Rock Creek Knob airplane crash (Nov 4, 1998)

I was in the Tennessee Civil Air Patrol for 29 years. I never went home without us finding the missing person or missing aircraft in all those years...well except for one boy but I believe a relative took him across state lines. Anyway...here is one airplane that we thought got away. We looked for Walter Barker for 6 years. Never did find him during the official search. After the three week search was suspended I kept on looking along with the pilots son. Jerome and I spent many days hiking, flying and researching to no avail. Finally in October 2004 a bear hunter hiking along the Wilderness Area boundary of Joyce Kilmer-Slickrock, happened upon the crash site. In the picture above the son of the missing pilot and I are looking for human remains. On the first day we did not find any. But in the days after we located clothing and other items of the pilot (change, denture, zipper, shoes, jacket, pants, etc.) We also dug about 6 inches into the duff and found parts of bone.

The crash is at about 3300' on the Wilderness Area boundary. He crashed into a rhododendron thicket. During the search I flew over the crash site at least four times but never saw it.

Here is the two sons minutes after we along with FBI, USFS and county SO arrived on the scene. It was a highlight of my life. I had spent 6 years looking, praying and researching and here it was...right in front of me.

I took this photo on board a SAR aircraft a week or so after the "find". The crash site is in this picture but cannot be seen from the air. From Maple Springs parking area walk up the Haoe Lead trail (?) to the point where the trail makes a hard left at the Wilderness Boundary. Instead of turning left with the trail, go right along the spine of the draw down about 15 minutes. Look to your left just inside the wilderness and into the rhodo.

Gee Creek Wilderness Area (Jan 18 and 24th, 2008)

Now here is a neat place. Gee Creek Wilderness Area. Not very big, not many trails but fantastic! The thing I was surprised about it the amount of trash I carried out in two trips. In the picture above Rod is carrying a bag with all the trash we picked up. Nonetheless, above is a photo of Rod Ray standing near a hog wallow on the trail. We noticed lots of hog sign and deer sign on this hike. The parking area is near the ranger station but not as far as Gee Creek Campground. Gee Creek is a place you ought to visit. There is basically three trails here. Two on each side and one through the middle.

Does this waterfall and pool just yell "SWIM HERE"? If it was not so cool I would have been in that pool. So inviting! I will come back. I want to bring my flyrod this spring and fish this whole creek. Beautiful!

This is the south lip of the mountain. A trail goes along the flat mountain top from end to end but on the south end the trail abruptly stops. I didn't. I just walked right on. However it drops off very steeply along cliff sides and broken, pieces of scree. I thought I would never get down in one piece but I picked my way down the cliffs and made it to the creek.

Now here is an example of one of the cliffs I had to scale down. Dangerous but fun..just the way I like it.

On the west side of the wilderness this is what you get to see. Ha ha ha. The Huber plant.

The Hangover and Haoe (January 9, 2009)

Third time is a charm! Finally made it to Hangover today! Charlie and I left Maryville, stopped at A&W then drove to Beech Gap for my third attempt at seeing sunlight from Bob Bald/Haoe area. We hiked up to Bob Bald, set up the tent grabbed a snack and decided we could make it to Hangover by sunset. It was 4:00. At 5:45 we were perched on the rocks at Hangover! Here we are in my tent around 10:00 when we finally got back from the Hangover. It was so cool! We arrived at the peak just as the sun was setting. As the sun was hid from us bt Bob Bald to the west, the temperature plunged and darkness came. As a bonus the moon was full AND there were no clouds. Know what that means? Shadows on the snow!

Here is Charlie on Hangover. In the background is the Yellow Mountain range. To his right but out of the photo is Rock Creek Knob (where Walter Barker crashed his airplane in Nov. '98...thats another story!).

The trail from Bob Bald to Hangover is a mix of flat ridge top, combined with some very steep quick pulls up rock and mixed with low gaps where you have to loose and regain elevation. I believe it is 2.8 miles to Hangover from Bob Bald. We walked back to the bald with the full moon providing plenty of light. We did not use our headlamps and were even able to see our shadows most of the way back. Now that was cool!

This is the intersection at Naked Ground. There are four trails which intersect here. Look at all the signs would ya! "Which way do I go?" Between here and Haoe it is a climb...not too bad really. Haoe was neat. Just a top of a cone with a rock on it. I believe there used to be a firetower on the Haoe. We really could not see alot on the Haoe because of the snow so we did not look for remants to prove that. Anyway, a great day! Bob Bald, Haoe and Hangover all in the same day with zero clouds.

That did not stay that way though. At 6:22 am the rain began...in sheets with wind! The next day we suited up in layers of fleese and Gortex and made breakfast leaving around 10:00. We finished off our trip with food and shakes at A&W of course!

Bob Bald...trip 2 (December 26, 2008)

Again...Bob Bald in the rain and cold the day after Christmas. It was socked in on day one and day two. My hope on both trips was to get to the Hangover...but it did not happen until trip three. In the background here is a Jansport Cascade external frame pack.. I have not carried an external frame pack for years but I picked one up for $25 and I liked it except that it makes me taller. If you have ever walked up Trail 54 from Cold Springs Gap you know what that means! If you haven't then you need to use an internal frame. You will thank me! Hint...rhododendron tunnel!

Just for kicks and giggles I hung my food pack at the campsite...not that any animal of any kind would be out in this weather. I left the rope on the tree and it was there the next month when I returned. On my third trip in January I used it again and I left it for you to use. This is all I saw for two days. When I got to the Bald it was so windy that I had to stake down my tent on one corner just so it would not blow away as I put the rest of it up. I laughed so hard because it was just comical. The next day I got up early and went back down to Beech Gap. BeforeI left I ran into a guy from Knoxville that had come up late. He brought his dog and that K9 did not want to be on that mountain. Maybe it had something to do with the boar hunters I saw the day before?!

My first trip to Bob Bald (Oct 24, 2008)

From Beech Gap at the state line Trail 95 the trail is on an old road to here at Cold Springs Gap just about 1.5 miles. Easy hike to here. 95 veers left here and 54 goes up, up, up to the right. It is kinda steep here to Bob Bald

This was the first time I arrived at Bob Stratton Bald. It rained all night and the wind was around 40mph all night. Bob's Bald is on the state line. The north part is in the Wilderness Area while the south side is not. The south side is therefore cleared but the Wilderness Area is no longer cleared. I have found two water sources there; one is about 5 minutes back down Trail 54. It is a PVC pipe spring but even in the rainy season does not produce a lot of water. The second spring is down the trail toward Swan Cabin. Go down the trail just a few minutes and look to the right.

I have been to Bob Bald three times. This is the first time. I had to get in my tent about 5:30 that afternoon because of the typhoon. Man the wind blew hard. Luckily I had my Boundary Waters Journal to keep me company! Yes that is a flame in my tent. I want to say it gave me some heat but I doubt it. However it was as close as I could get to a campfire that night.

First Explore...Joyce Kilmer Memorial Forest (April 07)

Of course the start of my explore of the Joyce Kilmer area had to be at the Memorial Forest. Here are two trees which are actually a part of one root system. This is a massive twin-tree on the Memorial Loop Trail system. This is an amazing forest with beautiful seasonal wildflowers, many birds and yes the very large trees. I am amazed that not more people have visited this nor even know about it.

This is a photo of the memorial plaque in the loop trail.

Just up the road from the Memorial Forest is the Maple Springs parking area which begins the trail up to Haoe. If you park at the very end of the road, walk past the edge of the parking lot on a small unmarked trail and keep following it downhill. There you will find a spring and this very large rock house/overhang. I found this because I had a theory about where to find the infamous "Tsali Cave." Although many people told me it was below Clingmans Dome in the Smokies still I thought it could be here in the Nantahalas. The key for me was many sources said the cave was at the head of Deep Creek. Well, this is a large rock house capable of sleeping many people just as the story went. I also heard there was a spring at the rockhouse of Tsalis Cave. Guess what...here is a spring as well! However I have since learned that THE Tsali Cave is in fact on Deep Creek/Keg Drive Branch area in the Smokies.