Mt. Collins and Da Mule

“My Pa and I parked at Newfound Gap and hiked the 5 miles of snowy trail to Mt. Collins, which is over 3 miles from Clingman's Dome in the Smokies. We met up with Humanpackmule and his scouts at the shelter near the AT. His scouts were very gentlemanly - best behaving group I ever bunked with!!

The next morning, my Pa and I departed - he hiked back to the Gap, and I took the Sugarland Mountain trail down to Laurel Creek Road, 12 miles. The Mule and his troop were going on to Double Spring and eventually Fontana - spending New Year's at Spence Field. Wish I could be there!

Sugarland Mountain Trail was a real treat! Chimney Rock was below my feet!”

“oh - this was on Dec. 28/29...
and I broke Sugarland Mountain Trail - the snow was above my knees in some places, but it was cool to look behind me and see only my footsteps on the trail! I saw tons of animal tracks - lots of kitties live on Sugarland Mountain!”

“Hey Smokygirl, only one of them was one of our scouts, but now you make me wish they all were!”

“Was it the older one? their were two dads along. Mule said you might be coming up soon? Let me know if you do! I bet they got rained on Monday night - the storm was coming up from Cherokee and the winds got high.”

“kittie tracks? Bobcat I presume. Now that elk are in the park I wonder if mountain lions are far behind. Where there's food, there's prey.”

“cool! when i was sitting on the chimney tops having lunch this year i thought "there really isn't anywhere else i would rather be". i like the smokies.

were they big cats?”

“the kitty tracks were small and cute. bobcats can be kind of small, can't they? I saw over 4 scats too. I think I saw bear tracks too, but they were old. and some dog tracks, but I wasn't sure if they were coyote or domestic - i think one has an extra pad or something? I highly recommend Sugarland Mountain trail, Baume. There is a manway to Chimney Rock from it, but it looks dangerous! You can see the space needle in Gatlinburg, and beautiful views of Mt. Leconte. sigh...”

“bobcats aren't that big. My wifes grandad has a stuffed bobcat. When my 2 year old saw it over Thanksgiving she kept pointing and saying "lion, lion, lion..." She was cute doing that.”

“Bobcats can be as small as housecats. I saw one in Amicalola Falls SP who was smaller than some of my kitty crew.”

“Smokygirl, I'd like to come up soon and play with the camera a bit. I picked up a UV filter for it. I don't really have real winter BPing gear that I think is worth a hoot, so I'd be base camping and dayhiking again. Then again, I've done well in full blizzards in March up there, so maybe I do. I think it all weighs too much now, compared to what's available!”

“Cool Treebait! My winter gear is slowly building, but I still use my ski jacket and snow pants that I have had since I was 15! I just bought some Rocky Mountain High gaitors with Goretex and they are freaking awesome! I need a zero degree bag though - I carry my 30 degree with a fleece insert. When it is below 20, it takes forever to get warm in the bag...”

“My 15 deg. bag is a piece of garbage, only good into the mid 30s. My 35 deg. bag feels warmer! I don't have snowpants; haven't had them since I lived in Michigan! When I come up I'm taking HPM's -5 bag. That should work!”

“Hey Smokygirl, do you have a yard? I've got this shrub that needs more cold than it gets down here. Its called a Manchurian bush cherry.”

“At our old house, we had one of those blooming Japanese Magnolias. I think it needed to be either further north, or further south. We'd have an early thaw, and it would bud out, then we'd get a freeze and that would kill the buds. I think it bloomed good maybe 4 times out of the 11 years I lived there.”

“it's funny how such a scary sound can come from a little kitty! I saw tracks where the little kitty sat in the snow. It was a kitty rump track. Hee hee! I didnt' take any pictures of my last three hikes. I wish I did, but I get tired of taking it to get developed and posting them on my website. lazy! would be nice to get a nice digital and maybe a nice old timey camera and learn how to play with lenses...”

“Bobcat screams can give you serious willies!”

“They now make digital SLR's. That's a digital with the ability to change lenses.”

“We got a Canon G5 for Christmas, but I still have to manually attach the lens, I believe. I wouldn't know yet, since HPM took the camera and both manuals with him.”

“Yeah - it took me awhile to get a yard. It looked like a wasteland when the tree people cleared my little lot. That would be very cool! If you have time, you should come out and see my house! I have some trails all around at the base of Bluff Mountain!

The gardening relates to backpacking because you see plants on the trail, and I build paths through my garden which is mini-trail maintenance.”

“Cool. This is still smallish, since I've kept it in a 24" pot. It should get bigger if grounded. I'm not sure how you should handle it once its up there, though ,because it will need to acclimate. It has nice daark brown bark and toothed, bright green leaves. It resembles a birch.”

“Bit - does a japenese magnolia have buds that look like weird pineapples? Is it more like a tree than a bush? My parents have a magnolia tree that has funky little buds on it... hmmm.. doesn't sound like i am talking about a magnolia, but I am.

I will have to remember the SLR thing when I go camera shopping! :D”

“Smokygirl:

What's the weather in the park now? I leave in an hour and a half for my trip there...”

“I have a digital that's great for taking pictures of the kids and low mileage trips. It's too big for the more aggressive trip. My boss just got one that would be ideal for hiking. A co-worker has one that's about 3 mega pixels and is tiny. It's a canon s230.”

“Smokygirl...Thanks for the news and hiking report. :D”

“The seed pods look like weird pineapples. I call them grenades. My parents have a very tall magnolia and when those pods fall from the top and bounce off your head, you're seeing stars!

Bit, you may want to move the magnolia to a more sheltered site, or cover it to protect the emerging flower buds. Sounds like this one is getting freeze damage.”

“In the lowlands, it feels like the 30s to 40s. I imagine its the 20s up in the highlands. Once you get above 3000 feet, there is snow. Up at 5000 feet the snow is thick. Not sure what the forecast is, but don't be surprised if it gets down to 12 degrees above 5000 feet. The winds were whipping up there Monday.

The sun is shining right now and I can't see a cloud in the sky from my kitchen window. Very beautiful day right now! There was lost of frost this morning - my house is probably at 1800 feet or so...”

“This thing was a tree. The buds were really smooth-looking, and turned into a really pretty pinkish flower.

I'd move it, but the people who own that house now might not appreciate that, lol...”

“Thanx.

I don't think I'll hit the 5,000 ft mark over the weekend, unless I change some plans. I'm bringing my 0-degree bag, so it sounds like I'll be toasty.”

“No problem, MDS!! Good to hear from you!

Treebait - the bush sounds nice! Are those pineapple buds the ones that get hot pink in the summer? Or when do they get hot pink? Those things are wild looking! I remember planting a Manchurian for somebody, but I can't remember what it looks like! Can't wait to plant it. I could probably borrow my parents' garage to acclimate it - would that work? They don't live for from me.

Bit - most of the digitals I see don't take clear pictures. Do you know if that tiny 230 takes nice ones? My Nikon one-touch takes the most beautiful pictures - nothing fancy, and I've had it forever.”

“t mac - what area of the park are you going to explore? You doing a new year's hike? that's cool! have a great time! If you drink beer, go to the Smoky Mountain Brewery for me in G-burg!:D”

“dayhiker posted about the digital cameras...I don't have one so I have no idea about them.”

“correction: that's "far" instead of "for"”

“I could email you a few pictures that it took on a trip last year. I'm not sure what resolution he had it on. I can also email you some from my 4megapixel camera. I think it's set on about 3/4 of it's capacity. I can print an 8x10 with good quality at that setting. All you gotta do is get the pics and take them to Wal-Mart. You can print out 4x6's for about a quarter each. Print out a couple dollars worth and see how you like them. I'm taking a trip with MDS tommorrow. I can change the resolution to 4M and see what the difference is. We're going to be shooting waterfalls and Indian cave paintings so the extra resolution will be a good thing.”

“oh duh! sorry - dayhiker instead of bit. teehee!

awesome! do send them to me! Thank you. Have a great time - where are the Indian paintings? I blew a few pictures I took on Boogerman Loop in Cataloochee up to 16 x 20 posters at Walgreens. They actually turned out pretty smooth, but the 8 x 10 look much much better!”

“Now that I think about it you can get both sets from my webshots account.

canon - the trip is labeled something like Sipsey Winter 2003

olympus zoom 4000 - the trip is labeled Sipsey Braziell or something to that effect.

I'll post the full resolution pics there as well.

One question for folks in the know: does webshots shrink the picture and destory resolution? If so, I'll email them afterall.”

“Dang work interfering with TT. :)

Yea, its a NYE hike. Get there tonight around 11. Figure to crash (hopefully only in the figurative sense) at Cades Cove tonight and explore a bit tomorrow morning before starting on the Chasteen Creek trail.”

“I'd think not, since they encourage you to post huge, full-res pics. But I don't post really big pics to Webshots (still on dialup at home) so I don't know for sure.”

“Looking at the number of pixels listed on webshots it looks like everything will be fine. The resolution is higher on the Olympus. I'll try to add the 4Mp pics to my account tommorrow. MDS and I are doing a short dayhike with kids and my dad. He has cable so uploading shouldn't be a problem.”

“okay thanks!

t mac - I haven't done the Chasteen Creek trail yet. I've been wanting to hike from Smokemont up to Peck's Corner. I can't remember correctly, but when I was talking to the Mule about trails he has done, he mentioned that trail having a lot of loose rocks I think. Smokemont campground is the only campground open all year round, I believe. Not sure if Cades Cove campground is open if that is where you are crashing, but people still camp there even though it is closed. I've done Bradley Fork and Cabin Flats trail. Not too crazy about those trails... I think Treebait said that Taywa was real nice...”

“Smokygirl, I've come down from Pecks corner via Hughes Ridge to Taywa Creek to Bradley Fork. I've been up Chasteen creek to #48, and the loose rocks are a bit hazardous.”

“I wish they hadn't closed the rest of the Hughes Ridge trail that goes through the tip of the Reservation, but I can understand why they did. I wanted to do that trail! Need to hike more in that area, been thinking about staying at 52 Newton Bald and doing Mingus Mill...I heard that 52 is the highest campsite.”

“HPM mentioned the rocks to me, too. The trail wasn't my first choice, but it wound up best fitting what I wanted - short distance between sites to allow for side hikes and unplanned diversions. Oh, and it lets me say I've camped in both TN and NC.”

“Cool - happy new year!”

“Have a great time, T Mac!”

“Thanks, tree. 43 minutes and counting.”

“Lucky!”

“52 is pretty high. It's really neat sitting right on a saddle with drops on both sides. It was really windy and COLD when I stayed there one night in October a couple of years ago.

I think Mt. Sterling is the highest in the park though.”

“Mt. Sterling's campsite elevation is 5820'. The highest shelter is Mt. LeConte at 6440'.”

“Good hike and great seeing you again and meeting your dad.

Trip report with photos coming soon.”

“Cool - photos! I forgot my camera... I can't wait to receive my stinky socks in the mail! lol!”