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Headed into the GSMNP to backcountry campsite #39 on Wednesday September 14 for some much needed time away from work and, as always, fish some of my favorite water. My friend Rob from Kentucky was joining me on the 15th to stay through Saturday September 17th.
Reached the trailhead in Cataloochee Valley about 10:30am on the 15th and headed up the trail. It is only about 1.7 miles to #39 so an easy hike in. The campsite is quite large, with a capacity of 20, and I was the only one there for Wednesday night so plenty of choices. There are 5 distinct campsites within the area. 3 of them are in the lower part near the Pretty Hollow trail and set in a large grove of hemlocks. The 2 in the upper part are more to my liking as they are in a mixed oak and poplar forest with more sunlight earlier in the day and later in the evening. The only tradeoff is a 60 yard climb straight up the hill to get to camp.
I like the upper camp on the left so I headed there. Set up my 11 ft. Superior Gear 30 degree hammock, JRB Sierra Sniveler top quilt, and my wide Dutch Xenon winter tarp with the doors pulled back and porch mode on one side. Lows were to be in the low 50's for the most part so I wasn't too concerned about being cold, but in the Smokies you never know. I was in this same location in September 2021 and it was 35 degrees the first morning.
After a quick snack and coffee I headed back down the trail about a 1/2 mile to fish for a bit. A few fish were caught and released over the next couple of hours and I meandered back to camp to start a fire for supper.
I don't normally do a lot of fire cooking when I am by myself but I had a pre-cooked NY strip wrapped in foil and some instant mashed potatoes to make. Gathered some wood and got the fire going and made some supports for my Purcell trench grill. Raked up some coals under the grill and put the steak on along with a pot of water for the potatoes. I had cooked the steak at home to a rare temperature and then wrapped in foil and refrigerated. It came out medium well after a time on the grill.
It was full dark by about 7pm and the moon didn't come up until 1am so I turned in early.
The next morning dawned clear and cool. Since it was a short hike I packed a few luxuries like my JavaPresse manual coffee grinder and Helinox chair. Fired up the Fancy Feast stove for coffee and reheated a pre-made bacon and egg breakfast burrito on the lid of the pot. Being the only one around and in no rush to get out fishing, I made second cup of coffee and enjoyed the quiet. Fished a little bit below camp, startled a bear, and made it back in time for Rob to show up after lunch. We quickly got his hammock set up and went out for the afternoon of more fishing and making plans for the next day. After a productive afternoon we sat around camp and caught up on our respective lives since we hadn't seen each other since June in the Wisconsin Driftless area.
Friday was more of the same weather wise, and we headed out fairly early for a long day on the upper reaches of Palmer Creek. This part of the stream is in a gorge of sorts, and while the trail is not far away at any given time getting to it is difficult if you want to get out of the water before the trail comes back down to the creek about 2 miles above where we started. We caught rainbow, brown, and brook trout all day, it was glorious! About 4pm we decided to check the GPS to gauge our location and we were still a good bit from the trail junction at Lost Bottom Creek where we planned on getting out. So we picked a likely spot and headed up the bank. About 75 yards of literally clawing our way through rhododendron and over rocks we began to think we had made a mistake. Where is the trail we kept saying to each other. I said "Let's go just a bit more, it has to be right there!" about 15 yards later I came eye level with the trail bed, it was like crawling over a wall. Hiked back to camp and called it a day after supper. We went to bed before 8pm and slept for 10 hours.
Broke camp on Saturday morning and hiked back to the vehicles where we dropped our packs and fished Rough Fork until about 1:30pm. Rob had to drive back to Lexington and I had to make it home for my 35th high school reunion.
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Originally Posted by Adventurous_Angler
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