The hike leaders for this car camp spent much time planning and scouting this trip. Two previous trips by the club to the Cattaloochie area did not proceed as planned and, since the drive to Cattaloochie is so very long, we are attempting to make this one an improvement on the past. Jennifer started by reserving a group campsite months ago, as the first Cattaloochie car camp ever planned by the club ended up being a Balsam Mountain carcamp instead because Cataloochie campground was full that weekend.
The second assault on Cataloochie was a three day backpack which was to hopefully avoid the campground full syndrome. In this we suceeded but we were foiled by three days of rain prior to our backpack and continuing rain throughout the trip. We also discovered that the other flaw with the backpack method was that we were nowhere near the valley meadows where the elk are apt to put in an appearance at dawn or dusk.This led to the decision to once again attempt a carcamp.
This time we got it right! The Cataloochee car camp was just about perfect. The first wave pulled into our reserved group site about 5:30 Friday evening and set up camp. After pitching our tents, we started a charcoal file on the grill and put ears of corn on to roast. Then we did a short hike of about 1.5 miles to the Palmer house that was near our camp. Returning to camp, the corn was ready to eat, so we grilled our meat and dined on meat, corn-on-the-cob, fruit salad and mixed vegetable salad.
By then it was time to go locate the elk. And locate the elk we did! We were able to see and photograph most of the elk in the valley. We shot many rolls of film while having the individuals described to us by one of the rangers. At dusk we returned to camp and one of Donald's traditional bonfires complete with marshmallows. Sleeping beside the lovely Cataloochee Creek completed the evening.
We arose early Saturday morning to view the elk once more on the way to the trailhead. Since there were several people desiring to do different things, we did not all go to the same place. Ralph, Susan, Betty and Donald Bodley hiked the planned 18 mile loop to Mt. Sterling and back, while Donald Box and Jennifer hiked a 14 mile in-out hike at lower elevations. Doug and Shirley hiked an 8-mile loop while Judith and the children rode bikes around the cove and went swimming in Cataloochee Creek. We returned to camp to repeat the dinner from last night. Betty had a huge cooler with 40 pounds of ice, some of which was still solid when she arrive home on Sunday evening.
The 18 mile loop included Little Cataloochee Trail, Long Bunk Trail, Mt. Sterling Trail, Mt. Sterling Ridge Trail, and Pretty Hollow Gap Trail. Of these, the real standout is the Long Bunk Trail, which has some of the largest specimens of oak and hickory that any of us had ever seen. The little Cataloochee Trail includes an old home site, Hannah Cabin, and a really beautiful little mountain church, the Little Cataloochee Baptist Church.
On Sunday morning we broke camp after breakfast and then hiked out the Caldwell Fork Trail to the Boogerman Trail. The Boogerman Trail is named for 'Boogerman' Palmer who acquired his nickname as a child when asked by the teacher what he wanted to be when he grew up. He was very shy and hung his head and said 'The Boogerman'. The eight adults (except Judith who departed with the children after breaking camp) who hiked this trail were extremely impressed with the beauty of the small coves of old growth timber that we passed through on the Boogerman Trail. Additionally there was a magnificent dry stone wall outlining an old homestead and several other artifacts from former days when the cove was inhabited. During the course of this hike, we explained our trail names to the newest member of the group who then decided that she must also have a trail name. This 6.5 mile hike was the perfect conclusion to our weekend.
Those participating were Ralph 'Casts No Shadow' Van Pelt, Susan 'the AT Butterfly' Faidley, Doug 'Dark of the Moon' Cooper, Shirley 'Too Green' Scott, Donald 'Firemaster' Box, Donald and Judith Bodley with Marcus, Jalena, Jazmine and Jackson, and hike leaders, Jennifer Smith and Betty 'Wades in Water' Petty.
Reported by Betty Petty