Wordless Wednesday

Laurel Falls (again)

On Tuesday we headed over to the National Park for a little snow hiking. Along the way we passed a herd of turkeys all fluffed up against the cold. Temp was about 15F degrees with wind chill around 10F.

We decided to hike out to Laurel Falls (again) because the sub-freezing temps were sure to have created some interesting ice formations. We'd last been out about a month ago to see the high water volume after heavy rains.
The Falls trail was fairly busy, being one of the most hiked trails in the park and a short 2.6-mile roundtrip paved outing. But with the cold it wasn't as crowded as usual.

Ice flow, created just like cave formations... except waaaay quicker.









Below the Falls the river was freezing over.









Here are a couple comparison shots, taken at the overspill below the Falls, one after heavy rain and one in snow/ice:

















And now a comparison of Laurel Falls itself, heavy rain vs. snow/ice:












As usual we hiked on past the Falls and the crowd thinned out, but not completely. There were other groups headed toward the old fire tower... more traffic on the trail likely due to roads being closed around the park and thereby limiting hikers' trail choices. We turned back before reaching the trail junction as we got too cold, about 2.6 miles out.

Ice ice baby

The Arctic blast continues, with some snow expected tomorrow. We had a few flurries the other day, and with the temps being so cold the flakes were perfect.

New Year

*administers CPR*
Live, blog, live!
Let's get this baby rolling again.... here we go.

Happy New Year!
Here in Tennessee we're entrenched in an "Arctic blast", as the weathermen are prone to say. It is definitely frigid. The low was 13F this morning. I ventured out to see the nifty ice crystals forming around the yard:












Why does everyone in the neighborhood drive by when I've gone out in my PJs?
Back inside... a snotty, frozen mess.



The cure?
Steaming hot tea and a warm apple-banana muffin.

I used this recipe with a few modifications to make one tasty loaf and 6 yummy muffins.

Here's my version:

To prepare the apples:
2 tbsp margarine/butter
3 tbsp firmly packed brown sugar
1 apple (peeled, cored, and cut into 1/4-inch pieces
½ tsp ground cinnamon
3/4 tsp pure vanilla extract

To prepare the banana bread:
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
½ tsp ground cinnamon
½ tsp salt
8 tablespoons (1 stick) butter/margarine
1 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
¼ cup skim milk
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
2 very ripe bananas, mashed

Directions for the Apples:
Preheat a medium skillet at medium-high heat.
Add butter and brown sugar and heat till it bubbles.
Add in cinnamon and apples, saute until golden and tender, about five minutes.
Stir in the vanilla and allow the mix to cool.

Directions for the Banana Bread:
Preheat the oven to 180°C / 350°F / gas mark 4 and grease a small loaf pan and a muffin pan with butter.
In a bowl, mix flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt.
In a separate bowl, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, 1 to 2 minutes. Add the eggs one at a time and mix well after each. In a cup, combine the milk and vanilla.
Add the flour mixture to the butter mixture in three batches, alternating with the milk/vanilla mixture. Stir well after each addition.
Add the mashed bananas and mix well.
Finally, stir in the apple mix prepared earlier.
Pour into the loaf and muffin tins.
Muffins bake about 25-30 minutes.
Loaf bakes around 55 to 60 minutes.
They're done when a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.

The muffins will be (are being) eaten now *munch munch*. The loaf will be sliced *nibble nibble* and frozen.
The frozen slices will later be thawed, toasted and possibly buttered *unbuttons jeans*.

Update

I've been out of the country for the last month, hence my lack of blogging. But now I have soooooo much to share! Once I get a bit more organized (and caught up with proper sleep) I will make some new posts.

Etsy Treasury

One of my art doll faces has been included in a pretty Etsy Treasury curated by jennjohn:

Meigs Creek Trail summary

On Sept.21 we hiked out Meigs Creek Trail, which begins at The Sinks parking lot between Gatlinburg and Townsend. The Sinks is an area of rapids/falls that runs under a vehicle bridge and empties into large pools. I've heard two stories of how the name developed - first, that a locomotive derailed and sank to the bottom; second, because the waters swirl around like the draining of a sink.

This day, surveyors were on the job sighting for upcoming renovations and a handicap accessible viewing ramp.

Often on days like this one (after a very heavy rain) you can find kayakers braving the rapids..... as we geared up and headed out the trail we saw two trucks with kayaks pulling into the parking lot.

Meigs Creek Trail runs 3.5 miles to Buckhorn Gap, our goal.





The start of the trail crosses through a marshy boar wallow (I've never seen so much activity as here, this was just a bit of it).




Then you head steadily upward, climbing a few hundred feet along a ridge.



Some nice views along this stretch.




There are at least eighteen stream crossings. That's well over 30 times, out and back, which is a lot. The most I'm aware of in the National Park.....
I was prepared, I'd packed our aqua socks... you know, those water shoes?... but somebody refused to wear his due to a blister incident several years ago that resulted from not wearing *real* socks under the aqua socks and walking a couple miles while tubing in Deep Creek. Anyway...

I wore mine nearly the whole time (~6 miles) and it was great - no worries about slipping while trying to rock hop with a pack, no blisters... just wade thru the water and keep going.
He did end up with wet shoes ... how could he not? Those rocks were plenty slick due to the drizzle and slowly receding high waters.

We hiked most of the way with ponchos draped over our backs.

All the creek crossings meant plenty of opportunities for salamander spotting and we weren't disappointed. Neat little creatures.










A brief ascent after the final creek lead thru a field of ferns and up to Buckhorn Gap. Meigs Creek Trail intersects with Meigs Mountain Trail heading east toward Elkmont and Lumber Ridge Trail heading west toward Tremont.


Closer inspection of the sign revealed a very large walking stick insect.









At back of the sign, a fairly-worn manway was visible. I followed it a brief way down a steep hill and saw it continued on.... later research revealed this is the Spruce Flats manway, which we plan to hike as a loop with Lumber Ridge Trail in future.

Heading back, we slowed the pace and looked around more.... some highly interesting fungi were observed, including this one that looks like either a pimento olive or egg yolk.





Here's a couple pretty ones....












Roughly halfway back, while admiring Meigs Cascade, a yellow jacket stung me on the back of the right calf just below the knee. It's a scientific fact that cursing reduces pain, so I self-medicated heavily along the rest of the hike. I apologize for any blue air still hanging about the vicinity.

As we reached the parking lot, the kayakers were peeling off their wetsuits and leaving as well, so we missed that action.
We were out about 5 hours and didn't see anyone else on the trail.