We get a much later start than usual. Joe gets to the house at 8:10 am, man I finally get to sleep in for a change. He he he! We stop at Cracker Barrel at Exit 398. Not the usual seat yourself kind place. It was a sea of UT orange. Lucky we got a seat. 

We still were ahead of schedule to catch our boat shuttle across Fontana Lake. I finally got a picture of a tree at Deals Gap that had motorcycle parts hung on it like Christmas ornaments. I guess they were parts that had been salvaged from crashes on the Dragons Back. Then I got my first look at Fontana Dam. That’s where we registered to spend the night in the back country. Parking was not easy once we reached the Fontana Marina. There were a group of college age men and women waiting to get on the marina, every other one had a cooler. From the empty 12 pk boxes scattered on the boat ramp, I’d say they were filled with adult beverages. We just knew it would be all day before we could get a shuttle. Fortunately they were renting 3 pontoon boats, and going to Eagle Creek Cove. PARTY TIME !!!! That’s when a burly looking guy with big beard came walking out of the crowd and said, “put your packs up front.” It was Lester, Joe had talked to him on the phone. Then we met Jim, he was our captain, an older gentleman wearing sub-zero coveralls. 

The boat shuttle was $25.00 per person round trip, for 2 people then it is $5.00 extra for each additional person. The only place to put our packs was across the windshield, I know Jim couldn't see anything ahead of him. I guess the 28 years he had been doing this, it’s on auto pilot. I asked him if, “he saw that bluff ahead of us.” He quickly answered without hesitation, “what bluff.” he he he! Joe sat in the front seat while I was the lone rider in the back. As we traveled 30 mph down Fontana lake we could see Shuckstack Fire Tower on a ridge to our left. Jim pointed out Siler’s Bald ahead of us on the stateline divide. Jim dropped us off on the banks of Hazel Creek. 

The trail looked like a boat access ramp. In .05 miles we came to campsite 86, lucky for us we were not staying there. It was closed due to bear activity. This was the site of the Proctor School ball field. The school sat on the other side of the trail. Nothing remains of it. As we round the curve a white frame house is spotted across the creek. It was built in 1928 by Grandville Calhoun. It is maintained by the park service as a maintenance outpost. (If the doors unlocked, look inside.)We are now in what was once the town of Proctor. The trail we are walking was called Struttin Street. We cross the bridge over Hazel Creek, and the house sets a .04 miles to our left. This was Calico Street. As we walk up Calico Street we see the concrete foundations for the railroad track, and just beyond is the sight of the former Proctor Baptist Church. 

As we round Horse Shoe Bend a huge structure stands back in the trees. It’s the Dry Kiln from Ritter Lumber Company. Farther up the trail stands two concrete pump houses. On leaving Proctor we pass a 15ft. tall concrete cylinder on the right used for gauging the water level. (If the doors unlocked, look inside). Just past the gauge we enter the town of North Proctor. This was an African American community. An elder in this community who must have been well thought of in 1919, because he is buried in the Higdon Cemetery. His grave marker simply reads, “A Black Man.” Something else we noticed is he is buried facing North, while all other graves are facing East. The irony of it is, the people of Proctor separated him from their graves, but his is the one who gets most of the attention. 

We do cross a nice steel bridge along the way, not the usual half tree foot log with leaning hand rail. We find a nice shady spot in the creek to take a break. At mile3.0 we pass campsite 85 boy were we glad this was not our campsite. Joe counted 17 horses tied to the hitching post, there were an equal number of weekend cowboys dressed in full western garb, minus any six shooters. We hope! As we round the bend at 4.5 miles is our home for the next 3 days, campsite 84. A couple of tents are pitched down next to the creek, the rest was wide open. The campers were from Marion NC, ones name was Lee, unfortunately I did not get the others names. 

We setup camp and crashed for the night. We were in the tent by 6:30 and it was completely dark outside. However it was a perfectly clear night, so clear in fact a jet passed overhead, and the fire could be seen coming from the engines. I was awakened during the night, and in my sleepy state, thought I saw a shadow pass by the tent in the moonlight. Could have been a bear, but creeks were on both sides of the camp, therefore noises could not be heard. I dosed back to sleep. Bright and early Sunday morning we cook breakfast and hang around camp for awhile. We hoist everything but the tent in the air on cables and take a day hike up the Sugar Fork Trail. 

Our plan was to hike to the Adams Copper Mines and to locate famed Smoky Mountain Chronicler, Horace Kephart’s homesite. Unfortunately I will save that for another trip report once we find them. We had bad descriptions on the locations. I will say we hiked up each cove until the creeks ended, and found nothing. As I once read the, “agents of time have effaced nature.” That is very true on the Little Fork Creek. Three hours later we emerge back on the Sugar Fork Trail, discouraged because we could not find the mines or a cabin site, and we returned to camp. Dark seems to come early Sunday night as well. 

The temperature on Sat. night was 33 degrees, It was 50 degrees at 6:30 Sunday night. I must have adapted to the weather I was walking around camp without a shirt. Monday morning the temp was 35 degrees, we made breakfast packed up camp and headed down Hazel creek trail to meet the boat at 1 pm. Along the way we met Steve at campsite 85. He was from Boone NC. As usual we got to the boat ramp too early. I wandered around on shore looking for fishing lures. The boat was ten minutes early and so was Steve. We were glad to see him, because he told us to hold the boat for him. On the way back to marina we got a better look at Silers’s Bald. Fifteen minutes we were back at Fontana Marina. We got a picture of the marina without the crowds. After a quick stop at Burger King in Maryville we headed home.