Just beyond the entrance to our campground is an access point for the Old Settlers Trail, a 16.2 mile trail along and across several streams and creeks that was also home to hundreds of settlers during the late 1800’s to early 1900’s. Since Laura was working diligently to keep me comfortably kept in the lifestyle to which I’ve become accustomed I decided to go for a short 7.5 mile walk (I’d call it a hike but I was wearing sneakers not boots) along this very nice trail.
I started my walk on a short spur that acts as a mid-trailhead for the Old Settlers Trail. This short trail also goes to the remains of the homestead of mountain farmer, and apparently old settler, Tyson McCarter. There are several structures including a barn, corn crib, smokehouse, and springhouse.
Smokehouse, corn crib & barn:
Note the peg hinge:
The springhouse…
… and spring with water still springing.
The only remains of the house are a couple chimney stacks:
This rock wall is about four feet high , three feet wide, and at least a couple hundred feet long.
There are sections of wall like this scattered all through the area running along the streams and back into the woods as well as chimney stacks here and there standing forlorn. Although there is no shortage of material as there are boulders and stones of all sizes everywhere, the amount of time and manpower that went into selecting, digging, carrying, and stacking all by hand is very impressive. And that’s without considering the time and effort it takes to fell, cut, stack, chink, etc. the house and out buildings. And caring for livestock. And planting corn. And I’m getting tired just thinking about it.
Leaving the homestead site behind, I came to the Old Settlers Trail where it crosses Webb Creek, a tributary of the Little Pigeon River.
The creek was running high due to several hours of non-stop rain a couple days ago and rather than chance getting my sneakers wet, I turned south and took the trail towards Snag Mountain which it then climbed and crossed over to descend into a beautiful valley where it crosses the Snag Branch. The trail is lined with rhododendron which in places is dense enough to create a canopy and which must be stunning when in bloom. 
From the little acorn a mighty oak grows…
… and they grow everywhere and somewhat quickly. There are areas off the trail where the remains of homesteads can be seen and it’s evident that although 100+ years ago the land may have been cleared it has now been reclaimed by oaks of all sizes.
There was also all manner of cool undergrowth, moss, fungus, and whatnot covering the forest floor: 
And of course, there were walls…
The best part of the walk was where “helpful” trail angels had setup some challenges assistance over a couple of the more technical creek crossings:
Challenge #1 – cross the river using this timber that we’ve conveniently placed pointy side up.
Challenge #2 – walk upstream through the underbrush and use this handy bamboo railing that we’ve fixed in place with shoestring. Helpful hint: you may have to duck below the cross-member to get around the upright so that your shoe gets on the one rock that will keep you from getting wet.
Fun!!!😄😬😄 Both challenges accepted. Status: Dry.
The portion of the Old Settlers Trail that I took ends 1.2 miles up the Maddron Bald Trail, a gravel road which serves as the trailhead for the Albright Grove & Snake Den Ridge trails. At this point I had the option of retracing my route of approximately 5 miles or continuing down the gravel road and along US Hwy 321 (a hilly two lane moderately trafficked road with no shoulder) for another 2.5 miles. Well, like Patton, I don’t like to pay for the same real estate twice so down the road I went which brought me to the last sight of the day, the Willis Baxter Cabin. Built about 1889, the one room cabin was built by Willis Baxter as a wedding present for his son and was constructed from one giant chestnut tree.
