Post 900 Hike #88: Noland Divide & Noland Creek

Met cohorts (Dick Ledyard, Vicki Watkins, & Rita Haynes) at Food Lion at 0700. At 0800 we were at Sugarlands Visitor Center; at 0825 Dick dropped us off at Noland Divide Trailhead close to Clingmans Dome (Vicki; Rita by trailhead). The hike was scheduled to meet one of Vicki’s needs for her 900; it was also one of Rita’s needs (latter has been hiking with our group for less than one year). Dick proceeded on the long drive to Lakeview Drive out of Bryson City to meet Judy Gross (from Ashville). In Dick’s and my organization of this hike, I had told Vicki that I would never set the pace; thus she and Rita took turns leading. Although there was ~4300 feet of decline in this hike, because there were also a few ups, the actual amount of decline perhaps was closer to 5000 feet. We completed this 3.7 mi. trail at 0942 (2.85 mph).

Next was a 5.1 mi. section of Noland Creek; the Brown Book indicates that there are three un-bridged stream crossings; although because of recent rains there were more, the last two were somewhat daunting. As we donned our water shoes, I volunteered to go first to give Vicki and Rita a better idea of our challenge; the water was quite cold, reached ~17” on my knee brace, and required somewhat of a challenge to step out of the water. The next crossing was not quite as difficult, but the water reached the middle of my kneecap (~18.5”). When we pulled into Campsite 64, two young men (in 20’s) were there; one was drying out his equipment for he fell into one of the two preceding streams on Tues. He said that he had a very hard time getting back on his feet; no surprise for with tent, sleeping bag, and provisions for 2-wks, he was probably carrying ~3 times as much weight as we were. We put our boots back on, ate our lunch, and had a nice discussion with these young men.



The above picture was taken minutes after completing our lunch; we were ready to begin the 4.1 mi. section of Noland Creek while the young men from Michigan were going NW on Springhouse Branch Trail. This section of Noland Creek Trail follows an old roadbed that is adjacent to Noland Creek; all crossings of Noland Creek were bridged. Although I did not take a picture of any of the actual water crossings, I did take a picture of a creek from a bridge. Yes, crossing Noland Creek in water shoes was daunting; again, the water was extremely cold.



We arrived at Lakeview Drive at 1430; Vicki proceeded to the parking lot and I went with Rita as she completed the mile section of Noland Creek Trail extending 1-mi. South of Lakeview Drive. Because Dick had not yet arrived when we got back to Vicki's locale, the three of us walked ~.75 mi. West on Lakeview Drive to Dick’s vehicle in the parking lot below the Tunnel To Nowhere. According to my pedometer, Rita and I had done a little more than 15 miles including the Lakeview Drive element. Since Dick had given me a key, we helped ourselves to crackers and cheese; I also had a soda.

Dick and Judy Gross arrived ~20 min. later. Judy told me of a specific trail need that she had (Fork Ridge); I will schedule it for 11/18. Judy left for Ashville (her trip is on the E-side of the rock slide on I-40, so latter did not affect her); Dick motored us on the long trip home. After picking up dinner at Captain D’s, I arrived home ~1900.