MtLeconte.com Hike

Gregory Bald Trail June 22^nd, 2008 – 9 Miles Connie, Liz, & Jill Lusk

I didn’t have any problem getting up out of my comfortable bed when my alarm clock went off at 4:30 a.m. because I was looking forward to seeing the flame azaleas on Gregory Bald. We had not gotten to go in a couple of years and were excited, especially since Parson Branch Road was open to vehicles now. I was at Jill Lusk’s house (a friend that use to work with Dennis at the NHA and now works at the Sevier County Court House) at 5:30 a.m. She had never been to the bald so she was in for a real treat. She has a tenacity to get carsick and asked if she could drive. It was nice being chaffered for the day, especially on Hwy 129 "The Dragon". I hate that curvy road. Liz lives on Walden’s Creek Road and we picked her up and drove through the Valley toward Cades Cove. We had heard that the parking area at the Gregory Bald Trail had been filling up early so we were hoping to beat the crowd.

There were lots of deer grazing in the open fields. Jill took several pictures of them and she remarked about one looking like she might be pregnant. Her belly looked full and round. We watched a turkey strutting along just before we got to the public restrooms. After a quick visit there we started out the Parson Branch Road. A lot of work has been put into the re-opening of this road and hopefully a strong storm will not wash it all away any time soon! A baby bear ran across the road in front of us but it was so fast that Jill didn’t have time to get a picture of it. It soon was out of sight in the woods. Not knowing where Momma Bear was we stayed safely in the car.

We couldn’t believe it! When we arrived at the parking area it was already full but we did get a nice spot on the other side of the road where we wouldn’t get blocked in. We loaded our packs and got situated and as I shut the truck I asked Jill if she for sure got her car keys and she said they were in the trunk. Oh no! She laughed before I had time to stroke out. She is very mischievous! We were on the trail at 7:45 a.m.

It felt so good to be on the trail again. Pipsissewa flowers were blooming and scattered here and there along the trail. There was a huge pile of horse poop on the trail that was covered with honeybees. Remember that the next time you eat honey on your biscuit. Marti Smith had told me of a rare flower "Whorled Pogonia" that was in bloom on this trail when she had hiked it on Friday. It was on the right side of the trail about a mile in. Just when we thought we had missed it I spotted it. It blended in well and without knowing to look for it would have gone unnoticed. We took several pictures of it. We also took this picture of a mushroom that was beside the trail. We came upon the big sitting rock where two ladies were taking a break. One had never been to the bald before so she was in for a treat also. I think the rock is the half way marker or close to it.

We stopped to take some pictures of a large tree on the right side of the trail. The sunrays looked so pretty shining down through the tall trees. There was a white flower that we took a picture of but I’m not sure what it was. When we came to the water seeps crossing the trail I knew we were almost there. The spring for the campsite #13 lies just below the trail on the right but still a short walk down and back up from the camping area. There were a lot of tents set up and some campers had a nice campfire going when we walked by. We started climbing the last STEEP ½ mile to the bald. Jill couldn’t hold back and went on ahead but waited for us just before reaching the top. We cut through the grass just before the top so we could see the azaleas on the lower part of the bald. A couple of hikers that had passed us earlier were sitting under one of the trees taking a break. One of them offered to take our picture. Jill is camera shy but finally agreed to pose with us. We arrived at the bald at 10:45 a.m. The azaleas were absolutely out of this world! To see some of God’s awesome creations all you have to do is go to the mountains!

We found a nice grassy spot with a view of Cades Cove to have our lunch. The bugs were so bad I had to light a cigar for a gnat smoke. When I had told Jill about the cigars earlier she thought I was kidding. She was surprised when I pulled one out and lit it. I just puffed enough to make a good smoke (I didn’t inhale)...gnats hate smoke. I saw George from the Smoky Mountain Hiking Club and talked to him some. I didn’t know it but he said the Club was hiking up that day. He didn’t hike with them because they were getting a later start than he liked. We finished our lunch and just as we started to walk by where George’s group was breaking, Liz stepped in a hole and down she went. She said she knew she was going down so she didn’t try to stop it. She is so tall it takes her thirty minutes to fall. We couldn’t stop laughing after we saw that she was ok. We made our rounds and took pictures of all the different colors of azaleas: white, yellow, salmon, red, pink and orange. And the blueberry bushes were loaded with green berries. This would make the wildlife very happy before long. There was some kind of fungus growing on the azalea bushes. Someone had told Liz that it was eatable but I’m not for sure about that. Then we met up with Mary Ann Hoskins, another SMHC member whom we talked to for awhile. We took a picture of a man with his horses and he told us that was how they kept the bald mowed. (He was just kidding.) Liz spotted this baby azalea shaded by the surrounding greenery. I guess it was reaching for the sun.

All good things must come to an end and we had been on the bald for l hour and 25 minutes. We started back down at 12:10. Just before we came to the campsite I had to take a bathroom break and spotted a huge mushroom about 30 feet from the trail. At that time the Smoky Mountain Hiking Club passed us going up and it looked like they had a large turn out. Liz and I planned on going to church that night so we planned on a fast hike back to the car. Jill hiked on ahead of us but when she came to a big black snake in the trail she stopped to wait on us. We got some good pictures of it as it was in no hurry to get off the trail. It was still half-way (tail-end) on the trail when we walked passed it. Two hours later at 2:10 we were back at the car. The parking area was full and the overflow had parked along side the road, at least a good half-mile away. The cars along the road made for tight driving between them and the bank. Jill was trying to maneuver her car between a vehicle and a huge chug hole that looked big enough to bury a motorcycle when we heard a male voice, coming from behind us say, "Do you want me to walk around you?" Yes, please do so we can then run over you. Evidently, we weren’t going fast enough for him.

We were hoping to see some more wildlife as we went out Parson Branch Road. We didn’t see any wildlife but did enjoy the mountain laurel and rhododendron blooming along side the creek. We had already seen deer and turkey in the Cove, a bear cub and black crows on Parson Branch Road, and centipedes and squirrels on the trail. We came around a bend and suddenly there was a creek crossing where an SUV had stopped in the middle of the road. The lady had her door open with her feet in the water. You have never seen anyone move as fast as she did getting back into her car. She must have thought we were going to run her over.

There were a lot of motorcycles on "The Dragon." Jill almost ran off the road one time, not sure if she was looking at the motorcycle or the driver. We did get back to the Foothills Parkway without an accident. I enjoyed the ride home talking and visiting with Jill and Liz, and also enjoying the views from the Parkway. It was.........another great day for a hike!!