Caldwell Fork - McKee Branch - Boogerman

Date: 12/26/14
Distance: 14 mi
New Map Miles: 9.6
Total Map Miles: 723

Today I drove over to Cataloochee to mark off Caldwell Fork, McKee Branch and Boogerman.  I had read that bridges were out on the Caldwell Fork Trail, so I arrived with some trepidation and was delighted to see a bridge at the 1st crossing which was visible from the parking lot.

Unfortunately, the 2nd crossing which is just before the Boogerman Intersection did not have a bridge.  It was quite refreshing as the outdoor temperature was just below freezing.

 
I hustled across and left the Chacos on until I reached the 3rd crossing.  When I saw a bridge, I immediately dried my feet and put my boots on.  The bridges kept coming until the 7th crossing which did not have a bridge.  Just up the creek to the left was a large tree across the creek, so I used it as a foot bridge.

 Caldwell Fork was is decent shape for a horse trail, but there were spots that were very rocky and looked like a horse trail.

There were a total of 11 significant creek crossings, but only 2 and 7 didn't have a bridge.  3.2 miles into the hike, the McKee branch trail turns off to the left.  McKee Branch wasn't in great shape. There is lots of erosion, so you spend lots of time dodging rocks and hiking in a ditch.  It also has a rather steep climb rising more than 1700' in 2.3 miles.  McKee terminates at Cataloochee Divide.  A trail continues across Cataloochee Divide that looks like an extension of McKee.  After a bit of lunch, I continued on down the trail until it arrived at a small cabin.

 The cabin is the John Ferguson Cabin. It was very small.

 The cabin is approximately 0.4 miles from Cataloochee Divide.  I turned around and went back up the hill for the return leg of the hike.  After going down McKee, I turned right on Caldwell until I arrived at the Boogerman Trail.

Boogerman starts out beside a creek on the right side with multiple homesites on the left side.  There were many rock walls that must have taken thousands of man hours to construct.

The most outstanding thing about Boogerman is that there are some very old large trees along the trail.  Boogerman apparently refused to  allow the lumber companies to log his land back before the park was formed, so we now have this trail with some great specimens.

 I finished off the day by crossing the creek on Caldwell Fork again and hiking another 0.8 miles to the car.  Didn't feel great today and had to take a couple of breaks on the way up the mountain, but it was nice to mark off another good piece of the map.
 

On the way out of Cataloochee, this Elk was grazing beside the road.