Distance: 11.5mi
Today I needed to be back in Knoxville before 2:00, so I headed out early (6:45). I turned towards Cades Cove and stopped at the 1st trail on the right. Across the road and down a hundred yards was the trailhead for the Bote Mountain trail. I started on this trail as I had not hiked the section from the road to Finley Cane. It was a cold morning for October (high 20's). I started with a couple of base layers and my thin fleece. About 10 minutes in I gave up and put on my thick fleece and my ski gloves. The Bote mountain trail is an old road, so it is wide and on this section was a fairly good surface. It also isn't quite as steep as the part that is along the ridge.
I quickly warmed up and before reaching the ridge (1.2mi) I was back to the thin fleece and no gloves. Up on the ridge the sun was just coming over the far ridge.
At the ridge I turned right continuing on Bote Mountain. About 0.3 miles after the turn (1.5mi total), I reached the junction with Finley Cane Trail. A this point I turned around as I had previously hiked the rest of Bote Mountain. After backtracking the 0.3 miles, I continued straight on the West Prong Trail.
The beginning of the West Prong Trail, had a relatively large drop in elevation. Eventually there was a backcountry campsite and a bridge over a creek.
There was also a very small stream crossing shortly after the campground. Many leaves had fallen in the section between the campground and Tremont, so there was a nice yellow carpet in a few places. Most of the trees in this area were Tulip Poplars which were very tall and straight. From the Bote Mountain trail to the campground, about 400' of elevation is lost. On the section from the campground to Tremont, the trail rises about 600' and then loses it all before the end.
The West Prong trail ends at Tremont after 2.7 miles. At this point I turned around and headed back. There are 2 obvious trails that leave this trail, but were unmarked and not on the map. I followed the 2nd one for 0.25 miles. The trail was maintained, but I turned around before it reached anything interesting.
The sun was shining bright on the ridge by the time I got back to the Bote Mountain Trail.
I headed back down Bote Mountain to the car. I lightened the load in the backpack and then headed up Schoolhouse Gap to pick up the 1.1 miles from the road to Turkeypen. This trail is also a wide road with a rather gradual rise.
The 1st part of the trail has a small stream on the side. Today it was covered with leaves floating on the water.
It was a very enjoyable day in the woods.
Start: 8:00
Finley Cane: 8:40
Tremont: 9:40
Start Schoolhouse Gap: 11:40
Finish: 12:10
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