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Solo Backpack in the Smokies – Day 2 - 4-12-12 – IndianCreek Motor Trail/Thomas Divide Trail/Deeplow Gap Trail/Cooper CreekTrail/Deeplow Gap Trail/Mingus Creek Trail – 12 Miles
I woke up at 7:15 a.m. after a 10.5-hour “nap”.  It was an eerily quiet night, no interestinganimal sounds out beyond the safe walls of my silnylon tent.  I was a little disappointed.  I at least expected to hear an owl out theresomewhere.  No crickets, no frogs…toocold, I suppose. 
And it was cold, about 30 degrees.  I slept in a few layers but not everythingthat I had brought.  The condensation onthe inside of my tent froze soon after I exited and I got frozen fingers while packingup.  (I’m not too picky about packing awet tent if I’m not sleeping in it again; I just stuff it into a plasticgarbage bag and strap it onto my backpack. When I get home the tent gets spread out in the garage for several daysto dry thoroughly.)   
My appetite was zeroand I just wanted to get moving to get some heat going.  By 8:00 a.m. I was very slowly making my wayup Indian Creek Motor Trail.  I was stillin the shadows but the sunlight was trickling down the mountainside oppositeme. 
(Fun fact:  IndianCreek Motor Trail was originally intended as a scenic auto road but the ideawas abandoned.  No cars here, just asteady 1.8 miles of uphill.)
I pulled out a power bar to eat because I knew Ishould.  I’ve said before, I am not goodat eating while walking, especially uphill, thus the snail’s pace.  But the increasing light, the now-awake birdscalling back and forth, and the quiet absence of the wind from the day beforefilled me up and I felt like I was right where I should be. 
Trail view – new spring leaves emerging

Indian Creek Motor Trail intersected with Thomas DivideTrail at a different point than I left it yesterday.  I turned left and hiked 1.5 miles uphill,then 1 mile downhill on the TDT to the next intersection, Deeplow Gap,completing the circle that I started yesterday (yeah, I know, makes no senseunless you’re looking at the map.)   
HereI turned right onto Deeplow Gap Trail – like yesterday, this section was ahorse trail in surprisingly poor condition, random tree limbs and some very widemuddy spots churned up by horse hooves. 
A painted trillium on Deeplow Gap Trail
Trail view


The jewel of Deeplow Gap Trail is Little Creek Falls.  A tad over six miles in from Newfound GapRoad (a 12-mile round trip), Little Creek Falls does not see casualvisitors.  When I was here in August of2008 the 95-foot cascade was a trickle worthy of a quick look, but today Icould hear it thundering long before I crossed the top of it.  The trail wound around and down the side ofthe falls and then crossed at its base.
Spectacular Little Creek Falls
Crossing Little Creek at the base of the falls


Next came the intersection with Cooper Creek Trail, a shorthalf-mile trail out to the Park boundary. At the end is a fish hatchery where we got permission to park in 2008during my Smokies 900 hiking, but I am not sure of the status of that roadnow.  I’ve heard some have been greetedby “Closed” and “Private Property” signs. If you can get in this way, it’s a short hike up to Little Creek Falls.  Otherwise, get ready for those 12 miles. 
My memory of Cooper Creek Trail was of a wet, rocky, oldroad bed, and from the trail intersection I could hear and see a big creekcrossing.  I sat down and removed myboots, put on my Crocs, decided to zip off the legs of my hiking pants, stowedthem in my pack, had a snack…anything to delay this creepy little trail. 
Finally I set off, and closer to the rushing creek Isaw a very nice footlog bridge off to the side.  All that prep time.  Le sigh. 
And Cooper Creek Trail was not so bad, very level.  One section that seems to stay swamped has anice bypass trail that I had not seen the first time around.  The trail passes some very simple modesthouses but no guard dogs were on duty today. 
A half hour later I was back at the intersection again,boots laced up and turning right onto my last section of Deeplow Gap, still amessy trail but the creek was a nice companion running alongside.  I passed the remains of a homestead with twostone chimneys as evidence of the good life of days gone by.  This must have been a very large home. 
A nice sunny lunch spot, a big log to sit on. 


Deeplow Gap Trail turned away from the creek for my last climband intersected with Mingus Creek Trail, closing the second loop of myovernight trek.  By now I was tired and lookingforward to ending the hike.  But firstthere were three miles of downhill, which is always eagerly anticipated duringa lung-busting uphill but in reality worse because the legs and knees take somemajor stress.  But…the sun was still shining,the flowers were abundant and I was still in the Smokies. 
Back at Mingus Creek


I still had half an afternoon and an evening to entertainmyself because the next day I planned to meet my old hiking buddy Judy on theTennessee side of the Park for a short dayhike. Judy is very close to finishing the Smokies 900, with little snippets oftrail here and there.  I planned to campat the Elkmont Campground, but when I checked it out only one section was open andit looked pretty full.  I confess, I didn’tneed much convincing to opt for a hotel room in Gatlinburg with a shower and asoft bed. 
Before I went into G’burg, though, I investigated therestoration of the Elkmont Cottages, once summer homes for wealthy Knoxvillefamilies before the Park was established. The homeowners brokered a deal with the Park for leases, some evenextended into the 1990’s, but eventually all the homes were unoccupied and theinevitable decay process began.  A fewyears ago the Park determined to refurbish a section of the cottagecommunity.  Read more about the ElkmontCottages here. 
To my delight, my favorite Italian restaurant in Gatlinburg was still open for business and I settled myself in a little booth in the backfor delicious salad and lasagna and a bottomless Diet Coke.  We must stay hydrated! (Their pizza is excellent too).   Iwrote notes about my adventures on the back of the paper placemat.
Can’t wait to see Judy tomorrow!
The one who follows the crowd will usually get no furtherthan the crowd. The one who walks alone is likely to find himself in places noone has ever been. ~ Albert Einstein