Appalachian Trail: Camp Creek Bald Loop

Today I took a short day at work and Mom T and I took advantage of it by going for a short hike along a portion of the Appalachian Trail near Camp Creek Bald (aka Viking Mountain). We made the long drive up to Jones Meadow, parked the car and started hiking up the rough jeep road that leads to the summit of Camp Creek Bald. Almost immediately we found a blue-blazed trail that led to the AT.

Once on the Appalachian Trail we circled around the summit of Camp Creek Bald.

Eventually we came to another blue-blazed trail. We turned onto this trail and followed it around some fenced off towers and buildings

to the summit of the mountain.

From the summit we followed the rough jeep road downhill back to the car. Along the way we passed lots of fall wildflowers in bloom including goldenrod

and aster.

The flowers were loaded with insects gathering pollen, presumably preparing for the winter. We also saw a snake, a small ringnecked one,

and a pack of three hunting dogs.

After arriving back at the car, we made the short drive up to the end of the road where there is the foundation of one of the old Viking Mountain Resort cabins. There we saw a wonderful view of the Blackstack Cliffs

and down into the lowlands around Greeneville.