Fri, Oct 19 2007 - Swan Cabin Mountain Retreat (View Original Event Details) Trip Leader(s): Ben Taratoot, Charlie Cottingham Participants: Andrea S., Dave Gregory, Maureen Collins, Julie Peters, Steven Peters, Simone, Kim J, Jon Miner, kristine Karter, Lisa Maldonado, Aklea Whalen, Bob Drakes, Phillip Slotin, Phyllis Melton, Marty Head, Charlie Cottingham

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Write Up:

SWAN CABIN FALL RETREAT in the JOYCE KILMER WILDERNESS
Fri. Oct. 19 – Mon. Oct. 22, 2007
by Charlie Cottingham

This trip has been an extremely enjoyable and unforgettable experience for me as the first event that I’ve organized and led as an AOC volunteer. Many thanks to Ben Taratoot for helping me promote the trip on the Club website -- also for serving as my co-leader and mentor and for sharing his beautiful photos taken during the trip. Click on our adjoining “Photo Album” link for Ben’s 65 great shots.

PHOTO-OPS on this trip were fantastic! In my 25 or so previous trips to the Swan Cabin and its adjoining Joyce Kilmer Wilderness I've never seen the fall foliage more at peak color in the 4000’ to 5800’ elevations surrounding the Cabin. We were lucky to have an incredible window of crisp clear fall weather during the entire 3 days and nights of the trip. The beauty of our surroundings and creative spirit of our group resulted in several hundred shared photos of the trip. These range from snapshots at the cabin and of our group clowning around on the trail to serious works of art featuring fiery red maples and sweeping mountaintop vistas.

CHECK OUT THESE GREAT PHOTO LINKS WE HAVE THUS FAR!
Lisa Santore’s:
http://LSantore.smugmug.com/gallery/3703835/3/213551941
Dave Gregory’s:
http://picasaweb.google.com/TDaveGregory/2007_10_21AOCSwanCabinBestOf?authkey=Ht9fe6enQU8 http://picasaweb.google.com/TDaveGregory/2007_10_21AOCSwanCabin1?authkey=L3KhmQ8soLE http://picasaweb.google.com/TDaveGregory/2007_10_21AOCSwanCabin2?authkey=PdQuWTUgZ0U http://picasaweb.google.com/TDaveGregory/2007_10_21AOCSwanCabin3?authkey=JPTC2_ogLRk
Steve Peters’:
http://picasaweb.google.com/sepeters228/20071020SwanCabin
Ben Taratoot’s:
http://picasaweb.google.com/btaratoot/SwanCabin
We expect also to be receiving soon some more photo links from Marty Head, Phyllis Melton, and others, which I’ll add to these “Trip Chronicles” as I get them.

“THE DIRTY EIGHTEEN”: Perhaps I’m biased, but we really had a great group on this trip! Here’s our roster -- first the fifteen humanoids who took part in the trip: Julie Banner, Mo Collins, Charlie Cottingham, Bob Drakes, Dave Gregory, Marty Head, Kim Jayroe, Kristine Karter, Phyllis Melton, Jon Miner, Steve Peters, Lisa Santore, Ben Taratoot, Aklea Whalen, and Simone Wyler. The Swan Cabin area is also a fine setting for well-behaved “best-friendoids” and we enjoyed the companionship of three of them: Kim’s dog Heidi, Marty’s black lab Beau(-dacious), and Aklea’s “therapy dog” Lucy.

FRIDAY ARRIVALS and EVENING at the CABIN: Most of our group drove up at various times on Friday. Several of us had the luxury of being able to depart Atlanta early enough to avoid rush hour traffic and thus to take in before nightfall the brilliant foliage and rustic mountain scenery from Ellijay north to Tellico Plains, TN and east to the Cabin via the mile-high passes of the Cherohala Skyway. Most had taken advantage of our informal 90-minute “Pre-trip Happy Hour” the Tue. evening prior to the trip where we’d enjoyed introducing one another, planning carpool groups, and discussing trip directions, meals, gear, hikes, excursions, etc. By a little after dusk on Friday Bob, Lisa, Phyllis, Steve, Julie, Dave, Jon, Kristine, Marty, and I had all arrived at the Cabin and shared a mouth-watering group “potluck” cookout under the stars on the patio. Bob treated us to a blazing campfire -- just the right size to encourage good conversation and keep us warm around it in our camp chairs. Dave lived up to his AOC reputation, ensuring that the libations kept flowing, and I took a stab at loosening up the group a bit more by offering some sing-along “Dirty Limericks” with my guitar. A big pot of boiling water from the Cabin’s woodburning stove made for delicious hot chocolate and spiked Irish coffee as we joked and sang around the fire. By about 11:30 it was time to turn in for the night. Dave, Marty and Beau opted for sleeping in their tents in the split-rail-fenced yard, but the rest of us preferred the warmer coziness of the Cabin with its well-stoked wood stove, rustic taut-rope bunks and dim candlelight. Next morning we were glad to discover that Ben, Kim and Heidi had arrived quietly at about 2AM, set up their tent in the yard near the cabin, and gotten in a few hours of well-deserved shut-eye.

SATURDAY HIKE to STRATTON BALD & HANGOVER: After a hearty shared breakfast on the patio, we gathered with our daypacks by the Cabin at about 10AM and set out on my most-requested Swan Cabin hike: the 8-mile “loop + spur” hike to Hangover and back. We first bushwhacked west across the creek about 400 yards to an old unmapped logging road and followed it northward 2 miles to the bald western end of Bob Stratton Bald -- at 5341’ the highest peak in the Joyce Kilmer Wilderness. Dave, who had backpacked here extensively in the 80s and 90s, scouted out a gorgeous vantage point on the NW summit of the Bald where we photographed the nearby trees and colorful Cherohala Skyway ridge to the south. After hiking eastward along Stratton Bald’s mile-long brushy ridge, we descended to the broad saddle of “Naked Ground,” a popular tent site for backpackers -- then ascended the nearby peak of “Haoe” and continued another half-mile north to one of the loveliest spots in eastern North America -- the “laurel bald” known as “Hangover.” A favorite destination of dayhikers and backpackers, this rocky crag is famous for its panoramic 360-degree views of Joyce Kilmer, the Smokies and Lakes Santeetlah and Cheoah below. On such a crystal clear day we could even spot the highest point in the USA east of the Rockies: Mt. Mitchell, 70 miles to the east. Our eyes and camera lenses were treated to a wide spectrum of fall leaf color, especially looking down the north-facing slope of Hangover into Tennessee and NE toward Clingman’s Dome. The rollercoaster-like return to Stratton Bald was tiring but we enjoyed a leisurely rest stop back at Naked Ground with Kristine, who had been cuddled up for an hour or two in the warm sun (UN-nakedly to us guys’ chagrin) with a friendly radio-collared hunting dog. By about 4pm all twelve in our hiking group had made it safely down to the Wolf Laurel trailhead. We all agreed that the hike, though strenuous, had been well worth the effort -- having granted us the splendors of Stratton Bald and Hangover on such a gorgeous fall day. All but our “Energizer Bunny,” Phyllis, took me up on a series of 3-mile car-shuttles back to the Cabin in my trusty Civic -- thanks to Jon and Kristine for helping me stash the car for the group’s use at Wolf Laurel trailhead after breakfast.

NEW ARRIVALS at the CABIN: By about 5pm Saturday we’d all made it back to the Cabin and were delighted to find Mo Collins, Simone Wyler, Aklea Whalen, and Aklea’s dog Lucy there. Mo and Simone had arrived in time to enjoy their own hike up to Stratton Bald and back. Simone is a newcomer both to the USA and to the AOC, and I was delighted to see how our group pitched in to make that sure that this charming but carless young Swiss woman could join us on the trip -- thanks to Mo for inviting Simone to join her for her trip up, and Marty for her trip back to Atlanta.

YELLOW JACKET ATTACK! About 5PM Saturday Lisa and Kristine asked me to show them the little waterfall near the Cabin where they wanted to wash up a bit after the hike. En route, the three of us, followed by Aklea and “Lucy dog” cautiously ventured past a crude sign that someone had hung on an overhanging branch warning that yellow jackets had been encountered on the trail. When we’d safely reached the falls 100 yards beyond the sign we felt fortunate not to have seen any. Leaving Lisa and Kristine to enjoy the little pool below the falls, Aklea, Lucy and I headed back toward the cabin. Suddenly out of nowhere we were attacked by one of the biggest and most aggressive swarms of the insects I’ve ever seen. We tried outrunning the yellow jackets but perhaps a hundred or more clung to us or buzzed beside us all the way back to the Swan Cabin yard. Aklea wasn’t too severely stung, but poor Lucy was covered in them and noticeably suffering from the attack -- luckily her thick coat of hair kept them from making contact on most of her torso. The bad-ass little pests stung my legs and even buzzed up my shorts where I suffered four neatly symmetrical stings -- on the equator of each cheek and on the south pole of each “family jewel.” At my request, Marty bravely volunteered to go near the yellow jacket nest area and try yelling to Lisa and Kristine to avoid it -- thankfully they did hear his yells, and managed to return to the Cabin unstung, though scratched up by the rhododendron thicket they had to literally crawl through to as their only available detour around the nest. Concerned about her dog’s welfare, Aklea decided it would be best to seek emergency vet care for Lucy in case she was severely allergic to the stings. Thanks, Aklea, for letting us know that you did find vet attention in Maryville for Lucy and that she and you are both OK. I felt very fortunate too that I didn’t have severe swelling or an allergic reaction to my dozen or more stings. Unlike anything I’ve ever seen in the Cabin area, the yellow jacket swarm was to remain an obstacle to our cooking and dining on Sunday and again on Monday.

SATURDAY EVENING AROUND THE FIRE: Another great group meal and campfire was in store for us Saturday evening. This time I provided most of the ingredients for a big feast using our budgeted AOC trip funds, and had lots of great help cutting up, grilling, and serving the shishkabob-style marinated chicken & veggies, baked potatoes, and cherry pie. Other memorable contributions included Dave’s spicy baked “beefy beans,” Simone’s sweet corn on the cob, Ben & Kim’s roasted veggies, Bob’s bean salad, and Phyllis’s delicious breads. Sitting and joking around the blazing campfire together was again delightful, and several of us enjoyed some roasted up some marshmallows and making S’mores. It was well past midnight when the last of our fireside partiers finally hit the sack.

ORIONID METEORS GALORE! On a Swan Cabin trip in November 1998 Marty and I and our Atlanta Ski Club friends had been treated to an unforgettable Leonid Meteor Shower display, observing several thousand of the brilliant “shooting stars” from the huge dark meadow beside the cabin. A few days before this trip Ben had emailed us about this year’s Orionids hitting their peak in the wee hours Sunday morning, Oct. 21. So at about 4AM I took Ben’s advice and strolled out into the big open meadow. In a few minutes I’d spotted a dozen or more bright meteors streaking through all parts of the sky, and by extrapolating each of their short streaks backward, I could tell that most were in fact seeming to radiate from a particular point in the sky -- the Orionids’ “radiant” near the giant red star Betelgeuse in Orion. Marty and Beau also joined me in the field for an hour or so and we enjoyed observing a couple of dozen more bright meteors and also marvelous dark-sky objects such as the Andromeda Galaxy, which we could easily make out with the naked eye, an astounding 2.3 million light years away. We also enjoyed using my 7x50 binoculars to observe Saturn, Mars, and Venus and details of the Pleiades, Orion’s sword, and several bright nebulae.

SUNDAY A.M. FEAST & FAREWELL: After another even more sumptuous group breakfast than we’d had the day before, most of the group began loading up their vehicles for the scenic trip home. The exceptions were Phyllis, Bob, and I who were fortunate in being able to stay over at the Cabin for a third beautiful night. We took the time to gather for a few farewell group photos on the sunlit east-facing steps of the Cabin. Thanks to Steve, Julie, and Dave, who on their trip back toward Atlanta kindly caravaned with Mo into Robbinsville, where they made sure that her almost-empty gas tank was refilled before she ran out. I was happy to find out later that Steve, Julie and Dave and several others in our Sunday Atlanta-bound group took the time to enjoy a complete 45-mile east-to-west passage across the Cherohala Skyway, with a few nice photo stops and short walks en route.

SKYWAY STROLLS: Late Sunday morning Bob, Phyllis, Marty, Beau, Simone and I enjoyed caravaning to two of the highest trailheads on the Cherohala, just 20 minutes from the Cabin. We first did an easy hike to the summit of Hooper Bald, site of a huge fenced big game ranch for hunting exotic European deer and wild boars 100 years ago. We then enjoyed an even prettier hike to the nearby 5800’ summit of Huckleberry Knob, just a mile east of Hooper Bald and on the opposite side of the Skyway. It’s a gently climbing half-hour hike from the roadside Cherohala parking lot up to the bald knob where we had a fantastic view of colorful Bob Stratton Bald, its Swan Cabin shoulder, and the Haoe-Hangover spur (where we’d hiked on Saturday, just 4 miles to the north of Huckleberry Knob). Near the Huckleberry summit we stopped at the eerie cross and gravestone marking where two mountain men had frozen to death in 1899 while trying to hike from Tellico Plains to Robbinsville, and where the animal-gnawed remains of one of them still lies to this day. Marty, Beau, and Simone headed back toward Atlanta after our hike, with a stop to visit Marty’s horse and cabin? in North GA en route.

SUNDAY PM “GEO-CACHE COUPLE” & FINAL NIGHT: Despite a few lingering pesky yellow jackets, Bob, Phyllis and I enjoyed the peace and quiet of the Cabin when we returned from our Sunday hike. I got in a little hammock nap time in the warm afternoon sun, and was suddenly awakened by the approach of a nice man and his wife from Asheville. Turns out they were doing “GeoCaching” -- go to “GeoCaching.com” if you’re interested this hot relatively new GPS wilderness sport. Instructions they’d downloaded from the Internet were directing them with their hand-held GPS to an ammo box stashed -- would you believe, of all places -- in the brambles beside the Cabin waterfall on whose trail Aklea, Lucy, and I had been stung. With a little guidance from me they managed to bushwhack around the yellowjacket nest and find an ammo case with a few trinkets inside near the waterfall. They tell me that since they’d begun geocaching last winter they’ve found over 200 of the caches in the NC mountains. Later that afternoon Phyllis, Bob, and I enjoyed a nice pasta and chicken dinner beside a third great campfire, then retired early for the night.

YELLOW JACKET SLAYER? Late Monday morning Bob had already departed for home and Phyllis and I had begun loading our cars. I met a nice young man named Rob Bush from Atlanta who was backpacking through the Cabin yard, and I told him about the AOC and invited him inside Cabin for a chat. Rob planned to be back at the Cabin later in the week with a reservation he’d made for himself and his two young daughters. At Rob’s request I carefully took him to the spot where the yellow jacket swarm had attacked us. We managed to identify the actual hole beside the waterfall trail by observing where the roaming yellow jackets were flying in and out of the ground. Rob volunteered to return at dusk Monday evening (when they normally stop flying) and to pour some gasoline down the hole -- which we’ve heard is a good way to kill a colony.

MONDAY BEAR KILL NEAR the CABIN: I’m no advocate of hunting, but considering how little wilderness habitat we and the rest of humankind have preserved for our wild compatriates on the planet, I can appreciate the hunters’ argument that the animals’ remaining populations actually become healthier as a whole with well-controlled hunting. Last November Marty and I and our group of friends at the Swan Cabin had an encounter with a large black bear that Marty heard in the middle of the night trying to drag our coolers away from the Cabin porch. I note in the Cabin logbook that there have been several more bear encounters at the Cabin earlier this year. Unforgettable for me personally on this trip was seeing the 200-pound bear that licensed bear hunters killed near the Swan Cabin on the final day of this trip, Monday morning, Oct. 22. Their radio-collared dogs treed it in the forest not far from the steel gate on FS-81G that our hiking group had passed en route up Stratton Bald from the Cabin on Saturday. Several of the hunters had zeroed in on this treeing spot by noting with their radio direction finders that their dogs had stopped roaming. The hunters are able to stay in touch with each other via radio phone. Two friendly hunters in their group named Eddie and “D” parked their trucks just above the Swan Cabin gate Monday noon and told me about the bear kill. Eddie and D hiked to the kill from the Cabin to help drag it out of the woods to a truck parked just below the FS-81G steel gate. After leaving the cabin at about 2:00pm Monday, I happened to pass by the hunters’ camp (by the Stewart Cabin) en route back to Atlanta. Eddie flagged me down and invited me to take a look at the bear and have a cup of coffee with them. The big black bear was stretched out in the bed of the pickup. I spent about an hour shooting the breeze with Eddie and his buddies under their hunt-camp tarp beside the bear in a light drizzle. They gave me a standing invitation to their “group gospel sing and potluck dinner” that they host every Friday night at the community center in their little community of Hiwassee Village, NC, and I marked the location on my Nat’l Forest Map. Turns out that some of them had taken part in the hunt for Eric Robert Rudolph in this remote area a few years ago. At about 3:00PM a Nantahala Nat’l Forest ranger showed up at the hunt camp to record the kill and to weigh the bear with a portable scale. The hunters collected a dollar apiece from one another in a betting pool that the nearest guesser of the bear’s weight would win -- all of them guessed lower than the actual 200+ pound weight. I declined to place a bet, but pitched in to help hoist the bear from the truck bed onto the scale. Quite a little celebration was going on, with some of the hunters’ wives and kids showing up excitedly at the camp after getting word of the bear kill -- a pretty rare event even for these experienced hunters. They planned to skin the bear and slowly barbecue it in their trailer-style smoker all Monday night.

IN CONCLUSION: Thanks to all of you who helped make this first AOC Swan Cabin trip so memorable -- hope to see all of you often in the future!

–Charlie 404-321-3230

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