Ohio 2015

Lora and I were blessed to spend a few days in Ohio with Valerie and Braedon. We also got time in with Gordon, Janice, and Olivia. Braedon took me swimming at the hotel pool alot!

Pictures:

Yellow Stand Lead - Big Frog Wilderness

Day One: 4.1
Yellow Stand Lead 2.3
Big Frog 0.9
Rough Creek 0.9

Day Two: 8.4
Rough Creek 0.6
Fork Ridge 1.8
Big Frog 1.9
Grassy Gap 1.7
Big Creek 2.4

Lora and I headed over to the Big Frog Wilderness for an overnight backpack. We started at the Yellow Stand Lead trailhead. This trail has lots of mountain views this time of year. There was still lots of colors on the trees which surprised us. We took it up to Low Gap where we turned on the Big Frog trail going down to the Rough Creek trail. Rough Creek drops down to the West Fork where after we crossed the creek we hiked to where we found a place to set up camp.

Our campsite was not level and it was very rocky which of course was a challenge to walk around. We gathered firewood and enjoyed a night around a nice fire. Just as we were talking about calling it a day, it started sprinkling. We got camp cleaned up, bear bag hung, and under our tarps before the real rain started coming down. It rained a few times, but not hard through the night.

The next morning we headed out and climbed to the Fork Ridge trail and took it to where we thought was Chimneytop, but no. The trees were all frozen from the night before. We talked to some guys that thought that they were at Chimneytop as well and came to the conclusion that there is nothing special about the place. We headed down trail #64 which is Big Frog and figured this out when we came back into Low Gap once again. So we turned and took Grassy Gap trail to Big Creek instead.

Grassy Gap is a very beautiful trail as long as scenery is concerned. Creeks, mountain views, and a variety of ecosystems. We even got a good view of the frozen Big Frog through a gap. At Big Creek we headed back down to the car. There are lots of camping spots along this trail. There is also one creek crossing of the Peter Camp Branch.

It was another beautiful hike.

Pictures:

TTA Annual Meeting 2015

TTA Annual Meeting 2015.
Hosted by the East TN chapter.

 I got to the meeting Friday evening just in time for supper. The meeeting was The food was good and the company was great. Getting to see hiking friends from across the state is so fun. We had a guest speaker Backpcountry Mgm Specialist Christine Hoyer who presented a great slideshow about the GSMNP. Then some cool music. Then off to the Lazy Daze Campground to set up camp. Sara and I camped along with Gary and Steve. I got to use my hammock since no one was in the spot beside us. It got pretty chilly. 32 the next morning.

 After breakfast, Sara and I hiked with Bruce Whitehead on the Jakes Creek trail. We first met up with the hikers going on the Cucumber Gap, Little River hike, to listen to and walk with a Ranger around the Elkmont historic area. Bruce, Sara and I had a great hike, climbing up to Jakes Gap and back. We got back to Townsend in time to clean up for the evening and shop the white elephant sale and bid on the silent auction items. The dinner was great, catered by Ruby Tuesdays. 

Awards for this year were Joan Hartvigsen for the Bill Stutz Award, and Jim Poteet for the Bob Brown Award. The live auction was lively and hopefully raised a lot of money for the CT spring Breakaway. 

Sunday I hiked with some Soddy Daisy hikers at the East Lakeshore Trail led by Tom Kressler. It was a pretty hike along the Tellico lake area, and thru the surrounding farmland. 

Fun times with the Tennessee TTA hikers. It was good to see everyone again. 

Pictures:

Pretty Hollow - Smoky National Park

Day One: 9.6
Pretty Hollow Trail: 1.6
Palmer Creek Trail: 3.3
Balsam Mt. Road: 0.7
Balsam Mt. Trail: 4.0

Day Two: 9.8
Balsam Mt. Trail: 0.3
Mt. Sterling Ridge: 3.9
Pretty Hollow Gap Trail: 5.6
Total Miles: 19.4

We started in Cataloochee getting to the trailhead around 1 pm. We got to see some Elk on the way to the trail. There were lots of people in the valley and quite a few on the first half mile of the trail. After that we saw three backpackers, two hikers, and two people leading their horses. After that we had the mountains to ourselves! Yes, I told the horse people that I was proud of them for wearing out their horses as you don't see that very often.

It was a beautiful day for hiking and we got a good breeze most of the way to Laurel Gap Shelter. The Shelter has been reworked and looking good! Knowing that we were to have rain tonight, we gathered wood and started our fire in the fire place in the shelter. We had a nice evening around our fire place and no visitors except the resident mouse. He picked on us most of the night climbing around the bunk and packs.

One quick story: I had just fallen asleep and was snoring quite well. Lora had to get her earplugs out of the Ziploc bag. Hearing this I woke up thinking something was in our food bag and yelled "HEY!" and clapped my hands. As I was trying to get out of my blanket, which held me tight, Lora was yelling "What? What?" As I leaped to the floor, I told her that something was getting our bearbag and I was shining my light through the fog at the hanger. After not seeing anything around the bag, I was explaining to Lora that I heard something wrinkling plastic and she explained what she had done. OK, so maybe I worry a little bit too much about my food......

The rain had stopped the next morning and we had a beautiful hike back down the mountain.

Pictures:

Smoky Mountain weekend

Smoky Mountain weekend.
My hiking friend Lillian and I met at the Big Creek Ranger Station for a day of hiking some trails I wanted to mark off my map. Chestnut Branch starts out with a steep climb to test your lungs, then becomes a little more of a gradual climb. Old home sites had rock walls and pieces of wash tubs. The colors were beautiful today. reds, yellows, orange, and peach and light greens contrasting with the pines. And the young tulip poplars were so pretty; straight and tall.  Stopped at the junction with the AT then back down.

We drove to Baxter Creek trailhead to look for a chimney Lillian knew about. She found it. It's supposed to be the largest standing chimney in the park.

The drive to 321 along Mt. Sterling Road was spectacular! Winding our way up the ridge on a narrow  road pulling over for oncoming cars. We had to hunt for the trailhead for Maddron Bald Trail. Google says Laurel Springs Rd, which we could not find. I drove out 3 roads before finding the trail sign on Baxter Road. I only needed to hike 1.2 miles of this trail. We stopped at the Willis Baxter Cabin to take some pictures. The cabin is dark inside. No windows. We rested at the junction and talked with a local lady hiker who was as excited about the fall colors as we were. We hiked back to our cars, Lillian needed to head home. I headed to mom and dad McBride's to spend the night. I got good directions to avoid the crowds of Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge getting to Townsend. The drive across the Foothills Parkway to their house was so pretty with fall colors. I had to stop and look at the view of the mountains in the evening light. The McBride home was decked out with spooks and witches for the Halloween season. Boo!

Dad McBride and I headed out Sunday morning to hike the Rich Mountain trail. That is a cool road to drive too, going from Townsend toward Rich Mountain Road. We had a good climb up the ridge. We were almost to campsite 5 and was surprised with a bear with his nose stuck in a rotten log. He did glance up at us and then went back to grubbing. He was right by the campsite which had a big log that something had shredded. We sat at the trail junction to eat a snack and heard a crash up on the ridge and saw the bear jump away. It had pushed a dead tree and made part of it fall. As we started to walk back down 2 ladies riding, one on a horse, one on a mule were watching the bear. We stopped to watch and noticed a second bear up there too.

When we got back to the trailhead, we walked down a path to see Bull Cave, (evidently someone's bull fell into the cave)

Thank you to both my hiking partners for a beautiful weekend of hiking in the Smoky Mountains.

Pictures:

Father / Son Trip 2015

This years trip got off to a different start. We are used to not doing plan A, and sometimes not plan B either, but this year due to injuries we decided to do day hikes. We had a warm up hike along the Greenway to make sure that everyone was in walking shape.

Day One: 11.2 Miles
Ace Gap Trail off Rich Mountain Road. First we went to see the cave by the trailhead and then we headed out. There was nobody on the trail today and this was an easier trail as far as ups and downs. We learned that they have removed campsites #4 and #7 from this trail. We hiked to the Beard Cane trail and back. We did see a bike rider, which is a no no, on the trail during our trip back to the van.

Day Two: 9.4 Miles
Leaving from Balsam Mt. Road, we did the Hemphill Bald trail to Hemphill Bald. This is a nice hike along the park boundary which offers lots of views. At the top of the Bald you overlook the Cataloochee Ski Area and Cataloochee Guest Ranch along with lots and lots of mountains. Once again we had the trail to ourselves until we got to the Bald. At the top the ranch has a picnic area with tables.

Day Three: 8 Miles
Off trail today. We started at the Old Sugarlands trail and headed back to the Sugarlands Cemetery area where we went off trail to find the Rock House. Built by the CCC back in the day, the walls are still standing.

After that we headed to the Jakes Creek Trail and took it past Cucumber Gap trail and went off trail to find the Avent Cabin which is still in great shape. As we crossed the creek we saw a black bear that had been hanging around the cabin.

Pictures:

AT- Carvers Gap to Hwy 321

Lora and I headed back to the Appalachian Trail. We celebrated our fifth anniversary on the trail, we completed the four hundred mile mark on the AT, and we finished North Carolina. We would be farther on the AT, but we are too busy backpacking everywhere else.

Day One: 8.7 Miles
This time starting at Carvers Gap. The battle was on for a parking spot, but we found one in the back. This is a very popular area and with no parking then no hiking. The first two balds, Round and Jane, are very popular so you won't hike these alone. Once beyond Jane Bald you start to feel like you on the trail again. We took a quick break at Stan Murray shelter, but our goal was Bradley Gap for the first night. The sun was shining and it was hot for backpacking today, but the views were spectacular. We were pretty tired by the time we made camp. We met a few "Southbounders" today and would see more as we went.

We didn't spend long around the fire tonight, but were awakened all night long by wildlife heading through camp. Some were rabbits, deer, and coyotes. Got to listen to some owls and coyotes.

Day Two: 12.7 Miles
We started out today with the climb up Hump Mt. which is another grassy bald. We jumped up three deer on the way up to a wonderful 360 degree view of the mountains. We could look back at Roan Mt. and look over and see Grandfather Mt. From there we went down to Doll Flats where we left North Carolina for good. It was covered in Crab apples. The Apple House Shelter is no more, but we stopped at the site for lunch.

After crossing Hwy 19 we did lots of climbing. We ate apples as we went through old orchards. We saw another four point deer and more Southbounders. We had hiked to Jones falls in the past, so we didn't stop there. We continued on down to Elk River for the night and camped on the side of a field. We didn't stay up around the camp fire long tonight, as we were tired out again. Lora saw a deer in the field once when she got up and heard some owls.

Day Three: 12 Miles
Today was more a walk in the woods. We celebrated our fifth anniversary today and went over the 400 mile mark of the AT. We saw more Southbounders and one making 25 miles a day, stopped and showed us some pictures of the wild horses in Virginia. More apples and we scared up some grouse. There were lots of water crossings today and lots of campsites. When we ran out of campsites is when we realized we had passed ours. So we just kept on climbing and stayed by the Moreland Gap shelter. We met three great people from Virginia at the shelter. After we set up our camp and ate dinner, we joined them by the campfire. It was not too much longer before the rain set in for the night.

Day Four: 7.9 Miles
Today's big sight was Laurel Falls. It was a deep descent into the gorge on rock steps. Rough going for sure, but worth it to see the falls. The trail then curved around the rock walls on a very narrow trail along the river. After that was the climb out and up to the shelter which stood up on a rock ledge with drop offs all the way around it. Not a good place to camp, but had water. We stayed in the shelter as the rain started again and our friends from last night joined us.

Day Five: 6.8
Our walk out this morning started with a river walk and then the climb up Pine Mt. to Pond Flats. Three miles of up hill followed by the descent to Hwy 321. We did back and forth with our new friends on the way down. Our happy shuttle arrived with cookies. We enjoyed the ride back and dinner with Dad and Mom.

Total Miles: 48.1

Pictures:

Sunday Hike

Sunday after church, Lora and I went and did the 1.4 mile hike down to the Possum bridge on the Cumberland trail off Hwy 111. After our hike, we went and helped count hawks migrating with the Soddy Mountain Hawk Watch group in the area overlooking Hwy 111.

Pictures:

Chickamauga Dam Recreation Area

Lora and I headed out to canoe the North Chickamauga Creek at the Greenway. After backing down to the boat ramp, we noticed that it was a five foot drop down to the creek. The water was a little low for us. So we headed to the dam and tried the Lakeshore Marina and then the Gold Point Marina which both turned out to be gated marina's. We crossed the dam to the Chickamauga Dam Recreation Area and put in there. We ate lunch right across from the marina.

We paddled to the Coast Guard Base, across Kings Point, and into the slough next to Booker T. Washington State Park. It was a beautiful day full of sights. We got to see the Coast Guard Ship "Ouachita", four raccoon's, lots of ducks, birds, lots of boats, fish, turtles, and a sunk truck.

When we got back to the ramp, there were many people on the dock and two patrol cars at the ramp. As we came around the dock we saw the top of a ram pickup floating in the lake. The guy had just got his boat fixed and was going to try it out. He backed up, got out, pushed his boat off the trailer when the truck started coming on back........Every fisherman's nightmare!

Pictures:

Glacier National Park

Day One: After a late plane arrival due to missing a flight attendant, we slept in. We headed into town, ate breakfast at "The Night Owl", stopped by the grocery to stock up fridge, officially checked in to our cabin at North Forty Resort, and then headed to Glacier.

After getting our park pass, we stopped by the visitor center. We found out that the Going-to-the-Sun road was closed at the Weeping Wall due to snow. We figured that we would do Avalanche Lake today. A five mile hike including the "Trail of the Cedars Nature trail". This is a very popular trail and we met many folks on it. It's a easy trail to a beautiful lake with the trail going all the way to the far end of it.

After our hike we took the Going-to-the-Sun road up to the Weeping Wall where it was closed. We made a few stops along the way just to take in the wild looking mountains. We also got our first black bear sighting along side the road at a bear jam. When we turned around at the Weeping Wall, you could see ahead towards Logan Pass was under a blanket of snow.

On the way back down we stopped again for some views and then stopped at the historic Lake McDonald Lodge to check it out. We stopped at the West Glacier Restaurant for dinner which also had some great food. On the way back to the cabin we took a side trip to the Hungry Horse Dam. It is the 11th most highest dam in the US at 564 feet.

Day Two: We headed out to hike to Snyder Lake. This trail is less popular than Avalanche Lake because it is 8.8 round trip with a gain of 2,047 feet. Very beautiful and rugged. Trail is a lot more overgrown than the popular trails, but worth it! Once we got to the lake we went around to the far end and did some rock climbing on the rock slide. We went over to the waterfall and decided not to attempt the rock climb to the upper lake.

After our hike we went over to view the McDonald Falls which is real pretty. Then we did a loop drive out Camas Road to 486. Spectacular views of the Glacier Mountains, areas of old burn, fens, and large barren mountains. We got to see some deer along our drive and the North Fork of the Flathead River. It was a wonderful day. We stopped in Columbia Falls at the Three Forks Grille which had some great food.

Day Three: We headed over to Many Glaciers part of the park. It started out great with a sighting of a grizzly right off the get go along with some mountain sheep. That was before we got to the trailhead. We hiked the 9.8 mile Iceberg Lake trail which is really really popular. Lot of people every where. We got to see a black bear, grouse, chipmunks, lots of mountain sheep, and a beautiful lake.

After getting back from the hike we hiked down to Fishercap Lake to see the moose. After no luck there we hiked to Swiftcurrent Restaurant for dinner. Again, we hiked to Fishercap Lake to see a moose. We saw a doe and fawn, an elk, but no moose.

On the way out of Many Glaciers we saw another grizzly and two more black bears along with sheep.

Day Four: Another wonderful day. We headed to Bowman Lake for a 11.4 mile hike to Numa Ridge Lookout tower and back. We stopped at the Polebridge Mercantile to ask for directions and I had to scope out the bakery. Treats for later....

We thought we would have the trail to ourselves seeing no one on the road going into the park. The parking lot was full. But surprising enough, most went on the lake trail not the one going to the tower. There were deer at the trailhead. It was a beautiful hike up the mountain. We watched loons on the lake.The tower was locked and not manned and it was too windy to stay long. The cloud covered it  before we started down. Back at the lake we soaked our feet and didn't have to break ice. We drove to the bakery as fast as we could on the dirt roads in the rented Chevy Impala wishing for the Subaru we requested. Huckleberry/cream cheese pastry, cookies with more chocolate chips than you can count.

On the drive back I spotted a black bear. We stopped a Ranger to ask where to hunt for moose, he said that was illegal. After a quick explanation we got directions to Howe Lake. A fast 2 mile walk in got us grouse and a bald eagle but no moose. and a quick hike out before dark.

Day Five: We started with a drive across the Going-to-the-sun road where we got to see some mountain goats. The road is awesome, just hanging off the side of the mountains. We stopped at Logan Pass to check out the center and then headed on to St. Mary. At St. Mary we saw some of the forest fire damage they have been fighting up to this week. From St. Mary we headed up to the Canadian border where Lora got in trouble with the border patrol. He had an attitude with the badge. Said that there would be trouble if we crossed the line and then said "mam you need to get out of the open lane of traffic". There were no cars to be seen for miles.

So we hiked the Continental Divide trail, the Pacific Northwest National Scenic trail, and the Belly River trail. Actually they are all the same, but we hiked down to the Belly River and back.  We met lots of backpackers on this trail and got to see another grouse. On the way to Two medicine we saw another black bear on the side of a mountain.

From there we headed to the Two Medicine area and hiked the 0.3 Running Eagle Falls trail. Lora found something on the ground and asked me what it was. Moose poop! The falls was really cool as it came out of a cave.

We then hiked 1.1 miles to Aster Falls. I was telling Lora this was a good place for moose when she asked "what is that brown thing?" It was a cow moose standing in the swamp. LORA GOT TO SEE A MOOSE! We continued to the falls passing a few hikers. On the way back Lora spotted another black bear on the side of the mountain over us. Soon we heard a noise and turning to look, we found a bull and a cow moose walking through the woods. This is a really exciting trail.

We ate in East Glacier and then toured the Glacier Park Lodge. It is an old lodge built by the railroad all out of logs. Lora put on a musical performance of Amazing Grace on the 100 year old piano for all the guest in the lobby. I am proud of my woman.

Day Six: Today we traveled the Going- to- the- sun road and the sky was clear so we had wonderful views of the tops of the mountains. We headed over to Many Glaciers and hiked the 11.4 miles round trip to Grinnell Glacier.

We saw two black bears on the way in to the trailhead. This is a beautiful hike along three different lakes. Lora spotted a family of moose down below. Buck, cow, and calf all walking along a river. As we continued to hike up the side of the mountain we stopped for lunch at an overlook. We could not see where the trail went along the mountain above. We just had to continue climbing and then you could see the trail cut out of the side.

As we continued we had our first Grizzly encounter. Luckily for us it was just a mom and two cubs. They were on a downward angle going the same direction that we were on going on a upward angle. When it got close for our paths to cross, we were ahead and made the choice to just keep going. After climbing up to the glacier, we warned everyone that was up there that the grizzly's were going to be joining us. They never did come up so after spending quite some time at the glacier and we saw some other families come up, we decided to go down. As we were leaving we heard the familiar sound of an iceberg rolling over. It was impressive. We saw from everyone looking up that the bears were still there just further up the mountain.

On the way down, Lora again spotted a moose. This time it was a huge bull with a very large rack. We continued down to the lakes where we took time to cool our feet in the water. As we were sitting there, I noticed a large herd of Bighorn sheep up on the mountain side.

After our hike we got to see another two black bears on the mountain side and another herd of sheep. We went to the Many Glaciers Lodge for dinner. They were celebrating their 100 anniversary of the Lodge. We had a wonderful dinner. On the way out of the park we saw a grizzly with a cub on the side of the mountain. Then on the drive to St. Mary, we passed another black bear on the side of the road. When we got on the going-to-the-sun road we saw two more black bears. Our bear total came to 7 black bears and five grizzly's. We had a total of four moose, three grouse, and a snake before we got back to Logan's pass.

Day Seven: Today we decided to walk like the mountain goats, we drove to Logan's Pass and hiked the Highland trail. It is cut into the Garden Wall Divide with shear drop offs, but doesn't get smaller than a foot wide in sections. We hiked seven miles to Haystack mountain and back. This is also a very popular hike with lots of hikers. The sights were awesome! 

Next we headed three miles to Hidden lake. The view was wonderful from the top. It was a 550 feet ascent and 675 feet descent to the lake. When you get to the lake, cross the creek and continue along the South side of the lake for some more beautiful scenes. We saw six mountain goats here. This adds a mile to your hike.

Day Eight: Today's hike reminded us of some of our Colorado hikes with the shell rock and open basins with a trail wondering through them. We went over to Two Medicine and hiked the Mt. Henry trail to the Scenic Point. It is 3.1 miles one way with a climb of 2350 feet.

Our first viewing was Appistoki Falls and then you start the real climb to view the basin. There is a false top where you climb through a pass and into another basin. From this point you can see the Scenic Point in the background. We had one area of snow along a drop off which of course checks your nerves. Once on top you can see some 100 miles across the plains. Wonderful hike!

After our hike we went down to Two Medicine Lake and soaked our feet a while and relaxed a bit. Then we celebrated with some huckleberry pie at the only restaurant that also served sweet tea in Montana, The Whistlestop Restaurant.

Day Nine: The last day of hiking for us. Can we pull off another amazing hike? YES! Back to the Going-to-the-sun road to The Loop. We hiked the four miles up to the Granite Park Chalet. This is a hostel used by back-country backpackers. The hike is through an area burned in 2003. What a beautiful comeback! We saw our first deer when we got our first sighting on the chalet. We also got to see a hawk and an eagle soaring in the wind over our heads as we hiked. We took a break while watching the group of people close down the chalet for the season. They were boarding up the windows and doors as the snow goes up to the roof. One window, we noticed the cover has nails sticking through it all over. We found out that this is bear proofing. 

From the chalet we decided to hike some more so we headed to the pass to the Grinnell Glacier overlook. It was a short 1.4 mile hike. We forgot to add the uphill points. 1000 feet in 0.6 of a mile. On that 0.6 mile we saw a mother grizzly with two cubs, four big horn sheep, and five mountain goats. 

We almost got to see a grizzly feeding on some stupid hikers. They were standing too close and taunting the grizzly. She started towards them and they got the hint. She took over the Highline Trail and stopped many a hiker from getting anywhere for about an hour. 

On the way back down to the car we passed four deer along side the trail. 

Summary: Montana is very blessed to have such a beautiful area that is still wild and untamed. It is one of the most beautiful places I have ever been. We met a lot of wonderful people from all over the world. Bear spray? Well a seasoned local told us "Do you know the difference between black bear poop and grizzly poop? Grizzly poop has bells in it and it smells like pepper!" The main thing is to be very aware at all times when in the area. Moose harm more people than any other animal in the US. If anyone wants to know, the way we covered the park is the way to do it!

Pictures: