Lone Mountain State Forest

Day one: 5.05 miles
Smokey Bear 1.9
Dailey 1.5
Coyote 0.2
Southwest 1.2
Horseshoe Flats 0.25
Day Two: 8.3
Horseshoe Flats 0.7
Twister Pass 1.0
Sawmill 1.3
BMP 1
Longest Mile 2.4
Smokey Bear 1.9
Total Miles: 13.35

Lora and I headed out for our first backpack of the season.......well, maybe just a little too early. We headed to Lone Mountain State Forest. We found that the map on the internet is an old map and they have made some important changes to the trail system here. Also, after talking to the ranger, which reported that Rankin Springs is the only water source, we found many water sources and Rankin Springs is not impressive as a clean water source. Don't tell the many many frogs that are living in the spring.

The new map, which is impressively hanging on the kiosk, not only gives trail names and miles, it also shows the new gravel road that they added through the middle. The ranger did tell us that the safest place to park overnight is at the Forestry Headquarters which is right across from the main trailhead.

We started out at the Smokey Bear trailhead.  We found out really quick that when they do trail maintenance they do it with a bulldozer. We did not see the "Lounge Rock" coming or going back. We will have to find out more about this. We took the Dailey trail to Rankin Springs. Rankin Springs has some dirty looking water, but frogs were all the way around it and swimming as well. There is a small pond there. some hitching posts, and a picnic table.

We continued out to Coyote Point. There is a picnic table and trash can out there. The view is growing smaller with the trees, but it is a beautiful view. It is a great place for a rest. From there we went down the mountain on the Southwest trail looking for water and a camping spot. We noticed the creek lines on the map and wanted to check them out. We hung a right and went Northwest on Horseshoe Flats. The first creek line has a spring coming out of the rocks and we made camp just beyond in a clear wooded area. It felt good to wash up after a day of sweating. The weather let us know that it is not backpacking season yet.

We didn't bother with the fire tonight. We did listen to an owl talking during our dinner. The woods was full of noises of critters and we heard two different trees fall. Makes you check your hammock tree again.

The next morning we continued on the Horseshoe Flats, which we did not know turned into the new BMP road. The Horseshoe Flats turns left and continues to just above the Sawmill. Twister Pass trail, used to be Twister Gap, Still starts from the Horseshoe Flats, but is now bisected by the BMP road. Anyways, we took the Twister Pass trail down back to the Southwest trail. This trail was overgrown quite a bit. At this intersection there is a good sized creek. The Southwest trail has two bridges built over it.

We took the Saw Mill trail back up and found that the end of it is now the BMP road and the Horseshoe flats trail comes into the BMP road. The BMP road goes all the way to Poplar Patch parking AKA Carl Black Spur trailhead. We took the Longest Mile trail back to the Smokey Bear trail and out.

We saw lots of frogs, toads, too many spiders, a skunk, a tiny salamander, and lots of birds.

Pictures:

Nashville Meet Up

Our TN State Naturalist Randy Hedgepath led the hikes today. The hikers met up at Cumberland Mt SP: Mountain Dave, Sarah and two 4 legged companions, two ladies with 2 little hikers, and me.

We traveled to Devil Step Hollow for the first hike where we got to see the cave where the Sequatchie River begins. We also hiked a new section of trail that is being built; more of the Cumberland Trail. This part of the valley has some beautiful views of Hinch Mt. The fields were full of butterflies enjoying the Joe Pye and other wildflowers.

Our next stop was lunch back at the park; some at the Inn and some picnicked.  Then a tour of the CCC museum.

Next stop: Black Mountain. On the way up the road we met the hardworking CT trail crew that had been using weed eaters and loppers to clear the trail.

We hiked to the overlooks, then to a really cool boulder field. Dave did a trail run to check out the campsite. We really appreciate the work by the trail crew.

Two of our hikers had never been to Ozone Falls and it was too close by to not check it out on such a pretty day.

When we got there, the parking lot was crowded, lots of folks on the trail today. It’s just a short distance to the top of the falls, and the creek. It’s a steep rocky descent to the bottom of the falls, but worth it. The pool at the bottom of the 100’ waterfall was full of swimmers. Looking at the sandals and flip-flops  lying around, made me wonder if they would be barefoot by the time they climbed back to the parking lot. We took our time taking pics and enjoying the cool mist from the falls.

On the way back up the trail, our fearless leader wrangled a copperhead to get it off the trail and away from all the people coming up the trail. And yes I got to scream.

Thanks to Randy and the other hikers for a great hike.  

Pictures:

Michigan 2015

Ahh, the family trip! We rented a house this year on Lake Michigan in Muskegon for the central location. We were blessed to have 17 family members make it this year. Activities included: Storm watching, Pigeon chasing, Birthday celebrations, Blueberry picking, Swimming, Sailing, Kayaking, Canoeing, Hiking, Slacklining, Beer testing, Campfires, Museum visit, and lots of eating.

A great time for all!

Pictures:

Wednesday Hike - Rugby

Wednesday hike with Plateau chapter. I drove to Cracker Barrel to find only Harry and Harold there. Where was the big hiking group? Just when we decided we were it, along came Bill and then Pat. We loaded into Howard's SUV and to the trails we went. 

Rugby was our first stop, the Gentleman's Swimming Hole, and Meeting of the Waters loop. It's a very pretty trail, we didn't swim, but the water looked very inviting. The Meeting of the Waters is where the two creeks, the Clear Fork and the White Oak merge and become the South Fork, which as it picks up the streams and creeks on its way down into the gorge becomes the gorgeous Class IV and V Big South Fork River .

On to our next hike; only we found an interesting store first: R.M. Brooks GEN MDSE. It used to be the Rugby Post Office. There are a few antiques and a nice lady that runs the place and she makes really good sandwiches. We had lunch here. They also have bikes for rent and a campground. There is a trailhead here for Brewster Bridge. We drove a little further on 52 to find what Bill wanted to show us. The new bridge and the old bridge where the trail from the store comes to. The road to the old bridge has places you could launch a canoe. Pretty. We also saw a large buck standing by the guardrail. He was beautiful!

On to our next hike: Colditz Cove SNA. We saw 2 pretty waterfalls and Pat found lots of wildflowers and identified them for us. 

We had to stop for ice cream at the General Store in Clarkrange. Turtle tracks in a cone Yumm!

Thanks Plateau for a great day!

Pictures:

More Pics:

Lily Dale Campout

Another great time at Dale Hollow lake. Dad, Mom, Marco, Natalie, Mitsi, and the girls join us for a weekend at the lake. Actually it turned out that we joined them at the lake as they started Friday. Lora and I brought the canoes and met them at the campground. It just happened to be an ungodly high temperature weekend. We spent all the time in the water.

Pictures:

Mitchell Creek - Dale Hollow Lake

Lora and I headed to Dale Hollow Lake for a couple of days. We put the canoe in at Mitchell Creek Marina, which is one of the nicest on the lake. The owners were very friendly too.

After getting the canoe loaded, we headed down Carter creek going in and out of all the inlets. We saw lots of water fowl and one big turtle. There were ripe blackberries just waiting for Craig to spot them. We managed to save some for our oatmeal for breakfast the next morning. We only saw a couple of boats out today. After exploring Carter creek we headed over to our campsite on Mitchell Creek, campsite #1. It is just across the creek from the Marina.

We set up camp, gathered firewood, did a short hike, and did some swimming. And waited for one LOUD motorboat to run out of fuel. That night we got to listen to three different types of owls. Lots of stars. We scared a doe on our hike.

The next morning we packed up, loaded the canoe and as we scooted the canoe into the water Lora screamed and danced with Mickey Mouse as he scurried out from under the canoe and all around her feet before running off into the bushes. After getting our pacemakers restarted, we explored all of Mitchell Creek. We were blessed with two different streams with cascades, two American Eagles, five Otters, a deer, and many water birds.

Pictures:

Watt's Bar Lake

Lora and I went to Watts Bar dam and put the boat in. We explored the inlet by the boat ramp and then crossed the river and explored the inlets on the other side. We went as far as Lowe Branch. Lot's of fun.

Pictures:

Oregon June 2015

Another great visit to Oregon.  We started out with Marjorie, after a good night, we went hiking with her at Pittock Mansion in Portland. Later we met up with Melanie and Avelyn for a picnic lunch. We got to Jagon and Melanie's and got her moved into the new house which we would be working on the next few days. We got lot's of grandbaby love!

We went back to Portland to see Marjorie compete in the three mile Rugged Maniac Obstacle  course where you climb towers of shipping containers, rocket down a massive water slide, crawl through underground tunnels, leap over fire and experience some BIG new obstacles. That was very cool!

The next day the girls took Lora, Avelyn, two dogs, and me on a 8 mile hike at Opal Creek Wilderness Area. We hiked from the girls memory, so when we came to the end of the "8 mile loop" we had to turn around and hike back. So our little adventure turned into an all day 14 mile hike. It was a great time

Pictures:

Kephart Prong

Day One: 8.0 Miles
Kephart Prong Trail 2.0
Grassy Branch 2.5
Dry Sluice Gap 2.9
Cabin Flats 0.6
Campsite #49

Day Two: 9.0
Cabin Flats 1.6
Dry Sluice Gap 2.9
Grassy Branch 2.5
Kephart Prong 2.0
Total Miles: 16.8

Lora and I headed out to cover some more trails in the Smoky's that we have not been on.  We got an extra half hour delay at Metcalf Bottoms waiting on the rangers to clear a tree off Little River Road. We got to our trail head at 3pm Eastern time.

We started at Kephart Prong and took in what is left from the CCC camp that was there 1933-1942. The trail description says that "your ascent is so gradual that you rarely sense a climb." They lied! The only flat spot is crossing the Oconaluftee river on the bridge. The only place we saw people was between the trail head and the Kephart Shelter. A common day hike.

From the shelter we started through the different levels of spring flowers. We saw the azaleas, the mountain laurels, and Rhododendron blooms among others. We also kicked up our first grouse on this section. The climb warranted us to cool off in all the springs along the way.

We finally, 2600 feet later, made it to the top where we found the only Rhododendron that I know of that grows straight up. You could actually walk through it if you wanted to. After a little break we started our 2200 foot drop down to Cabin Flats on the Dry Sluice Gap trail. We were excited to see that this trail was freshly weedeated. Just after starting down we kicked up our second grouse which messed up our pacemakers among other things as he was at head level about six feet away.

When we got to Cabin Flats trail we saw that they had also weedeated it. This area has some old growth so we were blessed to see some extremely large trees. When we got to camp, we had it all to ourselves. Lora collected the water and noticed that she forgot to pack the hose for it while I started collecting firewood. We got camp set up and ourselves cleaned up before dark.

As we set next to the fire Lora noticed some flashing in the woods. Upon further investigation we noticed that the synchronous fireflies were putting on a show for us. So we spent the evening enjoying a private showing. Later that night we got to hear an owl as well.

I woke up to the screaming of my name! Thinking I was dreaming, I heard it again. Lora had a deer visit her at her hammock. Of course it took off with all the screaming, but I tried to make an emergency exit of the hammock which is never pretty.  Other than that we had a calm night.

The next morning after breaking down camp, we took the Cabin Flats trail down across the metal trestle bridge to the connection with Bradley Fork trail to claim this trail done. We turned around and started our steep climb back up Dry Sluice. On the way up we saw another grouse, but this time we watched him cross the trail and climb up the side of the the mountain. Much more peaceful!

When we got back to Kephart shelter there was a man from North Carolina that we visited with, then a Father Son from Lexington Tennessee. We got to talk trail with them and give them some suggestions on things to see in the Smoky's.

Another great backpack!

Pictures:

Lilly Bluff

I met the Plateau TTA hikers in Crossville to catch a ride to the trailhead at Lilly Bluff. 12 or 13 hikers today, not sure, but we didn't lose anyone.  We hiked the Point Trail out and back, with lots of overlooks and a bluff climb (bushwhack) for a couple of us. I hope for no chiggers......then out to the overlook. Lunch was here for half the hikers, while the other half ate ours on the go to hike down under the bluffs to see a couple of waterfalls. Our leader picked us up by the bridge and we met the others at the Boulder Field parking lot. This is a really cool area with huge boulders among the gorgeous hemlock forest. This area was donated by the owner to the Nature Conservancy. Glad it was preserved for us to enjoy. 

Pictures: