Camp Creek Bald Lookout Tower

Camp Creek Bald Lookout Tower

Saturday July 18, 2020
Kenny & Dana Koogler 

Pictures are here Camp Creek Bald

   Kenny and I discussed where we wanted to go for the weekend to hike several times.   Toward the end of the week I was sure of a couple things: We had to take the heat into consideration and I did not want to deal with a crowd of people. 

I kept looking and had it whittled down to three different ideas.  I sat Kenny down Thursday evening and presented all the options.  It was decided the best choice was Option #3-- Camp Creek Bald to see the Lookout Tower. 

Maybe other sights along the way if time permitted. 

         We planned to get up and get going early before the day got too hot. We'd start early and go up high where it would be cooler.    Despite the fact we've visited several lookout towers this year... It had been about 18 months since I did anything to work on completing my Carolina Mountain Club Lookout Tower Challenge.  I had eight to go.    About half of them are shorter hikes while the rest were lengthy.   Today was a short one so it would not be unbearable.

        We did great getting up and going and driving to Greeneville, Tennessee by eight-thirty a.m.    We did not forget anything this time!  We were prepared.  

The drive was going to be a little under two hours if traffic wasn't bad.  It had been a long spell since I did anything in this area.  Many, many years. Back when I was going I was hiking with a couple buddies who lived in these parts.  

The unfortunate thing about their familiarity with the area was that they were not much on repeat trips. Who could blame them?   The bad part for me was that I missed out on a lot of beautiful and interesting things in this area.

     Above: a photo I found on the internet of the map we used.  The Cherokee National Forest is very large and divided into Northern and Southern Unaka Mountains.  Today we'd need the map for the Northern part.  It straddles the line into the Pisgah National Forest of North Carolina so it is good to have that all combined into one map.

    The drive was an easy one. Mostly interstate and then country roads with pretty scenery.  The day was going to be pretty, but hot!  So far it was just a quiet Saturday morning under blue skies.  Before too long Greeneville, Tennessee came into view.  

Above: the old water tower in Greeneville has lots of character and history.

It is hard to read in my picture.  It says Greeneville Re-Drying Company, Inc. Leaf Tobacco.  I had not realized until today that Greeneville was a big tobacco producer in the past.   Later driving through town we spotted at least two old tobacco warehouses.   I also was not aware that they had a Pet Milk plant in town!  It came to town and opened in 1928, operated for 25 years til they moved operations to the Kingsport plant.   Finally in June 2009, after 50 years of operation they closed that plant down as well.   For anyone who doesn't know what Pet milk is.. it is canned, evaporated milk.   I use it in mashed potatoes on the advice of Heather Ledbetter! It does make them yummier!

    

   We continued our drive through town and came out through a residential area.   We had to stop to see this sight. The Nolichucky River dam! We've been swimming and tubing and kayaking in this river, but I never saw the dam before til today!   It is rather pretty.  The old TVA building is quaint. It is partially covered in trumpet vine.  One side of the dam looks like a waterfall.  I wondered  if a side stream joins it there?  A check of the map shows it is not the case.   Cascade Lake dam in North Carolina has this same look along its sides. 

Old TVA building at the sub station for the dam.

First view of the dam

       

Closer view to show the far side which looks more like a waterfall.
Below is a short video of the dam from today.

     We pushed on out the highway toward Viking Mountain Road.  We'd have to turn and start the eight mile ride up that mountain.  A ski resort used to be atop the mountain back in the 1970s.  I believe the resort finally opened for one ski season in 1972 and close that same year.   The architecture on old photos I've seen was very mod looking octagonal huts to rent out.  A frame structures like Switzerland of the South.   It was the second such "big idea" for a ski lodge in the bright and sunny south lands of Tennessee that bombed out.  This was even less successful than the former Renegade Mountain Resort.   At least Renegade Mountain has persisted as a housing development though the ski resort structures are gone for the most part.  The only thing we saw up top of the former resort were some anchor bolts in the ground and the stone rim of a former swimming pool or patio.  Below are a couple photos of all that's left of the old ski resort

       


     Finally we found the turn and thankfully it was signed!  We had been warned the road was rough, but we found it in good condition all except the last jeep road to the top and that did not matter.   The drive up was very pretty. It goes through National Forest and residential areas.   Lots of abandoned houses along the way.  Some houses that look like they are lived in regularly. Other houses look like they are rental cabins or get away places.    The scenery was beautiful as well as interesting.

    Below: one of the prettiest abandoned houses
  Below: another abandoned house with the power lines still going to it.  

   I mention from time to time that I am very fond of maps.   I have quite a collection, and I enjoy studying them for points of interest.   One of the reasons I am so fond of Cal Topo maps is they show what was in the area even in the past!  Cemeteries are indicated by a little box of dashed lines.

Historic churches with a little cross.   Historic community names are given a map dot.  Historic schools are included as tiny houses with a flag on top.

It is rare to see one listed and get to the site to find it still there in any form. Today I got the rare treat of finding the Upper Paint Creek School still standing and in pretty good condition for its age! 

Above: Upper Paint Creek School.  Think how odd it would be today to have 

schools like this instead of consolidated schools.  In our community they had 

Walland School, Cold Springs School, and Rocky Branch School all within five miles of one another!  All of those structures still stand and all are still used though only one continues to be a school.

 Below is a zoomed in photo of the map and how it shows the school. Unbelievable that it still stands.  If you are interested in history it is good information to know to look for this stuff prior to a trip. Like Lewis and Clark... ya never know what yer gonna find 

Above and below are two shots of the Upper Paint Creek Church. I thought it was a very attractive country church.

   A bit further down the road we came to another place I'd never even heard of.. Dillard Ponds!  We saw a big sign for the Cherokee WMA. This is chopped up into sections both in the northern and southern Unaka mountains.   We were now officially seeing a piece in the north part.   Dillard Place was donated by the family after their property was severely damaged by the flooding of Paint Creek in 2001.   August 3, 2001 10:30 p.m.  it began to rain.  The area got 10 plus inches of rain in a 24 hour period.   Seventy roads were damaged.  200 people were left homeless.  A rain gauge atop Viking Mountain.. seven miles west of the radar indicated maximum rainfall showed 15.35 inches in 24 hours.   A man who lived on Big Creek said he emptied his five inch rain gauge twice during the event.  

Below: one of five Dillard Ponds

 

The fifth Dillard Pond was the clearest

Below:  the fourth Dillard Pond has some shade

What a marvelous gift! Dedication plaque

Above: Description of the place and the circumstances that led to this donation

     We came to an area along the road where the powerline cut allowed a view.

It was real pretty, but kinda scary too. If you went off the mountain here you'd be a goner.

  I had hoped to see some pretty Summer wildflowers today.  I especially hoped to see turks cap lilies.   I had asked Jason Horton about them and he said he wasn't sure as it had been a long time since he was over around Camp Creek.

I was not disappointed.  Not a lot of them, but I did get to see some today.

I did not find any atop the mountain, but I did see them by keeping my eyes peeled scanning the woods on the drive up.

Another flower I saw loads of.. Black Cohosh wands of pure white lined the roadsides!  Below is an example

  Finally we rounded a bend and the first things we saw were the huge antenna towers.   I had long heard of Jones Meadow, but today was my first experience here.  I had done precious little hiking in the vicinity.  

First glimpse of the mountain top.. and the monster antennas.

Below: Jones Meadow

Below: Basil Bee Balm.. White Bergamot growing thickly in Jones Meadow

   I had mainly come to hike to Camp Creek Lookout Tower, but I knew that was not going to take long.  I wasn't going to miss Blackstack Cliffs and Whiterock Cliffs in the area.  The views would be dramatic.  We went out and parked at the far end of Jones Meadow where you can get a photo of Blackstack Cliffs.   

    Next we set about trying to figure how to hike to both Blackstack and Whiterock Cliffs.   I must say that Peter Barr's book on the firetowers is excellent. It has been quite a resource. He gives great directions and is concise. 

Today is the only time I've found his directions confusing or lacking a thing.

Maybe it was just me and my inability to interpret them.  We didn't have any trouble figuring how to reach Blackstack Cliffs to get a view from there.  It was very self explanatory.   White Rocks proved to be a little harder. 

   We hiked out in the general direction of the cliffs along the blue blazed trail.

It wasn't long til we came to a split. We stayed to the left since the cliffs were on this side.   We soon came to a side trail signed for the cliffs.   The sign is easy to miss. It has been removed by vandals so this time they put it up high.

Watch closely for the signs.. they are small, often stolen, and this one is way above eye level.

  Points of interest on the hike out were the remains of an old A.T. Shelter similar to what you find at False Gap in the Smokies.  

a large anchor bolt from something on the other side of the trail

And one massive patch of Crimson Bee Balm!

     The side trail to the cliffs is short, but there is a spot where you have to climb down very carefully five or six feet.  It is right by the benchmark

Below:  view from Blackstack Cliffs 

The side trail to these is quite enclosed by vegetation.  

Rosebay rhododendron was in bloom today.

Above: bloom of rosebay rhododendron

Another view from the Blackstack Cliffs toward Greeneville

Kenny out on the cliffs. I went out there, but not as close as he got to the edge.

Above: A photo that shows how tight the trail was to get to the cliffs on this side.

Climbing back up that big drop was not as bad as I thought it would be.   

Above: Junction of the A.T. with  Jerry Miller Trail.. about here I knew we'd messed up.

      We made our way out to the main trail again to try to figure out which way to go to find Whiterock Cliffs.    I knew it faced the opposite way of Blackstack Cliffs.   I knew you had to hike the A.T. to reach it.   We got the map out, but it wasn't much help.  The features are so close together that a map this scale simply doesn't have enough space to show you the details you need.  The book was no help.   Finally we decided we'd try to hike further out the A.T. and bear to the right since we knew it was over that direction.   We hiked all the way out to an intersection where the A.T. went left while the Jerry Miller trail went right.

I had a feeling we were heading the wrong way.  We didn't go any distance down the Jerry Miller trail til I told Kenny I knew this had to be wrong.   We turned and hiked back the way we'd come.   The A.T. is very pretty out along this stretch.   We met the only other hiker we saw all day.  Ben Boer.... a fellow German!  I flagged him down and greeted him asking for directions to the cliffs.

He was very familiar with the area and gave us excellent directions. He saved the day!   He recommended we visit Firescald Ridge sometime. That is where he was heading.    

Above: Ben Boer... his ancestors were also Hessians like Kenny's! 

Love that smile.  No mask required far as I was concerned.   Thank the Lord for friendly, helpful fellow humans like Ben.

      

Above: one of the prettiest spots along the Appalachian Trail.  Rosebay blooms, ferns, moss, and overhanging trees.

     We came back to a spot we had to stay left and follow the A.T. out to the Whiterock Cliffs. 

        

   Ben also pointed out a feature that saved us some additional time on the return trip.  A cut across back to Jones Meadow also signed.  I am betting Tennessee Eastman Hiking and Canoeing Club is responsible for this fine work. They are amazing in their maintenance of a large section of the Appalachian Trail in Northeast Tennessee and Southwest Virginia.

The spot where the A.T. goes right and Whiterock Cliffs spur trail goes left is also signed.  

   It was one or two tenths of a mile out to the cliffs on this side.  The trail was even more narrow than on the opposite side of the mountain!  I was watching closely for snakes.  Out here you'd be hard pressed to see them or have room to get out of their way!

Below: View from Whiterock Cliffs.  It is even prettier on this side because you can't see civilization here.

  We enjoyed the views on this side of the mountain tremendously.  Row after row of mountains of green and blue shadowed with black from the clouds above. 

Blue skies. Sunshine. Bird songs.  The only thing about this side that was not as good?  This side of the mountain had no breeze! The prevailing wind was wonderfully cool at Blackstack Cliffs. Over here it was still and growing hot!

     We hiked the trail and the cut across back to Jones Meadow.  We got back in the jeep and drove in the direction of the old jeep road up to Camp Creek Bald.

Peter Barr mentions that the jeep road up is the least scenic, but most direct route. He lists other options which are good choices.  Today in this heat we'd go with the shortest route in favor of getting done and out of here. The road up is badly rutted making four wheel drive necessary, and foot travel uncomfortable.

The gravel and dry dirt make for footing like walking on marbles at times.

I went up stuff that I refused to come back down in the same spot.  

Twisting Falls in Poga, Tennessee has one short section right near the parking area. It might be twenty five feet of trail if that.  It is red dirt.  When it is wet it is slick as grease. When it is dry it is red dirt rolled into tiny pill balls.   Climbing up it you take one step up and slide two back.   I call it the last bastard climb up the dirt ditch.  Today I ran onto the only other spot I've seen like that.  Once I had that behind me it was at least back in the shade and we popped over the hill to Camp Creek Bald and the lookout tower.  

   It is very cool in its round shape. It must hail back to the seventies and the weird architecture of that period. Other buildings up here are rather boring. One is an intriguing gray cinderblock tower. It is two stories high and in poor condition.  It looks like it is damaged from being shelled or shot.  I doubt that is true, but I don't know what would do this?   A glance inside shows it the upper floor has fallen into the bottom.  It is filled with debris and concertina wire.  

I noticed where another trail comes up from the opposite side of the bald. 

  

building that is heavily damaged... but how? 

below: a non descript shed near the tower

  

  Well, I'd done it.  I was now down to seven left to go.  We cooled off and sat down to eat a sandwich on the steps of the tower.   The gnats were horrible.  We hurried to eat while swatting them away.   Once we were done I couldn't wait to get back to the vehicle and air conditioning and no more gnats!   Once back down the hill and into the jeep at last we turned on the a/c, got a cold drink, and had watermelon for dessert with a little salt.  

  

    We drove slowly down the mountain enjoying the scenery.  It was only one o clock!  We hoped to have time to do something else today.   Greeneville Tennessee has a pretty downtown with loads of history.   Today we found the place had rolled up the streets and there was nothing open.   I don't know if that is covid19 related or if that is just how it is on a Saturday afternoon.  We bugged out. I was done with Greeneville for the day.  I wanted two things: To see the Bible Covered Bridge and icecream!  

        We pulled up the google directions for Bible Covered Bridge and headed that way.   It took us on one minor unnecessary turn through town on a residential road.  The best way is just get on Hwy 349.. Warrensburg Road.. and continue on that til you come to a right turn onto Bible Branch. The bridge is impossible to miss from the road.   Warrensburg Road is a beautiful, winding driving through some of the prettiest scenery in Greene County.   Farm country and houses both current, historic, abandoned.   Lots of quaint churches.   Farm fields with lots of tomato growing!   It is through rolling hills.  I'd go back and take the drive just for the scenery.   I could have stopped a dozen times for photo ops just of the stuff along the way.   

Above: First glimpse of the Bible Covered Bridge. Love the barn red!

     I was growing tired from the heat and I knew Kenny was too.  

We rounded a bend and there it was! Bible Covered Bridge!  What I did not know prior to coming here today was that the county now owns it, and the history of the place.  They have provided a nice parking area.  There is a plaque with the history and a photo of what the bridge used to look like on the back of it.    It was certainly nice to have no worries about trespassing as well as a nice safe place to park.   Greene County is very old and has a ton of history.  They have done a lot to preserve and protect these special locations.  

    

Little Chuckey Creek flows beneath the bridge.  Bible Branch is a tributary of this stream.  

Inside the covered bridge.. graffiti taggers have been busy.  It is a jackass thing to do to spray paint nature or historic places like this!  

Below: a nice monument that tells the story of the bridge. 

And finally.. the photo below.. on a weird note typical to nosey me... a wooden platform an a pipe.. with no apparent purpose. I'd love to know what these were placed here for?! Maybe someone knows and will share the information? 

     I was very satisfied with finally having seen one of the prettiest most historic covered bridges in the state!  The scenery on the rest of the drive back to the interstate was also pretty and interesting.  It wasn't long til Fish Hatchery Road had us back to I-81 South heading home.   We stopped in Sevierville at the Russell Stove Candy store and got icecream!  It was wonderful.  I rarely eat ice cream so it was a special treat.    It was a good pick me up and cooler off.. before heading the remaining 18 miles home. 

         We had to stop one more time in Seymour to pick up a few things at the grocery store.   Food City never lets me down!  

   It was a good day and we were home in time for me to fix a nice dinner at home.  Take masks with you in your car at all times.   Like it or not. Agree with it or not... Sevier county and lots of other counties now require masks to shop. Russell Stove store did. Food City did. Both in Sevier County.   Thankfully I had some with me and we complied with the rule.   Hot as Hades and makes me feel claustrophobic, but I did it anyhow.   

     Without them I'd not have been able to have ice cream or get my grocery items!  

   Below are two videos of the views today.