My Sixties: Back in the Smokies - Hiking with Friends

Tuesday found me on the trail back in the Smokies - the first time since December. While it was not a bright sunny day, the forecast of 70% rain showers never amounted to much. We had a little rain before and after lunch and the rest of the time was overcast, cool and damp. Not all days can be sunny, and you expect some rain if you spend any time hiking in the Smokies.

My friends on this hike were the Friends of the Smokies; specifically 18 hikers who turned out for the first hike in the 2015 Classic Hikes in the Smokies series. These hikes are held on the second Tuesday each month from March through December. They are open to anyone who wants to hike. There is a nominal fee for Friends of the Smokies members. If you are not a member, the fee for your first hike enrolls you as a member. Danny Bernstein - hiker, author, and blogger - leads the hikes each month.

This month's hike was a loop hike starting and ending at the Smokemont Campground near the Oconaluftee Visitor Center on the NC side of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. This is a good hike to start the season and to get me back into the Smokies. We started on the Bradley Fork Trail at the north end of the campground. Despite the rainy forecast for the week there were a few campers there. The trail follows a roadbed along Bradley Fork which was running fairly swift from rain and the snowmelt from higher elevations. At 1.7 miles we turned off the trail to cross Bradley Fork on a log bridge to link up with the Smokemont Loop Trail. The bridge is a typical of the Smokies; a narrow timber running from bank to bank with a handrail on one side. This one seemed a little longer and higher, mainly due to the volume of water rushing beneath it and the wet surface of the bridge. Everyone seemed to take their time crossing.

Trail sign at the trailhead.

Crossing Bradley Fork

Once across we began the climb of the day. A little rain fell while we hiked up to our lunch spot at the top. Everyone climbed at his or her own pace, so the group spread out along the trail. The overcast skies hid most of the views, but the clouds did part enough to reveal a few surrounding peaks.

Smokemont Loop Trial on a cool, wet day.

After lunch we were all ready to get moving again. The temperature in the 50s with the dampness cooled everyone down. It was downhill toward the campground and the miles went by quickly. Toward the bottom we took a short side trail to the Bradley Cemetery. Only a few headstones were engraved, the patriarch's and matriarch's graves and a few others. Most were simple upright stone slabs marking the head and foot.

The patriarch and matriarch of the Bradleys.

A short walk from the cemetery and we were back at the campground. We covered 6.5 miles and had a good aerobic climb before lunch. On the way out of the campground we stopped by the Lufty Baptist Church, as named by one sign, or the Smokemont Baptist Church, as named by another sign. The church is open for inspection. There is no steeple on the church, only a flat roof over the belfry.

The official Friends of the Smokies hike ended here, but there is another trail in the area, so I got a ride with Danny to the horse stables and hiked back to Smokemont on the Towstring Horse Trail. This trail exists to get horses and riders from the stables to nearby trails without them having to ride through the campground. While most people would not hike it, since it is on the official trial map it is one that must be hiked to the Smokies 900 challenge. The trail was wet and had several steep ups and downs. Being a weekday so early in the season I did not see any horses on the trail.