[at-l] Slickrock Wilderness Area Trip Report (Long)

[lparker@cacaphony.net (L. Parker)]

Slickrock Wilderness Area Trip Report

After nine hours of driving, the four of us, David, Killian, Tynan (Trooper)
and myself arrived at the Slickrock Creek Trailhead in Tapoco North Carolina
about 3:00 pm. We quickly changed clothes and shouldered our packs for the
three mile trek to our first night's camp near Lower Falls. The first mile
was an easy stroll along the shore of Calderwell Lake gradually gaining
elevation. We found a good spot after only two miles and set up camp early.
Both of the boys played in the creek until supper, getting totally wet.
Unfortunate, because their clothes (including their socks) never dried out
during the remainder of the trip.

The next morning we broke camp and headed towards Lower Falls and the first
of almost a dozen crossings of Slickrock Creek. The various guides to this
trail describe the crossings with such adjectives as: "deep", "swift",
"treacherous", etc., you better believe them. Just below Lower Falls I led
the way across the first crossing which although large and swift flowing,
was not very deep. I only made it halfway across before I was upside down in
the stream, soaking wet and with an injured shoulder. We moved everyone else
across and sat down to remove boots and socks. So far we had hiked fifteen
minutes and spent thirty crossing the stream, counting squeezing the water
out of socks and shoes.

The next crossing was no better, I ended up wading across and back several
times as I  ferried packs and boys across a deep slow moving spot. David
meanwhile is braving a more treacherous, but drier spot upstream and manages
to successfully cross for the second time without getting his feet wet.
Current progress: thirty minutes of hiking, one hour of stream crossing, one
mile out of seven planned for the day. We are not doing well.

The next few crossings are pretty much the same making for agonizingly slow
progress. The boys and I eventually give up on even attempting to keep our
feet dry and just splash across and keep going, David takes on water in one
boot during one crossing, but otherwise he has managed to stay mostly dry.
We finally reach the first campsite above Wildcat Falls and decide that it
will do even though it is a mile short of where we had wanted to be. David
and I start discussing "alternative itineraries" due to the obviously slow
progress we are making.

The third morning we are out of camp an hour earlier than we had been
managing because today is the day we begin really climbing. Naked Ground,
the highest point we expect to reach is over 3,000 feet above us and only
about 5 miles away, but most of the altitude gain is in the last two miles,
making it a challenge for the two boys. Camp is actually down Santeetlah on
the other side of Naked Ground...if we get that far.

The climb turns out to be every bit as challenging as we feared, spiced up
with a dose of angry hornets along the way. We stumble in to Naked Ground at
5:00 pm after nine hours of hiking hand over foot. Obviously, we are not
going down into the Santeetlah basin today - in fact, probably not this
trip. David and I have decided on alternate plan "C" which chops 9 miles off
of the trip and cross the ridge to Haoe the next morning instead of going on
down to Joyce Kilmer and then back up Jenkins Meadow Trail to Haoe. We
really wanted to see the trees, but it is obvious that with the boys, we
won't make it back to the campsites at Saddle Tree Gap in one day and I
don't know of any water on the Jenkins Meadow Trail.

The crossing to Haoe the next morning was an easy climb with a few nice
views along the way. Haoe itself is mostly overgrown offering almost no
view, but a nice sunny rock to lean against makes a pleasant break. Turning
North we climb to Saddle Tree Gap and then shed our packs to climb up to
Hangover where we spend an hour admiring the view of 4 states. I am sure
that is Thunderhead and Silers Bald in the distance to the North.

Then comes a long knee pounding descent down to Yellowhammer Gap, losing
3,400 feet of altitude in a little over 4 miles punctuated only by the short
sharp climb from Big Fat Gap to Cold Springs Knob. Only a few very steep
spots on this trail, but the constant steep descent is taking its toll on
the older folks knees. So much so that David has bent one of his hiking
poles. The boys on the other hand are doing better than they had done yet
and Killian is usually out of site somewhere ahead of us. Tynan, at only 35
pounds is having serious difficulties with the giant sized acorns which
might as well be greased ball bearing beneath him and has hit the ground
over a dozen times by the end of the day and is bleeding from several
scrapes and scratches.

We reach Yellowhammer Gap and spend a few minutes searching for the Ike
Branch Trail (its cleverly hidden) which we finally locate and follow to
what is supposed to be our final camp. We reach it in good time after only a
few more minutes of hiking to discover that the creek is dry at that point.
Nothing for it now but to head down the creek looking for water and a
suitable campsite. When we finally locate the water about a quarter mile
further down, there is no place to camp as we are in a steep walled gully
headed back towards Calderwell Lake. We press on and after half an hour we
are back at the lake on the Slickrock Trail we had followed in the first
afternoon. We locate a campsite on the lake a few hundred yards up the trail
towards our vehicles but it as absolutely full of Girl Scouts on a canoe
trip. Time for alternate plan "D"! It is only thirty more minutes to the
trucks with restaurants and hotels beckoning right down the road, what are
we waiting for?

Even though we did not get to do the full trip as planned, everyone had a
great time and we are already discussing when we are going back to see the
part we missed and perhaps even jump over into Tennessee and hike some in
the Citico Wilderness. This part of the Unicoi Mountains yields some of the
ruggedest hiking I have ever seen on the East Coast, and although it wasn't
devoid of people, we did see a few, by and large we were alone out there. By
the way, this IS a Wilderness Area, there are no blazes, few signs, and
absolutely no shelters. The trail at times can be downright hard to follow,
you will need map and compass and even a bit of woodcraft to stay on the
trail.

Lee I Joe




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