Chestnut Top Trail

We moved over to the North Carolina side of Smoky Mountain National Park today and are all set up in Creekwood Farm RV Park.  We haven’t had a chance to check things out very much, but our first impression is that this is going to be a nice place to spend the week while we do some hiking in the Cataloochee area of the Park.

We did one other hike last week which I want to share.  Chestnut Top Trail is one of the premier trails for spring wildflowers.  Since the season seems to be peaking early this year, we were not sure there would be many flowers on Chestnut Top, but didn’t want to just  leave without giving it a check.  Saturday morning, we were tossing around a few possibilities for the day and decided on this hike.  We were not disappointed.

One flowered Cancer Root

The trailhead is at the Townsend “Y”, that fork in the road at the Townsend entrance to the Park where the left goes to Cades Cove and the right fork leads to Sugarlands Visitor Center and the main entrance to the Park near Gatlinburg.  There is a large parking lot, but this is also a very popular spot for swimmers, tubing enthusiasts, and picnickers.  This parking lot fills up quickly.  The trailhead is across the road from the parking lot.

Stonecrop

We really didn’t have a plan; just thought we’d walk along to see whatever happened to be there.  Sure enough, many of the early flowers were either gone or past their prime, but there was still plenty to see.  So much, in fact, that it took us 70 minutes to walk up the first half mile.

This trail is all uphill from the road to the top of Chestnut Top then a slight down then a bump before it goes slightly down to Schoolhouse Gap.  The first half mile gains a thousand feet and is the steepest section of the entire 4.25 mile trail.  The early flowers may have been gone, but we saw plenty of False Solomon’s Seal, Solomon’s Seal, a few Dwarf Crested Iris, Phacelia, stonecrop, and even a couple Little Brown Jugs.

I can't believe Mountain Laurel is starting to bloom already

After the first half mile the flowers thinned out considerably and we were able to pick up our pace a little bit.  It was a beautiful day to be outside and there were several others along the trail, as well.  The trees are pretty much in full leaf at this elevation, so there weren’t any spectacular views from the trail until we got closer to the top.  As the trail comes around to the other side of the mountain, we were rewarded with some great views of the ridge which is the state line between Tennessee and North Carolina.  The Appalachian Trail runs along that ridge.

State line on top of that ridge.  That may be Thunderhead, I'm not sure

By the time we got hungry we were near the top of Chestnut Top.  We found a flat spot beside the trail which worked well for our lunch break.

The highlight of the day came shortly after we left our lunch spot.  Two pink Lady Slippers were in bloom just off the edge of the trail.  They were in an area open to views of the ridge beyond so I guess we were looking at that and missed the Lady Slippers on our way up.  That pretty much made our day.

Since we had stopped to examine every blooming thing on our way up, we didn’t bother with that on our way down and the return trip moved along much faster.

Not all flowers bloom in the spring and there’ll be something to see all during the summer, but there’s no time quite as magnificent as spring.

Tomorrow will be a little orientation and sightseeing in Waynesville, North Carolina.

That’s it for today.  Thanks for tagging along.

When Off The Trail

We don’t spend every minute of our lives on a trail somewhere although at times it may seem that we do.  We do intend to do a lot of hiking this summer and especially now while the weather is so nice.  So what have we been doing when not on a trail this week?

Maidenhair fern.

The first thing that comes to mind was Peanut’s vet appointment.  Oh my goodness, that didn’t go so well.  Peanut does his Jekyll and Hyde routine when it comes time to visit the vet.  He is such a sweet, loving, lap cat always wanting his head rubbed or to be held.  Walk through the door at the vet’s and the hissing, scratching, and biting begins and he refuses to let anyone, even Gene or I, to get near him.  Since he’s not afraid of strangers at home, I’m guessing it’s the smell at the vet’s office that triggers the change.  The vet finally had to just give him his shots through the mesh in his carrier and gave up on doing any examination.  I kinda think they didn’t want us to bring him back ever again.  They said they gave him a 3-year rabies and suggested that since he is a totally indoor cat that we could just skip the feline leukemia.  I don’t even know if there is such a thing as a 3-year rabies; the certificate says it expires next year.  Anyway, after we left the vet, he was perfectly fine in the car until he got car sick.  First he threw up in his carrier.  I got him out of there and put him on the floor by my feet.  He threw up again on the floor, then on me, then twice more on the floor.  I don’t know who was happier to get home, him or me.

Meadow Parsnip

While we were camped at Cades Cove, we were surprised to see friends from Nashville there.  They had brought the grandchildren up for a few days during spring break.  Our friends are hikers, but the grandchildren are small so they were busy with them--playing in the creek, horseback riding, and roasting hotdogs and smores. We stopped by their campsite a few times for short visits and enjoyed what little time we had.

False Solomon's Seal blooms at the end of the stem.

Smooth Solomon's Seal blooms under the leaves.

After we got settled at Misty River, we went into Maryville for grocery shopping.  While in town, we stopped by Target to do a little more investigating into the e-readers.  I let all that information roll around in my brain for a couple days and finally decided on the Kindle--just the basic reader; no color and no apps for me.  We went back today to make the purchase.  The time had come to either get it or forget it.  I’ve only have one other book to read of the large stack I got last fall, Wicked, and Gene is reading it right now.  Since I finished The Devil in the White City today, it was time to get over this analysis paralysis.

I really enjoyed The Devil in the White City by Erik Larson.  It’s about what I always call the Chicago’s World’s Fair.  It’s official name was the World’s Columbian Exposition.  Larson tells the story of the trials and tribulations of the Fair’s primary architect, Daniel Burnham.  I was fascinated by the various aspects of putting together an event of this magnitude.  It was also interesting to read about some of the “firsts” showcased at this Fair with the Ferris wheel being the most notable.  Parallel to the primary story about the construction of the Fair was the true story of a mass murderer living in Chicago at the time.  He preyed on the young women coming alone to the “big city” to visit the Fair.  This story was incredible.  Much of my spare time this week has been reading this book.

Then there were the several hours Gene spent this morning hunting down yet another leak in the bathroom.  This time I noticed water in the floor between the shower and the sink cabinet.  We have finally come to the conclusion that over time water begins to run under the caulking and down the screw holes that fasten the shower enclosure to the shower base.  The whole inside of the shower has been caulked once, twice, maybe even three times, both by Gene and by the service techs at various RV dealerships.  After we shower, we always wipe down the inside in order to keep the water from evaporating and driving up the humidity inside our rig.  The caulking doesn’t stick all that great to the medal surface of the shower enclosure in the first place, so rubbing a sponge across it as often as we do pulls it away quickly.  Gene pulled off all the old and recaulked this afternoon.  We’ll see what happens.

Our plan is to leave Misty River in the morning and move around to the North Carolina side of the Park to the Cataloochee area.  For those of you familiar with the Park, you’ll know the road that leads to Cataloochee campground is not RV friendly.  People take their RVs down there and there is also a big horse camp there and those folks take those big horse trailers down that road, but you won’t find us doing that.  We’ll get a site in a commercial campground nearby.  Cataloochee looks like it’ll be a great place for hiking this week.  We may even see the elk.

That’s what we’ve been up to this week besides hiking.  Thanks for tagging along.

White Oak Sinks

Over the years, I’ve studied the hiking trail map for Great Smoky Mountain National Park and I’d never seen a White Oak Sinks trail.  That’s because it doesn’t exist, at least not on paper.

Beaked violet

Dog Hobble

There are somewhere between 800 and 900 miles of hiking and horse trails in the Smokies.  Additionally, there are numerous “quiet walkways” and nature trails.  There are many miles of abandon trails that were once official trails which have been closed for one reason or another and are no longer maintained, but are still used by some brave souls.  There are still other “trails” which are somewhat maintained which are not listed on trail maps, but are used by those in the know.  White Oak Sinks is one such trail and, lucky for us, we were introduced to this trail by our friend, Sharon.

Little Brown Jug

People in the know flock to White Oak Sinks in the spring for the wildflower display.  Since the spring wildflowers peak only briefly, we wanted to get there as soon as possible.  Gene, myself, nor Sharon are fond of crowds on the trail, so we made our plan to be at the trailhead just after sunrise on Wednesday, hopefully ahead of one of the largest hiking clubs in the area.

Showy Orchid

Wild geranium a little droopy from the rain.

We met at 7:15 at the large parking lot for the Schoolhouse Gap Trail.  To begin our hike we headed up Schoolhouse Gap Trail.  This trail was originally part of a toll-road project begun in the 1830s to connect Tuckaleechee Cove in Tennessee with the Little Tennessee River valley in North Carolina.  The road was built on the Tennessee side, but never completed in North Carolina.  We hiked along this old roadbed for 1.1 mile to just past the junction with Turkeypen Ridge Trail.   Just off Schoolhouse Gap Trail to the left is a stile of the type used to prevent horses from passing through.  We walked through the stile and began our gradual descent into White Oak Sinks.

Wild ginger

Yellow Lady Slipper

Although the main trail is not an “official” trail and is not maintained to the standard of official National Park trails, it is maintained to some degree.  It is very easy to follow and we had no difficulty distinguishing between main trail and side trails.  There are numerous side trails, all more narrow than the main trail, leading off in every direction to who knows where.  Once we made our way to the floor of the sink, these little side trails were everywhere.  It would be very easy to get lost on these little trails.

Sharon is very familiar with White Oak Sinks and was our guide for the hike.  She knew just which of these trails to follow to find the yellow lady slipper and which to find the wild ginger.  Gene brought along the wildflower book so we didn’t have to rely on our memories to identify the flowers we saw.

Blowhole Cave

There are other items of interest in White Oak Sinks besides wildflowers.  There are several caves.  The one we saw was Blowhole Cave located at the far end of the main trail.  The cave has been barricaded to prevent entry and to protect the hibernating bats.

Phlox all over the floor of the sink

White Oak Sink was home to Abraham Law way back in the day and his tombstone is located somewhere in the sink though we didn’t search it out.  Mr. Law’s daughter, Caroline, married a man named Spence and they moved to one of the grassy balds nearby which eventually became known as Spence Field.

For our break, we made our way back to a pretty little waterfall.  Apparently, the falls has never been named.  What little information I could find indicates that this falls drops into a cave and eventually emerges some 3 miles northwest of White Oak Sink in the Tuckaleechee Caverns area.  Not sure about the accuracy of that information.  True or not, it was a lovely spot for a break.

Smokies are sorta famous for their salamanders

By the time we left the falls, we began to see some of the many folks we expected would visit White Oak Sinks on Wednesday.  We were so grateful we had had a couple hours to ourselves to enjoy the beauty of that special place.  Thanks, Sharon, for sharing it with us.

That’s it for today.  Thanks for tagging along.

Gregory Bald Hike

Gregory Bald is one of the most popular destinations in Great Smoky Mountain National Park.  The main attraction luring so many folks to Gregory Bald is the flame azaleas which bloom in mid to late June.   Well, this isn’t June, but Gregory Bald Trail is one I need in my quest to hike all the trails in the Smokies, so off we went.  Hiking with us was our friend Sharon.  She’s coloring her trail map also and Gregory Bald was on her list.

Yellow trillium

Gregory Bald Trail, is 7 miles in length from Parson Branch Road to the Appalachian Trail.  The Bald is located 4.5 miles from the road; all up hill, of course.  The trailhead on Parson Branch Road is about 8 miles from the Cades Cove Loop Road.  Parson Branch is what the Park Service calls an “unimproved” road.  Actually, it does have some improvements.  Most of the wooden bridges over the streams have been replaced with concrete in an effort to keep them from washing out during heavy rains.  The road is drivable, but pretty rough.

White Trillium

We passed through the gate at Cades Cove Loop Road when it opened at 7:30 and arrived at the trailhead, 12 miles away an hour and fifteen minutes later.  There is a parking lot at the trailhead that will accommodate several cars.

Some type of magnolia tree in bloom

The trail starts with a slight descent.  A teaser, no doubt.  The other 4.3 miles is a steady climb, but not too steep, gaining 2000 feet over the 4.5 miles to the bald.

Spring Beauty covering the ground at campsite 13

Our hike was fantastic.  The trail was lined on both sides by one wildflower after another.  We did our best to identify each new flower we came to, but without the flower book we had to rely on our memories.  At about the 3 mile point we started seeing spring beauty.  That’s not so surprising since it’s a common spring flower.  It was remarkable for the quantity.  They was so thick and widespread it looked like snow.

Gregory Bald

We stopped for a short break at campsite 13 at the junction with Wolf Ridge Trail.  This backcountry campsite is huge with space for dozens of tents.  As with all the backcountry campsites and shelters in the Smokies, pulley systems have been installed to hang food out of reach from critters, including bears.

From campsite 13 it is a short half mile walk (up hill) to the bald.  We did not expect to find the azaleas in bloom and they weren’t.  The bald was special nevertheless with its open expanse of grass and the 360 degree views.  Clouds were moving in which obscured our view somewhat, but it was still spectacular.  We took our lunch break here and would have tarried longer, but the thunder started to rumble.

The space between the mountains is Cades Cove

Southern balds are somewhat of a mystery.  There are several theories about how they were created.  The southern Appalachian Mountains do not rise to an elevation above tree line and balds left unattended eventually become tree covered.  One theory suggests that lightning strikes caused fires which burned off the vegetation.  Some say wild buffalo and elk grazing cleared these mountain tops.  Perhaps the most popular theory is that Native Americans intentionally set fires to allow grass to grow which would attract game herds such as deer.  After the white settlers began to populate the region, they allowed their cattle to graze on these high balds during the summer season, freeing up pasture land below for crops.

Sharon and Gene enjoying a lunch break

The Park Service is generally committed to letting nature do its thing unless they want to preserve the historical aspect of an area.  In Great Smoky Mountain National Park, they are maintaining Gregory Bald and a couple others and letting the rest return to their natural state.

With a storm threatening we reluctantly headed toward the car.  The trek downhill moved along a little faster.  We stopped occasionally for one last look at some of the flowers, but kept up a steady pace.  On the way down we met a couple volunteers on horseback.  They had saws in hand and were cutting and removing the few blowdowns we’d stepped over on our way up.  That made the downhill walk a bit nicer.  A big thanks to all the volunteers who help keep the trails open.

We were back at the car by 4 PM and ready to start the trip home.  I forgot to mention earlier, Parson Branch Road is one way.  After a pretty tense 5 miles on that gravel road, we ended up nearly at the bottom of the “Dragon’s Tail”.  That’s the nickname given by bikers for a very curvy stretch of US 129 as it crosses the TN/NC border.  We “rode the Dragon” in a heavy thunderstorm back to Foothills Parkway which brought us over to Townsend.  The 50 mile drive back to our campsite in Cades Cove took a couple hours.  We’d had a full day.

Flame Azalea

We were not surprised the azalea was not in bloom on the bald, but we were totally blown away to find one in full bloom on Parson Branch Road.  What a day.  We loved every minute of it.

That’s what happened on Tuesday.  Thanks for tagging along.

Connected Again

Well, we’re back in the land of cell service after a week in Cades Cove.  We really enjoyed being in that campground and were a little sad to leave this morning, but the time had come.  Our waste tanks were full, our fresh water was very low, and laundry is at critical mass.  All these things we could have taken care of easily enough and stayed there another week, but running the generator a little each day just doesn’t cut it for me for an extended about of time.  I like my freshly brewed coffee at 5 AM, I use the microwave often, and I really enjoy my illuminated clock during the night and the night light in the bath.

Birdfoot Violet

All the electricity in the world wouldn’t get me a cell signal.  So, I am very happy to be back in communication with the world once again.

Bluets

Our travel day wasn’t much--about 18 miles.  We are now parked at Misty River Cabins and RV Park in Walland, about halfway between Townsend and Maryville.  The regular nightly rate is high, but only a little compared to every other campground in the Smoky area.  The Passport America discount gets it down to reasonable.

We have a little history with this park.  In 2007 Gene was transferred to the Knoxville office of his company and we were parked here for 9 months.  The park was new then and was still under construction.  During a portion of that 9-month stay, I worked in the office some and helped clean the cabins.  Since that time, we’ve stayed here often and watched the park grow and change.  It is a very nice campground now with most of the sites being pull-thrus with 50 amp electrical service, water, sewer, cable, and free WiFi.

We enjoy staying here.  It has easy access to the Townsend and Metcalf Bottoms entrances to the Smokies and is only about 10 miles from Maryville for lots of restaurants and big groceries, Wal-Mart, and just about anything else one might want.

We did a couple of great hikes Tuesday and Wednesday.  I’ll get caught up with those stories today and tomorrow.  For now here are a few wildflower shots.

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Squawroot

Now, I’m off to do that laundry.  Thanks for tagging along.

Sunday in Maryville

Maryville, Tennessee is not a new city to us.  In fact, it’s almost like coming home.  As a young child, my family lived here.  The house is still there and because of its location on one of the main roads in town we go by it often when we’re here.  We did today and I would have made a picture, but traffic was too heavy to safely slow down.  Maybe another day.

More recently, we spent 9 months in a campground near Maryville when Gene was assigned to work in the Knoxville office of the company where he worked.  We had already moved into our 5th wheel which turned out well.  Glad we didn’t have to hunt for a house or an apartment to live in.

Crested dwarf iris

Not only are we well acquainted with the community, we also have friends here. We had arranged to meet Rich and Patti for lunch.  They invited us to attend church with them and then go for a walk along the Maryville Greenway after lunch.  It was a beautiful day so it was all good and we had a great visit with Rich and Patti.  We’ll be seeing them again while we wander around the area.

On our way into Maryville this morning, we stopped to make a photo of more rushing water in Laurel Creek.  While I was doing that, I noticed crested dwarf iris in bloom.  I just love these little flowers.

After our walk along the Greenway for a couple miles, we stopped at the grocery to replenish the food supply.  While in the parking lot we took care of computer business and made a few phone calls.

By the time we got back home it was 4 o’clock.  Guess we had a full day.  We get to go back to Maryville Monday to take Peanut in for his annual checkup and shots.  I think this may be the only Vet Peanut has seen more than once.  Hope he remembers that he liked him.  Visiting the vet is such a hard experience for us all.

That’s it for today.  Thanks for tagging along.

Abrams Falls Hike

Saturday we hiked 2.5 miles each way to see Abrams Falls.  There’s been a lot of rain this spring in the Smokies and the rivers, creeks, and waterfalls are full of water.  We figured Abrams was a good place to see what all this water looks like.  We were not disappointed.

Foot bridge at the beginning of our hike

Abrams Falls Trail is almost at the back of Cades Cove Loop Road not far from the Visitor Center.  There is a short gravel road to the right off the main loop road which leads to a large parking lot at the trailhead.  Since we were last here, there has been a bathroom installed.  It’s a pit toilet, but very clean and well stocked with tissue.

Catesby Trillium

The trail begins by crossing the footbridge over Abrams Creek.  This is a popular hike and the trail is wide and well worn.  There are rocks and roots to watch out for and, since it rained heavily Friday night, there were several muddy spots to step over, around, or through.

The trail follows Abrams Creek all the way to the falls.  The creek can be seen and heard as the trail rises far above the water and then drops back down to creek level again.  There are 4 stream crossings, but all were on foot bridges.

About half way to the falls, we passed an area which had damage from recent tornadoes.  Many trees have been lost in this quarter mile section which was sad to see.  The trail has been cleared so there was no problems with blowdowns.  It was in this section that we saw so many Bleeding Hearts and large patches of star chickweed.

Bleeding Hearts

Speaking of wildflowers we saw many besides Bleeding Hearts and Star Chickweed--Polygala, Catesby Trillium, Wood Betony, white, yellow, and purple violets, Bluets, and many we didn’t recognize.

Abrams Falls was spectacular.  More water rushing over than I’ve ever seen.  (I think this is my 4th hike to the falls.)  We found a rock with a good view for our lunch spot and sat back just enjoying the beauty of the place and the day.

Abrams Falls

We retraced our step coming back stopping occasionally to admire the flowers and the view one more time.

Star Chickweed

There were plenty of folks out for that same walk today.  We probably saw close to a hundred people.  If you’re looking for solitude, this might not be the trail of choice.

Wood Betony

Our next hike will be Tuesday--Gregory Bald.

Polygala

That’s all for today.  Thanks for tagging along.