Big South Fork-Memorial Day Weekend

“jerbear out early? i'll believe that when i see it

those who plan on getting out early will want to park a vehicle at jacks ridge trailhead”

“cottonsox will not be there.

She announced last night she was leaving for Arkansas and wasn't coming back until Sunday.

I will stay until Monday on this one.”

“Ah ah ah!!
I theenk barebare sayed Gissmaeioux is a sissy! BOL!

I will say that Gissmaeioux is not no sissy! He got verry good mussels and hops and brabry and got good cow herting skils to. He yells at them cows and gets them bites on ther nose in til they run the nother way and he runs byhind them and yells "get in that nother fents!" in til they get in the nother fents at the gate.

Ower land man sayed "Gissmaeioux got verry good cow herting skils!" and my daddy sayed "you are verry welcom" and the land man sayed "prase Jebus".

barebare better be verry carful so Gissmaeioux dos not sneek off his jerky meet!

BWT my nother nit name is Sissy.
(o:3”

“So...
If I'm at Bandy Creek Visitors Center early Sat a.m., I'll be good to go?”

“eat poop, big 2 poops! yo bear!”

“ahahahahahahahahahaha”

“Looks like the women will be far out-numbered on this trip! Chili, tell Cottonsocks I will miss her :-(”

“Does anyone have an emailable map of the trail?

Moz”

“I can't believe that I'm finally going to meet Sarabele!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”

“It looks like there are going to be a few dogs coming on this trip. I am going to be bringing Sulley, my black lab. She is a good dog. She only bites if you look at her, so don't do that. She does like to chew smelly hiking shoes just a little and ususally stops barking by about 3 or 4 AM. So it is all good. Don't worry, you will like her.

I am looking forward to this trip and meeting you all.”

“bigpoppa! now i know who you are! you were on the trip from hell on the adventure trail”

“Here is a link to the trip I took down there in March, there is a map posted you can copy, it's not great, but might help!!

http://www.thebackpacker.com/trips/trip/915.php

Crash! I wish I was going, but that's the luck. have agood time and watch out for Hogs!!!!
See ya later.
Randall”

“You can pick up a map at the Bandy Creek Visitor Center on Saturday morning.

I am packed and ready. Jellico in the AM: Williamsburg, KY by noon; Onieda in the afternoon and I should be there by 5.”

“I'll be there Saturday morning. Wish I could get there Friday, but I will be attending my graduation ceremony Friday night - yeehaw!”

“locked and loaded:
1-Dog mace
2-Flea spray
3-Tazer Gun
ANd others essiantials! Yo bear! Laeving dayton bout 1100am We be hikin!”

“I made it home, safe.Interesting itenery to be gentle bout it.ALWAYS communicate where camp IS supposed to be, like at a bridge,Doh!
Had a good time, I think?
Snakes and ticks.”

“jerbear, its the interesting ones that make the good TR's ;) So get hopping and make your TR :D”

“I'm home, too :-) It was indeed a very intersting weekend. We split up into two groups Sunday morning, and each group headed in opposite directions.

The trip shall forever be known as the "Blowdown Trip." Man, I haven't climbed over so many down trees since I worked for the Forest Service! We climbed over, stepped over, crawled under, and went around a bazillion blowdowns. Whew! It was exhausting!

Our first camp was somewhere off the trail up above a bridge. Very confusing. Some of us passed it by a half-mile before going back and finding it. The TT group descended upon a lone backpacker in camp. There were 9 of us, and him. And here he thought he was going to have a nice peaceful night to himself...

Sunday morning a few of the group were up before the crack of dawn. Aaarrggghhh!!! Why so early, guys? Many discussions were held on who was going where. I went on with Crash!Bang!, Rocksee, Ewker, Sticks and his pup Angie (sweet dog!). We ended up about 8 miles down the trail and found a great place to camp, complete with swimming hole :-) Crash and I were the first ones in; it felt so good to my hot, tired body!! Yeehaw! That swimming hole saved my life and my attitude ;-}

We hiked out today, about 3.6 miles. We had a few stream crossings, and walked through muck. The last 1/2 mile today was a butt-kicker! But at the top, Sticks got a ride with some other hikers. Rocksee and I stayed behind and waited for him to come back and get us. It was wonderful not to have to hike a mile or so along the sandy road to the car :-) Thanks, Sticks! I am forever in your debt!

To sum up the trip, there were tons of blowdowns, it was hot and humid, plenty of ticks and gnats. The good points were: good conversations, meeting some new folks, a wonderful camping spot, swimming, lots of Mountain Laurel in bloom and a few other wildflowers, and the fella we barged in on at the first camp. He was a great guy - we all shared camp the second night as well.

I'll get pics posted soon...”

“Got on 75 and as usual traffic went from 70 to 0 at the top of the hill by the interchange...had to make an emergency maneuver into the median to keep from being rear ended dodging several others that had to do the same maneuver. Passed about 5 of 'em and re-merged onto the road. YEEEHAAWWW!

Plucked off about six seed ticks in the shower plus about another 4 upon further inspection and found a lone star in my tent when I unpacked...it did not enjoy the alcohol bath but I enjoyed watching it suffer.

As usual it was great meeting new people.

Pics when I get time.”

“what is a lone star?”

“home, unpack,shower and full body search(no ticks so far), pics later”

“A person from TX...







It is one of the indigenous ticks in the the U.S.

”

“Here's my photos:

http://community.webshots.com/album/550866860GAhhUr

I thought I was going to make it tick-free but I found two of the little buggers when I took a shower.
last edited: 5/29/06 4:33:16 PM”

“i was going to come join you guys, but when i found out it was going to be in the 90's I decided it was more like canoing weather. i floated the little miami this weekend instead. i still got a tick, too.”

“Ductape, the heat and humidity was very oppressive. It did me in. The only thing that saved me (and my attitude) was camping near a great swimming hole on Sunday. Once I got in the water I didn't want to come out.”

“first off, i want to apologize for not getting everyone to the campsite rightly. that was one of those things where everything went wrong. i usually am alot better about giving everyone the info they need. ask the grand canyon group about that. had i given clearer instructions OR chili and i had not blazed so far ahead OR if we would have came out to the trail when we heard you OR if sticks would have stuck to his gut feeling when he thought he was there OR the people who were with him had listened to him and not decided that they knew better, if any one of those factors could have been different, we would not have had the mess we did.

i hope you enjoyed the grand gap loop. we had a blast at our campsite deep in the woods miles away from any road or bubba campers. we had an awesome swimming hole and we only had to go 8 or so miles to get to it. we had a short hike out this morning, with a very steep finish. a very memorable trip.”

“pics are up
http://community.webshots.com/album/550870591SBLqqX

It was a fun trip. Typical Tennessee weather, hot and humid with some ticks and gnats thrown it for good luck.
Lots of blowdowns on the trail made for a long day. You were either climbing over or under or through.
Everyone missed the campsite. Things happen but no biggie everyone finally got there. During the evening some folks decided to hike back and others decided to go on. I had planned for 3 days so I wanted to go on and I did.

The next day was easier I thought due to less blowdowns. It was hot but the campsite by Laurel Fork Creek was nice. The water was cold and I never did the full plunge in.

This morning we hiked out and headed to Huddle House for a well deserved breakfast.”

“Hey, Crash, I was lost the whole trip, LOL! This was one trip where I had no idea where I was or where I was going. But we all survived and had fun. We did have fun, right?? (Just kidding)

The highlight of the trip for me was the swimming. Man oh man, that felt so good!”

“woodzie, the reason you were lost is because some wanted to change what was originally planned. Go with what is planned and everything is fine, changing during the trip screws things up”

“The reason I was lost was because I could never get anyone to tell me exactly what the plan was. It changed every few minutes or so, it seemed. Of course, it didn't help that no one knew what the plan was. I blame myself for not being more aggressive in finding out what we were doing and where we were going. My bad for just following along.”

“if i ever organize a trip again, we're not changing the plan without a damn good reason. i know im glad that half of us went back to the original plan. give me a private swimming hole in the middle of the woods over glorified car-camping any day”

“I see what you mean by not the only trip with drama, lol.

Changing of plans huh? Been there, done that---on the trip I just took! Not only that, our original plan was based on one weak half arse plan to begin with. At least you all managed to salvage something and make a trip of it.”

“Crash, other than the campsite being hard to find everything else went as originally planned. I enjoyed the trip!!”

“yea, this trip would have made a good episode on one of those stupid reality shows”

“The trip was good, even though the humidity did me in. The swimming hole was great! You planned it that way, didn't you Crash?”

“i was hoping”

““if i ever organize a trip again, we're not changing the plan without a damn good reason.

Crash Bang
8:41:25 PM
5/29/06

That is the key. I think that the plans kept changing when everyone became a leader.

Even after we hiked back to Leatherwood Ford on Sunday, I changed the plan again.

We swam in the river for an hour or so, then Mozark took me to my car, I met with Jerbear and Big Poppa for a few minutes, then took off for a party in Maryville. After two days in heat and ticks, I was ready for poolside and some cold beer. Got to the party a few minutes before smokygirl came in from her solo hike at Citigo (sp?).

It was a real relief from the heat. I sure thought about you guys in the woods while I was eating some tasty food off the grill and hanging out poolside.

After I used the 100% deet, I didn't have anymore ticks.

Nice trip, Crashbang, thanks for setting this up. I enjoyed the powerhike Saturday to campsite.”

“(years later ...)

After I used the 100% deet, I didn't have anymore t-t-t-ticks.”

“Sarge, I have read almost every scientific article written on Deet.

My most compelling argument as to the overstatment of the "danger" is that if it was as unsafe as some argue, there wouldn't be a single manufacturer in the US still producing it.”

“It was a joke. Welcome back.”

“No drama here.
move along folks.........”

“According to researchers, EVERYTHING is bad for you. Saturday Night Live nailed it many years ago when one of the folks said: "Research is bad for laboratory rats." Bingo!”

“I was three years past due for an “East Coast” trip and itching to meet up with some old acquaintances and to meet new Trailtalkers. Now I’m just itching from insect bites but they’ll soon subside and I will have good memories of the BIG SOUTH FORK Memorial Day weekend trip of 2006.

It was great meeting everyone and I will post a few photos soon.

MC in the Ozarks (Mozark)”

“Subtle humor there, sarge. It escaped me on first pass, but on review, I get it. Sorry for the confusion.

I just worry about finding a tick in about 5 days that I overlooked on getting home.

I just hate it when I discover I have a "third" testical.”

“Now that's a visual I could've done without.”

“Check your navel, chili.
Last tick I had was right at the bottom.
Yuck.”

“Mozark, good seeing you again. Hope you had a good hike out.”

“Welp I'm home, too.
Never went anywhere, tho...

I had decided by Friday a.m. that I wouldn't be able to afford the trip to TN and decided on a solo w/dogs to Cohutta. By the time I stopped at auto parts (oil, filter, air filter, etc...), Piggly Wiggly and gas station, I decided to do nuttin' a'tall.

I spent most of Saturday exploring some local woods. The bulldozers are running rampant in this area as Atlanta continues to creep southward. I checked out some old roadbeds and overgrown fields. Did alot of bushwhacking.

Lonestars, brown dogs, and seeds galore.

Found one spearpoint, a curved scraper of some sort, and skads of tips and flakes. The arrowhead collection continues to grow...


Sounds like I woulda done well to bring my saw along to BSF, had I come that is...

I SWEAR TO GOD that I will make another TT trip before I die!”

“I felt like I went on this Big South Fork trip after I got the verbal trip report from Chili poolside in Maryville. While you all were frolicking in tick country, I was making my way up South Fork Citico, Bob's Bald, then North Fork Citico. It was lovely! Hate to have missed you, Scott while you were in East Tennessee!”

“I was SO HAPPY to meet so many great adventurers! Yes, those blow downs were a drag! Worse was finding a tick in my navel at home. I used up my deet spray after the 2nd day. CrashBang- as intense as you were at first meeting turned out to be quite the gentle person and good allie. So far tick bites count up to 6. I bought a great little tick puller from REI with my rebate- sure came in handy! Ewker was really great at travel conversation on the car pool and taking pics of me negotiating blowdowns- thanks for the memories! Woodsie is a top notch gal- would go on a trek with her anytime, glad to have not been the only fem on the trail! Jerbear, Mozark sorry you didn't get to swim at the wonderful spot on the next night. Woodsie and I did our best to enjoy it and I swear that the cold spring water eased the bruises caused by crawling through trees on the trail. I say GREAT TRIP despite the changes, happy to be home again and play with the kittens (they did miss momma)”