(See attached file: BRIEFING – Motor Home accident 8-23-10.docx)
BRIEFING – MOTOR VEHICLE ACCIDENT
GREAT SMOKY MOUNTAINS NATIONAL PARK
AUGUST 23, 2010 – 4:30 P.M.

Around 12 p.m. a one vehicle accident, involving a large motor home

with seven occupants, occurred in Great Smoky Mountains National Park, in

the North Carolina side of the Park, about 3 miles south of Newfound Gap.

The motor home, driven by Robert McCanna Reilly, III, from Miami, Fla., was

traveling south on Newfound Gap Road (U.S. 441). The accident occurred

when Reilly attempted to pull the vehicle off the road onto a gravel

section of the shoulder but was unable to stop before the shoulder became

too narrow to support the vehicle. The RV fell onto its side and slid

about 100 feet down an extremely steep embankment.

Six of the seven occupants were injured. The driver did not suffer

any injuries. Two of the patients with severe injuries were transported by

Mountain Area Medical Airlift (MAMA) to Memorial Mission Hospital in

Asheville, N.C. Four other individuals were transported by Cherokee Tribal

Ambulance to Cherokee Hospital with less serious injuries.

The two individuals transported by MAMA were a 13-year old boy who

was in the front passenger seat; and Eduard Koefler, 57, was in the back of

the vehicle. The 13-year-old was not wearing a seatbelt and was ejected

from the vehicle. Eduard was removed from inside the vehicle by the

occupants.

The other four patients were: Christoper Koefler (18); Ino Reilly,

30; Bridgette Koefler, 56, and Julia Koefler, 10. The Koeflers are all

from Austria and were visiting their relatives, the Reilly’s who live in

Miami.

The Newfound Gap Road was closed about 12:30 p.m. as emergency

personnel from Great Smoky Mountains National Park and several North

Carolina agencies converged on the scene to provide medical assistance to

the patients and conduct technical rescue operations. When emergency

personnel arrived on the scene all, but two of the passengers were

alongside the road. The patients transported by MAMA had to be hoisted up

the embankment by medical personnel. The other individuals scrambled up

the embankment to the roadside.

The North Carolina emergency services that were instrumental in the

rescue included Cherokee Tribal Emergency Management Services, Bryson City

Fire Department, Swain County Rescue, Cherokee Fire Department, and

Cherokee Natural Resources.

For more information: contact Nancy Gray 865/436-1208

The road remained closed as of 4:30 p.m. to allow a crane service to

remove the RV from the site.

There wasn’t too much to say about this hike, the pictures do all the talking for me. Let’s just say the weather was perfect (a cool 80 degrees), and the terrain comfortable. It was great!

I will take a moment to jump on my soapbox though. While on the trail I came across a couple that had stopped for a rest. I offhandedly mentioned that we were a hiking group, and there was a string of us coming up the trail. The woman got a little upset and she and her friend made a snide remark and then stormed up the trail. I can understand and respect the desire for some peace and quiet in the Smokies. What I can’t understand is going on one of the most popular trails in the park, and expecting to be alone. Seriously? Are people that naive to think they will be the only ones at one of the most well known places in the park? Sad. There are hundreds of miles of trail that can easily be day hiked in which you will never see another human being! Use them.

Okay, soapbox off.

This weekend I’m going to Kure Beach in North Carolina with that wonderful woman who puts up with me. Looking forward to it and hopefully going to get some good beach sunrise photos.

Peace,
LB

Charlies Bunion 8-8-2010

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Amongst the paperwork I did, I finally had a chance to sit down and record my log of campsites that I’ve stayed at/been to. This way I have at least some written record of what I’ve been past, and whether or not it’s worth going to the site. You’ll notice that most site descriptions say the same thing. I tend to have very few details about the sites that were good, but not overly memorable. The sites that I remember the most are the bad ones, or the really good ones. If I say something is really good, or really bad, it meant that it was enough to stick in my head and that makes it either worth visiting (Campsite #13), or worth avoiding (Campsite #16).

My Trail History and Campsite Log. There are two tabs at the top for the respective topics.

Have a great week!
LB

Our trip wasn’t just a hike up to the Bald, but was actually a two night, three day backpacking trip. I had Friday afternoon off work, so we left around noon to head to Cades Cove. Our trip took us up Rabbit Creek Trail to Scott Gap. From there we took Hannah Mountain Trail to Campsite #14 where we stayed the night on Friday. Saturday we got up and continued on Hannah Mountain and then up Gregory Bald Trail to Campsite #13 for the night. We got up early on Sunday and made our way up to the Bald itself where we had breakfast and watched the sun come up. After that it was all downhill (literally) to the road. From there we hitched a ride back to Cades Cove Loop road and finally to our car. It was a really fantastic trip with a lot of neat things to see and experience.

If I had to pick a theme for this trip, it would probably have to be the heat. It was hot this weekend in the Smokies. Like, really, really, hot. I think there were a couple of times while climbing up to the bald that I could be found sprawled out on the ground with a bandanna over my head. Looking back it was fun, but I can remember some points of pure misery during the trip. Couple this with water sources that were few and far between, and it made for some tense moments. Julie and I were both out of water by the time we got to campsite #14, and by all signs, we weren’t expecting to find any at the local sources. Fortunately the last spring we looked at had enough that we could filter it. The same thing happened on the second day too. It wasn’t until we were within a 1/8th of a mile from Campsite #13 that we came upon the spring. It definitely makes me rethink the 2 liters of water that I carry. I may have to invest in a new three liter bladder.

If I had to pick another theme for the trip, it would be that Julie hates hammocks. You see, this trip Julie decided that she wanted to try hammock camping as well. So I loaned her my spare ENO Doublenest with rainfly and away we went. By 11:45 pm on Friday night, she was pretty darn miserable. So miserable in fact that she spent a good 10 seconds screaming at the cicadas to be quiet. I’ll leave the profanity laden content out of this entry, but needless to say I was both happy no one else was in the campsite and trying hard not to laugh at the situation. Fortunately she was a good sport and made it through the rest of the weeknd. Either way she’ll probably be getting a new single person tent in the near future…

I think one of the most exciting parts of the trip for me, aside from the bald, was the number of campsites we passed on the trip. I enjoy knowing things about the Smokies, and knowing what the campsites look like is great when someone says “hey, where should I go?” I got to go past 5 different campsites this weekend: 12, 13, 14, 15, and 16. I can say without a doubt that campsite #13 is one of the coolest sites I’ve ever seen in the Smokies. The grassy ground, the old trees, and the bald are just amazing! Campsites #12 and #15 were also very cool sites. They’re much easier to get to and have large creeks flowing directly past them. I would gladly go for one of those when I’m looking for a nice easy site. Site #14 was also a nice site, though very small. It definitely couldn’t house more than 2-3 tents, though it can handle quite a few hammocks. Site #16, well, I can’t really think of a good reason to stay here. With site #15 being only 1.1 miles away, I can’t think of a reason not to go there instead!

Though one thing of note about site #16, is that Hannah Mountain Trail, which goes right past it, is absolutely amazing. It is easily one of the nicest trails I have hiked in the Smokies. It doesn’t have a lot of amazing views, and there isn’t anything special about it like waterfalls, but it’s just an enjoyable trail. I can understand why it’s referred to as “the softest trail in the Smokies.” It is!

Another thing probably worth mentioning was some of the wild life we saw on the trip. Not once, but twice we got a little too close to a bear we didn’t know was there. Just outside Campsite #16 on Hannah Mountain Trail we came over a ridge and scared one in the middle of the trail. It was about 30′ away when I saw it. Fortunately it was just as startled as we were because it immediately started running up the ridge. The other bear was about 25 yards from campsite #13. It was just off in the brush and we didn’t see it until we were about 10′ from it. Both times we were too close for me to safely get pictures. Unfortunate, but I’d much rather remain a safe distance from bears!

Overall it was an amazing trip. Pictures are below. If you’re wondering which campsites are which, the order we passed them and the order with which they’re shown in the photos are: 15, 16, 14, 13, 12.

Enjoy!

Gregory Bald Backpack 7-26-2010

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I don’t blame you if reading all of the routes we took is too hard to follow. It took me about 15 minutes to figure out all of the trails we touched when I was writing this up. In order, the trails we covered were:

• Baxter Creek Tr
• Mount Sterling Ridge Tr
• Balsm Mtn Tr
• Beech Gap Tr
• Hyatt Ridge Tr
• Enloe Creek Tr
• Chasteen Creek Tr
• Bradley Fork Trail
• Dry Sluice Gap Tr
• The Appalachian Tr
• Hughes Ridge Tr
• The Appalachian Tr (again)
• Low Gap Tr
• Big Creek Trail

It was an experience, and I learned a lot about what I’m capable of. I also learned a lot about some different parts of the park I’d never been to before. For instance, I learned that if you’re going to be going up to the AT ridge multiple times on a trip, don’t plan to do 13 miles a day. that was an important lesson. Another important lesson was that Baxter Creek Trail is the most awful trail in the entire park. Bastard Creek Trail was the name we ultimately decided upon for it. I’m sort of glad we got that one done on the first day, but it did kind of start us off on a rough foot.

Our favorite part of the trip was definitely the AT. There’s something so great about being up on a ridge like that being able to look down both sides. Not to mention the views that seemed to stretch forever. It was truly amazing.

I won’t go into the day-to-day of the trip. I’ll let the pictures do that. Some thoughts I will add though. The Eastern side of the park could really use some TLC. In a few of the photos you’ll see what just looks like weeds/plants and sunbeams. Believe it or not, that’s actually what the trail looked like. Some maintenance is definitely needed, and needed big time! Laurel Gap and all of the AT shelters were in great shape. The campsites we saw and stayed at were pretty nice, and mostly empty. Definitely less trafficed than “my side” of the park!

I’m really looking forward to my next big backpack in the park. Currently it’s scheduled for Labor Day weekend!

-LB

4th of July Backpack 7-4-2010

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I just got word from the Friends of the Great Smokies Mountain that a North Carolina man was sentenced for his 2009 poaching of a bull elk inside park grounds. He was sentenced to 150 days in jail, fined almost $9,000, and a slew of other things. You can find more info on the WYFF website.

I’m all for shooting for the pot, but I’m more for preserving our parks and wild life.

Well Sean, here’s to hoping you get what you deserve! Unfortunately you probably won’t.

More info can be found at the KnoxNews article.

Those in the hiking group that had known Chuck gathered this last Memorial Day weekend to spend time at a place Chuck was happy, and a place I’ve talked about more than a few times on my blog, Virgin Falls. We retraced our hike and talked about all the fun times that were had, and generally spent the day remembering the good about him.

Rest in peace, Chuck…

In all seriousness though, I now understand why it’s been well over a year since I went to Cades Cove. The traffic, the tourists, and noise is more stress than I want to put up with. Fortunately we got there just as the gate was being opened from it’s standard Saturday morning closure for cyclists. It still took us over an hour to go the 7 miles to Abrams Falls trail head, but at least that’s all it took. Our route consisted of going up Cooper Road Trail, down Hatcher Mountain, and up Little Bottoms to campsite #17. Sunday we would hike out Abrams Falls trail to our car after stopping for some pictures and leisure at the falls themselves.

Cooper Road from Cades Cove was the only portion of the trail that was new to me. I have to say, at this time of year, it was a great trail. The condition of the trail was excellent, it was just physically demanding enough to get a good exercise, and the amount of wild life was unparalleled to anything else I’ve seen in the park. In fact, I want to rename it Critter Road Trail. It may have been the time of year, but there were a lot of animals.

In no particular order we saw:

• Bear(s)
• Dear
• A Blacksnake
• A Lizzard
• (a TON of) Butterfly

Most of the sightings aside from one young buck, and the snake, were from a safe distance. There was an incident at our campsite involving a bear outside our tent at ~10pm, but a little loud talking and some headlamps and it vamoosed. I think the only thing we were missing of the major animals was bobcat and boar. I’m glad I didn’t see any boar.

 

The falls were quite enjoyable, and was a nice cap to a wonderful weekend.


Cooper Road & Abrams Falls Backpack 5-23-2010

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]]> http://ageekinthewoods.com/2010/05/25/cooper-road-trail-renamed-critter-road-trail/feed/ 0 http://ageekinthewoods.com/2010/05/24/black-bear-protection-efforts/ http://ageekinthewoods.com/2010/05/24/black-bear-protection-efforts/#comments Mon, 24 May 2010 13:28:37 +0000 LyttleBryan http://ageekinthewoods.com/?p=2199 Over the last couple of weeks a storm has been brewing between NPS, tourists, and (for lack of better term) environmentalists. A few weeks ago a tourist was in the Smokies at the ever-popular Laurel Falls. While traveling off trail, he came in contact with a young 60lb female black bear. While taking pictures of the bear, it began to approach him. He let it come so close to him that it bit his foot. Eventually word spread to the rangers and NPS until the man finally contacted them. Since the bite was so minor it didn’t require medical attention, it took a few days before the man decided to report it.

 

Since the bear attacked a tourist, it was hunted down, captured, and eventually euthanized. The bear, named Laurel by supporters, stirred quite a response from myself, and others. A group was formed on facebook in hopes of stopping the NPS from euthanizing the bear. Unfortunatley the group was not able to sway park services, who claimed their hands were tied.

 

It’s a sad story of what ignorant people do to our wild life, and natural resources. I’ll admit it takes great restraint from losing my temper while typing this. I want to scream and shout and hunt down the idiot that caused all of this. Instead I’ll just challenge anyone that reads this. Stand up for the animals in the park. When you see someone doing something that harms our park, do something about it. If the animals stand up for themselves they get euthanized.

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