BMT issue in Smokey Mtn NP

[jbwood5]

I was hiking on Saturday and did a 17.9 mile loop hike leaving from Deep Creek Campground. The hike I did included the Deep Creek Trail, Pole Creek Road Trail and the Nolan Divide Trail.

The BMT uses the Pole Creek Road Trail which crosses Deep Creek. The foot bridge at Deep Creek is washed out and reminants of the bridge are still hanging by the steel cable. You can not cross the raging Deep Creek at the bridge crossing (as of this past Saturday - 4/17/10). I was able to cross Deep Creek further up across from campsite 55 (?). It was risky, but with the aid of a stout oak pole I made it across with the water level not reaching the bottom of my pack. I started across from the camp #55 side of the river and on the opposite side of the river, I had to push and fight through a jungle of rhododendrum thickets to reach the Pole Creek Rd Trail (or BMT).

There is also a giant tree across the Pole Creek Trail. A tall person can pull themselves over with a bit of effort. There are some stub branches to provide help. The rest of the trail just has minor blowdowns and debris. You may get your feet wet crossing Pole Creek in several places.

My main concern is the Deep Creek crossing. Be very careful!!

I have no further info on the rest of the BMT in the Smokies

Just John
Seminole, FL

[humunuku]

they warn of this on the GSMNP website

[jbwood5]

Thanks but I could not find any mention of it. I just did another search and still can't find anything. There are just too many web pages, commercial and public. This makes it tough to search and find accurate info.

Anyhow, when searching, I came across an advisory that the Fontana Dam access road was closed. It was not. We drove across and parked a vehicle by the trail head where the single track leads into the woods.

Also, when in Robbinsville, there was a lit billboard road sign that said US129 was open to Tennessee from 8:00 AM to 8:00 PM while info on a GSMNP page says it is closed. It appears that the updates to these web pages are rather slow. We did not attempt to drive 129 very far last week but did go to the twenty mile ranger station trail head. All was clear and there was a resident ranger on duty at the house.

[SGT Rock]

You can usually find trail conditions and road closures here: http://www.nps.gov/grsm/planyourvisit/temproadclose.htm