Smokies Trip
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My wife, our daughters, and I finished a camping trip to the Smokies yesterday. It was the first time out for our youngest and my wife’s first trip in the woods in almost six years. We camped in Cataloochee, which is in the North Carolina side of the park.
Until two years ago I had made a point to spend a week or two every year in the valley camping and fishing. It is, in my opinion, the most remarkable part of the Smokies. This is where the elk were reintroduced a few years ago and are now thriving. It is a “remote” section considering it is accessed by road, but a ten mile bumpy, winding, gravel road at that. It is a scaled down version of Cades Cove with less traffic and much better fishing. I honestly believe the fishing in the valley surpasses that of Abrams, Hazel, Eagle or Noland Creeks but, to qualify, I have more experience on Cataloochee’s watersheds than the others.
Anyway, it was a sometimes nice, sometimes stressful, but certainly memorable experience. I’ve not a lot to talk about in the way of fishing as my time was limited to only a couple of hours–most of that was spent with my oldest daughter answering questions, picking up stuff, running from bugs, etc. I did catch five small brown trout in pretty quick order on Cataloochee Creek. Saw some eastern green drakes in small numbers, tiny bwos–probably 22’s or 24’s, some brown and black stones to about size 8’s, lots of caddis in different sizes and colors, and lots of cahills and sulphurs. I met a guy while hiking along my favorite stream, Rough Fork, who had caught 29 fish that morning.
I’m attaching a few pictures. Most are snapshots of the girls, but they highlight some of the historic structures. I’ll put up some elk pictures later; my better ones are on film.
Nice photos splitshot. I have a picture of my 19 year old son….when he was six, playing on that same footbridge in your second photo. I’m anxious to see the elk shots. Were they hanging out in the pastures along the road?
Thanks for sharing……Drifter
Thank you, Drifter. I’m guessing the last 13 years went by a little too quickly. I got started a little later in life having children, but had watched neices and nephews and close friends’ children grow up and it seemed as if they had been around forever. But, it seems I can’t quite account for the last seven as it pertains to my daughters.
The elk show up along the road late in the afternoon. I’m not sure if they’ve broken off into two seperate herds, but some frequent the field near the Walker house and barn and another group seems to favor the fields between the ranger’s house and the chapel. I have some digital photos that I could post, but in half the animals look almost posed, and in the other half the focus is kind of soft, or noisy, due to using the camera’s digital magnification. From what I understand the elk are much more active during the cooler months. We visited the valley last Nov. and saw dozens more.
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