Dad and son in the Smokies

 6/8 - 6/11/25

Fontana Dam Trailhead

The ladies are on a trip so the boys are going backpacking.

Weather looks somewhat standard for the Smokies this time of year, hopefully we will get lucky.

The plan is to hike up to Gregory Bald then take the AT and come down Jenkins Ridge to Hazel Creek and then take the Lakeshore Trail back to the trailhead. Caltopo says 38 miles and 8800' of elevation, should be fine over 5 nights. But, things did not go according to plan.

Started at Fontana Dam, nice walk and view of the lake and no need to pay the newish parking fee that the park implemented recently.

Then up the AT, it is steep and relentless

The Flame Azaleas are popping as we get higher which gives me hope to see them blooming on Gregory Bald. 

Weird growths on some of them, no idea what is going on

Shuckstack Firetower

Campsite 92

Gregory Bald looking down on Cades Cove. I had thought we would come back for the sunset, but storms came through right after dinner. 

Campsite 13 (near Gregory Bald)

We got to the intersection with the AT and my son said his hips were killing him. He was using a kid backpack and he has grown so much in the last year that the hip belt wasn't really wrapping around very well. He had a large bruise on each hip bone, no wonder he said they hurt. It was obvious that my original plans were going to work, so we called an audible and decided to skip most to the remaining trip and head down hill to what had been going to be our campsite in a couple nights. This would shave about 20 miles off the trip. So back down to where the creeks start flowing. 

We got to campsite 90 on Fontana Lake and no one was there, which surprised me since it is pretty popular. 

Home for the next two nights (Site 90)

The next day, we did a day hike over to Hazel Creek so he could see some of what we missed by changing plans. 

Hazel Creek from the bridge near Proctor

My son really wanted a campfire, so he dragged a couple perfect pieces back to camp where I could use my saw. 

Dinner time and almost time for a campfire. A solo hiker showed up and set up camp around the corner while we were hiking.

As I was getting the fire going, we heard the solo guy yelling. He seemed pretty stressed and it sounded like he had said bear. So, let's go see what's going on. We walk around the corner and a very large black bear is about 10 feet from the guy and not really moving away. This is weird since I've seen a ton of bears in the park and they always run from people. If I had had my camera, I would have got some great photos. Instead, we got some rocks and a couple bouncing off his head drove him away. I talked to the solo guy and he said he thought the bear had dragged some of his food into the trees and he was going to shoot it if it came back. That's when I noticed he had a pistol in his hand next to his leg. I told him not to shot the bear and it probably wasn't going to come back anyway and we went back to get a fire going. Less than 5 minutes and we heard multiple shots, thankfully he was shooting into the air and not towards us or the bear, but the bear did not care at all and just proceeded to wander around the camp. We all decided that maybe we would pack up and hike out tonight if the bear was going to be wandering around like this. 

So, 9pm pack up everything and load up for a 6.5ish mile hike in the dark after our 10ish mile day hike. We made good time and got to my car at exactly 12am and then drove the 4 hours home. It was a very long day. 

I called the backcountry office the next day to report the bear issue and they closed the campsite for a while. 

Great trip with my son, would have been better with a better pack and without a problem bear. One good thing was the realization that a new pack was needed for our planned trip to WY in another month. 

Hidden Creek Expedition

 8/1 - 8/7/24

Deer Creek Trailhead

Washakie and Teton Wildernesses

Shoshone and Teton National Forests

The guy from Texas looks at me and says "Have you ever heard the saying "The Sun Grew a Foot and it's Kicking My Ass?"" This planted the idea in my head of a sticker for the Hidden Creek Expedition. I'm not an artist, but with the help of AI, this is what I came up with.

Day 1 - Up Deer Creek

Hugh, Chris, Dave, and I were hiking all the way. Bob and Brent were riding horses to the top and then hiking from there. We are going to meet them tomorrow.

And it begins ...

The trail is hot, I wish I had started a couple hours earlier

Higher up, it begins to cool off a bit, still hot, but not desert feeling

There are not a lot of potential campsites along the trail, we found one that Bob later called the "circle of death" because of all the standing dead trees. It worked, but I would not want to sleep here again.

First night - Deer Creek Canyon

Day 2 - Over the pass and down towards Thorofare Creek

Almost to the top

I immediately thought "Erosion" when I saw this photo, a whole bunch of tiny trickles joined together to make this

Getting closer

That's the actual pass in the middle

A couple companions already there

Looking West from the pass

Fireweed covering a mountain side, I told Dave that this was not going to come out and I'm happy I was wrong

Second night camp along Butte Creek after meeting up with Bob and Brent

Butte Creek

Day 3 - to Thorofare Creek and then up Hidden Creek (and meeting a new friend)

Someone from online was going to try to meet up with us since he was going to be in the area. We had just got to this old cabin when I looked down at the trail and saw someone walking by. I yelled at him and asked if he was looking for us? And that is how Jim joined our group for a couple nights.

Third night - Packer camp in Hidden Creek (Seven tents, never hiked with this many people before)

Day 4 - To the Headwaters of Hidden Creek (and hopefully over to the North Fork of the Yellowstone)

No, we are not getting over that to the other side

Storm came though but did not last long, just got everything wet

A couple of us did a day hike to check out the waterfall.

Chris and I got tired of the bushwacking and turned around to head back to camp. Not long after, one of us looked over the shoulder and there was the waterfall. Close enough, I don't need to touch it. 

Almost back to camp

Fourth night - Headwaters of Hidden Creek

Day 5 - Back towards Thorofare Creek

Jim left us today to continue his expedition, hopefully we will meet again.

I had considered going up the west fork of Hidden Creek since we knew there was a way over to the Yellowstone and I had time. But, my sleep pad had developed a leak and I was thinking more about heading out vs heading in at this point. Everyone else was heading towards the trailhead, so I joined them.

Looked up to see this flying over the meadows of Hidden Creek

Working hard to get upstream

Thorofare Creek, it poured after dark, lots of thunder/lightning

Fifth night - Thorofare Creek

Day 6 - Back over the pass towards the trailhead (Chris, Brent, and I were heading out a day early, so we said goodbye to Hugh, Dave, and Bob)

Climbing towards the pass the sky started to get really dark, a couple of photos and then stuff the camera away. We decided to hide in a stand of trees while the storm blew through. 

Sixth night - Deer Creek Canyon (same as first night, karma bites again)

Bedtime visitor (cell phone pics from my bed)

Day 7 - easy hike back to the trailhead, wash a little in the creek and then I headed to Caspar for the night and then down to Colorado to see my sister and then home to KY

***************************************

Everyone else's versions

Dave (3 parts) - https://backcountrypost.com/threads/the-hidden-creek-expedition-dave-edition-part-1-of-3-august-1st-3rd-2024.11345/

https://backcountrypost.com/threads/the-hidden-creek-expedition-dave-edition-part-2-of-3-august-4th-5th-2024.11350/

https://backcountrypost.com/threads/the-hidden-creek-expedition-dave-edition-part-3-of-3-august-6th-9th-2024.11379/

Hugh - https://backcountrypost.com/threads/hidden-creek-scatman-edition-teton-wilderness-august-1-2024.11338/

Bob - https://backcountrypost.com/threads/hidden-creek-teton-wilderness-bob-edition-in-pics-2024.11343/

Jim - https://backcountrypost.com/threads/teton-wilderness-hike-and-encounter-with-some-eccentric-characters.11330/

Brent - https://backcountrypost.com/threads/wyoming-2024-the-hidden-creek-expedition.11307/