Oct 21, 2012 - Boogerman Trail

Sunday morning, we woke up and packed up camp as soon as possible to get in a nice hike before heading back home. We moved our cars to the trailhead for Caldwell Fork & Boogerman Trails hiked across the first of many footbridges. Hiking on the Caldwell Fork Trail, we passed the first turn for Boogerman Trail. I had hiked this trail in March and two of the bridges were out requiring stream crossing and butt-sliding across a narrow log. But the park had replaced one bridge and stream crossing could be accomplished by walking across a very...

Oct 20, 2012 - Enloe Falls Attempt

For our annual fall foliage trip this year, we stayed at the Cataloochee group campsites at Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Sandy and I left after work Friday night and arrived at the camp at around 10. We set up our tent and went to bed shortly afterwards. In the morning, we ate breakfast and drove through Cherokee towards the Oconaluftee visitor center, then took Big Cove Road into the park, where it becomes Straight Fork Road. We parked at the trailhead to Hyatt Ridge Trail and began our hike. The Hyatt Ridge Trail runs for about...

Aug 22, 2012 - Smoky Mountains

August 22, 2012 - Arrived Great Smoky Mountains August 27-Did a five mile hike along the Old River Road in Elkmont. Water levels are low this year but still enjoyed a waterfall and the river. It was 76 degrees in the woods but town temperatures were in the high 80's today. We are staying at Cove Mountain RV Resort and have a great lot with awesome views.

Aug 5, 2012 - Ramsey Cascade

After breaking camp, we headed to the Greenbrier area of Great Smoky Mountains National Park for one last waterfall before heading home. The road in is initially paved then turns to another scary gravel road for about 5 miles to the trailhead. The road includes a couple of narrow, one-lane bridges that made me a bit nervous, but we made it to the parking lot at the end. Starting out on the trail, a bridge crosses the river and the trail follows an old road bed for about a mile and a half. Although the trail has steady elevation gain, it is...

Aug 4, 2012 - Rainbow Falls

From Wildwater, we headed towards Gatlinburg and into Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Turning left at stoplight #8, we followed Cherokee Orchard Road to the Rainbow Falls Trail parking area. Although less 2.5 miles in length, the trail has a steady uphill slope, starting from the beginning as it heads up Mount LeConte. For most of the way, the trail follows LeConte Creek, with the soothing sound of running water audible for nearly the entire trip. It had rained in Gatlinburg as we started, but died down to a light drizzle or less once...

Aug 3, 2012 - To the Smokies

Finally, we made it back to paved roads and continued on I-40 just past the state line into Tennessee and to Great Smoky Mountains National Park. A storm had recently passed through, knocking down a tree on a small road leading to the park. Some men were out with chainsaws cutting the tree up and I tried to go around, but got stuck in the mud! Luckily, the men helped push me out and we continued to the park. Since no one else had arrived yet, Sandy and I headed to Cosby for dinner at Carver's Apple House. I had eaten here before and knew it...

Mar 17, 2012 - First Camping Trip of the Year

This past weekend, I did my first camping trip for the year to knockout hikes #74 and 82 from the 100 classic hikes.. We left the Triangle area just after 7 and headed out west, arriving in the Cataloochee area of Great Smoky Mountains National Park around noon. We had lunch at the campground, then started on the Caldwell Fork Trail. After crossing the first bridge, we saw some hikers returning who warned us that bridges were out and we would have to wade through the river - but that wasn't going to stop us. We turned left on the Boogerman...

Oct 16, 2011 - GSMNP - Cataloochee

Sunday morning, we broke camp, but before heading back to Raleigh, we stopped in the Cataloochee area. There were wild turkeys and elk along the side of the road. After some pictures of the wildlife, we parked and hiked along the Caldwell Fork Trail. This trail is relatively flat, a relief after a strenuous hike the day before. However, it follows the creek with numerous footbridge crossings and was quite scenic. About two miles in, a footbridge was out. We were able to cross, but turned back anyway for time's sake, and headed back to...

Oct 15, 2011 - GSMNP - Mt. Cammerer

Saturday morning we work, had breakfast, and got ready for a busy day of hiking. We started at the Big Creek Ranger Station and hiked up the Chestnut Branch Trail to the Appalachian Trail. Traveling west on the AT, we passed a few scenic overlooks, before taking the Mount Cammerer trail up to the peak. There was an old lookout tower at the summit and we rested and had lunch here and took photos of the spectacular views of fall foliage. After an hour, we hiked back down the mountain and back to camp. The total length was about 12 miles with...

Oct 14, 2011 - GSMNP - Mouse Creek Falls

Friday morning, we drove up to Great Smoky Mountains National Park for a weekend of hiking, camping, and fall foliage. We took I-40 just into Tennessee and got off and entered the Big Creek section of the park. After setting up camp, we hiked up the Big Creek trail to Midnight Hole and Mouse Creek Falls. Midnight Hole is a two small cascades that fall into a pool that acts as a swimming hole. It was a little too cold to take a dip, so we headed further up the trail to Mouse Creek Falls for photos of the beautiful cascade. It was starting to...

Sep 1, 2011 - Great Smoky Mountains NP

We arrived in Pigeon Forge, TN on Tuesday afternoon, after spending the night at an Elks Lodge near Knoxville. It didn't have the creature comforts of most lodges, as you will see in the photo. We settled into Clabough's campground and had time to drive over to the Visitor Center at Great Smoky Mountains National Park. The ranger there was very helpful, gave us a map, and put down all the mileage for drive and hikes. We took a short loop drive called the Roaring Fork Motor Nature Trail and stopped at the Bales place along the route. Life...

Oct 18, 2010 - The Great Smoky Mountains National Park

We left our little site in Asheville and headed across the western edge of North Carolina to the Great Smoky Mountains. Our preference was to travel the Smoky Mountain Parkway, but a friend from HDR in Charlotte advised against that, as we were pulling the trailer. We chose highway 19, through Cherokee, NC as it would let us stay off the Interstate. Cherokee is a cute, tourist town on the Cherokee Nation Reservation in the mountains. The town had several bears which had been painted by artists. Judie managed to take two pictures, mostly of...