The Rock House - GSMNP
October 6, 2014
There is so much hidden
treasure in these mountains I call home.
I had the opportunity to discover one of those last week during a hike
with my good friends Gene and Judi!
In the Great Smoky
Mountains National Park, there are 900 miles of “official” trails. Many of those trails are along old roadbeds
which once led to homesteads, businesses and entire communities which ceased to
exist once the land was designated for national park use. Remnants from this earlier life are easily
found along the trails, but to find some really special ones, you have to dig
deeply and discover the hundreds of miles of paths, roadbeds, animal trails,
etc. that are no longer “official,” meaning no longer maintained. These special places are not found on current
maps, so to go there, one needs to become acquainted with someone who knows how
to get there. That might be a Park Ranger, it might be a Hiking Club leader, it
might be a descendant of someone who once lived here or it might just be someone
who knows one of the above!
I’ve heard about The Rock
House since shortly after I began considering myself a serious hiker, but had
no idea how to get to it and didn’t know anyone who did. I’d heard rumors and a couple of years ago a
friend and I tried to find it, but didn’t succeed. I now know what we did wrong! Several months ago, Gene and Judi heard of a
local hiking club that were going to The Rock House on one of their excursions,
so they signed up to go. And we’d been
trying to find a time to get me there ever since! I am happy to say that has finally
happened. It isn’t an incredibly long
hike (six miles round trip) or a difficult hike, but it is on mostly
unmaintained trail and at certain times of year, has a creek crossing that can
turn you around just short of your goal!
Seeing The Rock House was
everything I’d imagined it would be. I’ve
seen lots of old chimneys, foundations, cabins, relics, rusted out automobiles,
etc., but never anything quite like this.
It was much larger than I had assumed and just incredible to come upon
this structure out in the backcountry.
Kitchen Implements on Mantle - The Rock House, GSMNP
October 6, 2014
Oddly enough, no one is
100% sure exactly what The Rock House actually was. There is much speculation and if you have any
interest, this link explains much better than I could. Truthfully, I’m not certain it matters all
that much to me exactly what it was.
What mattered to me was how well preserved the structure was and how
obvious it was that people had made their home there. Not to mention the fact that I’d finally seen
something I’d anticipated for years and it more than lived up to expectations.
Inside The Rock House - GSMNP
October 6, 2014
Unfortunately, we stayed
at The Rock House a little too long and failed to notice the storm clouds
building in the sky or the distant rumble of thunder. We got thoroughly drenched on our return
trip, but thankfully, are well-prepared hikers and had everything we needed to
stay safe. It was worth it!!
Next goal is to visit the
two sites in the National Park where there have been plane crashes and see the
pieces that remain many years later!
Again, you’ll not find these locations on any map. Someone who knows what they are doing has to
take you there. Doesn’t that sound like
an adventure?
What was your most recent discovery that you had to
depend on someone else to help you find?
Posts
Plane crashes! How cool! Call me when you can, by the way. We want to take you and Gene and Judi up on that offer of a Clingman's Dome to Newfound Gap shuttle hike if we can, maybe Thursday or early next week? I assume we want to avoid the weekend crowds.
ReplyDeleteWhat a great find! Those sorts of things are so exciting and that is a real beauty. Still, it's always sad for me to know how sad and unhappy many people were to be tossed off their land and have their way of life taken away from them in both the GSMNP and Shennandoah. I had no idea there were 600 miles of trails. I wonder if anyone has hiked them all. Great post and terrific pictures. Thanks!
ReplyDeleteHow interesting! I love hearing about the places you hike :-)
ReplyDeleteHow fascinating--that people could actually live in a house built of stacked stones. Did the stones have some sort of mortar holding them in place? It reminds me of the dry stone fences that still remain around here.
ReplyDeleteHow exciting to finally see the rock house. If I was in that area, I would want to go there too.
ReplyDeleteReminds me of the three little pigs :)
ReplyDeleteIsn't it fun to discover hidden things in the woods? Very neat rock house!
ReplyDeleteOh My Gosh... Never heard of it --but it is marvelous... WOW--someone spent some time building it, didn't they???? How special... I will probably not ever get there --since 6 miles is beyond what I 'think' I can do these days .... AND--water crossings can petrify me... Speaking of water crossings, have you ever hiked the 8 mile trip to Virgin Falls? We tried once several years ago and we got to a water crossing with huge boulders and ropes to hang onto... I chickened out BIGTIME---so we turned around.... ha
ReplyDeleteGreat photos. So glad you are getting to do some hiking... Don't know about the plane crashes also...
Hugs,
Betsy
I really liked GSMNP... Oddly enough when we were there in April - they kept forecasting thunderstorms everyday. We would change our hiking plans do to shorter hikes instead of one long day-hike. We never got a drop the three days we were there...dry as a bone. Go figure!
ReplyDelete