First Hike After Returning to Knoxville

Soon after Portia and I moved back to Knoxville this spring, we hiked the Cucumber Gap loop together. It was late March, trees were just beginning to leaf out, it was sunny and warm. Being such a nice day we passed several groups of people as we walked up the Little River trail. Though early, we also saw several wild flowers. Some we could identify, many we have forgotten - should have taken our wildflower book along.

At the junction of the Cucumber Gap trail we rested a bit. Then following the Cucumber Gap trail we crossed Huskey Branch, no foot log but not hard to cross, and walked along a small unnamed branch toward the gap. The topography in this area is interesting. The trail is an old logging railroad grade and actually never goes directly through the gap but just up hill to the left, looking across the gap with no leaves on the trees you can see Burnt Mountain. On the left are overgrown logging railroad spurs here and there.

Just past the gap Bent Arm Ridge rises on the left. If you look carefully you can see a spur line than is the beginning of the Bent Arm Ridge trail, long abandoned. I haven't been up that trail for almost thirty years. It is interesting however with a rhododendron tunnel in one area and a narrow rock ledge higher up with a pretty good view. Did the logging trains go past that? I don't know.

Past Bent Arm Ridge the railroad grade ends, the foot path then winds its way down to the Jakes Creek trail. Reaching the terminus of Jakes Creek Trail, we walked down the road past abandoned cabins along Jakes Creek in the upper Elkmont area. Their decaying condition somehow makes them seem like ghost.

They had been putting in some kind of underground pipe, water for the campground? The road is very rough with large bumps and dirt. Someone in an SUV passed us turned around near the Jakes Creek trail and went back down. When we got down to the road junction there was a big barricade and sign that read "ROAD CLOSED". Guess he can't read.

All in all a relative short hike but another good day in the mountains.