Gregory's Bald || Saturday, July 07, 2007

(Saturday, 7-7-07) Today I tackled one of the hiking trips that's been on my to-do list for a couple of years. The basic attack plan was to take the Gregory Ridge Trail out of Cades Cove up to Gregory's Bald, the Gregory Bald Trail down to Parson's Branch, then the Hannah Mtn Trail to Rabbit Creek Trail and then to Abrams Creek for a total of 21 miles. The main downer was that due to the cove being closed to cars until 10am on Saturday mornings, we couldn't start until at least 10am. After the cove opened, it took another 1.5 hours to get to the trailhead that was about halfway around the loop. Soo... 21 mile day hike, begun at lunch time.. winning idea. Jodie, Bailey, and Myers drove myself and Dave Talley around to the trailhead and dropped us off right at 11:30. The climb up to Gregory's Bald is persistent, but not that bad. The worst part was the 90+ degree heat, which made it possible to literally wring sweat out of every item I was wearing, including my backpack. On the was up we saw and spooked a black bear that was about 75 yards ahead of us on the trail. We made it to the bald at 2 and had lunch in time to watch clouds roll in and surround the bald (much like what happened at Andrews Bald a few weeks ago). Most of the Flame Azaleas at the bald were already past their prime, but their were several in bloom for us, as well as some not quite ripe blueberries. Like Andrews Bald, Gregory is being maintained as a Bald by the park service, which means that rangers and volunteers have to periodically trek their way up with weedeaters and other tools to clear land. Before leaving the bald we saw a doe and faun grazing along the trail. The faun was tiny and still had the white bambi spots. They were amazingly very tolerant of our presence, and they walked along the trail a short way ahead of us for several minutes. By the time we'd made it down the trail a few hundred yards the downpour had begun. It rained consistently until we reached Parson's Branch Rd (stilllll under construction) at 4:30. From here, we took Hannah Mtn Trail. It's one of the trails that has been eyeing me on the map for years saying "heh heh, you haven't hiked me." It was one of the few trails west of Tremont that I hadn't finished, and it was becoming an albatross. At one point, Hannah Mtn was a widely travelled trail, as it was the primary route to Gregory's Bald from Blount County (Montvale Springs Resort, in particular) prior to the formation of the part. However, today it is, as Dave put it, a trail you have to plan to be on. There are no really easy ways to get on the trail, and once you're on it its 7.6 miles to the next trail junction. The trail was a nice, gentle downhill slope, and I counted 5 toads along the way (I love toads and always keep a toad tally). Also along Hannah Mtn trail there was a large tulip poplar tree beside the trail that is at least 6 feet in diameter. We made it to the Rabbit Creek trail by 7:30, and from there it was a quick jaunt out to Abrams Creek Ranger Station. We got to Dave's car at 8:53, exactly one minute before sundown. Overall, great hot, wet, soggy, long trip. Pictures

Route: Gregory Ridge Trail to Gregory Bald Trail to Hannah Mtn Trail to Rabbit Creek Trail

Total Mileage: 21 miles
Gregory's Bald