Huckleberry Bald and Hooper Bald

On Saturday, June 13^th, I met Amy in Asheville and we drove over to Robbinsville to do the Huckleberry Bald and Hooper Bald hikes. Both hikes branched off of the Cherohala Skyway, a National Scenic Byway that stretches through the Unicoi Mountains from Robbinsville, NC to Tellico Plains, TN. The drive itself was very scenic, but by the time we had arrived at the trailhead for Huckleberry Bald, Amy and I were both ready to get on our feet.

It was 12:30 pm when we started the hike. Both hikes today would be short-about 2 miles roundtrip for Huckleberry and 1 mile for Hooper. Considering this, and the fact that the sky showed no signs of rain, we began the hike in high spirits, free of any time or weather constraints.

The trail started through a forest strewn with bright summer wildflowers. It wasn’t long before we came out onto a vast grassy opening speckled with blueberry bushes and contained in a sea of yellow buttercups. We weren’t at Huckleberry yet though-this was Oak Knob according to the trail map. Like Huckleberry, Oak Knob is a grassy bald, but we had never really heard much about it. It definitely doesn’t get enough credit for all it’s worth.  It was just as beautiful as any other of the balds we had visited, and Amy captured this in her comment that it would make the perfect painting.

As we were leaving Oak Knob, I set the GPS and notebook down to take a picture. My heart literally skipped a couple of beats when I saw a snake inches from my hand, peering out of the grass. I have a deep-rooted, built-up paranoia against snakes, but I was relieved to find out that it was only a garter snake.

On top of Huckleberry

We took the trail another half a mile up through the forest to Huckleberry Bald. Perched at 5,578 feet, we were able to see for miles from the top of Huckleberry. We could see the grassy cap of Oak Knob to the south, not too far below us, and the grassy crest of Hooper Bald a little farther beyond. There was a pretty cool sensation about being on top of Huckleberry, I thought, that was different than any of the balds we had been to; the presence of Oak Knob, which was connected just below us, added to the on top of the world feeling. We were so much higher than any other mountain entity around us, and now I found myself contently looking down upon Oak Knob, as if I had somehow achieved a feat of exceeding its glory by elevation. I laughed off that crazy feeling, though, because I knew that I had done nothing to earn this spot on the mountain-I was just a visitor lucky enough to witness the natural beauty intrinsic to both Oak Knob and Huckleberry.  

Oak Knob and Hooper in the background

Before we left Huckleberry, I came across a family of wild grouse near the edge of the bald. Amy found another snake curled up on a rock in the sun. Birds soared overhead. We tried to take it all in, but we finally had to force ourselves to leave, with Hooper on our minds.

Hooper Bald was just a mile up the road. In 1908, a man named George Moore, an agent for Whiting Manufacturing Company (who owned the land), decided to create a hunting preserve on Hooper Bald for wealthy clients. Wild boars, buffalo, elk, mule deer, black bear, and Russian brown bear were imported for the preserve. Most of the exotic animals eventually disappeared, but the wild boars dug under the fences, reproduced, and have survived to this day.¹

Lush Fraser Fir Ecotone on Hooper

The hike to Hooper Bald was very easy. A gravel trail took us half a mile up to the bald. We initially saw the remnants of what was probably a spectacular flame azalea display a couple of weeks prior to our arrival. Some of the plants still had dying blooms on them. 

We followed the grass for another half a mile down the ridgeline. It was a huge bald; its length-to-width proportion seemed larger than any of the other balds we had been to. Amy and I sat down near the edge where we had a good view of Huckleberry to the north. We were so happy to not have had any rain, especially when it had been raining nonstop for two weeks throughout the whole southeast.

After sufficiently exploring Hooper, we started back towards the car, and then began the drive back to Robbinsville around 5 pm. Our directions back to the town took us a different route than the way we had come out, so almost by chance, we were taken to the downtown’s quaint main street, which included the town hall, a sheriff’s office, and a local restaurant called Lynn’s Place. Lynn’s Place seemed to be just what Amy and I were looking for. It was bustling with locals, motorcycle tourists, and family visitors, and it wafted a delicious aroma. I ordered a bacon cheeseburger and Amy got a turkey reuben sandwich. Dinner was good, but it didn’t even come close to what we had for desert. We both ordered the first thing on the desert menu: fried cheesecake. It came hot, topped with vanilla ice-cream and whipped cream. It was probably one of the best deserts I’ve ever had, ranking behind only my mom’s homemade raspberry cheesecake and blueberry pie.

After dinner, we followed a sign up to the corner of town hall, where there was supposed to be a music festival going on. Sure enough, there was a festival. The entire town of Robbinsville had formed a semi-circle around a dancing square marked with chalk in front of the town hall. A blue-grass band stood on a make-shift stage and prepared to play.

What followed was one of the most authentic, amazing things I’ve ever experienced. As the music started, locals got up and routinely started walking up to the dance square. Amy and I heard the clunk of their feet as they walked, and we looked around to confirm that almost everyone around us had clogging shoes on. This was no joke. The locals started dancing so joyfully and so habitually that I think it must have been part of their culture-something that the town had been doing for generations.

We stayed for a couple hours, knowing that there are probably few places in the United States where we would find such a genuine, talented, and American performance as this.

¹U.S. Forest Service

Round, Jane, and Grassy Ridge

Round, Jane, and Grassy Ridge

On Tuesday, July 2^nd, my family and I did the hike across Round Bald, Jane Bald, and Grassy Ridge Bald. We were staying at our mountain house on Powderhorn Mountain (near Boone, NC) for the week of the Fourth of July and our relatives from Pennsylvania were visiting. Amy had done this hike before I had met her, and it was on the list to be included in the book. Amy and I will be in Boone in a couple of weeks to visit some of the Balds around the area, but we decided that I could do the Round, Jane, and Grassy trip while I was up here over the 4^th in order to collect extra field data, ease our persistent schedule, and share the experience with my family.

My mom, my dad, my brother Ryan, and our dog Baci were the hiking companions on this trip. My brother Connor was at home in Greensboro working an internship and Marissa had decided to go to Tweetsie Railroad with my Pennsylvania relatives.

We left at 10:40 am. The three Balds, Round, Jane, and Grassy Ridge, were located on Roan Mountain, Tennessee and could be accessed from Carvers Gap, which the phone navigation system estimated to be a 2 hour drive from our house. The drive to Carvers Gap utilized numerous back roads and we ended up getting lost somewhere in Avery Country, NC. At one point, there was about a 5 mile stretch of road on which Ryan counted 14 Baptist churches. We eventually got back on track an arrived at the trailhead around 12:30, sun shining.

The complete hike was a 2.5 mile stretch along the Appalachian Trail that traversed all three of the grassy Balds. Eager to get out of the car, we started the hike right away, not even bothering to pack a lunch. The first Bald, Round, was completely visible from the parking lot. The trail climbed up the side of Round and initially became enveloped in a wet hemlock forest, which eventually opened up for the first stunning views of the day. We immediately knew it was worth the effort to get here. Already at 5,800 feet, we were at a much higher vantage point than we were used to in Boone, and the views said it all.

 

It didn’t take long to reach the summit of Round Bald, from which the scenic panorama of the surrounding mountains was nothing short of spectacular. My family agreed that it reminded us a little bit of Alaska. The air was so fresh and Baci was having a field day, literally, as he bounded happily through the grass. From the summit of Round, we could see Jane Bald and Grassy Ridge Bald ahead; however, Grassy Ridge Bald was engulfed in a heavy cloud.

 

On top of Round Bald

                 We made our way along the A.T. down Round Bald and into Engine Gap, which separated Round from Jane. It was here that we were surprised by a colorful patch of flame azaleas in full bloom. We were not expecting to see flame azaleas on this hike, as Amy and I had been when we hiked Gregory Bald, but this element of surprise made the experience all the more exciting. We took lots of pictures, and Ryan and I even tried one of the gall fruits that grow on the flame azalea plants; Amy and I had confirmed that they were edible, but only after we had seen them on Gregory Bald, so I hadn’t tried one yet. It tasted a little bit like watermelon.

Just as we arrived at the summit of Jane Bald it started to rain, without warning. We ran for cover under a thicket of tall rhododendron bushes and waited for the rain to stop. To fill the time, I broke out the black licorice I had packed from the Mast General Store. Eventually the rain lightened and after weighing all the factors, we decided that we would hike on. The clouds had settled in, though, and we could not see farther than 15 feet in front of us.

We made our way down the other side of Jane Bald, ducking in an out of rhododendron bushes in compliance with the spurts of rain that the skies released every few minutes. We saw a person in a bright yellow raincoat running down Grassy Ridge Bald in full speed and laughed at ourselves as we continued that way.

It looked like the skies had cleared by the time we started hiking up Grassy Ridge, except for the clouds that enshrouded the very top of the Bald, which had the highest elevation of the three peaks, at 6,200 feet. We began to see the beauty of the wildflowers and plants around us. There was an abundance of a ripe red flower with a beautiful pattern on the inside that reminded me of a tiger. I later learned that it was the endangered Gray’s Lilly that only grows in a few locations and is in bloom for a very short period of time. We were so fortunate to have come when we did for the flame azaleas and the Gray’s Lillies-two amazing species that are hard to access at exactly the right time in exactly the right location.

 

A tunnel of rhododendron, which rose higher than our heads on both sides of the narrow trail, led us out onto the top of Grassy Ridge Bald. It was a vast grassy meadow soaked in clouds, making for a surreal experience. We talked to some other hikers and took a break on a large boulder. Before we started hiking back, pockets of clouds cleared, and we were able to get some good pictures.

 

When we first arrived on top of Grassy Ridge Bald

My family in the distance, on top of Grassy Ridge Bald

On the way back we were greeted by yet another surprise. Hiking down Grassy Ridge we could see across to a fenced in area full of goats grazing on the edge of Jane Bald. Although it was right beside the trail, we (including Baci) had completely missed it when we had passed it the first time, due to the heavy fog. I remembered one of the readings that Amy had sent me about a goat project on Roan Mountain:

Researcher Jamey Donaldson along with students from East Tennessee State University have “monitored plant growth both where the goats have grazed, as well as in plots left as control, where no grazing has occurred.” This experimental project intends to find how goats can be used to restore “plant diversity and growth on these balds.” We observed two watchdogs, whose names are Baxter and Bigdog according to the website. We even saw a student measuring plant growth outside of the fenced-in area.¹

Try to find Bigdog

We made our way back towards the car, taking one last moment on the top of Round Bald to glance back at Jane and Grassy Ridge. We reached the car around 5 o’clock and drove home, completely satisfied with our day.

¹ "Baatany Project -- The Goats on Roan Mountain." Baatany Project. N.p., 2013. Web. 07 July 2013. <http://www.baatany.org/index2.html>.

Spence Field

Amy and I hiked to Spence Field on Wednesday, June 19^th, two days after our Gregory Bald hike. Amy scheduled the day in between as a work-day to write descriptions for the book-fortunately for us, this was the only day that the storms never let up, and we got a lot a work done. Not to mention, a day of rest from the strenuous hike to Gregory Bald was good for both of us.

We each got up around 9 am, had a quick breakfast, and packed our bags for the hike. The sky showed no signs that it would rain today, subduing my regular worry that the trip might have to be postponed. The trailhead for the Spence Field hike, like the Gregory Bald hike, was located in the Cades Cove area. The hike up to Spence Field would be a 5.3 mile 2,941 foot ascent. Neither of us had ever done this hike, and I had little idea of what to expect.

Spence Field is different from Andrews and Gregory Bald in that it hasn’t been maintained by the National Park Service. The decision to not actively maintain Spence Field may result from the general consensus that Spence Field is not a naturally occurring Bald. The National Park Service states that it was probably cleared in the late 19^th century by the grandfather of Asa Sparks and used as a field for grazing.¹ We suspected that without grazing or maintenance for the past 80 years, Spence Field would probably not be as open as Gregory or Andrews. We were still curious to explore the extent to which trees and shrubbery had invaded the grassy Bald.

When we arrived at the trailhead, my phone read 10:30 am. Happy to get an earlier start than we had been able to with Gregory, we started the hike with high hopes.

We almost immediately came across a group of three fly fishermen and realized that the trail meandered alongside a creek. From that point on, I couldn’t help but notice all of the great fishing holes tucked away in pockets of the stream, probably teeming with hungry trout. At several points along the way, we had to cross the creek by means of wooden footbridges. These first two miles of the hike turned out to be extremely peaceful-very little climb, shade from the forest canopy, and the sounds of cascading water.

We stopped to eat lunch a little over halfway into the hike. At this point, the trail had departed from the river and started a slightly steeper ascent up the mountain. We found two first-class seats on a log next to a little waterfall coming out of the mountain. I had packed the same lunch I had packed for Gregory, with the exception of one new ingredient that I had previously overlooked in the refrigerator-this time it was a turkey, bacon, pepperoni sandwich and pistachios.

 

Although we didn’t know it at the time, we had timed our lunch break perfectly because we were about to begin what would be over a 1,000 foot climb packed into 1.7 miles. Despite the vigorousness of this section, it was very unique. Rhododendron plants formed a complete tunnel over our heads. At some places, the trail was a remarkable 5 or 6 feet below the rest of the ground, giving it a sunken-in appearance; I could turn my head to the side and would be looking straight into a wall of earth. Some have attributed this phenomenon to the culminating effects of the years when cattle were driven up this trail to graze on Spence Field.

 

The sides of the trail extend over Amy's head

We passed two more voyagers, but unlike us, they were traveling on horseback. Amy and I were envious. The whole trail could be done on horseback. I added it to my bucket list, along with doing the Cades Cove loop on bicycle.

Soon after our horseback encounter, we came upon another interesting relic: a natural mortar and pestle carved into a rock. We wondered if it was once used by herders to grind up food on their way to the top of Spence Field. I took time to grind up a small rock, and we were on our way again.

We stopped several times to catch our breath on the final push to the top. I thought it was more strenuous than the hike to Gregory Bald, but maybe this was just an illusion. Either way, they came pretty close. We finally reached the Appalachian Trail and knew we had arrived. It was 3 o’clock. Spence Field was just a tenth of the mile to the right. Thank God.

At first, it was hard to tell if we had reached it or not. We saw grass and blue sky, but we were surrounded by trees and did not walk out onto a spectacular view as we had on previous Balds. I circled the site of what we expected to be Spence Field, making sure we had not missed any hidden wonders. After all, the grass spanned a large area and was scattered with trees, so it was hard to tell where it ended. After exploring the entire Bald, we realized that we were definitely on Spence Field. The trees and shrubs had just taken over. There were, however, remnants of what it may have been like 100 years ago: there was soft grass that blanketed the entire summit, flame azaleas and mountain laurels sparkled the ecotone, and several places were still relatively open from trees.

I laid down in a patch of grass and I took a deep breath. I had been a little disappointed at first, but now that I had sufficiently explored, the beauty of this place was finally starting to soak in. I had never seen a forest with a vast carpet of grass, such as this. It was almost like what you would see in a fairytale. The sun was shining and a breeze was blowing. The grass was so soft. If I was a deer, this would be my home. There were a ton of hikers on the AT, all taking time to admire this unique place. The hike up here was definitely worth it, at least for right now.

We spent an hour relaxing on the Bald and snacking on trailmix before heading back. We figured it would take about two and half hours. That was pretty accurate. We made good time, only stopping once for a quick rest. It was so much easier hiking down than up, just as it had been for Gregory. We got back to the car at 7:45 pm, our legs unwilling to go any farther.

We had dinner at a place called Riverside Café, and I had a really good barbecue sandwich. I’ve got to say that I was beyond impressed with every place we ate at in Townsend.  For a small town with only one stoplight, they had mastered good southern cooking. The best came last: the next morning on our way out, we stopped at Elvira’s Café for breakfast. They brought me out the most delicious, succulent, tasty chicken biscuit that I could have ever dreamed of, soaked in a honey-based sauce.

My experiences this week were the best I could have hoped for. I’m extremely fortunate to be part of this project and look forward to the next trip, which will be in mid-July. Until then, Amy and I will be working on trail descriptions, maps, summaries, etc. for the hiking guide.

¹ "History of the Grassy Balds in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park." Great     Smoky Mountains. National Park Service, 7 Mar. 2009. Web. 23 June 2013. <http://www.nps.gov/history/history/online_books/grsm/4/intro.htm>

Gregory Bald

Three days ago, on June 17^th, Amy and I did the hike up to Gregory Bald. We had arrived the night before and were staying in Townsend, TN near the western part of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. We planned to stay until Thursday and do both the Gregory Bald and Spence Field hikes.

On top of Gregory

Gregory Bald is a one of the two grassy Balds maintained by the Park Service (via mowing, cutting, and burning). It is theorized to be a natural Bald dating back to the Pleistocene era, when it would have been grazed by megaherbivores. It was named after Russell Gregory, one of the settlers of Cades Cove who used the Bald as a grazing ground for cattle in the 1800s. Today, Gregory Bald is world renowned for its brilliant display of flame azaleas in late June. We were hoping to be just in time for this.

Before I begin the story of our Gregory Bald hike, I must say that it was probably one of the most amazing experiences of my life. Put together, everything that happened yesterday was so intense, so beautiful, and so extraordinarily perfect in space and time that I think anyone who had experienced it would find it impossible not to believe in a God.

We got up around 7am and had breakfast. It was pouring outside, but the forecast showed signs that it might pass as the day went on. I went back to bed and got up again around 9:30. It was still pouring. I sat on the porch and read a book, waiting for the rain to pass. It completely stopped around 11, and Amy and I hurriedly packed our stuff and got into the car (so quickly I guess that when we got back later that night we realized we had left all the lights on).

I realized I had packed two different shoes (hard to tell)

Cades Cove

The Gregory Bald trailhead is located at the end of the Cades Cove scenic loop. The loop is open to bikers, and is a very popular destination for families. We saw deer, turkeys, and horses on our drive.

When we arrived at the trailhead leading to Gregory Bald, the rain was coming down in buckets again. It was about 12:30. We put on our rain ponchos, tucked away our phones in a waterproof bag, and prepared for what was about to come. The trail would be a 5.5 mile 3020 foot climb to the top.  

It rained for the first mile of the hike, but the rain surprisingly wasn’t as unpleasant as we had anticipated. The large trees offered a lot of protection and sort of gave it a Jurassic Park-like atmosphere. Nevertheless, we were still happy when the clouds started to clear and it stopped raining. We were finally able to start taking pictures of the captivating forest!

 

The trail meandered alongside a stream that was flowing very fast from the recent rain. We stopped for lunch at a place where a footbridge crossed the stream. I had a delicious turkey-bacon sandwich and pistachios that I had packed before we left. It was a rewarding break. The moisture brought out an abundance of frogs, salamanders, and snails.

After we crossed the bridge, the intense climb began. The terrain gradually got steeper, and the farther we went, the more frequently we had to stop to catch our breath. We left the noise of the river and entered a relatively quiet section of forest; the only sounds left were our footsteps and the songs of the birds.

Without much warning, the trail broke out of the forest into a sunny “heath-like” ecosystem, rich with mountain laurel and our first expansive views. It was here that, as we were admiring the views, Amy and I caught a glimpse of the most beautiful bluebird either of us had ever seen. It was such a ripe blue-almost like the vibrant blue you would see on a crayon, just brighter-so different from any of the paler-colored bluebirds I was used to. We later learned, after reading an article about Gregory Bald, that it actually wasn’t a bluebird. It was an indigo bunting.  We confirmed this by looking up pictures and matching with our memories. This short trail segment through the sunny opening, combined with the glorious indigo bunting sighting, definitely gave us an extra mental boost to continue up the mountain.

The rest of the hike felt like a continuous ascent to the top. We stopped several times along the way to take pictures; we saw lots of grasshoppers, a snake, and a tree that had a smiley face on it.

Look closely

The last half-mile of the hike was probably the most exhilarating. We knew we were very close to the top, and I was just growing in anticipation with every step. The sensation of stepping out onto Andrews Bald had been beyond description-what would Gregory be like? Finally, I reached the edge of the forest where I could see a grassy opening with sunrays coming down. I decided to wait for Amy to catch up before I stepped out onto the Bald-she wasn’t far behind. While I was waiting, I began to mark a waypoint on the GPS to mark the end of the hike when I heard rustling in the forest.  I quickly turned around and my heart skipped a beat when I saw a large doe standing just 5 feet away. My first thought was that it didn’t see me and that it might charge if I made a move. I stood still and watched it as it came towards me, out of the forest and into the grassy area just ahead. Two more doe followed. I let my guard down, realizing that it wasn’t dangerous; they were just coming out for a snack. Still, I had never been so close to wild deer in my life. Moreover, I had never seen such beautiful and healthy deer. Their coats were spotless and their eyes and faces had human-like appearances. At this point I knew they could see me, and it almost felt as if they knew I was watching them and wanted me to follow. I honestly think they had some sort of spiritual significance-it’s too extraordinary to explain in any other way.

Amy arrived and we carefully approached them, still eager to get out onto the Bald. Five feet seemed to be the threshold-whenever we got this close they would calmly walk until the distance was made up, and then they would continue eating. We crept forward and they would do the same. It was as if they were leading us onto the Bald. We broke out into the Bald to a wonderful maze of vibrant flame azaleas. The deer disappeared into the bushes and we went on to explore the flowers, ecstatic.  This surpassed any of my previous expectations. Gregory Bald is a research haven for botanists and biologists because of its perplexing diversity of flame azalea species. Only pictures come close to truly conveying the beauty.

After about 10 minutes of exploring the meadow of flame azaleas we stumbled upon the most spectacular and rewarding view of the entire hike. We sat down in the grass to a view that overlooked Cade’s Cove to the north. Beyond, stretched miles of mountain ranges, and above floated large puffy clouds. Not long after we had been sitting down, we were treated to another amazing and thought-provoking experience. The three deer that had greeted us at the opening of the Bald reappeared out of the bushes, and walked right up to us, posing for the best picture of the day.

View of Cades Cove

We spent about 30 more minutes exploring the Bald and taking it all in before heading back down. It was already 6:30 and we wanted to get down before dark. We figured it would be a 2 and a half hour hike back to the car. The hike back was much faster and less grueling. We stopped only a couple of times to rest. By the time we had made it back to the stream it was already pretty dark. Within minutes we started seeing fireflies. Before long it turned into a stunning show. I have never seen so many fireflies in my life. What a great experience. The timing of everything today could not have been any more perfect.

We made it back to the car just in time- any later and it would have been too dark for comfort. It was exactly 9 o’clock. It felt so good to sit down. We rolled down the windows and made our way out of Cades Cove, with satisfaction and food dominating my mind. The day wasn’t over yet, though. Right after we left Cades Cove, an animal came onto the road into the headlights. It was a coyote. It stood right in front of us for a good 15 seconds before running into the forest-unbelievable.

We stopped to eat at a place on the side of the road that looked kind of like a Cookout. We walked up and ordered-I got a cheeseburger and ice cream. Country music was playing on the stereo, there was a God Bless the USA sign out front, and the locals were all talking, laughing, and just happy to be there. It was a great place to be, but was somehow even better after a day like today.

I will have the Spence Field blog posted within the next day or two! Feel free to leave comments and let me know what you think.