Benton MacKaye Trail, camped at mile mark 84.2

We’re trying to hike the middle section of the Benton MacKay Trail, from the BMT/AT junction to Fontana Dam. And the bit between the junction and Lake Ocoee/US74 is tricky since the junction is basically in the middle of nowhere. So we decided to do this first part as a 4-day in-and-out hike, 22-miles in to the junction and back out. Easy peasy.

Bailey drove us to the Thunder Rock Campground and the BMT trailhead (mile mark 93.7) this morning. The trail was taped off due to a bridge closure. We hiked in a tenth of a mile to investigate and found a short bridge over a small stream that had been damaged due to a flash food and was askew. But it was otherwise sound for crossing so we went back to get our packs and start our hike.

We were on trail at 8 am with 9.5 miles to hike and a mountain to climb.  The first 5 miles was up and down, cobbled together with local mountain trail and some walking on old abandoned service roads. It wasn’t not too hard but we got winded in spots. We saw several familiar flowers: flame azaleas, rhododendron at the end of their bloom, fire pinks, galax, and a few others. Snails and millipedes too.

Karen saw a baby ring-neck black snake, and a medium sized black bear. I was stretching my calves with my head down when Karen comes up behind me and says, “bear!” I look up to see it’s rear end scampering off the trail about 40 ft ahead. 

As the path turned upwards again to climb Big Frog Mountain there was no rest from the ascent. Our hearts started pounding and we started to sweat pretty good. Karen had to stop frequently for water and rests. Less than a mile up we stopped at noon and plopped down in the middle of the trail for a quick lunch and more rest. The rest of the climb was pretty hard and Karen was feeling it, but she didn’t cry from the exertion as she threatened she would. 

A half mile from the top we passed a small tentsite and the trail eased up and followed a gentle ridge to the summit. There were two more small tentsites at the top, one on each side of the trail. We picked one and set up the tent. There was no water here, but the trail notes said there was a nice spring a tenth of a mile down the trail. I took off with the empty bottles while Karen finished setting up. But the spring was just mud with no water to collect… and we were completely out. 

I headed back to tell Karen the bad news. We had two options: pack up and head another 1.3 miles down the mountain to the next campsite that was also supposed to have water; or I go by myself and bring the water back. Karen didn’t think she could hike any more, so I went. The first half mile was easy downhill, but then it turned very steep for the last .7 miles and I was now dreading the return. But I got down quickly and there was just a trickle of water there, but it was enough. The 1.3 mile return, however, took me an entire hour, stopping every few hundred feet to catch my breath.  Karen was worried about me by the time I got back, but happy to see the water. I tore off my sweaty clothes and dried off, crawling into the tent to rest while Karen cooked our dinner.  After eating, cleaning up, and finishing the other camp chores, there was still lots of daylight left. But we were exhausted and sore, so into the tent we went to rest and rehydrate and finally sleep.