...and no, I wasn't a homeless redneck.

I forget the exact time... but sometime between 1996 and 2000, my Boy Scout troop out of Crossville went up to these very coke ovens and camped out for the weekend. We spent 2 days and 2 nights up there, hiking through the woods, exploring the area, and yes, we slept in the ovens.

Its strange the small details I remember from this camping trip. It was fall/winter time, so it was quite chilly outside. Sleeping bags kept us warm during the night, and we kept a fire going outside the ovens during the day, not only to keep warm but to cook on. It didn't rain at all (thank goodness), in fact the weather was quite nice. The food was tasty (mmmm blueberry pancakes). Very little in the way of insects were in the ovens, possibably due to the time of year.

I'm excited to see pictures of these! Brings back lots of fond memories...even if it was only 2 days/nights up there.

so the drugged out hillbilly wasn't living there then I take it.

Nope, no drugged out hillbilly at the time. Didn't see anyone else the whole weekend. The only time we ever ran into other people was while exploring a house near Saltpeter Cave in Grassy Cove. The house was a terrible disapointment, but the cave sure was cool. Went back there several times over the years, and would love to revisit it again sometime.