Another rainy day. I was to take a small group of friends around the cove today and felt inadequately prepared so I sought out Mark Snyder of the Cades Cove Preservation Society for some advice. "What can I look for?". He provides several things to seek with some clues on their whereabouts. I end up doing this scavenger hunt by myself. It turns out to be a magical day. I am greeted by an eight point buck as soon as I enter the cove. The buck runs through a rafter of turkeys scattering them in several directions. I end up seeing 40 deer including this doe above. Virtually tame, I stop taking deer photos after the third encounter - all at about 15 feet distant from me.
First stop is John Oliver's cabin. I see a piliated woodpecker up close, working a nearby tree. Then deer and a squirrel don't mind my presence and allow me to take up close photos.
Mark had provided directions to Gregory's Cave, above. I wandered around a bit before locating it. There were sinkholes in the area so I assume limestone caverns lurk below. Mark said to bring a flashlight for descending into the cave but it looks real muddy and I pass on that opportunity.
Next stop is the Primitive Baptist Church with Russell Gregory's grave. So it was from Gregory's cave to his grave I went. Gregory's Bald and Russell Field are both named for Russel Gregory. Many families were torn apart during the civil war. A popular legend is that Russell's son provided information to southern sympathizers resulting in his ambush and death.
Halfway around the loop I decided I didn't know where John Walker's cabin was. That was a clue Mark had given me to located some rusting cars. I asked at the Visitor Center and determined I was looking for John Oliver's cabin, not John Walker's. Before heading back to the start of Cades Cove to return to John Oliver's place, I continued visiting all the cabins, cemeteries and churches.
At the Methodist Church I located the grave of Shuler. The epitaph reads " REMEMBER FRIENDS AS YOU PASS BY, AS YOU ARE SO ONCE WAS I. AS I AM NOW YOU'RE SURE TO BE, PREPARE THYSELF TO FOLLOW ME".
Further along the loop was another Methodist Church, now gone but the cemetery still exists. It is the Hopewell Methodist Church's cemetery. As the civil war tore apart the Cades Cove community, church services were suspended, neighbors fought neighbors etc. After the war, the Methodist Church with members allied with both the South and the North split. The southern faction located on the northern side of the cove still exists. The northern faction on the southern side of the cove is long gone but its legend persists. After the church split, one member deeded land for the new church. He deeded it to "Almighty God". Seventy years later when the NPS is using eminent domain to condemn land and form the national park is faced with a problem. How can they condemn land deeded to God? The legend says they never did and the property once deeded to God for the Hopewell Methodist Church is not owned by the NPS, it is still deeded to God. You can find this property just past the Dan Lawson place on the loop. At the edge of Lawson's field is a lane leading up to the cemetery.
The final piece of my scavenger hunt was this rusting vehicle behind John Oliver's place. You have to follow a creek upstream a bit, locate an old chimney and wander around to find it. It was a fitting end to a very nice day.
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