JOYCE KILMER MEMORIAL FOREST

Before heading home from our family camping trip to Campsite #4 at Rattler Ford Group Campground I talked my family into a short hike. Tucked away deep in the Nantahala National Forest is a living national treasure. Of the 17,013 acres of the Slickrock Wilderness Area, a 3840 acre tract have been dedicated as The Joyce Kilmer Memorial Forest. This Memorial Forest is a living memorial to Joyce Kilmer, an American poet and a patriot of World War I. He penned the infamous nature poem "Trees":
                                          
                                                       “I think that I shall never see
                                                        A poem lovely as a tree
                                                        A tree whose hungry mouth is prest
                                                        Against the earth’s sweet flowing breast;
                                                        A tree that looks at God all day,
                                                        And lifts her leafy arms to pray;
                                                        A tree that may in Summer wear
                                                        A nest of Robins in her hair;
                                                        Upon whose bosom snow has lain;
                                                        Who intimately lives with rain.
                                                         Poems are made by fools like me,
                                                        But only God can make a tree.”
                                                                 
                                                        Joyce Kilmer.
                                                        December 6, 1886-July 30, 1918.

Open to the public in 1936, Joyce Kilmer Memorial Forest is a sanctuary protected and preserved under the Wilderness Act. This particular forest is supposedly virgin to logging and motorized machinery. If a tree must be cut the U.S. Forest Service uses hand powered log saws or even blown away with dynamite for a more natural look. This unmarred and natural setting along with its' old growth and massive trees was the draw for our hike. Within the parking area there's a few amenities like picnic tables, grills, and a restroom. The trailhead to the more popular Joyce Kilmer Memorial Trail is just beyond the informational Kiosk where I mindlessly left my Nalgene water bottle. Other well-used and easily accessible trails in this old growth forest are the Naked Ground Trail, Jenkins Meadow Trail, and the Stratton Bald Trail. Once we passed the wooden footbridge over Little Santeetlah Creek, a nice wild trout stream for fly-fishing, we ascended into the thickets. The forest, kept in its' primitive and natural state, was comprised of enormous poplars, red oaks, and hemlocks. The well marked and heavily worn trail is a two mile figure-eight. The first loop ascends into the cove passing several stumps blown apart by dynamite, a graveyard of fallen trees, and plenty of wild flowers. At the junction of Joyce Kilmer Memorial Trail and Poplar Cove Trail is the biography of Joyce Kilmer engraved on a bronze plaque within the face of a strong boulder. Both trails are sprinkled with a few small wooden trail bridges over streams of water and crevasses. The Poplar Cove Trail, upper portion of the figure-eight, has the distintive honor of showcasing a plethera of mature yellow poplars stretching over 100 ft tall. With a circumference of 15 to 20 ft., these towering trees are beautiful, mysterious, and awe inspiring. These ancient statues reach and even surpasses the maturity of nearly 400 years. Trying to grasp the magnitude of these trunks we, as many others have done, reached hand in hand around the base for a count of family members it takes to hug these massive trees. Three adults and two kids was the count. A thick layer of ferns and decaying tree trunks victims of desease or insects blankets the ground. Back at the trailhead and the info kiosk lies my Nalgene water bottle and once again instills my faith in strangers. This small two mile hike gives great insight to the stately grandeur of the creations provided by mother nature. Being ingested by the forest is soothing to my soul but sharing that with family is my salvation from the monotony of a common life.