First Camping Trip of the Year

This past weekend, I did my first camping trip for the year to knockout hikes #74 and 82 from the 100 classic hikes.. We left the Triangle area just after 7 and headed out west, arriving in the Cataloochee area of Great Smoky Mountains National Park around noon. We had lunch at the campground, then started on the Caldwell Fork Trail. After crossing the first bridge, we saw some hikers returning who warned us that bridges were out and we would have to wade through the river - but that wasn't going to stop us. We turned left on the Boogerman Trail and started hiking up. It was a gradual ascent with a few steep parts that continued for a while before heading back down.

Coming back down, we could see an old stone wall, evidence that the "Boogerman" had lived here before it was a park.

Past the stone wall was a very big tree with a cavity in it, big enough to fit in.

We continued back down to the end of the trail and turned right back on the Caldwell Fork Trail to head back. After a short ways, we came to the creek crossing with no bridge. When I was here in October, the bridge was broken, but crossable - now there was no bridge at all. So we took off shoes and socks and waded across at the horse crossing.

Although the water was very cold, it was only a foot deep or so and the weather was warm enough that it was not an issue. The next bridge we came to was there, but broken and we had to shimmy across the log. After that, the rest of the bridges were fine and we made it back to the trailhead. From the park we headed to our campsite - Brookside just west of the Nantahala Outdoor Center. We set up camp and headed to Robbinsville for dinner - unfortunately, the county is dry in the area so no beer (even on St. Patrick's Day!). Then back to the campsite to rest up for a big hike in the morning.