Cuthroat72

I went home from school this past weekend to my home, just south of Knoxville TN. My wife wanted to go to the mountains to look at the fall colors. Because I grew up there, I knew that going to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park would be an all day ordeal, so I decided to go with my second choice: we went to the Cherohala Skyway, by way of Tellico River Road.

I remember going to Tellico in younger days (I'm not that old, and hate to sound nostalgic, but I can't help it at this point). The drive up to "stateline" as we referred to it in my small circle of 4wheeling buddies, was always magical. The Tellico river beside the road, Bald River Falls on the right, the Green Cove motel, heavy dew in the air when you roll out of your tent and start making preparations for the day ahead... there was true freedom there. I miss that.

On our little journey this weekend, I decided to take the road all the way up to the entrance to the (now closed) park. As we drove along the river, something set in that I hadn't noticed before... The people are GONE! It was amazing to me that on a Saturday in October, you could pick a campground anywhere along the road to the old OHV park, and find at LEAST one campsite vacant. For the majority of cases, there were at least 10 sites open, and the largest number of tents I saw in a single campground was 4.
Spivey Cove camping area: Take your pick. In stark contrast to what I remember, which was "good luck finding a campsite", the place was virtually vacant! The Green Cove Motel was not only vacant, it is FOR SALE. It seems to me that the tourism is GONE. Granted, there were some people camping, and about 10 people were fishing in the river on the way up, but for the most part, there was nobody in the area. Well it IS football season... but REALLY?

When we turned around at the old pay station where you used to get your day pass to go 4Wheeling, I couldn't help but remember the multitude of trips I took to the area. My first REAL 4 wheeling trip, when 2 of my buddies and I nearly spent the night because we couldn't make it to the top of the big rock slab that used to be at the exit of trail 5 because it had been raining ALL DAY and a come-along only stretches so far, to the last trip, when there 5 vehicles in our little caravan, and we had an awesome time in the fog of October, looking at the leaves and just sharing the in the enjoyment of the outdoors.

The impact has to have had more of an effect than just bringing up old memories that will seemingly never be again. I doubt that there is any public information about how much the forest service lost in revenue this past year, but I would be curious to see how much it has cost. Not to mention that I have heard they are PAYING to have the trails smoothed over now to match the terrain, and it looks like they are paving what used to be trail 1.

I absolutely hate that they have taken such a magical and beautiful place from us. The trips I planned to take, when I was finished with school, still haunt my dreams. I hope, and I do not mean this maliciously, that the Forest Service has paid a considerable price for shutting down Tellico. I understand that there had to be a decision made to protect the ecosystem. However, I think that the one that was made was probably for the worst. I don't think that anyone who had ever wheeled Tellico would have objected to putting bridges over water-crossings if it meant that the trail stayed open. While driving across Fain's Ford was fun, having a bridge there would not have taken away from the day. The same, I would think, applies to any other re-route or "High Impact" trail closure. I know that if the decision were made to close a trail that I loved because it was a source of tremendous erosion, but the rest of the trail system remained open, I would consider myself grateful. If they closed a trail, but cut in a new one that had less erosion potential, I would consider myself lucky.

I am sorry for the Rant guys and gals. I suppose you could qualify this as the ramblings of someone who can't seem to let something go, a "Monday Morning Quarterback", or whatever any of you might choose to be the applicable term. I know that the SFWDA and the Blue Ribbon Coalition are doing their best to stop Tellico from going away forever, and I applaud their efforts, and other groups as well.

It is truly remarkable to see the difference a couple of years makes. I guess I hadn't been to Tellico since 2005. I have been busy with school, which has taken me away from the hobbies and tools that I enjoy, and the areas I loved to frequent a decade ago. It saddens me to think about the outstanding contrast between then and now. Maybe I am wrong about the financial loss. Maybe the national Forest has made more money this year than when Tellico was open. But if you had been there before and went back now, you would think like I do "I doubt it".

If anyone has any figures on the amount of money lost this year, please post them up. Between the Campsite fee and the Trail riding fees, I bet it is a BUNCH of money, and I would hope that someone at the Forest service is looking and going... "Ya know... with all the money we've lost, we could have fixed the trails we closed...."

Here's hoping, right?