AFTERNOON HOOKY

A couple of weeks ago a job assignment took me to Mountain City, Tennessee. Since there are no hotels in Mountain City (except one that looks like a trailer park), I stayed in Boone. Jobs that take me to Boone are always welcome assignments, as they give me a chance to return to my college town on someone else’s nickel. Actually, I had already been spending quite a bit of time in Boone. I had been there the last two Saturday’s for ASU playoff football, and was returning that Saturday for their semi-final game against Youngstown State.

On my first day, I received a call from my boss with a bonus assignment near Kingsport, Tennessee. It had to happen on Wednesday, so I put my current job on hold. Fortunately the assignment ended up taking only a couple of hours, and I found myself back in Elizabethton, Tennessee by noon. I had ambitiously brought my hiking gear with me, and thanks to a free afternoon, I had a chance to use it. I stopped at Taco Johns for lunch and a chance to plan my afternoon hike.

Christy and I were delighted to find a Taco Johns location in Tennessee. Taco Johns is a Wyoming chain that we’ve enjoyed on a couple of our trips to the Rockies. It’s similar to another, more famous taco chain, except they use actual beef instead of dog food in their tacos.

While I was eating, I noticed a series of photos on the wall of the old East Tennessee & Western North Carolina Railroad. The ET&WNC was the inspiration for the Tweetsie Railroad theme park outside of Blowing Rock. The railroad originally ran from Johnson City, TN all the way to Boone. There isn’t much left of it now though, as the line peters out after only a few miles in Elizabethtown. The photos dated from the 1930’s and 40’s, and largely focused on the scenic stretch of rails through the Doe River Gorge. I’ve hiked the old railroad bed through the gorge on several occasions, but I’d never visited a separate tunnel near the river just downstream from Hampton, TN. For the day’s first adventure, I decided to search for that tunnel (labeled “tunnel #1” on the topo map).

Shortly before Hampton, TN the highway passes through a cut in the ridge and crosses a bridge over the Doe River. I didn’t see a good place to pull off, so I made a couple of U-turns and made another pass. This time, I spotted a likely parking spot at the entrance to a gated road just before the beginning of a long stretch of guardrail. It didn’t take long to discover that I’d found the right place. I walked down the old gated road a short distance, and thought I could see the tunnel through the trees in the side of the mountain on the far side of the river. How would I get over there? As I descended, an old bridge came into view. The railroad trestle over the river is long gone, but the old highway bridge is still standing. The old road led right to it, and although there wasn’t much left of the bridge, it was still safe to cross.

Once on the far side, I scrambled up a steep slope to reach the railroad grade. Just ahead was the tunnel. This tunnel was no modern engineering marvel. It was carved through the mountain around a hundred years ago, and it looked it. The tunnel looks more like a cave, its small, dark opening hiding untold mysteries. Vines hung down in front of the entrance, further obscuring what lay ahead.

I entered the tunnel, and the silent darkness quickly reminded me that I’d left my flashlight in the car. Fortunately the tunnel’s exit was in sight, and my eyes quickly adjusted to the low light. I walked deeper into the darkness, observing the rough-hewn rock walls and the soot stains on the ceiling. All too soon I emerged from the tunnel, the ominous silence replaced by the roar of the river below. The railroad continued on, towards Hampton, but I’d left my pack in the car. It hadn’t occurred to me to extend my hike beyond the tunnel. I guess I’ll just have to return another time.

I returned through the tunnel and back to the car. From there, I drove to Hampton and picked up route 321 towards Boone. After a couple of miles, I crossed a bridge over the Laurel Fork and pulled into a popular trailhead parking area. Despite beautiful December weather, the parking lot was deserted.

I gathered my gear and began the hike to Laurel Falls. I’ve hiked to Laurel Falls many times over the years since my college days. Recently I’ve favored the approach from Dennis Cove, so it had actually been a few years since I’d walked this stretch of trail. It didn’t take long for me to remember what I’d been missing. A minor climb led to the top of a hill with a modest view across the valley. From there I descended rapidly to the bank of the Laurel Fork. I hiked upstream, scrambling over rocks in one place where there had been no room to build the trail.

Before long I reached the base of Buckled Rock, an impressive cliff towering above the creek. Buckled Rock gets its name from its many layers of broken rock. I stopped briefly to admire the cliff before resuming my hike upstream.

After a short distance I joined the AT, which crosses Watauga Dam, highway 321, and Pond Mountain on its way south towards Laurel Falls. The AT led across a pair of bridges over the creek that provided fine views of the many rapids and cascades. Shortly beyond the second bridge I reached the base of the only significant climb on the way to the falls. I left the creek here, and began a steady climb up a spur ridge. Once on top of the narrow, rocky ridge I was treated to a fine view of the Laurel Fork gorge far below.

I reached a junction, with the side trail ahead leading to a trail shelter and an alternate route that is good choice when water levels are high. I stayed on the main trail though, descending quickly back down to the creek. From there I resumed hiking upstream, and passed through another area where mild rock scrambling was necessary. A couple of minutes later I turned a corner and arrived at the base of Laurel Falls.

Laurel Falls has always been one of my favorites, and today I had it all to myself. I took a short break there to enjoy the view and attempt some photos. Although it was a sunny day, it was getting late, and the sun had dropped enough that photographic conditions were decent.

I only had a couple of hours of daylight to spare when I began the 2 ½ mile hike back to the car. Despite this, I decided to take an alternate route for variety. The alternate route required a fair climb out of the gorge, which gave me the benefit of some additional exercise. At the top I reached an old railroad grade, which I followed to a trail shelter. I paused there briefly to sign the trail register, but the register was not to be found.

I descended down the ridge from the shelter, and rejoined the main trail a few minutes later. From there, all I had to do was retrace my steps back to the car. I reached the trailhead shortly before 5, and was well on my way back to Boone before dark.

The rest of my trip to Boone was quite an adventure. On Thursday afternoon in Mountain City snow began to fall, and I left work early to get back to Boone before road conditions deteriorated. I was lucky. By that evening, several inches of snow were on the ground, and there were widespread reports of traffic problems throughout the area. I retreated to the Hampton Inn (strategically located across the street from Peabody’s Wine & Beer) and watched the snow fall from there.

By the next morning the streets had been cleared, but it was brutal leaving the hotel in single digit temperatures and howling winds. I finished my job by lunchtime on Friday, but decided against another afternoon hike. I hadn’t brought adequate gear to hike in sub-freezing temperatures and fresh snow. Instead I headed home, but got tangled up in a traffic jam caused by a rock slide on the highway south of Blowing Rock. Unfortunately, I knew that I’d have to drive back through it the next morning on the way back up for the ASU football game. Luckily, the game was worth it!

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