T checks out the blackberries at a SMNP overlook
The clouds were hanging just above us at about 5000 ft.
On the way to our hike we spotted this awesome scene and stopped to take a look.
Just after a much needed rain in the Smokies
Saturday drive through the Smokies
T getting ready for his first hike
N is an old pro now! :o)
Checking out a cascade on the way to Laurel Falls
Some of the cool boulders on the trails
A neat hollowed out tree right next to the trail
T dunking his head in a cool seeping cave to cool off.
N at the cave
We made it to the falls!
The boys were impressed with Laurel Falls. We had just had a heavy rain, so the falls were running huge!
Laurel Falls, GSMNP
Laurel Falls
The boys check out the falls.
N at Laurel Falls
T at Laurel Falls
This is what Laurel Falls normally looks like. Compare this against our pictures from after the rain and you can tell how the falls were raging the day we visited.
The lower falls
We hiked up a little bit past the falls to get this shot, but the camera fogged up on me.
One of our American Goldfinch at the feeder
Birds having a snack
We love these bright yellow goldfinches.
Another of the goldfinch male
Lots of action this morning at the feeder
Oreo sits in the chair after her walk.
Our campsite is coming along, still waiting on the deck.
Dan and Oreo relax on Sunday morning
M made a nice river-rock border around the feeder
N starting a fire in our new fire pit
Oreo checks out the action
Getting ready to fire it up
N enjoying his creation
Some of decorations around the camp
Oreo chills underneath the picnic table.
More decorations
The huge crowd gathering at the Independence Day dog show at the KOA
Some of the contestants
Oreo waits her turn to be shown
There she is.."Champion"...winner of "best coat!"
The champ gets her medal for "best coat"
The boys walk the champ back to camp after an exhausting competition. :o)
Dan "Bad to the Bald"
N helps me move the motorcycle
Oreo hanging out in the yard in Irmo
Oreo chilling back in Irmo
"Is that a squirrel...let me at 'em"
Classic Oreo
Salamander along the Dry Sluice Gap Trail
Made it to the top of the Smokies after almost 3000 ft of elevation gain and 6 miles
Dan at Charlies Bunion in the GSMNP..I was happy to complete this hike because it was an extreme challenge. 12 miles, 9+ hours, and almost 3000 ft of climb from the parking lot to the Bunion. What a hike!
I had to get a picture to prove I made it.
The sheer cliffs on the Charlies Bunion access trail
Looking back toward Dry Sluice Gap and the Appalachian Trail
Another sheer drop at the Bunion
Charlies Bunion
Another view from Charlies Bunion looking back toward Dry Sluice Gap
This the best shot of Charlies Bunion taken from the access trail
A heath bald as seen from Charlies Bunion
The rain started as I got to the Bunion
Another absolutely grueling summer hike. This time I did 9.4 miles to Newton Bald on a blazing hot day. This hike really took it out of me. It was another hike that had a massive elevation gain.
A mushroom along the Newton Bald trail
The Newton Bald trail
Made it to the top, and I was about history. Running low on water and energy by this time.
The top of the Newton Bald trail.
I thought this fallen tree was cool with it's twisted bark. (Newton Bald trail)
Along the Kephart Prong trail. This is yet another hike with good elevation gain.
A swallowtail butterfly along the Kephart Prong trail
Another cascade along the Kephart Prong trail
Kephart Prong trail
A view of the mountain laurel along the Kephart Prong trail
More of the mountain laurel blooming. I'm not sure what mountain that is we're looking at, but I'll try to find out.
Tried to get a view picture but it didn't come out
Late May from the Appalachian Trail
Another from the AT
Love this view from Sweat Heifer Trail, near the intersection with the AT
Another of the view from Sweat Heifer Trail
...and another
The swallowtails gathered before I started my hike on the Kephart Prong trail
Crossing the bridge to start the Kephart Prong trail
Looking the opposite direction from the same bridge
Kephart Prong
Along the Kephart Prong Trail
The Kephart Prong
Yep...Kephart Prong again
My little neice at her third birthday party in Orlando
Tootsie turns 3!
Mom walking Tootsie to the car. She's quite the fan of Thomas the Tank Engine!
The family at Tootsie's birthday party in Orlando - wish we could've been there!
A nice shot of Mom, probably laughing at something Tootsie just did or said. :o)
All packed up and ready to roll. :o)
Last Sunday's hike was a 7 miler along the Appalachian Trail to Clingman's Dome. I started at Clingman's Dome road at about 5000 ft elevation and ended at the highest point in the Smokies, Clingman's Dome at 6643 ft. It was another nice cool hike.
Some of the turk's cap lillies along the path with all the swallowtail butterflies visiting.
A freshly fallen frasier fir hangs just above the trail
A shot along the AT.
I thought this was cool but the picture didn't do it justice. A tree had fallen and basically lifted the whole forest up with it. Unfortunately my photography stinks so you can't get the sense of it.
A view of the Dome from the trail on approach
Bees swarming around a wildflower(?) right next the trail.
This is another area that was really neat but my picture stinks. A really dark thick fir forest along the AT.
Another of the fir forest. It smelled like a Christmas tree farm.
Made it to the Dome..a busy place on this day.
Tons of people come here on a weekend day to escape the summer heat. It was probably about 75 degrees up here but mid 90s at the lower elevations.
My typical trail sign picture.
Another of the Dome from the trail
Just before I fell in a hole and slammed my knee on a rock. It still smarts. :o) I was too busy checking out the view and didn't notice the grass covered hole next to the trail. Luckily nobody was around to witness my embarrassing moment. :o)
My next step was down into the hole. :o)
A swallowtail on the turk's cap lily.
Another of the swallowtail.
This is the point of entry for the trail, 3.5 miles east of the Dome.
We had an awesome day checking out the Blue Ridge Parkway. Here we stopped for a quick rest at Heintooga Overlook, just past the Balsam Mountain campground. (roughly 5200 ft elevation)
Dad and N at the overlook.
Another of the Heintooga overlook
Another swallowtail visited us at the overlook
N, Shadowface, and T at Heintooga Overlook
Enjoying the rest after a twisty ride to get there.
Ditto
Some of the flowers along the path.
Checking out the cool picnic area.
From the trail.
Some of the spruce and frasier firs on Balsam Mountain.
T the tree hugger. :o)
N checks out the trees.
I'm definitely coming back to hit this trail at Heintooga.
N checks out Gary the snail at Heintooga
T thought he was cool also.
We all had fun playing with this cool snail.
After a long day's drive, we had an awesome late lunch at the Pisgah Inn.
T and Dad waiting for our food at Pisgah Inn.
T got pasta...al dente.
N and his "big fat chocolate cake" ...no, he didn't eat all of it :o)
T is Mr. Brownie sundae
M and the peanut butter pie
Wednesday was motorcycle ride day for Dan...and I took in the nice winding road to Cades Cove.
Pausing beside the loop road at Cades Cove
Cades Cove
John Oliver's cabin at Cades Cove
Another of JO's cabin
You wouldn't believe how nice it was at Cades Cove. This one was my favorite shot.
Taking a break along the Cades Cove loop road
A couple of deer visited me while I sat and relaxed
One of the restored churches along the loop road
Another view of the Cove
Yeah, so nice I had to take a bunch of shots
Oreo enjoys her new toy
The American Goldfinch love our feeder at the campground
Young goldfinch
Another of the youngster
A pretty male goldfinch gets some thistle
They love this bag
Hummers go nuts for free nectar
The hummers at our neighbor's feeder
More hummers
Ok, another Summer Saturday, another grueling hike. This time from Kanati Fork Trail to Thomas Divide Trail to Newfound Gap road. With the return trip it was 10 miles and 2300+ of elevation gain. It was a nice Saturday in the woods.
This tree reminded me of a tuning fork..
Some cool fungus growing on a tree.
Tarzan must have been nearby...these vines were pretty neat.
Pausing along the Kanati Fork trail for a self-portrait. At this point I was about 2/3 of the way up the mountain and running low on energy.
This tree snapped off pretty high up, must have a been a storm.
Finally, after hiking about MANY miles this summer, I finally ran across a bear on the trail. He is microscopic in my lousy picture, but if you look real close you can see him. He shuffled out of the woods about 50 feet in front of me as I rounded a switchback. He took off running as soon as he saw me, and that's when I snapped this picture. I paused to see if Mom was closeby, but after a minute or so the coast was clear so I hurried down the trail. :o)
Here is a zoom in on the bear. He was a cub with no sign of his Mom around, so I wonder where she was?
Wild blueberries along the Kanati Fork trail.
Close-up of Umbrella Leaf berries.
Made it to the top after 3 miles where Kanati Fork trail intersects with the Thomas Divide trail. I went left on this picture 1.8 more miles up the Thomas Divide trail to the intersection with Newfound Gap road.
The trail sign. (see location on the map)
Along the Thomas Divide trail. I heard another bear near a stand of blackberries, but he took off before I could take a picture.
Running out of energy and legs and feet burning...it is always a welcome sight to the see the end of the trail. Of course, you can rest a while but you still have to make the 5 mile return trip, but at least that one is downhill.
The exit of the trail...the intersection with Newfound Gap road.
A pretty scene along the trail.
I returned 5 miels via Newfound Gap road, and the view pictures following this one are all along that route.
The return trip.
That night at the campground they had a small car show. The big rainstorm kept a lot of people away, but there were some nice old cars.
The old Chevy
It was supposed to be a 50's car show, but this guy showed up with his 289 '64 1/2 Mustang with "For Sale" on the windows.
Another nice old 50-something Chevy
One of the old motors, remember when you could work on these things? Note the ballast resistor on the firewall.
Our campground 'next door neighbor' brought his nice 55 Chevy Bel-Aire.
Inside the Bel-Aire.
The 64 1/2 Mustang.
My picture came out fuzzy, but it was an old 289, just like Tom had.
The next day I took a leisurely stroll along Collins Creek and took a few shots.
Collins Creek
T getting ready for his first day of 4th grade!
N ready for his first day of virtual at the 'home office'
A stream crossing on one of my favorite hiking sections, Kephart Prong trail. I've done this section of the hike 4 times but I enjoy it just as much each time. There is always something different you see or feel even if you take the same route 100 times. Today it had the feel of the approaching fall as I started my 11.5 mile uphill hike from Kephart Prong to the Appalachian trail via the Sweat Heifer Creek trail. It would be another 2700 foot elevation gain struggle and a 7 hour round-trip journey.
At the stream crossing, this is some of the stonework laid down by the CCC in the 1930s.
Seeing the Kephart shelter at the 2 mile mark means I can take a break and catch my breath.
This was neat, a rhododendren beside the trail growing on top of an old tree stump.
This was Sweat Heifer Creek..a really nice and peaceful area of the hike.
One of the cascades close to where the trail crossed Sweat Heifer Creek.
Looking downhill at Sweat Heifer Creek.
The uphill side of Sweat Heifer Creek
Some artifacts from the logging days alongside the trail.
Another pretty scene near a stream crossing along the trail.
I tried to get all three types of flowers in my picture, including the unique orange horn-looking flowers, but of course I'm no photographer.
Picture didn't do this one justice...a big boulder with a 100 year-old tree growing right on top of it.
This was interesting looking fungus that looked like peeling paint on this boulder.
Another boulder with the peeling fungus.
At the top of the hike the views are definitely worth the considerable effort to get here.
Just getting to the top where the views start opening up...awesome!
A lone monarch butterfly on the top of the mountain
Here's Mr. Monarch again
One of my favorite views in the park, near the intersection of the AT and the Sweat Heifer Creek trail. N and I took pictures at this exact spot earlier in the year but we got to it along the AT instead of the uphill monster known as Sweat Heifer Creek trail.
Another of the view
Reaching the top is always a MAJOR relief.
I sat for a nice rest beside this trail marker and almost fell asleep as the temps were in the low 70s and a nice breeze was blowing. I had to get going on the 5.7 mile return trip though so I wouldn't miss the Bristol race! :o)
Labor Day weekend means a Sunday hike this time. What a beautiful start it was at the Clingmans Dome parking lot
Today's destination will be Silers Bald via the Appalachian Trail. It will be an exhausting 10 mile hike that starts in the Clingmans Dome parking lot and travels west along the trail.
More views from the parking lot before I got started on my walk
More views from the Clingmans Dome parking lot
This whole day will be filled with views like this
More views
..and more
Believe it or not, I haven't even started the hike yet and already have about 10 beautiful view pictures
Ok, finally I'll start the hike.
The first sign of fall colors along the path
Along the Appalachian Trail.
All kinds of stellar views were in store for me today.
From the AT
Looking at a bald from the AT
Looking back from the AT after traveling up Clingmans Dome and over Mount Buckley
The Double Spring Gap trail shelter at about the 1/3 mark of my hike. I saw some deer at this stop. A few weeks after this hike the shelter was renovated to the new open style and the chain link fence is now gone.
Made it to Silers Bald. This is looking back at Clingmans from Silers Bald
Looking back at Clingmans from Silers Bald
The USGS marker on top of Silers Bald. The white blazes signify the Appalachian Trail.
The USGS marker on Silers Bald, at 5607 ft.
Another view from Silers Bald
More early indications that Fall can't be far away
The Silers Bald trail shelter
On the return trip, my typical trail sign picture
Some of the orange berries on the mountain ash trees
More views from the return trip
Loved this view at "The Narrows". Looking west toward Fontana Lake. This spot is aptly named because the ridge is only a few feet wide here. Big dropoff on each side.
Again from the Narrows.
Fontana Lake from the Appalachian Trail
Almost home, one more view picture. By this time I was just plain out of gas. It has been quite a summer, and I've traveled probably 100 miles by foot around these mountains. Thanks for enjoying the journey with me, this will be the last entry for Summer 2008!
