Three days on Deep Creek

[joe a]

My son and I had a great foray into the backcountry this weekend. We left out of Deep Creek campground Friday morning and returned Sunday afternoon. Friday was a splendid day. We hiked to #60 our proposed destination and decided to continue on to #59. The Mountain Laurel was in full bloom making the creek exceptionally pretty.

http://i791.photobucket.com/albums/yy198/jgattaway/GSMP052011/IMG_1457.jpg

#59 was luxurious with a bench and a table. We did some afternoon fishing and quickly got into some nice Browns. I lost two that would have probably gone 10+ before I brought the first fish of the weekend to hand.

http://i791.photobucket.com/albums/yy198/jgattaway/GSMP052011/IMG_1459.jpg

Brought this beautiful rainbow in a short time later.

http://i791.photobucket.com/albums/yy198/jgattaway/GSMP052011/IMG_1460.jpg

Caught another Brown and then we called it a day and headed back to camp to enjoy the solitude, a nice fire, and some fresh fish for dinner.

http://i791.photobucket.com/albums/yy198/jgattaway/GSMP052011/IMG_1461.jpg

http://i791.photobucket.com/albums/yy198/jgattaway/GSMP052011/IMG_1463.jpg


Saturday we decided to head up to #54 to set up camp there.

http://i791.photobucket.com/albums/yy198/jgattaway/GSMP052011/IMG_1464.jpg

We made short order of the hike and headed down to the stream. My son had trouble negotiating the tighter water up there and the fishing was slow. I wasn’t really crazy about the site either so we decided to backtrack down to #56. We enjoyed some slow early afternoon fishing around that area. I figured the action would pick up after the sun came off the water so we just collected wood, read, and enjoyed the scenery until late afternoon. The fishing was fantastic as hoped and I caught about ten in a couple of hours. The Browns were very fat and strong.

http://i791.photobucket.com/albums/yy198/jgattaway/GSMP052011/IMG_1471.jpg

http://i791.photobucket.com/albums/yy198/jgattaway/GSMP052011/IMG_1473.jpg


We enjoyed a nice dinner and fire to end the day.

http://i791.photobucket.com/albums/yy198/jgattaway/GSMP052011/IMG_1474.jpg

http://i791.photobucket.com/albums/yy198/jgattaway/GSMP052011/IMG_1475.jpg

[joe a]

We took the scenic route out on Sunday, first climbing a mile and a half up the ridge, to get to our trail back. We were duly rewarded with a nice change of higher elevation forest and some wildflower action.

http://i791.photobucket.com/albums/yy198/jgattaway/GSMP052011/IMG_1476.jpg

http://i791.photobucket.com/albums/yy198/jgattaway/GSMP052011/IMG_1477.jpg

http://i791.photobucket.com/albums/yy198/jgattaway/GSMP052011/IMG_1485.jpg

http://i791.photobucket.com/albums/yy198/jgattaway/GSMP052011/IMG_1488.jpg

We stopped at a few spots along the way to do some small stream combat fishing. Picked up a brookie and then the most beautiful bow I think I have ever seen. I wish the pic came out better but he was a squirmy rascal and a huge fish for a stream that is only four or five feet wide.

http://i791.photobucket.com/albums/yy198/jgattaway/GSMP052011/IMG_1489.jpg

http://i791.photobucket.com/albums/yy198/jgattaway/GSMP052011/IMG_1492.jpg

http://i791.photobucket.com/albums/yy198/jgattaway/GSMP052011/IMG_1490.jpg

http://i791.photobucket.com/albums/yy198/jgattaway/GSMP052011/IMG_1493.jpg

We covered a lot of ground, caught some gorgeous fish, and had some wonderful father son time. The smokies are truly a magical place.

[ifish4wildtrout]

Great report and you fellers did some hiking. About how far is #59 from #60? It appears to be about 2 miles according to my estimations on the map. I know it gets pretty steep shortly above #60, does it level out at all or is it uphill the whole way?

[Mac]

That was an excellent report and i love all the pictures. Being able to see all the Rodo's in bloom had to be amazing. The weather looked to be nice for you two as well. :rolleyes:

You and your boy will be remembering that trip for a lifetime and reminiscing for the rest of this year.

"I lost two that would have probably gone 10+"

All the ones i lose are always the biggest ones. ;)

[joe a]

Great report and you fellers did some hiking. About how far is #59 from #60? It appears to be about 2 miles according to my estimations on the map. I know it gets pretty steep shortly above #60, does it level out at all or is it uphill the whole way?

It seemed to be about two miles and it was a pretty short up and over (maybe .25-.5 and then flattened out. I did not find it difficult, but I am in pretty good shape and tend to undervalue things. We made it from the Deep Creek campground to #59 in about 2.5 hours. My son didn't find it too rough either and he is only 7, but a pretty stout 7. It paled in comparison to the strenuous and continuous 1.5 mile climb from #55 up over the ridge to the Indian Creek trail. That was a haul.

[Crockett]

Great report joe. Last time I stayed at 56 last August the pole road trail footbridge your son is standing on was washed out and there was a crew there putting that new one in. Good to see it came out well. The water levels look good there too.

[JayB]

Great report Joe! I bet he is asking when he gets to go back! Those were some nice browns too, looks like a good trip all around.

[yonder]

Great report with some beautiful trout. That young man's smile says it all. I started my son out around that age and we still fish together alot. I am sure Horace Kepart provided some good entertainment by the fire!

[MadisonBoats]

Thanks for sharing the photos and the report. I enjoyed reading it. Glad to see you have your son out enjoying the beauty of nature. He will never forget these trips and memories you give him. Good Job!

[BlueRaiderFan]

Very nice! Thanks for that.

[Owl]

That's one lucky kid. He'll never forget a trip like that. Thanks for sharing the pics. Very nice.

[hookedontrout]

What an awesome report! We definitely have #60 on our list of must do's. Your trip sounds like what would be ideal for us and I definitely will reach out for advice, thanks for the offer and thanks for the great report!

[duckypaddler]

Thanks for the post. It's what this board is really all about:biggrin: