Thanksgiving Hike

Hope everyone had a great holiday :-)
We woke up to a foggy, cold morning.


We took a Thanksgiving hike on Brushy Mountain Trail. We had done the summit before from the other side, and have hiked the lower/mid portions multiple times but I've been wanting to complete Brushy Mtn to Trillum Gap for a while and finally had the chance yesterday.
Started out on Porters Creek Trail at 11:30am, quite a few others were out enjoying the Smokies on a holiday morning.







Always have to stop by the old hiking cabin when passing by.....






The hike was quiet and mostly uneventful. Recent rain and a bit of horse traffic had made some muddy spots in the trail. Coupled with deep leaves and slick rocks, constant alertness was vital. We kept a rapid pace so were alternately sweaty then cold as we wove in-and-out between shady hollows and sunny ridges, pushing ever upwards.




View of Greenbrier Pinnacle through trees and tangle of grapevines. I want to get back up there again sometime this season.











1st crossing of Trillium Branch. Heavy rain a couple days before had waters running higher than usual, but had subsided enough to allow a doable rock-hop. We did see a handful of kayakers running the Little Pigeon River as we drove in, river was still flowing pretty high down there.










This tree disapproves.

I think he may be related to Plankton.






Three hikers coming down from Mt. LeConte passed by. This is the only time we've ever seen anyone on this trail.









Second crossing of Trillium Branch, a nice little cascade here and a quick leap across the water.



Almost there...... relentless pace continues.....










Trillium Gap, at last, in 2 hours 40 minutes. From the Porter's Creek parking lot to Trillium Gap the elevation gain is around 2,700ft. Arrived at 2:10pm to complete silence. The lodge is closed for the season now, so way less foot traffic. It was boisterously loud when last we were at this gap via Trillium Gap Trail, lots of hikers were passing thru then.


 





We briefly debated continuing on to the Brushy Mtn summit (which btw is 0.4mi not 0.2mi) but decided against it. Safer not to push too close to sunset, especially since it was much colder up there and we had hoodies and not jackets plus were already tired. Back down we went.




Arrived at the parking lot at 4:15pm, still quite a few cars were there.






Back in Pigeon Forge, we saw this homemade 3-wheel-madmax-motorcycle-dunebuggy-2-seater-thingy.






Happy Thanksgiving!

Wildflower Extravaganza

On April 2oth, we took a hike through one of the popular Spring wildflower destinations in the Smokies. A drizzly weekday & therefore not too busy, only encountered a handful of people.

Catesby's Trillium


There were many different flowers to enjoy, but the stars of the area were certainly the huge patches of blue phlox covering the greening landscape.









Miterwort, Bishop's Cap


Eastern Red Columbine










Stunning carpet of phlox








What's this? A stinkweed amongst the flowers?! Bah! A dainty rosebud am I.





One of several caves in the area. Normally entry is allowed (with a permit only) but currently all entry is forbidden... & Big Brother is watching...



....due to the presence of White Nose Syndrome, which is unfortunately killing bats in huge, huge numbers.







There are multiple manways winding through the area. In past visits we'd followed several of them and I'd wondered where the others led. This time I'd done some research and printed an old topo map which was helpful. We were all over the place exploring, it was great.






Old gears





Still, there are other old paths yet to be explored among the heavily traveled ones.



A small waterfall plunges into a deep, slippery cavern. Once again, entirely no cave entry at the moment, on a normal basis entry by permit only.
We normally leave via the steep slope next to the falls, but today we exited on an old route to create a longer hike.



This little patch of stunning common blue violets near Schoolhouse Gap was an incredible shade of purple.








First sighting of the season! Crested dwarf iris blooming along the upper portion of the main trail.






Back in the parking lot, saw this growing in a large patch of horse poop.... looks like wild greens, maybe red veined sorrel? I don't know, but I could've eaten a pretty big salad at that point ;-) Off to find lunch.

Old Settlers Trail

Another hike along Old Settlers Trail, 4.11.10. We've hiked the area from both sides but I'm on a terrain covering spree and trying to connect up some loose ends. The goal was to travel from the trailhead in Greenbrier to the Soak Ash Creek area where a short trail meets coming from Steiner Bell Lodge. Distance was somewhere around 5.5 miles.

It was a fantastic day with a cool start and crystal clear weather. Spring growth is beginning to thrive, though I perceived the terrain to be dry while creeks were running a little high probably due to end of the snow melt.










Nice views as you work your way up the ridge.





Yellow trilliums are in bloom....



...as are trout lilies.











Ferns are spreading their fronds.






Down low along the creeks is becoming lush and green.




Higher up along Copeland Divide things are slower to sprout.





Trail winds upward through a moss-lined tunnel of rhododendron and mountain laurel.
Crossing Copeland Creek and Snakefeeder several chimneys can be seen. Many homesites were along the length of the OST.






Now the trail parallels Snakefeeder Branch.....




...and heads into Soak Ash, which is a remarkably flat and pretty area.





We reach the junction & goal. The trail behind the sign leads up to Steiner Bell Lodge (somebody has noted on back of sign). To the right (east), OST leads to Campsite 33 around 1 mile away, then after that and about 16 miles you'd reach the Cosby campground area.
We turned back the way we came.



Back between the Bird creeks we encountered a 3 foot black rat snake in the middle of the trail. It kinda 'hid' in the shadow of a tree before moving back into the warm sunshine as we continued on.

















Our hike was about 11 miles roundtrip and took 5 hours, and we encountered 2 backpackers and 2 dayhikers going out as we came back.

Appalachian Trail snow hike

We thought last week was our deepest snow hike, but this week's hike was even deeper. We drove up to Newfound Gap (which was crowded due to Spring Break) and headed out along the Appalachian Trail toward Clingman's Dome. There had been minimal foot traffic along the trail so it was tough going.

Though the sun was out and temps were in the 40s, there was still over 30 inches of snow on the ground.... difficult to gauge the depth. We indulged in some snowball rolling along the way.

The trail runs parallel to Clingman's Dome road, here we're below it looking up at a retaining wall... a couple people had climbed up or down. From this point on, we were following the tracks of one person wearing snowshoes. The going was much tougher, post-hole hiking.
As you can see, it was particularly deep in some places. With the day pack on, I'm about 50 lbs under the other one, who was really sinking in. Much whining ensued. Snowball hurling commenced.

Onward.....



Some nice views along this stretch of the trail, the photos don't do justice at all to the feeling of being along the ridgeline in the cold, crisp air.



We stop for a breather, he's lagging behind.... out of snowball range. My aim sucks anyway.

There's a fenced area with metal ramp designed to keep wild hogs from damaging the plants/trees in the 'exclosure'. Snow completely topped the fence in some places.












We reached Indian Gap, only 1.7 miles from Newfound Gap but the snow made it feel like about 4.




Behind me is the Indian Gap parking lot. Clingman's Dome Road is closed to vehicles for the season as usual, but this season it's also closed to foot and bike traffic as they're trying to work on it... which is why it is being kept clear of snow. We wandered a bit further on the road to rest and stretch our legs, as it was Sunday and roadwork unlikely. We've hiked the road several times in past.

Backtracked onto the Appalachian Trail. Along the way we passed several groups that all looked like Spring Breakers. First were 4 boys that looked to be headed up to Mt. Collins Shelter. They were sinking in deep and huffing along. About 3/4 of the way back we passed 2 sets of dayhikers and a couple of backpackers headed to the shelter. It was about 4:30pm and they had nearly 5 miles ahead of them, with very deep snow. I cynically wondered if anybody had a camping permit.

So we made it back to Newfound Gap, which was still busy. There were a few crows hanging out as usual, they got really close to me as somebody had dropped bread by the cars.




Along Hwy 441 below Newfound Gap heading to Gatlinburg, still a lot of snow and ice but the road was nicely cleared.



Sign almost buried.
Warm temps and rain moving in the next few days will significantly impact the remaining snow. It may be the last for this season. I sure "enjoyed the hell out of it", as the other one says. :-)