Marshall McClung
A favorite Sunday tradition of Hoot Gibbs and several young boys back in the 1970s was to hike to the Hangover.
This was no ordinary Sunday stroll, as this is a mountain rising 5,160 feet in elevation, located on the dividing ridge between Big Santeetlah and Slickrock. From the parking lot at Big Fat Gap, it was a very steep 3-mile climb to the summit.
The group consisted of Hoot Gibbs, Tony Colvard, Jackie Gibbs, Danny Siler, Marshall Brooks – better known as “Rooster" – and David Hollifield. All of them attended New Hope Baptist Church on Snowbird Road.
As soon as church was over on Sunday morning, they would rush home, grab a bite to eat, change clothes, pile into Hoot’s car and it was off to the woods.
After spending a short time enjoying the fantastic view of the forest below them, they would run back to the car and somehow manage to be back at church for the evening service by 6 p.m.
Most boys growing up back in this time – and before – were “woods people." This meant that they spent as much time in the woods as they could. For those of us growing up on Atoah Creek, some other places frequented were Goat Knob, Haggett Knob, Walker Fields, Burgen’s Creek Falls and Eller Cove. All these places had a lure for us for one reason or another.
Goat Knob was said to be haunted by some, as rocks large enough to knock down trees would suddenly roll down the mountain in the middle of the night. Whether we believed it or not, the place had an air of mystery about it and we didn’t go there at night. There was a view of part of Robbinsville from the crest of the mountain. A cave on the side of the mountain was said to be inhabited by the Cherokee Little People, who could appear as some animal, snake or bird when they chose to.
Otherwise, they were invisible to white people.
Haggett Knob offered a nice view of one section of Atoah and was near my home. Bemis Lumber Company built a logging road from Atoah Gap into Eller Cove and beyond – creating an excellent place for us to ride our bicycles.
Located on the Graham-Cherokee County line from Tatham Gap, Walker Fields was where we went in early fall when the apple trees there would have an abundant crop ready for the picking.
It was a much different time when we grew up than it is now. Some might wonder why our parents weren’t worried about us going into the deep woods alone.
Actually, we were safer there than some are in their yards now. I was in the woods alone from the time I was allowed to be outside, long before I started to school. Little girls had playhouses in the woods and were never bothered by anyone.
How much of that do you see now?
Marshall McClung writes a bi-weekly column for The Graham Star. He is retired from the U.S. Forest Service and can be reached via email, mcclungs@email.com.