Wild Women of Deep Creek – 6/3/12 – Noland Creek TrailOut-And-Back– 8.2 Miles
After another elaborate breakfast attempting to eat up allthe remaining food (impossible), the Wild Women broke camp and headed out for alittle hiking before returning back to normal lives. Looking for some new miles for Carol, she andI chose the portion of Noland Creek Trail going up to Springhouse Branch Trailat Campsite64, about 8 miles round trip.
From the parking area on Lakeview Drive (the Road to Nowhere)Noland Creek Trail goes underneath the road, a little hard to figure out atfirst, and my memory was blank on how I did this last time. We looked for a side trail, found one, butobviously not the right one – oh, well, a shortcut. On the way back we figured out the properroute.Like most trails that originate from pavement, this onestarts off as a wide gently climbing road bed, extending 10+ miles to theNoland Divide Trail. The Noland familyand others lived in this valley, leaving behind non-native plants such asdaylilies, daffodils and Spanish bayonet. We saw some shrub roses blooming beside the trail. At about two miles on the right is the oldDecker homestead, easy to spot with its boxwood-lined walkway leading to a setof steps and a partial foundation.
This lower portion of Noland Creek Trail crosses NolandCreek several times on wide sturdy bridges, a clue that there is a cemeterysomewhere that the Park service maintains access to. Yes, immediately after the third bridge on theleft we saw a small rutted road and a “no horses” sign. Something to investigate on the returnhike.
Beautiful Noland Creek We passed a couple of male backpackers today, but moreinterestingly, we passed two groups of female backpackers, something I have notseen much of in my admittedly few years of hiking. Go ladies!
A nifty little book called “History Hikes of the Smokies”describes this hike in great detail: “…theland between bridges three and four is Solola Valley proper and was heavilysettled,” including farms and a post office. Past the fourth bridge, Mill Creek spills into Noland Creek and we couldsee the remains of a power plant, a water wheel, a concrete base and a tallstone support. The book relates thatthis generated power for the 600-acre sheep pasture of an affluent property ownernamed Phillip Rust, who electrified a big fence to keep his sheep in and the bearsout. Of course, few people in the valleyhad electricity at all.
Between the fourth and fifth bridges once stood the Millschool, “…also called the Rust school because most of the pupils were childrenof people who worked for Rust, so Rust paid for the teacher.” Also on the fifth bridge was a happy snaketaking a sun bath.Past the fifth bridge, Springhouse Branch Trail intersectswith Noland Creek Trail at Campsite 64. The campsite is quite large, with stone picnic tables and hitching postsfor horses and several separate campsites. Carol and I took our lunch break listening to the sound of rushingwater.
So far we’d had a pleasant Sunday afternoon walk in thewoods. On the return hike we turned toexplore the track at the “no horses” sign. The tire tracks lasted nearly a quarter mile, then a faint footpathextended beyond, up and up and up…and steeply up another quarter mile to a verynarrow finger ridge. As we slowlyclimbed I kept looking up to where the cemetery might be, guessing that it mustbe on the other side of the ridge in some flat spot. Well, it was at a flat spot – a very skinnyflat spot on the very top of the ridge. We found a dozen graves, some very small,lined up side by side in a single line extending out on the narrow, sharp ridge,no markers other than rough stones. The “History Hikes” book tells that a descendant of the valley “…said the ridge was sonarrow that they had to be careful while burying people so their feet did notstick out over the side of the hill.” Every time I visit a cemetery in the Smokies I can’t helpbut pause to imagine what life was like there and how it must have felt tocarry the remains of a loved one up that steep path to be laid to rest.
We backtracked down the faint, steep path to the beginningof the wider track and saw another faint path to the right leading to an impressivefieldstone chimney. 
Scattered around thefoundation ruins of the house were rusted metal bed frames, an old sink andmetal scraps. “History Hikes” claimsthat the house here was used by patrolling park rangers until it mysteriouslyburned down in 1979. 
Carol and I finished our hike and headed for the flatlandsof Charlotte. I learned later that theother four Wild Women had done a loop hike beginning at the Tunnel, now one oftheir favorite places. Brave!In every walk with nature one receives far more than he seeks.~John Muir
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