Ivy Academy CT Wildflower Hike

Memorial Day (I didn't have to work) and Craig had to work. After canoeing this weekend, I wanted to hike. The CT State Park scheduled a Wildflower hike with Appalachia CARES AmeriCorps member Anna Schilling at the Ivy Academy in Soddy Daisy. The trail starts on the school property along the North Chick Creek. There were black raspberries ripe right beside the trail! It was getting hot at 9 am to start out, but after walking under the bridge and along the creek we entered the woods and it was a little cooler. Anna says the trail is used by the students during the week, summer too because of summer school, so it is closed to the public until after 3 pm, but open on weekends. Ivy is an Environmental Institute in partnership with TN State Parks.

Still a lot of wildflowers to see, Little Brown Jug, Trumpet honeysuckle, Skullcap, Bergamont, Basil Bee Balm, and sunflowers. The hike went to Pride Rock named for the one in The Lion King. It's a great place to view North Chick Creek. Great day to be in the woods.

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Memorial Day Paddling

We went back to Greenway Farms and this time we paddled down to the river and saw the dam and lock. Afterward we paddled a little way back up past the Farms.

The next day we went to Sale Creek after church and put in to paddle up Rock Creek and back.

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Nick's Graduation 2019

We hooked up the camper and headed North going to Nick's Graduation from law school.  We spent the first night in Pennsylvania at the Twin Bridges Campground which we stayed at the last trip to see Nick and Amy. From there we headed to Delaware Water Gap NRA to do some hiking so we would break up our second day of traveling. We hiked the Tumbling Waters trail at the Pocono Environmental Education Center which had a million red salamanders. We ate lunch at the falls which were amazing. We hiked the Dingmans Creek trail which had the Silver Thread Falls as well, and the Raymondskill Falls trail which has the upper, middle, and lower falls. Then we drove to Massachusetts and stayed at the Partridge Hollow Campground in Monson. Very friendly folks that run this place.

The next morning we headed over to Nick's and visited before heading over to the Basketball Hall of Fame where we met up with Amy and her family. That was interesting even for someone not interested in basketball. We found Pat Summit's display with all the UT Orange colors. From there we headed to lunch. After lunch we headed over to Western New England college for a tour and a reception/lecture on the Bar Exam that Nick is going to take. Sounds like two months of serious study! Then we met Nick's Dad and family for dinner. After dinner we checked out the new casino in Springfield.

Sunday morning Lora and I hiked the Munn Dike trail next to the campground and then we headed to church at the Trinity UMC which is a beautiful church. It was an inspiring service, which helped to not get lost staring at all the beauty inside the sanctuary. Then we met up with everyone for lunch. After lunch we attended the Graduation followed by the celebration dinner with delicious seafood.

Monday after we checked out of the campground, we headed back to meet everyone for a bagel breakfast before heading South. We camped at the Twin Bridges campground on the way back.

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900 miles of Smoky Mountain trails

SHE DID IT!!!! Finished the last of the all the trails in the Smoky Mountains. This last trail was hard on her. With the wildland fire which closed the trail down for quite some time, snow closing the road down, it was wonderful to actually be able to get to the trail. Thunderstorms were forecast for this hike, but the morning was hopeful. As we drove to Clingmans Dome Road it rained, and then sprinkled, then rained. We put our rain gear on at the trailhead hoping for sunshine. There was a lot of water on the trail. Didn't take long for the socks and boots to get soaked. We saw some wildflowers that looked similar to Solomon's Seal but had pink bell shaped flowers. (After checking the wildflower book, I'm sure it's Rosy Twisted Stalk, listed as rare. DIDN'T get a picture.) We looked for the man-way that used to go to the Chimney Tops and saw a path but it was too wet to try it. 4.8 miles was all Lora needed to finish her map and when the trail junction came in sight she got so excited. I got out the camera and the battery was dead! Cell phone to the rescue, filmed the happy dance. Now to print off the spreadsheet, fill out the application and send it in and wait patiently for my 900 miler sticker.........YES!



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Bledsoe Creek State Park

We got to spend the weekend with our Grandson. What a blessing! We took the camper to Bledsoe Creek State Park. This is a beautiful campground with friendly staff. We did some hiking and a lot of fishing.

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