Blanket mountain via Jake’s Creek.

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When you get good weather in the middle of winter you better run with it. And that’s precisely what Richard, Linda, Brian and I did.
plenty of sunshine.
Views abound.
Manhattan put out a Backcountry spread unrivaled. It was deer meat for dinner and duck for breakfast. All procured and prepared by Richard. Probably the best to eat and I’ve ever done in a campsite. Some people go in the woods to survive we go in there to thrive.
Since Sunday was so beautiful I decided it was time to bushwack up to the old fire tower at blanket mountain.
Blanket mountain was the scene of many epic early forays into the Smokies. But few people know the origin of the name. It has to do with the demarcation line between the settlers and the Cherokees and Jonathan Meigs who was exploring those boundaries. While sighting areas between the top of Jake’s Gap and Mary ridge they put a blanket over a rock. I’ll go more into this later in one of my City view columns. But there are remnants of an old fire tower up there.
Footers are all that remain and I can imagine The view. It requires a bit of bushwhacking from Jake’s Gap on up. It climbs roughly a thousand feet from campsite 27.
There’s a pretty well worn path off trail to it.
We needed all the sunshine and Forest bathing. It’s been a dreadful winter in East Tennessee but I would say a typical one. Rain rain and rain.
Many thanks to Richard for all of his exquisite cuisine. It was an outstanding weekend. I hope that y’all got to get out and enjoy it as well.

4 Responses

  1. Dana Koogler
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    What a fun backpack trip. I look forward to reading your column on Blanket Mtn. I have made that trek several times and enjoyed it. I have been blessed to be with friends who pointed out the survey markers left by Return Jonathan Meigs. One of them is along Bent Arm Manway! I don’t think I would have known what that was unless it was pointed out to me. We got out and hiked yesterday and it was glorious.

  2. KT
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    Brings back memories. Last time up there was March 1993 the day before the Storm of The Century. We hiked up in short sleeves and man, the next day we were snowed in at Gatlinburg.The trail was maintained then, but I don’t think it is now?