A few months ago some friends introduced us to the Cataloochee Valley in the Great Smoky Mountains.  We had heard of Cataloochee as it is the spot where elk were reintroduced to the Smokies.  We knew there was a hiking trail there because another friend had mention hiking it, but, I had no idea the extent of the valley in trails, nature and history.

On this morning we met our friends for breakfast and then took off for the drive of about an hour. Like many of the places around here, it is not the distance that takes travel time but the curvy roads and the varying conditions of pavement, or in some cases, non-pavement. We went from well-paved four-lane highways to stretches of gravel and dust. In compensation for the ride was the beautiful scenery surrounding us, and in this case, the company. Entering the valley there is one road, in and out. It took us to the end of the flat pastures and back into time.

As we drove in we watched for the elk. In the cooler parts of the day they come down to the fields to graze. This morning we saw none but soon discover there was much else to see. As we drove deeper into the valley we passed hiking trailheads, paths to old cemeteries and old structures. We decided to go to the end of the road and work our way back. We parked beside a field and noticed, about thirty feet away, the sign for a trailhead.

 

We started down the trail to Woody Place. The walk was nice, a wide path for a ways that followed a stream through the woods. We reached a spot where we crossed the stream on a foot log bridge and continued to the house.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The house, as it appears now, was enlarged from its original structure in the first decade of the 1900’s. The original structure was a one room cabin build in the mid 1800’s. While the house was very nice for the time it was build, it is easy to see it would have been difficult, by todays standards, to live in it, especially in cold weather.

Standing at this house my mind wandered to imagining how different life must have been for these families. The most “modern” thing we saw was the glass in the windows. No electricity, telephone, running water, indoor plumbing or other items taken for granted today, exist in this house locked in time. It is easy to see how necessary it would have been to be self-sufficient. Other houses, a school and a church are down the road but there were no stores and none of what we consider necessities now.

We went back down the trail to the car and started a backtrack on the road. The next house was the Caldwell Place which was built in 1903. We parked beside the large barn and crossed the road. Getting to the house required crossing a foot bridge over a stream with trout, crossing another foot bridge covering a gully and then walking across the yard. This house, like the Woody Place, was well kept on the outside, but in both places the interior was a little rundown. The paint was peeling in spots as was the layers of wallpaper. At one of the

houses there were bats living in one of the upstairs bedrooms. Even though there were signs asking people to respect these historic houses, it was evident that graffiti was more important to some folks. I find it sad that some people feel the need to change the narrative of history by inserting themselves into it.

We continued to explore and visited the Hiram Caldwell and Palmer Cemeteries. The mountain cemeteries I have seen around this area are really interesting, quiet and peaceful. They are very simple in the layout and design. Some have fancier tombstones than others, but none really elaborate. Some of the cemeteries I have seen had simple rocks for markers. The ones here were more of a crafted design than some of the other sites I have seen. The layout of the graves seemed random but I suspect there is a patten. What amazes me is that while these are around a century old and not easily accessed, they have all been well maintained.

 

Our next stop was at the Beech Grove School, also built in 1903. Wow, what a difference from the schools of today. It was a one room school with a teacher desk, chalkboard and student desks. Large windows provided natural light and a hole in one wall indicates there was a wood stove installed at one point. This was a no-frills school.

 

 

From the school we traveled to the Palmer Chapel Methodist Church, a small and simple structure sitting in the trees a short walk from the road. Again a simple structure designed for natural light and functionality. A cross graced the wall behind a small pulpit. There were wooden pews on each side of the building with an aisle down the middle. So much different than many of the churches today. It stands in stark contrast to the structures we see often see around us with the ornate designs and costly furnishings.

The last house of the day was the Palmer Place. The house was built as a log cabin in 1860 and had wood siding added about 1902. Again the outside was immaculate while the interior shows its age and years. There was a room on one side of the house that was like a little museum with information about the valley and pictures of yesteryear. One of my favorites was of a man sitting in chair in the front yard while another man pulled a tooth. We explored the out buildings and the barn and decided to call it a day.

While we were exploring, the elk had come down out of the woods and were grazing on the pastures. The roadway was lined with people wanting to view, photograph and watch them move across the fields. We had to stop and take some pictures. The elk are pretty cool and are comfortable with people. We are told they can be dangerous but in all the time we have seen them we have yet to see any aggressive behavior. This is a large herd with cows, calfs and bulls. Soon their mating season will start and the herd will take on a different feel as the strong males claim the cows and the younger or weaker bulls will go a different way for a while.

Saskia and I returned three times since this visit to hike some of the trails but that is a story for another time.