This is about a trip I made to the Smokies in the spring of 2020. I had made plans and gotten reservations for campsites up and down Hazel and Eagle Creeks for the week of Easter. I like taking that week off since it only uses up 4 of my vacation days. Well, the Wuflu hysteria happened. The park was closed to visitors, because so many people showed up at Newfound Gap. I posted this, in part, on three North Carolina hiking-type sites:
So, I can drive from my home to a remote parking area, either at Fontana Dam, or anywhere near Shining Rock or Middle Prong Wilderness, and back again on a tank of gas. Never mind that when I’m in either Park or Wilderness, the likelihood that I’ll see more than 5 people in a week is slim. Doesn’t matter that I made plans months ago to spend 6 nights, 7 days in the wilderness AWAY FROM PEOPLE.
There were some other comments regarding our freedoms and sheeple – I posted at lunch time one day and by 5 PM, there was so many hateful responses that the moderators took the post down. At any rate, I saw a total of 12 people in six days, including the two shuttle boat pilots.
At any rate, I made new plans for mid-May when the park re-opened. I spent six nights on Eagle and Hazel Creeks and at the Possum Hollow campsite. The first day I hiked from campsite 90, where the shuttle pilot dropped me off, to campsite 89. There were three Eagle Creek crossings, the last one deeper than the first two. I stayed there two nights. The first day, I busted my shin pretty good wading in the creek fishing. As a result, I ended up upgrading my first aid kit when I got home. I had carried a unit since a 1975 Boy Scout trip and had continued to replace pieces in it. It wasn’t nearly enough for my shin though. Late that afternoon the rain started – it pretty much rained on and off for the next 6 days.
Hiking from Campsite 89 to Possum Hollow site 88, the first Eagle Creek crossing was a bit scary as it looked like the creek was up ~9” and it was the deepest on the way up the first day. The next two were almost nothing, but I didn’t trust my footing in the sandals after my shin incident, so I just walked in wet boots.
From site 88, I hiked to Proctor, then up Hazel Creek to site 84, Sugar Fork, and stayed there two nights. I made two short excursions, one up the Sugar Fork Trail towards Jenkins Ridge Trail and to a cemetery along the way. The second was further up Hazel Creek toward Bone Valley and the cemetery there.
On the way out, I hiked back to the Possum Hollow site, stopping at the house in Proctor to wait out a downburst and eat lunch.
The last day, I hiked to the pick up point on Hazel Creek.
McLeod's Hikes and Such 