No flowers blooming today so jingle bells, shotgun shells....
Hiking and Exploring Around Vonore--
Wildcat Pointe Overlook, Tellico Blockhouse, & Citico Creek Railroad Bridge
Part 1
Sunday Jan. 24 and Tuesday Jan. 26, 2021
Dana & Kenny Koogler
Photos are here-- Vonore Area Pix
Below is a map of Wildcat Pointe Trailhead
It is located at 203 East Coast Tellico Parkway
Greenback, Tennessee.
Wildcat Spring
Sunday January 24 Kenny and I had planned on doing something. Nothing sounded appealing to either of us. It was bitter cold though sunny. It seemed like everything either involved crowds which we weren't in the mood for or a long drive which neither of us wanted. We finally last minute decided to go to the Vonore area. I had numerous things I wanted to check out. Kenny said that sounded perfect. Should not be crowded & not a long drive. It had the added appeals of cleaning up things off my wish list, and being new to us.
We drove down to the Wildcat Pointe Trail parking area. I had been in the vicinity a few months back and located the historic Militia Spring across the road.
During the research for that I had spotted a couple old roads, an un-named spring, and near that some structures that should be old house foundations or cabins.
We would start there.
We pulled into the parking area to see only one other vehicle. A pair of ladies got out to hike the trail system and headed to the right while we got out and went left. A restroom building sits by the parking lot. Behind that should be a trail or old path to the spring and past the cabins. We found the path easily. I had the GPS running to help pin down the location of the spring. 
Above: back of restroom building. They are currently closed thanks to the corona virus pandemic.
Below is a picture of the trail heading into the trees
Once down the slope and still following the waypoint for the spring we encountered the first cabin ruins.
Once we reached the base of the hill just below this point we encountered the first signs of the spring. It has no name so in order to keep it differentiated I dubbed it the Wildcat spring. Prowling around and inspecting the terrain we found at least three sources it flows from. The further down the hill we went the stronger the flow. 
Above: milky water flowing across the path... first signs we are closing in on the spring.
Once we had located the spring and the first cabin ruins we tried to follow the "trail" where it curved uphill toward the site of the second structure. We saw this piece of neon pink survey tape.
But the trail played out and the vegetation was a real snarl of briers and weeds high as your head. We decided to try another approach.
We then backtracked and went up the Wildcat Pointe Trail and try to strike out through the woods. We found that was no better. We found no signs of any side trails leading to the former cabin site. Finally we decided enough was enough.
It was getting toward lunch time and we were hungry. We had planned on going to Bert's in Madisonville for a nice lunch date. We would continue our day's explorations after that.
Old McGhee Road
On the way back to Hwy 411 south we stopped so I could take some photos of sections of an old road that parallels Hwy 411. It intrigued me. The area is so full of history and things that have changed thanks to the damming of the Little Tennessee River to form Tellico Lake.
I figured it had something to do with the pre-lake era. That wasn't all that far back. The building of the dam and the lake began in 1967 and was completed in 1979. It flooded farms of white people who had displaced the Native American inhabitants. It flooded what remained of the sites of Tanasi and Chota. A source of irritation and hard feelings for many a person.
I had questions and no answers on Sunday Jan. 24th. Since that time I have learned that these are all that remains of the Old McGhee Road. It ran parallel to what is now Hwy 411. It can still be seen on google maps with the northern part called "Old McGhee Road" and the southern part simply numbered 365.
We arrived at Berts at 12:20 p.m. and fully expected we'd either have a long wait owing to a packed restaurant or we'd end up going elsewhere to eat. Surprise! We got a parking spot right away. We went in to find no one waiting. We were seated within less than five minutes and our order taken! It was wonderful to be in a warm, friendly setting for a pleasant lunch. We had a shrimp dinner. Our timing was great for once. The crowds rolled in after we were already served!
Citico --Old Babcock Railroad Bridge
Once we'd had lunch and some energy to go on we headed back toward Vonore and turned down SR 360 to go to Citico. Kenny took me down there so I could get some photos at last of the old Babcock railroad piers. He was not interested in that, but knew it would not take me too long. He dropped me off since there was no place to park at my jumping off point. He backed the truck up to wait on me along the old Citico Road section.
I waded down through the pine woods. Copper colored pine needles were like deep shag carpeting on the forest floor. The soil here is loamy, sandy stuff that would have been a nightmare to try to construct a railroad on. I aimed for Citico Creek figuring I'd have to go up or downstream to arrive at my target. I did not. I easily came out where I wanted to at the first bridge support of the former Babcock Railroad bridge. I had taken photos of it where it crosses Chihowee Lake several weeks ago. I noticed these that same day, but did not get a chance to photograph them.
I counted seven or eight supports remaining in the woods. Some actually in the forest and some in the river itself. Being there beside them was quite an experience. Hard to tell how massive each one is until you stand by them. They stand in the forest gathering moss and lichen. A large tree has fallen across one and juts into the sky. I worked my way round them, crawling over downed trees to make my way out onto a gravel bar in Citico Creek. It is evident that the stream flood periodically. Great mats of debris catch in the downed trees. Lots of pretty pebbles of different sizes and colors dot the stream bed. It sits flowing ever onward carrying with it a sense of the timelessness of the region. I feel a pang of regret tug at my heartstrings and wish I could have seen it before things changed.
Chota & Tanasi Memorials
Once I'd made my way back to the truck we realized it was 3 pm already. We headed back in the direction of home, but I wasn't quite ready to go yet. I did not know what I wanted to do. We had noticed a road turning left and going back toward Tellico Lake on the drive in to Citico. We made a snap decision to go back there to see what was around. We started seeing signage for the Tanasi and Chota memorial sites. We had never been. I had seen photos, but had no idea where they were. It was a good thing we didn't spend a lot of time thinking on this.
The first spot was the Tanasi memorial. I took photos and read about it. It was neat, but I had no idea what I was heading for. Down the road a bit further we came to the end and the Chota memorial site. You can't just get out and walk over to it. It's about a 1/4 mile walk one way to it.
We got out at the parking area for the Chota memorial and walked out the path. I had seen people on a mud flat from the Tanasi site. I could now hear people and a dog, but I could not see them. Never did locate them. We did see one Citico Squatter in a school bus like back in the old days!
Paint Clan
And Wolf Clan
I believe I read that 91 persons.. Cherokees were unearthed and most reinterred at the Sequoyah Birthplace Memorial. One who was able to be positively indentified by a pair of spectacles was one of their warriors Oconastota. He was reburied at Chota and a marker placed. Many people have come to visit him over the years.
Oconastota "Stalking Turkey" was a skiagusta or war chief of the Cherokees.
His Cherokee name was Aganstata, "Groundhog sausage".
I stood looking at all this taking it in. I turned and looked at the Memorial as a whole and the surroundings. I felt like I was overcome by a tidal wave of emotion. Sorrow for what was and what could have been. I grieve the loss of the former glory of the Cherokee Nation. I am not Native American at all, but their plight tears at me like none other. My elderly uncle has told me in the past that he considers the plight of the Native Americans falls under the same umbrella as the Jews persecution and genocide by the Nazis, slavery and persecution of the black man by whites. He calls it more of man's inhumanity to man. I know that he is right. It is all bad and in God's eyes it is all evil. All sin and all sin is the same.
I just can't help feeling a particular pain and loss at it. Knowing that the Cherokees were well organized, intelligent, politically organized and despite it all they were herded away on the Trail of Tears like cattle. Wrong on so many levels.
I cannot reconcile it inside my heart. I had not come here expecting this, but there I stood weeping. Out of control of my emotions.
I doubt I'd have come here at all had I known this was the effect it would have upon me. I guess in that way it is good that I did not know.
I have since read from my friend Paul Gamble how special Chota was to him when he was recovering from his broken hip. He found it serene, peaceful and healing.
Maybe that is why I needed to go there. To grieve and let it out. I am the first one to tell people to let it go that there is more room on the outside than there is on the inside. I will have to go back again some day by myself and be prepared and more meditative. See what speaks to me the next time.
I composed myself at last and we walked back to the vehicle. It was all in all a good day to be out. I just don't like being blindsided by emotion. It isn't going to change my love for the area though.
I did stop one final time on the trip and get a photo of the former Toqua school building. It is now a community center. 
Above and below: Toqua school. It was very small!
I got home and posted my photos on social media. I spent some time looking into the history of the Cherokees and their times in this area. I know that my son in law, Adam comes down from Attakullakulla, Dragging Canoe, and Nettle Carrier. He is a grandson of Nancy Ward. I had not read some of the quotes I found that evening said by Dragging Canoe. I would have liked this man.
He was not fooled by the white settlers one bit. He was insulted and angered.
He eventually moved away and began the Chickamauga tribe. He understood that the ultimate aim of the whites was to extirpate the Cherokees. To utterly wipe them out. Below are a couple quotes I found that were particularly apt.
I ended up returning to the area on Tuesday to do some more exploring. The two trips are linked. One is a result of the other so I will make this a two part entry.
“Such treaties may be alright for men who are too old to hunt or fight.
As for me, I have my young warriors about me. We will hold our land.”~~Dragging Canoe
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Dana 🐝