Well, this past week I was looking down into the holler toward Webb’s Creek thinking about an incredible Rocky Mountain hike that leads to the abandoned ghost town of Lulu City. I remember hiking along the narrow slow-moving headwaters of the Colorado River and passing so close to a herd of Elk that adrenalin and other fluids nearly overflowed. There is a beautiful beaver dam along Lulu City trail that was once torn down by park rangers to open up the tiny Colorado River a bit and was quickly re-built in just one night by very busy beavers. You can still find the wheel ruts from stagecoaches that carried gold-fevered settlers into the now ghostly town. I saw many abandoned gold mines and even found an old mining car that likely rolled down from the mine shaft on the side of the mountain. There is a mysterious forest filled with moss-covered pines and I stood at the exact spot where the Lulu City band welcomed the first stage coach into that bustling gold rush town. Writing a hiking book series for national parks has placed me in many breathtaking locations throughout the U.S., but none of them can top the more than 800 miles of hiking trails situated minutes away from this computer. 
The Great Smoky Mountains National Park is celebrating its 75th year and our mountains are celebrating 250 million years (give or take a few million). Visitors and residents have enjoyed these mountains for thousands of years. There is a long list of reasons it is the most visited national park in the entire country and “totally awesome” is just one of them. Many times I am asked to recommend my favorite trail in the Smokies. I tell folks that if I was only going to hike one trail in my entire lifetime in the Smokies it would be this one:
The trail begins with a stream crossing that looks like a scene from a Robert Redford movie and then carves its way through a rhododendron “jungle.” Rhododendron leaves were used by pioneers as “thermometers” because they darken and droop at 32 degrees and roll up at 20 degrees.
The trail emerges from the “jungle” and meanders along a rocky stream through a forest lined with many humongous hemlock trees that are hundreds of years old. If it wasn’t a national park there would be signs all along the creek that would say “picnic area.” Many times I have proven the theory that any sandwich tastes three times as good with your toes dangling in a cool mountain stream.
There are bouquets of wildflowers in the spring and as you head up the slope out of the holler there are signs of a flashflood that once delivered a 20 foot wall of water all the way from Mt. LeConte. Some of the jumbled up trees that were clipped off by the tremendous force are still left as a reminder of the incredible power of nature.
Hikers must climb through an ancient rock formation tunnel that once was on the bottom of an ancient ocean. Fortunately, rangers attached a steel cable into the rockface that serves as a handrail. There is an excellent blueberry patch on the left just before a vista rock overlook that absolutely requires a break and a snack. I have rarely stood on this inspirational point without seeing a little boomer squirrel and a tiny junco bird scurrying about. Five minutes farther on the left is a round hole that goes entirely through the jagged mountain ridge and white markings indicate that peregrine falcons are nesting nearby. They catch their prey in mid-air stunning them at about 180 mile per hour. The hike ends at a giant overhanging rock…oh, about the size of a football field.
The trail is about 2.2 miles each way and takes my breath away… every single time. If you are visiting the Smokies only once in this lifetime… hike this trail. Unfortunately, I don’t have enough space left to tell you the name of the trail. Fortunately, any ranger or local can. G Webb, regular illustrator, wandered off, so special art is by his daughter, Cami Webb (the scene was painted along my favorite trail). That is just how it looks from my log cabin.
John LaFevre is a local speaker and co-author of the interactive national park hiking book series, Scavenger Hike Adventures (new: Shenandoah National Park/Summer 2009) Contact John at scavengerhike@aol.com. Artist G. Webb illustrates the national book series and lives in Pittman Center, Tennessee. Gwebbgallery.com.
