Post 900 Hike #63: Baxter Creek, Mt Sterling, Long Bunk, Little Catalooche, Pretty Hollow

Hike 3-18-09

Cecil Rowe and I left his house at 0645; at the Cracker Barrel on Strawberry Plains there were ~15, including the six that would hike with us (John Hutsenpiller, Vicki Watkins, Richard Ryburn, Bill Broome Jr., Jay Dickerson, & Kip Miller—the last 3 are relatively young, not retired, & rarely if ever hike with our group). Others at the Cracker Barrel included Bill Broome Sr., Bill Woodrick, Bob Hutchens, T.J. Solnas, Manfred Grote, and Joel Morris; besides doing a shorter hike, they moved Cecil’s and Bill’s vehicles to our hike terminus in Big Creek.

Our group of 8 started on Baxter Creek Trail at 0853; it was soon evident that the three younger hikers and I wished to do a faster pace on this 6.1 mi. trail. This trail has a 3,500 ft. gain and one is in essence always going up the mountain (see pic #1). When I stopped to remove a light jacket, Jay and Bill passed me; they were maintaining a slightly better pace than was I (this was only the second hike that I have ever taken in which I was not the fastest hiker). I passed them when they took a break but they were slightly ahead of me when we reached Mt. Sterling Lookout Tower at 1130 (~0.2 mi. after we were on Mt. Sterling Trail). We climbed the tower to the observation deck, took pictures (see pic #2--facing North), and ate our lunch (Kip arrived while we were eating). In an auto accident ~20 yrs ago Kip had shattered one calcaneus and had broken the other; since this bone provides the insertion for the plantar flexors (i.e., the strong calf muscles that are necessary to push-off in striding or jumping), he is at a definite disadvantage on steep ups such as the Baxter Creek trail presents. After we had been there one hour and the five others in our group had not yet arrived; we became a little concerned. Because it was cold due to wind at this top of the mountain site, and after trying to contemplate all scenarios (although my phone worked I could not reach Cecil), I decided, and my cohorts concurred, that the best plan would be for me to continue with them until our hike’s terminus (where both Cecil’s and Bill’s vehicles would be). We told a young couple whom we had passed going up and who had just arrived at the tower, to tell the rest in our group (either there or on their way down) what we had done.

Like Baxter Creek was basically up, the 1.8 mi. Mt. Sterling trail is basically down. It was then the 3.6 mi. (mostly down) Long Bunk Trail. The 4.0 section of Little Cataloochee trail that we took has a bit of up as well as down; the up can be formidable as one nears the end of day. (The Little Cataloochee Church and the Dan Cook cabin are the next pictures; the cabin was built between 1856 & 1860. In 1975 it was damaged by vandals and in 1999 it was reconstructed by the National Park Service.) For the first part of the trail Bill and Jay led with Kip and me following; for the last part and for the completion of our hike on the 0.8 mi. section of Pretty Hollow Trail, Jay and I led. Jay and I had a close encounter with a deer at the end of the trail and ~0.3 mi. from the paved road and our vehicles.

It was 1715 when Jay and I arrived at Bill's and Cecil's vehicles. To my surprise Amy Howe and Pam ?? were there; I had not known that they were to have been given a ride by Cecil back to their vehicle. As I was icing my knee, Bill and Kip arrived; they left shortly and also took Amy and Pam to their vehicle. I had a 2-hr. wait; I read and dozed in Cecil’s van.

On our way out as expected we saw elk in their usual spotting place; however, I had never seen so many. On a pull-out on this Park Rd. Richard spotted Mt. Sterling Lookout Tower; Vicki remarked that it was no wonder she was tired because from that vantage point our hike became all the more impressive. It was a long trip back; I arrived home at 2155 hours.