Kayaking in the Smokies

[wspscott]

I spent a couple days in March kayaking and hiking in the Smokies. Here is an abbreviated trip report with a lot more photos and details on my blog

https://backpackandbeer.blogspot.com/2017/03/smokies-kayaking.html

I launched at the Cable Cove boat ramp on the south shore of Fontana Lake, it was a beautiful day, but a little windy.

I headed towards Fontana Dam and Campsite 87 on an island. This time of year, the water level is lowered in the lake so there are a lot of "beaches" and exposed rock and the island was actually connected to the main land with a "land bridge" that is normally submerged in the summer.

I enjoyed a nice sunset

And the stars

And woke up the next morning to paddle to the Proctor area on Hazel Creek. It was a lot more windy today, but thankfully the wind was mostly at my back

On the way, I stopped at Cable Cove (not the boat ramp) to check out an old cemetery in the park that is only accessible by boat. I think the trail to the cemetery follows an old road, it passes some obvious home sites as well as this cool rock wall.

One of the gravestones in the Cable Cemetery.

All of the cemeteries in the smokies have lots of graves of infant and young children. The dad in me is always saddened by these.

Then headed up Hazel Creek towards the trail to Campsite 86 and Proctor

Someone had left a lot of processed firewood for my fire (good for two nights)

The next morning I explored the area a little bit on the way to Bone Valley in the middle of the park

This is the old lumber mill

At the end of the Bone Valley Trail is the Hall Cabin. It was built around 1880 and is on the National Register of Historic Places

The Hall Cemetery at the end of the trail, the daffodils were very pretty

I had another campfire and I woke the next morning to this

I explored a bit

And then it was time to head to the kayak and back to the boat ramp. It was a beautiful day for a paddle with a light breeze and lots of sun. A perfect way to end the trip.

[HikerJ]

Gorgeous pictures and thanks for sharing. I've been to that area before a few times but never to hike or kayak. Looks like a great trip.

After seeing this maybe I'll do a trip report on my 5 day in the Superstitions last month.

[wspscott]

53 minutes ago, HikerJ said:

Gorgeous pictures and thanks for sharing. I've been to that area before a few times but never to hike or kayak. Looks like a great trip.

After seeing this maybe I'll do a trip report on my 5 day in the Superstitions last month.

Glad you liked the photos. You should definitely put together a trip report, that is where I get a lot of ideas for future trips.

[HikerJ]

On 3/22/2017 at 0:04 PM, wspscott said:

Glad you liked the photos. You should definitely put together a trip report, that is where I get a lot of ideas for future trips.

Ok, I'll post one here in the near future. Probably won't be until after the weekend but we'll see.