Big South Fork Backpacking Trip

Rich Wathen, Andrew Irwin, and I went backpacking in the Big South Fork, Tennessee this past weekend. It is a great park about five hours away, and it seems to be not very crowded. We never saw anyone on the trail. The area is fairly rugged, but the trails were pretty well maintained. Below you can see Andrew descending a ladder. Ladders are more fun when you have a pack on and the wood is wet.

Here is one of the first of many rockhouses we came through. There had been plenty of rain before and during the hike, so every overhang was a waterfall.

It was great to see spring wildflowers blooming. Higher up, where it was drier and sunnier, Trailing Arbutus (below) was the most common flower. Also, there were Bluets and Violets.

We started our trail from the Bandy Creek Visitors Center and hiked along Fall Branch towards the Big South Fork of the Cumberland River. Fall Branch Falls was the first big waterfall we came to.

Both Thursday and Saturday afternoons were warm and sunny. There were many fence lizards basking along the trail, and would scurry off through the leaves or along a branch when we came near. I was hoping to see some snakes, but no luck. We did find a bunch of leathery egg shells near a sandy hole on a ridge top, but I didn't find any babies nearby.

Promontory on the Grand Gap Loop overlooking the river. The next several photos were taken from this lookout. Despite getting a late start on Thursday, we decided to stick with our itinerary and take this loop. It was sunny, beautiful, and worth the extra miles. It was a couple miles to get from the point the photo was taken, to the promontory.

View looking south over the valley.

Rich enjoying the view.

The Big South winding its way past the cliffs towards Angel Falls.

Further along the Grand Gap Loop offered a view of Angel Falls. The river was very high. This is supposed to be a very popular place to kayak in the summer.

Amelanchier was blooming along the ridgeline, usually leaning out in the most inaccessible places. Here was the one tree I found growing right near the trail.

The view Thursday evening near our campsite. With steady hiking, we got twelve miles done on Thursday, which was pretty good considering that we started just before three o'clock. We made camp along the ridge in a young pinewood. It was warm and dry that night. I made a small fire to boil water for our dinner and slept in my hammock.

We knew we had miles to make up on Friday. Thursday night was gloriously clear, with a new moon, bright stars, and a bright sky. Friday morning was gray. After a couple hours, we made it down off the ridgeline to cross Station Camp Creek. As we descended into a more mesic area, the wildflowers became abundant. Here is Blue Phlox (P. divaricata). I may post more of the wildflower pictures in a later post. All of my stopping to take pictures couldn't have been too bad, since we still made it 24 miles and got to our campsite along a nice creek a little after five o'clock. It drizzled and dripped on us while we ate and set up camp, and then rained for at least half the night. I slept in my hammock under a poncho, but I still need to improve the technique. I did get a little wet, but I slept comfortably.

Friday afternoon we entered a section of the park that just had a prescribed burn. We were happy to find a campsite that was not ashy. Saturday morning we hiked out of the burn area and entered Pickett State Park, which is contiguous with the Big South Fork. The state park was beautiful and might have been my favorite of the three days. It rained a bit in the morning on Saturday, which made the plank bridges somewhat tricky. The trail was fairly well maintained and had planks or bridges when crossing little water bodies. Eventually, the trail crossed Rock Creek. I take it that usually the water is not this high and it is possible to hop across rocks. We just had to wade. Here is Andrew crossing. The current was pretty stiff.

Rich crossing Rock Creek.

Rock Creek was very pretty, with several waterfalls, deep pools, and rapids. It would be a great place to explore on a warm summer day.

Once Rich and Andrew had the socks wrung out, we had to cross again. Here is Rich crossing the creek. The trail then steeply ascended hillside to follow Thompson Branch towards its head.

Andrew, Rich, and I considering a trail junction. Near the end of our trek, we meant to catch the Hidden Passage trail, which we did. Unfortunately, this trail is a loop and we ended up seeing more of the loop than we intended.

The Hidden Passage

Crystal Falls, a beautiful falls near the Hidden Passage Trailhead. After figuring out where we were and how to get back to the car, we finished our hike a little after three o'clock. I would guess that we put in 17 miles on Saturday. I had a great time.