Back from Hazel

[Slipstream]

The question about leaving a boat gets asked quite a bit, and it's a good question. At all these river mouths you will be entering a cove where the river pours into the lake. The trail at each is a gravel road leading into the woods. Despite the wilderness setting, there is a good deal of human activity at these sites, with Hazel being the busiest. Hazel usually will have a park Ranger boat and/ or car stationed at the landing area. The others have park campsites at or near the lake.

You will likely have some company at the trailhead. There may be several canoes and/ or motorboats moored there. There is plenty of room to tie up or pull your boat onto the bank. Most of the boats are not locked, and I have not heard of problems or experienced any problems with theft. However, you are in a public area. If you are concerned, it would be easy to pull your canoe up the bank and chain or lock it to a tree. Keep in mind you need to leave the gravel landing area and gravel pathway open for the use of the park service's landing-craft style boat, that docks at these sites and discharges vehicles and other equipment, as well as the ferry boats shuttling passengers.

[lexfly]

Ghost,
I just got back from Hazel a couple of weeks ago. We canoed across from Cable Cove and locked the canoe to a tree, left the paddles under it and had no problems. There were a couple of boats moored there when we got there and different ones when we left and there were several that came in or out of the cove while we were paddling over and back. The rangers drove up the trail on Friday and Saturday of our 4 day trip. I loved the canoe trip over, but not so much on the way back. An hour canoe trip after packing out was not as fun. Especially when the ferry drove past us. Most of the time the boats didn't slow down when they passed us which made paddling the canoe with 2 packs more exciting than I wanted it to be. If I was doing it over, I'd take my little jon boat over from cable cove. Lexfly

[fearnofishbob]

Thats it Ghost !!... get it out of the water attach to a tree , hide paddles and be on your way. Be sure to get far enough from the water that it won't be covered up should there be high water. This is where we went wrong in'05 whene the flood hit, our boat didn't have enough slack chain and the water rose to the point that it pulled our boat under.
The conditions are the same at all creeks in the park. ...............Bob

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[hw3]

Any time after the bugs are gone, mostly, in the fall is great. Take your smallest rod up Bone Valley; are many trout there. Saw the biggest brown trout in my GSMNP experience, and he wore a #14 yellow Stimmie for a while after our encounter. I like Cold Spring, abt a mile or so past BV C/S, there is a camp there, and only place I have caught Slam. Easier to take waders and dress there; is cable for gear to put in trees. Congrats on a trip well worth taking over and over again. Watson