JUST LIKE THE FIRST TIME
Christy,
Marsha, and Ian had biked the Cades Cove loop on
Monday while I was hiking Mount LeConte. The Cades Cove loop is a great place to ride
when the road is closed to traffic. That
happens in the mornings twice a week, starting in May. Since it was only April (and spring break),
they had plenty of traffic to deal with.
To make matters worse, they delayed their ride until the afternoon in
hopes of warmer weather.
We
all shifted gears a little bit on Tuesday.
After Monday’s killer hike in the snow up Mount LeConte,
I was ready for a recovery day. Our plan
was to a do an easy “family hike” with Marsha, Ian, Audrey, and Ben. Marsha and Ian have done a good bit of hiking
and backpacking over the years. Early in
their relationship they did a backpacking trip in the Grand Canyon that I’m
jealous of. But their kids had never
been on a real hike.
I
suggested a hike into Whiteoak Sinks. Whiteoak Sinks is a
bit off the radar. There are no official
trails leading into the valley (though there are plenty of unofficial
routes). The Park Service certainly
doesn’t go out of their way to advertise it, either. But two different friends had recommended it
to me. The hike would be about 1 mile on
an easy trail, followed by another mile on a slightly more challenging
unofficial path.
A
close look at Whiteoak Sinks on the map is
puzzling. It’s a small valley in the western
portion of the park completely surrounded by mountains. There are numerous streams tumbling down from
those peaks into the valley, but none of them leave it. At least not above ground. The biggest stream tumbles over a 40’
waterfall and disappears down a sinkhole.
Numerous other sinkholes and caves are scattered throughout the
valley. Interestingly, Tuckaleechee Caverns, a commercial cave, is located just
outside the park on the opposite side of mountain from Whiteoak
Sinks. It’s possible that the sinkholes
and caves in Whiteoak Sinks are connected to Tuckaleechee Caverns.
Whiteoak Sinks is also known as one of the
best wildflower hot spots in the entire park.
I was hopeful that we’d find some flowers blooming despite the late
onset of spring.
After
talking with several people, I was confident that the hike would be easy enough
for Audrey and Ben. It also sounded like
a place that would hold their interest.
What kid wouldn’t be fascinated by caves, waterfalls, and disappearing
streams? This one certainly is.
We
got off to a casual start that morning.
It was chilly (temperatures started out in the low 30’s) and we didn’t
want the kids to be miserable. It was
mid-morning when we arrived at the Schoolhouse Gap trailhead, and it was still
quite cold despite clear skies.
Everybody got situated and we headed up the trail.
After
about a mile we reached a junction with the Turkeypen
Ridge Trail. We continued ahead a short
distance and reached a hitching post for horses. The unofficial but well-traveled trail into Whiteoak Sinks begins here.
We headed down it, enjoying some early spring wildflowers along the
way. The kids seemed to be having a good
time. They were focused on the various
bird calls we heard, although they somehow kept missing the sound of a
woodpecker nearby.
The
“off-trail” hike was pretty easy aside from some muddy stretches and a couple
of minor creek crossings. We reached the
bottom of the valley, which is incredibly flat by Smoky Mountain standards. After a short distance we reached a
junction. We turned right, and followed
the valley bottom to the waterfall. A
small creek spills 40’ here into a sinkhole.
I took some photos and we had an early lunch there before resuming our
exploration of the valley.
We
backtracked, and then continued on to the opposite end of the valley. This part of Whiteoak
Sinks is broad, flat, and lightly wooded.
Before long a high cliff loomed ahead of us. At the base of the cliff we found the bat
cave, which is now blocked by an iron gate.
There is a sign here about White Nosed Syndrome, which has been
decimating bat populations in the Eastern U.S.
The sign mentioned that one common symptom of the disease is bats flying
around in the middle of the day. Shortly
before we left, we saw a bat fluttering around.
From
there, Ian, Ben, and I went searching for another cave. From the entrance to the bat cave, we headed
up the valley to the right. We didn’t
know what we were looking for exactly, but figured we’d know it when we found
it. And find it we did. We followed a dry wash steadily uphill until
it leveled off. There, we found the
entrance to another cave just ahead.
This cave isn’t gated, but there are signs prohibiting entry. Although we couldn’t go in, it was still a
fascinating spot. We could hear a stream
running back in there somewhere.
We
returned to rejoin the ladies at the bat cave.
At that point we spent some time exploring the valley looking for
wildflowers. Spring was late this year,
so the typical wildflower show wasn’t on display. Despite this, there were still some nice
gems. I found lots of Hepatica along the
cliffs above the bat cave entrance. Over
near a wild pig trap we found lots of trout lilies and bloodroot.
We
hiked out early that afternoon. The
return hike was uneventful, and the kids did great.
It
was still early, so we decided to do another hike. First we drove over to Cades Cove for ice
cream. The sugar must’ve re-energized
the kids, because they were ready for another hike afterwards. Our second adventure of the day was in the
Tremont section of the park. Our plan
was a short hike to Spruce Flats Falls.
We drove to the Smoky Mountain Institute, parked, and followed the
numerous signs for the falls. We
followed the trail up switchbacks above the institute, enjoying more
wildflowers along the way. A bit later
we were treated to a nice view of the valley below.
A
final descent brought us to the base of Spruce Flats Falls. This waterfall is a beauty. It drops over three tiers, with the first two
being 10-15’ each. The final 40’ drop is
breathtaking and quite photogenic. We
had a long break there and I took lots of photos.
The
hike out was uneventful. The drive back
to Gatlinburg was slow, due to heavy traffic.
Getting through Gatlinburg was even worse. The town is only about 2 miles long, and it
probably took us 30 minutes. Getting
back to the condo was a relief. We had
dinner there, and then took wine and beer with us to the hot tub. The pool area was overrun with teenagers, but
they scattered like roaches under a spotlight when the old people showed up.
Back to Great Smoky Mountains National Park
Back to Hiking and Backpacking Trip Reports
Please remember to Leave No Trace!