This trip started in October, 1952. That’s when National Geographic published an article
entitled “Pack Trip Through the Smokies.” I didn’t run across this article
until about 55 years later as I was searching for old articles about the
Smokies. I had been on an off-trail jag, looking for old trails from the past
that were no longer maintained. This article described several trails that do
still exist and one that doesn’t. The one that no longer exists led to Three
Forks Pool on Raven Fork in the southeast quarter of the park, which the
article described as “the most beautiful spot in the Smokies.” Of course, just
about any article you read about any national park will describe its location
of interest as the most beautiful spot, so you have to take all these claims
with a grain of salt. Nevertheless, it all sounded interesting.
I was able once again to find a little bit of
information in my old 1973 edition of the Sierra Club’s Hiker’s Guide to the Smokies. This guide had been my Smokies bible
back in the 1970s and 80s when I was a young, rabid backpacker. I have since
replaced it with updated hiking guides, but in recent years it has resurfaced
as a treasure chest containing a few hidden jewels. The particular gem I found
this time was the Raven Fork Trail, the route of the wilderness backpacking
trip described in the 1952 article.
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| The Heart of the Raven Fork Wilderness |
This trail no longer exists on recent maps and guide
books. (It barely existed in 1952.) In fact, my most recent hiking guide
specifically says that there is NOT a trail along Raven Fork. That sounded a
bit suspicious to me. It’s one thing to simply not mention the presence or lack
of a trail. It’s entirely different to specifically point out that there is no
trail along Raven Fork. If Phyllis came home and asked me what I’d done all
day, I’d be stupid to say, “Well, one thing I didn’t do was eat all the Oreos
and take a three hour nap on the couch.” She’d know immediately that I’d been
up to no good instead of cutting the grass; although the fact that the grass
wasn’t cut would have been her first clue. So, I strongly suspected that the
guide book wasn’t telling the whole truth. Maybe it was helping the NPS to
return the old trail to pure wilderness by promoting the idea that there’s not
a trail. Yes, this had all the markings of government sanctioned disinformation.
It was time to blow the lid off this cover-up!
My 1973 guide actually described Raven Fork Trail
as a manway, not a trail. In other words, it still existed as a faint trail,
being maintained not by the NPS but by the feet of outdoorsmen who fished and
hiked along the banks of this fine stream. So it was certainly possible that 35
years later the manway could be completely overgrown. On the other hand, 35
years worth of fishermen could keep it trampled and visible, so on a warm July afternoon
Greg Harrell and I took off for Big Cove Road on the Cherokee Indian
Reservation. This road would lead us to the Round Bottom parking area where our
excursion would begin on Beech Gap Trail (called Hyatt Bald Trail in some books
because it goes to Hyatt Bald, not Beech Gap; makes sense.).
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| Dashed line across Breakneck Ridge and down to Three Forks Pool |
Some of life’s mundane details kept us from leaving
Jefferson City until 5 pm, so we didn’t get on the trail until 8 pm, and the
last hour of our two-hour hike to McGee Spring campsite was in the dark using
flashlights. The moon was full so, although it was bright, it was too low in
the sky to provide much light during the first hour or two of night. After setting
up our tents in the dark, we had a quick bite to eat and crawled in for the
night. [To be continued.]
