To the copper mine that is
I only started hiking in the park in 97 after I moved down here and brake shoe was long gone by then...
I don't have coordinates for copper mine but can tell you where it's at....I'll do it tomorrow when I'm on a real keyboard and not typing on phone....
IMO-----the best off trail attractions that I've been to are the eagle creek copper mine, panther creek slate car and the boiler that is below clingmans off forney creek trail....
I haven't been to tsali rock or the copper mine in the sugar fork area so I can't speak to those...
I believe the shoe went missing in the early '80s. It was perfect for channeling the water from the little spring. Fit the niche in the rock perfectly...Originally Posted by TNhiker
yeah......i've seen pictures of the brakeshoe and sorta know where it was at....
here's the best source i've found about the copper mines along eagle creek....
http://www.ecjones.org/scenery/_Grea...opper_Mine.pdf
to get there------it requires a boat of some sort.....
from fontana marina---start heading up the eagle creek drainage.........
for paddling----it's about an hour up to the turn on needs to make......
going up eagle creek, there's a fairly sharp turn to the left, and another cove (and drainage) to the right...........eagle creek goes to the left, another stream comes in from the left.....at this point, the water is still full........
go along this cove to the right, and go up til it almost ends (where the stream is now a stream flowing into lake).........
just before hand, look on the left hand shore line and you'll see an opening thats only maybe 20-30 feet across..........and it looks just like a trail (cause it was) and there's tree that people have tied up boats at so it has some worn markings on it....
just to the right of this tree, you'll see a set of steps that lead (and the old power line poles) up to the copper mine...
keep in mind, the copper mine is fenced off, so dont enter it....
here's a video about the panther creek slate mine.....
http://www.wbir.com/video/default.as...=1777188099001
here's a video about the boiler that's below clingmans dome....
http://www.wbir.com/video/default.as...=1481267890001
i dont have my NGS map on me so i'm using google maps.....
if one looks at a google map of eagle creek, look for the cove of ecoah branch........that's where the right turn needed to find the copper mine.......
and at the triangle on the top part, where another stream comes it (google maps doesnt have a name listed), that's where the copper mine is at......
Been looking at topos and reading everything i can get my hands on lately.My eyes may be crossed rom here on out
Cant wait for this trip.
How full is Fontana Lake now? Here on my mountain top by Huntsville, we've had almost 8' of rain this year. We had 7" here on Tuesday. (We get more than the official NWS at the airport.) They say it's the heaviest rainfall in 20 years. I know I've never seen the streams in the state park I live by this full, ever, and I've lived here 28 years...
I haven't been on Fontana this year but they were spilling it last week (they still may be doing it now but hadn't heard lately) so it's pretty dang full...
Last weekend we got a couple of inches of rain so most of the TVA lakes around here have been spilling ....
Good choice
First attempt at attaching pics to a message. Most are of the Sugar Fork mines, with the other two up in Bone Valley. You won't regret this trip.
nice.......
i havent been up to the sugar fork or bone valley mines....
like to get up there and see those along with that boiler of the steam engine in that area........
Is that a pic of the culvert i need to get off the trail at?
Don't know about Fontana, but I drove by Topoco (the next dam down river) where it was spilling.
Water levels were high when I did Forney Creek 3 weeks ago, then got a call from GSMNP rangers warning me of water levels for a planned hike up Long Hungary Ridge last week. Did that hike this weekend, and the creeks required some wet feet.
DSCN1798.JPG
Yes.
When you see the culvert, you are close; start looking for the "manways". Hope that you will base camp out of 84 because it could take awhile to find your way back in there, but I don't recall any bushwacking, just off trail hiking. Once we ended up back on trail, I realized I lost my camera and took off in the woods to go find it. Luckily I did, by the creek. You'll cross the creek (Little Fork of the Sugar Fork) to get to the first slag pile, and from there its up, up, up. Its very steep and footing is tricky, so please be careful. Are you going by yourself?
As mentioned, the mines are fenced off (the lower ones anyway) and entering them is prohibited.
http://www.tva.gov/lakes/fnh_r.htm
just got back from doing a loop including the jenkins ridge trail. the blackberries are quite thick and high. gunna creek is about 1.25 mi from the A T it will have water and a nice place to take a break. there is a quite large stealth camp all set up .5 mi south from there, with a huge fire ring of stones and a few burned logs. (someone stayed a few nights and left every trace)
here's some blackberries if they are still not cut. this is the trail with the camera held over my head.
Yikes. Was the trail hard to follow. And to answer your question abuesch no i am not going alone. A good friend of mine from forestry school is going with me.
I've done hikes this summer on Welch Ridge and Wolf Ridge where parts of the "official" trails looked about like that... areas where the vegitation completely obscured the "trail" and you simply had to follow the "path" where the vegitation thinned out because of the small bare patch of ground that was the trail.
no you won't get off trail by accident, but there is one spot you have to cross 100 feet or so without seeing the ground it is a clearing with dense blackberries and other ticklers, I had a headwrap torn off my backpack somewhere up there. It was over 6 ft tall and there are a couple paths someone has made in different directions, you pick a point to head to. it seemed like it was about 2 mi from A T. not more than that. after you get that far it gets much better.
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