Belated Smokies trip report.

“Still gotta get the pictures together. I'm such a slacker.

As many of you know every spring break I take some of my older and more experienced Boy Scouts on a week long backpacking trip to the Smokies. This year I had a bumper crop of guys wanting to go, 18 in fact. Too many to take on one trip.

One of my Scouts arranged with the park to have one group do some service work while the other group did our traditional 50 miler hike. So 8 will do the big hike and 10 will do a shorter hike and perform service work.

So we get up to the Smokemont campground in the park and immediately members the 50 miler crew that have done the trip before all bust out their packs and start doing a last minute pack and gear check. These guys are ruthless when it comes to gear and food. extra gear was flying into a big "no take" pile and some of them were even counting calories on their food and tosing out anything that was low cal. I've never seen them do that before. A couple of the guys who were on the 50 mile crew who were relatively new to it just watched with big eyes.

Scout: "Holy cow Mr. Long! Look at all stuff those guys are tossing out!"

Me: "Well, it's important to keep the load light. It's a long trip."

Scout: "I don't think I can lose that much stuff and still have what I need."

Me: "It's all about wants and needs and knowing the difference."

Scout: "Say, how high are these mountains around us."

Me: "Mountains? Buddy, these aren't mountains. These are just the ankles of the mountains. These things are only about 800 foot max."

Scout: "~Gulp~ How much elevation gain did you say we had the first day?"

Me: "2000-3000, about that."

Scout: "Ummmmm......Is there any room on the service crew?"

Well, we had two guys decide to do service instead. They thought it would be wiser to take out a smaller chunk on their first trip. No problem, this is supposed to be fun not a death march. Get a comfort level and then go for more. We also had one Scout decide to join the 50 mile crew and no do service. So we ended up 7 on 50 miler and 11 on service. For those of you questioning the 11 person group size (max group size in the Smokies is 8) we had arranged with the park to grant us a bulk permit due to the fact they were doing service work.

Get Hiking!
Day 1
Sunday I drove the Service crew up to Newfound Gap and they set out on their merry way up to Charlies Bunion. The Gap was socked in by clouds but they fellas were eager to get going.

I went back to Smokemont and collected my crew, 5 Scouts, my ever present hiking buddy Madman and myself, and we headed out to the road to nowhere (Lakeview Drive) with a quick side stop at Burger King for breakfast.

Down low we had partly cloudy conditions and sun felt good. We headed off down Lakeshore trail toward Bear Creek Trail. Our destination for the day was campsite #75. It was a pleasant day for a hike. We ran into a couple of big blowdowns on the way and we trimmed what we could out of the way. We eventually made it to Bear Creek Trail and started up. The trail was well graded and the hike wasn't hard. We eventually came to an illegal campsite and we set about dismantling it. The clouds were looking threatening and the barometer was dropping. Rains coming. We were close to the campsite so I and another Scout boogied on up to camp to get a tarp set up while the rest of the guys finished removing the illegal campsite.

The rain held off and everyone got in camp, got set up and ate dinner. We built a little fire to relax by and the rain started teasing us. It would start lightly, build for a few minutes and quit for awhile then start the whole process all over again but never hard enough to put out the fire. It was a bit irratating. After a while we all said forget it and settled in for the night.

Day 2
When we woke up the rain had only dampend things but never really got going. We broke up a unnecessary fire ring and hit the trail about an hour later than we intended. Why do people insist on building a new fire ring only two feet from another one?

We climbed steadily and were hoping to get a nice view from the old fire tower and cabin at High Rocks. But as we climbed the clouds descended and before too long we were socked in. Some of the guys were feeling the climb and were moving slowly. By the time we reached the side trail to high rocks we were all in rain gear and some of the guys were almost spent. Some of the crew elected to wait at the trail junction and the rest of us scooted on up to check out the old cabin.

We arrived at the foundation of the old High Rocks firetower just in time to get a very nice view of Fontana Lake before the clouds covered the view. The old caretakers cabin was very cool and worth the side trip. One of the boys (Y'all remember Captain Obvious from the last trip report?) stated, "This is all I need right here. A cabin on a mountain with a nice view. What more could you want?" I agree.

We rejoined our comrades at the trail junction and continued on to and down Cold Spring Gap Trail. Cold Spring Gap in one rutted, rocky trail. We all slowed considerably descending this thing. It was very rough on the knees and ankles. Before too long we found ourselves at the ford of Hazel Creek. Thank God this was nothing like Abrams Creek was last year. Hazel was only about knee deep at the worst. We all loosened up our packs and moved across one at a time. We took a nice snack break on the other side and headed on down the trail to campsite #83. On the way we saw a cabin up on the hillside. We checked it out and it looked like a horsepacker cabin or maybe a ranger shelter. This thing had cots inside, a gas fridge and a gas range. The guys were envious.

We quickly covered the last bit of distance to capsite #83 and set up camp. We were going to side hike Bone Valley Trail but we got to camp a little before dusk and the guys were tired and we had a long climb tomorrow so we opted to skip it. Bummer, I've been wanting to hike that trail for quite a while now. This campsite was huge and was obviously used heavily by horsepackers. It was still a nice site but that was probably becasue we had it to ourselves. Everything was wet and it rained lightly so we just cooked dinner and settled in for the night.

More tomorrow, I'm tired.”

“Good reporting, HPM.

Those unofficial campsites come in handy when the weather sets-in. If nothing else, they are good sites for a break and, possibly, lunch. I'm always on the lookout for a good log or rock for a rest stop.

I've stayed at an unofficial campsite in that vicinity. The trail crossed a small bridge in front of it. The last time I crossed it, I had to baby-step. It was extremely slippery from run-off water and mud.

Was the picnic table at CS#75 repaired or replaced? I may be there soon.

Thanks for a good report.”

“This is a first....HPM goes to the Smokies with his scouts and it doesn't snow. What gives?”

“Thanks for the report.
Hurry up with the rest of the trip.... :)”

“Why do people insist on building a new fire ring only two feet from another one?----


Because they are too lazy to clean out the old one.”

“I always read the Smokies posts. All trips are good trips. Particularly in the high ground.”

“NS- that's the site. It was so heavily impacted that all we could really do was clean away the fire debris and pack out the huge amount of trash. Or maybe post a sign declaring it a new official campsite.

Dayhiker- Dunno, guess we got our timing wrong.”

“I'm a little irratated. I typed through day 4 and I accidentially blew it away. Let's try this again.
~Ahem~

Day 3
At some point during the night I awoke to see the moon trying to burn through the clouds. It made a very brief appearance and I saw a few stars. Hopefully tomorrow will be clear.

We rolled out later than we wanted to again. It seems some of our newer guys don't quite understand that you need to get a move on when you have a long day ahead of you.

The effects of the trip were begining to show as a couple of the guys were developing nice blisters and a couple had sore knees. I discovered that my insoles no longer fit my boots. Mmy big toes were hanging off the insoles and were getting sore. A little moleskin solved that problem for the rest of the trip. Note to self: Get new insoles.

I had plenty of time to wander around and check out the area and Hazel creek. Hazel Creek has a reputation of being one of the best Trout fishing streams in the park. The weather was warm enough that caddis and fish flys were hatching and the trout should be biting. Sure enough in a big pool right by the campsite I saw several nice sized Trout jumping after flys. Dang, where's my pole! Ah well, no time for that now but I'll make it a point to come back here with a pole.

Eventually I resorted to giving "Five minute warnings" to hurry up our laggers. One of the crew seemed obsessed with fiddling with his pack. Just put in on and go. Before too long we were on our way down Hazel Creek Trail headed for Jenkins Ridge Trail.

Jenkins used to junction with the Lakeshore Trail but the section past Jenkins Ridge proved to be too difficult to maintain. So the park close that setion of Lakeshore and cut a new trail further down. The old Lakeshore section was renamed as part of Jenkins Ridge Trail.

The walking was easy as the trail followed and old roadbed and the incline was moderate. We reached a spot where there was a sign in the middle of the trail stating the section that used to continue to Eagle Creek was now an unmaintained trail. Another trail sign directed us towards the older section of Jenkins Ridge Trail. WE looked around and didn't see and obvious trail. Then we spotted it.

Us: "That's not the trail."
"That can't be the trail."
"It goes straight up the ridge."
"Are you freaking kidding me?"

Yep, sure enough, it went straight up and so did we. Some of us on all fours. I snapped a shot and it almost looks like we are standing on each other's heads.


The climb was tough and two us were falling behind. I was acting as sweep making three. The lead guys were pushing too hard and before long it was 1pm. Past time for a lunch break and the slower guys were hurting.

We all meet up again and I tell them we need to stop for lunch and I get the "I'm not hungry, let's keep pushing" line. No dice. We are stopping now. I got a bit of a attitude from them but they all at least sat for a awile. I and the slower guys ate lunch. The other guys just snacked lightly if at all and the body language was glaringly obvious. After the break I told the faster guys to just go on to Spence Field shelter and don't bother waiting for us. They were happy at that and off they went.

I figured they would "bonk" soon from not eating and have a big story about how tough the trail was. Bonk = run out of energy and feel like crap. You see, I've been invoved in Scouting and leading/guiding/following boys on trips for ~gasp~ almost 20 years now and there are a few fundamental truths. One of these is that kids lead a very regimented routine. At school they get up at one time, eat breakfast at one time, they eat lunch at one time and they go home at one time. Chances are they also eat dinner at one time. Their bodies and minds have been conditioned to EXPECT nourishment during set hours. Now if that schedule gets upset a little during the course of a normal day it's not a big deal. However, backpacking all day with a full pack up mountains is NEVER a normal day for your average kid. If you push that nutrition envelope by more than an hour or two you are going to "bonk" hard. You will feel fine one moment and then like crap the next. One of the most important things with kids is to maintain that eating schedule as much as possible. That fact was about to be compounded by the fact that our speedy guys were convinced that we were further along the trail than we really were and it was obvious that we would be back in the clouds soon.

~Sigh~ Ok guys, go ahead. Time to learn a lesson the hard way. Ignore the guy whose been doing this longer than you've been alive.

Well, Mike, Andrew and myself continued up the trail at a slower pace. Is was indeed a big climb and the trail wasn't easy but we maintained a steady pace. Mike was running out of water so we had sent his water bottle on ahead with the other guys. There were two stream crossings on the map so they were going to pump some water and leave the bottle in the trail for us. I was also hoping that would get them to take a real break.

As we climbed we ascended into the clouds again. We reached Dearmond Bald and it looked rather sad and lonely in the mist. On the other side of the bald we found Mike's filled water bottle in the middle fo the trail in a seep. I started laughing and Andrew and Mike looked at me funny. I pulled out the map and showed them that the streams were well past the bald and not just on the other side. They didn't quite understand what I was getting at untill I told them that the other guys were probably thinking they were about a mile and a half further down the trail than they really were.

We continued on and they guys were getting worn out. It seemed like forever untill we finally came out onto Spence Field totally socked in the clouds. We covered the last bit of distance to the shelter and it was obvious that Mike's feet needed serious attention.

Sure enough the other guys were there at the shelter telling us how hard the trail was, how worn out they were and that they never want to hike it again.

Uh huh. I'd do it again.

There were several thru-hikers at the shelter and we were informed of Pres. Bush's ultimatum to Iraq. We assumed we were at war. One of them started going off about war in general and Iraq. In particular, his assessment of our performance in the first Gulf War.

This didn't sit well with Madman, a Gulf War vet. So Madman proceeded to tell this young man that he was tired and wasn't interested in listening to the opinions of someone who was only six at the time of the war while Madman was putting the remains of friends in garbage bags to send home. What could you possibly know about the horrors of war?

Weeeeellllll the subject changed quickly (with a few muttered apologies) to how these guys were planning to go to South America and work for free on Organic Farms for a few years after graduation.

You know, I'm all for broadening your horizons and doing something you wouldn't normally do BUT how the heck are you going cover the cost of your college if you go and work for free for a few years? I don't see how someone could swing that. Oh, no problem. A couple of them are trust fund kids and another plans to default on his college loan.

I kept my thoughts to myself but I was thinking "Ahhh, I see. So you guys don't know what work is and you are an aspiring thief. Nice. See kids? That's what a parasite looks like." Madman looked over at me and just rolled his eyes. ~Sigh~

We had about 16 in the shelter that night and we were the only ones who weren't thru-hikers. That night the winds rose and were howling.”

“3 more days to go.”

“"Sure enough in a big pool right by the campsite I saw several nice sized Trout jumping after flys. Dang, where's my pole!"

Hawg 'em!! Don't let them good looking fish get away!!

==================================

HPM: Your trips always amaze me. How you get those kids to sweat thru what GSMNP can dish out, is beyond me.. :)..”

“Day 4
We awoke to the sound of trees swaying and creaking in the wind. Occaisionally you could hear a limb come crashing down or a quick burst of rain on the shelter roof. At one point I though I could hear off in the distance a tree snap loose and go crashing down the mountainside. The winds over Rocky Top and Thunderhead are going to be fierce as both are exposed peaks.

I looked over at the nearest Scout to me (Mike I think) and said "Good morning neighbor, It's a wonderful day in the neighborhood."

Mike looked back at me with an expression that said "freak" and rolled back over.

We all ended up on the top rack and had to wait until those below us cleared out before we could really get moving. Before long we were all getting ready to go. I finally got a good look at some of the blisters they guys had developed and some were pretty bad. Capt. Obvious had a huge one on his heel and he and Madman were arguing over whose was worse. Mike had some nasty ones in the arches of his foot. Yikes, that a new one to me. Everyone got patched up and away we went. Mike, who was having a tough time yesterday, led the way with me right behind. The other guys followed.

Our first challenge today was a sharp ascent up and over Rocky Top and then Thunderhead mountain. In the open areas of the bald the wind whipped at us and pulled the warmth right out of you. Gusting at times so hard as to push us around. Mike was moving along very well and I was falling behind. I'd wait till I saw the guy behind me and then boogie untill I caught up with Mike. As we neared the top Mike pushed on ahead and before long I heard a "WOOO HOOO, I'M KING OF THE MOUNTAIN!!!" over the wind.

I reached the top to find Mike waiting for me and the wind was unreal. The gusts almost blasted me off my feet. I told Mike to keep going and get off the peak and I'll hold up for the rest of the crew. About five minutes later I saw them come over the edge and I tried to snap a picture. The really blasted me at that point and I thought all I would get was a blur. Later I found I got a shot off.

Please note all the Rhododendron Leaves are horizontal.

The rest of the guys summited hooting and hollering and generally enjoying the blasting wind.

Ummmmm.....Ok.

A couple of them had their pack covers get blown off. Luckily the drawstrings were tied off and they didn't lose them. I told them I was heading on to keep up with Mike.

The rest of the day was a bit of a blur. We'd descend just below the clouds and see beautiful conditions below us and them we'd go back up again into the cold wet clouds. It was demoralizing and it was draining the energy right out of us. Lunch was wasn't satisfying to any of us and we were making poor time in the slippery conditions.

Right about 1pm Madman slipped going down a big rock and finished blowing out his aching knee. It looked like a strained ACL tendon. Madman being Madman, ex-Marine, finished swearing, apologised for swearing, ducttaped the knee in place and popped some painkillers.

"I'm good. Let's go."

Ummmmmmmm.....Ok.

We had intended to go to Silers Bald shelter some eleven miles away but the conditions were taking their toll. Capt. Obvious then fell over on the dside of the trail gasping for breath. I dug his inhaler out of his pack lid and he took a couple of shots. He felt better immediately. For me that was it. Comfort level gone. We stop at the next shelter (Derrick's knob) and that's it for the day at about 3:30pm.

There were a few more hikers at the shelter but some of them elected to move on. We set up shop and hikers began to pile in the rest of the day untill dark. The weather was knocking everyone down. At dusk seven guys walked up going southbound.

Them: "Hey, we are gonna hike this section all the way to Fontana Dam today. YEAH BRO!"

Me: "You do know that you only have about an hour of light left, right?"

Them: "Uhhhhhhh....we got headlamps."

Me: "Have you looked at a topo map of what's in front of you?"

Them: "Uhhhhhh...we got maps." holding up the useless dayhiker maps.

Me: unfolding topo map "Check out these mountains in front of you. Up, Down, Up, down, up, down you've got about 22 miles of that. Oh, by the way, the wind is so bad over Rocky Top it almost blew me to the ground." Other hikers in the shelter nodding heads emphaticly.

Them: "Uhhhhhh....any room in the shelter?"

Everyone else: ~Sigh~ "Sure"

By nightfall there were 22 people in the shelter with four of them on the floor and four tents outside. That night the rain started pounding on the roof.”

“Day 5
It was still misty in the morning but the winds had died out. We got together and looked at the map to determine our plan as we are now off schedule. We decided to make for Double Spring Gap shelter tonight and make tomorrow a long day. We would still complete our plan only we would be off pace for one day.

We finally got on the trail at a respectable time. The whole crew was getting used to working together by now. After an hour or two on the trail the clouds finally gave way and the guys got a little much deserved sunlight. The mood lifted considerably. This was our most pleasant day of hiking so far. The clouds were still there but they allowed a generous amout of sunlight. Fine by us.

The injured reserve list was looking bad. Madman was still doggedly hiking ahead with his bum knee. Mike's feet were obviously killing him but he's a trooper. Every time I asked if he needed a little help he shook his head and told me that he was learning lessons, hard lessons. I'll be fine.

We had lunch at Silers Bald shelter and had anice chat with Journeyman, a thru-hiker. Very interesting man. He was a recently retired electrician who had just spent the last 12 years working in Saudia Arabia. He was glad to be out and home again with all the recent tensions in the region. He informed us that his replacement had had the wheels of his car shot out from under him on his way to work. Yep, glad to be home.

Madman got cell signal and he and I were able to speak to our wives. We got caught up on home life and got the latest news about the war. It's very strange to discover that your country is at war while you are hiking. I felt very disconnected and troubled. Mostly because if things escalate many of the boys that I have been working with for that last ten+ years and have watched mature and grow might be enlisted and be sent off to fight and possibly die. I find that terrifying. They aren't my sons and yet they are my sons. I can't help but be worried for their future.

We packed up and covered the last couple of miles to Double Spring Gap shelter as the ever present clouds rolled back in. At least the cloud cover wasn't so thick this time.

We settled into the shelter with a thru-hiker that we met back at Derricks Knob last night. We went about getting a nice fire going in the fireplace but the fire wouldn't cooperate. After a week of wetness it's near impossible to find dry wood or dry out wood and keep the fire going. After a while we said forget it, too much work, too little reward.

Mike's camp shoes were wet so he fashioned slippers from MRE bags and ducttape. Very stylin', the guys were impressed.

Later on a couple of ladies joined us at the shelter. While everyone was cooking they came back in the shelter asking if anyone knew anything about whisperlite stoves as theirs was leaking and they needed help. Well, you've come to the right place. Helping is our gig. So I go out and check out the stove to see if I can help.

Sure enough, the thing is leaking badly from the pump assembly. They had a repair kit so I went about replacing gaskets and such. No dice, still leaking like a sieve. I had swapped out most of the parts when I noticed something. The plastic cap that held the check valve was missing. As was the check ball and spring. I looked in the fuel bottle hoping it had popped loose in the bottle. Once again, no such luck.

"Well", I tell them, "This stove will not work untill that part is repaced. Y'all got any food you can eat cold?"

They give me an uncomfortable look. "Not much."

"Hmmm...that would stink wouldn't it? How long y'all out for?"

"4 days"

"Hmmmm"

Well, I'm only out for one more night and they drove from Ohio and Savannah for four nights and this is night one. So I decide to give them my pepsi can alcohol stove and pot stand and the rest of my denatured alcohol. I'll just borrow a stove from one of the guys. I show them how to use it and that's that, trip saved. Enjoy.

That night the clouds cleared off and we were treated to a brilliant display of stars. After a while the moon rose near full. It was hard to get to sleep it was so bright. The mice were busy that night. We all hoped and prayed for clear conditions tomorrow.”

“Hang on folks, I'm doing day 6 now!”

“ dang it!”

“Fantastic report sir. Great kids. Thank you :) Mary”

“A great report and a great trip. Hope everyone has healed OK.”

“Great trip report HPM!”

“I suppose I should mention that the trail was clearly marked as foot traffic only.”

“Oh, yeah. I had lunch with Madman yesterday. The knee is doing fine and appears to only have been a strain aggravated by persistent Marine mentality.

The blisters are healing nicely and I got new insoles for my boots.

The service crew will be added to our permanent schedule as I have several boys who want to do that next year.

Thank you and you're welcome.”

“With regard to the horsemen, were you able to get word to the Park Official or a Ranger? I would be interested to learn if they received "tickets."

From experiences and conversations with Park Officials and Rangers, it appears that the interests of the Horse Riders' Associations pretty much rule the Park(due to the original agreements in the establishment of the Park).”

“We let the park know but we aren't aware fo the result. If any.”

“We heard from the ranger.
Nothing but a warning. Seems unfair.”

“hehe.. they SHOOT horses don't they?”

“Reading all of this has me a little apprehensive about my Smokies marathon in 3 weeks.

Great trip report as usual HPM.”

“Thanks for taking the time to type all that great report.
Enjoyed it.
I really don't like horses on trails.”

“Don't be.
You carry much less weight than these guys and the weather will be completely different in three weeks.”

“That's pretty much what I had decided too, but it did bring the magnitude of what we're doing to the forefront. I'll be in running shoes with a 20# pack and am mentally geared up for what I'm doing. These guys had 40# packs and heavy boots. They are teenagers, so they're probably in better shape, but don't get to hike elevation but once a year. The wildflowers are going to be cool.

To echo what TD said, I'm so impressed that you do this. To be a scout leader and not have kids in that age range is doubly impressive.”

“It gets us ready for when we DO have kids that age!”

“Yeah, but you'll be prepared for like 10, 16 year olds at once. What will you do with only 2 or 3 "real" kids. Have you seen the movie "Cheaper by the Dozen"?”

“It was a small troop once. LOL.”

“It was a small troop when HPM took over. He put together a kicka$$ program, and now we have over 40 kids.”

“It's that winning personality!

HPM instills confidence. I can see where a parent would want a son in his troop. I can see where a kid would want to be there as well.

HPM, my boss took over a troop at a young age. Here's a cut and paste of what's probably ahead for you too. From our brief meeting I see similarities. Quiet confidence, ability to make decisions,...I sound like a fan club.

Past President of Eastern Service District
Board of Directors Greater Alabama Council
Past Board of Directors Choccolocco Council
Chairman of committee for the Tri District Jamboree
Past Vice president of Choccolocco Council
Recipient of Silver Beaver Award”

“Great report - I'm itching to hike to Smokies soon. I enjoyed the detailed reporting - the joy of reading these trip reports is imagining the details - it helps my mind make the pictures.

Warning - For those who haven't hiked with HPM - beware this dude gets packed up real quick and sneaky like in the morning. You're eating oatmeal and drinking coffee next to him - next thing you know he's got his backpack on and trekking poles in hand, pretending to be busy fussing with the fire ring - waiting. heh heh

C'mon Horse Hikers!

Big Al and I did the Juniper Wilderness a few weekends ago - we ran into a group of 4 horse riders right in the middle of the wilderness - they had "gotten lost" - we saw their tracks all the way to Hidden Pond and all around the campsites - and of course plenty of horse scat on the trail. We got more upset as we hiked through their tracks. There are so many horse trails in the ONF and these guys had to get on the FNST.

As I have said before - HPM - thanks for contributing to the lives of those young men.”

“Big Coop - GSMNP has a lot of dung beetles for a reason.”

“Either that or UT fans are full of....

Sorry Ewker, chili, and others. That UA grad just couldn't resist.”

“I appreciate the kind words but this ain't about me at all.

Dayhiker you might be right but that isn't my intention. I've been approached to be a part of a council committee regarding high adventure (HA) opprotunities/resources. I'm going to do it but the more involved you get with district and council level scouting, the further away you get from the only reason we are here, the kids. I think my energies are best spent working directly with the boys.

I shoulda been a social scientist.

Coop, why don't we get together (Big Al and anyone else too) and do a Smokies trip? There's plenty of long weekends left this year.”

“I get to hike with HPM this weekend.. I am soo psyched!!!!..”

“Where's the hike?
Where are you meeting?
When?
How many miles per day?

Please send me details quickly. I'm packing now and expect to leave home in the morning.”

“I'm up for a smokies trip.
I love the smokies.
I'll even go in pouring rain. ;)”

“NowSlimmer.. give me a call. I don't have your number.”

“"I'm up for a smokies trip.
I love the smokies.
I'll even go in pouring rain. ;)"
StoveStomper
09:31:59 AM
04/09/03

ok, we see how it is. You will go to the Smokies when it is raining but you couldn't make it to Lost Cove when it rained for only 2 hrs in the morning :)”

“TownDawg - I don't have your number.

I may just see everyone at the campground. I can camp, get organized for GSMNP hiking during the next 5 weeks, and do some day hiking.

As I posted on the trip page, I found directions and can find the way.”

“HPM - You're right we should plan a long weekend up there. I'll see what my and Big Al's hiking schedule looks like.

Sounds like there's plenty of other interested folks as well.”

“you got mail, Paul.”

“Ewker - I added that last little comment about rain just to tweak you a bit. ;)”

“Yall need to just join my group in about 2 1/2 weeks. Yall can show up at Tricorner on Saturday night and have the steak and beer waiting on us.”

“LOL Dayhiker!

Who can refuse an invite like that? Wow! We get to pay for all AND sherpa it too? How cool is that?”

“That's what you call a win-win deal....for me. Of course we'll pay for it, but you get to cook it and haul it.

Seriously, if it weren't for yalls trip this weekend it would be nice to cross paths in the Smokies. I'm guessing that 2 trips withing 2 weeks would be tough.

I'm putting together a rainy day plan now that'll be more like 10 miles per day instead of the 20 per day we're doing now. Also, it will consist of creek hiking instead of mtn hiking. Creeks still look cool when it rains. The tops of clouds aren't too appealing....but you already found that out HPM

As far as the scouts thing goes...I think what my boss has done once his boys were grown and out was to get into slots that weren't hands on, but the circle of influence is bigger. That and 80 hours per week makes it tough to make meeting every or every other week. When my son gets a touch older I'll start getting involved myself.”

“No deathmarch for me, thank you very much.
I love ridgerunning in the smokies but you guys are nuts on the mileage.”