Old Sugarlands trail & rock house

 11/10/14  This 7 mile hike involved a two car shuttle, or else a LOT of walking.  We opted for the two cars, since there were 8 of us anyway.  We parked at the trailhead near Gatlinburg and ended up at the  Sugarlands visitor center.  This is a beautiful trail, nice and wide and well padded with pine needles, but is also used for horses, so you have to watch where you step! About halfway down, we took a manway(old trail that is no longer maintained) to an old cemetery and a "rock house".  These aren't on any of the park maps, and the rangers officially know nothing, but obviously a lot of people know about them.  At the cemetery we talked to a lady who was visiting the graves of her great grandparents.
The rock house is exactly what it sounds like, a house made of rocks.  The roof, windows, etc. are all gone but surprisingly there isn't much vandalism (probably because it's not on the map).  There are no clear cut records, but the most popular theory is that the house was a home/office for the superintendent when Hwy 321 was put in.

This house was built to last!   I was coveting the cast iron skillet!

 Hank, Pat and Helen lounging in the "living room"

Wouldn't you like to have this in your backyard?

Beautiful day, beautiful trail, great companions, what more do you want?

Front:  Hank in his orange Vols hat, Sammy, John, who was racing to get in the picture before the timer went off.

Back left:  Pat & Helen, Alice (green shirt) Vicky, Steve

Gatlinburg Trail

 November 3, 2014

After sending our thru-hiker (He finished! if you are interested in reading more )on his way, we decided to do a short walk on the Gatlinburg trail.  This trail is really more of a jogging/biking trail, and is one of the more level trails in the park.  Pets are also allowed, so we saw a lot of dogs and all were well behaved!  We began at the back of the Sugarlands Visitor center, walked 2 miles to Gatlinburg, had lunch and walked back.  Definitely one of our easier hikes, but still enjoyable. 

As we returned to the visitor center, we came across this monument to the CCC.  In our hikes, we have come across the remains of a lot of CCC camps, and learning the pre-park history of the area is very interesting to me.  My grandfather was a supervisor in the CCC near Morristown, TN, so seeing these remains always reminds me of him.