Catlooche Divide (1.8n), Hemphill Bald (5.5n), 7.3pd, road 1.5 & 1.5 (17.6 mi.)

The Twentymile hike that I had planned for 11/8 had to be cancelled because of high stream levels on Wolf Ridge and Twentymile Loop trails. I rescheduled it for 11/10 and planned to join our Wed. group and hike Maddron Bald; however, in the rain I was the only one at the meet-up at Food Lion for the latter hike. Thursday evening Dennis McAdams, after checking with the Back Country office at SVC, called to advise me that the water levels in the Twentymile area were still too high. We decided to do two trails in the Catalooche area.

I picked up Jim Harb at 6:30; we met Dennis at 7:30 in the Shoneys’ parking lot at the junction of US 321 and I 40. We proceeded in Dennis’s car and left it at the gate to the Appalachian Highlands Science Learning Center at Purchase Gap; we then proceeded on foot to the junction of McKee Branch Tr and Cataloochee Divide Tr. (a distance of 1.5 miles).

Our trails today are on the NE-edge of the GSMNP and often next to a fence that separates the GSMNP from private property. When we came to the Swagg Resort, we stopped at their "viewing" area ~0.25 mi. from their buildings (1st pic).

The next pictures were taken at Hemphill Bald; the Bald is adjacent to the GSMNP and these pictures were taken after we went through the gate into the private property. The first pic shows snow at a ski resort in the Catalooche valley; at this time of year they had snow only on the lower part of their run where it was protected from the sun. We could see a few skiers and/or snow boarders plus the moving chair lifts. The next pic shows Jim and Dennis looking at a display of the panoramic view of the area fixed to a "rock table". The view here includes Mt. Mitchell and is perhaps the most tremendous that I have ever seen in my covering more than 700 miles of trails in the GSMNP.

In slightly less than three hours we had covered 7.3 miles to Polls Gap; we ate lunch at this point and I nursed my Achilles tendon blister that was apparently caused by my new boots (I should have attended to it when the first symptoms were realized). We then turned around and retraced our steps. On our return from a distance we saw a heard of deer (at least 7); some were jumping the fence from private land back into the GSMNP and then we noted right adjacent to us in the park were a couple that preceded the rest. Shortly we came closer to two deer on a bald; although they can be seen in this pic, the background view is more striking.

After we passed The Swagg again there were some horseback riders who had tied up next to our trail which was adjacent to The Swagg's fence. One said that staying there cost ~$700/night; that seems a little high. We arrived at our trail starting point in 3 hours (a few minutes slower than our trip in). We then had the 1.5 mile walk back to Dennis's car.