Big South Fork - Mid March 2007

“All right all you lovely “thebackpacker.com” guides and experts -- I’m thinking that I’d like to plan a weekend backpack trip in Big South Fork. Timeframe is mid-March, and it would be nice if it included some of the Sheltowee Trace.


I’ve dayhiked Twin Arches, (http://www.anycities.com/user/towndawg/arches.htm), Honey Creek Loop (http://www.anycities.com/user/towndawg/honey.htm), Colditz Cove (http://www.anycities.com/user/towndawg/colditz.htm) etc.. etc.. several other destinations, and even went swimming at Gentlemen’s Swimming Hole http://www.anycities.com/user/towndawg/swim.htm). I point this out to say that I won’t try to list all the dayhiking I’ve done there – but with one exception basically (Laurel Gap http://www.anycities.com/user/towndawg/laurel.htm) never backpacked it.

I’ve got three maps, but can’t find my “Hiking Big South Fork” book. Any routes you might suggest? ”

“Harvey Broome Group
Big South Fork Backpack, February 24-25, 2001

Linked from --> http://tennessee.sierraclub.org/broome/bsf_bkpk.htm

http://www.twohikers.org/SE_Hiking/bigsouthforkbackpack.htm

Looks like a two-dayer, not sure of total mileage yet.

ALSO--> Found a reference to taking the "John Muir Trail" but that's a 5 day 44mi journey.

Anyway -- take a look and see if this sounds fun?

Eleven backpackers and three day-hikers showed up on an unusually delightful late winter/early spring weekend for a hike through some of the more spectacular backcountry in the Big South Fork (BSF) National River and Recreation Area. The route left the Blevins Cemetery and wound its way down into the gorge of Massey Creek. The old railroad grade was pretty evident, and offered a historical slant on a wilderness trip. The route then turned up one of the huge canyons for which the BSF is famous: the gorge of Rock Creek. The trail undulates along the creek side, or climbs up over small ridge until it gets to a junction and a creek ford. The dayhikers peeled off at the junction, and the backpackers continued into Pickett State Park by making two fords of Rock Creek. Camp that night was in a lovely huge flat area near Double Falls, and we prepared for a forecasted storm to hit in the middle of the night by erecting a tarp complex.

The storm did hit hard, but its fury was spent by 7:30 in the morning. The rain had turned all of the overhangs into small waterfalls along the Hidden Passage trail. It added a special tone to an already spectacular trail of massive rock walls and overhangs. The group had lunch near Crystal Falls, and arrived at the trailhead by 2 pm.

For more details on this trip, go to Roger and Susie's site: http://www.twohikers.org/SE_Hiking/bigsouthforkbackpack.htm
last edited: 10/10/06 4:45:42 PM”

“TD!!
Heres the route I took last year about the same time as your planning.
http://www.thebackpacker.com/pictures/pic/n71svw0o.php. You can shorten it up easy. There are at least 15 stream crossing though!! You should call the folks at Bandy Creek visitor center and double check the route with Howard Duncan. He knows the whole park better than anyone!! Just watch out for the Hogs and the blowdowns!!! LOL
See ya later!
Randall
last edited: 10/10/06 6:17:43 PM”

“If you build it, they will come, bro.”

“The last time I tried doing the northern section in the park it was nothing but blowdowns and copperheads. I GTF outta there!

I highly suggest the Rock Creek loop. Or an out and back to John Muir Overlook. No Business Creek is interesting and there are some nice campsites.”

“TD,
My link is bad!
Sorry!!!
Randall”

“It would be sweet if the Honey Creek Loop was about twice the length it is. Then you cuold have a decent day's hike and campout then have a quickie back to the car in the morning. I think that's still my favorite hike besides Roan.”

“Thanks y'all!..

I'm still looking at this one I posted --

http://www.twohikers.org/SE_Hiking/bigsouthforkbackpack.htm

-- and will try to get time today to study it some more.


Randall -- http://www.thebackpacker.com/pictures/pic/n71svw0o.php

Sticks -- I've done that Rock Creek area, (Hidden Passage Trail, the "tunnel", Pickett).. It was awesome. I've heard good thing about that NoBusiness Trail too!
last edited: 10/11/06 7:31:12 AM”

“theres a SWEET swimming hole on laurel fork trail, but i dont think anybodys gonna be interested in march”

“Crash Bang -- yeah?.. if it's got some flat rocks, we could sit out on the rocks drink whiskey and howl at the moon..

But seriously.. March could easily be cold and snowy.. or at least wet and much too chilly to be wading much.. (we will have stream crossings though.. you can almost count on it!)

BTW -- I sent an email to "mcdonaldjenkins@twohikers.org" and he is going to provide a better description/map of his route/itinerary. From what I can tell part of it includes trails I've hiked before.”

“Got this email back from Roger A. Jenkins:

Chris, as promised, I have attached a map of the trip. Note that this is an APPROXIMATE route. Yeah, there are some creek crossings, but not too bad, unless one runs into unusually high water. It is a nice two day trip. It would probably be worth getting something with trails actually marked on it, like the NG/Trails Illustrated map of the Big South Fork area, as you might want to mix and match, shall we say. If you read my write up on the TwoHikers site, you will see that I have coordinates for the campsite. It is the best place around to camp. Good water and lots of flat area.

You mentioned Raven Fork: as I indicate in the write up, I have done it as a day hike. Not sure if the Park will let you camp there (they had stopped such for a while, but you would need an off-trail permit. Not hard to get. However, as I said, it can be done in a LONG day hike. But you need to be prepared for a tough trip. When George and I did it many years ago, we started hiking at 6 am and finished up in about 13 hours. Now, if you want a REALLY challenging tough route: try doing lower Raven Fork, downstream of the Enloe Creek Bridge. 7.5 hours to go two miles.

Let me know if you have questions about the route.

NOTE: The route that Roger emailed me is posted at:
http://www.thebackpacker.com/pictures/pic/8nuv8.php

I've emailed him back with the following:

I've got a good Big South Fork hiking map at the house. I'll take your topo and lay it across to get all the mileages and actual trail names. Thanks again for your help!

BTW -- We traced Ramsey Cascades up to the AT a while back. A really fun bushwhack, that took much more than a dayhike to get to the top.

http://www.anycities.com/user/towndawg/ramsey.htm

It was a great trip though! As for off-trail permits. Been there done that. The park is getting a little tougher on getting permission, but the guys know me by name now, so they are fairly easy going with my requests.

BTW -- We also did the Porters Creek manway a while back too. Another fun "off trail" trip, but at least it wasn't bushwhacking.

http://www.anycities.com/user/towndawg/manway.htm

I'll start looking at my BSF map (for the "Rock and Thompson Creek Odyssey") and let you know how it goes.
last edited: 10/12/06 2:09:23 PM”

“If you are going to do this route I suggest parking at the John Muir crossing on Divide Road. Go in, turn right at the bridge and come to the rail ties he has a picture of in the TR. The almost 2 mile hike from Blevins Cemetary to this point is boring. I can't believe he did not mention the incredible gysum deposits on the walls and ground at that spot.”

“Spent the last couple of days talking to Brenda Deaver and Howard Duncan "Hiking the Big South Fork” and I think I’ve got a plan.

Meet at Peters Mt trailhead the night before. Hang out, car camp, and then the next morning, shuttle all of us to Terry Cemetery where we will start our hike.

Terry Cemetery to Maude’s Crack, then John Muir Trail to No Business Creek area, Consider a side trip to the Boyette Homestead for lunch, and then ascend to the JMT Overlook. Enjoy the view, and then ramble along the JMT westward until we cross the Divide Road. Our first night will camp along Massey Creek.

Massey Creek to Rock Creek Trailhead, follow the abandoned railroad and Sheltowee Trace to Great Meadow, and on northward to Hemlock Grove. Return to Peters Mt using the Mark Branch Trail.

The daily mileage is approximately 12, and reasonable as the terrain is only moderate. Thoughts?”

“My only thought is that I should be able to hike by then. Damn, and to think this might be my next big hike.”

“Also considering if this is a 2 day or really a 3 day. Might consider adding the extra day to make it good for all involved.”

“Don't where you are going to camp by Massie except close to the bridge where Rock Creek intersects with JMT and that will still be a long 12 miles. The hump up out of No Business along with climbing ladders up the face of the overlook is a butt kicker then it is at least an 8 mile hike on a steady upgrade to Divide Road. I suggest camping by Rough or Alder Branch. Lots of space and a very pretty woods.
The Boyette site has a nice spring. There is an old orchard, headstones, and the chimney of the cabin. There was a cage used for the black bear release program by No Business Creek off the horse trail. The hike to the Boyette site is going to add at least 1.5 miles to the days journey.
If you have not been to the overlook it would be a shame to bust through it and not enjoy the views. So I would imagine some lost time if you have lunch at Boyette then dawdle on Muir overlook.

Just some thoughts”

“Thank you sir!

Yeah, I'm thinking making it a two day might be a little excessive.

The question is do we start on Friday, and come out on Sunday? That would be my preference I think.”

“Chris,

I am sorry that I was tied up with finishing a horse brochure yesterday, but talking with Howard Duncan really is talking with the expert. Since the days are shorter, you may want to plan on the first and third day being shorter, with a full 2nd day. For me, it would depend on the weather whether I wanted to spend one or two nights out. Sounds like a great plan. I think you will really enjoy it.

Brenda”

“The more I study the map, and read the reference book -- I can see that this is best as a three day hike -- so let's plan on starting on Friday morning, and coming out on Sunday afternoon..”

“FYI -- The revised itinerary is posted on the trips page now.

Good to see the number of people interested in this hike. There's a few others also I think, and look forward to seeing all of you!”

“Hey TD! You live? How the heck are yaa???”

“hehe.. hi Deezy!! I actually tried to send you an email a while back, but it bounced :(

come hike this trip with us!”

“I look foward to it.”

“I wanted to provide a little additional clarification. I've created a scanned version of the trail descriptions out of the trail guide book.

They've been cut/pasted to help get all the right information in the right order, etc..

If you'd like the pdf file emailed to you, please send me a note (to either email you might have on me) and I'll respond.”

“sticks, ewker, tnwareagle, and i just hiked pickett state park to peters mt this past weekend. theyve apparently re-routed the sheltowee and merged it with marks branch to include marks branch waterfall. none of us even saw the trail junction with marks branch”

“be prepared for icy conditions if the weather is cold. That could make that creek walking a bit slippery”

“bring your gaiters and sealskins!”

“Thanks for the update! (was going to bring my gaiters anyway -- too many potential stream fords/crossings that I saw)”

“Tabasco!!

Awesome dude.. from the I-40 to Hot Springs trip as I remember??”

“By the way -- (for the curious) -- here's a couple links showing Maude's Crack

http://www.nps.gov/biso/photosmultimedia/photogallery.htm?eid=101411&root_aId=21

http://www.cs.utk.edu/~dunigan/bsf/m.php?wpt=SCR002”

“I hiked with Fridge and his group this past weekend from Grayson Highlands until I got sick at US 58 summit cut and had to bail.

Probably bringing my son too. Looking forward to seeing you and Fridge again.”

“Tabasco -- Just sent you (to your email) the PDF files so you have better detail of the itinerary.”

“Thursday afternoon -- I'll be able to get to the Peters Mt trailhead fairly early in the afternoon.

We can set up within sight of our cars, or we can drift into the woods some. If we choose to do the latter, we can wander about a half-mile northward (the falls themselves aren't but a mile or so) up the Sheltowee, and the Mark Branch will make a good water supply.

If you don't already have my cell phone number, be sure to send me a note to get it if you'd like to have it.”

“Any girls going on this trip? I'm new to your "gang" and signed up for this trip. I need all the details. If anyone wants to carpool...I'll be leaving from Lexington. This past October, I did the Grand Gap Loop (Bandy Creek area) and part of the John Muir trail...LOTS of stream crossings. The scenery and overlooks were some of the most beautiful I have ever seen. Looking forward to it! (aka Scorcher)”

“Hey TownDawg I'd be interested in possibly hitting this one. I hiked around the Angel Falls area a couple of years ago with my brother, so I'd like to see what is down there. It's only a couple of hours from the Lexington area where I'm at.”

“hey stokely, I'm in LexVegas and will be goin gon this trip along with my son. feel free to hitch a ride.”

“To be honest.. I have no idea who all is male and who all is female.. I do know of several people (many of which are female) who have emailed me and asked for the PDF file of the trail descriptions.

There's a girl in Corbin KY who says she is going, and a girl down near Bellbuckle TN who says she is going, there is a girl over in NC who says she is going -- but I thought I'd prolly stop in Jamestown and pick up a couple dozen females at the local street corner and offer them free beer if they wanted to come along. (I'm just kidding!)

Seriously? I have no idea who I have no idea who all these people are that are signed up, and how many of the MySpace people are coming. I'm sure a lot of it will depend on what the weather is delivering for the weekend. I know for a FACT that Mike (Fridge) and I are coming because we have talked on the phone several times regarding specific equipment we might need for this trip.

Stokley, StickmanWalking and anyone else who wants the PDF send me an email. (towndawg at gmail) or (chris dot fox at dana dot com).

Also -- if you need my cell phone number, let me know.
last edited: 1/11/07 7:42:13 AM”

“Maybe everyone can introduce themself a little?

Of the list on the trips page (stokley, TownDawg, refrigerator, Tabasco, chili, midway, crash bang, quietone, toph, hikingtiger1, Ewker, Mocs123) I only have met about half.”

“i'm a girl

tee hee

wanna see my woohoo-dilly?”

“I am still hoping I can hike by then. I reckin it's "wait and see" for me.”

“That's why I have raingear, and baselayers, and thermal layers and shells, and 4 pair of gloves and 3 stoves and 4 tents, including a sweet new Henry Shires Contrail I just ordered and 4 packs and 3 headlamps, 2 pack rain covers, gaiters.........

Hi, My name is Tabasco, and I'm a gear-a-holic.....”

“Maybe everyone can introduce themself a little?

Of the list on the trips page (stokley, TownDawg, refrigerator, Tabasco, chili, midway, crash bang, quietone, toph, hikingtiger1, Ewker, Mocs123) I only have met about half.”
TownDawg
7:44:47 AM
1/11/07

We met the first year TC was at Cumberland Gap.”

“Moonshine right Towndawg!”

“StickmanWalking -- I was thinking we had met! Good deal. It will be good to see you again!

theFridge -- right on.”

“As per the wishes of my Father ..He would like for me to bring Moms ashes with me to San Diego and pick up his remains as well and venture out into the Pacific and let them both go into the current, together. The angel that provided constant care for him is a cousin and she is undergoing treatment for Esophical(sp) Cancer currently so this duty has been postponed until roughly around the time frame for the hike you 'all have planned. Though I just came from Maudes Crack last after dealing with the red-eye to the West coast I was hoping to FINALLY meet with everyone and share the great karma but it will not happen this time .. ummm. Anyway I do have planned a timeframe for the last of April thru the first week of May for another jaunt. If anyone is travelling from the west-(I-40) and would need a place to stop and rest before heading on ,Iam about 3-4 hours out from the BSF. The porch light will be left on.”

“I'm sorry to hear that quietone, but respect the desire to do the right thing as well. There will be another time.”

“Tobasco,

I would love to hitch a ride or drive...whichever. How old is your son? I was considering taking my daughter who will be 14 on the 3/9.

Sounds like we need to do an intervention for Tobasco...distribute his gear among everyone (I could use a new tent).

Looking forward to meeting everyone,

Stokley (a wife, mom, paralegal,fitness instructor and...most importantly, addicted backpacker)”

“I'm assuming everyone can find the Peters Mt Trailhead -- but for the record it is on the west side of the park (Hwy 297 cuts thru West to East).

1) From the West entrance, go North on Hwy 154.

2) Turn onto Divide Road, and stay on Divide Road until you get to the Peters Mt Trailhead.”

“I'm assuming everyone can find the Peters Mt Trailhead

of all the things you can assume as trip planner, thats about the last one you want to do”

“heh.. this is true, CB -- but fortunately it's an easy trailhead to find, and now that I've posted the directions on how to get there, and given out my cell phone number -- we should have the bases covered.”