A brief review of the Rock Creek Recreation Area campground.
This was our second trip to this campground and recreation area. Located near Erwin, Tennessee, it's one of the finest National Forest campgrounds we've ever visited. The sites are room and almost all of them are surrounded by big trees and are very shady. The sites have electric, but no water hookups. You can fill your onboard tank from water spigots throughout the campground loops, or from a potable water hose near the dump station. On this trip we were hampered by very heavy rains for the first two days. Drenching downpours of steady precipitation that dumped about four inches of rain over two days. It kept us from doing much in the way of outdoor activities so we ended up exploring nearby historical sites which is something we try to do anyway. And this area has quite a lot see in that respect. So we were not bored. Each campground loop has its own bathhouse. Each house has a men's and women's section, and each section has a toilet stall, a sink, and a shower stall. The showers were good with excellent water pressure and warm water. There is a good amphitheater where entertainment or ranger talks are sometimes held, but nothing was planned there during this stay. The last time we were there we listened to excellent bluegrass music being performed. There is a ridiculous wealth of hiking to be done from, and around, the campground. Waterfalls seem to be almost everywhere. Even though the rain kept us from doing as much as we wanted, we still had a great time, and it remains one of the best National Forest campgrounds we've ever visited.
The campsites are very roomy and private. Lots of trees and shrubs separate you from most of your neighbors.
We opted not to use our awning because it was raining so hard the first two days we were there. The rain was so severe that we didn't want to risk damaging the awning.
We love these little kiosks. It allows us to put our camp stove under cover where we can cook, and also store items safe from the rain. We prefer to cook outside even though our Casita has a stove.
This is the last time we'll use our old-style picnic shelter. We're going to buy one of the modern Clam-type shelters this month and donate this old clunker to Goodwill. It works well, but is a pain to erect.
This is the campground bathhouse. There is one of these on each of the three loops. Each bathhouse has a men and women's restroom, each with a toilet, sink, and one shower stall.
Big bathrooms, but only one of each stall. Could be problematic when the campground is crowded.
The showers use two pressure buttons to turn on the water. The water does not stay on very long (maybe 20 seconds) before you have to press the buttons again. Two nozzles, upper and lower. The water pressure was good and the water was warm, but not hot.
When the CCC built this pond it was a bit larger. It was also much deeper--eight feet. Stream fed, with a little cascade tumbling into the pond. It also used to have a diving platform. However, later administrators decided to reduce the depth to only four feet and to remove the diving platform. Lawsuits, I suppose. It's a very nice pond where you can take the kids wading and go swimming. Lots of space to lounge on the shore and to picnic if you wish.
Not as deep as it used to be, but still a fine place to pay and relax.
There are so many great parks and wilderness areas to visit, I am always stunned when I run into folk who complain that there's nothing to see or do in their area. For it's a rare place indeed that doesn't have something notable to offer from Mother Nature. Over the past few years my wife and I have begun compiling a list of the parks and National Forest sites we want to visit when retirement offers us enough leisure time for such exploration. The list actually began to become somewhat ridiculous and so we stopped adding to it, because the USA and Canada have so damned many great spots to visit that trying to make a list of the need-to-see places became unbearably difficult. So, we decided to just let the Internet do the listing for us, and we'll explore as we see fit when the time comes. A while back I made a point of bookmarking every state park system on the Internet. Some states have amazing state park systems (California, West Virginia, Florida, etc.). And some states have pathetic state park systems (Georgia, North Carolina, Montana, etc.). I haven't figured out why some states suck at having nice parks and others are masters at it. In some instances it's a case of historical accident (the CCC was quite active in West Virginia and they've had to live with that happy occurrence), and other states work their asses off establishing a wonderful array of parks (such as Florida). And some states that by all accounts for natural beauty should have wonderful state parks instead offer anemic numbers and sad, gray places (my own state of North Carolina is unfortunately among this lot). Then there are our National Forests. Many of them have eye-popping areas where one can wander and explore and see things most people never will. I can credit the Internet for opening up the world of our National Forest campgrounds and scenic areas and wilderness areas. Without the Internet connecting all of the dots I would likely still be ignorant of many places on my bucket list. Retirement beckons to me in just a few years. I am champing at the bit to be rid of that particular yoke so that we can hit the road and see what's around the bend. The next mountain. The far lake. The flowing river. The still waters. The places are out there. Look for them. Enjoy them.
Rhododendron tunnel, Nantahala National Forest.
Southern Nantahala Wilderness Area.
Stone Mountain State Park, North Carolina.
Public library, Helvetia, West Virginia.
Oconee State Park, South Carolina.
Road to Cataloochee, Great Smoky Mountains National Park.
Wild turkey flock, Sugarlands Visitor Center.
Campsite, Cataloochee Campground, Great Smoky Mountains.
The first experience I had backpacking and hiking on trails shared with horseback riders was in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Because of the way that Park was established the government had to basically allow free access to almost the entire Park by people on horseback. One of the few exceptions there is the Appalachian Trail which follows the spine of the main ridge and is for foot travel only. That first time sharing the trails with horses wasn't too bad. Mainly, looking back on it, because we didn't run into very many people on horseback. In fact, I only recall having to move out of the way for horses one time (horseback riders have the right of way on such trails--they outweigh your average hiker by a vast margin), and I think we only had to camp near horses one night. So, my first experience wasn't all that bad. Since then, I have come to regard horses in our National Parks and National Forests as a truly negative thing. They give access to some of the most unsavory folk I've ever met while hiking and backpacking. Lard-asses who would otherwise never think of delving into a wilderness can be found crushing the spines of horses in National Parks. And they almost always bring all manner of nasty shit into the forests with them, including guns. Horses and their riders scare off all of the wildlife. I never see any wildlife when I encounter goddamned horses on the trails. With the exception of flies and gnats. Horses carry their own little traveling ecosystem in their wake. Whenever horses pass me when I'm hiking, I am left to contend with vast swarms of annoying gnats and flies that find me and linger to bug the shit out of me when the horses have traveled on. The horse shit isn't really a problem for me. As shit goes, horse shit isn't offensive. It's mainly grass and such and is easily avoided and if you step in it...well, no big deal. That's not the problem, at all. The absolutely WORST thing about sharing trails with horses is the massive damage that they do to the trails. They utterly wreck the trails. Erosion is a hideous problem on trails that horses use. They absolutely destroy the vegetation under their hooves; they press into the soil; they denude the trail of dirt and leave only a ragged and blasted surface behind. In places where the soil is deep, you have to contend with huge chunks of real estate that is essentially muck--almost like quicksand. At long last I have had it with the horseback riders. One problem about the area where I went is that so many of the trails are for horses and hikers. Which means, essentially, that they are for horses.One trail was so badly damaged by horses that it had become nothing but a sea of mud and the Forest Service had erected a sign to dissuade both hikers and horsesback riders from using that stretch. It isn't safe for any of us now. I managed to bag three peaks that I've wanted to summit for quite a long time, but I had to contend with doing so on trails used by horses. It was not a pleasant experience and I do not recommend that particular system of trails if you are a hiker or backpacker.
Almost all of the trails in this area are for horseback riders and hiker/backpackers.
I had been hoping to see some wildlife in the two wilderness areas adjacent to the Grindstone campground. Alas, it was not to be: the forests were packed with horses.
This trail damage was mild compared to what I encountered throughout the Little Wilson Creek Wilderness.
I could not hike through this muck. My boots would vanish in the depths of the mud. I had to bushwhack around these sections, some of them quite long.
I didn't hike down this trail. If it was worse than the ones I'd already encountered, I didn't even want to know about it.
This group of riders were actually nice. They said hello and spoke to me and smiled. Some of the others I encountered were belligerent, as if I had no right to be on the trails.
I had cut my hike short not because of the damage to the trails, but because a large and noisy thunderstorm was rolling in at a rapid clip. Just before taking this shot I had been able to see Mount Rogers, but it was quickly hidden behind thunderheads and lightning.
Every hiker and backpacker I know gets the hell off of the ridges and mountaintops when the lightning rolls in. I was hustling to get back to my truck. But what were the horseback riders doing? They were headed right up to the highest points, as if lightning must avoid people on horseback.
When I can't get into the forests and mountains, or out to a river, I have to dwell there in memories. Here, then, are some images from a bushwhack Andy Kunkle and I made into the Pisgah National Forest in 2011 to locate a grove of old growth hardwoods. (There were once grand old hemlocks there, but those are all dead now from infestation of the Asian pest, Hemlock wooly adelgid.)
The diversity of the hardwood trees is phenomenal. However, all of the hemlocks are dead and only their standing corpses remain.
A typical large Tulip poplar in the forest.
This area was the first National Forest in the USA. It was the initial tract of land that became what we know now as the Pisgah National Forest.
I am not known for having any tact. My lack of diplomacy often leads folk to think I'm a completely insensitive lout. This may be so, to some extent, but quite often my social missteps are just that: JRSmith stumbling along. The following are a series of actual letters, the result being that I end up being a jerk. I have removed names and email addresses to protect the truly innocent. (And, yes, I could not possibly have made this up.)
06-12-2005
Folk,
The National Forest Website for North Carolina is the worst I've seen. Which is a shame, since the National Forests here in North Carolina have so much to offer and should have a superior Website to promote them.
I'm not sure what the budget is like, but the National Forests in other states seem to do a much better job of promoting the forests for recreation, and informing the public of the rewards of taking advantage of this valuable natural resource. I visit the National Forests in most of the states around North Carolina, and finding information on them is so much easier, and the information is provided in a simpler format that is also much easier on the eyes.
W-- G--, CGFM Acting Administrative Officer National Forests in North Carolina Asheville, NC Telephone ***-***-****
> ----- Forwarded by W-- G--/SRS/USDAFS on 06/13/2005 10:42 AM ----- > > Mailroom R8 North > Carolina > Sent by: V-- To > Bogany W-- G--/SRS/USDAFS@FSNOTES > cc > > 06/13/2005 06:39 Subject > AM Re: Website ----- Original Message ----- From: "T-- S--" <@fs.fed.us> To: Sent: Monday, June 13, 2005 12:55 PM Subject: Fw: Website
We received your comment and I wanted to follow up with you; if you don't mind taking a few minutes I would love to hear your suggestions for the type of information you are looking for.
I look forward to hearing from you
T-- S-- Public Affairs Officer ***-***-**** >
"James Smith" jsmith@ To "T-- S--" <@fs.fed.us> 06/13/2005 04:38 cc PM Subject Re: Website
I don't have a lot of time just now, so I'll try to get my point across briefly.
To simplify matters, I would like to direct you to the Monongahela National Forest Website for a look at a superior method of informing citizens about the Forestlands they're looking for. This is one of the finest NFS websites I've used. One of the reasons my family goes at least once per year (and usually more often) to the West Virginia National Forest is because we can locate detailed information on their facilities online so easily.
Another good Website that I use often is the one for Jefferson/Washington National Forests in Virginia. This year my wife and I decided to stay at Beartree Recreation Area and were able to get a lot of information on that facility before we finalized our plans.
These are the kinds of sites the North Carolina National Forests need to have at work. I don't know if some college students at UNCAsheville are cobbling your Website together for college credits, but that's what it looks like. Frankly, it's graphically sophomoric, and trying to find information on specific areas in North Carolina's National Forests is a tough go at our Website.
Well, there it is, briefly.
If you want to look at the websites I mentioned, the one for Monongahela is here:
http://www.fs.fed.us/r9/mnf/
And the one for Jefferson and George Washington National Forests is here:
I hope this helps. My wife and I had been planning a stay at Standing Indian Campground, but finding information on that facility has been a tough go. The brief description on that fuzzy .pdf file along with two or three dozen other facilities was not a very good option for helping us make a decision. We had just about decided to head for West Virginia again, but are taking a chance and going blind to Standing Indian.
Sincerely,
James R. Smith NC.
From: "T-- S--" <@fs.fed.us> To: "James Smith" Subject: Re: Website Date: Tuesday, June 14, 2005 9:57 AM
thanks for the prompt feedback; actually I manage the website for the forest but it is an "other duty as assigned" and I have no formal training in area; guess it shows:)
I will be making a pitch next fiscal year for a position that among other things can work on our web content; in the meantime we will keep chipping away at adding content and improving navigation
T--
----- Original Message ----- From: James Smith To: T-- S-- Sent: Tuesday, June 14, 2005 4:35 PM Subject: Re: Website
----- Original Message ----- From: "T-- S--" <@fs.fed.us> To: "James Smith" Sent: Tuesday, June 14, 2005 9:53 AM Subject: Re: Website
> thanks for the prompt feedback; actually I manage the website for the > forest but it is an "other duty as assigned" and I have no formal training > in area; guess it shows:) >
Oy. Didn't mean to hurt anyone's feelings, but being blunt seemed to best way to get my ideas across in a short amount of time.
My wife and I had just been so frustrated trying to plan a National Forest vacation in our home state. We have no trouble planning a nice vacation in Georgia, WV, or VA, but now that we've decided to spend more time in the National Forests here in North Carolina, we're having a rough time getting the information we need.
Good luck on talking them into getting a full-time position to handle the Website. I understand budgets are tight in all of the Forests and Parks. Alas. National priorities are ass backward.
I've been offline for some days. My wife and I went camping at Hurricane Campground in the Mount Rogers National Recreation Area in Virginia. Considered one of the finest National Forest campgrounds, it deserves its ranking. I'll add a new blog after I organize from the drive home.
