Reroute News
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"Mabel, them North Carolina folks are at it agin!"
By Dick Evans
The route for any trail is a much more complex thing to determine than most folks would guess. While it is easy to draw a line on a map and say, "Let's put a Trail here," the reality is much different. Land ownership and usage issues, access, topography and other factors combine to make seemingly simple issues quite complex, involving at times many different "stakeholder" groups, with different goals and guidelines.
This was certainly the situation when the Benton MacKaye Trail was first being laid out. While the route within Georgia to the Ocoee River was fairly straight forward, beyond there was fraught with issues. Planners knew they wanted to get to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, there were very few ways this could be done. In addition, the GSMNP Policy of no new trail miles, in place since 1985, added difficulties to this process. While GSMNP folks were very helpful in the process, it became obvious in late 2013 that either we had to accept the 3.5 mile road walk from Deals Gap to Twentymile Ranger Station for many years, or find another route. In December, 1014 and January 2015, Ernie Engman and I scouted the old Yellow Creek Mountain Trail on the south side of the Little Tennessee River drainage on land owned by the Forest Service, and found that, although unmaintained for years, it could be cleared and provide a great path to the Park. In addition, the Forest Service had kept the route on their active trail list, so no detailed environmental assessment was needed. As readers know, the Yellow Creek Reroute was approved and cleared within an astounding 7 months last year, providing hikers a safe and beautiful route between the Joyce Kilmer Slickrock Wilderness and the National Park.
Likewise, the route chosen through the Joyce Kilmer Slickrock Wilderness was first requested to go over Stratton Bald, Haoe, past the Hangover, one of the premier viewpoints in the southern Appalachians, and down to Big Fat Gap and hence out at Slickrock Creek Trailhead. However, the final route was to follow Fodderstack Ridge north from the Cherohala to Farr Gap, then down to cross Slickrock Creek and out. While normally this crossing does not present a problem, there are times when the water rises and becomes too high to cross safely. Avoiding this crossing involves a lengthy detour and has presented the Graham County Search and Rescue Team with a number of cases of hikers stranded on the Tennessee Side of the Creek. Even Rick Harris, longtime Tennessee/North Carolina Maintenance Director for the BMTA, expressed his concern for hiker safety due to this route, although deep in designated Wilderness as it is, there were no options to make this crossing safer. Our Section Hiking Guide and Ernie Engman's Thru Hikers Guide included bypass directions in an attempt to provide a safe alternative to this in cases of high water.
Many of you know that the Nantahala National Forest is involved in the process of reviewing and altering the forest management plan for their territory, and part of this process to to examine existing trails and determine if they need alterations. During one of the "breakout" sessions of these meeting, USFS Officials from the Cheaoh Ranger District expressed their concern about that crossing after the Graham County Search and Rescue folks pointed out the number of "rescues" they have made at that area. BMTA Past President Dick Evans, present at that meeting, was asked about rerouting that section of trail. Being nothing if not an opportunist, Dick pointed out that the original route bypassed this crossing and indeed was a much more scenic route following the eastern crest of the wilderness, and opined that such a reroute would in great likelihood be warmly received by the BMTA. It was decided at the meeting that Dick would present this issue to the BMTA, and the Cheaoh District would approach the Tellico Plains Ranger District with this proposal.
One concern by the BMTA was that we had a great relationship with the Tellico Plains District (as we do with all the Forest Service Districts thru which the Trail passes) and we did not want to jeopardize that by a reroute, but that the proposed routing was indeed a far better one than the current one. It did turn out that the Tellico Plains District had a similar concern with this crossing, and heartily endorsed the proposal as making a great safety improvement for hikers in the area. Quick approval by the BMTA followed, and confirmation was given to the Cheoah District about this new route. During this process, almost at the optimum time, the Tapoco Lodge, a great Bed and Breakfast bordering the Slickrock Wilderness, changed hands and the new ownership was very interested in hikers and active vacationers, and wanted to reopen the old trail from Yellowhammer Gap, on the edge of the Wilderness, down thru their property. This nicely added to the new BMT reroute, by allowing the Trail to pass right past a great "stop-off" point for hikers, and shortened the road walk on Route 129 to less than one hundred yards. Quick coordination between the BMTA and the Tapoco Lodge, greatly assisted by the Cheaoh Ranger District, resulted in a volunteer trip to clear that route from the Yellowhammer Gap to the Lodge.
The end result is that, effective February 27th, 2015, the Benton MacKaye Trail now follows the eastern crest of the Joyce Kilmer Slickrock Wilderness, then down to the Tapoco Lodge, then out their gate and a short road walk, regaining the trail at the James Burchfield Trailhead on Meadowbranch Road, the starting point of the Yellow Creek Reroute. New signs are in the process of being ordered to properly mark this new route, and the new Tennessee/North Carolina Section Guide, as well as the new edition of the Thru Hikers Guide, will reflect the route described. While this new route will provide additional "opportunities" for wilderness maintenance, the scenic beauty of this new route, access to the Tapoco Lodge and shortening of the road walk, combine to make this a great hike. Come try it!
Benton MacKaye Trail
Official new reroute to BMT
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Originally Posted by AO2134
