11-03-06 TO 11-05-06

JOE FLEMING AND RONNIE HOLBERT

This was our third trip to Hazel Creek in the last four years, searching for the copper mine. Last fall most campsites on Hazel Creek were closed in the fall because of bear activity. Instead we explored Eagle Creek.

I picked Ronnie up at 5:00 a.m. After breakfast in Sevierville we were at Clingmans Dome parking lot at 7:20. There were only two cars there. It was a beautiful morning and the mountains seemed to roll on forever. When we got out of the car, we realized why there were only two cars parked. The wind was blowing steadily at 15 mph and the temperature was 15 degrees. WOW WAS IT COLD!!!

We grabbed our gear and were hiking at 7:35. About half way to the dome we passed a Missouri couple heading up. We chatted for a moment and were off. It was too cold to stand still.

Our plan was to hike the A.T. out to Silers Bald then down Welch Ridge Trail 1.7 miles to the Hazel Creek Trail. From there 10.4 miles to campsite #84 for a two night stay.

The trip out to the Welch Ridge Trail went quickly. Just before Welch Ridge trail, we met three hikers who had stayed at The Silers Bald Shelter. They commented on how cold of a night it had been. We were at the Hazel Creek Trailhead at Mule Gap at 10:30. We were out of the wind and the sun had warmed us up. We took a long break. We started down Hazel Creek Trail at 11:00.

The trail dropped quickly. In about 2 miles we were at our first creek crossing. Our trail information stated that over the next 3 miles to expect a dozen wet crossings. The first 5 were a real challenge but we were able to rock hop. We were spending too much time finding a way across. We put on our water shoes to wade across. We had 23 wet crossings and 1 mud bog. We were at campsite #82 at 2:25. There we put our hiking boots back on. At 4:20 we rolled into campsite #84. We had covered 16.3 miles in about 9 hours with heavy packs and it was all down hill. We were all excited until we realized that meant it was all up hill going back. We will talk more about that later.

Dark was coming quickly so we set up camp and ate. Around 6:15 we were in bed. There wasn’t much to do when it is dark and the weather is in the twenties.

Saturday it was 15 degrees when we got up. By 9:30 the sun was over the ridge and warmed us up fast. We set off about 10:00 heading up The Sugar Fork. This was part of the Jenkins Ridge trail we were on. Our mine information told us to go 2 miles up the Sugar Fork to a clearing on the left just below Pickens Gap and look for an old road on the right side of the trail. This should have been the Little Fork. We were to head one half mile up The Little Fork to the mine site. We had searched this area in 2004.We figured we didn’t go far enough up to Little Fork. This trip Ronnie brought along his G.P.S, so we knew how far to go.

About one half mile up the Sugar Fork We passed Haws Gap Branch. This was the first large stream on our right. A little over a mile past Haws Gap Branch we

passed another small branch on the right. We didn’t remember this stream. I remember looking at old Topo maps and they showed The Little Fork as the next stream above Haws Gap Branch. We were still one half mile from where we had planned on searching. We talked about this and Ronnie noticed a faint trail in the undergrowth. We headed on up to the Sugar Fork. At 11:00 we dropped off the trail and headed up to the third stream above campsite #84. After one hour we had traveled one mile up the stream with no luck. We headed on back very disappointed.

As we headed back down the Sugar Fork we came to the second stream. We decided to check it out. As we started up the trail we came to some blow downs. We were able to work our way around them. There was something different about this manway. It was more defined than most of the manways we had been on. The forest opened up and we saw the huge slag piles. As we got closer we saw wood, machine parts and a large foundation. On the right side there were two mine openings high on the mountainside. One opening was gated and a chain link fence surrounded the higher one. While I was exploring Ronnie checked for cell service. Guess what? He got out. Alltel was hard to beat in the park. Mining started there in 1889. Across from the mines at the base of a narrow draw was the cabin site where Horace Kephart lived for three and one half years starting in 1904.

While I explored Ronnie planned our hike out on Sunday. He called his wife to pick us up at Fontana Dam. It was about the same distance to Fontana as to Clingmans Dome, without the 4600-foot climb. We would have to drive back to Clingmans to pick up my truck. She was to pick us up at 3:00 on Sunday.

We headed back to camp, ate and turned in early. We were up at 4:00. We were packed up and on the trail at 5:25 a.m. It was 20 degrees at 6:45. We were at Proctor where we picked up the new Lake Shore Trail section over to Eagle Creek. This was our first time on that trail. It was 4.4 miles with lots of old home sites scattered along the way. We were on Eagle Creek at 9:30. We took a break and Ronnie filtered some water. We were at the trailhead at 1:20. It was another mile to Fontana Dam Parking. We were there at 2:00. Ronnie’s wife picks us up at 3:00. We were heading to the Dome by way of Bryson City and Cherokee. On our way Cheryl told us she saw an elk on at the Pioneer Farmstead on her way to pick us up. The elk was still there as we drove by.