May 26, 2015 - Rachel and Jessica

I forgot to mention that another couple stayed with us last night. They were hiking up to Site 38 and met Rachel and Jessica coming down the trail. They listened to the bear story and decided to continue up the mountain. Then they met other hikers fleeing Site 38 and decided that, perhaps they should not go there. They turned around and came here because the campground was full. We told them to pitch a tent on our mossy lawn. I wanted to make them feel welcome and said they could use some of our wood and build a fire in the fire ring. I snapped this picture of them as they were heading up the trail toward Mt. Camerer this morning.

A wildlife person called us on the radio and said that he wanted to interview Rachel on the phone. He gave me a phone number for her to call. She and Jessica loaded their gear and headed to their car to drive down to the river to get a cell phone signal.

Rachel turned sideways so I could see how awkward it was to carry the stuff-sack over her shoulder while running down the mountain. I should have mentioned yesterday that they mean that literally. They are trail runners.

They returned a short while later to say that the wildlife guy would come help them get the camera, phone, and wallet later in the day. He would call me on the radio when he was coming. Rachel and Jessica decided to go to Gatlinburg and gave me Jessica’s phone number to call them when I heard from wildlife.

The campground was practically deserted this morning so our walk around was short. We did stop along the campground road to look at the damage done by the drunk woman. Spence stopped by and went into the woods to pick up the pieces of the No Parking sign.

We headed out on our weekly run for groceries and errands. We ate lunch at Subway again where it is convenient to send/receive email. I did not take time to post to the blog. When we got back home, Rachel and Jessica were parked in the picnic area parking lot. We had heard Spence calling on the radio to see when someone was coming and he was told it would be late afternoon or early evening.

Later, I heard Ranger Chuck report that he was at the Mount Sterling trailhead and was heading up to Site 38 to close it. I walked up to the parking lot to report that news to the women. When they figured he had had enough time to reach Site 38, they came to the RV. Soon, we heard Ranger Chuck say that he was at Site 38 and was telling everyone to leave. He would transport some back to their cars in Big Creek. I then called Ranger Chuck to ask if he found Rachel’s things or whether she should head on home. He said she should go home; he had her contact information and would call her if he found anything. The two very disappointed women left for home. I don’t think Ranger Chuck spent too much time looking for the camera, phone, and wallet. He and the campers had hiked back down the Mount Sterling trail and were back at Big Creek before we finished our campground rounds. He was gone when we left the campground and we did not get a chance to talk to him.

On the radio

At 0820 someone reported a rock-slide on Clingman’s Dome Road which was blocking both lanes. They were calling for heavy equipment to come clean up the mess. They closed the road. Several hiker’s cars were parked in the parking lot and some were allowed to pass when they got one lane cleared. We heard them talking on the radio most of the day. They opened the road to traffic at 1821.

Someone called in to say that the lock on the Abram’s Creek campground had been replaced with a combination lock and it was causing problems for the bat researchers.

Someone called for wildlife to come take care of a rattlesnake on the trail. I think I heard a wildlife person saying for them to just keep people from getting too close to it and it would leave on its own.

A park visitor reported that large white cow, as in “moo”, was on the Rich Mountain Road, a mile into the park. The ranger and dispatch hardly believed it, but when the ranger got there he called dispatch and said, “True. White cow”. I think he tried to herd her back out of the park but don’t know how successful he was.