Body of Missing Off Trail Hiker Found in Greenbrier area of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park

Search teams found a body in the Great Smoky Mountains national park this morning at around 9:30am matching the description and believed to be that of avid 62 year old hiker Jenny Bennett who lived in Sylva North Carolina and according to her family has been missing since at least June 1st 2015.

Numerous people noticed her car sitting alone at the Porters Creek Trailhead parking area which was confirmed by rangers last night at around 7:53pm. Being too late to start a search, an area wide search went underway first thing this morning involving trained man trackers from the national park and other agencies with the aid of dogs.

The search ended when they found what ranger believe to be hiker Jenny Bennett’s body in an off trail area of Lester Prong in Greenbrier about a mile south and above backcountry campsite 31 at the end of the Porters Creek. Foul play is not suspected at this time.

Many other hikers have been lost or stranded in the same general area in the past, most notably GSMNP Backcountry Park Volunteer 70 year old hiker Albert Morgan Briggs who spent almost a week stranded atop Porters Mountain.

Exact details are still sketchy as to when she started her ill fated hike, but what is known is that her car was parked at the Porters Creek Parking area since at least the night before last. When Jenny Bennett decided to get in one more solo off trail hike in the Great Smoky Mountains national park before moving to Vermont is anyone’s guess at this point.

What is known is she was supposed to move to Vermont on June 1st and when movers arrived at her residence in Sylva, she was nowhere to be found.

Jenny Bennett’s brother Peter Bennett had no idea that she was missing until Saturday June 6 when he received a call from her landlord in Sylva who told him that her belongings were still in the house in Sylva, some of which were never packed.

He then reported her absence as well as the fact Jenny was an avid hiker and a member of the Smoky Mountain Hiking Club to a Jackson County Sheriff deputy who told him that they were going to treat this as a missing person case and start searching for her car.

Peter Bennett went on to tell the deputy that she was probably up one of the trails in the area. The Sheriff's department told him they were going to follow up and search the trail heads for her car.

Her brother Peter expecting the best assumed he would hear back from the Sheriff’s department with a few hours, but by the end of the day he had not heard back and became more concerned prompting him to email the Smoky Mountain Hiking Club.

The next day on June 7th at 10:36am Peter Bennett posted a missing persons report on the Go Smokies blog which eventually made its way around Facebook as well. National Park Officials we also notified the on June 7th that Bennett was missing as far back as Saturday May 30 and possibly in the park.

The park service had no recent backcountry permits on file for Jenny Bennett, nor was her parked cars license plate run the system to see if she had an active backcountry permit while it sat in the parking area for at least 1 day prior to it being reported missing.

Not only was Jenny Bennett an avid off trail hiker in the Smokies, she was a writer as well. She produced 2 books Murder at the Jumpoff and the latest being The Twelve Streams of LeConte as well as a blogger writing on treamsandforests.wordpress.com

More information to follow...

Schedule for Day 6 of Wilderness Wildlife Week 2015 in Pigeon Forge Tennessee Smokies

This morning played host to one of the most beautiful sunrises you can imagine illuminating the snow caped peaks of Mount LeConte and the entire range of the Great Smoky Mountains. What better way to start day 6 of the Wilderness Wildlife Week event in Pigeon Forge Tennessee?

Rough winter weather has however put a damper on some of the Wilderness Wildlife Week guided hikes aspects due to snow and ice on the roads and trails. Newfound Gap Road US441 and even Cherokee Orchard Road are still closed to snow and ice and hopes are that better weather will allow the rest of the hikes to take place.

You will be warm and toasty inside the LeConte Center where a host of great indoor programs will take place today for Wilderness Wildlife Week including Wildflowers of the Southern Highlands, How to Make Maple Syrup, and Introduction to Tracking People Outdoors.

Thur, January 29th 2015 Wilderness Wildlife Week Schedule

• 9 to 10am: NEW Wilderness Wildlife Week Program! How to Conduct a Survivor Competition. Presented by Mark Kilgore and taking place in the Greenbrier Hall B.
   
• 9 – Noon: LIMITED SPACE! Painting a Smoky Mountain Waterfall. Presented by Dick Ensing. Limited to 16 people ages 18+. Taking place in the Bob Hatcher Memorial Room.
   
• 9:30 to 10:30am: NEW Wilderness Wildlife Week Program! Stayin’ Alive: Preparing Healthy Home Cooked Meals. Presented by Susan Bicksler. Taking place in the North Multi-Purpose Room 1.
   
• 9:30 to 10:30am: Woodpeckers: Nature’s Home Builders. Presented by Regina Garr. Taking place in the Greenbrier Hall C.
   
• 9:30 to 12:30: LIMITED SPACE! Basket Making. Presented by Theresa Tyler. Limited to 8 participants will learn from Theresa the Appalachian art of basket making. Taking place in the Bob Kolb Memorial Room.
   
• 10 to 11am: HERITAGE! People Who Shaped Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Part 1. Presented by Bill Deitzer. Taking place in the Greenbrier Hall A.
   
• 10 to 11:30am: The Wolves of Bays Mountain. Presented by Rick and Rhonda Goins. Taking place in the North Multi-Purpose Room 2.
   
• 10:30 to 11:30am: NEW Wilderness Wildlife Week Program! Omnivore’s Dilemma Revisited: How Your Food Choices Affect Our Planet. Presented by Dana Ripper. Join Dana as she discusses our modern food system, its detrimental effects on the environment and how consumers can have a major impact on the situation. Taking place in the Greenbrier Hall B.
   
• 10:30 – Noon: Do It Yourself: Building a Backyard Bird Habitat. Presented by Mark Dunaway. Taking place in the North Multi-Purpose Room 3.
   
• 11 – Noon: Wildflowers of the Southern Highlands. Presented by Garr Jack Carman. Taking place in the North Multi-Purpose Room 1.
   
• 11 – Noon: Tennessee State Parks of Mideast Tennessee and the Cumberland Plateau. Presented by Robin Peeler Wooten. Taking place in the Greenbrier Hall C.
   
• 11:30 to 12:30pm: Update on the Smokies’ All Taxa Biodiversity Inventory: 16 Years and Counting! Presented by Todd Witcher. A YourSmokies favorite! Taking place in the Greenbrier Hall A.
   
• Noon to 1pm: NEW Wilderness Wildlife Week Program! Look and Touch Wildlife Program. Presented by Chris Ogle. Join Chris as he introduces them to preserved wildlife specimens and some live reptiles. Main focus of this session is on non-game wildlife including small mammals, reptiles and amphibians. Taking place in the Greenbrier Hall B.
   
• 12:30 to 1:30pm: NEW Wilderness Wildlife Week Program! Reelfoot Lake: Celebrating 200 Years. Presented by David Haggard. Join David as he shares the history and beauty of Reelfoot Lake – Tennessee’s earthquake lake. Taking place in the North Multi-Purpose Room 1.
   
• 12:30 to 1:30pm: NEW Wilderness Wildlife Week Program! Fabulous Finches and Pretty Pinesiskins: Learn All About Goldfinches, Purplefinches, Housefinches and Pinesiskins and How to Attract Them. Presented by Steve Garr. Taking place in the Greenbrier Hall C.
   
• 12:30 to 1:30pm: NEW Wilderness Wildlife Week Program! LIMITED SPACE! Painting Magnolias on Sweatshirts or T-Shirts. Presented by Lois Armstrong Limited to 10 people, must bring own white t-shirt or sweatshirt. Taking place in the Bob Hatcher Memorial Room.
   
• 12:30 to 1:30pm: HERITAGE! Ballads and Ballad Singers of the Smoky Mountains. Presented by Boogertown Gap. Taking place in the LeConte Hall South.
   
• 1 to 2pm: NEW Wilderness Wildlife Week Program! LIMITED SPACE! Introduction to Needlepoint. Presented by Mary Warner. Limited to 15 people ages 12+. Taking place in the Bob Kolb Memorial Room.
   
• 1 to 2:15pm: NEW Wilderness Wildlife Week Program! LIMITED SPACE! Helping a Native Landscape Grow. Presented by Dr. Leo and Linda Lubke, W.C. and Glenna Julian, Lois Worthington, Donna Little and Roger Simpson. Limited to 30 people. Taking place in the South Multi-Purpose Room 1.
   
• 1 to 4pm: Introduction to Tracking People Outdoors. Presented by Joe Kelley, Joey Holt and Dwight McCarter. Taking place in the Greenbrier Hall A.
   
• 1:30 to 2:30pm: NEW Wilderness Wildlife Week Program! Gardening: Good for Your Mind, Body and So Much More! Presented by Dr. Sue Hamilton. Taking place in the North Multi-Purpose Room 2.
   
• 1:30 to 2:30pm: NEW Wilderness Wildlife Week Program! HERITAGE! Remembrance: Backcountry Cemeteries in Great Smoky Mountains National Park: Renee Michot and Jim Rigsby. Taking place in the North Multi-Purpose Room 3.
   
• 1:30 to 2:30pm: NEW Wilderness Wildlife Week Program! Buried Alive: A Little Girl’s Narrow Escape and an Herb Doctor’s Cure. Presented by Cherel Henderson. The body was laid out, the casket being built, when someone noticed movement under the coverlet. Cora Ogle escaped being buried alive, only to face life as a cripple. Join Cherel as she tells the amazing story of a little girl’s will and an herb doctor’s most unusual cure. Taking place in the Greenbrier Hall B.
   
• 2 to 3pm: NEW Wilderness Wildlife Week Program! Wildfire! Preventing Home Ignitions. Presented by Leon Konz. Learn what homeowners and even whole communities can do to make themselves safer from wildfires. Fire prevention, landscaping, building materials, housekeeping and community design will be discussed. These are all elements of the Tennessee Division of Forestry’s programs. Taking place in the North Multi-Purpose Room 1.
   
• 2 to 3pm: Ghost Birds: Jim Tanner and the Ivory-Billed Woodpecker. Presented by Stephen Lyn Bales. Taking place in the Greenbrier Hall C.
   
• 2 to 3pm: KIDS’ TRACK! LIMITED SPACE! Get Growing: Keep Sevier Beautiful. Limited to 25 participants ages 8+ who will make a vase using a plastic two liter bottle, which they will decorate and will be provided with seeds to start a flower. Taking place in the Bob Hatcher Memorial Room.
   
• 2 to 3pm: HERITAGE! Old Time Hymns. Presented by Don Huskey, Marcia Huskey Nelson, Roger Helton and Andy Stinnett. Listen to cherished melodies that carried from the open windows of little mountain churches of the past. Taking place in the LeConte Hall South.
   
• 2:30 to 3:30pm: NEW Wilderness Wildlife Week Program! LIMITED SPACE! Make a Grapevine Dreamcatcher. Presented by Sue Todd and Limit 10 people ages 15+. Taking place in the Bob Kolb Memorial Room.
   
• 3 to 4pm: NEW Wilderness Wildlife Week Program! Understanding Bears: The Habits and Characteristics of North American Bears. Presented by Joel Zachry. Taking place in the North Multi-Purpose Room 2.
   
• 3 to 4pm: NEW Wilderness Wildlife Week Program! Discovering Tennessee’s Wildlife Diversity. Presented by Chris Ogle. Join Chris as he discusses several of Tennessee’s little known and, strange and amazing creatures with an emphasis on salamanders, frogs, snakes and bats. Taking place in the Greenbrier Hall B.
   
• 3 to 4pm: NEW Wilderness Wildlife Week Program! LIMITED SPACE! How to Make Maple Syrup. Presented by John Curtis. Limited to 40 people. Taking place in the South Multi-Purpose Room 1.
   
• 3:30 to 4:30pm: HERITAGE! The Founding of a National Park: The Establishment of Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Presented by Tom Harrington. Taking place in the North Multi-Purpose Room 1.
   
• 3:30 to 4:30pm: Forest Insects and Disease in Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Presented by Jesse Webster. Taking place in the North Multi-Purpose Room 3.
   
• 3:30 to 4:30pm: Bird’s the Word: Celebrating the World of Birds With Bird Stories, Lore, Songs and Natural History. Presented by Doug Elliott. Taking place in the Greenbrier Hall C.
   
• 3:30 to 4:30pm: KIDS’ TRACK! LIMITED SPACE! Pioneer and Historical Toys. Presented by Roy Henson. Limited to 20 people ages 10+ who will join Roy as he instructs them on how to make historical style toys pioneers would have had in days gone by. Taking place in the Bob Hatcher Memorial Room.
   
• 3:30 to 5:30pm: HERITAGE! Old Harp Singing School. Presented by David Sarten, leader. In a shorter version of the earlier singing schools of the Great Smoky Mountains region, David Sarten will teach participants how to sing the "do-re-mi" shaped notes. Taking place in the LeConte Hall South.
   
• 4:30 to 5:30pm: NEW Wilderness Wildlife Week Program! Secrets of Backyard Birds. Presented by Stephen Lyn Bales. Taking place in the North Multi-Purpose Room 2.
   
• 4:30 to 5:30pm: NEW Wilderness Wildlife Week Program! Pilgrim Walk: A Spiritual Field Guide. Presented by Paul and Susanne Hassell. Taking place in the Greenbrier Hall A.
   
• 4:30 to 5:30pm: Miracle of the Monarch: From Eggs on Milkweed to Tagging and Releasing the Monarch Butterfly. Presented by Glenna Julian and Lois Worthington. Taking place in the Greenbrier Hall B.
   
• 4:30 to 6pm: An Experience Thru-Hiking the Appalachian Trail Video Presentation for Mature Audiences. Presented by Bert Kunze. Taking place in the South Multi-Purpose Room 1.
   
• 5 to 6pm: Nature Recording in the Smokies. Presented by Mark Dunaway. Taking place in the North Multi-Purpose Room 1.
   
• 5 to 6pm: Wildflowers of the Smokies. Presented by Jack Carman. Taking place in the North Multi-Purpose Room 3.
   
• 5 to 6pm: NEW Wilderness Wildlife Week Program! I Scream, You Scream, We All Scream for Ice Cream. Presented by Kathy Gwinn. Kathy will give you the inside "scoop" on America’s favorite food – Ice cream. Added "toppings" include old-time soda shoppes, famous ice cream parlors and Hash-House Lingo. Taking place in the Greenbrier Hall C.
   
• 5 to 6pm: LIMITED SPACE! Old Time Banjo Workshop for Beginners. Presented by Tony Thomas. Limited to 10 participants must bring own banjo. Taking place in the South Multi-Purpose Room 2.
   
• 6pm: Saturday Hikes and Field Trips Sign-ups. Taking place in the Greenbrier Hall A.
   
• 6 to 7pm: Hymns and Songs of Faith. Presented by Whaley Family Singers. Join this large Smoky Mountain family from Greenbrier as they share their legacy through song. A YourSmokies Favorite! Taking place in the LeConte Hall South.
   
• 6:30 to 7:30pm: NEW Wilderness Wildlife Week Program! Looking for America: A 20th Century Hero’s Journey With Stories of Cross-Country Hitchhiking and Freight Hopping. Presented by Doug Elliott. Taking place in the Greenbrier Hall C.
   
• 7:30pm: Slow Jam. Presented by Tony Thomas and Friends. Taking place in the North Multi-Purpose Room 1.
   
• 8pm: NEW Wilderness Wildlife Week Program! For the Love of the Smokies: A Lifetime of Experiencing the Majestic Beauty of Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Presented by Ken Jenkins. A Your Smokies Favorite! Taking place in the Greenbrier Hall C.
   

Greenbrier section still closed but Cades Cove reopens as Great Smoky Mountains National park cleans up from flooding and storm damage

While the storm that drenched the Smoky Mountains was not packing much of a punch dropping from 2 to just less than 3 inches of rain in the past 24 hours in areas of the park, the saturated ground and rain swollen rivers could not handle any more and minor flooding was widespread in areas in and around the Great Smoky Mountains national park.

The Little Pigeon River created the most damage in the Great Smoky Mountains national park as it washed out an area of roadway along Greenbrier Road near the bridge to Ramsey Cascades where Middle Prong runs into the Little Pigeon River.

The video below shows the Little Pigeon River following over its bank and it effects were felt far downstream in the residential areas some of which had minor evacuations.

The Little River which flows out of Elkmont was rising quickly promoting an evacuation of the Elkmont Campgrounds in the Great Smoky Mountains national park and further downstream created problems for campgrounds outside the park and resident in Townsend and Walland. The Campground has been deemed safe and was just reopened.

In Cades Cove Sparks Lane which notoriously gets flooded was closed first followed by Hyatt Land and then the entire 11 miles of the Cades Cove Loop were closed as water stared building up in the back end. Cades Cove Loop has just reopened but Sparks Lane, Hyatt lane and Rich Mountain Road will remain closed until they dry out so that passing vehicles will not damage the road surface.

The Chimneys Picnic Area was also closed last night as rising waters from the Little Pigeon River started to flow over the banks.

Crews will be working today in the park surveying and cleaning what appears to be minor damage. Hikers should report any large downed trees or washout in back country but expect to have to climb over under or around obstructions in the trails for at least a few days.

Based upon the extent of the damage on Greenbrier Road reported to me by eyewitness yesterday don't expect Greenbrier to be open past the Ranger station for at least a day or 2. Hopefully while they have dump trucks in the area they will fix some of the preexisting immense holes in the road surface right now.

Search for Missing Hiker in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park is Still Unsuccessful

Though trackers for the Great Smoky Mountains National Park have searched through thick rhododendron thickets, sloshing through mud and scrambling up and around the numerous rocky outcrops and bluffs that create the 9 different drainages and other possible routes missing 70 year-old hiker Morgan Briggs may have taken since he was last seen in around campsite 31 in Greenbrier at the end of the Porters Creek Hiking Trail.

Other searchers working in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park covered 8 miles of trail from the Appalachian Trail south into North Carolina and out to Newfound Gap Road at Kephart Prong Trailhead.

According to park officials search dogs may be used tomorrow to help find Morgan Briggs. Tomorrow calls for more bad weather but if it clears a helicopter may assist in the search even though with such dense cover as what the searchers are dealing with right now, the chance of spotting Albert Morgan Briggs is marginal at best.

• Rescue of a Lost and Stranded Hiker in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park Concludes
• Missing Hiker in Great Smoky Mountains National Park Alive but Not Out of the Woods - Yet
• Missing Hiker in Great Smoky Mountains National Park has been Found
• Search underway in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park for missing hiker Albert Morgan Briggs
• Search for Missing Hiker in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park is Still Unsuccessful

Ramsey Cascades Hiking Trail Will Have Partial Closure May 28th

One of the most poplar hiking trails to the waterfall in the Great Smoky Mountains national park (GSMNP) the Ramsey Cascades Hiking trail in the Greenbrier Tennessee section will be partially closed for a foot bridge to be repaired all day May 28th.

The Ramsey Cascades trail is an 8 mile round trip hiking taking you to one of the nicest waterfall in the GSMNP, spectacular old growth trees, interesting rock formations and pools, and crosses the Ramsey Prong more than once. While listed by many as moderate, I rank this for beginning and intermediate hikers as strenuous based on the distance and the fact it gains about 2,700 feet.

The Ramsey Cascades hiking trail will be closed from where the old road bed ends. If you wish to take a hike from this point to a spectacular view, you can ascend the unmaintained Pinnacles Manway all the way up to where the fire tower once stood.

The Pinnacles manway has many blowdowns and will require climbing over, under, and around fallen tress and is a slightly longer hike than the Ramsey Cascades Trail. It is not meant for beginners or hikers with children and with any unmaintained hiking trail in the Great Smoky Mountains national park, you need to be even more alert and careful.

Great Smoky Mountains national park opens more roads to vehicles.

Yesterday's warmer temperature in the Smokies and aggressive sanding by the national park service has allowed numerous roads that were closed in the Great Smoky Mountains national park to reopen.

The following are the only roads still closed in the GSMNP:

• Newfound Gap Road (US 441) Between Cherokee NC and Gatlinburg TN
• Old 284 between Big Creek NC and Cataloochee NC
• Entrance road to the Cataloochee NC section of the GSMNP
• Foothills Parkway East from I-40 to State Road 321 in Cosby NC
• Greenbrier Road in the Greenbrier TN section of the GSMNP past the Ranger Station
• Cherokee Orchard Road in Roaring Fork section of the GSMNP outside Gatlinburg TN past the Twin Creeks Science Center

With temperatures expected to climb high into the 50s in Gatlinburg Tennessee and the surrounding area, most of these roads with the including Newfound Gap Road should be open by tomorrow.

More Road Closures in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park

Besides Newfound Gap Road US 441 and Foothills Parkway East being closed, Little River Road from the Sugarlands Visitor Center to the Townsend Wye, Wears Valley to Metcalf bottoms, Roaring Fork / Cherokee Orchard Road, the entrance to Greenbrier, the entrance to Catalooche and old 284 have all be closed by the Great Smoky Mountains national park.

Bottom line: stay of the park except for the edges!

2007 Smoky Mountains leaf color change season peak

Leaf color changes thought the Smokies have just passed their peak but there will be plenty of color in the leaves of the trees and the mountainsides for weeks to come in Tennessee as well as in North Carolina.

In the Tennessee Smoky Mountains there are still plenty of trees still in the green phase but most have turned into light green, yellows, oranges and flaming reds giving a nice contrast to the tans and browns of leaves that changed colors sooner.

Last weeks cooler temperatures helped move things along in Tennessee’s leaf season and driving down Newfound Gap Road (441) from the North Carolina side by the 7 mile marker the riot of color in the leaves really show off. Of course now day by day this will work its way down to the lower elevations.

I have still found tons of great color in all of the hikes I have done in Cades Cove, Elkmont, Tremont, Greenbrier, Sugarlands and even Crosby this week and see that the oaks and the maples have at least another 2 weeks more color left in them.

Just as in real estate the key word is location. Some of the road sides are now past peak but once you wander in to the valleys or look up the side of the mountains you can see the yellows, green, reds and browns that make the Smokies a great place to see autumn colors.

While the peak has passed sooner in North Carolina there are still tremendous pockets of fall colors with hardwood trees now showing their flashy colors. Trees in some of the higher elevations have lost most of their leaves and the last few days’ rain has knocked off any of the leaves that were about to fall.

Hiking along ridge lines yesterday in North Carolina as well as driving along the Blueridge parkway I still found eye-popping colors and spectacular views everywhere.

Today may see some snow flurries in the upper elevations with little or no accumulations making for some spectacular pictures. No more snow is predicted for the next week.

If you are planning on coming to the Smokies in the next week or 2 you won’t miss out on the spectacular fall colors – just most of the traffic!

Time for a picnic in the Great Smoky Mountains national Park

With the warming Smokies weather, the Great Smoky Mountains national park is about to open some of its picnic areas and starting its spring schedule. While some of the picnic areas such as Cades Cove, Metcalf Bottoms, Chimney Tops, Cosby, Greenbrier, Deep Creek, and Big Creek are open year round, others will be opening on a staggered schedule.

Friday March 9th will see the opening of the Collins Creek Picnic Area and on Sunday March 11th both Heintooga and Look Rock are scheduled to open. If you are looking to use the national parks largest pavilion located in Twin Creeks, you will have to wait until May 1st.

While there are 10 first come first served picnic areas in the Great Smoky Mountains national park, some picnic pavilions can be reserved online. The picnic areas with pavilions that can be reserved are located in Twin Creeks (fee range from $35-$75 depending on the number of people in your party), Collins Creek, Cosby, Deep Creek, and Metcalf Bottoms (all at $20 per pavilion) or Greenbrier (only $10).

To reserve a picnic pavilion on line visit www.Recreation.Gov.