Gregory Bald Trip Report

“Here is my trip report for the Flame Azaleas at Gregory Bald Trip. We all had a good time and I want to thank Shanna, Spam and GovernmentMule for coming along.

Shanna and I arrived at the rendezvous point at Gregory Ridge Trailhead at about 10:45 AM on Saturday morning. The plan was to leave a car there and shuttle everyone to Gregory Bald Trailhead, but after an hour of waiting we decided that Spam and GovernmentMule must have turned on Parson Branch Road (One Way) and now couldn’t turn around to get to us. We were then faced with the decision whether go ahead and drive up to the Gregory Bald Trailhead or to stay were we were and hike up the steeper Gregory Ridge Trail (which we were planning to go down). Even though it was only Shanna’s third backpacking trip, I decided to hike up the Gregory Ridge Trial.

The Gregory Ridge Trial is often said to be one of the best trails in the park, and rightfully so. The first third of the trail follows a beautiful creek crossing it on several foot bridges, and then the trail ascends into virgin forest where giant trees abound in every direction. The last third of the trial was covered with blooming Mountain Laurel and the occasional Flame Azalea.

When we hit Gregory Bald trail for our final accent to the Bald and then on to our destination at Campsite 13, the bottom fell out. The fog moved in, the wind howled, and the rain came crashing down. We got soaked before we had a chance to don our raingear. We crossed the Bald in heavy rain and lightning and the rain continued until we reached Campsite 13.

When we reached the campsite there was no sign of Spam or GovernmentMule but we set up our tents anyways in case the rain returned. Just about the time we finished setting up camp Spam and GovernmentMule came walking up…

They had had a few delays that morning trying to by Isobutene going to three different outfitters before finding one that was open. They then had some trouble finding Parson Branch Road and when they found it soon realized that it was one way (Probably due to a lack of information from the trip planner). They then decided to just park at Twenty Mile and walk in from the east side of the park.

They encountered even worse weather then we did having long steady rain, lightning and even some hail, but continued pressing on. They got to camp, quickly strung up their hammocks and begin to dry out their gear. With it being only and overnighter and no rain in the forecast (Ha!) they had decided to go quick and light and only carry daypacks.

GovernmentMule and Spam went out in search of dry wood to start a fire, but didn’t find much. They were able to get a small fire going with some wet wood using toilet paper and a little (ok, a lot) denatured alcohol. After about an hour the fire turned to a small smolder for the rest of the evening, but it was nice while it lasted. We then sat around the fire and swapped some stories when at dusk noticed some deer feeding on the edge of the campsite. We all grabbed our cameras and took a few shots as the deer began to approach more closely. It wasn’t long before they were within arms length eating and completely paying no attention to us. We all took lots of pictures and had never experienced anything quite like it before.

Right before we went to bed a group of guys come down from the bald carrying all of their gear in their hands and in gym type workout bags. They set up camp and were quiet most of the night except for when a friend of theirs came into camp late. They did however wake up at 5:00 AM and pack up camp making lots of noise before heading out at around six. I can only assume they got caught in the rain the day before and left early because everything they had was soaking wet.

We all woke up and packed up camp around eight that morning and after a quick breakfast parted ways and Shanna and I headed back up to the bald. It was a whole different experience than the day before, the sun was shining, a cool breeze was blowing, and views were everywhere. It was hard to believe that this was the same place we were the day before when we were walking through a cloud. We stayed there a while, took lots of pictures and finally decided we had to head back to the truck.

On the way down the trail we were just a ways from the truck when we spotted a Black Bear. We took a few pictures before we noticed that she had a cub with her. We weren’t too close but close enough for comfort practically for a mother and cub. She didn’t seem to notice or mind us for a long time but them starting looking our direction and we decided it was time to move on down the trail. We drove out through Cades Cove and saw quite a few deer on the way out even though it was the hot afternoon.

I hope to have my pics up shortly”

“wow, you're really makeing me miss the smokeys...it's been a couple years...i need to get back down there...good report”

“Sounds like a great trip, mocs, in spite of all the "fun"..”

“Well Mocs pretty much covered it! Thanks for hosting the trip MOCS!The only thing that I have to add is on the way down the mountain whwn we hit the river/creek we decided that we both had Monkey Butt and stunk from all the sweating so we got down to our skivies and jumped in to wash off a bit.Now keep in mind that we haven't seen anyone all the way down and the very minute we get into the creek an old lady and her ol man came right around the bend.They said hello and kept gittin it!”

“sounds nice - when I lived back there, I'd try and make a point of getting at least one weekend trip when the laurel and flame azelea was in bloom. Best display I ever saw was in the Shining Rock Wilderness, but I never did get to camp up around the Gregory Bald area.

Thanks fo the report.”

“Nice report, thanks.”

“Pics are up

”

“Great pics Mocs! For those of you who check out the photos I just want you to know that I was there too! LOL!”

“Spam, I didn't notice that I didn't get any pictures with you in them until my wife asked if Government Mule was Spam. I flipped through my pictures trying to find one but didn't, I ended up showing her a picture of you from the Mt Rogers trip.”

“I know who gets the love around here and it ain't me! LOL!”

“Nice! Brings back memories.”

“Shucks, we all love Spam!”