FONTANA

Christy and I bought kayaks some time ago, but we haven’t had a chance to really use them. Shortly after Christy bought hers she had a mountain bike wreck and separated her shoulder. Recovering from the surgery took most of a year, and she is just now comfortable paddling.

We decided that we’d finally get our boats wet in Fontana Lake in the Smokies over Memorial Day weekend. I made campsite reservations several weeks in advance, but still wasn’t able to get the same campsite two nights in a row. Ultimately we ended up with the Lone Pine campsite, east of Chambers Creek, on Saturday night, and the Gunter Branch campsite 2 miles farther east on Sunday night. That agenda would leave us with plenty of time to explore, both in our kayaks and on the trails along the north shore of Fontana Lake.

I only had one real goal for the weekend, beyond simply having an enjoyable, successful kayaking trip. I wanted to visit Bear Creek Falls, which is one of the new additions in the 3^rd edition of North Carolina Waterfalls by Kevin Adams. A few months ago Kevin posted a photo of this waterfall on his Facebook page. He offered a free copy of the new book to anybody that could identify it. I deciphered the clues he provided and, after studying the topo map, made a lucky guess. Since I’d just gotten the new book, that waterfall seemed like an appropriate waterfall to start with.

We loaded up the kayaks on Saturday morning and made the long drive out past Bryson City. We headed to the Tsali Recreation Area, which features a campground, horseback riding trails, mountain biking trails, and a boat ramp. All of those places were bustling. I’d guess that Tsali was probably one of the largest “cities” in Swain County on Saturday!

It took us a while to get ready. We put everything in dry bags, which made the packing more difficult. We are going to need some practice with this, as there was a lot of unused space in each of our kayaks. We need smaller dry bags, or we will just do without them. Our cargo compartments are (mostly) watertight anyway.

We had a quick lunch at the boat ramp before starting out early Saturday afternoon. We started out in the Little Tennessee River channel. It was busy with motor boats, pontoon boats, and jet skis, but we expected that. The paddling was smooth though, and it was a beautiful though hot and sunny day.

We passed several campsites on Nantahala National Forest property along here. All were occupied, as you might expect on a warm holiday weekend. We also passed a couple of impressive cliffs. Neither was very tall, but they were rugged. Scrambling up them would’ve been fun except that I didn’t see a reasonable place to get out at either of them. The lake was down 10’ or so, which made getting in and out more difficult.

We eventually reached the main channel, where the Little Tennessee joins the Tuckaseegee. We crossed it and headed for the Lone Pine campsite, which is allegedly on an island. We paddled to the spot where I thought the campsite was located. It looked like it might be the right place, but getting out there would’ve been tricky. Also, it was on a peninsula, not an island. There was a low spot in the middle of the peninsula though. I guess maybe it really is an island when the lake is full.

We paddled around to the opposite side and found a sign marking the campsite and a much better place to get out. The campsite itself was nice, on a wooded point well above the water. However, it is very small, and we were anticipating sharing it with four other people that night. We went ahead and set up camp and enjoyed a cold beer to celebrate our first successful trip in our new kayaks. Luckily I had just barely managed to get a small cooler into my kayak. It only held 6 beers and a little bit of ice, but they were refreshing after being on the water under the blazing sun for a couple of hours.

After 2 beers I had a decision to make. Originally I thought I might explore a nearby creek and look for unknown waterfalls. The topo map didn’t suggest any obvious waterfalls, but it was still somewhat promising. Christy decided to skip it. By the time I finished that second beer it was already 5pm (how did that happen!) and I was feeling tired and unmotivated. Instead, I decided to finish those last 2 beers before the rest of the ice melted.

A bit later we met our first pair of neighbors. They were a younger couple from Raleigh. After scoping out the tenting options (we had the only good spot) they decided to try the spot Christy and I had first spotted from the water. They didn’t come back, so it must’ve suited them. A bit later two Germans arrived in a canoe. They’d come all the way from Fontana Marina! They were friendly guys that were more than happy to help gather firewood. We enjoyed a roaring blaze that night! They were both working in Tennessee temporarily, but would be returning to Germany fairly soon. They were both thin and fit, but they consumed an incredible amount of food. They each had 2 steaks and 2 or 3 ears of corn on the cob, along with a bottle of wine each. How do they do that?

Christy and I split a bottle of wine, too. Eventually the party wound down, and I crashed in the hammock until I got chilled. At that point I joined Christy in the tent for the rest of the night.

BEAR DANCE AND COYOTE SONG

We slept in a bit the next morning before enjoying a breakfast of eggs, potatoes, and coffee. The Germans started back towards Fontana, bound for a campsite part of the way. We departed a bit later. The paddle over to the Gunter Branch campsite took less than an hour. When we arrived we found a large group there. This wasn’t a surprise as we knew the campsite had been booked Saturday night, and was expected to be full Sunday night, too. This campsite also holds six people, but there were at least 8 there when we arrived. After a brief discussion and a lot of confusion they began to pack up. I urged them to take their time, as we weren’t in any rush. In fact, our original plan had been to simply drop off our gear before heading towards Forney Creek and Bear Creek Falls.

We had lunch on the beach while they were packing. Our original plan had been to paddle to the mouth of Forney Creek and hike from there. However, the weather looked sketchy. There were scattered storms around due to a tropical storm off the coast. Also, Christy’s knee had been acting up recently, and she wasn’t sure about doing a tough bushwhack. Ultimately she decided to stay at camp. I was leery about being caught out on the lake in bad weather. At the last minute, I decided to hike the whole way from camp. In theory our campsite was on an island, but again the low water levels had turned our island into a peninsula.

From camp I found the faint remains of an old road. It was heavily littered with fallen trees though, and I found it easier to bushwhack parallel to it. After 10 or 15 minutes I dropped down to Gunter Branch at the base of an old stone wall. I had left our remaining water with Christy, and this was an ideal place to filter.

After loading up on water I climbed away from the stream briefly before hitting the Lakeshore Trail. I followed the trail northeast, towards Forney Creek. This stretch of trail was in deep forest away from the lake. It was rather boring, but the quiet was delightful after a couple of days listening to power boats. I only passed one other person on this trail, and that was a long-distance backpacker.

Highlights of this trail included blooming mountain laurel and spotting a black rat snake and a wild turkey. On my return I found a canister of bear spray hanging from a tree adjacent to the trail. That was odd. How did it get there? The only thing I could figure was that someone had dropped it, or had left it behind on purpose since they were tired of carrying it.

I eventually came out above the lake near the mouth of Forney Creek. There were lots of boats and people down there, in a lovely green pool. It looked like there was a beach on the near side of the channel, too. I do regret hiking this stretch instead of paddling it. At the very least I would’ve like to have gotten a better look at that pool and beach.

A final descent brought me to a junction with the Forney Creek Trail. This trail (an old road at this point) goes right down to the lake. I turned left though, following the creek upstream. I crossed a bridge over the creek, passed a busy campsite, and continued up to a junction with the Bear Creek Trail. I crossed Forney Creek again on another bridge. Forney Creek is big – some rivers in the North Carolina mountains are smaller. A few minutes later I crossed Bear Creek on a third bridge. I climbed away from the creek, turned a switchback, and then began working my way back into the Bear Creek valley. Before long I could hear the falls ahead, and I could just catch of glimpse of white through the foliage.

The bushwhack down wasn’t too bad. It was steep in places, particularly near the end, but the woods weren’t too thick. I reached the creek right at the base of the falls. This was a nice spot, but the best vantage point was at the top of the final drop. Bear Creek Falls starts with a 25’ drop, followed by some lovely cascades over ledges before the final 10’ plunge.

The sun had actually come out near the end of the hike, but it clouded back up just in time for photos. I spent nearly an hour here exploring all of the options and taking photos.

Instead of heading straight back I followed a faint old roadbed upstream well above the creek. I thought there might be another waterfall up there, but I didn’t see anything. If there is, it was hidden from sight by the thick vegetation directly below me.

I returned to the Bear Creek Trail and then made a quick hike back. Once I hit the trail it only took me 30 minutes to return to the Lakeshore Trail junction. Before returning to camp I filtered water again. When I reached camp I was surprised to find that Christy was the only person there. Somehow we had it all to ourselves. Despite the great spot, Christy had a tough afternoon. She’d gotten stung by a yellow jacket or hornet six times. Meanwhile, I had the first aid kit (with the Benadryl) in my pack.

Our campsite was a great spot to relax. I took a dip in the lagoon behind our “island”. That night we enjoyed wine and a campfire. Shortly after dark we were startled when a pack of coyotes began to sing. We’d heard coyotes before – out west – but never in North Carolina. It was beautiful, and may have been the biggest highlight to a great day.

Christy had a little bit of vertigo the next morning. This was a concern – would she be able to kayak with vertigo? After making pancakes for breakfast we attempted to paddle west. After a short distance she decided to return to camp to relax. I continued as far as Goldmine Branch. The peninsula above the confluence of Goldmine Branch and the Tuckaseegee River features some impressive cliffs. I thought about getting out and scrambling up, but decided against it. It was past time to check on Christy.

She was feeling somewhat better. We made mac and cheese for lunch at the campsite before paddling back to Tsali. We made it back in a little over an hour. I guess we are getting better at this! That evening we enjoyed a wonderful dinner at the Cork and Bean in downtown Bryson City. The meal was fantastic – it was a very appropriate ending to a great weekend!

Back to Great Smoky Mountains National Park

Back to Hiking and Backpacking Trip Reports

Home

Please remember to Leave No Trace!