Hiking the Asbury Trail

Over a year ago several of us hiked the Cataloochee Divide Trail from Cove Creek Gap to Hemphill Bald.  Upon returning to the car, I noticed a trail and sign across the road from the trailhead.  It wasn't an official GSMNP trail sign, but a hand-lettered sign, "Asbury Trail."  I did some research online and found the trail partly follows the boundary between the GSMNP and National Forest Land, drops down to Cataloochee Creek and then up to Mt. Sterling Gap.  As the name suggests, the trail has a Methodist connection.  Bishop Francis Asbury used the trail in 1810 as he crossed the mountains on his circuit.  The trial was called the Old Cataloochee Trail before taking the name it has today. 

Last Wednesday, five of us decided to hike part of the Asbury Trail starting at Cove Creek Gap.  We waited until all leaves were off the trees to maximize views and to ensure limited undergrowth on the trail.  It was a wet start with mist and fog and the temperature was 37 degrees when we began hiking.  Added to that was a stiff breeze.  Rich, Randy, Beth, Priscilla and I started up the trail noting the yellow blazes along the way. Like the Cataloochee Divide Trail, the Asbury Trail follows the park boundary, often marked by an old fence.  It continues north for about 2 miles, at times on the ridge and sometimes dropping below it.

Asbury Trail along the boundary fence.

Several boundary markers were affixed to trees. This one seems to be slowly eaten by the tree.

The trail had the feel of a Smokies trail even though it is not a park-maintained trial.  It is not on the official trail map, nor is it one of the Smokies 900 trails.  It is used by the Boy Scouts and I assume they are the maintainers of the trail.  A yellow blaze marked the trail, ubiquitously in some stretches and less so in others.  The trail was discernible most of the time, although covered deeply with leaves.  We climbed over, under, through and around many downed trees the entire way, and we cleared many smaller branches and sticks from the trail as we hiked.  Speaking of blazes, on one section we could see five or six blazes in a short stretch (photo below).  We imagined several boy scouts armed with yellow paint being told to "blaze the trail" - which they did!

Count the blazes!

By far the greatest problem with the trail is the sloughing on the downhill side.  It is eroded in places and hiking on the sloping angle made footing dicey in places.  

Along the divide on the park boundary there were a couple faint trails to the right and a dirt road on the Forest Service side.  Occasionally we saw an old gate in the fence.  Also along the way we saw what we thought was a boundary or marker tree fashioned by Native Americans.

 

Gate through the boundary fence.

Closeup of the gate hinge.

Boundary or marker tree?

Due to the fog we missed many views along the ridge.  After two miles we came to the spot where the park boundary continues north and the Asbury Trail goes left and descends to Cataloochee Creek. 

A sign for the trail pointed left. It was bolted on to a post, but the Boy Scouts added a cord lashing to further secure it.  We imagined one of the scouts was practicing knot tying.  Rich added an extra hitch in the two half hitches knot, so we awarded him the Knot Tying Merit Badge.

Rich's knot.

How many two half hitches?

In a gap on the trail we saw a road on one side.  The map indicates it goes down to Sal Patch Gap where Cove Creek Road, Cataloochee Road and NC 284 toward Cosby meet.  At that end a gate closes this road off.  It just seems to end abruptly several feet below the trail.  What it once connected is unclear, unless it was used by people living here before the park.

The road observed from the trail.

It was a steep descent toward Cataloochee Creek, but the sun burned through the fog.  At a side creek we decided to turn back rather than go all the way to Cataloochee Creek. Despite the sun it remained cold and we wanted to climb back up to the divide before eating lunch.  Several steep climbs, each ending with the false hope of reaching the ridge, eventually brought us to the top.  We found a sunny spot with a view for lunch, then retraced our steps along the divide back to Cove Creek Gap. On the return trip we saw the views that were socked in earlier.

Part of the reason for hiking the trail was to scout it for a CMC hike.  With the downed trees and the general condition of the trail we decided not to pursue that idea.  A more rewarding hike on the Cataloochee Divide Trail lies just across the gap from the Asbury Trail.  I do plan to hike the other end of the Asbury Trail from Mt. Sterling Gap to Cataloochee Creek at some point to see that side of the valley, but that is for another day.

We reached the car after 7 miles and over 2,400 ft. of elevation gain; quite a climb for what appeared to be a ridge hike.  It was 38 degrees when we left the trailhead.