Joyce Kilmer Wilderness

Sunday morning, we broke camp and headed to Joyce Kilmer Memorial Forest. After parking, we did a quick hike along the lower loop of Joyce Kilmer Memorial Loop Trail (#43). The forest is named for the poet Joyce Kilmer who died in combat during World War I. His famous poem “Trees” seemed so appropriate in this beautiful old-growth forest.

The trail crosses Little Santeetlah Creek on a footbridge with great views of the creek.

Then we headed up to the Joyce Kilmer Memorial at the point where the two loops meet.

We then finished up the loop back at Little Santeetlah Creek and got on Naked Ground Trail (#55) to head into the wilderness. This scenic trail follows Little Santeetlah Creek upstream. The creek is rocky and there were nice cascades along almost the entire thing. In a short ways, we saw a cute little toad along the trail.

A little further was a huge rock that looked like a smiley face.

We also passed by some enormous trees.

One had a cavity large enough for both Sandy and I to fit in. Although there were some steep parts, the trail was mostly gradual for the first 3 miles or so. We also saw some beautiful sulphur shelf fungi, also known as Chicken of the Woods.

Although it's probably safe to eat, I don't think I'd ever eat wild mushrooms.

Eventually, we reached a camping site and the trail started to head steeply up, departing from the creek. And it sure was steep, gaining over 1000 feet of elevation in a mile or so. When we finally made it to the top, we stopped at another campsite and ate lunch here. A break in the trees provided views of valley below and Lake Santeetlah in the distance.

From here, we got on Haoe Lead Trail (#53) and headed east. We had planned to take the short spur trail to the Hangover, but it was so cloudy, we didn’t bother as there would have been no views. We continued on Haoe Lead Trail as it steeply headed down the ridgeline. In another mile or so, we got on Jenkins Meadow Trail (#53A). Despite the name, there was no pretty open meadow or views. The trail was incredibly overgrown and difficult to follow. Although the trail descended steeply, the going was slow as we were essentially bushwhacking. I did manage to find some pretty flowers along the trail, though.

We finally reached a split where the Connector Trail leads back to Naked Ground Trail near the beginning. We instead opted to finish Jenkins Meadow Trail at the road leading to the Memorial Forest and walking on the road back to the parking area. The hike had taken longer than expected and we had a long drive home, so we immediately departed once back.