Moonshiner's Den--Lower Mt. Cammer Loop Hike 2001

Monday's hike was a hike so full of adventure, natural beauty, bird sightings and physical challenges that I've taken most of today, Tuesday, to reflect upon the experience so as to catalog the high points in my mind before putting pen to paper, so to speak. I shall not soon forget the fun I had during yesterday's hike nor do I expect I'll ever find another combination of trails to provide a comparable menu of sensory pleasures. So where do you go to find something that sounds better than sex? Read on.....

The road to hiker heaven starts at Cosby Campground on the northeast boundary of the Smokies and leads to one of its most grand hallways: the Lower Mount Cammerer Trail. A popular hiking guide describes this trail as having the horizontal profile of an inverted cupcake due to all of its in & outs as the trail follows the spurs and matching stream-cut gouges that mark the northern face of Mount Cammerer. Historians have documented the prevalence of whiskey-making in this area during the prohibition years and later during the infancy of the Great Smoky Mtn Nat'l Park. One of the early park wardens called the Cosby area the moonshine capital of the state and went on to describe how the moonshiners would hire a guard to watch for the approach of an IRS car along the only road into Cosby valley; when such an intruder was sighted the guard would detonate a stick of dynamite to give warning to everyone in the valley that the revenuers were on the way in. The people of the area would all get in their cars and follow the revenuer like he was the head of a funeral procession until they could see which still he'd come to bust-up. All I can say is that all that spilled mash must have been to the liking of the wildflowers in this area--they are so very grand!

I'm not going to attempt to tell you about all the wildflowers along this route. Suffice it to say that this trail wins hands-down as my favorite trail in the Smokies (those of you who regularly read my trip reports must tire of hearing me say this!!). Four special bird sightings along this route included a Ruffed Grouse, three Wild Turkey--one of which was nearly white, pair of Rose-breasted Grosbeaks and a Sharp-shinned Hawk (calling to its mate soaring overhead from a perch on the limb of a huge oak). I also thoroughly enjoyed watching a Worm-eating Warbler pick small worms out of scores of blossoms of the Silver Bell Trees; this bird was so obsessed with singing on a rhythmic cycle that it would pause in the middle of consuming a worm to sing its short buzzy trill--sometimes with the worm dangling from the tip of its open beak!! The blossoms of Silver Bell Trees dangle from the branches of the trees and this warbler would lean over the edge of the limb, insert its beak into the downward-hanging blossom and pluck out the tiny worm it seemed to find on this day in most of the blossoms. The wriggling worm (all were 1" and shorter) would then be whacked a few times on a nearby twig, presumably to stun it and make it easier to swallow, and unless it had been more than a few seconds since the last buzzy song, the warbler would swallow the reward. The only bad thing about this trail is that it ends at one of the ugliest trail segments in the park: the Appalachian Trail (AT) from Davenport Gap up to the top of Mount Cammerer.

Now it isn't fair to say the AT is the ugliest trail in the park--I really like some portions of the AT. However, the very nature of the AT as a ridgeline trail makes it likely that many areas are along rocky sections. Add the heavy usage portions of the AT get by foot-borne hikers and those atop their dreaded 1,200 lb. four legged beasts with iron shoes and you have a recipe for complete destruction of the trail surfaces along many sections of the AT. The particular segment from where Lower Mount Cammerer joins the AT at an elevation of 3,500' up to the top of Mt. Cammerer at an elevation of just over 5,000' is one such segment. If the road to heaven follows Lower Mt. Cammerer Trail then the road to you-know-where must be something like this portion of the AT. I'd just as soon turn around and hike the 8.4 miles back to the car via Lower Mount Cammerer Trail than do even one mile along a trail like the 2.1 miles of the AT leading up the east side of Mt. Cammerer.

Mt. Cammerer was named in honor of a former director of the National Park Service who was also one of original architects of the park in the Smokies and was influential in persuading the billionaire John D. Rockefeller to contribute so much money for purchase of private lands that now make up the park. Nice views from the ridge of this mountain--and the lovely lookout tower that was constructed in the 1930's by the CCC--are its main feature for the casual hiker. Because I was running out of daylight for this hike I didn't make the side trip to see the tower (but I'm including a photo from a later hike). For someone like me, the carpets of Spring Beauty and Trout Lily are a more unique and worthy view. Of course the panoramic views are available on any clear day year-round while the spring wildflowers only last a week or two--all the more reason they are special for one who times their visit just right (I got lucky).

The "other side" of the trail down Mt. Cammerer to Low Gap (still the AT) was much more pleasant and not nearly so eroded. Wildflowers frequently bordered the trail. During my hike along this 2.4 mile segment I was getting those special views which only show-up either early morning or late afternoon when the sky is clear and the sun is low on the horizon. Right around 5:40 - 6:00 pm is when the light got "just right" for the trees to take on that ethereal quality. All these trees at the 5,000' level were just beginning to put out leaves and it allowed me to see the tree tops at lower elevations where the foliage was considerably more advanced. This combination of oblique light, long shadows and newly greening trees presents a view that is difficult to convey with words or photos--you have to see it to understand. About this time a Barred Owl decided it was time to start calling its "Who-cooks-for-you, who-cooks-for-you-all....." chant. Barred owls obviously learned to talk in the south: their first thought after waking is of food and they speak with a southern dialect.

A unique-looking flower of the high ridges in the Smokies can be found on a small tree called a Witch-hobble or "Hobble Bush" by some. See the photo I took of a newly formed blossom--the tiny center flowers of this two-sized flower cluster weren't yet open. Legend has it that these trees protected against witches.

Low Gap Trail passes thru a low spot along the AT thus its name as "Low Gap." At this location the famous White-fringed Phacelia flowers were in full bloom and carpeted the forest floor along the trailsides. I don't know if I was more impressed by the lovely flowers or the continued development of the green glow from the nearly-setting sun as its light glinted off the leaves of trees in the valley beside and below me. I almost didn't notice how nasty the footing again became as the trail steepened in order to loose 2,000' of elevation in 2.5 miles. I'm guessing this trail gets a lot of use by tourists who drive to Cosby campground and think "I'll just hike up this short 2.5 mile trail to see what that AT is all about." I wish they'd stay in Gatlinburg & Dollywood--selfish, I know, I know.

The fantastic birding experience I'd had earlier in the day over on Lower Mount Cammerer Trail started to get some competition from birds on this section of the hike as I dipped down into the shadow of the valley and the birds started calling & singing. A Wood Thrush treated me to its special song for much of the last 1/2 mile along Low Gap Trail. I also sighted my first Jack-in-the-pulpit flower of the season on this segment. A few blooming Dwarf Ginseng added to the spectacle of wildflowers.

By the time I returned to the car I'd consumed three quarts of water, two energy bars and a box of raisins. Amazingly (NOT!) in trunk of the car I found a cooler with two beers on ice! I can think of no better way to end a hike like this one than the way I did by sitting on the edge of a picnic table with my boots off, listening to the creek and sipping an ice cold beverage as the sunlight faded away from view on the tree tops and the birds serenaded the damp coolness that comes with early evening in the dense foliage of the Smokies.