A few days on The Appalachain Trail for 2015

Dudes and dudettes! What a pleasant surprise this 4 day section; July 14-17th, of the AT proved to be! And I should not be surprised as any part of middle and southern Appalachia that I have visited in it's natural state has been beautiful. The next several entries will cover the duration of the excursion.

The Mysterious One and I began this northbound walk from Brown's Grocery in Hampton TN, where we were able to park the car and hike the 1/4 mile or so up the paved road (left out of the parking lot), to the Laurel Falls Trailhead (on the right), which takes you into the forest and provides access to the AT in about a mile.

Having reached the AT late in the afternoon we hiked in 4+mls and set up our tent in the Pond Flats Vicinity. Shortly after darkness fell we were greeted with some tremendous rains which continued for what seemed like several hours, stopped and began again just before daylight. The rain stopped again as we were waking which was a blessing. The tent held up fairly well with only minor seepage in the door/zipper seams and some condensation dripping from the rain-fly, yet with all the moisture it was keeping out I was pleased. The next day was warm and muggy.

New Bear Closures and updates in the Smokies

The Cosby Knob Shelter is closed due to bear activity, as well as campsites 36, 37, and 38. The following areas have had recent bear activity and caution and awareness should be used when utilizing these trails, campsites, and shelters. Shelters: Le Conte Lodge, Le Conte Shelter, Davenport, Derrick Knob and Russell Field Campsites: 13, 24, 82, 83, 84, 85, 86, and 88 Trails: Baskins Creek and Laurel Falls.

Women of Southern Appalachia

Great Smoky Mountains National Park will host the annual Women’s Work Festival at the Mountain Farm Museum on Saturday, June 20. This festival honors the vast contributions made by the women of Southern Appalachian and showcases lifeways that women used to keep their families going in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. The event is from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. and all activities are free.
As part of the celebration, demonstrations among the historic buildings will include hearth cooking, soap making, cornshuck crafts, and sewing. Exhibits of artifacts and historic photographs will also provide a glimpse into the many and varied roles of rural women. The Davis-Queen house will be open for visitors to walk through with an audio exhibit featuring the last child born in the house. This event provides families with a chance not only to see into the past, but also participate, through hands-on activities of traditional southern Appalachia.
In addition to the Women's Work Festival activities, visitors will also be treated to a music jam session on the porch of the Oconaluftee Visitor Center. Music jam sessions are held every first and third Saturday of the month on the porch from 1:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m.
All activities are free to the public. The Mountain Farm Museum is located on Newfound Gap Road adjacent to the Oconaluftee Visitor Center, 2 miles north of Cherokee, North Carolina. For additional information call the visitor center at 828-497-1904.

Flowers in the Smokies

The flowers in the Smokies have been fabulous so far this year with the Mountain Laurel on the backside of its bloom but many still very pretty! This immediate area is, for the most part, like 4 inches+ short of the rain we usually get this month. Some spots have received relief with pop-up thunderstorms and brief, heavy rain.

Over the last three weeks the hikes I have taken have offered the annual display of natural and native colors. I have walked several trails including some otg, however the majority of these blooms were occurring on marked trails no more than a mile from parking areas.

Abrams Creek and Crossing Water

This awesome day-hike began on the Rabbit Creek trail, departing from the Abram's Creek Ranger Station. The Mysterious One, and I took this walk on easter Sunday which covered sections of trails we had never hiked. The first 2.7 mls is relatively moderate for the experienced hiker.

At the 2.7ml mark, there is an intersection of trails and where one will find campsite #16. We went left onto the Hannah Mtn Trail and a pleasant hike on a route which does not apparently get used as much as others. This lack of traffic could be for a couple of reasons, one being it's location in an area of the park not accessed by the "multitudes" whom visit the GSMNP each year, and another being that if one plans to complete this portion of trail then they must cross Abrams Creek on their own without a bridge. This water crossing is described by some of the guide books for the Smokies as the most difficult in the park with that level of difficulty dependent on several factors such as snow melt and/or recent rains which of course raise the flow of the stream. As I noted earlier we completed this route on Sunday April 5th, a day after some significant rain, during a rainy spring season, and the snow melt was still being felt in the streams. Caution and preparedness must be utilized anytime one makes a significant water crossing. Once we arrived at this crossing we packed our day-packs for the water, reviewed the strength and depth of the water in a few places, and chose one to began our crossing. I tried to slow walk facing up stream but lost my footing after a few feet and was quickly swept into the current so I assumed the position and guided myself across the strong currents using my feet by pushing off the bottom and large rocks. This picture is just a few feet downstream from where we crossed and you can see Hannah Mountain Trail coming down to the water through the trees.

The Mysterious One, who was on a boulder waiting for me to try first, asked how deep it was as I was pushing and paddling my way across and I said "hold on", and went completely under trying to touch the bottom. This depth was in the deeper channels which we had noticed before we started by the darker color reflected by these deeper waters. So I make it across relatively safely and after that the mysterious one makes shallow dive into one of the deeper spots and is quickly across. Having done so we noticed that we were in a secluded spot because we had crossed upstream from the main path and so we lost the wet clothes, hung them in nearby bushes and had lunch. After eating and partially drying our clothes we packed up and finished the mile plus to the crowded Abrams Falls, where we sat for a few minutes and then returned via the Little Bottoms Trail. This trail is a moderate route for the most part with some more challenging sections depending on your health and the miles you may have already accumulated that day.

This was a really fulfilling hike and one I'll do again in another season when the water level is likely to be lower.

As a man once said...."And now, for the rest of the story"

 This is a continuation of the previous entry. 
This particular area of southwest Virginia/southeast Kentucky is somewhat remote in that given it's rugged terrain and thankfully, the absence of any major interstates close by, masses of people do not travel here.  Thus some of the history remains, some of the native culture(s) remains, some of the local communities remain and even some clean mountain water still remains.
These things however are threatened with each days continuous destruction of the mountains of middle-Appalachia, to an unnecessary, and most destructive form of mining known as mountaintop removal, (mtr).
I took this photo from the side of the road going up Black Mountain, from Big Stone Gap VA, shortly after leaving Lake KeoKee and the Jefferson NF. This mtr site is massive, though far from the biggest, and sits on the KY-VA border.

As the highway crossed the state-line at the top of Black Mountain, (4700ft+) and I began my decent into Kentucky along the narrow winding road I realize how close this hike was to poisoned water sources.
My travels took me into Benham KY, about 30+ minutes from the state-line atop  Black Mountain, and to the small community which has embraced it's history as, among other things, a coal mining town.
Two things I'd suggest to visit while in this community is a stay at the School House Inn, and the coal mining museum across the street. Both of which are very easy to find in this small town. 
I wish I did not have to so obviously enter into this topic.  However it is very important that folks from outside the areas affected directly become more aware of the true cost of coal and the roles we do play, and can play in stopping this crime against humanity. (See  ilovemountains.org for further information.) 

Lake KeoKee, in Southwest Virginia.

Wow! what a beautiful visual this lake and area provided within this portion of the Jefferson National Forest, in SW VA.














I was making my way from the Appalachian Studies Conference in Johnson City, TN which had wrapped up on Sunday and with a day to myself before the next commitment in Benham KY, on Tuesday I thought I'd hike some new areas for myself.  A search of the internet and google maps led me to this fairly easy to access part of the Jefferson NF.

I came from Big Stone Gap and 23w and my Garmin (GPS thing), kept a signal the whole way; I had written them down before leaving my hotel just in case, and though only about 15 mls from the exit off of 23w, it takes like 25 minutes do to the nature of the roads (i.e. curvy).
Facing the lake from the parking lot, where you'll find some enclosed composting toilets, I started on the trail to the left sideof the lake.
This route was fairly modest in difficulty and is a 3.7 ml. loop  around the lake.