Memorial Day Weekend Backcountry Trip

bugg

Eight Pointer
Two cousins, one brother and I spent a few days in the backcountry of the Great Smoky Mountains Nat'l. Park last weekend. We had great weather, got some R&R, caught some fish and taught a hungry juvenile bear some respect.

Hike in was about 6 miles. Got to camp at about 10:00 on Saturday morning and was immediately greeted by a bear.

Not a big bear, we'll say 150lbs, but still big enough to be respected. This bear is one that I expect to be a problem. To him, humans mean food. He would sneak into camp and inspect tents and the food storage cables. Once, before we could react to run him off, we watched him tear the tent down of a couple that was out in a day hike. This turned out to be a crappy day for them.

Bottom line, the bear had more respect when we left than when we got there, but he's still gonna test his limits. Our main tactic was yell and throw rocks and chase him off up into the woods.

Once we got back to the trailhead we found out that the Park Service had closed the campsite due to bear activity.

Anyways, we did some fishing (sorry, for some reason I didn't get any fish pics) and had a good time just taking it easy. The average size of trout in this stream seemed smaller than other creeks in the area, but fun none the less.

I thought I'd share some pics.

Here are some camp pics.

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And some creek pics.

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The only pic I have of the fish is as they're being cooked. Most fish caught were rainbows, but there were some specks caught as well.

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All in all it was the perfect way to spend a long weekend in my home county while remembering all the men who died serving this great country of ours.
 
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Hempie

Guest
Looks like a blast, thanks for sharing.

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cloningerba

Old Mossy Horns
That looks like a blast we do that up around Fontana every year! Thanks for sharing!


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coachcornbread

Ten Pointer
Nice! I have been trying to plan a trip to Hazel Creek for a few years, haven't been there in about 15 years or so. Glad you all had a good trip!
 

Boojum

Ten Pointer
Looks like you were in my neck of the woods. Haven't been all the way into the Bottoms in a while. Bears seem to always be annoying there.
 

bugg

Eight Pointer
Yeah, Boojum, you nailed the location. Bears are always an issue in that campsite and I don't expect this one to quit anytime soon. I know the fisheries biologist in the Park. I called and told him the story and he passed along the info to the wildlife biologist. He said the bears are giving the wildlife folks a fit right now and thanked us for trying to deal with him. I don't know the legality of this, but I found myself really wishing I had a paintball gun...

This watershed is as pretty as any out there, IMO. There are rocks in that creek as big as two car garages, making some fantastic scenery.

We did some swimming too, but that water will shrivel up body parts to the point of embarrassment [emoji15]
 

Boojum

Ten Pointer
Yeah, Boojum, you nailed the location. Bears are always an issue in that campsite and I don't expect this one to quit anytime soon. I know the fisheries biologist in the Park. I called and told him the story and he passed along the info to the wildlife biologist. He said the bears are giving the wildlife folks a fit right now and thanked us for trying to deal with him. I don't know the legality of this, but I found myself really wishing I had a paintball gun...

This watershed is as pretty as any out there, IMO. There are rocks in that creek as big as two car garages, making some fantastic scenery.

We did some swimming too, but that water will shrivel up body parts to the point of embarrassment [emoji15]

Yep, some of the clearest, coldest water and slickest rocks that I know of. Beautiful place.
 
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