Cherokee Hiking Club
198 Crews Drive, Benton, TN 37307
Benton
MacKaye Trail
Trail
Maintenance Trips
Benton MacKaye Trail
- Sections 20-25
Smoky Mountains
Thursday, June 4, 2009 - Smokies BMTA Work Trip - We held a Smokies Campsite Cleanup day this week to clean the back-country campsites along the Lake Shore Trail in the Park. Rick Harris, David Blount and I were able to use Jim Mize's pontoon boat. The four of us launched at Cable Cove and took the pontoon boat to Lower Forney Creek Campsite, meeting several groups in the campsite. We cleared the fire pits not in use, checked the bear cable and did a general trash pickup. We then headed back down the lake, spotting an immature Bald Eagle along the way. We were able to watch him for several minutes, but only got one photo of an unrecognizable bird in flight. Still, a great thrill. We went to Chambers Creek and Kirkland Creek Campsites, doing similar service, and then got to Pilkey Creek Boat Access in time lunch with a couple of backpackers hiking the Benton MacKaye Trail back to the Dam. We then headed up the hill to check that campsite, returning to the boat about an hour later. We then headed for Northshore Campsite, probably the most remote (in terms of hiking distance) campsite in the Park, and probably the BMT also. It is about 18 miles from the nearest vehicle access in either direction. On the way back to the boat, Rick spotted a beautiful Copperhead Snake, just by the trail. By the time we reached the boat, however, the weather had turned foul and looked worse, so we decided to head back to Cable Cove launch point, finishing up around 2:30 PM. According to the GPS, we had traveled about 35 miles by boat, and probably hiked about 2.5 or so. We removed a couple of bags of trash, and had a total of 28 hours working, with 12 hours travel time for the group.
Since we quit early, we need to get back and clean the Proctor and Possum Hollow Sites up Hazel Creek, and Lost Cove and Upper Lost Cove Sites along Eagle Creek. To get that done, I am scheduling another cleanup day for June 24th (Wednesday) to see if we can't get things finished up then. The boat has a capacity of 8, so let me know if you can attend so that we don't "oversell" the spaces. If you need bed space here the night before, let me know.
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