Today’s adventure was hiking the Smokemont Loop Trail, which starts and ends at the Smokemont Campground. We walked to the trailhead at the north end of the campground, where we picked up the Bradley Fork Trail, which forms the eastern side of the Smokemont Loop. This section is a wide gravel road, probably once a logging road when Smokemont was a thriving logging community.
The trail parallels the Bradley Fork, which tumbles over the rocks and makes a babbling accompaniment to the hike. About half a mile in, Ken heard a loud thud and maybe a growling sound from near the river, and I saw a very large splash. Ken saw a large bird, so we thought it might have made the splash (although definitely not the growl!). In a few more feet, Ken heard a growling sound from the hillside above us. About this time, I grew rather concerned.
We had read that the park has over 1,000 black bears, a dense population of over one bear per square mile. Words in the literature and on signs caution visitors to be watchful and keep human food away from bears. They also give advice for what to do if you encounter a bear. I was mentally rehearsing what to do if a bear appeared close to us. Fortunately, none did, and we went on our way.
We passed the junction with the Chasteen Trail which went off to the right. A bit later we left the Bradley Fork Trail and entered the Smokemont Loop Trail by going left and crossing the Bradley Fork on a long footbridge. The trail now was narrow and steep, as we climbed more than 1100 feet over the next 1.4 miles over the northeastern slopes of Richland Mountain.
Our guide promised us “sporadic and partial views of Newfound Gap and the North Carolina side of the Smokies” when we reached the top of our climb. We had to peer through the trees and leaves to catch glimpses of the mountains beyond.
We came upon a large vine hanging down to the trail, a clear invitation to swing. I tried a little, tentatively, but gave up. I didn’t have any gloves, and the vine seemed likely to scrape my hands if I slipped at all. Ah, to be much younger!
All along the trail we were often surrounded by large rhododendrons, which must put on a spectacular display when they are in bloom. The woods are full of fallen trees, and a large one had recently fallen across the road. We had to dodge under it to continue our hike. We stopped and rested on a gently sloping bank to eat our picnic lunch.
At one point we stopped to listen to a rustling in the leaves beside the trail. We think it was probably a small ground squirrel, but I caught only a brief flash of an eye. Several holes in the nearby bank gave us the idea that the little critter had plenty of burrows to run into.
Even though it is late in the year, we did spot a variety of wildflowers in bloom.
Towards the end of the trail, we were accompanied by several showy butterflies. One was a large Tiger Swallowtail. Another was a deep blue black but with red and yellow spots on the undersides of its wings.
We met three other couples hiking the trail, two coming towards us from the other end of the loop and one overtaking us near the end of the trail. After a long downhill we emerged from the trees and crossed the Bradley Fork again, making our way finally to the south end of the campground and then home.
We were pleased with the generator’s progress in recharging our batteries today, but we ran out of gas, so we had to drive in to town. On the way home we located Mingo Falls, where we want to go tomorrow.
The generator got the SOC (State of Charge) up to 100% Yay!!!
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