Noland Divide -or- My Girlfriend Made Me Look Like a Sissy
LyttleBryan April 24th, 2010
Yes, yes, I know. It’s been a long time since I’ve posted anything. I assure you it’s not for lack of wanting to, but more because my time is limited lately and I have chosen eating and sleeping over other options. I did want to write about my trip last weekend, because it was so cool. It had everything from awesome wildlife, to me finally knowing what it’s like to be the one in the back who someone is waiting on!
I had originally posted this backpack as a group event, but only 4 people signed up, myself, the-woman-who-currently-puts-up-with-me (TWWCPUWM ), and a couple of guys from the hiking group. For various reasons others dropped out until it was eventually just my girlfriend and I. The backpack was down in the North Carolina side of the Smoky Mountains, in the Deep Creek Area near Bryson City.
The backpack got off to an amazing start when there, not far from the trail head, sat a little baby black bear. A small group of people had already begun to gather, and it was obvious that they were creeping closer, and closer. My first thought was “where’s mom?” After a few minutes I grabbed my camera out of the car and took advantage of my nice zoom lens to get some pretty good shots of the little guy/gal. After a few minutes we went back to the ranger station to let them know what was going on. It was kind of fortunate we did all of that, because we had actually been at the wrong trail head!
With all of that excitement we started our backpack. Since I knew we would staying the night near Deep Creek, and it was just the two of us, I had decided to pack my tripod in with my good camera. As such my pack was about 8 lbs heavier than it usually is. Of all the hikes to pack in extra weight, I would pick one as insane as going up Noland Divide!
Truth be told my pack was relatively light even with the tripod. I know I’ve carried far more when backpacking, so i don’t really know why I felt like I was dying the entire time. I couldn’t go more than a 1/4 mile without having to stop and catch my breath. Maybe it was allergies? The pollen has been rather brutal this year. Either way, the 11+ miles it took to get to the campsite took us just under 7 hours, which is certainly not my usual pacing, even on exceedingly hard terrain.
All-in-all though, the hike was enjoyable. The views from the ridge were quite impressive, and it was nice seeing the birds of prey floating on the wind. The area suffered significant damage to the hemlock population which was quite sad, and the bridge from Pole Road Creek Trial to Deep Creek Trail was out which made for an exciting (AND COLD!) crossing in Deep Creek. It was all worth it though because we had a beautiful campsite right next to the river (#56) completely to ourselves. Actually not completely to ourselves, there was a little field mouse that kept popping up occasionally to say hello and search for crumbs. It was very peaceful, and very relaxing!
The next morning we took our time getting up and going. TWWCPUWM enjoyed some morning yoga by the river while I got to play around with some slow shutter speed shots. Unfortunately the morning sun was a little too bright to get many good ones, but with the help of some deep exposure, I did manage to get a few nice looking shots. Before setting out for the day we rearranged our packs so that I would carry more of her gear, and she would take my tripod. Despite equivalent weights, my pack felt much better and I was able to handle the terrain with no problems. I can only conclude that the manner I strapped my tripod to my pack was causing me to be lopsided. At least that’s what I’m telling myself. After we got back to the car we stopped in Bryson City at a little place called Anthony’s Italian and Pizzeria. It had a nice front porch that looked out over an historic train yard. Their pasta was divine! I had spinach manicotti, and TWWCPUWM had Chicken Parmesan. Her’s was much better than mine, but they were both very good. With that, our weekend was concluded and we made our way back home. I did discover something interesting during the drive. We calculated the mileage from my apartment to the Deep Creek parking lot going through Sevierville on the way there, and going via Little River Road/Maryville on the way home. Sevierville is 99.3 miles, and Maryville is 100.7. There’s less than 2 miles physical distance between the two routes. Definitely handy to know in the future!
Lotta pictures, I hope you enjoy them.
Nolland Divide 4-17-2010
- Backpacking , Campsites
- Comments(1)
[...] fine by me. I still have fond memories of hiking up Noland Divide with Julie last year, or rather I have memories of Julie making me look like a sissy. The upper part of Noland was a beautiful hike through spruce trees and that upper tree line [...]