TTA Hayesville NC

So the Scenic City TTA rented a house at the Hinton Center in Hayesville North Carolina and we rented a campsite next to it. After our arrival we went back to town for fuel and went to the Chatuge Recreation Area by the dam. After everyone arrived and got ready we went to dinner at Mariolino's. 

The next morning we headed to Deep Gap off of SR 71 to hike the AT to Standing Indian Mountain the site where a tower once stood. It is about five miles round trip. Afterwards Lora and I took Cynthia and Patti on the Kimsey Creek trail for a few more miles.

Thursday we had rain in the morning so we visited until 11am and then headed out to see Big Laurel Falls. The water was gushing so the falls were wonderful. We drove on to Mooney Falls and then up to Albert Mountain where we hiked the AT to the tower. It was fogged in so not much of a view. After the hike, Lora and I took Cynthia and Patti and hiked the 4.3 mile Hurricane Creek Loop trail.

Friday everyone had to pack up and then we headed to the Chatuge Dam trail and did an out and back hike. It was a wonderful time with our friends.

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Hinch Mountain Segment - Cumberland Trail

Lora and I hiked 10.6 miles with the Scenic City TTA doing the Hinch Mountain segment of the Cumberland trail.

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Sale Creek

Todays adventure. Canoed from Sale Creek Patterson boat ramp, to May Road bridge. First time we’ve paddled with the water this low. Found a spring bubbling up from under a boulder. Usually this spring would be under water.

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Morgan Creek Segment

Hiked the Morgan Creek Segment of the Cumberland Trail from Hwy 30 to the Snow Falls trail. All new trail rated difficult due to the climb out of the gorge. Beautiful area with lots of mining history.

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TTA 2024 Annual Meeting

The TTA annual meeting was held at Fall Creek Falls State Park this year. We brought our camper and stayed at the campground. The first day's hike we did the Gilbert Gaul Loop. After the hike we had Happy Hour at the lakeside fire ring. After dinner we had a presentation "Fall Creek, Virgin Falls, and the Mid-Cumberlands: Tennessee's Hidden Treasure" by Ranger Stuart Carroll. 

Day two we led the hike to Laurel Falls in the Snow Pocket Wilderness. After dinner was the General Meeting followed by a presentation "The Magnificent Migration of the Monarch Butterflies to Mexico" by Kris Light. We joined the group for the after party that night.

Sunday we walked the campground before leaving.

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Dayton Paddle

Thought we would do a little trip down the river. We put in at Dayton and paddled to the Blue Water Campground. Beautiful day out.

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Johns Mountain/Pinhoti Trail

 Scenic City TTA hike led by Tammy Hendrick 

Beautiful day, beautiful hikers! Fourteen of us trekked up and around Johns Mountain in North Georgia. No one truned back at the stone steps climbing up the side of the mountain, but there was a lot of huffing and puffing. The snack at the top and the views made up for the effort. Unfortunately the hike on the northeast side of the mountain was quite the ascent too. FInnaly, we arrived at the second ovservation deck and some of the hikers found out that they could have driven to this overlook! Not a problem for these hardy hikers, as we picked our way through some bounders walking down the mountain. Next stop was Keown alls, which dripped into the nice rock house. Another mile or so and we completed our double loop trail. We hiked about 5.5 miles withe 100 foot elevation gain. 

Larry mentioned to me that there was a Pocket Recreation Area I should see while I was this close, only about a mile away. It was so pretty, and a CCC built spring house and short rock walls to guide the crystal clear spring water to the creek it joined. The water coming out of the spring was about two feet deep. I've never seen this much water flowing out of a spring. This whole area is beautiful. 

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Tremont Backpack

Anniversary backpack in the Smoky Mountains. 20.8 miles over three days. Beautiful weather sleeping without tarps listening to owls. Only one other backpacker on the trail. We even cut our wedding snicker bar just like when we got married on the trail.

Day One: 5.35 Miles

Middle Prong trail 2.3

Panther Creek trail 2.3

Jakes Creek trail to #27 .75

Day Two: 6.85 Miles

Jakes Creek trail 2.25

Meg's Mountain trail 4.6 to #19

Day Three: 8.6 Mils

Meg's Mountain trail 1.5

Lumber Ridge trail 4.1

Tremont Road 3.0

Rookie mistake right away. We used the flat map to decide the route. Made reservations, then looked at the trail descriptions the next day. Dangerous Creek Crossings?? Luckily the water was down so we didn't have any problems with Panther Creek. Unluckily we had to search for water at the campsites and use a cup to scoop since the water was down. First backpack of the season, well basically hurt as we found out that we were out of shape. By the time we hit the road walk we were done. Luckily nobody gave us a ride so we could claim that we did the whole mile amount.

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Paw Paw Trail Fall Creek Falls

Today's hike was at Fall Creek Falls where we hiked the Paw Paw trail. 

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Roaring Creek Segment of the Cumberland Trail

Lora and I headed down to Roaring Creek to hike the Cumberland trail to the fall. There are quite a few trees down on the trail. Another beautiful hike.

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