Nancy planned a camping trip to Roan Mountain State Park to hike and see the rhododendron and azaleas blooming. The weather forecast said it might just rain. When I got there, Gloria Dale was there already set up. I found a good site by the river to hang my hammock, then we went for a walk around the campground. It's really pretty here, they have a pool too. Lots of campsites up the road on the ridge side. Nancy, Jane and Debbie arrived, and we set up Jane's canopy over a picnic table, just in case it rains.... We were there early enough on Friday to hike in Roan Mountain State Park on the Fred Behrend trail. It started from our group campsite and looped around the ridge side. We saw lots of newts and got sprinkled on a couple of times. When we got back to camp, Betty had worked magic and had a feast ready for hungry hikers. Happy hour! Then fajita time, and off to hear some Appalachian/Celtic music at the amphitheater, only they moved it to the picnic shelter because of the possibility of rain. (surely not)
Thistle Dew had us tapping our toes and one gentleman flat foot dancing. Very talented musicians and singers. Back at camp it was too wet for a campfire so we called it a night.
Saturday's plan was to drive to Carver's Gap to hike the Balds. The sprinkles off and on had us in and out of rain gear and the wind tried to blow Debbie away. We had rocks to shelter us for lunch on the Grassy Ridge top. Limited views today but the blooms sure were awesome. No Grays Lily blooming yet, so I am glad I got the see them last year. Back at camp we got a fire going and had sprinkles trying to put our fire out, but we were determined. We gave up when the umbrellas come out, so supper was in the town of Roan Mountain at the Smoky Mountain Bakers. Pizza was delicious, baked in a wood fire oven. Good thing we got there early on Saturday afternoon. Others that came in after us had a 45 minute wait or more. I got the last loaf of sourdough bread they had. We got back to camp and went back to the picnic shelter for more music. This time for Marshall Ballew a singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, instructor, and music historian who played 5 different guitars and sang. It was raining when we came over, and sprinkling when we got back to camp. Nancy decided to sleep in her car since thunderstorms were supposed to happen during the night. I saw that the river was up and didn't like how close I was to it so I took down my hammock and put all my gear in the car. Had just settled in for the night when a Park truck came in and flashlights were shining at the river. Rangers checking the water level. They left and about an hour later they were back. I got out and asked them how much danger we were in if the rain kept falling. They said if the river crested it would be in our camp, but they would keep an eye on it and wake us up if we were in danger. Nancy and I didn't like that so she asked where they could put us if we evacuated. They offered the Conference center so we said yes thank you. We woke everyone and started packing up their tents at 11:00 at night. The Conference center had 3 couches and plenty of floor space. Four slept in their cars in the parking lot, 4 of us slept inside. If we had thought about it we could have set up our wet tarps and rain flys and dried out, but we were tired and just tried to sleep thru the Rangers coming and going and the lights from the games lighting up the room we were in. Yawn.
We woke up to "it's not raining right now" so we headed to our campsite and found the river did not flood the camp, woo hoo! We took down the two canopies and one tent in record time. No one wanted to hike in the clouds and sprinkles again so we decided to have breakfast at the bakery but they were closed on Sunday. Nancy headed off for further adventures in the Smoky Mountains and everyone else headed somewhere to find COFFEE!!!
I explored on my way home driving thru Tennessee's oldest town, Jonesborough. Will have to come back and do the history tour. Stopped at David Crockett State Park and toured the farm. Funky looking chickens with one aggressive rooster that wanted to scare me off, some ducks and guineas, a donkey, Thomas Turkey was showing his plumage, and two of the fattest pigs I have ever seen. Real porkers.
What a fun and exciting weekend, really enjoyed the time with Jane, Debbie, Paulo, Nancy, Betty, Doug, and Gloria Dale.
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