Another Hermit

ellwoodjake

Twelve Pointer
Since we seem to be on a hermit kick here, has anyone here ever had the privilege of sighting the "Cataloochee Wild Man"?
 

Ashy Larry

Ten Pointer
Probably not the same cat, but when i attended WCU in 2004, i heard a good story. A friend of mine played baseball, and him and another player that was local to the area went hunting. I wanna say it was near Franklin on some NF land. When they got done hunting, the local guy left a knife sitting on a rock. The next day he realized this and went back. The knife wasnt there so he started searching the general area when a "mountain man" of sorts, dressed in fur and looking rough, appears holding the knife. He hands it over, never says a word, and walks back into the brush. I think the baseball player was too shocked to speak back.
 

wturkey01

Old Mossy Horns
Contributor
Back in the 70's there was a guy in the Harmon Den area of Haywood County who would stand beside I-40 dressed in raggedy clothes and wear long hair and a long beard. People would stop to talk to him and he'd ask silly things like "is Eisenhower was still president" and pretend he had no knowledge of what was happening in the world. People would give him money and food and have their picture taken with him!!

It was the perfect con!!

I knew the guy because I grew up in the same neighborhood just south of Asheville!! LOL

I've always wondered what happened to Ole Joe?? Last I heard he lived in a house up towards Max Patch.
 

Boojum

Ten Pointer
Yes, I have met the Cataloochee Wild Man a few times, I posted about him in the other thread. His shack was just around the road from my house. His name was Arley Phillips, and he passed on a few years ago. He was a pretty good guy, followed his own path for sure. A couple people I know knew him pretty well, and he would come out and talk to them if he saw them and recognized them.
 

ellwoodjake

Twelve Pointer
Yes, I have met the Cataloochee Wild Man a few times, I posted about him in the other thread. His shack was just around the road from my house. His name was Arley Phillips, and he passed on a few years ago. He was a pretty good guy, followed his own path for sure. A couple people I know knew him pretty well, and he would come out and talk to them if he saw them and recognized them.
Yes, that's him. Couldn't remember the name. You're right, though, he pretty much kept to himself and made very little contact with park visitors and would even refuse food and other things that were offered to him. Anything you wanted him to have, you could place down in a trash bin and he would sometimes return at night to get it. Park officials pretty much gave him a pass as he was considered "indigenous" to the area.
Where is you're other post, Boojum. I'd like to read a little more about him.
 
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