Report 4763: Hikers find footprint in Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

A companion and I were backpacking in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park over a long weekend. For reasons forgotten we left the trail to bushwhack and for a few steps dropped upstream into a creek to avoid an obstacle. My partner was a fast mover and was ahead, I was moving slowly to avoid slipping in the shallow creek when I observed a distinct down stream pointed bare footprint in a patch of silty sand just off the shore. There was a primate shaped footprint with 5 distinct toes and an overall length of 12 -14 inches by estimate. The bottom surrounding was flat rock. The water depth was shallow, maybe 2-3 inches. The print depth was deep enough to be distinctly visible in ambient lght. I spent some time examining the print to try to exlude other causes, knowing that water flowing over soft bottom can create patterns as can multiple animals walking over a path. There were no established Park camping spots within a likely walking distance, nor any animal prints nearby. There was nothing in my outdoor experinece to explain what I saw. We had hiked and camped numberous times in the Park and were familiar with the behavior and prints of bears.