Unfortunately, this hike is served as an example of why planning is important. I had assumed you did not need a camping permit to stay overnight on sections of the Appalachian Trail in the Smokies; this was not the case. In addition to the $4 backcountry camping permit, I also did not have a bear-proof container, as required by park ordinances. Finally, the area I had planned on parking did not allow overnight parking, and had a gate that locked overnight. Finally, thanks to some procrastination from my brother, we didn't start the hike until 3 PM -- WAY too late to finish the original 8.5 mile hike.

I hiked this trail on Saturday, Thursday, June 3rd, 2021, with my brother. It was meant to be a fuller hike to Rocky Top (the ridge which some people claim the University of Tennessee fight song is based upon, despite claims by their son to the contrary.

Thunderhead Mountain itself has an intersting name history. According to Paul M. Fink (in That's Why They Call It..., p. 13), the Cherokee originally called it Atagahi, which meant "gall place"--as in oak galls. The origin of its current name is unclear: some believe that the mountain's slight resemblance to a low-lying cloud (called a thunderhead) earned the ridge its name, while others believe the name was earned due to the frequency with which its peaks were struck by lightning. This can certainly be seen in the torn nature of neighboring Rocky Top.

Anthony Creek is reported to be named after a man named John "Jackie" Anthony, Jr., who settled about a mile up the stream from the present location of the picnic area. Little is known about Anthony aside from the fact that he had been convicted of some crime in North Carolina and was hiding from the law in the mountains (Kenneth Wise, Hiking Trails of the Smoky Mountains, p. 117). As for Bote Mountain Trail (which will be encountered later in the hike), the name comes from Bote Mountain; Fink writes that Bote Mountain was named when Dr. Isaac Anderson, of Maryville College, was promoting the construction of a road from Cades Cove to Spence Field, hoping the residents of Tuckaseegee would meet him there. During the construction of the road, a discussion arose regarding which mountain the route should follow; two workers, both Cherokees who only spoke in broken English, pointed to the westernmost mountain and said "vote"--or, they tried to. Since Cherokee has no sound for "V," they said "Bote" instead. From then on out, that mountain became Bote Mountain; the latter became Defeat Ridge. (Interestingly, the road Anderson made was for a long time known as Anderson Road and was used for a number of years by livestock herders; when the Park acquired the land, it became the Bote Mountain Trail.)

The lineage of Spence Field's is rather well-known: it was a bald created by a settler named James Spence, who arrived in the areas in the 1830s. Anyone who visits there now will note the area is a rather hairy bald; that is because Spence burnt the land to create a place for his cattle to graze. Though it remained as large as 30 acres into 2000, the park has stopped maintaining the bald and let nature reclaim the area.

My original plan was to park at the Cades Cove Campground, following Anthony's Creek Horse Trail to its terminus at Bote Mountain Trail, and then turning right (south) on Bote Mountain Trial for Spence Field. We would then set up our camping equipment at Spence Field while we hiked on to Rocky Top and Thunderhead Mountain, and turn back towards camp. Instead, we decided to try and do a rapid day push to Thunderhead with lighter packs--water, rain jackets, and headlights only.

We followed the Anthony Creek Trail as originally intended; this started as a nice, wide gravel trail that was very easy to hike and follow. After a few bridge crossings of the titular Creek, it began to rain--heavily. The rain was so steady and hard I hardly stopped to take a moment to appreciate the surroundings, and nearly stepped, quite literally, on probably 5 or 6 snakes. After passing the horse campground, the trail narrowed and became more rough, but was still fairly hikeable.

Eventually, it quit raining, but unfortunately in my haste I had us take the wrong turn down Russel Field trail rather than continuing onto Anthony Creek Trail as I should have. This wrong turn made our idea of doing a speed version of the hike impossible, driving the final nail in the coffin of my original hike. Instead, we decided to just see how far we could hike, and ended up going to the end of Bote Mountain Trail. The remainder of the pictures I took on the way back, since it wasn't raining anymore.

To see a map of the trail, click here.

To see more pictures from this hike, click here.