Tuesday, January 1, 2013

Camping at Gregory Bald/Campsite 13

A few years ago I went on an overnight camping trip by myself to campsite 13 near Gregory Bald in the the GSMNP.  I remember that it was fall and a bit chilly outside, but not too cold.  I parked near the Twentymile Ranger Station.  My plan was to hike a loop starting with Wolf Ridge Trail past campsite 95 up to Parsons Bald then to Gregory Bald trail to Campsite 13 where I was going to overnight.  From Campsite 13 I was going to complete the loop by hiking Gregory Bald trail east to Long Hungry Ridge Trail and take that trail down the mountain to Twentymile trail.  I was going to take Twentymile trail back to the Twentymile Ranger station.   

Th first part of my hike went well, but about half way up I started noticing where the area on both sides of the trail were dug up.  My fist thought was that there is a hog in the area.  As I moved up the trail the areas rooted up by the hog looked more and more fresh.  I figured that I was getting closer and closer to it.  There were lots of hog tracks in the mud and every now and then I would stop to take a look at things.  It was interesting to see how much those things could tear up and it seemed to be following the trail all the way up the mountain.  About 2/3 of the way up the trail I also started smelling something that smelled like a dirty wet dog.  I was thinking that those hogs smell bad.  Soon after I stated smelling that awful smell I saw bear tracks in the newly rooted up soil.  I was thinking that this could be an interesting trip.

I was almost up to Parsons Bald, seeing hog sign and bear prints the whole way, when I rounded a small corner on a heavly wooded section of the trail and there was the hog standing sideways across the trail (facing due North).  I was about 25 yards away from it and it was huge.  I would guess it weighed 200 to 300 hundred pounds.  It was back, dirty, had some large tusks, and was looking at me.  I froze in my tracks.  I didn't want it to charge me.  I slowly took a couple of steps back and started to reach for my camera.  On about my second step it let about a squeal and ran off the trail to the North.  I was relieved that it had run off to say the least.  I stayed in place for about five minutes and listed to ensure it didn't come back.

After I decided it wasn't coming back I continued on down the trail.  Since the hog had run off the sides of the trail were no longer rooted up, but I kept smelling the dirty wet dog smell.  I finally got to campsite 13.  I hadn't seen a sole on my hike nor was there anyone else at the campsite.  I started to set up camp.  I unpacked my gear, set up my tent, gathered some wood, built a fire because it was getting dark.  As soon as I started cooking I started hearing some movement in the bush and some grunts.  I hadn't seen the bear, but it seems it had found me.          

I heard movement throughout the evening, so I stayed close to my fire and kept it built up.   After it had been dark for a few hours the bear actually came into the cleared camping area.  It stayed just on the edge of the light where could make out it's shape and see it's eyes.  From what I could see, it was a pretty big bear.  I started making a lot of noise and trying to make myself look bigger.  I was banging my cooking gear together and standing on a large rock.  The bear just looked at me and sort of wondered around in the camping area while I made of fool of myself looking like one of those clapping monkey toys banging pots together.  I even tried throwing some rocks at it, but it still just wondered around looking at me. 

With the bear just hanging out I figured I had a decision to make.  I could either sit up next to the fire all night and hope to not get eaten by a bear or I could risk walking down to my car at night and maybe get eaten by a bear.  I decided to make the trek down the mountain since I wasn't going to sleep anyway.  I gathered my gear up, broke my tent down, and tossed everything into the tent, picked it up like a sack and threw it over my shoulder.  I moved from camp site 13 to Parson's Bald where I packed my gear.  I was tempted to just camp there, but I didn't want to camp outside of a recognized camping area so I started my hike down the mountain.     

It took me a few hours to get to back to the parking area.  I took a few falls, I stubbed my toes, etc...  I think I even lost a toe nail, but I made it and didn't get eaten by that bear.  It was a pretty good trip.  It's not every day that you get to see a wild hog and a bear in the same trip.

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