It was a dark and
stormy night… Nevertheless, it was a beautiful Monday morning! It had been
awhile since I had the opportunity to hike with Mike Maples so I was looking
forward to whatever the Jedi had in store for us today. We would be joined by
another Mike just to add confusion to our viewing audience! MM, MG and MP would
hit the trail with a vengeance or should I say the “off trail?”
Early morning heading
into Townsend through the foothills was a gorgeous drive. The famous blue haze mixed
with a few remaining dark clouds made for an interesting sky above the
mountains. As I drove, the sun peeked through over a mountain adding some
yellow to the fog. It was a great way to start the day.
I met up with the
Mike’s in G’burg at their Penthouse. We stopped at the Coke machine in the
lobby as MM wanted to get a coke. It was a coke machine shake down as no Coke
found its way down the chute and into Maples waiting hands. As he shook the machine,
we received a phone call from Coach Denton. Maples continued brutalizing the
Coke Machine. “Machine took my flipping quarter!” (Censored for viewing
audience) We pulled Maples from the lobby and listened to the Coaches
instructions. Here are some before and after hike pictures of the three Mike’s.
The Coach told us
that today’s hike was going to be Old Time Hiking. “Old Time Hiking?” Mike
Poppen said quizzically. “Yeah, Old Time Hiking,” Coach Denton continued, “You
know, like Herb Clabo, Carols Campbell, Dutch Roth…you know, Old Time Hiking.”
“OK Coach, Old Time Hiking,” the three Mike’s replied back. They knew better
than to mess with Coach Denton. Now all that was left was to put on the foil!
The plan was to head
up an old trail along Watercrease Branch and seek out home places and anything
else we might find. So we proceeded to drive up Cherokee Orchard into the park.
Leaving the Gourley mobile, we walked a short distance down the road and exited
up Watercrease Branch on an old trail. MP noted that Maples hikes seemed to be
70% upward and that was true for the first part of the hike.
Finally, we came to a
home place. Sorry, Curtis no big chimneys today. But you would have been proud
to see Mike Poppen tearing through the rhododendron. He showed no mercy as we
checked out a side holler in search of another home place. We did not find it
but watching Poppen rip through the rhododendron was pure magic! Now we just
call him Killer as the rhododendron leaves just shrivel up in fear of his
ominous presence!
Poppen earned himself
a few of the coveted Jedi points on today’s hike as he found the next home
place with its chimney remains hidden under a couple fallen trees. It was the
first of two home places where wood remains of the house were still present.
Since most wood remains of houses are long gone, rotted and returned to the
dirt of the earth this brought MP special notice from the Jedi Master. MP shoots
– he scores!
After a couple more
home places the old trail diminished and we found ourselves fighting the ridge
and some of the ol’ ugly. This hike was certainly not for the faint of heart or
those not familiar with the ways of the unbeaten path. Some folks might have
found themselves misplaced amidst the many ridges and green shrub filled
hollers, but MM knew no fear. Down he plunged into the depths of the unknown
and soon we found ourselves on a path just above Baskins Creek
Falls
Soon it was time for
some more Old Time Hiking. After a short side trip to the Cemetery, we found
ourselves once again hiking up and now we were on an official park trail!
After ribbing Maples
a little, we headed up Baskins Creek trail, which actually follows Falls
Branch. The trail soon heads up the ridge and Falls Branch heads up a holler
toward Roaring Fork road. We were looking for a couple home places and we found
the first one with little chimney remains but part of the foundation still
intact. We attempted to continue up Falls Branch but it soon got very ugly and
even Killer Poppen agreed we should head up and return to the park trail. After
more climbing, we found an old road that would take us back down toward the
creek and to another home place. Old Time Hiking!
This old trail was
pretty ugly in spots but no match for Killer Poppen and the Brothers Mike. We
could hear the colorful euphemisms of Coach Denton shouting above us as we
crawled under blow downs and ripped our way through the rhododendron. What we
found below was amazing but we swore each other to secrecy and promised we
would not reveal the hidden mystery to Curtis Travis for at least 1298 minutes.
In addition, the name of the home site could not be revealed for an additional
9998 minutes. We only mess with people we like and if we really like you – your
!@#$ed. LOL!
We bushwhacked back
to the park trail and returned past the manway to the falls. Instead, Maples
took us up one more time and dropped off the trail along Baskins Creek. We saw
several field stone piles and a small waterfall on Baskins Creek. I guess it
was the REAL Baskins Creek falls as the other one bearing this name is actually
on Falls Branch!
There are several
home sites along Baskins Creek but very little remains of the chimneys. Nevertheless,
it is a decent trail and takes you out to the road in Gatlinburg. We still had
a short walk down the road back to the Maples Penthouse. I had to wonder if
some kid got Maples flippin’ quarter? My GPS logged it as 10.5 miles of hiking.
With the last walk uphill to the Penthouse, we crossed the 70% uphill
threshold. We were soaking wet, dirty, scratched up and tired. Yep, it was a
good day of Old Time Hiking!
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