Finley Cane Trail to Bote Mountain Trail to Lead Cove Trail

We found out that the weather was to be in the 70's over the weekend, so we made plans to hike another trail or two. How can you pass up a clear day in the 70's on December 12? We scoured over the map Thursday night and made up our minds Friday night that we would do one of two loop trails, finally settling on the Finley Cane Trail to Bote Mountain Trail to Lead Cove Trail. We drove one vehicle since it was a loop trail and we didn't have to do a drop off.

Again, we only had 2/3 of our team. Nathan and Rebecca were geocaching in Mississippi. I don't have any worries that they won't catch up.

We got on Finley Cane Trail at 11:00 am, since we drove from home and didn't get a real early start. Chuck and I broke into a Christmas present from my Dear Aunt Nancy early (thank you!!), since we knew what was in the boxes ... and let me tell you, those trekking poles saved my bacon very early on when I stepped on a slippery rock and caught myself with them. I'm a believer now. It didn't take much convincing.

A sink hole on Finley Cane Trail.

Spring flowers in December. This was actually the only one we saw, but surely there were more ... We were all shedding coats 200 feet in and didn't put them on the rest of the hike. We were longing for cool breezes.

This trap was seen toward the end of Finley Cane Trail. It is apparently for wild hogs, and had been sprung, so wasn't really doing anyone any favors.

This is the patch of cane that was spoken of in the Guide Book, which is where Finley Cane Trail likely got it's name.

The two gorgeous pillars that we passed between and that were also mentioned in the Guide Book. I believe these are tulip trees. Their diameter is greater than two feet each.

At the junction of Finley Cane Trail and Bote Mountain Trail, we met up with this group of hikers. From L to R: I didn't get the first gentleman's name, the lady beside him is Elise, who is a member of the 900 Miler Club - she hiked all the trails in one year. (Gulp!!) You can check out her blog here. The Lady beside her is Cookie Joe (I may have her trail name wrong), and the gentleman to her right is Mountain Mike, who is also a 900 Miler Club Member. I wish we had a bit more time to sit and talk with these folks, but they gave us a heads up about another book, which has been ordered already, and sounds like it will be worth it's weight in gold ... 

Right after parting, we sat on the side of the trail and had lunch. Peanut butter and jelly is really delicious when eaten in the woods, just so you know ...

Bote Mountain trail, from the direction we took it, went STRAIGHT UP. I exaggerate, it was an incline of 1000 feet in 2.5 miles. A bit of interesting history that I will copy right out of the Guide Book:

"This ridge trail has a long history. It was used by James Spence, for whom Spence Field was named, who lived and farmed there 6 months each year beginning in the early 1830's. In the 1850's Dr. Isaac Anderson, of Maryville College, used Cherokee labor to build a road up the ridge to the state line which follows the crest of the Smokies.

Legend has it that the Indians selected this ridge, rather than the one to the East as the best route for the road. They chose by voting (Cherokees reportedly were unable to voice the "V" sound). So they "boted" for Bote Mountain, and the other crest became known as Defeat Ridge."

From the ridge of Bote Mountain, where we were able to catch a coolish breeze, and we had a view of Cades Cove to the West. It was a view of the Cove like I've never had, and we could make out the cars  around the Cove as the sunlight glinted off of them. Since it didn't really show up in any of the photos I took, it didn't get included in this blog post.

Here we are on the ridge of Bote Mountain.

We reached the junction of Bote Mountain Trail and Lead Cove Trail and headed down, the decline being 1300 feet. The trekking poles are quite helpful going down too.

Most of the green we saw was from the rhododendron, it formed a tunnel at times. I am looking forward to seeing it in bloom next year.

We call this "The Bear Tree." It appeared to be quite fresh ... somebody took care of any grubs in that tree.

More rhododendron ...

This is the fireplace of a cabin belonging to the Gibson Tipton family, who farmed in the area. They were some of the first white settlers in the Cove in 1821.

Rod standing in Mrs. Tipton's living room

We made it back to where we parked at about 3:40. Good timing, seeing that we had other places to be in middle Tennessee by 6:00 pm Central time. (We were a bit late.)

So the Trip STATS:

Miles Hiked: 7.0

Total Miles Logged So Far: 14.4

Remaining Miles: At Least 900