My Year In The Smokies - A Movie While You Are Waiting For Me To Update This Blog

For my faithful blog readers and those who stumbled here accidentally, this YouTube video is a compilation of photos from my year of hiking all the trails in the Great Smoky Mountains aka "Smokies 900" in celebration of my first 50 years on the planet.  My husband secretly made this gift of love as a Christmas surprise.

It's a bit long and some of you may be bored because you don't know the people depicted and I seem to never change clothes.  Be grateful that there are thousands of photos not included.  If you hiked with me during that magical year, you'll find yourself in here somewhere.  If you followed me on this blog, you'll recognize a few things.  And there's some great scenery, too.  Don't miss the bear prints in the snow.  AND...the last picture in the video is my first picture on my first day on the trail.  

Music has the capacity to transport us to another time and place.  Songs included here are "That Mountain" by the Boxmasters, "Beautiful Day" by U2 and "One More Mile To Go" by Jay Nash.

"And when this is done I'll miss it, I know...one more mile to go."  Jay Nash

If A Hiker Falls In The Woods And Nobody Sees Her...

4/3/09 – Anthony Creek Trail/Russell Field Trail out-and-back and Twin Creeks Trail – 14 miles

Today the rain caught up with me – glad I didn’t have to see how much wetter Wet Bottom can get! I was the only soul in the Cades Cove picnic parking area for my hike up Russell Field Trail to the Appalachian Trail. Relax, this is going to be a short post because the weather did not improve.

My first 1.7 miles was on Anthony Creek Trail, nothing too exciting except the water was gushing nicely. I had only walked a half-mile when two backpackers passed me coming down. I thought I recognized the younger one, and as I turned around to double check, so did he. Turns out it was the two trail maintainers that Lenny and I had met repairing bear cables at a Deep Creek campsite a couple of weeks ago! And I was mistaken – the younger fella is a volunteer but the older fella is a Park Service employee. They had spent the night at Russell Field Shelter waiting on a problem bear, but the bear didn’t show up. Hey…I’m hiking up to that shelter now…

At the junction I turned right onto Russell Field Trail and began a steady climb. A couple of crossings of the Left Prong of Anthony Creek were interesting. I can proclaim that Russell Field is the muddiest trail I have hiked in the Park. Horses had been on it recently to churn things up and then the rain came pouring down. Fortunately, I had learned my lesson about wearing gaiters on the last AT backpack weekend so I had strapped them on this morning. They were totally smeared by the end of the hike and so protected my boot tops and pants legs well. All my attention was needed to watch my footing so I didn’t take many photos – but this fallen log was quite interesting.

Up, up, up Russell Field, to the gap where it reaches the ridge line and levels out. The wind was rather fierce here and I hurried along to get some protection where the trail slightly drops below the ridge. The clouds were so thick that visibility was about 20 paces ahead. Russell Field itself is a bald, today part grass and part forest, but once used for grazing cattle. This is what I saw:




So no need to linger, as the trail goes on up to intersect the Appalachian Trail at Russell Field Shelter. This shelter is still the old style with a chain link fence across the front and no extended roof and built-in benches and tabletops for cooking and lounging – although any port in a storm will do. No one else there, not even the problem bear, and I ate a lonely and soggy lunch while reading the shelter journal - lots of thru-hikers coming along now, leaving messages for each other. The last message written was by kygraybeard, who is actually a ridge runner for this section of the AT in the Smokies, reporting that a mama bear and her two cubs are back from last year looking for food at the shelter. I ate faster and then started back down the mountain.

One advantage of hiking solo is that no one sees you fall. I slipped on a water bar and gave it a good effort before landing splat on my side in the mud. Carol would have been disappointed – I did not stop to take a picture of myself. Nothing hurt but my ego, but it was a good reminder that slippery downhill trails are the best way to get hurt out here. Soon after I passed the alleged Russell Field bald I met two older gentlemen hikers who are aspiring to the Smokies 900 too – well, who else would be out on this trail in this weather? One of their first questions was do I hike alone often and do I worry about getting injured while alone? They said I could feel free to fall now because they would not be far behind to rescue me. Nice guys! But seriously, I do enjoy meeting other hikers and chatting it up.

The hike down was slow because of the mud, although still not much to see. In the last half-mile of Russell Field Trail the wildflowers were struggling to open, so I guess this is ordinarily an enjoyable hike. By the time you read this the trout lillies will be spectacular, I’m sure. I saw some interesting unfurling ferns, which I love because they have that “Little Shop Of Horrors” look to them. Feed me!

I passed a group of backpackers heading out for a weekend jaunt as I neared the parking lot. Kudos to them for not letting the rain change their plans! I hope they had a great experience.

It was early afternoon and I had time for one of the two short trails that remained on my list and chose Twin Creeks, so I began the long drive to Gatlinburg. Not many cars along Laurel Creek and Little River Roads, so I did not endanger anyone as I gawked at the enormous trilliums (both white and yellow ones) growing on the slopes alongside the roads. Can you imagine being able to identify those beauties at the blinding speed of 35 miles per hour on curving, winding roads? I’m telling ya, they was HUGE! And no place to pull over to take photos…which is why they are able to grow so well there…no one can pull over and disturb them.

I found the trailhead for Twin Creeks just past the GSMNP sign on Cherokee Orchard Road and squeezed my car into a pull-off. This trail would be great for families with kids, lots to see if you just start looking, rock walls and rock piles, gets close to the creek and then farther away, and now the trilliums are up close and personal and growing by the gazillions. I hiked the two miles to the intersection with the Bud Ogle Nature Trail and then back to my car. Hey…it’s stopped raining!

There was a pizza with my name on it waiting at Ogle’s Pizza & Pasta on Hwy 321 and my cozy little Smoky Pines hotel room. Gee, I’m gonna miss this part…  

Sunshine is delicious, rain is refreshing, wind braces us up, snow is exhilerating; there is really no such thing as bad weather, only different kinds of good weather. ~Anonymous

Mount Sterling Fire Tower

3/21/09 - Big Creek Trail/Swallow Fork Trail/Mount Sterling Ridge Trail/Mount Sterling Trail/Baxter Creek Trail – 17.2 Miles

The night before this hike I was a guest at an event in Asheville hosted by Danny Bernstein as a thank-you to people associated with the creation of her second book, Hiking North Carolina’s Blue Ridge Heritage (okay, I accompanied her to scout one hike from the book, but it still got me in!) It was a most enjoyable evening with some well-known members of the area hiking world. And to think I met Danny quite by chance when I signed up for a random CMC hike to test myself for this hiking adventure – or is anything really random?

Early Saturday morning I drove from Asheville to the Big Creek campground to meet my hiking buddy for the day, Jeff (aka Ken, aka Mr. Wonderful) for a long trek up to the Mount Sterling firetower. As soon as I got to the parking lot, Jeff called to say he would be “a little late.” He had a good story involving solo backpacking in Pisgah and finding his campsite in the dark. While I waited I watched the parking area fill up with hikers for this beautiful, warm, finally-spring day in the Smokies.

Once Jeff arrived, we took off walking up Big Creek Trail, passing a few hikers and being passed by a few horse riders. Big Creek is a level trail and we were so intent on conversation that we completed the 5 miles in about 1.5 hours, so making up a little time. At the Swallow Fork Trail we turned left and began our big climb. We had a couple of average stream crossings. I saw some hikers farther up the trail, so I sent Jeff up ahead so I could take a “trail break.” Just a moment too early (too late?) I saw the hikers coming around the corner and Jeff quickly stopped to chat with them. Moral: be careful where you pee on a spring Saturday in the Smokies! Ya ain’t all by yourself out there!

In total we saw 17 backpackers/hikers on this hike – most of them headed for Campsite 38 at the firetower. Fun!

Jeff and I ate a quick lunch at the junction of Swallow Fork/Mount Sterling Ridge/Balsam Mountain/Pretty Hollow Trails (hey Jeff’s mom – he loves your homemade strawberry jam). I remember being at this intersection back in July with Carol when the weeds were as tall as we were and all I could think about was how many snakes I was going to step on. We turned left onto Mount Sterling Ridge Trail and continued to climb a little bit, glimpsing the Maggie Valley area to our right. (The white streak in the photo – could that be a ski slope? Any guesses?) While on this trail we heard and then saw two helicopters buzzing around, flying towards the AT ridge.
  At the Mount Sterling firetower we climbed to the top to gawk at the clear blue sky and unlimited views. This tower felt much more stable than Shuckstack.







 

Magnificent

Majestic

No words

Couldn’t resist taking a picture of Jeff taking a picture of the surveyor’s marker at the tower base.

We did not have an abundance of time to hang around so we started down Baxter Creek Trail, six miles of downhill in a bit of a hurry, which hammered my toes and feet until tears came to my eyes. Jeff, who had hiked 20 miles with a backpack the previous day, was not dancing down that hill either. Our dogs were definitely barking on this section! Still, we paid enough attention to see this awesome fallen giant on the side of the trail.

And what about this knotty thing? The trunk has been severed just above the knot. Kind of looks like a fist grabbing it, huh?

On the lower half of Baxter Creek, wildflower foliage became very prominent and colors were emerging – loads of spring beauties, Dutchmans Breeches, huge trilliums as big as my out- stretched hand. By the time you all are reading this, the place will be a carpet of blooms. Get yourself out there! Look high up on the slopes and low down by your feet – it will be stunning. Be sure to tell me all about it!

Crossing Big Creek on the big bridge, we arrived back at the parking area right at 6:00 p.m. Heard later that one of my followers on this blog (hi Andrew) saw my car in the parking lot and wondered if it was me – I guess my bumper stickers give me away. So if you see my car around, leave me a note and say hi!

Felt good to sit down in the car and drive, felt bad to get out and walk to my hotel room in Gatlinburg. Can I really hike 16 miles tomorrow?

The View From Mt LeConte

Mt LeConte Trip – 9/3/08 – Rainbow Falls Trail/Bullhead Trail/Cliff Top – 13.7 Miles

Back at home everything dried up and we had a few days of glorious weather. In an email to Judy I lamented that my hubby was out of town, the sun was shining and I was not hiking, and Judy said, “Well, what are you doing tomorrow?”

So…I drove up to Judy’s house that night and on Wednesday morning we headed for Mt LeConte in the Smokies by the route we had ditched last week. The Rainbow Falls trailhead is reached via Cherokee Orchard Road in Gatlinburg. You drive through the heart of G’burg with all the hotels, restaurants and boardwalk atmosphere, and in about two minutes you are cruising through woodlands on a one-way road. Rainbow Falls is very popular because of its easy access, thus the trail shows heavy use. There are numerous shortcuts along the switchbacks, although it was sometimes hard to tell whether the shortcuts were made by people or running water from the recent heavy rains. (I suspect both.) Some of the interesting sights along the way:

There were thousands upon thousands of yellow touch-me-nots along Rainbow Falls Trail.

Judy and what I call a tree sculpture, a blowdown where all the soil has washed away from the tree’s roots.

A creepy-looking plant called doll’s eyes, know more for its fruit than for its flower. Interestingly, it is part of the buttercup family, and another common name for it is white baneberry.

The waterfall was not outstanding today, but still a nice snack stop. This is where most people turn around.


Despite the weather forecast, a cloud followed us up the trail, staying on our left side as we climbed to Mt LeConte, and we were a little disconcerted that there would be no views once again. I had been here only one time before, in August several years ago, when Jim and I stayed overnight at the Lodge, and it had…guess what…rained and been foggy for the entire visit. These high mountains have their own weather and it is often nothing like what is going on down in the lower elevations.


Surprise! The buildings of the Lodge came into sight and so did a lovely blue sky. As we stood on the porch of the lodge office, the cloud hung on the left/north side of the mountain and the sun shone brilliantly on the right/south side of the mountain. The cloud kept trying to creep up and a gentle breeze stalled it and kept it in place. So cool!

After a rest we signed the guest book and checked out the Lodge office, which is filled with photos on the walls of long-time visitors and hikers and history of how the Lodge was built. Then we turned our attention to Cliff Tops, which is where Lodge guests traditionally gather to watch the sunset each evening. (Sunrise is at Myrtle Point.) Here is what we saw from Cliff Tops that day:

Wow, huh? Now you can put this on your life list of places to go.

All too soon it was time to leave, as we had about 7 miles to hike down, 2 hours drive back to Judy’s house and then 2 hours more for me to get home. We headed down on the Bullhead Trail, which is probably the least used of all the trails leading to LeConte, and is quite rocky at the beginning but eventually becomes a lovely and interesting trail. On the way down we saw some stands of grass of parnussus, not a grass at all but a beautiful flower. About halfway down we stopped at the Pulpit, a seemingly random stack of stones on the trail, described in “Hiking Trails of the Smokies” this way: “The Pulpit is a stone cairn built by men of the Civilian Conservation Corps when they constructed this trail in the 1930s. Nobody told them to do it. Somebody thought it would be a good idea, and enough others agreed to get the job done. They carried stones from far and near. The Pulpit is tall enough for those who stand on it to get a good look northward down into LeConte Creek Valley. It’s wide enough for two or three to sit on.”

Down, down, down until the Bullhead Trail ended at Old Sugarlands Trail and we walked about a half mile back to the car. No bears today – Judy has never seen a bear on a trail. However, as we drove out of the Park on Roaring Fork Motor Trail (really a one-way road) cars were stopped twice to check out bears ambling around near the road. But seeing bears from the car window don’t count…

Got home very late, 11:00 PM, very tired, but one hike closer to my goal.

Balsam Mountain Campground

My camera battery was truly dead – I guess when I thought I was charging it, I wasn’t. But Carol had her trusty digital camera so we were still able to record our adventures. Be sure to click on pictures to see full screen.

Balsam Mountain Campground is reached via the Blue Ridge Parkway and Heintooga Ridge Road. It is the highest campground within the GSMNP system and the cooler temperatures attest to that. It rained on us the latter part of the drive and when we arrived at the campground there was a chill and dampness that would stay with us the entire visit. If you’ve never seen a registration board for a GSMNP campground or a backcountry campsite reservation board, this is it. Balsam Mountain is no reservations, first come, first served. The place was maybe half full.

The GSMNP campgrounds are staffed by rangers and also by campground hosts, who you want to meet as your new best friend. Chuck has been hosting at Balsam Mountain for the past 4 years. Although originally from Tennessee, he will tell you that the NC side of the Smokies is prettier. Chuck moved away to…Wisconsin? Minnesota? When asked why, he’ll tell you about a “blue-eyed, blonde-haired woman.” They both come back in the summers to host at Balsam Mountain. Chuck is an absolute gem, funny stories, good information, interested in what you’re doing, a great ambassador for the Park.




Chuck gave us the scoop on the Heintooga Ridge Overlook and the sunset show every evening. After we got camp set up, Carol and I walked the mile to the picnic area originally built by the CCC, including the incredible stone slab tables. The area is quite large, including restrooms, and it is easy to picture a church congregation or family reunion spending a beautiful cool summer afternoon there.

The Heintooga Ridge Overlook is a short walk down the Flat Creek Trail. A couple of front row benches are there for you to sit back and enjoy the show, which was awesome. Chuck is there to watch it most nights so he can then lock the gate, and he says he doesn’t leave until the very end “because sometimes wonderful things happen.”

Signs

Some of the signs from our most recent Smokies trip to Cades Cove:




Pretty new trail sign - I see now that I misspelled "Finley" in my text - oh well...

"Welcome" sign on the women's bathroom door in the Cades Cove campground

Sign inviting you to commune with the forest creatures

This sign was at the cave with bars on it to protect the bat population

My favorite sign

Cades Cove Weekend - Day Three - A Tom Sawyer Detour

Turkeypen Ridge Trail/Schoolhouse Gap Trail and two side trips/Bote Mountain Trail/Finlay Cane Trail - 11.8 miles (plus?)

After a rowdy Saturday night in the Cades Cove campground (we were out for the count by 10:30 PM) we woke up Sunday morning with intentions of packing up and leaving by 8:45 AM for an 11.3-mile hike (Hike #2 in the Tremont/Elkmont section of "Day Hiker's Guide"). But cooking an actual breakfast and then packing up absolutely everything, of course, took forever so we were a little late. We wanted to be off the trail and headed back to Charlotte by 2:00 PM. Our trailhead was close by, though, so no worries, and today was another loop hike. The Turkeypen Ridge Trail begins at a little pull-off spot on Laurel Creek Road, also known as a speed zone for motorcycles, pickup trucks, pop-up trailers and huge camper-mansions. Be careful crossing this road!

At the beginning of Turkeypen Ridge was a warning sign that bears have been very active in the area and it is possible to be hurt or killed..hmmm. Well, we know bears are in the park and we've seen 'em, but this was a little disconcerting. For the prior hikes we had often been out of sight of each other as one (Jim) sped up or one (me) stopped to take pictures, but we agreed that today we would stay within reaching distance of each other. The behavior for discouraging an aggressive bear is to stand tall, look big and shout at the bear, and the two of us clinging to each other for dear life would look bigger than one whimpering person alone.

And on this trail we heard many noises among the trees and stopped often to check it out, thus we made slow progress. We can't swear to another bear sighting, but we can almost promise that we saw one. A funny thing: bears have a magical ability to look exactly like tree stumps. Out of the corner of your eye you know it's a bear, but when you look straight at it, it's just an old stump. We saw dozens of bears who have learned this trick. Pretty cool.

Jim was ahead of me so I could protect his rear end, and he saw wildlife on the trail, including a huge owl taking off silently through the trees and a smaller-than-a-bear-but-bigger-than-a-breadbox animal that we concluded was a wild boar. We saw where the creature had been rooting around in the dirt and we heard him trotting away through the leaves. Later we read that this area has many wild pigs. I myself saw three wild...lizards.

At the end of Turkeypen Ridge, we turned left onto Schoolhouse Gap Trail, a mile out-and-back section that I needed to cover (yet again - seems I am always doing this). Within a few hundred feet we saw a well-worn side trail to the left, and my guidebook invited us to explore an area called White Oak Sinks, a low flat area where a group of 10 or so families had once lived. This area is quite popular in April with an extensive variety of wildflowers in bloom. We didn't know how far the trail went, but we gave ourselves ten minutes out and ten minutes back because of time constraints. We found the area but no evidence of homes. Check out the humongous fungus we saw there.

Back on Schoolhouse Gap, we found ourselves on yet another gravel roadbed. I've learned that there was is no record of a school being located here, but perhaps the name came from this being the route that kids walked over to school in Townsend. We walked about 1.2 miles to the end of this road and ended at the Park boundary, looking at someone's home with a picnic table nearby. As we sat down to take a breather before hiking back, the owner came driving by. When we asked if the picnic table was his, he said, "It belongs to me and it's there for you." This very nice man asked if we were going on the "back" trail and we confessed we knew nothing about it. "Well," he said, "there's caves on that trail and they are a sight to see, and the trail goes through White Oak Sinks." He gave a quick description that neither Jim nor I fully got, something about following the creek and going right and bearing left with the cave to your back, and he wished us a nice day.

So we went on this trail...because it sounded interesting and we are not very smart.

The trail actually was not hard to see and it did follow the creek bed, but it was much fainter and there was much ducking under limbs and scrambling up banks. We soon encountered a fork in the trail and my orienteering skills said, heck, I don't know, let's keep left. Eventually we came upon a cave in the side of the mountain with a warning sign advising that written permission from the park rangers was required to go into the cave. (Read about some folks who did not heed this advice.) As we stood before this black hole, cold air swept all around us and I felt chills, from the air and from the stillness and from the fact that nobody knew where we were...

But we had farther to go and another cave to find and hopefully we would recognize White Oak Sinks since we had been there earlier. Then it got interesting. The vegetation grew taller and the trail divided several times and at some points was harder to discern. We stuck with the wisdom of bearing left and we found another cave. This one was covered by a cage to keep people out and protect the large bat habitat. Cold air was blowing up from this cave also. I'll bet it is really something to see those bats come out at dusk. Batman meets Tom Sawyer!

This cave is where our friend had instructed us to stand with our backs to the cage, head right and then bear left. So far we were not officially lost. As we continued on we noticed the time slipping by - this trail was supposed to be about a mile and we had been following it for 45 minutes. Were we lost yet? Who could tell? What happened to all those rules about telling someone where you were going, sticking to your original agenda, having a map (this trail wasn't on the map) and knowing how to use a compass (I was a little rusty)?

By the grace of God we found the third cave along the trail that our friend had talked about, and this one was awesome. The rock face of the mountain was enormous and there was a small waterfall dripping over the top and down into a black hole. The cold air was incredible. We got out the camera, knowing that our amateur photography skills would not capture the essence of the place. If we were not so concerned about the time or where the trail went next we would have lingered. But miles to go...

And where DO those miles go now? Looking up the mountain beside the cliff face, there seemed to be a trail, but it was ridiculously steep and there was certainly no way that the average wildflower lover would scramble up or down it. Perhaps it was just a vantage point for actual good photographers to shoot the cave and waterfall. Jim went up to check it out, and I followed, realizing that there was no way we could safely get back down. At the top we saw that a trail continued, and we followed it on blind faith and hope that we would recognize something. Within five minutes we were strolling through White Oak Sinks -- and past another side trail that probably was a less steep route to the big cave. But, hey, at least we knew where we were now. We are genuiuses!

Now there was a decision to make, though, because we had lost quite a bit of time and we had gone officially only a few miles. I suggested that we go straight out Schoolhouse Gap Trail to the right to where it intersected with Laurel Gap Road and hitch a ride back to our car and call it a day. We were tired and hot and now almost 2 hours behind our planned departure time. As we walked out, Jim wondered how I would make up the other part of the planned hike, and I said that I could come back any time and pick up the 6 or 7 miles. My Jim is a great guy - he told me that we should just suck it up, go for it and finish the hike and get that feeling of accomplishment.

So we did. We crossed the road, headed up Bote Mountain Trail (gravel roadbed, yawn) and turned right onto Finlay Cane Trail. This trail was a pleasant walk and we soon heard the sounds of motorcycles and saw our car waiting patiently right where we had left it. We had covered 5.3 miles in under 2 hours. We stopped at the Sugarlands Visitor Center to cruise the gift shop and then drove via Gatlinburg and the Foothills Parkway towards Asheville, then Charlotte and home.

When I put my head on my own pillow that night I smiled at the memories of another phenomenal trip that I will always remember. Thanks, Jim.

Cades Cove Weekend - Day Two - An OMG Moment

Middle Prong Trail/Lynn Camp Prong Trail/Miry Ridge Trail/Panther Creek Trail/Back out on Middle Prong - 14.9 Miles

I confess, I was not looking forward to today's hike. After yesterday's miles and downhill ending, my feet hurt and I was hearing from some muscles that don't usually say anything. Also, I had seen Lynn Camp Prong Trail described in an online forum as the second-worst trail in the Park (don't remember what the first one supposedly is). But I chose this hike for two reasons: (1) Jim was with me and he loves me anyway and (2) the hike is accessed from the end of Tremont Road, which is closed in winter, so my time frame for hiking it is limited unless I want to walk 3 extra miles in cold weather to reach the trailhead. (Note: yesterday's hike was similar in that Parson Branch Road is closed in winter.)

So we got up early - again - and drove over to Tremont Road, passing the Tremont Institute, an environmental education facility with many wonderful programs and info. Past the Institute the pavement ends and the gravel begins, and three miles later it too ends at a parking area and a steel bridge crossing the convergence of Lynn Camp Prong and Thunderhead Prong to form Middle Prong of Little River (prong means creek, by the way). So the first step on the trail is in front of a wonderful cascade of thundering water - not a bad way to begin!

Middle Prong Trail follows the railroad bed used to haul lumber out of the Tremont area during logging's heyday. We walked along trying to imagine the lumber camp there, complete with homes, a post office, a hotel and the company store where currency was scrip or coins made by the company that could not be used anywhere else (cue Tennessee Ernie Ford .) Middle Prong Trail is a pleasant walk, which is good because we will be coming out the same way. At 2.3 miles we pass the junction with Panther Creek Trail, where we will be coming back to in a loop, and we check out where we will have to cross Lynn Camp Prong (creek, remember?) without a bridge. We have brought water shoes just in case, but it doesn't look too bad. Might feel good by the end of the day!

At 4.1 miles we come to (eek!) Lynn Camp Prong Trail and 3.7 miles of pure....not too bad! In fact, we had a pretty nice walk. This is a horse trail, as are many in the Smokies, but because there has not been much rain lately the trails are dry, so no mud wrestling. We reached the intersection with Miry Ridge Trail where 3 men, 1 teenage boy and 1 elementary age boy were taking a rest break as they were backpacking in the same direction we were headed. Trail junctions are great places to pause and chat with fellow hikers, who are always interested in where you are coming from, where you are going, etc.

Left onto Miry Ridge and our favorite hiking: little ups and downs on the ridge line. After just a short while the trees changed and we found ourselves at..the beach? The tall trees were gone, the ground was sandy and there were mountain laurel bushes blooming all around, reminding me of a beach path through blooming oleander shrubs. Wow! We've seen azaleas, rhododendrons, and now mountain laurel blooming at their peak. What a treat! And if only someone had cut a few down over there to the left maybe we could see a view! Let's see if we can go up a little higher off to the side...We took a few steps off the trail and....Oh My God!

Now, this was not a taking-the-Lord's-name-in-vain thing, this was truly an exclamation for what God had done. It was truly grand.

As we set off along Miry Ridge Trail again I noticed the petals of mountain laurel along the path, looking like a wedding had taken place earlier in the day.

We soon came to our last new trail of the day, Panther Creek, which was 2.3 miles of downhill again. Well, at least it wasn't 5! We crossed Panther Creek 9 times, all easy rock hops. There were many clusters of galax blooming along the way.

We reached the end of Panther Creek Trail and made it across Lynn Camp Prong without needing water shoes. Rock hopping is great fun but one false move can get your foot stuck and bones broken. Walking back out on Middle Prong Trail again we checked out all the little side paths down to this creek, which was growing larger with each step. There are many small waterfalls and cascades. This is an easy and delightful trail that I would recommend to everyone.

Near the end we plunged our feet in nature's spa and congratulated each other. This hike was nearly as long as yesterday's but seemed easier. Happy hiker tip: frequent intersections make us feel like we are making more progress. Two 2.5-mile sections is easier than one 5-mile section any day!

Our reward was going out to dinner in Townsend at the Back Porch Restaurant where you must save room for peach, apple, blackberry or pecan cobbler. I ate so much pecan cobbler that I hated myself. Apparently they take a quarter of a pecan pie and dump it upside down in a bowl and put a spoon in it. All together now: YUUUMMMM!

Cades Cove Weekened - Day One Continued - Bear Photos

Jim and I began the gradual but long descent of Gregory Ridge Trail. Five miles is a long distance with no way to mark your progress, no intersections, no artifacts, no GPS (okay, okay, I'll learn how to use it by next time!), just a watch that seemed to have stopped. Jim is always faster than me on the uphills with those cyclist thighs, but I am actually slightly faster on the downhill. We were trucking along, heads down to watch our footing, and I was about 20 paces ahead when Jim called my name. When I turned around, he was looking up the steep slope near the ridge and he whispered, "Bears!" I snuck back to stand beside him (to protect him, of course). He had seen a small bear climbing a dead tree trunk. I didn't see the small bear, but I saw a large black shape turn, take a couple of steps, and then Mama spotted us and gave us a good stare for three hundred hours, three seconds in real time. Then she moved out of sight and we heard a very strange, loud sound, something between a growl and a shriek and a snuffle that every human and animal child since time began understands to mean, "Get over here RIGHT NOW!" Then some crashing steps and silence. Were they still there or had they gone over the ridge?

Here is my photo of the bear: (pretend...)

Oh well...best I could do in the heat of the moment. I think I actually took a picture of the inside of my pocket. I'll get one next time!
Seeing the bears was not scary, but it taught us a valuable lesson where to look - up! From then on we scanned the slopes and stumbled a lot. Our feet were grateful to reach the car.

Forgot to mention - at the lower elevations the white rhododendrons were blooming profusely near the ground, overhead, absolutely everywhere. (This would prove to be the case on all three hiking days.) Along Parson Branch Road the bushes bloomed three stories high. The buds are a gorgeous pink and then fully open to beautiful white with a pink tinge. It was difficult not to take a photo of every single bloom! (Click on photos to see full screen.)

We headed back up Parson Branch Road, stopped at the Cades Cove Visitor Center with the multitudes, and got in line on the merry-go-round one-lane loop road to go back to our campsite. Patience was required in amounts larger than I possessed, as cars do stop in the middle of the road when they see something interesting, people leaning out of car windows to take photos. Often they stop in front of the friendly signs that say, "Please be courteous and pull over."

Back at camp we cooked a fabulous noodles-and-canned-chicken extravaganza and walked to the little camp store for soft-serve ice cream. This is a great family campground, kids riding bikes everywhere, burgers cooking, campground TV going (i.e. campfires), and it makes for great people-watching. Makes you feel good that some folks still take their kids outside. I guarantee you those kids will always remember their family camping trips. Jim and I gave our feet the rest of the day off, sat and read our books until it got dark, and then got packs ready for another adventure tomorrow. Another happy hiking tip: earplugs!

Cades Cove Weekend - Day One - Fire On The Mountain

Gregory Bald Trail/Gregory Ridge Trail Plus a Road Walk and a Side Trip - 15.7 Miles

Up at 6:05 AM (every minute of sleep helps) because we wanted a very early start on the fabulous hike we had planned. One of our secrets to happy hiking is we each have a customized food bag filled with our favorite hiking-friendly foods for the weekend and we just grab a few things for the day and go. We don't eat lunch but we snack all day, sometimes at every trail junction. Boots on and packs ready, we took off along the Cades Cove loop road to the far end and Parson Branch Road, a gravel road that is two-way to a parking area, then one-way continuing out of the park on the North Carolina side. If you get on the one-way part you face a multi-hour drive back around the western edge of the Park to Cades Cove

Today's hike was in the "Day Hiker's Guide" again, Hike #1 in the Twentymile/Fontana section (even though we were camping in Cades Cove). Jim and I wanted to hike up the Gregory Bald Trail and down the Gregory Ridge Trail, but there are four miles of walking between the trailheads at the bottom of the mountain - the one-way Parson Branch Road. We had only one car, so our brilliant scheme was to park at the end of the two-way portion and start walking along the one-way, hoping to hitch a ride (no, I would NEVER do this alone.) Soon a car approached....and passed us by without a glance. Now, keep in mind, there is no reason to be on this road at all except to get to the trailhead we are walking towards. I guess the half-eaten bagel in my hand looked dangerous.

Twenty minutes of walking and we heard another vehicle approaching. I turned to walk backwards facing them, thumb out, smile on, and fell straight into a ditch.

My ploy worked! They stopped to see if we needed help and were glad to give us a ride. We were all going to the same place, Gregory Bald. Thanks, Jerry and Richard, for saving us three miles of road walking. Jim and I headed up the trail, and as karma always comes back around, on the way up we passed the two guys who had passed us by earlier, smiling and saying, "Great day for a hike, huh?"

Our holy grail today was Gregory Bald, one of several mountain balds in the Smokies and famous for its profusion of flame azeala bushes at their peak bloom in late June, and our visit did not disappoint. The day was a bit hazy and my photography skills are still lacking, but it was a huge area of meadow grasses and azaleas taller than a person ranging from white to yellow to pink to every shade of orange imaginable, with a backdrop of rows of blue mountains. This is a sight to visit over and over and over.

During our leisurely hour on the bald we chatted again with Jerry and Richard and discovered that we both knew an avid Smokies hiker (hi Wendell!) who has completed his Smokies map and keeps on going. Hopefully I will hike with their Wednesday group someday.

Interesting story from "100 Hikes in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park" by Russ Manning: The bald is named after Russell Gregory, who lived in Cades Cove but also had a stone cabin on the bald where he tended his own and others' cattle in the summertime. "During the Civil War, Gregory was loyal to the Union, though his son Charles had joined the Confederacy. With the young men gone to war, Gregory organized and led the women, children and old men to confront a band of Confederate raiders who had been pillaging the area during 1864. Unknown to Gregory, Charles was part of the raiding party. No one was killed in the confrontation in which the raiders were turned back, but some of them returned in the night and murdered Russell Gregory in retaliation."

Past the bald, Jim and I came to Rich Gap (where cattle were kept and their droppings made for great fertilizer, hence the name - I'm not making that up) and the intersection with the Gregory Ridge Trail, but here we turned right onto a faint trail in search of Moore Spring, where a hiker's shelter was located until it burned in the 1970's. (Hey, sometimes you've got to get off the interstate and check out the world's largest ball of string.) This was a .2-mile out-and-back just to see if we could find it. Click on the photo for full size and you can see the water bubbling from under the rock. I felt like Jed Clampet finding his bubbling crude!

Back to the main trail and making a right turn, we followed Gregory Bald Trail to its terminus at the Appalachian Trail. Actually, Gregory Bald was part of the AT until a re-route in the late 1940's. Then we backtracked to Rich Gap once again and turned right onto Gregory Ridge Trail to head down the mountain to our car. By now we were getting tired and our feet were not happy so we were not looking forward to 5 miles of downhill. Hikers out there, which is harder, uphill or downhill?

Well, Jim says that my posts are sometimes too long, so I will wait until tomorrow to tell you about the bears.