DENNIS COVE
Christy and I spent this
Labor Day weekend camping in a new area.
Christy purchased her latest toy, a whitewater kayak, on EBay the week
before. We had to drive to Kingsport,
TN, to pick it up, so we decided we might as well camp somewhere in that
direction. Briefly we considered going
up to Cumberland Gap National Park, on the border of Virginia, Kentucky, and
Tennessee. Ultimately we decided that
we didn’t want to drive that far (having just returned from the Rockies will do
that). Instead, we headed to the
Cherokee National Forest in northeast Tennessee.
We took the new I-26 up from
Asheville to Kingsport and picked up the kayak. Then we backtracked to Johnson City, and drove through
Elizabethtown. Our first goal for the
weekend was to find a place where Christy could try out her boat. Initially I thought of Watauga Lake, but
decided we’d be better off avoiding the powerboats and jet skis. Just downstream from Watauga Lake is Wilbur
Lake, which is a much smaller body of water.
From driving by there previously, I knew it was pretty. Plus, it was an easy drive from where we
were planning on camping.
We drove up the road to
Watauga Dam(n), passing the smaller Wilbur Dam(n) along the way. Above Wilbur Dam, the long but narrow Wilbur
Lake stretches through a rugged gorge.
Just before a bridge over the river we found a picnic area with a
convenient put-in. Christy unloaded the
new kayak, while I inflated a boat I’d borrowed (some time ago) from a
friend. We put in a few minutes later,
and headed upstream.
Although we were in a lake,
we had to fight a strong current.
Watauga Dam is only a mile or two upstream, and the TVA was releasing a
lot of water in response to heavy rains in the area over the past few days. I found the going difficult, while Christy
found it nearly impossible. Clearly her
whitewater kayak was not meant to be paddled upstream. She spun in circles frequently as we passed
a couple of fishermen under the bridge.
Beyond we spooked some geese and reached another put-in just downstream
from an RV campground. At this point,
the lake narrowed further, and the current strengthened. We fought it a little longer, before giving
up and heading back.
Going the other direction
was much easier, and Christy had better luck steering her boat. When we reached the take-out, Christy
decided she’d had enough. She decided
to take out and do a 45-minute run.
While she was running, I continued to the other end of the lake.
I followed the rocky cliffs
along the far shore all the way to the dam.
Along the way, I spotted a groundhog wandering along the bank. The highlight of this area was fog rising
off the surface of the lake. Although
it was a fairly cool and cloudy day, the fog seemed completely out of
place. I’m guessing that it was caused
by the difference in temperature between the air and the water, but that might
be completely wrong.
We returned to the car and
headed for camp. Along the way we
stopped for groceries and firewood. In
Hampton, TN, we turned towards Boone on 321.
After only a short distance, we found the road to Dennis Cove. I had dayhiked in this area previously, but
I’d never stayed at the Dennis Cove campground. I remembered liking the area though, and was hoping that it would
be far enough out of the way that it wouldn’t be crowded on a holiday
weekend. In fact, my biggest concern
was that it might be full. My
recollection was that it was a pretty small campground.
I didn’t need to worry. When we arrived, there was exactly one
occupied campsite out of 15. We had our
choice of sites, but it wasn’t easy.
Almost all of the sites in this campground are attractive. We ended up choosing site #6, which is
situated right on the bank of Laurel Fork Creek. Abundant Rhododendron provided ample privacy, even after a few
other groups showed up later that weekend.
The only drawback to the campground is that alcoholic beverages are
prohibited. That was one rule that we
enjoyed violating – repeatedly.
Apparently we weren’t the only ones, considering the contents of the
dumpsters.
Another appealing aspect of
the Dennis Cove campground is the proximity of hiking trails in the area. The Appalachian Trail passes through Dennis
Cove about a mile from the campground, on its way between Whiterocks Mountain
and the Laurel Fork Gorge. At the
campground itself, the Upper Laurel Fork Trail follows the creek some 8-10
miles upstream. I was looking forward
to taking advantage of some of those hiking options while we were there.
That evening, Christy and I
grilled steaks and enjoyed a variety of illegal beverages. One of the things I learned in college is
that drinking alcohol is a lot more fun when it’s against the rules! Later we managed to coax a fire out of damp
wood just in time for the arrival of Christy’s sister, Megan, Megan’s
boyfriend, Forest, and our nephew, Nathan.
They had left Charlotte after Forest finished work that afternoon. We all feasted on smores before heading to
bed.
We slept in a bit the next
morning. My plan for the weekend was
somewhat less ambitious than normal.
For one thing, everyone was exhausted and was looking for the chance to
relax. For another, I had injured my
right calf while running a couple of weeks before. On Friday I had attempted to run again for the first time, and I
re-injured it. Since I was hobbling, I
didn’t want to attempt a strenuous hike.
Steep climbs definitely seemed to aggravate it.
After some blueberry
pancakes, we planned our day’s hike.
Originally I’d planned on hiking the Upper Laurel Fork Trail to Frog Level. From there, we’d use the Lacy Trap Trail to
connect with the AT on Whiterocks Mountain.
A descent of the AT would leave us just down the road from the
campground. That was before I found out
that Megan, Forest, and Nathan didn’t have spare shoes. The Upper Laurel Fork Trail crosses the
creek 25 times, and the water was up. I
reconsidered, and decided to take them to the Laurel Fork Gorge instead. The hike on the AT through the gorge is
fantastic, and it’s only 3 miles round-trip to Laurel Fork Falls. Plus, all of the creek crossings are on
bridges. Extending the hike to the
impressive cliff of Buckled Rock would double the length of the hike, if we
chose to do so.
We rearranged the cars and
drove down to the AT trailhead. There
were only a few cars here, which was considerably less than there had been the
previous afternoon. We picked up the
AT, which follows an old railroad grade to an attractive footbridge over the
creek. Beyond we rejoined the grade,
passing through several cuts where the tracks were blasted through the
mountain. Soon we found ourselves high
above the creek, which was tumbling down through the gorge below. Then we reached the side trail to Potato
Top.
It had been several years
since my last hike to Potato Top.
Unfortunately, I tend to forget how difficult some hikes are after a few
years go by. I knew the climb was a bit
challenging, but it was less than ¼ mile to the top. How tough could that be?
I don’t think anyone was
happy with me when we reached the top.
My calf was screaming at me, thanks to the steep climb up the
boulders. Everyone else was a bit worn
out, except Nathan, who had practically run to the top. Even Saucony was a little overheated. At least we were able to enjoy a refreshing
breeze and a fine view of the gorge from the top of the cliffs.
Going back down was a bit
tedious. At the bottom, Megan and
Forest decided they were ready to head back.
Nathan decided to join us as we hiked the rest of the way to the falls.
We followed the railroad grade
a short distance before beginning a long, rocky descent. 10 minutes later, we were rewarded with a
view from the base of one of eastern Tennessee’s finest waterfalls. This is a waterfall I’ve been to several
times, but I never get tired of it.
When we arrived, I was surprised to find only one family there. They left a few minutes later, and we
actually had the falls to ourselves for lunch.
Nathan’s feet were bothering
him, so we decided to hike back rather than extend the hike. We returned to camp by mid-afternoon. Since it was still early, Christy and I went
for another short hike. This time, we
started from our campsite and hiked upstream along Laurel Fork. This trail also follows an old railroad
grade, but there are no bridges at the frequent creek crossings. The high water turned an easy hike into a
challenging one. Christy and I hiked in
sandals so we wouldn’t have to change shoes every few minutes. This turned out to be a good strategy.
The first crossing was thigh
deep, and rock hopping was not an option.
At the next one, I chose the wrong spot to cross, and nearly went for an
inadvertent swim. Christy used some
boulders and a fallen tree to cross. At
first this looked dicey, but it turned out to be the best route. The third crossing was a standard ford, and
it led to an area of blooming Cardinal flowers and interesting mushrooms. Just after crossing, we met a group of
dayhikers heading the other way. They
promised us an impressive waterfall was just a few minutes ahead.
They weren’t
exaggerating. We reached Dennis Cove
Falls without having to cross the creek again.
The trail stays above the creek at the falls, but two side trails
provide access to viewpoints. The falls
are really a long series of cascades and smaller drops. The first side trail provides a view from
the very base. This view was nice, but
the sun was in the worst possible spot, and it was hard to see much. The second side trail took us to the base of
the first and most impressive drop.
This was a very attractive waterfall!
Although I’d never heard about it before, it was nearly as nice as
Laurel Fork Falls downstream. I spent
about 30 minutes taking photographs, using the new tripod Christy had bought me
for my birthday. Although it was a
sunny day, it was late enough that the sun was screened by the trees. Conditions weren’t optimal, but they were
much better than they had been earlier at Laurel Fork Falls.
The National Geographic map
of the area shows more waterfalls upstream.
I’d like to go back to this area sometime and explore further. For this day though, our explorations were
over. We left the fishermen we’d met
there behind (who were fishing with illegal bait) and headed back
downstream. The hike out was much
faster, largely because we knew the best places to ford the creek. We returned to camp shortly after 5pm and
prepared dinner. That evening, we had
chicken and rice wraps, more illegal beverages, and another campfire. We all played cards for a while, before
heading to bed.
That night, the rain that
had held off for two days finally came.
It started well after midnight, and sent Forest and Megan scrambling to
attach the fly to their tent. All
through the night, I was disturbed by dreams that we had left the car windows
down. When we finally got up that
morning, it was still raining. Christy
and I lounged in the tent for a while before deciding to skip our planned
mountain bike ride and head home.
Cooking breakfast in the rain has never been my favorite thing, so we
decided to head for Boone and the Boone Bagelry.
We reluctantly crawled from
the tent and began packing up. It was
then that Christy discovered that I’d left some gear outside the car the night
before. Now I understood my dream about
leaving the car windows down. The dream
had been a little off base, but not much.
I had been in the process of moving gear from Megan’s car back to ours
when I’d gotten distracted. Dinner
ensued, and I forgot all about the equipment that was sitting on the ground
between our cars. Unfortunately, the
gear included Christy’s bag of schoolwork and her new laptop. Luckily for me, the bag is waterproof. I’m pleased to report that the waterproof
bag passed its test, and that I haven’t been kicked out of the house.
We headed to Boone, where
the Boone Bagelry was packed, as always.
After a late breakfast, we headed home.
It was nice to get home early, especially since I had a lot to do before
my business trip to Vancouver the next day.
Christy and I definitely plan to return to camp again at Dennis
Cove. It’s now one of our favorite
campgrounds, and there are still several hikes in the area that I’d like to
do.
Back to Tennessee
Back to Hiking and Backpacking Trip Reports
Please remember to Leave No Trace!