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Recent
Hikes
Lakeshore Trail – October 17, 2007 – Nineteen of us
met at the Fontana Reservoir marina at 8:45 am to meet the boat shuttle to take
us to campsite 77 on Lakeshore trail in the Great Smoky Mountains National
Park.
 Information on directions to Fontana, and contact numbers for the boat shuttle can be
found in my Day Hiker’s Guide. It
was overcast and windy for the boat ride, but most of us had brought layers
to bundle up in.
Fontana is 70 feet below normal summer pool, and the
exposed banks made hiking into campsite 77 a bit time consuming. This photo
shows the entrance into 77 via Pilkey Creek.
 We estimated that we added on about ¼
mile each way just gaining access to the boat. We didn’t start the hike until
10:45, and most of us felt a bit stressed to hike the 13+ miles to
Eagle Creek, where the boat was meeting us at 3:30. But, it turned out to be a beautiful
day, and although Lakeshore Trail stays at the lower elevations, once again,
there was some pretty fall foliage. The sections of Lakeshore between
campsite 81 and Eagle Creek proved to have some very strenuous climbs, much
to our surprise.
We got to the old town of Proctor on Hazel Creek right at 1:30, leaving us 2 hours to hike the 5 miles
to the boat at Eagle Creek and campsite 90. Most of the old buildings at
Proctor have disappeared, but the bridge is still present. If you turn onto
the Hazel Creek trail, just over the bridge, you can
still see some old foundations evident.
 Calhoun House, across Hazel Creek, is
the only building still standing, and it is
utilized by the Park Service for temporary housing. We noticed an
array of solar panels in the back yard, indicating that the house has some
capacity for electricity.
We continue to the left of the bridge,
passing by Calhoun House, and on these last 4.4 miles of Lakeshore, we saw
lots of evidence of previous habitation. Remains of several old cars can be
seen, as well as some old chimneys and stone walls. Click on this link to see some more photos. This section
of trail is new, built to replace the eroded Pinnacle Ridge trail that once
connected Jenkins Ridge trail to campsite 90 (the pinnacle Ridge trail is
officially closed to hikers and horseback riders).
When we finally arrived at Eagle Creek, we
found we had to hike quite a distance to get to the boat. Eagle Creek had
enough water running in it that we had to wade it, but since most of us were
already late for the 3:30 pickup, most of us just walked across
with our boots on. Those with long legs were able to find some convenient
rocks to hop across.
 The “Miss Hazel,” a large pontoon boat was waiting for
us at the end of our hike. It took another 30 minutes to get back to the
marina, and a 2-hour drive to get back home – a long day. Click on this link
to see a few more photos taken during this hike and the drive home.
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