Meigs Creek

Hike #22 : August 16, 2014

11 miles

10.1 new miles
302.8 total overall miles

210.5 total miles of 800.8


Eddie and I met at The Sinks this morning and dropped a car there and drove on to Elkmont to begin our hike from the Jakes Creek Trailhead. We got close up to a good sized bear along the side of the road just before reaching the parking lot. It's gonna be a good day.

Jakes Creek Trail winds up a partially paved and gravel road for .8 miles before coming to the junction with Meigs Mountain. Jakes Creek Trail continues on up to the left so we merge right onto Meigs Mountain. The trail's is soft and wide as it rolls gently in a mostly downward fashion. I really like this trail. A lot of tall trees and huge vines with very little undergrowth to impede upon the trail. Its August and there's lots of spiderwebs everywhere. I'm pretty sure that's one of the main reasons Eddie wants me in front.

It was somewhere along the way when I saw a partially destroyed hornets nest dangling perilously over the trail. It looked kinda cool so I leaned over to check it out and maybe snap a quick picture when I noticed movement. I looked at Eddie and said there's still bees in... ouch. My first hornet sting in 43 years of living comes from a partially destroyed nest several miles into the forest. Awesome. As we quickly made our way on down the trail away from the bees, we came to our first cemetery of the day. A small community cemetery with rudimentary stones and sunken graves which as far as I can tell is called Meigs Mountain Cemetery. We snap a few pics and I complain about the pain my buddy the bee gave me in my upper right back and we continue on.

At the five mile mark of Meigs Mountain, we come to the junction with Meigs Creek Trail and take a right. This trail is a complete change of environment for us. We go from dry with little undergrowth to wet with tons of undergrowth including lots of briers and my old friend the stinging nettles. This will also be forever remembered as the trail where I saw my first copperhead on a trail. I stepped right over it but fortunately Eddie saw it and yelled something along the lines of WHHHOAAOONNGHHH! and we stopped and gawked at for a while. Beautiful little creature.

We counted a total of 22 water crossings on this trail and I'd say there would be even more after a heavy rain. I think it was after the 16th or 17th crossing that with noticed a waterfall. This was a particularly good treat since neither of us knew there was going to be a waterfall at all. Turns out its called Upper Meigs Falls or Meigs Creek Cascades but either way it is pretty spectacular.

After slipping on a rock and getting my foot wet, I decided what the heck and waded on in. The water was cold and felt terrific! The highlight of the hike. Next time I'll bring extra clothes and get under the waterfall. That would have to feel amazing after hiking for hours!

After leaving the falls, we decided to leave our water shoes on and wade the rest of the water crossings. That was a lot of fun and feeling that cold water on your tired feet is wonderful. Just 1.7 miles from the falls, we come to The Sinks and another incredible day of hiking comes to a close. Probably the easiest overall trail Eddie and I have done together and a perfect hike for a hot summer day. Very highly recommended, even just a quick mile and a half to the waterfall from the sinks and back would be a great and time worthy trip.

We did take an extensive tour of Elkmont after finishing up the days hike. The Elkmont Cemetery is a rather large one and well maintained. We also visited the site of the Elkmont Hotel and Wonderland Resort along with several historic cabins. Loved it. So to sum it all up, I looked a bear in the eyes, saw a copperhead, wore hundreds of spiderwebs, got stung by a hornet, saw lots of graves and enormous vines and got my feet wet. That's a day worth living!

Happy Trails!

TRAIL REVIEW

Jakes Creek Trail - .8 mile
Meigs Mountain Trail - 6.0 miles
Meigs Creek Trail - 3.5 miles

2 campsites (19, 20)
Elkmont Campground

Wanna hike the 900? Start by checking out the book Day Hiker's Guide To All The Trails In The Smoky Mountains by Elizabeth L. Etnier.

For more pictures of this hike, check out the Smoky Mountain Hikertrash facebook page.