Something new...

          A couple of years ago while doing our New Year's goal setting, we set a goal of visiting one new place each month.  We've kept this goal each year since.  The new place can be as simple as trying a new restaurant or as involved as traveling to a new place.  We keep a list of the new places that we visit on the goal board at our house.  The idea behind the goal is to keep us out of a rut.  For 2014 we were able to keep this goal and visit at least one new place or have a new experience each month.

January – Vandy Game

           In January we traveled to Nashville to see a basketball game between Vanderbilt and the Lady Vols.  I had wanted to do this for a couple of years, but the timing of the game hadn't worked out very well until this year.  One trip to Vandy was enough though.  Worst. Gym. Ever.

February -  Ijams Nature Center

          Sometimes I'm amazed at the things close to home that we haven't done.  In February we visited Ijams Nature Center.  I have no idea how we have both lived in this area our whole lives and missed Ijams.  The trail system and facilities are outstanding.  I strongly suggest that anyone in the Knoxville area give it a visit if you haven't already.

March – SEC Tournament

      In March we decided at the last minute to travel to Duluth, GA for the Women's SEC Basketball Tournament.  Traveling to the tournament was a neat experience.  I would definitely consider going again when it is somewhere that I want to go.

April – Big South Fork

    

  April took us on a day trip to Big South Fork National Recreation Area.  We hiked a few short trails (Needle Arch, Slave Falls, Twin Arches).  We also drove through the campground on a reconnaissance mission for a later camping trip.  We also drove to Hatfield Knob near Lafollette on this trip hoping to see the elk that were released there, but luck was not with us.  

May – Grayson Highlands

      In May we took a rather lengthy drive to Grayson Highlands State Park and the Mount Rogers Recreation Area in Virginia.  This was probably my favorite day trip of the year.  We hiked to the summit of Mt Rogers.  Along the way we saw some of the feral ponies and longhorn cattle that road the park.  The combination of the ponies, cattle and landscape made for quite a surreal hike.  This is one trip that I can't wait to repeat.  

June – Mesa Falls, Idaho

      June took us back to Yellowstone National Park for the fifth time in five years.  As usual, we were able to do lots of new things as well as revisit our favorites.  One of the new experiences we had this year was a side trip to Mesa Falls in Idaho on a circuitous route to Grand Tetons National Park and back.  Upper and Lower Mesa Falls are both spectacular waterfalls that are well worth the trip if you are in the area.

July – Gulf Shores

      

       July took me to somewhere I had been once before, but under completely different circumstances.  A bare bones college spring break trip took me there the first time.  This time was a 19 person whole family, week long trip.  Definitely a tale of two cities. 

August – Norris Campground

      August took us on a camping trip in the Tin Can to Norris Dam State Park.  It was the first time we had camped there and our first trip in the Tin Can with hook-ups.  Having the AC definitely expands our options for summer camping. 

September – McCloud Mountain

       September took us fairly close to home but WAY up on a mountain.  On our trip to Big South Fork we saw signs for the restaurant at McCloud Mountain.  It took us until September, but we finally made it back there.  The restaurant sits way above Lafollete, TN.  The views are spectacular.  The food was just ok, but the view more than made up for it.

October – Amaluna

       We were off to Atlanta in October to see another Cirque du Soleil show.  This time it was Amaluna.  While this was definitely not our first show, each one is so unique and mind blowing that its like the first time every time. 

November – Courtside LV seats

      We normally plan what our new experience will be each month, but occasionally the experience comes to us.  This was the case in November.  A routine trip to see the Lady Vols play in Knoxville became a new experience when a marketing team member offered us an upgrade to court side seats and hospitality passes to the Ray Mear's room.  The game experience reaches a whole new level when fast breaks end in your lap. 

December – Lipscomb Game & Acme Feed and Seed

     We completed our new experiences for 2014 the same way we began them for January.  We headed to Nashville to see the Lady Vols play.  This time we were headed to Lipscomb University.  We had great seats for this game.  We also had dinner at Acme Feed and Seed on Broadway while we were in Nashville.  It was quite good and we'll be making return trips there.

Setting the goal of doing something new each month has made us more aware of the places that we visit and helps to keep us out of a rut.  We already have some new trips planned for 2015 in addition to some ideas for more spur of the moment trips.

Happy travels!

On Top of Tennessee

After a lengthy break, we decided to take a hike.  I've been planning to hike the Appalachian Trail from Newfound Gap to Clingman's Dome while Clingman's Dome road is closed for the season for the past couple of years, but never seemed to get around to it.  This past Saturday presented a great opportunity with clear skies and a bit of snow to make it interesting.  The Appalachian Trail from Newfound Gap to Clingman's dome covers 7.9 miles with approximately 1500 ft of net elevation gain.  There are several gains and losses that add to the amount of climbing that is actually required to reach Clingman's Dome.  The return trip includes a half mile "hike" along the Clingman's Dome trail followed by 7 miles of walking along Clingman's Dome Road.

We left the parking lot at Newfound Gap at 9:00 am.  We found a bit of snow and ice along the trail, but not enough to keep us from proceeding.  We found this icicle near the beginning of the trail.  I think I will pass on licking that one. 

Along the trail is an exclosure designed to keep feral hogs out of a beech forest.  Access to the exclosure is via a ramp.  

There are occasional gaps along the trail that provide views into North Carolina and Tennessee.

Near the end of the trail a spring had completely covered the trail in ice.  We had to do a bit of maneuvering to safely make it past this section.

Blue skies and cold wind awaited us when we finally made it to the tower.  The 7.9 miles took us roughly 4 hours to hike,  

The cold wind atop the tower kept us from staying too long.  We stopped for a quick lunch along the access trail to the tower out of the wind.  We started walking along the road at 1:45.

Seeps along the road made for some awesome icicle displays as we walked out.  They also made for some slick spots on the road that we had to watch out for. 

We made it back to Newfound Gap at 4:00 for 7 hours of hiking to cover approximately 16 miles, give or take a tenth.  

Remodel 2013 Part One

Remodel 2013 is off and running!  I've put off updating the kitchen / dining room because it was going to be such a big job.  We are finally making progress on it.  The dining room side is mostly finished.  The kitchen side is stuck in a holding pattern while we wait on counter tops to be installed.

Garden sign

I finally got around to making a sign post for the garden.  I used pallet boards for the directional signs and a barn pole for the post.  

There will be rain

If the theme for Monday's hike was "enjoy the little things, then the theme for today's hike was perseverance.  

By the numbers, I hiked a total of 19.8 miles with 6.4 of them being new miles.  I could have made this a much shorter hike by simply doing an out and back on the trails I needed, but there would have been no fun in that.

Monday's hike ended with me hiking down Pretty Hollow Gap.  Tuesday's hike began with me hiking up Pretty Hollow Gap.  Not much had changed since the day before.  The water shoe was still in place and there was still quite a bit of mud at the top.  I did see two elk near the intersection with Palmer Creek Trail.

At the end of Pretty Hollow Gap I turned right onto Mount Sterling Ridge Trail.  I saw grouse, a deer and a fleeting glimpse of some wild hogs along this section of trail.  I had hiked this section before so I knew it alternated between rocky and uphill and flat and muddy.  

At the end of Mount Sterling Ridge trail I turned down the Mount Sterling Trail.  I had already decided to skip the sidetrip to the fire tower because I was hiking alone.  The fact that it was super cloudy made it an easy decision to stick to.  Mount Sterling was always steep, mostly rocky and often wet.  I saw two fellow hikers on this trail, the only people I saw on the trail all day.  Near the intersection of Long Bunk Trail it started to rain.  Not a washout, but enough that I had to dig my poncho out of my backpack.  

At the end of Mount Sterling I turned around and hiked half a mile back to Long Bunk Trail.  It stopped raining soon after I started down Long Bunk so I was able to put my poncho away for a bit.  The upper and lower reaches of Long Bunk were pleasant.  The middle half of the trail was extremely wet and muddy.  And just to draw attention to this fact, it started raining cats and dogs on me while I navigated the narrow, wet, muddy trail.  After the fourth or fifth time I stepped in mud over my boots, I was wishing I was on my nice comfy couch.  But all things eventually come to an end.  Soon after the rain stopped, I came to the Hannah Cemetery.  As morbid as it sounds, I always enjoy visiting the old cemeteries in the park.  

This gravestone was quite interesting.  There was an engraving on the back that I could not make out.

Two graves side by side had matching angel statues.

Most of this stone appeared to be professionally done, but the cross and tree seemed much more rudimentary.  

At the end of Long Bunk trail I turned left to do an out and back of the Little Cataloochee trail between Long Bunk and the road.  It started raining again on this section and I think if someone had came along while I was at the trailhead, I would have attempted to hitch a ride back to my car.  But alas, there was no one there so I turned around and headed back along Little Cataloochee.  I passed the Hannah Cabin during a particularly heavy rain shower, so I didn't stop to take any pictures of it.

The rain finally relented by the time I reached Little Cataloochee Church.  I had already planned on stopping for a bit since I had ate my lunch on the go during the rain.  At this point I had been hiking for  seven hours, two of them during the rain, with no breaks.   The church offered a beautiful spot to take a dry break.

I didn't take anytime to explore the Little Cataloochee Cemetery today.

The inside of the church looks as if it is ready for Sunday service.

On the wall to the side of the pulpit someone had put up a funeral card.  The death date was from May of this year.

After my break at the church, I continued up the trail to the Cook Cabin.  Across from the cabin are the remains of the stone foundation of an apple house.

Leaving the cabin, I made my way up and over Davidson Gap.  By the end of the trail I had forgotten all the rain and mud and was ready to plan my next hike.  

Big hike, small views

Each hike, in fact each trail, has its own personality and vibe.  Some, like Ramsey Cascades, have a big wow at the end of the trail.  Others, like Big Creek, keep your attention with picture perfect scenes around every turn.  Still others, like Porter's Creek and Gregory's Bald, have their fleeting, shining moment as flowers quickly bloom, then fade into a memory.

Today's hike had none of the high impact drama of the "top" trails mentioned.  Instead it showed a much more subtle beauty and provided solitude and silence for the hiker.

By the numbers, today's hike was 21.2 total miles with 17.2 of them being new miles.  My lowest elevation was 2700 ft at the beginning of the hike.  The highest elevation was 5500 ft.  I started at 8 am and finished at 5 pm.

I parked at the Pretty Hollow Gap trailhead.  I had previously hiked the first .8 miles of this trail so I knew it was basically a road bed.  The trail hugged the creek until I reached the Palmer Creek trailhead at 1.6 miles. Palmer Creek Trail began with a double foot bridge crossing of the creek.  Construction seems to be everywhere I go.

The first half of Palmer Creek Trail shared a narrow valley with the creek itself.  Once the creek and the trail parted ways the remainder of the trail was through rhododendron tunnels.  With the narrow valley and the rhododendron, there were certainly no sweeping vistas.  Instead I could focus on the smaller sights close at hand.  3.3 miles later, I had completed Palmer Creek Trail.

Palmer Creek Trail ended at Balsam Mountain Road.  I walked .6 miles along the road to the next trailhead. The road was closed so traffic certainly wasn't an issue.

Next up was Balsam Mountain Trail.  Along Balsam Mountain trail I started seeing lots of Dark-eyed Juncos.  They would wait until I was right beside them and then quickly fly away.  After a while I figured out that they were nesting on the ground, but I couldn't seem to see them early enough in their flight to see where their nest was.  While on the watch for Juncos, a group of grouse sprang up giving me the usual grouse induced heart attack.  There were 6-8 of them and I can only assume they were juveniles with their mother.

Soon after I saw the grouse, I found myself at the Laurel Gap Shelter.

As I was walking the last few grassy feet to the shelter I saw movement at my feet.  A newly fledged and not quite flight worthy Junco was hopping along in front of me.  I could hear the mother reading me the riot act from a nearby bush.  I snapped a quick photo of the chick and then left them to their own devices.

Unfortunately, while I was watching the little Junco I missed the equally small trail sign and ended up taking an unscheduled detour to the spring at the shelter.  In finally realized my error, did an about face and finally located the tiny sign in the tall grass.  Soon I was at the Mount Sterling Ridge Trail and 4.3 miles of Balsam Mountain Trail lay behind me.

Every account I read of someone hiking all the trails in the Smokies includes a warning to avoid leaving untrodden spurs that might not connect as easily with future hikes.  With that in mind, I did a quick out and back covering the .9 miles of Balsam Mountain Trail between Mount Sterling Ridge and Gunter Fork since I don't yet have a clear idea of how I am going to incorporate Gunter Fork Trail.

Back at the Mount Sterling Ridge Trail, I then hiked what is probably the flattest 4 miles of high elevation trail in the entire park.  Since there were still no vistas, I slowed my pace and took time to notice the little things.  I saw some outstanding fungi along this section of trail.

I continued to see lots of Junco.  I finally managed to see one just as it took flight.  I found its tiny nest sheltered under a rock in some weeds.

Inside I could just see three tiny blue speckled eggs.

 Along this section of trail there were huge patches of grass.  It was easy to imagine the early settlers bringing their cattle her in the summer to graze.

I saw my one and only mountain view for the day along this section of trail.  

While the trail sign said 4 miles, I think I walked an extra mile avoiding hog wallows.

The end of the Mount Sterling Ridge trail for me today was its intersection with Pretty Hollow Gap.  Someone had spent a lot of time trimming the brush at the intersection.  Unfortunately, the five million gnats calling it home kept me from lingering very long.

Soon after I started down Pretty Hollow Gap, I saw someone's water shoe.  I left it in place in case they came back for it though I didn't see a single person all day.

I saw a single purple fringed orchid blooming near the top of the trail.

Someone, or more likely several someones, had been doing lots of work on the trail which made for a great grade but lots of mud.

I saw lots of fungi along this trail as well.

This tiny waterfall tucked back in an alcove almost made me fall into the creek as I tried to get a picture of it.

I haven't a clue what these red berries are, but they were so brightly colored that they didn't look real.

All too soon, or not soon enough, depending on which body parts you survey, I was back at my car.  Another hike finished.  Another day of memories made.