June 15-18, 2015, Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Bryson City, NC

Deep Creek

Since we've gotten back into backcountry camping, my wife and I have been wanting to take a real backpacking trip. We've done a few walk-in state park sites with our daughter, but we know from our day hikes that she's not up for more than a few miles without major complaints and delays. We made plans to leave her with my mom in Chattanooga as soon as school ended for the summer while we backpacked in the Smokies. Despite having lived a good portion of my life in Eastern Tennessee, I had never spent any time in the backcountry of the the Smoky Mountains, so I got pretty excited about the idea.

Bryson City, NC

I kinda wanted to stay away from the busy areas of Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge, TN, so I decided we would try to find a fairly easy loop on the North Carolina side. The Deep Creek area offers a number of campsites fairly close to the trail head, and there are a number of opportunities for loop routes. After much contemplation, we chose a few campsites that would make up about a 20 mile loop, and our plans were set. 

Indian Creek Falls (and me)

We arrived in Chattanooga on Saturday evening, spent all day Sunday with my family and set off for the trail first thing on Monday morning. After a nice drive along the Ocoee and through the mountains of North Carolina, we arrived at the Deep Creek campground just before 9 am, giving us plenty of time to make the 5-6 mile hike to our campsite before the hottest part of the day. We set off to check out the waterfalls before heading to our site. The area near the

Juney Whank Falls

trailhead is really nice for families and those looking for an easy stroll with nice waterfall views. I particularly liked Indian Falls. We also encountered a group of horseback riders and managed to spook the lead horse as we waited off trail for them to pass. We did get turned around a little bit after that by not paying close enough attention to reading the signs, but it became pretty obvious in a short time. We ended up hiking a little over 6 miles before arriving at campsite 46. The site is certainly spacious and set back a little from the trail, especially compared to some of the other sites in the area. There are not very many level tent pads, but we were able to find a little area that was fairly level. This site would be perfect for hammock campers with all the trees and brush-free space. There are two cable systems and two metal fire grates there. 

Campsite 46

Food for our trip, ~7 lbs

After a short break, we set up camp and had lunch, which if I remember correctly, was beef taco meat with beans on tortillas. It was pretty decent for a back country meal, but it would have been nice to have some veggies or sides as supplement to the protein and carbs. Maybe some corn mixed in would add an extra dimension. Anyway, we did quite a bit of relaxing that evening, including a trip to a small creek to soak our feet to cool off and escape the pesty wasps, which would only get worse as the trip progressed. 

Horseback riders on Deep Creek Horsetrail

After the recent bear attack and elevated bear activity in the park, we were a bit on edge that night as we went to bed. Besides people and horses, I believe we only saw one mammal on our hike to the site, so it seemed that we might not have to worry too much about critters. However, as night fell and we began drifting off to sleep, the noises in the brush began. Not knowing if the noises were bears or chipmunks, I took the route of shouting at every noise in my angry "I own this place" voice. I think I shouted out about four or five times through the night and never discovered what was there, but after yelling once, I heard a squealing-like sound, so I have no idea if I scared off a pig or what. On the hike out the next day, I notice a hollow right behind our tent space that looked like it was a game trail, so we might have slept 30 ft from a well-traveled game trail. Despite sleeping lighter than usual, I woke up pretty rested.

Buck on Martins Gap Trail

Wanting to beat the heat, we got started fairly early (at least for me), so we had a quick oatmeal breakfast, packed up and headed over Martins Gap to campsite 54. At the top of the trail, at the junction with Sunkota Ridge Trail, I wanted to take a few minutes to relax after a steady trudge uphill, so I pulled out my Helinox to take a load off. Amazingly, we encountered a beautiful buck who had no fear of us. He seemed to be waiting for us to offer him a snack. After he wandered off, we headed down the trail to Deep Creek Trail. By the time we reached the trail junctions, I was completely drenched in sweat, so I figured a break to drink some electrolytes was in order. We enjoyed another short break at campsite 57, which is a nice spacious site, but the trail essentially runs right through it. 

Chilling at Deep Creek

After the break, we headed North on Deep Creek Trail on our way to campsite 54, which we had reserved for our second night. This portion of the trail is really nice and follows Deep Creek closely. Shortly after our break, we noticed a beautiful easy access area to the creek, so we took off our packs and watched what Lorraine accurately described as an enchanted forest. There were beautiful, colorful butterflies and moths fluttering around the creek, and a deer appeared in the

middle of the creek to cool of and take a drink. It really seemed magical, and those few minutes were enough to justify the entire trip. I felt a bit of pressure to get on to our site before the mid-day heat set in, so we moved on after another short break. We soon came to campsite 56, which had a bear warning notice, and Lorraine seemed quite unnerved by it. I convinced myself it was an old notice since there was nothing listed on the website about bear activity in this area. She said if our site had such a

notice that we would be moving on or going home, but luckily we never saw another such sign. We did see numerous more deer along the trail and in the campsites, but we didn't see another person until we arrived at our site 54. Sometime after campsite 55, the trail practically disappeared for a couple hundred feet near a washed out section, which required a bit of "climbing" up about four feet. The trail was overgrown enough that we weren't sure if we left the trail or not. After a short exploration, we realized that we actually were still on the trail.

Can you see the rattle?

Unbelievably, as we approached our destination, we noticed someone was already setup on "our" site, but they we quickly surmised they were likely out fishing. We debated and debated what to do because the site was less than ideal even if no one else was there. We found a small area we could setup, but we just sat there and debated our options for at least an hour or so. Lorraine didn't want to head back toward the bear warning sign, and I didn't want to hike several more hours in the hottest part of the day, which was predicted to reach more than 90 F. We decided we would try to make the best of it, and fortunately we survived but not before having a close call with a rattle snake and a wasp sting. While gathering twigs for firewood to drive away the wasps, one of which stung me as I was trying to set up the tent, Lorraine came within a couple feet of a rattle snake, which really freaked us out. The country boys camped at the site seemed more than happy to kill the snake, so we obliged them. There was also another snake, which they identified as a garter snake. We were really on edge but decided we would stay but get up at first light and head back down the trail to our next campsite.  

To make the best of our situation, we ate, lounged around the creek and built a fire to try to ward off the wasps. I'm really glad we both brought a Helinox Chair One as it made sitting in and around the creek quite comfortable. For lunch, we tried the Backpacker's Pantry Thai Coconut with Beef, which was pretty good, but if you try it, make sure you mix it well as the spice-rich portion at the bottom was not as palatable as when mixed in the appropriate portion. For dinner, we ate some home-cooked spaghetti we had dehydrated. Before it was even dark, we were ready to escape to the tent and put the day behind us.

Wednesday morning, we got up as soon as there was enough light to see well enough to not stumble across any more snakes. We headed out without breakfast but were a little concerned that we wouldn't have privacy because our campmates were headed in the same direction. That really put us into gear because, although those guys were nice enough, we came to the woods to get away from people, not share our campsites with them. We decided to stop for the second time at campsite 57 for a morning break. We had another oatmeal breakfast and I loaded up on electrolytes. Right as we were finishing our break, the good ole boys from site 54 walked up. I wonder if their hearts dropped as ours had the previous day. I quickly reassured them that we were headed out as they mentioned that they were at their destination. 

Deep Creek at Campsite 59 

We headed further down to site 59, which was only about 3 miles from our previous night's site. We never found the sign indicating that we were at the right site, but there was a bear cable, and the map and GPS indicated we were in the right spot. We were delighted to find that no one was at the site and that there were a few distinct, private areas to accommodate anyone else who might show up. We were also happy to find that the largest area had fairly easy access to the creek. We quickly claimed this as our home for the

Campsite 59

day, and it was only like 9 am. The only downside to the site is that it is right off the trail, so privacy is somewhat limited. However, the creek is not visible from the trail as the trail is slightly elevated from the creek and separated by about 40 ft of forest. It was private enough that we were able to enjoy an afternoon skinny dip, which had to be one of the most refreshing experiences of my life. The area by the creek was also shady and probably 10 degrees cooler than the campsite.

We had a really nice day at camp, eating well, relaxing, talking and just enjoying what camping is all about to me. Although we had a long day in camp, it went by quickly, and I was never bored. For evening entertainment, we had a visit from a beautiful, overly friendly doe. I videoed her for a few minutes before trying to shoo her away. She was not afraid at all even after yelling and charging at her. She would leave for a few minutes, then startle us by thrashing through the brush just as we began to forget. Finally, I think us following her down the trail was enough to make her feel stalked, so she left for the night. As night began to fall, I became a little less comfortable at our site as I realized anything (Mr. Ursus Americanas) coming down the trail would be right on top of us with few comfortable escape routes for either of us. Normally I don't really think about bears, but the attack a couple weeks earlier really stuck with us. We did bring bear spray, so I wasn't really scared but wasn't exactly relaxed. We also slept every night with the vestibules open, so the only thing between us and any curious critters was some no see um mesh. Surprisingly, though, I slept like a baby and didn't get the heebie-jeebies. 

Thursday morning I wasn't hungry, so I skipped breakfast, and we got a pretty early start as I think we were on the trail just a few minutes after 7 am. Amazingly, I managed to maintain an early morning schedule every day of our trip. We had 5-6 miles ahead of us, and we were starting to miss the kiddo. We also were planning on heading back to Wisconsin by 8 am on Friday, so I felt a bit of pressure to get moving. The hike out was pretty nice, but I was amazed at how much uphill we had to hike to get back downhill.

Even though we were only out for a few days, it seemed like a bit of shock to encounter all the front country tourists. I'm not usually sensitive to smell, but Lorraine and I both noticed how flowery the "hikers" near the trail head smelled. I wonder what they thought of my funk!

We reached the trailhead around 10 am, and went searching for a shower that we never found. We ended up taking sink baths, and I felt like a real hiker peeling off my sweaty, smelly

wares in the middle of a campground bathroom. I managed to get clean enough to not be embarrassed to dine out, so it was relief enough to wash off and put on clean clothes. After stopping in town for a souvenir for our daughter, we headed out in search of something to eat, which ended up being a mediocre Mexican restaurant in Andrews, NC. 

It had been a long time since Lorraine and I had been alone in the woods, and I'm really glad we had this chance to share this time backpacking. Although I was ready to get back, I was also already contemplating our next trip. I think I would like to plan a trip in slightly cooler weather with a bit more challenge in terms of miles and elevation.

Gossamer Gear Mariposa

No blog of mine would probably be complete without some gear discussions, so I thought it would be worth pointing out some of my thoughts on our gear choices. I was pretty happy with the kit I packed, and my pack without food and water was just over 16 lbs. I carried all the food and smellables, so without water my pack was around 23-24 lbs, and I carried about 2 L of water, putting my pack was about 28 lbs. I brought a bunch of luxuries, including a tarp in addition to a tent, camp shoes, a battery charger and a camp chair.

My favorite pieces of non-luxury gear for this trip were probably the Black Diamond Trail Trekking poles, Gossamer Gear Mariposa and Enlightened Equipment Revelation 40 degree quilt. In addition to holding up our tent (Zpacks triplex), the poles were crucial for holding up my 290 lb body without showing any signs of failure. Although I've been using them for less than a year, I can no longer imagine backpacking without them. The Mariposa, which weights just under 2 lbs was comfortable and had no problem carrying 28 lbs (maybe more when I added some extra water for our hike over the gap). The pack doesn't really have any frills, but it does have a nice balance of main body space and external pocket space. I didn't know how much I wanted exterior pockets until I got this pack. It's really nice to stuff wet gear or things that you need to easily access on the outside. 

Cooke Custom Sewing Tundra Tarp

As far as luxury items go, the Helinox Chair One, which weighs 30 oz without the bag, really made camp time incredibly comfortable. I'm so glad we brought them. However, they were not nearly as nice on the sloped campsite as on flat sites. I found sitting upright to be a fair amount of work on the sloped campsite, especially because the ground was fairly soft, which leads to the legs sinking into the ground causing instability, especially on slopes. Some people add tennis or wiffle balls to the chair legs, but I wasn't quite ready to add even more weight to my pack. Even though we didn't really use the tarp much, I think the 18 oz weight penalty for the 1.1 oz/sq yd 8 ft x 10 ft Cooke Custom Sewing tarp (with UL cord) is certainly worth the potential payoff for having shade and rain protection.

GPS track of our hike

Typical limited view in the Deep Creek area