 AM”

““Doesn't sound like Honeybees to me. I keep several hives.”
StoveStomper
7:19:10 PM
6/11/06

I have become pretty adept at insect identification.

There were scores of honey bees there. I suspect that a hive was somewhat near and that the garbage attracted them.

It was strange though, they swarmed our bandanas and anything else that had sweat on it. The stings came from bees being trapped in clothes/shoes, etc. I wouldn't call it aggressive behavior.”

“Some people say the trails in the Smokies are to crowded, not true at all. We only saw 9 day hikers the entire weekend. We didn't see a single person backpacking.”

“Our hike began at Bote Mtn Trailhead about 4:30 Friday afternoon. We began the ascent up Bote Mtn trail and Cottonsox managed it fairly well and after about 1/2 mile, got her legs under her and made the rest of the trip with no problems. It took us about an hour to cover the 1.5 miles and make it to CS 18. After setting up the tent, I went to socialize with the others in camp (this is a huge campsite with at least 4 different camp areas) and when I returned to our tent, CS had gathered enough wood for the entire night.

I made dinner (turkey and dressing with gravy) while CS mixed up the White Chocolate pudding and put it in the creek. After a good meal, CS tended the fire, and the others came over to gawk at the pudding she pulled from the creek. The weather was perfect and we slept soundly right beside the creek.

Next morning Ewker made it to camp before we were packed and after breakfast, we headed up and out toward CS 19. The first 2.5 miles weren't bad and cottonsox made no complaints about the short 300 foot pull.

We had a great lunch at Tremont (complete with a coke from the machine) and then left out on Lumber Ridge Trail.

Now when I planned this trip, I may or might have told Cottonsox that the longest pull would be up Bote Mountain trail. If I indeed tell her that, it was on the mistaken belief that it was true. However, I somehow overlooked the the hike out of Tremont and missed the fact we would pull 1200 feet over about 2.5 miles.

After about 1/2 mile she started calling me names. After a mile, she wanted to quit. After a mile and a half, she started threatening me. After two miles, she even though Ewker was an #&%!$. At 2.25 miles she announced she couldn't take another step. I then took her pack and packed it the remaining quarter mile to the gap on top Lumber Ridge. In a few minutes, she and Ewker showed up. After giving me hell for a little while longer, she put on her pack and started downhill with a purpose.

We hike on to Buckhorn Gap where she then was faced with another 300 foot pull. After calling me and ewker lying #&%!$s for about a half a mile, she topped it out and covered the remaining distance with little or no complaints.

We reached camp aroung 5 pm and found only Woodzie. We sort of figured everyone else would bail when we looked up to see Matt (now Twelvepack) come into camp and announce there was a guy and his daughter and an "older" guy coming up the trail to the campsite. In a few minutes, MDS hiker, his daughter and nowslimmer walked in.

Matt produced a twelvepack (boy, trail names are easy to come up with sometimes) and then he gathered enough wood to have a fire into the wee hours of the morning. It was warm enough that we didn't need a fire, but the smoke sure cleared out the insects.

After complaining that she "couldn't go on", cottonsox found a huge surge of energy at camp, helped nowslimmer pitch his tent, made pudding, gathered wood and generally did more in camp that I can ever remember. Seems like I was right when I told her that she would forget all about the "bad" stuff once she got there.

Next morning, twelvepack was up at the crack of dawn and hit the trail early. We left in stages and Ewker, Woodzie, Cottonsox and I left together and hike out in about an hour and a half.

After picking up vehicles, we went to Dead Beat Pete's in Townsend for Burger and Beer (and diet coke) on the patio by the river.

All in all it was a good hike, but the heat and humidity really worked us over. This will be my last hike below 5000 until October.”

“hey don't forget woodzie became a lying #&%!$ when she said there were no more climbs and there was...lol”

“That's right, I'm a lying #&%!$, too! But my lie was a sincere lie. I really did forget about that last little climb. I told y'all I repented and would sin no more...isn't that good enough? LOL!!!”

“I was sincere when I told a lie too.

That didn't get me much.”

“Enjoyable trip reports and really nice photos...I like trails where you feel like you're walking through a tunnel of green...I used to be afraid of spiders too, Woodsie, until I got locked up overnight in an Indian jail (1 kilo hash, 750 gms grass...a long, long, long time ago, kids) after cramming all the LSD I had down my throat so it wouldn't get found also...there I was, terrified of spiders in a lock up where every corner had millions of spiders...the one time everything in the world was right was when I was tripping so I learned to appreciate spiders that night...funny thing, I used to get surprised by them all the time before that trip and now it's really rare...which is a good thing because we got serious spiders in our house...found this beauty in our bathtub yesterday...I will not kill these beauties but catch them and let them go outside where they can terrify small birds...LOL: click on the picture to make it grow...hee hee hee...
”

“Cloudwalker, to answer your question above, yes, the mountain laurel are blooming. They have reached their peak at the lower elevations, but there are still some fine displays at the higher elevations.

Chili, did CS get rested up last night?”

“I thought Binks was twelvepack?

Matt as in webmaster matt?

I was hot as can be in the Smokies this weekend. I was shocked. I made the fatal mistake of winding up in Gatlinburg. Everytime I go there I always say, "Never again."”

“Matahari - that pic gave me the creeps! And then you had to go and say "click on the picture to make it grow" If that spider had been in my bathtub, I would have totally freaked out.

Dayhiker, I don't know who Binks is. The guy who got dubbed Twelve Pack on this hike isn't Matt the Webmaster. This guy is a friend of Chili's.

I'm sorry to hear you went to Gatlinburg. Gosh I hate that place!”

“Sounds cool! Glad Matt met some TT'ers, Chili & Cottonsocks!”

“Gatlinburg is one place I do my best to avoid.

I can remember when it was a nice drive from I-40 to Gatlinburg. Sad thing is that it wasn't that long ago.”

“Binks is a guy who posted here regularly a few years back. He hiked in a 12 pack of Miller Lites on a Sipsey trip with ice in a cooler. I'm mainly picking at chili since he knows the guy.

Gatlinburg - yep, that place sucks. We car camped at Smokemont and wound up at Clingmon's Dome. I had the kids with me and thought we'd check out the sky lifts. $42 for the family, no thanks.”

“I got rested up a little but I still wish I was home in the bed today. I had a great time but VERY VERY sore!”

“I avoid Gatlinburg like the plague this time of year. If I have to go see a client, they better be up and ready to see me about 7AM if I am going there.

Thank goodness for backroads.

Dayhike, I think woodzie cleared up the confusion. Binks is binks, Matt is twelvepacke, Matt the webmaster is Matt, the webmaster.

Got it?

Woodzie, yes, I think CS got some rest.”

“Man, my legs are covered with bites! Dang mosquitos or whatever it is that ate me up! I had to go to Walgreen's last night to get Benedryl and anti-itch cream. I've been itching like mad! $%!@&**!!”

“chili - you know how dense us Bama boys are.”

“Well, seeing as how I grew up in LA, I would have to confine the "dense" part to Bama grads.”

“It was refreshing to stay on the NC side of the park this go around. I can count on one hand the number of power T's I saw over the 4 days.”

“Yes, the bugs were bad Saturday afternoon. Busybee got bit on the forehead and was a huge bump. I got bit a few times and have been itching ever since. The bug juice helped but quickly wore off so we had to reapply from time to time.

Those friggin' bees woke us up Sunday morning. They were buzzing all around and bumping into the tent. When I woke up there were 4 of them sitting on the tent...not sure why.

Busybee had a great time biking around the loop at Cades Cove on Saturday morning. The hike up Curry Mtn wasn't very steep so she didn't really complain much. She stopped at every little spring along the way and dipped her bandana into it and washed her face with the cold water...that made her happy.

Of course, the funniest thing she said all weekend was that the Mountain House spaghetti dinner tasted better than Mom's at home...hope my wife isn't reading this.
Thank goodness for the cafeteria at work or I'd probably be dead.

It was good seeing everyone.”

“LOL, glad she had a good time. And I am glad she caught a "bug" to study.”

“Nice TRs!
Thanks for posting them.”

“Great pictures anfd rewports! I gotta get down to Tn someday.”

“I'm out! I spent 2-nights at CS#20 before hiking out. As Matt expressed it, "it's great out here in the woods." That entire trail kicked my butt good. Had two falls, one going in and one coming out. This year, with the passing of my knees, I have become an old man!

Will try to write a trip report in a day or two. My hour is almost finished here at the Bryson City Library.

Enjoyed seeing everyone of you.”

“nowslimmer, sorry to hear about you falling. Hope everything is ok.
It was good to see you again”

“NS, how is your sting? Was CS#20 free of bees?

I'm glad you are out safe and sound :-)”

“tripping in an indian jail? and no one bothered to comment on that? i messed with acid a couple times. i think i'd take the extra sentence.

hiking with cottonsocks sounds like hiking with my woman. By the middle of the morning, a 50 ft hill becomes a mountain. It never fails, I have to go through the map and figure out EXACTLY how many inclines there are, and I definitely hear it if I'm wrong.”

“Meig’s Mountain Trail to CS#19

This hike was just like all the others in GSMNP. No matter which way you’re headed on a trail, it is mostly uphill!

6/9/06 Friday – Crossed the Mountains and hiked to CS#20. It took about 5-hours for me to backpack the short distance. The downhill to the creek at the end was exceptionally difficult for me and took me about 1-hour. Every stone seemed to want to throw me. They would roll under my boots or catch in them. Finally, in the dark I took a fall. A hiking stick, my faithful companion of six years, was broken in my fall. I could not see in the dark well enough to cross the creek, so I hollowed for help. Four young guys had passed me an hour previously at the start of the down-leg. I felt one or two of them could have come back looking for me, since it took so long for me to arrive. Two of them did respond and helped me across and into a CS near cables. They, from Knoxville, knew nothing about cables or the campsite post identifier, but had found a bunch of unofficial campsites by going downstream from CS#20. I set my tent up w/o the fly and, in my exhaustion, fell asleep quickly.

6/10/06 Saturday – Today was rougher. The trail became boring with repetitions. Had to go around about 12 folds of Meig’s Mountain. Between each one were water shed areas. About half of them were dry. Finally, I reached the junction with Curry Mountain Trail. Part of a downed tree provided a good place to rest. I knew it was only about a 10 minute hike for Karma police, so I should be there within an hour. Karma police and I met along the trail. He is a real gentleman. He hiked in to CS#20, then to 19 to meet everyone and back to 20 to meet a friend. Unfortunately, no one was at 19, just woodzie’s tent was there. MDShiker and his daughter pasted me along the trail. She was beautiful and very polite and helpful. They filtered some drinking water for me. Thanks to you both. It took me 7-8 hours to reach CS#19, where I was the last, or next to the last, to arrive. It was a great group, except for the bee that stung me. While I fixed myself a meal, two, beautiful, TT women set-up my tent. That was a real treat___a welcome surprise! Thanks to both of you. Cottonsocks prepared enough pudding for the group. Thanks, Cottonsocks. I’m sorry I was not polite enough to try some. It did look good. I stayed up late after midnight by the campfire, which was well attended by Matt.

6/11/06 Sunday – For most, it was time to break camp. Matt, DSDhiker and busybee were the first to leave. I considered staying another night, but finally packed and headed back to CS#20. I was the last one to leave. The bees, feeling like champs, rejoiced at having cleared out another group. By the time I reached the Curry Mountain Trail Junction, I was wishing that I was done. .After a rest I continued, counting the dry and wet water run-off spots between the mountain folds. The dry outscored the wet, 6 to 5. A family of 4, two of them young children, passed me twice. They went to CS#19, but decided there were too many bugs. So they returned to CS#20. Thinking I had another hour to hike, I was happy when I saw their tent close ahead. I had taken a nasty fall just as I was finishing the last water crossing, while experiencing a shower. The family, from Cincinnati., Ohio, had an alternative reason. They wanted a shorter hike out on Monday as they were going to visit some relatives in SC.

6/12/06 Monday – I watched the family leave, while I nursed the bee and bug bites. They had bothered me during the night. I decided to rest a day here at this beautiful site. However, I spent the day thinking how nice a number of showers would feel at the Grand Hotel in Pigeon Forge. But the rest helped one knee, which was not feeling good. As Matt expressed it, “These woods are beautiful. It’s great to be here.”

6/13/06 Tuesday – I started to pack, but then decided to have breakfast. I gambled on the bears and left everything on the ground, while I took a few minutes to get some water. Later, on the trail I met a nice, young (maybe 55-60) woman. She day-hiked to CS#20 and returned. The trail dragged on and on, but, finally, to my left I saw one of the last Elkmont homes to be evacuated. However, the downhill to a log bridge crossing over Jake’s Creek was slow going for me. The uphill to Jake’s Creek Trail and on to Cucumber Gap Trail were followed by a long 0.3 mile + of downhill to the trailhead. My memories returned to days when I used to hike the 6-miles Cucumber Gap Trail Loop from Elkmont Campground three times a day. I got some water at the campground, saw my newest friend seated at a picnic table, but I was too tired to hike to her walk-in campsite, so I headed for The Grand Hotel in Pigeon Forge. A single was $25, higher than the $18.88, for which I was hoping. But I stepped inside, where I was told the $25 rooms were across the street at the Family Inn, which The Grand owns. Their rooms here were family rooms for $35 and up. So I went up the street to another place with rooms at $19 according to their sigh. The girl there said they had no more at that price and tried to get me to spend $40 or $50. Finally, she said she had one left for $25 on the back side. I had stayed there previously. They were the normal $19 rooms, but hardly worth it. I left.

I went to Walgreen’s, bought some pills and crossed the mountains back to Deep Creek Campground. It was a rough night due to lots of itches and a need to go quickly. I did so outside the tent pad. At the same time I was hit by some leg cramps. This made it difficult to put on my boots so that I could walk on the gravel to the toilet paper in the car. (I strongly dislike gravel tent sites.)

6/14/06 Wednesday – McDonald’s was closed again this morning, except for the drive-in. This appears to be about two weeks running that they have had some sort of problem. So I went to Bojangles, where they had some decent coffee. However, their sweet rolls were not too hot, though. Many of the regulars from McDonald’s were here.

All in all it was a great trip. I enjoyed seeing everyone. Wish I had found an opportunity to talk more with busybee. She seemed like a wonderful girl, and as pretty as my own daughters.”

“woodzie - My bee sting is healing. There were afew bees at CS#20.”

“Nowslimmer, great to meet you. I have pics of you and your infamous hiking stick here:

http://www.thebackpacker.com/pictures/album/rmgq328x.php

Those spiders are family Lycosidae, possibly Schizocosa saltatrix or Schizocosa ocreata. Can't be sure.

The pics include some shots I took at Shiloh MNP, where I stopped on my way up. Would have taken more, but I was short on time.

TR is coming, but I've been too busy to give it the attention it deserves.

Hope everyone is well and can get out this weekend.”

“KP, if I had seen that spider I probably would have run through the woods screaming! Spiders terrify me.

Sorry I missed you when you came to CS#19.”

“Nice pictures, karma police, thanks. I enjoyed meeting you.

I enjoy the other pictures posted and the trip reports. Thanks.
last edited: 6/16/06 9:22:30 AM”

“Nice pics, KP. Good report, NS. Hope you are feeling better.”