Jeffrey Hell

Hybrid wakerobin growing along the slopes of Jeffrey Hell


Jeffrey Hell 

Dana Koogler solo 

Total hike distance 3.4 miles

Thursday April 16, 2015

Pictures are here: 

 Jeffrey Hell Pix

    I had said for the past three years or so that I wanted to hike the Jeffrey Hell trail to see the 

Spring wildflower display.  I had read in guidebooks it was supposed to be an excellent Spring hike.

I saw Linda & Chuck's photos from last week and that was both the reminder and the decider.

I moved it up to the top of the list and planned to do it today.  I kept my word. We've been having 

a particularly rainy Spring season.    I am thankful for the rain for keeping everything growing and the

waterfalls gushing, but I admit I have grown a bit weary of it.  I decided to go rain or shine.

      The day dawned beautiful and clear and I was thrilled about it.  I was feeling hopeful

that our area might actually have a nice day with no rain for a change.    I was prepared though.

I brought along a picnic, extra clothes, rope, an umbrella, and new rain gear!

Reason to feel hopeful as the day dawns.   Sunrise over the Ellejoy Plain near my house.  You can see the veil of shaconage in the vales at the base of Chilhowee Mountain and our beautiful Foothills.

          Jeffrey Hell gets its name from the dense growth of rhododendron called "slicks" or "hells" by the 

settlers.   The rest of the story is that a hunter named Jeffrey lost his dogs in the area and swore he'd find them if he had to go to Hell to get them.   I have crawled through more than my share of rhodo and the all time worst was Defeat Ridge on the manway to Thunderhead.   Dan  Heimsoth and myself belly crawled through that mess until we positively ached to be able to stand up or move around.  We looked like we'd 

been in a cat fight and lost when we came out of there.    Jeffrey Hell does have rhodo patches, but 

there is a wide trail to follow and hikers today don't have to fret with it.   

    I tagged this hike as an all time BEST WILDFLOWER HIKE.  It was one of those trails that once I arrived and began hiking I was astonished at the number and quality of wildflowers. I wondered why on earth I had waited so long to do this? Thanks Linda and Chuck for the tip.  Once again.. you were right!

I also think this would be a promising Summer wildflower hike based upon what I saw sprouting.  We have 

hiked to Fall Branch Falls so many time's I've lost count.   I had never hiked the Jeffrey Hell trail though.

I am glad to have remedied that.

          Directions to Reach the Trailhead:  

From Tellico Plains turn and start up the Cherohala Skyway.  Drive to the West Rattlesnake 

Rock parking area just past the "Flying Bridge".   It will be on your left after the bridge about 1/2 mile or so.    The trail is through a gap in the stone retaining wall at the edge of the parking lot.

The trail goes down hill and at the bottom of the hill you will see a sign for Citico Creek Wilderness.       Jeffrey Hell trail #196 goes sharply RIGHT. 

Welcome to Citico!

If you want to hike to Fall Branch Falls turn left here at this sign and stay on Trail #87.

     

Trail intersection..  The trail here is in what I consider good condition. 

 I never saw another hiker all day.

      The wildflower display begins before you ever leave the parking lot.  The wildflowers 

were literally right by the parking area thick as hair on a dogs back! 

Great carpets of white squirrel corn were the first thing I saw.  Spring beauties were also present in large quantities, but they were closed when I first arrived.   I had not gone far until I began to see large

numbers of Dutchman's Breeches also.  

    

Closeup of Squirrel Corn

Dutchman's Breeches

Both these pretty flowers are in the fumitory family along with Bleeding Hearts which blood in our area, but 

I didn't see any along here today.   

   

The Jeffrey Hell trail is easy.   

        

The slopes above and below were overflowing with ferns and wildflowers. I love this time of year!

Green is my favorite color and I was soaking up plenty of it!  

   I began to see wakerobin trillium in clumps along the trail and down the slopes below me. 

Cream wakerobin

Purple Wakerobin

and this is their psychedelic offspring below!  

This is the trillium I want to be... weirdo trillium!   I gotta be different!  I posted a close up of this guy

at the top of this blog entry.   Based upon what I have seen in other areas... these hybrids tend to come back

year after year with the exact same color pattern. I also know they can grow in "hybrid swarms". I am not sure whether the hybrids are spreading and capable of reproducing their own kind or if the parents are just 

producing more of them. 

       The forest here was extremely quiet. Once I got out of earshot of the parking lot I heard things, but they 

were sounds of the forest.   Water.  Wind.  Birds.   I heard the drumming of a grouse twice today.  I heard

a turkey hen clucking. I heard a woodpecker hammering several times.  I also heard some beautiful bird songs . I enjoyed the smells of fresh air and the fragrance of rain and flowers and damp earth. 

Below is a very short video of the songs of the birds and and quiet of the forest. 

  I hadn't gone very far when I saw something tiny and different along the trail.


Meet Prester John!  First time sighting for me. I found two of them not far apart.
It is a variety of Jack in the Pulpit, but with subtle differences.  
Arisaema triphyllum ssp. quinatum 
Prester John was a legendary Christian Patriarch. 


Image from a book of Prester John.

   I saw Spring beauties opening up at last as the day warmed.  I saw trout lilies galore.


Not sure if these are Carolina or Virginia spring beauties without looking them up.


Lots of trout lilies along the trail. 

   I saw open areas. I saw a few streams I had to cross. I saw springs of water flowing from the banks.
I had one area along the trail I had a partial mountain view.  Seen below is early Spring looking generally east off the trail.

   I came to an intersection and here is where my day got funky. 

From this spot.. It was the first place I was not absolutely sure which way to go.  

To my left a wide path like an old road bent left or westward... it was piled up with a wall of brush and downfall.  

My view to the left.

Straight ahead of me was a possible path, but it entered an area of briars and rhodo.

View straight ahead.  I could not tell for certain, but it did not appear it was being traveled.

   To my right was a snag and a tiny ditch with a lot of downfall that went steeply down.
It looked like of all my choices this was the part being traveled.  I didn't get a good shot of the dirt ditch, but below is a view of the old snag just above it.



   I had two maps with me. One was a computer print out from the Cherokee Hiking Club's past hike.
It was good, but not real detailed.  I had the TI map.  I had carried Tim Homan's guidebook with me.

I read it to see if it would help me figure out which way to go.  According to it I should go straight.
It talked about cresting the ridge and the path before me through the briars did just that.
I carried it because it is small and compact.  I brought along Will Skelton's Sierra Club Guide to the
Cherokee National Forest, but owing to its size I left it in the jeep.  
The Will Skelton guide is the one with an accurate, easier to understand directions. Had I carried this I'd have been better off.   It focuses on directions and way finding.  It mentions scenery, but they were smart
enough to realize knowing what wildflowers were where.. was not as high a priority.

   Unsure which way to go I had about decided to try down and right when the sky opened up and it began
to pour on me!! I donned my rain gear and decided to be smart about it.   I'd come back with Kenny
and a better guide and try again another day.      I made it back to the jeep in one piece, but cold and damp.
I began coughing and sneezing and my throat turned sore from the damp.

I got in and warmed up and tried to decide what to do?  I sat and ate lunch in the vehicle as the rain continued.   I finally decided I'd head back in the direction of Tellico Plains. If the rain kept up I'd just go home.   If the rain quit I'd hike to Ballplay Falls.

Gloomy view from the Flying Bridge on my way back.  

     **I only had 1/2 mile to go to finish the Jeffrey Hell Trail.  I will complete it to satisfy my curiosity, learn the trail and know more about what is down there.  It is worth mentioning this is a great trail for just about anyone since it is easy up to the intersection I came to.   The wildflower display within the first mile or so is
worth seeing if you just go out so far and back.  **

Citico Creek Camping Trip

Tiny copper lanterns on the awning of the camper.

Camping at Indian Boundary and Hiking

Dana & Kenny Koogler 

Friday Oct. 21 thru Sunday Oct. 23, 2014

Pictures are here starting with frame 401
(photos in this album are a collection from many  trips over the seasons)
Citico Camping Trip Pix 

 We had long planned a camping and hiking trip to Indian Boundary Camp Ground.

We wanted to relax and do some enjoying Fall colors. Sit by the camp fire. Enjoy

each others company in private.  Unplug for awhile.  We had no great ambition, but

did decide to use the trip to the area to see about accessing the one hundred foot

waterfall on Jake Best Branch.   We had tried before when I was getting over being

sick and found the top part.  It was a single thirty five foot falls set apart from the 

main falls by quite a bit.   We got camp set up and decided to try to find the falls.

 

 Our rig at Indian Boundary for our Fall excursion. 

  The day was perfect. It was sunny with blue skies and mild Fall temperatures.

Autumn colors were past peak at the top of the Skyway, but peak around the mid to lower elevations where we were staying.   Very pretty. Not the most brilliant Fall we've ever seen, but 

good.  We are always glad for the change of seasons and Autumn is a favorite.  

   We set off toward Citico.  It was surprising how few people were camped there.

We saw perhaps two camps in total.  I think that is a record low!   We went up toward Cold Springs Gap and decided to try again from the top to reach the big falls.   The colors on this road and the scenery were splendid.  After much struggling we bombed out again.  We got within 200 feet of the Falls, but the terrain is dangerous, steep, unforgiving.  We had some laughs at the idiotic, self flagellation we put ourselves through sometimes all in the name of waterfalls!  

    We drove back down the road checking GPS coordinates and distances from the destination point.  We finally went back down to The Narrows of Citico Creek. Here the river bends in a sharp oxbow.  One day in the future the water will erode through and there will be a section of Citico Creek cut off from itself, but for now it is a sharp bend and only a few feet between one side of the ridge and the other.  The cliffs here are steep and crossing Citico here would always be a wet foot crossing.   We thought perhaps we could locate Jakes Best Branch by coming down to the Narrows and accessing it and then just following it up. Kenny kept trying to explain to me that "we won't have to cross Citico Creek here".  I was unable to get him to understand and accept the lay of the terrain until long after we'd returned home to Kügler Haus and I showed him on Google Earth maps from the satellite view.   He then capitulated that I'd been correct.  He still pointed out an area coming in from one side but down lower than what we'd tried two previous times. He thinks that should be the next attempt. I agree that is what we'll try.  Frustrating? You bet.
New to us? Not a chance.   We have visited so many of the "easy" waterfalls in the guidebook and
on Tennessee Landforms that what is left is the hard stuff.  It is going to be this way sometimes.

       Citico Creek was lovely and gloomy in the evening sun.   We just soaked up the 
pretty weather, beautiful scenery and scent of Autumn.   

Citico Colors up high






Double Camp area in the evening glow.


Double Camp again in the sunshine. Winter will come with those gray days that make us long
for the sunshine and warm days.

Sitting by the fire in the evening.  It got cold!

   We had a nice dinner and enjoy sitting around the fire talking.  It was quiet and peaceful.
We discussed what we wanted to do the next day.  I had been wanting to hike to Wildcat Falls
for a couple months.  I had only been there once and that was with Kenny in Summer time.
I did not feel confident in going alone on this hike or I'd had already done it.  It is Joyce Kilmer-Slickrock
Wilderness and the trail in to the falls is a little confusing.  Kenny liked the idea so that is what we planned
 to tackle the next day.  We'd need our blaze orange because it is bear hunting season.

     We had a nice breakfast the following morning and packed us a lunch and prepared to make a
day of it.  Robbinsville here we come!  We drove all the way across the Cherohala Skyway and it was beautiful. I knew from having seen Fred Deegen's photos on Facebook that the upper parts were done.
I figured as much even without seeing them.  The upper portion of the Skyway is 5,000 feet elevation or more.  It is going to get done leaf color wise before either end of the road.    

     We arrived at Big Fat Gap parking area to a whole passel of bear hunters and dogs.
We had hiked it before as a nine mile shuttle.  We had a vehicle here at Big Fat Gap and one at Cheoah Dam.   We went all the way through and got to see Wildcat Falls and Lower Falls on Slickrock Creek the first time.  Today we'd just do an out and back.  We encountered many hikers, backpackers and bear hunters with their dogs.     It was down hill on the way in and would be all up hill on the way out.

    We did not have any trouble until we got to the intersection just before Slickrock Creek and fortunately a fellow hiker saw us struggling with which way to go. He quickly righted us and once we got past that snag we never had any further trouble.   We repaid the favor on the way out by getting a hunter his dog back safely and helping some fellows who were backpacking.  They were searching for the way to Big Stack Gap
and we were able to set them right.   I had been very comfortable temperature wise though the day
began quite cold it warmed up to 70 degrees. I was glad I wore shorts and brought my water shoes.
I did wonder on the hike in "Why does my left instep feel different from my right?" but dismissed it.

     We saw some signs of the old railroad and some pioneer junk today in the woods.

 Here is an old wood cooking stove!
   
 

Slickrock Creek in the afternoon light on our way back.  This is one of my all time favorite areas to
hike. Kenny loved it so much he has agreed he will go backpacking with me here!

  Slickrock Wilderness is for me what the Smoky Mountains used to be. I still enjoy hiking there, but the
politics and regulations, the manipulations, the crowds, etc have spoiled it for me.  I cannot feel any of that
when I am here and it helps me recall how the Smoky Mountains and hiking there used to make me feel.
Today was one of those days that feels like it should have its own sound track.

       Many creek crossings today. I think there were seven or eight.  Most were ok, but three of them
required water shoes to negotiate.   I noticed on the way in "I have water .. just a trickle.. coming in the toe of my left boot.  Why is it only coming in my left boot? Why is it coming in at all? These boots are only a year old!  They shouldn't be leaking at all on these shallow crossings!"  But again.. I dismissed it. My mind was on the beauty of the forest, the stream.. how incredibly clear and perfect it was... and on the crossings.
Making them safely.  Once across Slickrock Creek just above the first drop of Wildcat falls is a narrow ledge of stone you have to make your way along.  I was very focused on that and not fretting over minor
things like leaky boots.

   It was not long until we came to Wildcat Falls.  It was even prettier than it was in Summer on our first visit here!  The Autumn leaves framed it with orange, red, gold, and copper.   It had more water coming over it today than it had then.    We sat down here to have lunch.  Beech leaves of yellow, gold and copper came floating down in flurries.  It was a memory I will treasure. I'm here with my hubby eating lunch in this pretty spot.  It is perfect.  Sitting there soaking up the scene and another memory came creeping back to my mind.   I laughed.  I turned around to ask Kenny if he remember this spot and the rock we were sitting on?
He did.  You know if it involves these two outlaws it is not going to remain a Hallmark moment for long.
We laughed remembering getting busy behind the rock we were now sitting on to eat lunch.  It IS a beautiful spot and inspires romance ok? 

   
Wildcat Falls has four drops total. The lay of them prevents a getting a clear photo of all of it at once.





This is the trail such as it is.  not really as bad as it looks.


Another vantage point to photograph Wildcat Falls.

   We fed the dog here and enjoyed the area.  We made sure to feed him so he'd follow us back out.
We began our hike back out.  It was easy at first.   One of the stops on the way back I sat down to
put my boots back on and wondered why one shoe lace was brown and the other black?
The reason was simple. I had on two different boots! The left boot was one of my old Vasque boots.
The right boot was my new Lowa boots!  We had a good laugh over that. No wonder one was leaking
and did not feel the same!  I am like the court jester without meaning to be. I don't even have to try.
I have all my life dressed myself funny. Grandma Edna called me Glady's Earl because of it. Dad called me
Gravel Gert. 
I really lived it today.   I will leave the house with two different socks, different shoes, dress hung in the back of my panty hose, hair sticking up, frizzing out, shirt wrongside out,  pimple cream on my cheek, mismatched colors, etc.  I really have tried to not be that way, but after fifty years of it.. it ain't likely to stop.





This was taken just prior to me realizing I was wearing two different boots! ha! Kenny and his sexy legs.

We took a blessed wrong turn and this is what we saw!  We also saw Santeetlah dam for the first time!
Everything we encountered today made us not want to leave and plan for the next trip back to the area.

   We hauled our tired carcasses back up that hill to the parking area.  I think the uphill is about 1.4 miles
It is not that bad, but Kenny tortures himself and me by talking about how awful it is.  I have to get in a good
head space for hard things to dull the pain of the effort.  He doesn't seem to know how to do that and what
is worse.. he tries to keep ME from doing that.  I got on him about it and made him stop.

We had a neat experience on the way out of two owls calling one to the other!  One called out. The other answered. 




Slickrock Creek and a pretty cascade

     Back at the camp we fixed dinner and rested.  We talked. We sat by the fire again.
We were tired and went to bed with the chickens around 9 pm.  It was nice to be unplugged from the
internet and TV and phones.   Good to get away.

    Next morning we slept in.  Ate a big breakfast.  Did an easy hike to Fall Branch Falls.
Enjoyed the colors along the Skyway.   We packed up and went home at a decent time.
Trying not to make these camping trips such marathons that they wear Kenny out.

We did not winterize the camper, because we planned another camping trip to Chimney Rock and Lake Lure in two weeks for our 30th Anniversary.



Colors along the Cherohala Skyway at Turkey Pen




Fall Branch Falls. Today was an easy hike and working on learning different techniques with my camera.
I'm still trying to gain a little mastery over it.  Kenny helped me make some progress today.
I am a slow learner any how and brain damage from illness hasn't made me any smarter.

Citico Creek Wilderness--Jake Best Falls and Crowder Branch Cascades

Trailing arbutus along the banks.

Citico Creek Wilderness

Jakes Best Falls and Crowder Branch Cascades

March 30, 2014

Dana & Kenny Koogler

 I continue to get well  over Miller Fisher syndrome's damage to my brain and nervous

system.   I am now driving without an eye patch.  My vision is 99% healed.  The biggest

problem I've got to work on and overcome... is getting my proprioception back.  

Proprioception is one of our senses we don't ever think about it.  Even when it is messed up it is hard to tell someone what the malfunction is.  Why? Because it is one of our deepest rooted, earliest evolutionary senses.  We rarely, conciously think about it.  What is the position of my body and my limbs in space?  If we had to consider this we'd not be able to do things like drive and keep our eyes on the road.  Eat popcorn while watching a movie, etc.  

        Kenny had said and I agreed that he felt I needed as much hiking as possible.

It would re-train my brain. One thing I noticed was that anything I'd done before... got easier the next time!  The stairs at work were horrifying to me at first. So was trying to find my way around in the building in the new part I was working in.  It is better now!

My brain is learning to re-wire itself and what a wonderful feeling that is!

 I am playing piano daily to help with that too.

       Today we wanted to do something close to home.   It was rainy and kinda cold.

We had decided while the weather was still cool we'd try to locate an off trail waterfall in Citico.  The good news is that the forest service has cleared out the downed trees from the back roads.   We managed to drive close to our destination.  We had to park and walk the rest of the way because it is gated, but the road itself was an easy walk to where we could see the falls down the bank.    

          We managed to make it down over the steep, slippery bank to this beautiful falls.

This is a 35 ft drop on Jakes Best Creek.   We did not yet figure how to reach the 100 footer below this one.  I was still too dauncy for that.   I need to go back and try again

in cold weather when my senses are 100%.   It is serious rattlesnake country

and the terrain is far too steep to fret with avoiding snakes while trying to hang on to trees, limbs, rocks or whatever you can to climb.   I did see the brink of the 100 footer just beyond this.  Kenny thinks he sees a way around the mountain to it during cold weather.

I was climbing up out of there and saw one of these.

 

This was new to me... a red bellied snake. He was crawling out from under

the bark on an old rotten log.  They are harmless.  The scientific name

for them is Storeria occipitomaculata.   They eat slugs and worms and stuff like that.

Here is the pool below the 35 foot falls.. with the brink of the 

larger falls just barely visible at its edge!

I climbed huffing and puffing back to the road above me.  I was on all fours like a dog when I finally got up there.  It was hard for me.  Kenny laughed and said he wished he had a picture of it. Now you see why it is imperative to be the camera handler in a group?

It began pouring rain on us.  By the time we got to the bottom of the road it had quit though.    We decided to chance another short jaunt.  We went out Doublecamp Road.

We hiked Crowder Branch trail to the cascade along it.  It is quite pretty and not a hard hike.  We did have to cross the creek seven times in a little less than a mile.  It was GOOD for me!  I only had one small melt down on some slanted slippery rocks.  I will never take

my brain's ability to sense my position for granted again after this! 

    We made it to this pretty, smallish cascade. 

Someone had built a cairn on a log right in front of it. 

This was not the most spectacular hike, but it was pretty and accomplished my purpose.
We got to see something new. Got some exercise and fresh air.  It did not take a long time.
And got us out of the house for awhile.  Back home it was good to be dry and warm and rest.