We have had a hectic month as evidenced by my lack of posts. My mother spent last week in the hospital and I am happy to report, she is back at home and feeling much better. Otherwise we have been running (me), bicycling (John) and generally hanging around Knoxville.
Recently I have been a bicycle slacker, so our sports activities have been individual efforts. Early last week, we decided that on Sunday we would do something we enjoy together…hiking. We spent all week looking forward to the activity and discussing trails we could take. We had 2 issues to deal with, 1-we haven’t been on a trail for 5 months (April 20th to be exact) and 2-we couldn’t start until around 1:30 PM so our time was limited.
In the end, we picked something short and easy, a loop hike out of Elkmont in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. We hiked up the Little River and back on Jake’s Creek Trails. The hike ended in a walk through the Elkmont Community so we figured we covered 5.0-miles. The effort was quite pleasant and we talked about doing more day hiking, backpacking and even a fall car camp. Time is limited and we already have a number of fall activities on the books so our plans to get on the trail more may just be dreams, for now.
Photos from the hike are below:
John at the beginning of the Little River Trail. During the logging heydays in the Smokies, this trail was the sight of a logging railroad. It is a gentle uphill to the junction of Jake’s Creek.
John is becoming a master at the “self” photo. Really helps to have long arms. Mine are almost too short.
In just about 4 weeks, the leaves in the Smokies will turn a spectacular fall shade of red or orange and within 7 weeks, the limbs will be bare. Hard to believe cold weather is so close.
A few flowers are still hanging on in this area, mostly this yellow variety (not sure of the identification).
This sign looks a little ominous! A hiker was killed by a bear in this area several years ago but our only sighting was a couple of deer who followed us down Jake’s Creek Trail for a ways.
The cabin above is part of the Elkmont Community, once the sight of some 50 “summer cottages” for the area elite. The cabins were slated for demolishion in the early 80’s but the Park Service did not have the funds so the project was put off. We all know what has happened to the National Park Service budgets (having extra cash is not one of the scenarios). Meantime, the families that once owned the cabins have lobbied the Tennessee Historical Society to have the cabins registered as historic sights.
It appears some of the cabins will be added to the register which means that the Park Service will now be required to pay to restore and maintain parts of the community, a much bigger capital and manpower expense than the original plan to demolish the community and return the area back to pre-logging days.
The cabin above will not be restored. As you can see, the front porch has already collapsed.
The Park Service is currently in the process of stabilizing the above cabins. New lumber is visible on the front porches and some new siding has been added to the back of the cabins. The area is roped off with yellow tape and the stabilization process continues.
