June 30 - July 2 (2 nights)
2019 bag nights: 9
My wife took the oldest kid to Chicago for a short girl's trip and I had the other two kids (6 and 8 years old). I decided that we would have more fun together if we went backpacking vs. staying home.
My first thought was the Smokies and camp with easy access to Lake Fontana since the weather forecast looked hot. But then I remembered the Deep Creek area. I had not been here in a couple of
years. I knew it would be crowded at the trailhead since it is popular with tubers, but I had no idea how popular. My biggest concern was weather/heat, the highs were forecasted to be in the mid-80s, but I figured we could cool off in the creek.
So three nights along Deep Creek and Indian Creek, a ~16 mile loop was mapped out and off we went.
Note: just my crappy cell phone with a crack across the lens for photos
Tom Branch Falls (and a few of the tubers on the creek)
The first mile or so is an old road and easy hiking (and lots of tubers)
The kids loved the butterflies, as did I ...
... I liked the flowers as well
First night at site 60
There were three young guys here as well. I asked if we could share their campfire for a bit and they were nice and said sure. They were doing the same loop we were but in reverse and only 2 vs 3 nights.
Looking up Deep Creek as the sun drops behind the ridge.
Woke up the next day and after a leisurely start, we headed up the trail.
A moth with a broken wing was fluttering next to the trail. The kids felt bad for it and then my son started talking about how it was going to probably die soon and we moved on down the trail
The rhododendron were blooming
Lunch time on Deep Creek
Horace Kephart plaque near Site 57
Looks like an old millstone
The trickle near site 57 occupied the kids for a little bit, but Deep Creek is not near the campsite, so no playing in the water. Also, the bugs were really annoying here.
After dinner, we played Blackjack (good counting/addition game for kids) and talked about the next day. My original plan was to hike over Sunkota Ridge and down the Martins Gap Trail to Site 46. This would only been about 3 miles, but a 1000 foot climb/descent and from talking to the guys the first night, there was not easy access to the creek and it was a bit buggy. I talked to the kids to see what they wanted to do and suggested that we hike back towards Site 60 and maybe hike all the way to the car if they were up for a 6 mile hike.
A small waterfall next to the trail
We got back to Site 60 around lunch time and the rest of the trail is easy hiking, so we continued on to the car. I asked my kids if they enjoyed the trip and they said it was "way better than staying home, even with the horrible bugs" so I guess it was a successful trip. Next time somewhere higher up with hopefully cooler temperatures and fewer bugs.
