Montgomery Bell Hike

“Montgomery Bell Hike
Feb 28 and 29 2004

I met Trekin Girl and Gojo at the Visitors center parking lot at about 11:00 am Saturday morning. TaraBull, Yam, WalkinDude, Divinity and Super Troll showed up later and we all got our paperwork in order. Gojo decide to go around to the road just above the shelter and drop off some beverages. He then hiked in, I think with Divinity and Super Troll to the shelter. The rest of us proceeded to the trail head at the other end as we wanted a little longer hike. Of course we ended up going “the middle route” and we shortened it by a couple of miles. Go to the shelter and they were already there and had fire going for us. Super Troll cooked some sandwiches, or course TaraBull ended up getting one. That begging for food routine worked everytime!! Had fun taking it easy around camp and then bushwhacked up the hill to one of the lakes. We hung out at the “swimming hole” and then headed back. WalkinDude and I thought there might be a trail along the lake back to the shelter so we went another way. WRONG!!! We bushed whacked on SIDE of the hill all the way back. Had a good time around the fire. Or at least I did. Then everyone slowly but surely drifted off to bed. Got up the nest morning ate breakfast, packed up and headed back. I actually got back to Franklin before eleven.

Want to say that I had a great time and it was great to meet and hike with WalkinDude, Gojo,Divinity and SuperTroll. Good to see Yam and TaraBull again as haven’t really hiked with them since Red River Gorge. Trekin Girl your always fun and depend on you for scramble eggs until I can figure it out. But great time. Sorry, about not being able to party with everyone Sunday afternoon but Mother-in-law in town..”

“Hey dude and bitpusher...it worked. I finally did it with the pictures.”

“Congrats on the link Dodder!
It was great to finally meet you. You are truly every bit a nutty as I've alwaws heard. Look foward to hiking with you again!!!
You are and will always remain "The Dodder".”

“Great Pics Bro. I'll have mine posted tommorrow.

This was the first trip in a LONG time where it didn't rain!

Also, There's nothing like a hiking trip with beautiful women and crazy guys!”

“Nice pics! I really wish I could have made this hike. I'll be heading to WV tomorrow to drop the dog off for Sipsey later this week. See some of you guys there.”

“See ya at Sipsy.”

“enjoyed the pics that you guys took, sorry I missed the hike.
I will try to post pics of yesterday's party tonight. Dang computer kept messing up last night”

“Great pictures guys and report Dodder..Thanks..I enjoyed this weekend very much..great to see everyone again. : )”

“Good (and mostly accurate - lol!) report, Dod.

Good pics, too. Supertroll shots are TOO FUNNY!

It was great to reunite with y'all, and to meet Dodder, too.

I'm missing it all already...

Safe travels, Tara.”

“the end...

FOR THE RECORD...there were Waldies present at Bailey's, and one pair were YELLOW...so we got somebody to wear them, even if Chili wouldn't..(smirk).

This weekend was cool, the mixture of Backpacking and socializing was great, (I think so anyway, my memory ain't what it used to be...what with the alzheimers and all ...Tara, Amy...was great meeting you..again...i think..you were there right?...somebody looked kinda like you two..dunno..)...”

“Yeah, they were there.
See Dudes pic titled "Trail Hotties".
:o)”

“Do you think we will ever know if we really went hiking with Super Troll? All your pics, which were great, have his face covered also. Super "Wilson" Troll...Waiting on report from TaraBull and Yam. It was a great trip. That is the first picture that has been taken of me in "MY CHAIR". And everyone's vote please. Don't you think that Tarabull's pack is a Halloween pack? It goes with her..Terrible! Treat or treat? I am and remain THE DODDER.”

“My report:

Slept at I-40 rest area in vicinity of Monk Bell on Friday night. Had breakfast and got provisions in Dickson, then arrived at park around 11:00 (or 11:30... I still have yet to put my watch back on).

Was greeted at visitors center by Trekky, then met Dodder when he arrived minutes later. Then SuperTroll and Divinity showed up, then Dude, and finally, "Yum and Yummer" - lol!

I was pleased to learn that the dogs were allowed to hike and camp, despite the plublicized rules to the contrary. I had not brought Belle´s pack, which contains Gizmeauxes pack and both leashes. Voice command would be the leash of record on this trip.

At departure time, I drove around to the back of the park to cache the beverage and ice cooler, then returned to take the short (2 mile) route to Wildcat shelter.

There I found ST and The Divine One - but no one else. The others had opted to take the longer route.

I pitch my tent instead of sleeping in the shelter - I was afraid all the snoring would disrupt my dogs´ sleep - hehehee!

I then bushwhacked to fetch the cooler. The dogs and I soon jumped six deer. They burst through the brush and raised their tell tale tails as they made their less than frantic escape. The dogs twitched and whined, but voice command was enough to keep them at my side. The deer stayed within view until we reached the cooler, but the dogs never disobeyed my command to "stay!".

I returned to the shelter by taking a direct downhill route to the trail. There, I spied a group of people coming in my direction. Wanting to be discreet (¿greedy?) with the cooler, I hastend downtrail to the shelter, and stashed the cache. The group turned out to be "the others".

We all did the usual cooking/eating stuff as we admired STs fire. Later, Yam inadvertently touched a log, and was immediately chastised for unauthorized fire messing-with.

Tarabull belched, Dude drank water, Dodder spoke, and Divinity turned beet red.

We all turned in at a relatively early hour. That resulted in loud voices at the unGodly hour of sometime before noon. "Holy moley! Don`t these people sleep?"

We rolled out of the tent and made our way to the shelter. Everyone was busy cooking and packing and milling around. I had a cup of coffee, and sat on my narrow arse. I had another cup of coffee.

By then, everyone was pretty much packed and ready to go. I was barely ready to pack. Yet I was on the trail about ten minutes after everyone else.

Jumped more deer, and dogs were okay with that.

Got back to the visitors center only a few minutes after everyone else. Said farewell to Dodder, and "see you later" to everyone else.

I drove around to the backside again, and bushwacked to the shelter to retrieve the cooler. Í went from there to the inn at the park, where I enjoyed an excellent six dollar breakfast buffet.

Goooooooooood time, it was.

Thanks, Yam!”

“OK dokie.
I'm bad at trip reports so I'm just gonna summarize. Saturday was a beautiful day for bpacking---sun was out, the breeze kicked in, and the temps were in the 60's. Didn't see any wildlife on the hike in (or out). The only deer I got to see was the venison jerky sticks that Trekkngirl handed out for us to try. The evening temps dipped a bit (not too extreme) but we had a fire going (thanks SuperTroll for your fine fire ability!) and some interesting conversation topics. (thanks dodder) I got to blind WD w/ my brilliance (haha) while he was getting ready to sleep. and I was able to meet divinity for the first time, that was a treat, she is 'sweet, hard to figure out'....and crap! I forget the third explanation to her name!!! Anyway, it was good news that Giz and Belle could join us on the trip because they always are fun to watch when they spot someone eating food. Oh yeah, and it was nice to hike w/ gojo again, he makes me laugh. Sunday was a little cooler, and the hike out was short so we could prep for the OPIE get together.
Great time all!!
Tara left this morning for her long drive home, it's been raining since she left. :-(

My pics will be ready Wednesday. Cuz I have that dumb disposable camera!!”

“wooohooo...I had a great time.....wonderful company.....GREAT stories :0
beautiful place.......”

“I don't have much to add to the report. The weather was awesome. I enjoyed meeting divinity for the first time and seeing everyone else again. Here are pics from the hike.

Montgomery Bell SP”

“Yam---Divinity is a white candy that you see a lot during the Holidays. It is sweet like her. But still can't figure out, or missed the story, on how she got her name. By the way, can't believe all you guys saw those deer. The only deer I saw on the trail were Trekin Girl, Yam, and TaraBull. And I only saw their backsides.”

“I think it went like this...

"divinity is sweet, a little nutty and difficult to figure out"

Right?”

“correct....LOL..hehehehe”

“Nice Pics Tara!”

“Are we talkin' whitetail there, dodder?”

“I broke a nail this hike :0”

“I'll send ya a wheel chair.”

“Thanks dude...so thoughtful :)

I am getting old!!!”

“Old?!?!
My ass!

You look 23. Now act it!

As far as the fingernail, Forget about it. I chew mine off all the time (Susan hates that), They grow back.”

“ok....sheesh........my kids hate it when I act 23 tho.......”

“Kids just need to Grow Up.”

“and mine need to quit telling me who to date....LOL”

“LOL!!!!”

“Walkindude and Tarabull, your pictures were great, lots of color! What's the deal with SuperTroll always covering his face? Even pictures from other hikes I've seen he does the same thing...trying to be like the neighbor on Home Improvement?

Can't wait for Sipsey. I'm at my parents house in WV now, dropping off the dog. Headin' back to Ohio tomorrow, finish some things up and pack Wednesday and head down. Originally I was gonna head down on Thurs, but I might drive halfway on Wed and camp somewhere.”

“He's a Troll so we can't show his true identity. It's been a tradition for a few years now.
And yes he gets accused of being Wilson sometimes.”

“Great pictures, sounds like a fun weekend!”

“I had seen other people's webshots albumbs and saw he always covered his face...I just assumed he didn't want his pictures on the internet.”

“Nice pics and reports guys. I live vicariously for the next month or so. Till then, I appreciate your outdoor time.!”