Cumberland Trail- Laural / Snow Segment

9 miles- Easy with some big climbs

Lora and I hiked this Segment of the Cumberland trail. It starts at the trailhead and follows Richland Creek along an old rail bed for the first mile and a half. On this section you after you cross the first two bridges you hike right past Richland mine. The trail eventually leaves Richland creek and turns into a footpath. You climb up and take a bridge over Laurel Creek. At this point you come to the split in the trail. To the right is the trail to Laurel Falls and to the left is the trail to Snow Falls.

We hiked to Snow Falls first. You pass a large flat campsite that is right on Richland Creek. After that you cross the 60-foot metal bridge over the creek. You then start the numerous switchbacks going out of the gorge. You will be able to see Laurel Falls as you climb.

After you leave the gorge, you follow the edge to Dunn Overlook, which gives you a wonderful view of the gorge, and Laurel Falls. You then head through the woods until you cross Morgan Creek, which you have to ford. Once across Morgan Creek and get your feeling back in your feet, you will hike through another campsite and around the bend to 35-foot Snow Falls. There is a trail that will take you to the bottom if you follow the old road. It will be off to your left. Lora and I ate lunch on a flat rock at the bottom of the falls.

After lunch we headed back. We did another old fashion foot washing in Morgan Creek, which yes, it does build character. When we got back to the split we climbed the numerous switchbacks to 80-foot Laurel Falls. There are many smaller falls under Laurel Falls. It’s all down hill after this if you head back to the trailhead.

Pictures:

Obed Wild and Scenic River Trail

Obed Wild and Scenic River Trail…..7.1 Miles….Difficult
Day two:
Obed Wild and Scenic River Trail…..7.1 Miles….Difficult
Total Miles……20 Miles


The Obed trail is rated as extremely difficult 14.2 mile trail. It does have some difficult sections, but over all it is a good hiking trail with beautiful sights. We started hiking from the Nemo Trailhead and made it to an unnamed creek between Omigod and Obed overlooks where we stayed the night. There is camping at the Nemo Trailhead if you wanted to get an early start the next day. We got on the trail around 10am my time which was after we stopped at the visitor center in Wartburg.

The trail starts following the Emory River and then follows the Obed River. You do not hike along the river, but rather along the bluff next to the river. So you start out going up hill. There are beautiful rock bluffs and some old mining areas. We enjoyed lunch right on the trail.

The first going down to the river is if you visit Alley Ford campsite about two miles in. After Alley Ford campsite, you really need to pay attention to the blazes as they are now few and far between and you can get off the trail as we did on a regular basis. You know the old Outcast short cuts.

You get some tricky climbing and descending parts of the trail on the way to Breakaway Bluff. Breakaway Bluff is a beautiful overlook of the Obed River. After the overlook you are hiking a lot of old roadbed and once again you must keep a look out for the markers. Yes, a few more shortcuts were taken. There are a lot of down trees along the roadbed, which you either climb or skirt around. There were plenty of water crossings this time of year, so water source was not a problem.

As we were working our way through the brush down to unnamed creek, we came across a doe that was standing by the trail just watching us. We had time to enjoy looking at her and took a picture. She wasn’t but about twenty feet from us and stayed there until after we left. It was getting time to camp, so we crossed the creek and set up camp.

It was a wonderful evening of enjoying the fire and company while watching the stars and very bright moon. You didn’t even need a light to walk around. We even had an owl talk to us.

The next morning we slept in and enjoyed camp before heading back out. We thought about hiking to the end of the trail, but decided to catch the other 7.1 miles on another trip. We took a couple more of those Outcast shortcuts on the way out. No telling how many miles we really hiked.

On the way out, we were blessed with being able to see three red tail hawks flying out over the river. We got to see squirrels, chipmunks, and woodpeckers. We hiked down to the Alley Ford campsite for lunch and enjoyed the beautiful afternoon.

After we got off the trail and had a root beer float in Wartburg, we drove to the Lilly Bluff Overlook and hiked the .3-mile trail to the overlook. It is a very nice park and they built benches and a handicap walkway at the overlook.

Pictures:

Father/Son Hike 2009

Mountain to Sea Trail: A 935 Mile trail starting at Clingmans Dome in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park and going to Jockey’s Ridge State Park at the Atlantic Ocean.

This year’s trip started with some excitement. Steve’s luggage didn’t arrive with him so I got the call to bring extra backpacking stuff. I arrived a little later than planned with some traffic problems. Luckily when I arrived, Steve had already retrieved his backpack from the airport.

We headed out to the Oconaluftee Visitor Center to drop the van off. This is a two and a half hour drive from the Ponderosa. We were slowed a bit by a bear jam on the other side of the road, but were blessed with seeing some Elk at the Visitor center when we arrived. There were three bulls and four cows. Of course we didn’t have a camera on any of us.

After dropping off the van, we headed back to the Ponderosa to a dinner of steak and shrimp. I had already gone with no sleep the night before on shift and then driven three hours, which turned into four and then ridden another five hours dropping off the van. I went to sleep after dinner.

We got up early the next morning and after a great breakfast, Mom took us to Clingmans Dome. This year we were planning on doing the 28-mile Smoky Mountain section of the Mountain to Sea trail. At Clingmans Dome we found that we would be hiking through some snow and ice just to make the day a little more challenging.

We had passed quite a few folks backpacking the AT and then on the Fork Ridge trail we met a couple of gals that turn out to be some seasoned hikers. Smokyscout smokyscout.blogspot.com and Danny www.hikertohiker.com. We did jump frog them a couple of times until we crossed Deep Creek where they headed on and we stayed at campground 53.

We had one of those cold fires as all the wood was wet, but we did finally get enough hot coal to stay warm. We sat around the fire checking out the stars taking cough medicine.

The next morning we got up and headed out about nine thirty that morning. We hiked down Deep Creek to Martins Gap Trail which I was excited to see was part of the Benton MacKaye trail which I have been wanting to hike. It follows along the Mountain to Sea trail until Newton Bald.

We did see some chipmunks and kicked up a grouse on the trail. We also saw a ranger on horseback doing some chainsaw work along Deep Creek.

When we got to campsite 52 we got to join a group of 14 college backpackers from Michigan. They had driven twelve hours and hiked in from Smokemont so they didn’t make it long into the evening. They did provide some entertainment, but camped on a knoll down from us.

We got a fire going with dry wood and watched as Dad showed us how to collect your Mountain House meal from the ground after spilling it. Not to let us down, he also showed us how to toss a brownie into the fire afterwards. It was of mom’s good brownies so yes, he did dive and retrieve it without burns.

Later that night or into the morning we got some rain. It did stop long enough for us to get packed up and on the trail in the morning. The rest of the day we got some mist on us, but nothing serious. We hiked down to Newfound Gap Road and the Mingus Mill. We did a quick tour of the mill and then hiked to the Oconaluftee visitor center where we did get to see another elk and had our cameras with us to take some pictures.

We got in the van and headed up Newfound Gap Road to Clingmans Dome where we were turned around as the road was blocked and they said would be for the next three hours. We had to go back to Cherokee to 40, which turned into a five-hour drive home for pizza and beer.

Pictures:

Frozen Head

Day One: 8.3 Miles
I had never been to Frozen Head and wanted to do an exploratory hike to see what all was there for future hikes with my groups. After work I headed to Crossville. I had a wonderful drive to the park through the curves to the mountains.

I was originally going to park at the visitor’s center, but the lady at the desk insisted on me parking at the lot by the ranger’s house. So we started at that trailhead and hiked the Interpretive trail back to Chimney Top trail.

Our first wildlife was toads. We also saw lots of squirrels, a chipmunk, a doe, crawdads, and a bird that we think was laughing at us for most of the trip.

The climb to Chimney Top was a pretty good workout. When we got to the top, we really couldn't decide where the campsite was. There is a sign at the Chimney Top with the elevation. You could see where people have had a campfire by the overhang as well as beside the rock, but no sign or fancy table, which we found at every other site later on. There is no water source at this area.

We continued through low gap and over Little Fork Mountain to Mart Fields. This was another pretty good climb. There is a chimney there in a small grass field before you reach the actual Mart Fields campsite. Marts Fields campsite actually has a table made from a large flat rock put on wooden legs. We didn’t find any water at this site.

From Mart Fields we hiked to Spicewood Trail and then descended to Spicewood Branch campsite where we spent the first night. Spicewood campsite is right on the river, so water is no problem there. As soon as we set up camp and gathered firewood, we started getting a light drizzle. With the leaves on the trees, we could still get washed up and eat dinner. It was getting dark by this time and we called it a night as the rain got harder. Later that night the owls started talking. And they talked all night long. We figured that there were three of them and they all had a lot to say.

Day Two: 9.2 miles
We got a wonderful start to the day including breakfast. We packed up and continued down Spicewood trail. We turned on Judge Branch trail and hiked it to South Old Mac trail. The Judge Branch campsite is actually two large campsites right on the river. This would be a great spot for a group camping area. Judge Branch trail follows the river and then crosses over it and heads uphill to the crossing with South Old Mac trail.

We took South Old Mac trail up Frozen Head to the lookout tower. We did some hiking through the clouds for a good portion of the morning and worked up a sweat climbing. The sun started to break through as we got to the top. We explored Tub Springs Campsite and Tub Spring on the way up. The spring is 200 feet from the camp in a brick structure next to the jeep road. It had plenty of water even as the rivers where short on water.

We had a great time at the lookout tower and also enjoyed some great views. Our views didn’t last long as the clouds came in fast and blocked everything out. I tried to take a picture of the windmills that were on top of another mountain.

We hiked back across Panther Gap heading North on the Lookout Tower trail. Somewhere around Little Fork Mountain we stopped for lunch on the side of the jeep trail. Lookout tower trail is a jeep road.

Our original plan was to hike Coffin Spring trail to North Bird Mountain trail. When we got our permit they notified us that North Bird Mountain trail has been closed for 25 years and they just now got the section from Bird Mountain trail to Bald Knob open. So we hiked to Bird Mountain trail and then got on North Bird Mountain by Bald Knob.

They have a lot of good switchbacks down Bird Mountain and there is water at the creek at the bottom. We then hiked over Jury Ridge and back down to Phillips Creek, which is another good water source. We set up camp here as it was getting late and we had passed another hiker, which told us that there was no water at our intended stop at Bird Mountain campsite.

We set up camp and gathered firewood. It was a good night to dry clothes next to the fire. It was plenty warm so the fire was kept small. We had an owl talk to us, but were much quieter through the night.

Day Three: 8.4 Miles
We woke up to the sound of a turkey perking as it walked around the campsite. Another beautiful morning and we started the climb up Bird Mountain. We got to see a red headed woodpecker fly by. The Cumberland trail crosses the Bird Mountain trail at the top of Bird Mountain. As we stood there, we watched a small woodpecker pecking at a tree. We hiked down the other side to the North Prong campground where we ate lunch at a picnic table. You would be surprised as to what a backpacker can do with a sink at a campground bathroom.

From the campground we hiked the road to Panther Branch trail. There are two waterfalls, the DeBord Falls off the side of the trail and Emory Falls down a half-mile side trail. I would imagine that both of these would be pretty at a time of more water as they were worth the hike now.

The trail goes straight through Panther Branch campsite. They have bench there with a pavilion over it next to the table. The campsite is right on the water. From here you start the climb up Old Mac Mountain. It is a pretty area, but a strenuous hike.

At the top is the North Old Mac Mountain campsite. It is off the trail and there is a boulder that sticks out with a wonderful view. There is no water at this site. We took a good break there. From the campsite we hiked down North Old Mac trail back to the truck. On the way we got to stop and watch a doe wander through the woods.

This is a very beautiful park with a lot of nice trails. It is not a place for beginner hikers as some of the climbs are strenuous.

Pictures:

Maine Trip- Family

My family decided to plan a family trip to Maine to celebrate our parents' fiftieth anniversary. This was a long and drawn out process with many suggestions put in the hat. It only took about a year to make the decision where we were going. We stayed at Sugarloaf Mountain Ski Resort in Carrabassett Valley.

Day one: The original day for everyone to arrive. Change in plans left Lynelle, Jim, and Jacob arriving the next day due to our awesome swimmer Jacob needing to (and did) qualify for the next round of competition in swimming.

Connie and myself flew to Washington DC to make our connecting flight. On the way in we had a missed approach which was our first sign that things were on the decline.

In DC every terminal has security and this time they held Connie's facial cleaner as a possible hazardous material. Not happy, we continue to our flight where we next sat on the ramp for an hour on a weather hold. After that we went back to the terminal and unloaded as they informed us that our flight had now been cancelled. The saga begins!

We head back out of security to the main ticket counter to stand in line. Some people inform us that we can call a 1-800 number and get rescheduled. Upon calling the airline informed us that we have been already assigned a flight to New York city which was leaving immediately. We race back down to security where we realized that we didn't have boarding passes. Back to the ticket counter to wait in line. Finally we get the boarding passes and the race is on to security. As I am waiting on my CPAP machine to be bomb checked for the third time today, Connie races on to the gate. I arrive in time to see Connie facing off with the Ticket Nazi.

The ticket Nazi is a black lady with heavy makeup and an attitude. One is not to talk to her. You will wait until she makes a decision and then she will be the one to speak. Anything spoke to her made her head spin around and spew green stuff from her mouth as she informed you to stand quietly in line. We showed her that we had boarding passes and she informed us that we were wrong. NO SEAT! After a one sided argument, she got mad and walked off as the other gate agent let us board the plane. WAIT............TWO FIRST CLASS SEATS EMPTY! Life got better.

After the first round of free drinks they informed us that we were moving. We assumed the same place on the ramp and waited. Two drinks later they said we were taking off. WE DIDN'T CARE! In flight we resumed the free drinks. After a couple of more drinks they informed us that we were landing in New York. NO, WE AREN'T READY! They landed and kicked us off.

Well, well, well here we are in New York City and there isn't plane one heading to Maine. 1-800 help and we found that we had already been set up to fly to Washing DC first thing in the morning to fly to Maine. AHHHHH No free hotel room because it was a weather problem, not an airline problem. We did as every other person in America would do in a time like this. We ate a pizza.

The hotel that we stayed at was just across the street from the Met's stadium and they were playing that night. We walked over to see and they were in the 9th inning and you still had to buy a ticket to see them. So we walked around the stadium and did a little exploring around the neighborhood.

Day two: The next morning we headed back to the airport and caught our flight to Washington DC. We got to the gate early because they didn't assign seat numbers to us. Guess who was waiting on us............THE TICKET NAZI! She said that she could not help us yet. We voted to go through security one more time and tried the ticket counter. They, of course, could not help us. It had to be handled at the gate. Yes, the NAZI must have the final say. Today, my CPAP is not worthy of checking for bomb residual. What the hell?

The NAZI showed up late. I was first in line and she acted like I wasn't there. I watched her eat up two other people as I waited patiently for her to speak to me. Finally she called my name and we were blessed with seats.

We made it to Maine without any other problems. We drove up from Portland about 2.5 hours and Steve and Kathy had a Mexican dinner ready to serve. Everyone else had made it by then.

Day three: A scenic drive with a couple of hikes was scheduled for today. We started out with a Moose sighting. A doe was crossing the road in front of us with a calf. Cars slid everywhere and out came the camera's. Dan was the only one to actually catch the moose on film.

Our first scheduled stop was Angel Falls state park. It was a popular trail which was a mile and half long. There were plenty of people on the trail and one offered to take the only family picture that we got on the trip. Everything on this trail was two minutes away by the signs. This caught on as a popular phrase that we heard the rest of the time we were there.

Our second stop was not visualized as we never found the gorge that we were looking for. The next stop was the AT at Madrid. Lunch was served at the trail head in the parking lot. We hiked to Piazza Rock and caves on the Appalachian trail. It was a beautiful day for hiking and the whole family made it. Piazza rock was a large rock that just stuck out the side of the hill. It was pretty cool and quite the photo shot.

After the AT we went to Smalls' Falls and enjoyed the water falls. It was amazing watching the people jump off the falls into the pools of water at the bottom. The boys got out and did some swimming and sliding down the small fall at the bottom.

We made it back in time to fire up the grill and throw on some ribs and chicken. Another great day.

Day four: Steve, Dad, and I took a hike on the AT. We had nine miles picked out over four peaks starting at Hwy 27 going over Crocker Mountain. The last being Sugarloaf mountain. Dan and Jim went golfing. Some went shopping, some swam, and some just hung out.

We got on the trail after a breakfast of blueberry pancakes. I have to give the boys in Maine credit. They are not scared to hike straight up a mountain. Switch back is not a term they use up here. We passed quite a few hikers, including an elderly lady with a large backpack on. We called her Mame as she was one tuff woman. There was one section of the trail that led to an overlook. After checking out the view, we started looking for the trail. We found it over the overlook. It continued down a rock slide.

We had a bailout route picked just before Sugarloaf mountain and we took it. Kathy and Deanna came and picked us up. Some how as it works out, a young lady came down the road heading the same direction as us. She offered a ride and we took it up until we met Kathy head on. Kathy made some comments about us always ending up with a woman some how. I guess it was just our luck?

We got back in time to head out to the local park where Lynelle and Jim cooked out hamburgers. Connie and I took a bike ride down the Narrow Gauge Railroad trail along the river while dinner was cooking. Afterwards, Dad and I got in a serious game of tennis. We played til we could play no more.

Day five: We got up early this morning and headed to the coast of Maine. Lobster was strong on our minds as this trip was planned as soon as we knew we were going to Maine. It took three hours to get to Boothbay Harbor, but it was worth the trip.

We walked around the bay area taking in the shops and boats moored there. We got to see the Lobster boats and the pickup delivering the fresh lobster to the restaurants in laundry baskets. I had the delivery man pose for a picture too. Lunch time is when we cut loose. With my family, the rest of the people at Kaler's restaurant just watched in horror as we attacked our lobster and clam chowder.

After we got kicked out of the restaurant, we headed around the inlet to Ocean Point, an area where we could walk the coast and take it all in. The coast was rocky and had a lot of tidal pools with different sea life in them. We watched the sail boats and saw the lobster boats in action. It was beautiful.

On the way back to the resort, we had to do the L.L. Bean outlet store in Freeport for Lynelle. It was a huge store and everyone ended up getting something. We did dinner in the parking lot and then took the trip back.

Day six: Since I got up before everyone else,
every morning since we got to Sugarloaf, I got up and hiked the mountain. I would come back in time for breakfast each morning.

Connie had mentioned to me that she would like to hike up the mountain. So after breakfast, we started the climb. There might have been some cussing. There were a few threats. I know for a fact that she told me she hated me in between gasping for air. Yea, it was a serious climb. We made it about two thirds of the way up when we took the road heading sideways past the ski slopes. As we were taking in the view, you could see a serious storm building over the next ridge. We quickly picked one of the ski slopes and headed down. About ten minutes after we made it in the lodge, the bottom dropped out. We headed down to the indoor swimming pool with part of the group and did some swimming.

The night before we had called around about getting some canoeing in. During lunch we discussed again and made some calls. We ended up renting a pontoon boat at Rangeley Lake due to the high winds. So after lunch we headed out.

Not long after we left, we came upon a car on the side of the road holding a camera out the window. We saw that they were taking picture of some moose. There is the screeching of tires, cars sliding everywhere, and camera's coming out that would make the paparazzi mad.

I jumped out with our camera with Kathy following close behind. There were two calves walking the treeline between the road and a field. I could see them in between the trees and was racing ahead to catch them walking through an opening. As I was setting up for the sports illustrated shot, I got to wondering where the mother was. That is when I heard those Oh so famous words......"LOOK BEHIND YOU!" Yep, just what I didn't want. Momma was standing on the road behind me clearing her throat.

I guess that after the OH, SH_T!, the mind started running headlines for the morning paper. "Man stomped by moose". I was all in the wrong position. Being the smooth talker that I had to be, I started with complimenting her eyes and that I liked what she had done with her hair. I was slowly backing up to the van when out pops Connie with "Take my picture with the moose!" Ahhhhhh get away from the moose. She had jumped between me and the moose with a big smile on her face. I flew into clicking pictures while still backing away. After momma decided we weren't going to do anything stupid she walked back into the woods.

After alot of laughs, we finally headed to the lake. We enjoyed a calm tour around the lake like the S.S. Minnow. Our three hour tour was spent taking shelter from the waves, wind, and rain. Gerrit and Adam provided entertainment as the waves broke over the bow spraying them with water and they were giggling wave after wave. We watched as a few major storms went around us and as one went over us only getting caught with the last bit of rain in that one.

We were just about all the way around the lake when another storm started approaching. We headed for the dock. The boys loved it as we got the boat up to speed trying to out run the storm. I looked over at Kathy as the waves broke and sprayed her in the face. Just as she was about to say something another did the same. We all got to laughing so hard, I had to slow the boat down so we wouldn't fall off. Memories were made and we made it back safely.

Deanna and Dan made spaghetti that night. Everyone was heading out the next morning except Us and Mom and Dad. We said our good byes that night as they were leaving out early.

Day seven: I got up and hiked the Burnt mountain trail before breakfast. When I got back we helped get things packed up and Dad needed to fill the motor home with water. Jim and Lynelle left before lunch.

After lunch, Connie and I did a hike up Poplar Steams Falls with Mom and Dad. There was also a hut on the trail. So we hiked to the hut. We found out that the hut was actualy a resort. Minor understatement of what we were expecting. Maine Huts and Trails,
www.mainehuts.org, is a 180 mile trail that you can hike or ski and stay in these resorts every night.

That night, we went down to the resturant at the bottom of Sugarloaf and had dinner while a singer performed for entertainment. That night we got to bed early.

The next morning we loaded the motorhome and said said good bye. We had a safe trip home with no further surprises.

Pictures:

The Steam Enging Search

Dad and I headed out to find the Orr and Sembower ‘Prospecting’ hoist steam engine and boiler. The Westfeldt Copper prospect mine that opened in 1889, shut down in 1901 over a lawsuit, and reopened again from 1942-1944 used it. The engine hoisted men and ore from the exploratory copper mine that was sunk at a 45-degree angle and went 110 feet underground.

We got the location off some paperwork from 1992 that gave the location, which is on the North side of a branch of the Haw Gap Branch River.

Once again my Dad wanted to prove to me that I was just a flat land hiker. And once again he succeeded. I don't think that Dad has ever read an elevation chart. In his words "You have to get there anyway and it's going to be either up hill or down."

We started the hike at Cades Cove by taking the Anthony Creek trail 3.5 miles and gained 1800 feet elevation. We then took the Bote Mountain trail 2 miles to the AT gaining another 1500 feet. We ate lunch at Spence Field and then took the AT a half mile gaining 300 feet to the Jenkins Valley Ridge trail. This was the last we saw of any hikers.

The Jenkins Ridge trail is a less used trail, which is a little over grown. We took it 5.5 miles with some major ups and downs to Woodward Knob. As you descend down 400 feet to cross Gunna Creek, which is a tributary to Eagle Creek, you can see Fontana Lake in the distance. From the creek you climb back up 300 feet and cross the ridge at Haw Gap which is an over grown Bald. From Haw Gap you descend 700 feet steeply down with no switchbacks followed by a 200-foot steep climb to Cherry Knob. We found a lot of damage along this section by Hogs and some relatively new bear scat. As we rounded Cherry Knob we came eye to eye with a large Hog. Guessing his weight at close to 300 pounds, he carried it very well as he took off across the side of the mountain. As usual, my speed at drawing the camera was insufficient and I didn’t get a picture.

We dropped another 600-foot elevation and climbed 150 to get to the old trail that is unmarked just before Woodward Knob. As I was looking over the cliff knowing that we would never return if we went over the edge, Dad found the trail. It has a lot of trees down over the trail and it drops steeply 700 feet to our destination.

When we got to the bottom we found that Haw Gap Branch River and the tributaries are heavily overgrown with Rhododendron. We started climbing through the Rhododendron growth and decided to stop, go back and set up camp. It was time for dinner anyways. After dinner I crossed the river and climbed the other steep bank. I crossed two more ridges to find Haw Gap River. The entire area was covered with Rhododendron and to skirt it meant going tree to tree hanging on for dear life. I never saw anything in the Rhododendron to give me hope of being an engine. Exhausted, I headed back to camp and we called it a night. After hiking 13 miles up and down and climbing the sides of the mountain, sleep came easy.

The next morning I got up at 6:30 and planned on climbing once again after breakfast in search of the engine. About the time we got camp broke down and breakfast was ready, the rain set in. We finished eating under the tarp and decided to head out. Being a little wore out from the day before; it was a rough climb to Haw Gap. We stopped at Gunna Creek for lunch under a tarp. After lunch we continued our climb back to the AT, down Bote Mountain and Anthony Creek to Cades Cove. I don't know why no one else was hiking in the rain.

The next morning we decided to do a little six-mile hike to stretch out our sore muscles. We headed to Abrams Creek and hiked the Old Cades Cove Road to Cooper Road Trail and back. It helped temporarily until we got back in the van and cramped again. This was a good hike even though we never found what we were looking for. We enjoyed this remote section of the Smokey's and should be able to walk again within a week.

Pictures:

Tremont Hike

Dad and I had us another great overnight hiking trip. We used the Rhododendron in bloom as our excuse for this trip. After lunch we hiked out of Tremont on the Middle Prong Trail up to Lynn Camp Prong Trail and stayed at campsite 28. About six miles and 1600 foot up. We had beautiful weather and I guess Dad had proved whatever he had to because he didn't try to hurt me this time. We passed a few day hikers and one group of overnight hikers that were coming down.

Our hike up was rather peaceful and uneventful. I did find a railroad spike from the old rails that were used up in these parts. We stopped at Indian Flats waterfall where Mom had once tried to fall in and Dad showed me the claw marks on the rock.

We were the only campers when we made camp so we picked a remote site that was down a twenty foot drop from the main trail. It was right on the river. We heard the Thunder Gods talking so we set up our tarps first and then got water, fire wood and then dinner started. It never did rain so we enjoyed the fire and talked Man stuff. I was quite exhausted from a sleepless night at the fire hall so I apologized to Dad and dove into some serious snoring.

During the night we had a few visitors. Dad heard a deer stomping when it saw our hammocks and a bear was destroying a stump up on the trail looking for grubs. Something, I would assume a coyote, brushed under my hammock and Dad said that it had brushed his. By the time I got my light on I couldn't see anything.

After my second bathroom trip I noticed that my hammock was about six inches off the ground. I checked my knots and everything looked fine so I tightened up the strap on the foot end and climbed back in. Just as I settled in I heard a loud snap and my head hit the ground. I found out why my hammock was so low. The strap had stretched to its breaking point. Luckily it wasn't the foot end. I had tried out some lightweight three quarter inch straps that were good to 350 pounds. They were suppose to be better than the nylon. I found out different. I tied a granny knot in it and slept good the rest of the night. It's weird that you go to all of these ropes and knots classes and the granny comes through every time.

The next morning we got up and had a good breakfast. On the way out we checked out the stump the bear found so exciting. They are powerful critters.

We hiked the Miry Ridge trail and Panther Creek trail back to the Middle Prong Trail about nine miles and up 1300 feet and then down 2900 feet. We did have a beautiful view at Jakes Gap. Dad showed me a trail that used to be there but isn't anymore. We chased some deer down the trail on the way out and we saw some trout fishermen back at the trail head that said it was easy catching with the water down so low.

Since lunch time had us close to the trail head we saved up and went into Townsend for a hamburger and ice cream. After we got in the truck and started heading out the rain started. We put the packs in the back seat and by the time we got to Townsend the bottom dropped out and we could barely see the road. We got back to the ponderosa and visited with Mom until dinner. Had a safe trip home.

Pictures

Gregory's Bauld

Well, my regular hiking buddies let me down. Troy came down with some sort of illness and Greg got scared of the weather forecast and bailed out saying that it was going to be too hot. Good thing that I can count on dear old Dad. He was scheduled to hike with us as we were going to hike Big Ridge State Park which is North of Knoxville.

I called Dad and asked him to pick out a hike in the Smokeys. When I showed up he gave me an option. We could either hike out of Clingmans Dome or out of Cates Cove. I picked the Cove because it was closer. As usual Dad pick a direct route to the top of the mountain to see the Flame Azaleas, the Gregory Ridge trail . Only 5.5 miles which as with any mountain the shortest distance is straight up the side and only a 3000 ft gain. Another .5 miles to camp 13. I'm not sure if he just doesn't like me to hike with him or he really does enjoy punishing himself as well.

Anyway there was a flat spot about twenty feet long that I remember somewhere along the trail. If you want to see a bear all you have to do is ask Dad. Every time I have gone into the cove he schedules me in a sighting. We saw three cubs and we know that Mom was around somewhere. We also got to see some deer all before we even started our hike. He likes to get the wildlife sighting out of the way.

We got to the trail head and headed in the upward direction. The weather was beautiful and we had a nice breeze blowing to help us out. We passed only one group of guys on the way up.

The Park had done a controlled burn sometime earlier and as we came up to a large tree on the side of the trail that had a ribbon to keep people away we stopped to comment on the ignorance of the average person now days. As we stood there a squirrel came rolling down the side of the mountain. I mean doing a somersault all the way down. I have never seen a clumsy squirrel and was wondering how a squirrel could have a McBride trait. When he finally hit the trail just in front of us and laid out on his back, we noticed that there were actually two squirrels and they must have been wrestling. They looked at us and you could tell that they were quite embarrassed to be caught.

Belive it or not we took a couple of breaks on the way up to Gregory's Bauld. When we got there we got to take in the beautiful sight of about six bushes in bloom. Oops, a week or so too early. We did get a beautiful sight of Cates Cove and the surrounding mountains. Dad was a little hesitant to list off the names of all the peaks. I guess just shy.

When we got into camp there was one other couple camping there. We picked the sight furthest from them and set up camp. The first thing we did was ask them where they found the spring. They said that there was not much of a spring, but it was down this other trail about 300 foot. Well luckily I saw a little mud through a break in the trees as we passed the "Spring". There was mud and that was about all. The biggest puddle we found was just deep enough to cover our screen on the water filter. Every time you pumped the silt covered the screen and you had to clean it off again. So other than the leg cramps, the back aches, the bugs, the cleaning of the filters, and Poison Ivy it was a wonderful experience.

After we finally got our water we headed back to camp. Dad started the dinner and I gathered the moist wood. After dinner we entertained ourselves with the starting of the fire. After a few hours we sat back and enjoyed our flame.

We had a doe come right up to the camp fire and look across it at us. You could tell that she was not impressed and wondered off. After we hit the sack I was wakened by the Does' fawn. She had quite the interest in my hammock. Four different times I heard the approach and looked up into the face of a deer. I would politely say "Excuse me" and she would run off. Finally she must of got the hint and wondered off. They stayed in camp and were waiting patiently beside my hammock when I got up in the morning. It was a Doe with two fawns. They even posed for a picture. After Dad got up they wondered off into the woods.

We got us a good breakfast and headed off down the mountain. We passed two different pairs of girls and a couple which were friends of Dad. For some reason the trip down was faster than the trip up so we ate lunch back at the ranger station. We celebrated a good hike with a fresh ice cream cone from the visitor center.

Gregory Bauld Hike

I got to join my Dad for another great hike in the Smokey Mountains. After getting off work and driving to Dad's for another great lunch by Mom, we headed out. We dropped the van off at Abrams Creek Campground and headed to Cades Cove. Cades Cove is always a wonderful place to visit. On the backside of the Cove we took Parson Branch Road out to the Gregory Bauld Trailhead. Mom took our picture and headed out, as did we.

We hiked the 4.1 miles to campsite 13, which is a 1900-foot climb. We dropped our packs at the campsite and then hiked the other half mile 200 foot climb to the bald. All of the way up we had passed photographers with very expensive looking cameras heading back down. Everyone was excited about the flaming azaleas at the top. As you can tell by the pictures they were extraordinary this year.

At the top we had a young man approach us and said that they had been hiking for a couple of days now. He said that he was from the Nashville area, a small town named Murfreesboro. I let him know that I too was from that small town. It turned out that he and his buddy were MTSU students and worked at TGI Fridays in town.

After enjoying the views, we retreated back down to the campground and set up camp. There were about five groups camping there. After a short discussion we decided it wasn't worth trying to find firewood. We did pick up a few sticks and leaves to burn the debris left by previous campers and our own. We collected our water and had a good dinner.

A man from St. Louis came over to ask about the sunrise time. He and his girlfriend were going to catch it at the top in the morning. They were both students and had been camping a couple of nights. As it was getting dark a ranger came in with a gun complete with night scope to say that the hogs were bothering campers and he would be doing some shooting tonight. We counted three if he did good shooting.

By the time it got dark enough to light the fire Dad informed me that it was 9:00. Well we didn't need a long fire going to bed at 10. When I woke to use the bathroom, this was the quietest camp that I had ever been in. Nothing was making a noise, and I mean nothing. It was quiet enough that I thought I heard a tick fart. It struck me as very odd and was just as quiet the next time I got up. It was almost embarrassing to snore. I did anyway.

The next morning after breakfast we headed back down to Parson Branch road. When we came to the spring we saw a mother doe cleaning off a fresh young fawn. I couldn't get my camera out in time for the shot, but it was amazing to watch. It took us two hours to hike up and only one and a half to hike down. I think we took a short cut.

We crossed over Parsons road and took 7.6 miles of the Hannah Mountain Trail. This is not a very popular trail as it was more grown over, but a beautiful hike. It starts at 2800 and with a few hills drops down to 1300 feet. On this trail we passed one backpacker who is from Georgia and a student at Valdena. He caught up with us as I was taking a picture of a very large tree on the side of the trail. We visited with him a couple of times as we passed each other. We also enjoyed some blueberries, as they were ripe for the picking. There were a couple of times that we disturbed some very large animals, but never got to see them. Just heard the loud racket of them running off. Everyone we talked to on this trip said that they had seen bear. We assume that is what we heard.

We took 2.7 miles on the Rabbit Creek Trail back to Abrams Creek. As soon as we got going on this trail we disturbed another large animal. As we got to the top of the mountain there were three rangers that had been doing trail maintenance there. They had heard the animal as well and had a bear approach them earlier in the day. Dad got to throw out a few names and do some ranger talk with the men.

It was another great hike and great time with my Dad.

Pictures

Father/Son Hike 2007

This year's trip was back down to the original three, Dad, Steve, and Myself. Dan opted out early this year and Jim held in until the mention of low water level, I mean something came up. We were operating on plan C as far as trail plans. This year, just for a change we did the drought conditions. The original plan of finishing the Appellation Trail was once again taken out of the picture as all of the springs along the trail went dry. Of course it will be plan A next year again for the fourth consecutive year as we don't give up easily.

With the extreme weather conditions that have occurred over the years, I packed everything I have into the truck and head East. I had a beautiful trip over to Maryville with all the trees putting on a great display of colors. Steve's flight was slightly delayed and with Mom and Granny going to pick him up, I got some quite time on the Ponderosa. Dad, who had to show us that we were still just young pups, decided to get a short eleven mile hike in the day before we headed out on our backpacking trip. Yes, he is the man!

So after the gang made it back to the Ponderosa, we headed out to meet up with Dad at the trail head so we could preposition the van. On the way, Mom had a couple of things to pick up in town. After we gathered up all of her goodies, she suggested we stop and get a drink. As we were walking into the Burger King, a strange but wonderful thing happened. Yes, I received a sign, I would assume from God. The large lit up sign saying those oh but wonderful words "ICE CREAM". As I froze with those wide staring eyes and a small drool starting at the corner of my mouth, Mom asked if we would like some ice cream. I said OK.

When we went in we searched over the many wonderful flavors available. Steve went with a multitude of chocolates and I with Raspberry. The lady at the counter took the ice cream over to a tabletop and asked what I wanted added. What, more? Yes, they could mix in all sorts of goodies with the ice cream. I added chocolate candies and real raspberries. She mixed all of this up and put it in a cone bowl. She then mixed up Steve's. After he got his and I had already tried mine and I was in the middle of proposing to the lady that made this wonderful gift, Mom grabbed me by the ear and led us out. There was some mention of getting Dad something, but I could hardly hear it over the slobbering noises coming from Steve and I.

Well we met Dad at the trailhead and got registered for the hike. Dad threw his daypack into the trunk and we started the wild ride back home. When we pulled into the driveway and Dad pulled the keys out of the keyhole he told Mom that these were her keys and to make sure he took the van keys with him tomorrow on the hike. Well when we walked around to the trunk to get his stuff out, there were his keys just dangling from the trunk lock. A laugh was had by all. That night after a wonderful meal, Granny and I kicked some butt at the card table.

We awoke to a great breakfast and last minute packing. The weather was looking great with no rain in the forecast. Mom dropped us off at the trailhead and after a couple of pictures headed on her way to town. Kathy had ruined her big shopping extravaganza and left her to just do her normal routine.

This year we decided to start out with an uphill climb. That was different. We headed out of the "Y" in Townsend with comfortable t-shirt weather taking the Chestnut Top trail. We did see quite a few folks out on the trail, but this was weekend hikers. We especially planned a weekend in the trip for the convenience of the brother-in-laws.

From Chestnut Top trail we took Schoolhouse Gap trail and since we had only nine miles scheduled we took a side trip to White Oak Sink, a sunken valley once home to up to ten families and some caves. Here we found a very heavy gauge metal cage over the front of the cave and a sign about the bats inside. We also explored a huge waterfall that turned up dry. This is where we ate lunch. A small trickle of water came over the edge into a large hole in the ground where a pool once was.

We returned to School House trail to Laurel Creek road and took Bote Mountain trail to the West Prong Trail to campsite 18. This was a large campsite area with numerous separate camps. We found one that was off by itself and set up camp.

We didn't have to find firewood because no fires were allowed. We had four younger guys come in later and took the site next to ours. We didn't hear very much from them. We relaxed awhile and ate a dinner of Spaghetti. There was a river with water running in it next to camp so we soaked the old pigs and got refreshed. It ended up being an early night, after we sat in the dark and told lies until the eyes got tired.

We didn't even set up the tarps. It cooled down quite a bit that night and we had to climb in the sleeping bags, but it was beautiful out. I got up once for a bathroom break when Steve came jumping up in his hammock going straight to the attack position. I quickly let him know that it was just me to calm him down. He said that he was in a deep sleep having quite a dream when he heard me. We laughed a while at that one and everyone took a bathroom break.

The next morning even after we had gone to bed early, we slept in and didn't get on the trail until close to ten. On the way out of camp we noticed that there was four other campsites that were taken. We decided to go uphill this morning and continue on to Tremont.

When we got to Tremont Steve decided to use a real restroom at the office. It was out of order so he went to the dorm where a worker there had quite an attitude and threatened us with trespassing on private property. You know that one scared us.

We took Lumber Ridge trail to Meigs Mountain trail. This was quite the uphill climb. We stopped and I had Dad pull out the old bandanna to keep the sweat out of the eyes. This is when we found Bug. Connie had put a plastic bug in my pack, which I found out was before my last hike, but was never discovered. Bug would join our pictures from here on out.

When we got to the saddle we were ready to stop for lunch. When we got to Meigs Mountain trail dear old Dad quickly decided to go uphill. It was an honest mistake; because when ever we come to a split we always go uphill. This time after a short discussion we actually got a chance to go downhill. Meigs Mountain trail had many water, or rock, crossings. Not much water at any of them. If there was water it took the form of mud.

When we passed campsite 19 there was no water at all. We stopped at an old cemetary by the trail and checked it out. Not much action there since 1920. Most of the markers were just flat rocks. When we got to campsite 20 we were all ready to stop. The river here showed very little action. Not much bathing to be done but we gave it our all. We had a very large campsite with of course the Bear warning sign attached. After getting our hammocks hung, which of course takes about three tries before being right, we had chicken stew for dinner. Another night of lies in the dark and an early out. It was warmer than the night before but the wind was blowing and every leaf in the woods ended up on top of us.

We got up the next morning and headed out. We took Meigs Mountain trail to Jakes Creek trail to Cucumber Gap trail. On Meigs Mountain trail we passed the volunteer rangers that take care of campsite 20. They said that the bear warning sign had been up for a few months.

When we got to Cucumber Gap trail we came upon a group of folks whose leader said that this was their first solo hike and was sending each of them out by themselves about fifty yards apart. Steve thought that this was one of those self-esteem classes. There were alot of them and some of them had already joined up further down the trail. Not much esteem there. Anyway when we got to Little River trail we stopped for lunch.

There was water in the Little River, but not much. From here we hiked to the van and headed out for our ice cream reward. When we got home Rick and Linda joined us for our celebration pizza and beer. We got a few hands of cards played, laundry done, and looked at our pictures. After a little discussion we decided to take in a hike in the morning before I headed back to Murfreesboro.

We got up Tuesday morning and Dad decided on a six-mile hike to get me back in time to leave. The weather was very muggy and a little warmer than what we have been hiking in. We ended up taking Little Bottoms trail past campsite 17 to Abrams Creek. It was one of those trails that you were glad that you didn't have a pack with. Most of it was just straight up and down, but some of it was like a goat trail. It was a very beautiful hike and around eight miles long. We ate lunch at Abrams Creek crossing, took a little rest and then headed on back. I had no problem working up a good lather and the gnats were very glad to hike with me. When we got back I ran through the shower and headed out. It rained from Maryville to Murfreesboro. Everything went as scheduled and we had another great trip.