Norris Dam State Park Hike #24, 10-22-2024: Photograph & Video from the West Overlook (published 10-23-2024; article #497)

Introduction

Thanks, Susan! You inspired yesterday's hike and this article.

Susan is a friend from grade school and high school. She and I have occasional contact on a social media platform. Recently, Susan posted photographs and comments about family members and she hiking Beauty Spot in Unicoi County, Tennessee. I had not known about the location before. Researching online, I found Visit Unicoi County: Things to Do: Adventure: Hiking Trails & Greenways: Beauty Spot & Unaka Mountain Overlook. With family members, I hope to hike there one of these days. It's just under a three-hour drive from the house.

Yesterday, with the mountains calling and the need to buy supplies for Molly, our ol' puppy, I combined both into one venture. I hiked Norris Dam State Park for the 24th time. Afterward, I shopped at the Tractor Supply.

This 70th entry in the hiking topic section includes online trail maps for Norris Dam State Park and Norris Watershed. Next, I express my frustration over hunters having more rights than hikers during deer season. Finally, I share the photograph and audiovisual recording from the west overlook. The weather was sunny, clear, and breezy. The temperature was in the 70s Fahrenheit.

Norris Dam State Park and Norris Watershed

Tennessee State Parks: Norris Dam State Park includes a printable trail map. I keep a printed copy in my 2006 Nissan truck. Since my first hike there on 3/20/2010, I have explored many of the trails.

Before reaching Norris Dam and the state park, the Norris Watershed includes several hiking trails. Online, I found the Norris Watershed Trail Map. Notice that the state park and watershed adjoin. Upper watershed trails connect to state park trails.

Yesterday, my initial plan was to hike a watershed trail that leads to state park trails. I was met with discriminatory signs! The next section explains.

Discrimination: Hikers have Fewer Rights than Hunters!

I know the area well. Before reaching Norris Dam, I turned right (northeast) onto Lower Clear Creek Road. It's a narrow gravel road. The threshing barn and gristmill are immediately on the right. A construction crew was working on the parking area, so I didn't stop. Continuing, the road winds through the bottom land. A concrete slab allows vehicles to pass through a shallow creek. My truck enjoyed getting dusty and picking up gravel in his tires. I turned left to go downhill at the water treatment plant. I parked near a trailhead to the Clear Creek Trail. It follows the creek, heading northwest. From there, I had planned to pick a trail leading up and into the state park. I wanted to reach a ridge.

I, however, was stopped in my tracks by signs showing that the watershed was closed to hikers during the current deer season! Years ago, I hiked the same trail, which was not closed for hikers during deer season. At a distance up toward a ridge line, I saw a deer hunter. We exchanged waves. I pointed to where I was hiking. He pointed in a different direction to where he was hunting. It was a friendly exchange at a distance.

After returning home yesterday, I found TN Land Forms: Norris, which told me that sections of the watershed are closed for deer hunting in the fall. This year, it is closed to hikers from October 19-27 and from November 23 through December 1. Sections are only open to deer hunters.

Angered that deer hunters have more rights than hikers, I felt discriminated against as a hiker. Getting back into my truck, I drove to the west overlook of Norris Dam.

“Civilized Hike” above the West Overlook: Photograph & Audiovisual Recording

What else could I do? Driving across Norris Dam and to the parking lot at the West Overlook, I decided once again to take a “civilized hike” on the short trail above the overlook. The last time that I hiked the area is mentioned in the article from 4/21/2023.

Photograph

After the hike, I took the only photograph below at 2:36 PM.

I decided to photograph the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) marker in the foreground, with Norris Lake and Norris Dam in the background. The view looks northwest. The water was clear blue. No boats were on the lake. Several locks hang on the fence wire. Who has been hanging them there and why? I wonder.

Audiovisual Recording

Four minutes after taking the previous photograph, I began the audiovisual recording of “Norris Dam State Park Hike 24, 10-22-2024: View from the West Overlook (pub. 10-23-2024; episode 32),” Appalachian Irishman – Podcasts (YouTube). In just under three minutes, I walk and talk for a while about my “civilized hike” and my plan to shop at the Tractor Supply in the Halls community in Knoxville.

The “nastiness” that I mention in the recording is Kudzu, which is abundant in the area. Hiking up through the Kudzu, a nearly vertical area forced me to craw up, using my hands and feet. I despise Kudzu!

Conclusion

My twenty-third hike at Norris Dam State Park was more enjoyable. I visited and made an audiovisual recording at the cemetery. The 5/27/2023 article is about that hike.

Any day in the woods, even if only a “civilized hike,” is better than not having been there! When do I organize a family hike at Beauty Spot in Unicoi County, Tennessee? We will see. The thought is in my mind.