Fish Camp Prong

[Carlito]

Dude, that is bizarre. A mile above #23 is fairly remote. Did the stuff look abandoned?

[Crockett]

It didn't look really old to me. It couldn't have been there for too long. The pillow was a big one like you would have on your bed at home which was strange cause I couldn't imagine someone dragging a big pillow that far into the backcountry. Then there was a gray sleeping bag and some other loose gear around that I couldn't make out. The cave was really neat looking and I would have gone in there and checked it out but I was weirded out by the gear and got spooked. I was alone and didn't want some escaped convict jumping me for my backpacker meals haha. All I had to protect myself was hiking poles and a Kershaw knife. After I called out and didn't get an answer I took off.

[Jim Casada]

There are actually some scary possibilities, with marijuana planting activities being one of them. That's a little far back for such activity, but a good many years ago I sort of blundered into precisely such an operation on Hazel Creek. Fortunately a cousin who was with me at the time was a Federal Wildlife guy (he's the head of a couple of refuges in Florida) and knew what to do. It ended up with some citations/arrests and confiscation of several quart jars packed with marijuana seeds which were clearly destined to be planted. You probably did the right thing by hightailing it. Jim Casada

[Rog 1]

There were times when some of the locals would take camping supplies up there and bury them in a drum to keep from having to pack them in every time they wanted to go fishing. While I have never been above 23 on the Goshe Prong there is a large overhang back where 23 used to be with a sandy floor...this was known locally as camp rock and a lot of the locals would camp there without the use of a tent....all of this activity was back when you could drive up to the forks of the river making the walk into 23 a whole lot shorter....I have seen locals carrying coolers and stoves out of 23 after camping up there....these days it sure pays to be safe rather than sorry....hope you do get to go fishing up there soon...

[Rebelsoul]

In my wanderings over the years in wilderness areas I've learned one thing...that the most dangerous animal is the two legged one.
Nowadays you really have to be aware of people who are in remote areas that seem to be out of place....don't strike up conversations or turn your back on most.That's not the way I was raised but some encounters over the years have taught me that.
And the way I look might be scary to some too.....
you did the best thing in not waiting around to see who might have left the sleeping gear there.
A friend of mine who is a combat vet of 23 months in Vietnam,a chief of police and was a NP Ranger out west for 17 years and was involved in crime investigation in parks,has told me more than once,"Anybody who goes into a national park without a gun is a **** fool."

[silvercreek]

Sad, but true. Not even safe in your own home anymore. Nashville is running around a home invasion per week. Just had another yesterday. Last I heard you will be able to carry in the Smokys at some point. A few months ago I emailed the folks at the Cherokee National Forest as to whether that law applied to them, but I never got an answer.

[Carlito]

What really creeps me out is the thought of some sort of vagrant or malicious person hiding out so close to a popular campsite. Of course, if anything did happen to someone camping legitimately at campsite 23 it would quickly become known, but it still really creeps me out.

[tennswede]

Ok folks, where do you rather be?

On Goshen Pring Trail at night or a dark alley somewhere in Knoxville or any similar sized town?

[Rebelsoul]

Originally Posted by tennswede

Ok folks, where do you rather be?

On Goshen Pring Trail at night or a dark alley somewhere in Knoxville or any similar sized town?

I'll take the wilderness anyday,and not the concrete jungle.
I feel like I have a distinct edge over other two legged critters in the woods,but not so in civilization.

[Carlito]

Originally Posted by tennswede

Ok folks, where do you rather be?

On Goshen Pring Trail at night or a dark alley somewhere in Knoxville or any similar sized town?

I'll definitely take the trail! Especially if I have my Surefire E1B and SOG Seal Pup on my belt

I'm way more worried about stepping on a rattler these days than bumping into some creepy troglodyte!