On Saturday, April 14, 2018, my beautiful daughter in law, Danielle, and I headed to Bryson City and the Deep Creek area of The Great Smokey Mountains National Park. The drive over 40 to Maggie Valley, then over the Blue Ridge Parkway into GSMNP, then back to Cherokee, NC, and finally Bryson City took us about 2 hours and 45 minutes from home. It was a beautiful day, warm with a slight breeze.
We started our adventure with a .3 mile side trip from the parking lot to Juney Whank Falls, one of 3 popular waterfalls we would see on our hike. Our planned route would take us up Deep Creek Trail to the juncture with Indian Creek Trail. We would hike Indian Creek to the juncture with Deeplow Gap, go a short distance on Deeplow Gap to the juncture with Indian Creek Motor Trail. We would climb Indian Creek Motor Trail then descend back to Stone Pile Gap Trail on Thomas Divide traverse Stone Pile Gap to Indian Creek then retrace our steps to the Parking lot. Altogether the round trip promised to garner us 10+ miles of togetherness in the most wonderful setting imaginable.
We left our gear in the Jeep for the quick jaunt up to see Juney Whank Falls, a pretty cascade with a nice boardwalk and bench where one can sit and enjoy the sight and sounds of the cascading water along with the coolness of the water spray. Pictures and memories made we retraced our path to the Jeep, gathered snacks and supplies and headed up Deep Creek Trail. We met a very nice couple and their tiny fur baby Elliot, a long haired, elderly chihuahua in a back pack.
We stopped for picture ops at Tom Branch Falls. There are several benches with excellent views of the waterfalls. Many folks take advantage of the seating to enjoy the beauty and relax after the short walk to the attraction. We pressed on the the juncture with Indian Creek Trail.
Making a right we walked uphill a short distance to view Indian Creek Falls the third waterfall on the agenda. The upgrades to the access path to the viewing area made getting down to look up at the stunning waterfall much easier than it had been when I brought my Mon over to check out the Waterfalls a couple years ago.
We proceeded on up Indian Creek Trail, a nice, wide easy trail. It was like walking along an old country lane. It is an old thoroughfare through a community of homesteads following the creek along its length. We crossed the creek a couple times on nice bridges and enjoyed the sounds of the flowing water. It was an easy pleasant stroll.
Then we came to the intersection with Deeplow Gap and the terrain changed. We turned right and headed up. The trail narrowed and became rugged, with rocks that made one have to watch where the foot fell with each step. We only had 0.4 miles on Deeplow Gap before we came to Indian Creek Motor Trail. We stood at the intersection and watched a fellow hiker descend toward us. We asked him if we were on the right trail and he grinned and said we had a climb ahead of us. He did not lie.
Indian Creek Motor Trail was 1.8 miles of steady elevation gain. We climbed over 900 ft in a steady incline winding our way around on a wide path that had initially been developed with the intent of being a Motor Trail. That fell through and only hikers and horse back riders and mountain bikers are allowed on the trail. The woods are slowly transitioning through the seasonal change. Signs of spring are popping up all over in the forms of wild flowers, greening vegetation and bird song. Red faced and breathing hard, we maintained a steady pace. I could tell this really needed to be my last hike in my winter hiking pants. A steady stream of sweat ran down my back and dampened my clothing. The woods covered in layers of fallen leaves looked all winter like, the warm air, cool breeze and birds singing felt and sounded all spring like.
At the juncture of Indian Creek Motor Trail and Thomas Divide we took a sit down, snack break. We had finished our climb and looked forward to descending Thomas Divide and Stone Pile Gap. As we gathered up our packs to leave, Danielle grabbed my beloved Iron Wood walking stick and handed it to me with a wide smile. “I’ve read your blog, “ she declared, “I’m not backtracking!”
This section of Thomas Divide was wide and well maintained, the echoes of the old Motor loop in its dimensions. We descended at a nice easy clip to Stone Pile Gap Trail where we made a right and stepped off the ‘road’ onto a path. We descended down to follow a creek bed along to the trails end at Indian Creek.
We retraced our steps back down by the Indian Creek Falls and out Deep Creek Trail by Tom Branch Falls to the vehicle. Sore feet and knees from the descentk, but extremely happy with the day’s adventure!
MrsSmithsLifeUnexpected 