Sometimes one plans something but then circumstances forces a change and when all is said and done it turned out for the best. That is what happened Thursday as I had to change my hiking plans on the fly. I was originally going to hike the Appalachian Trail (AT) up to the Rich Mountain Fire Tower near Hot Springs. Even when I started out, from St. Clair, I wasn't sure if I would go here or the area around Camp Creek Bald. I stopped at the Nolichucky/Unaka Ranger Station and there was something out of place here. Most places like this have a stuffed bear, but the one here wasn't a black bear but a grizzly (they were never native to this area). It was here I decided to head over Tanyard Gap and do the hike up to the Rich Mountain Fire Tower. But at the North Carolina/Tennessee line there was some sort of road work going on and it had, both lanes of the road blocked. After waiting about 15 minutes and no sign of movement I decided since the turn off to head up Viking Mountain Road was about a half mile back the other way I turn the car around and headed that direction. One reason I was going to do this hike next week is I didn't know how much fall color would be on "the Bald" I was pleasantly surprised when I saw plenty of color there. I parked at Jones Meadow, and like Glen and I hiked back in April, I hike the blue blaze trail down past the ruins of the old AT Shelter and then followed it down to the AT. Unlike in April, I went right down to the White Rock Cliffs. The vista here was as good as I remembered. I then headed for Big Firescald Knob, to get there I went a different route and hiked the blue blazed bad weather trail. The AT Guidebook said it was a mile, but it was more like 1.3 miles. The bypass trail reminded me of the Byron Reese Trail in Georgia. The hike up Big Firescald Knob on the southbound AT is rockier and steeper than the northbound side. The climb up is more than worth it because the ridgeline of Big Firescald Knob has a number of wonderful vistas, some of the best in the region. The best are at the top of Big Firescald Knob itself. The one with the best view of Greeneville now has a plaque commemorating Howard Rock in honor of Howard McDonald. The other, the summit, has great views of the North Carolina Mountains and Camp Creek Bald. After enjoying the vista, I headed down and toward the side trail to Blackstack Cliffs. When I first came here back in 2013 I didn't climb down and go out to the outcrop of the cliffs, today I did. Let me say it was spectacular, great view of Greeneville, the site of the old Vallaha Inn and Camp Creek Bald oh, and I had it all to myself. I then headed back to Jones Meadow and the car. When I got back I decided to head up to the summit of Camp Creek Bald and the fire tower. I could have hiked up the road bed but decided to take the blue blaze down to the AT and hike up the trail. I hiked at least a mile before coming to the junction that leads up to the tower. The view from the tower is good, but it was the least of the day. I decided to hike down the road bed back to the car. On the way back down I made a stop at the pull off I call the Viking Mountain Overlook. My last stop was at the Dillard Place, a set of four small fishing ponds in the shadow of Camp Creek Bald. So, while my plans had to change hiking one of my favorite spots with plenty of autumn colors made everything work out right.
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