Flyin' by the seat of our pants...

Have I mentioned that I am not good at details sometimes? It's a little funny - in my "normal" life I am the usual somewhat anal, always OCD Engineer type. But the weekends? Well, sometimes it's kinda fun to not plan anything & see what happens. Sometimes you just end up chasing your tail trying to find a trail to hike, but other times it all falls together, in some sort of fashion. This weekend was one of those times.

It was forecast to rain all weekend, so I was not overly enthused to be planning a backpack trip, but I brought my backpack as well as my day pack with me as I went to Cleveland, TN for a friend's retirement lunch. After all, you never know. And surprisingly enough, the forecast was revised Friday nite showing clear & sunny by 3 PM! So....where to go? In my quest to be a 900 miler (i.e. hike all 900 miles of trails in the Smokies) I am always looking for new trails. After a quick check of the GSMNP backcountry reservation site, we decided to get another piece of the trail up to Gregory Bald. More specifically, the Gregory Bald Trail to campsite #13.

Looking across Cades Cove towards our destination!

Knowing Parsons Branch Rd would be closed for winter, we figured we would have a few miles of a road walk to get to the trailhead, but, as usual, we did not count on the deer jams in the Cove. At the late hour of 2:30 PM we finally arrived at the Ranger Station at the far end of Cades Cove, only to find the road gate closed! I guess I should not have been surprised - the Little River was as high as I had ever seen it - but I didn't realize the road to Gregory Ridge Trail would be closed due to rain. 

Brian walks alongside a raging Parsons Branch

After a quick check at the Ranger Station, we find this will only add another 2.2 miles to our 3.5 mile road walk. It's 2:30 PM & sunset is at 5:30 PM (as our helpful Ranger reminds us!)...so....why does the scene from Blues Brothers pop into my mind? 

It's 5.7 miles to the trailhead, we got a full MSR Dromedary of water, half a pack of ShotBloks, it's almost dark... and we're wearing sunglasses.  Hit it.

This part of the road walk was not bad - we actually made good time. It was a bit of a boost when we made it to the 2nd gate in under 40 minutes with full packs. Now on to the road walk we were expecting...

This part of the road was a little bit harder for me. It was disheartening to hike up a huge hill only to lose all the elevation gain by hiking downhill again.  But I did have a little fun when we came across a grader parked alongside the road. 

I call it "Taming the wild grader". 

Eventually we came to a low water crossing that required changing to water shoes. Even though it was quite warm at this point, no way could I imagine crossing water over a foot deep. I love my Keen boots, but had no desire to hike another 4 miles uphill with them being wet.   Soon after we came to the trailhead & I started on new miles!

Again, I was surprised at the amount of water on the trails. Even small crossings were running pretty well. But the trail itself was very nice - long gradual grades & very well drained for the majority of the way. We had to watch the sunset while hiking, but did make it to #13 with enough light to gather firewood & set up the tent. 

It got a little colder than I expected overnite. Remember my lack of planning problem? I left my down jacket & mittens at home, but it wasn't too bad. Only trouble was the excessive rain made it very hard to get a fire going. We were able to get a small one, but it mostly smoldered & did not kick off too much heat. Funny thing was we had a group come in even after us - a father, mother, daughter team that showed up around 9 PM. They were all also engineers - 2 electrical & 1 chemical. Poor Brian - surrounded by Engineers!

Next morning it was even colder as it had snowed some during the night. But the hoarfrost was awesome. 

At this point it was only a half mile up to Gregory Bald.....And when I say up, it was all up. But the clear views at the top....well, I only wish my camera could capture them:

From this point it was all downhill again, which tends to hurt my knees more than going up. We were treated to some great views of Cades Cove going down & it gradually warmed up enough to shed many layers. The water was still rather high for the crossing at campsite #12. High enough that I did not want to chance crossing on the downed trees with my backpack. Not sure when this bridge washed out but it appears there are no immediate plans to replace it. The water at the next trail bridge was still within a few inches of the log stringer - I am guessing it was overtopped the day before.

At this point we arrived back at Gregory Ridge trailhead. Another couple of miles of road walk & we were back at my trusty Element. 

I love it when a last minute trip comes together!

Backpacking with dogs

So I let the new E look clean & shiny for almost a whole week before I loaded it up with gear & my long haired mutt for a backpack in Joyce Kilmer-Slickrock Wilderness in the Pisgah National Forest! My dog was a little unsure of the new vehicle (perhaps it smelled too clean?) but she was able to overcome her uncertainty after a few minutes.

My dog really enjoys hiking & backpacking but, much like myself, tends to overdo it a little so I have to limit her time on the trail to a moderate excess.

The plan was to get a late start Saturday with a short but very steep hike of a couple of miles from Big Fat Trailhead up to the Haoe. The next day was to be a few more miles along the ridge to Naked Ground and then dropping down to Slickrock Creek with a side trip to find a waterfall. Not an easy hike by any means - there is a reason Slickrock Creek Trail made the Backpacker.com list of 12 hardest trails! My boyfriend, Brian, was leading this adventure & another guy from the GSHAG group was attending with his dog, Walter. I really enjoy backpacking with dogs & was glad Eilidh (Ay-lee: Gaelic for "light") was going to have a buddy along. Walter was a good trail dog - lab & pit mix - and very energetic! He and Eilidh probably did twice as many miles as the bipeds.

The climb up is brutal but the views are pretty nice.

We made it up to the Haoe in pretty good time only to find a crowd of people! We were able to snag a good campsite, just not the one we really wanted. But the sunset was still pretty cool......

This was my first test of my Marmot 5 degree down sleeping bag. I have their 20 degree bag I have used for quite a while but I tend to sleep cold & have been wanting something a little warmer. I got it from Sierra Trading Post when they were running a 40% off coupon - couldn't pass it up! Unfortunately it was not very cold this time so I guess I will need to try again. Oh darn! I was almost a little too warm in it as I estimate it only got down to 40 degrees. But it sure is comfortable!

The next day we got a fairly early start by my standards. Maybe not too early as the dogs saw it...

 Can we please just hike now?

The trip out was good - a nice walk on the ridge & a steep descent. The trails in Joyce Kilmer/Slickrock are so very rugged! I am always amazed at how hard the terrain really is. Since it is bear season in NC we did meet a radio collared "bear dog" at Naked Ground. She followed us for a while but eventually went back. I guess she was taking Sunday off.





 Walter says "Nice to meet ya!"

Once we reached Slickrock Creek we rock hopped across to search out a waterfall that should have been a a short distance down the trail. It was a bit further than we expected, but the triple cascades were well worth the extra effort!

So with a short, but again brutally steep climb out, we arrived back to the cars for the trip back home. I am pleased to say Eilidh declared the new E a welcome addition to our "family" & slept soundly the entire way back home.



Let's get this blog started.....

One of the cool things about hiking long distance is it gives you plenty of time to think. Even when you are hiking with a group, there comes a time when everyone gets tired & turns inward for a while. Kinda like meditation for me, but more on that later. But as far as the idea for this....

While doing a nice 17 mile day hike over Mt. LeConte in the Smokies, enjoying the great fall coIor on a crisp Autumn day, I was talking with my friend Harold about Elements. I bought my 1st E in 2003 - it was love at first sight! I was immediately drawn to the utilitarian aspect of these "toasters on wheels" as they really suit my personality. I mean, c'mon: any vehicle you can practically hose the trail dust, dog hair & assorted detritus of an outdoor lifestyle out of it...PERFECT!  I had to wait 3 months to get my green 'cracker box' since that was a popular color at the time. Along the way I developed a bit of a sticker fetish & it became a work of art, maybe just folk art, but art nonetheless.

   

Regardless, my E became a postcard of the places I had been, people I had met along the way,  & a few places I was hoping to visit one day. At times I would come off the trails to find 'bonus' stickers stuck in the windows. Apparently some folks thought that 1 square foot of glass I had clear needed something! My E took me on many adventures: ultra runs all through the southeast, hike trips on the Batram,  Foothills, Continental Divide, Colorado & Appalachian Trails. It helped me move across the country twice & this fall moved my daughter into college.

I enjoyed that vehicle for 10 years, 227,000 miles, and unlimited adventures. 

I was heartbroken when Honda decided in 2011 to quit making the Element. I was not in a position to buy a new one at that time, but I began keeping my eye out whenever a 2011 came available. Seems most folks felt the same way as I did as there were not many coming on the market! Last week I found one in North Carolina that was just too good to pass up. Still under warranty, 4WD & a blank canvas for new bumper stickers!

So, with one last farewell hug to my 2003 (I did try to make sure the dealer didn't see me doing that), I set off in my new (to me) Element. Hoping for even more great explorations - being as it is all about the journey!

To tie it all together, in talking with Harold we were also discussing twitter & blogs & other such stuff & it occurred to me that writing about the E & my future adventures with it, including the acquisition of MORE STICKERS!, might be a good thing. And maybe, just maybe, other people would be interested in reading about it as well.

So let me know what you think: good, bad, indifferent.....

                                                           ..........But let the adventures begin!