Planning for Mt. LeConte

View from Mt. LeConte Summit Store

In less than two weeks a group of friends and co-workers is going to hike to the top of Mt. LeConte in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.  Three of us went last year and you can find a blog about that hike earlier in the entries on this site.  This year, we want a little more challenge so we are taking a longer route.  Last year's hike was 10 miles round trip.  This year we will begin on the Appalachian Trail at Newfound Gap and hike up to the Boulevard Trail and take it to the summit of LeConte.  That is about 8.1 miles on the first leg of our journey.  A few of us will also add another 1.4 miles by taking two spurs--the first is the Jumpoff that leaves Boulevard trail to go to a rock outcropping that overlooks Charlie's Bunion, and the second is the short jaunt off the trail to Myrtle's Point on Mt. LeConte.  This is one of the popular overlooks from near the summit.

While at the top of LeConte, we plan on eating lunch at LeConte Lodge.  If you pre-order you can get lunch here for $9.00 which includes soup, sandwich, cookies, and hot chocolate.  We didn't do this last year, but wished we had, so some of us plan on ordering the lunch this time.  I will wait to closer to hike date to order it and will definitely check the predicted weather conditions first.  Other neat opportunities await you at the summit of LeConte too.  Mail is carried down the mountain by llama (the same llamas that bring food to the folks that work up there all summer and to provide meals for the hikers that make reservations the year in advance that it takes to get to stay in the cabins at the top).  Last year, I sent a postcard to my parents from the top of this mountain, and they still have it on their refrigerator!  They loved it!  Also, there are t-shirts available for sale at the top, verifying that you made it all the way to the top.  They change the design each year, and it always give the year in which you made the trek to the top.  I will definitely buy one of those again this year!

2011 "I hiked Mt. LeConte" T-shirt

After spending some time resting and visiting the overlooks at the top of LeConte, we plan on coming down the Alum Cave Bluff trail which will lead us back to a vehicle we will leave at that parking area on our way to Newfound Gap that morning.  The hike down is 5.0 miles, which will give us total mileage of from 13.1 to 14.6 depending on which spurs each of us chooses to do.

I'm so excited about this hike.  The views were spectacular last year, so I am hoping for clear weather again.  Several of my hiking group have never been to LeConte even though they are more experienced than I am.  I really hope they get the experience of those spectacular views on that day!

You mean we gotta cross THAT???

Abram's Creek Crossing--unexpected turn in the path!

On a beautiful Sunday afternoon, my husband and I decided last minute to go do a quick hike--maybe 7 miles or so that we'd never done before.  We set out for the Abram's Creek Campground area because neither of us had ever hiked in that area and there was a little loop that looked to be a little over 7 miles.  We figured we could do this easily even though we got a late start since we hadn't even planned to hike on Sunday.

We left our car at the Abram's Creek Ranger Station parking lot, headed up Rabbit Creek Trail looking forward to a nice Sunday afternoon walk in the park!  We had absolutely no idea what lay in store for us on this clear, sunny Sunday.

It didn't take us long going up Rabbit Creek Trail to see the devastation that the tornadoes last spring had wreaked on this area.  I've never seen so many trees down in my entire life.  It seriously looked like a tree graveyard.  In fact it reminded me in places of what we called the "Boneyard" during our visits to Ossabaw Island, GA, a strictly controlled-access island off the coast of Savannah where old Live Oaks had been overtaken by the encroaching sea and left to stand on the deteriorating beach as nothing but skeletons of the majestic trees they once were.

Storm Damage on Rabbit Creek Trail

Tornado devastation

These trees, however, were lying askew down the slopes--hundreds of old evergreens and deciduous trees as well.  Mother Nature hadn't been picky.  If they were tall, they were fair game.  In fact, the lack of tree cover made this hike a steamy one.  We hit our water pretty hard as we made our way up those slopes in the glaring sun.  I made the decision right then and there that I will not do another spring or summer hike of any significant distance without my MSR Miniworks water pump/filter tucked neatly in my backpack.  It's just too easy to carry and use, not to have it with me when I need it.  There were lots of places along the way I could have pumped more water, but it's hard to do that if you didn't bring the pump! 

Pink Lady's Slippers on Rabbit Creek Trail

Although the sight of all these majestic trees downed was a bit depressing, there were some nice surprises along the way.  I was not expecting to find several different clumps of Pink Lady's Slippers growing right at the edge of the trail.  In fact, I saw more of these rare beauties on this hike than I've ever seen on any hike in the Smokies.  My husband had never seen one, so I got to share this exquisitely delicate flower with him, although, I'm not sure he was as impressed by them as I am--go figure!  Let me say this, in case you get tempted to go and dig some of these beauties up and take them home with you.  Not only is that illegal in a National Park, it is also a death sentence for the flowers.  These orchid-like flowers live in a symbiotic relationship with a fungus in the soil in the few areas where they can still be found.  If you dig up the flower, there is no way you can get enough of the fungus to transplant with them to sustain the bulbs in the ground.  They WILL die, so please just look at them, appreciate them, take pictures of them, and leave them alone.

Rabbit Creek Trail is not my favorite trail, in fact, I probably won't repeat that one again for a very long time.  I would be interested to see, though, how the area will have rebounded in 15-20 years.  I know the forest will repair itself, but it's hard to imagine it after seeing it this weekend.

Once we turned onto the Hannah Mountain Trail, though, the terrain changed and the scenery improved.  Once again, we were under the lush cover of trees and the temperatures cooled significantly.  This single-file footpath is more like what I expect when I go hiking in the Smokies.  Several small water crossings caused no inconvenience and the walk was pleasant.  It did, however, make you think of bear habitat.  At one point, we were talking loudly to let any nearby bear be aware of our approach and sure enough, we heard a bear startle and move off through the underbrush.  We never saw him, but I don't think it could have been a deer.  About a quarter of a mile up the trail from that point, we saw what I feel might be a bear den.  Some animal of pretty good size was definitely using it on a regular basis.  The trail to the cave-like area was beaten bare and worn smooth in places.  I didn't get any closer than this picture I took with my iPhone camera because I didn't want the Goldilocks story to play out for real.

Could this be a bear den?

At the end of Hannah Mountain Trail, I knew that the next trail, Little Bottoms, was supposed to run alongside Abram's Creek for the duration of our hike.  However, due to the fact that we were in a hurry to leave since we just up and decided to hike that day, I hadn't taken the time I usually take to research our route.  I expected to maybe just have a typical water crossing like many other hikes I've been on before.  Well, let me just say, such was NOT the case!  When we rounded the last bend as Hannah Mountain Trail approaches Abram's Creek, I was shocked at the expanse of water that stretched out before us.  Far on the other side was the rest of the trail.  However, there was NO footbridge here.  Simply water, and LOTS of it!

Abram's Creek Crossing on Hannah Mountain Trail

It's hard to tell from this picture, but in those dark areas, the water was deep, you could tell that much from the bank.  The question was HOW DEEP?  I had lost one of my Keen sandals that I carry just in case I run into a water crossing too deep for my hiking boots, so I knew my feet would be wet the rest of the trip.  We looked upstream and downstream of this spot and found no better location to cross--water in those areas was moving entirely to fast.  We did, however, startle up a family of four river otters who were playing right here just above where we ended up crossing.  It was fascinating to watch as they made their way upstream; the trout were literally jumping out of the water to get out of their way.  If it weren't for the encounter with another creature a little further on down the trail, I would say I'd like to bring my fly-fishing equipment back with me to this spot.  But, no, I don't think I'll be doing that!

After taking our lunch break staring into this water and trying to plan the best route to take in attempting to cross it, we finally decided to prepare to swim in those darkest areas.  It looked very deep and the water was moving pretty swiftly.  I must say, I was just a little scared about trying this.  We never did really have to swim, although I had wrapped my cellphone in everything plastic I had in my pack.  At two different points, I did have to go down on my hands and knees though to crawl over a submerged boulder because I couldn't see or feel bottom around it with my hiking sticks.  Had those boulders not been there, we would have been swimming.

Yes!  I did it!

Finally, after carefully maneuvering our way across, wet from the waist down, and thankful for good traction on Keen hiking boots, we emerged on the other side, really pretty proud of ourselves and feeling good that we had not turned around and gone back like we considered doing.  It's times like this one is thankful for the new fabrics that dry SO quickly.  I learned something else on that day too.  I don't think I'll carry hiking sandals for water crossings in the summer anymore.  My Keen boots and socks were still very comfortable even though saturated with water for the rest of the trip.  I never developed any issues as a result of that.  In fact, I cooled my feet intentionally in water a couple more times as we made our way down Little Bottoms Trail toward the parking area.

One more incident worth telling about happened as we had climbed away from the river again, back up into the scorching sun of tornado ravaged terrain.  We were tired by now and the adrenaline rush from having crossed the river was wearing down into fatigue.  I was in front, and suddenly I heard my husband behind me say, "Keep walking!"  Not sure what that meant, I turned to look at him.  Now, we've been married for almost 25 years, and I've never seen my husband as shaken as he was at that moment.  We've encountered a black bear at point blank range on the AT before, and that was scary, but I've never seen him shaking literally all over, but that's what was happening at that instant.  After putting a little more distance between us and whatever it was he was afraid of, we looked back to see a timber rattler crossing the trail where we had just been--a HUGE timber rattler!  That snake was probably 6 feet long and seemed to be as big around as my wrist.  I had not seen him when I must have passed within just a couple feet of him, but he began "rattling" after I passed him, just as my husband came alongside him.  My husband had followed the rattles to the head of the snake which was only a couple of feet from where he stood at the instant he told me to "Keep Walking!"  Needless to say, I didn't stick around to get his picture!

After we had walked another couple hundred yards and were just beginning to gather ourselves back together, my husband said, "there's a pack of wolves!"  I couldn't believe this and thought he must just be hallucinating or something.  No way could we have stumbled across a bear, river otters, a timber rattler, and a pack of wolves all on the same hike!  He was still shaking and had trouble getting the pistol out of his pocket (we always go armed with a small handgun, more for protection from some two-legged creature than any animal we might encounter in the woods).  I'm not sure he could have cocked it though, he was still so shaken by the snake encounter.  Soon, I too, saw a canine coming up out of the creek.  When I looked more closely though, I told him, laughingly, that it was a black lab!  In his state of heightened defenses after our timber rattler, he just assumed the worst since we hadn't seen people in miles.  However, here, back down now level with the creek a couple was innocently letting their dogs play in the water.  Later, at home safely in bed that night, we laughed until we cried about our "pack of wolves."

I must say, though, that one of my favorite sights on this particular hike was that of my red Mustang convertible sitting in the parking lot when we finally made our way, stressed, hot, thirsty, and out of water,  back to our starting point. 

Finally back to the car after quite a hike!

Wildflowers in White Oak Sinks

Yellow Lady's Slipper

Spicebush Swallowtail

This was an incredible day!  Today, my daughter, Kacey, and I hiked up from Schoolhouse Gap Trailhead to White Oak Sinks in search of the annual showing of blue phlox, trillium, and purple phacelia.  We were NOT disappointed!  The showing included everything from Foamflower and Bishop's Cap to both Yellow and Pink Lady's Slippers in a stunning display.  The valley floor of White Oak Sinks was simply carpeted with lovely wildflowers.  Shooting Stars surprised us, and butterflies visited from flower to flower, daring you to capture their never-still wings on camera.  I was blessed to be revisiting this beautiful place after an absence of about six years (except for a premature visit about two weeks ago when very little was in bloom).  At that earlier time, Kacey and I were in a group of hikers taking a guided tour during the Spring Wildflower Pilgrimage in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.  There we learned the names of many of the flowers that we again saw today and that we have come to know so well in the years since.  I remember the thrill of entering that exquisite valley for the first time, awestruck with the beauty that this special place holds.  It was almost as thrilling again today!

Sidelined and not happy about it.

Well, I've had to bow out on two hikes now as a result of a shin splint. Two weeks ago after the hike with all those water crossings, I felt the best I've ever felt after a hike! And that was no EASY hike! So the next day in an honest effort to lose the extra weight that is so obvious in these hiking pictures, I went to the gym, hopped on the arc trainer, opened my iPad to my new book, AWOL on the Appalachian Trail, and did 30 minutes of strength training. That 30 minutes went by so fast I was amazed and actually thought "it's gonna be easy to get in shape like this!".

Well, so much for that theory! The next morning I woke to severe pain and restricted movement in my left leg that I was totally not expecting. It was all I could do to move around that huge school building I work in. For the last week and a half I've babied my leg, put on heat or ice depending on what I felt I needed, and hoped to be able to hike during Spring Break. I've cancelled two hikes now: one last weekend and one tomorrow. I finally went to the doctor today just to be sure there wasn't something bad wrong.

So the diagnosis is what I expected and the knot on the back of that leg is apparently just fatty tissue. I am cleared to ride the Virginia Creeper Trail on Tuesday, but Doc told me to go easier on the hiking. Guess I need to hike with my hubby who doesn't think hiking is a race! I love my Bucket Brigade hiking buddies and I will hike with them, but I hope they will allow me to ease back into our routine.

Water Crossings and Downed Trees--3.3.12

First of many water crossings on this day

This hike was bound to be unique simply because it almost didn't/couldn't happen!  On Friday evening tornadoes and severe thunderstorms tore through the East Tennessee area.  I heard that Wears' Valley had a tornado sighting, and I figured that might be the end of our hike.  The storms did cause the closing of Little River Road, but thankfully, the hike we had planned for Saturday required access via Laurel Creek Road instead.  Saturday morning dawned clear and beautiful, so we piled in the truck and headed to the mountains after checking Twitter to make sure no more roads were closed.

Up, up, and away--on Rich Mountain Trail.

This hike began across the street from the parking area at the entrance to Cades Cove.  We met a park ranger as we were looking for the trail head.  His only words of advice were: "Hope you've got waterproof shoes!  The water crossings ought to be interesting!"  Boy, was he right!  We began by hiking up Rich Mountain Loop to Crooked Arm Ridge Trail.  Less than a quarter of a mile in, we encountered our first Water Crossing of the day--the first of eight!  This one was so deep that there was no way to cross it dry.  Off came the shoes and I was glad I had strapped my Keen sandals to my backpack that day.  I put those on and waded across.  Everyone else went barefoot, but it was really a great beginning to our adventure! 

After drying our feet and putting our boots back on, we began the climb up Crooked Arm Ridge.  This ridge rises at a rate of about 670 feet per mile, but there are enough nice views along the way to provide photo opps (which double as resting opps!) to make it really a very pleasant climb.  Before long we came to our first real breaking spot at the crest of this ridge.  Here we enjoyed absolutely beautiful views of Cades Cove from about 3100 feet above the valley.  It was exquisite!  

Looking down on Cades Cove from Crooked Arm Ridge Trail

Along the route today, we had to maneuver over and under and around several fallen trees.  I guess the winds from the storms the night before were powerful enough to split or dislodge some limbs or tree trunks.  Some of them were very obviously new breaks.  

 After our snack break we resumed climbing just a little further to the intersection with Scott Mountain Trail.  This turned out to be one of my favorite trails I've ever hike in these mountains.  This trail travels mostly along the ridge that acts as the dividing line between the National Park and private property.  I loved walking along that ridge.  It reminded me of the ridge that we hiked on our trip last summer along the Appalachian Trail.  Look to your right...Smoky Mountain.  Look to your left into a valley of quaint homes and pastureland.  Well, one of the homes wasn't so "quaint"!  At one point, I looked up from the path to see a beautiful log home built on the very top of Scott Mountain.  My DREAM home!  It was anything but quaint!

Scott Mountain Trail had many appealing features.  There were quite a few water crossings, although these were small enough to rock hop and I'm not sure many of them are there in dry weather.  It also was home to Campsite #6 which sits right atop the ridge and would be a fantastic place to camp.  I didn't get to go up and check it out because there was a hiker already up there, but that was a beautiful place.  Also along this trail was one of the largest trees I've ever seen in the Smokies.  I don't know what kind it is unless it's a very large Tulip Poplar.  Its branches were so high up in the sky, I couldn't tell exactly what the blossoms that appeared to be breaking out really looked like.  I believe it would have taken all four of my hiking group to reach around it with our fingers touching.  Two of us couldn't even come close.  It was awe-inspiring to say the least.  

Very old Tulip Poplar

Scott Mountain Trail

At the end of Scott Mountain Trail, we stopped to have our lunch and were tempted by a picnic table which apparently belonged to a house which sits at that intersection of Scott Mountain Trail, Schoolhouse Gap Trail and a little gravel road that leads off the mountain down into the valley we'd been looking into for the last mile.  Andrea refused to eat on a picnic table that was personal property, although I bet the owners put it there for hikers to use actually.  Therefore, we propped on some large rocks nearby and ate our peanut butter sandwiches, trail mix, and beef jerky before we made our way down this leg of the hike.  Schoolhouse Gap Trail eventually took us to the juncture of the little, heretofore unmarked trail that leads down into White Oak Sinks where I want us to visit this spring in search of wildflowers.  This is the place Kacey and I went to with a park ranger during one of our early adventures with the Spring Wildflower Pilgrimage.  I can't wait to go back now that I've found the trailhead.  After that, we were almost back to our second car that we had left at the trailhead of Schoolhouse Gap Trail.  This stone bridge is what Laurel Creek Road crosses the creek on and it is just one example of some of the architectural elements in this park that I love so much.

Laurel Creek Bridge

Cade's Cove to Tremont

Our hike yesterday took us from the parking area of the Cade's Cove Picnic Area to Tremont Institute. When my daughter, Kacey, found out that's where we were hiking she said: "Mom, that's a heck of a long way in a car!"  Total mileage on this hike was 9 miles. We began on Anthony Creek Trail for just a little bit then picked up Crib Gap Trail just because it is one that we wouldn't be able to get to any other time. That took us along Laurel River Road down to the intersection with Turkeypen Ridge Trail that we did on our last excursion. This little trail was lined in many places with large rhododendron bushes and we discussed how beautiful this would be in the season when they were in bloom. Andrea had told me to keep an eye out for Blood Root, my favorite wildflower which does make its appearance early in the lower elevations. It was still a little early, but even this short conversation about the blood root made my heart thrill to memories of traversing these woods with Kacey in search of various wildflowers. It won't be long now until those sweet blossoms peak up from the leaf litter on the forest floor to smile up at us.  I can't wait!

At the end of Crib Gap Trail, we began an almost two mile ascent up the western slope of Bote Mountain on Lead Cove Trail. We wondered as we wandered along this trail if it were pronounced lead as in "to lead someone along" or if it were pronounced like the metal. Come to find out, it is named after the lead ore that was once mined here. This trail is a steady ascent of about 1400 ft in 1.8 miles.  This required several stops along the way to let the pounding heartbeat in my ears subside and let my lungs fill up with oxygen again.  We did notice some nice views along the way and some massive tulip poplars beginning to bloom way above our heads.  We were all glad to see the top of Bote Mountain at the small clearing where Lead Cove and Bote Mountain Trails come together.  After kissing the signpost, we stopped for lunch--really just an excuse to let our rubbery legs become a bit more stable before moving on.

Glad to see the top of Lead Cove Trail!

The views at that summit were almost 360 degrees, and I am kicking myself for not remembering that my new iPhone 4S has a video camera in it.  That would have been a nice place to get some video, but I didn't think about it until probably half a mile down the Bote Mountain Trail.  Laura said she'd wait for me if I wanted to go back up and get the video, but I declined her invitation to do that.  The Bote Mountain Trail is wide, but it was terribly rocky.  Loose rocks about 4 or 5 inches or larger in diameter absolutely littered the trail making the descent tricky.  Numerous times I was glad my hiking boots were tall enough to provide significant ankle support.  I was glad to get to the point where we left Bote Mountain Trail and got on the West Prong Trail.  This little trail was narrow, but the leaves that covered it were much nicer that the rocks that characterized the Bote Mountain Trail giving it the attributes that I think of most when I think of hiking in the Smokies.

This beautiful little trail led us down to Backcountry Campsite #18.  I have heard about these campsites for many years, but this is the first one I'd seen.  It was absolutely beautiful!  The Middle Prong of the Little River runs right through it and there are nice areas for four different camping groups to set up camp.  At least two of the campsites had bear bag hanging racks mounted in the trees, which would eliminate one of the major challenges of backcountry camping--keeping the bears from getting your food!  I do wish that the campsites included an outhouse like the shelters along the Appalachian Trail have, because several of us would have benefited from that feature about that time in our hike.

Great Smoky Mountains National Park Backcountry Campsite #18

Footbridge at Backcountry Campsite #18

After spending some time exploring the campsite, we crossed the Middle Prong along one of those marvelous log bridges common in the Smokies and began the final leg of our journey.  The trail, still West Prong Trail, maintained its characteristic narrow and switchback nature as it made its way up another ridge.  We passed a couple with their young son about 20 minutes into this last part of our journey.  We told them how beautiful the river was not far below them.  You could tell that mom was less than thrilled to hear that, but her son really needed to make that trek and see it for himself.  The boy's dad seemed excited to be taking him there, and I believe he was glad to get the encouragement.  Sorry lady--I hope you toughed it out for your son's sake.

By this time, over 6 hours into our hike, every fiber in my calves was burning and my shoulders were aching too.  Reaching the Tremont parking lot was a welcome event, but this hike had been enjoyable.  Laura and I had the discussion along the way that this hike (for new miles) was very different from a destination hike, like Mt. Leconte.  Even though Leconte was longer, it was a much more interesting and enjoyable hike.  I seemed to struggle more with this hike than I did the last couple hikes although the distance and terrain was about the same.  I've got to do a better job with between hike training and nutrition.  That's something I have to work on over the coming weeks.

After loading back up into Kirsten's car, we made a quick stop at Tremont Institute's gift shop where Laura got her a map to highlight the trails she's hiked on and Kirsten found me a copy of Day Hiker's Guide to All the Trails in the Smoky Mountains. This is the book we are using to help us decide how to make the most out of our trips in terms of trying to hike the 900.  She bought it for me.  In return, she said just hike with her and if anything bad ever happens to her on a hike, make sure we either get her out or get someone else to get her out!  Not a bad trade either way.

Small falls into the Middle Prong

Middle Prong of the Little River

Once back in our car, before driving back to Knoxville, we decided to drive up the Middle Prong road which runs along an old railroad where a logging community once thrived.  Since Andrea is a history teacher and major geneology buff, we purchased the little guide that goes along with the road tour and she read to us the history of the settlement as we made our way up the gravel road.  It was interesting to get a glimpse of life the way it would have been in the 1930s in these mountains.  Some of the prettiest sites of the day came along that road.  The Middle Prong of the Little River is as pretty as any mountain stream I've ever seen.  I will be returning here with my husband to fish this river this spring.  It looks quite promising.  Also, it leads up to the juncture with Lynn Camp Prong which is currently closed to fishermen.  In this stream there is a concerted effort to rebuild the population of the native Brook Trout.  Someday, I hope Bunk and I will return to Lynn Camp Prong to catch and release a few native brookies!

The GSMNP 900?!? No promises; NEW miles!

Ok, so my little hiking group has a new goal (sort of)!  The Great Smoky Mountains National Park has 900 miles of official trails that are now calling our name.  Our hikes have taken on new direction, and new meaning.  Some of us have officially, Andrea and Kirsten, decided they want to try to hike all 900 miles over the coming years.  Because I want to do so many other things too, like Appalachian Trail hiking, bike riding, fly fishing--just to name a few, I haven't chosen to  accept that challenge at this time.

I will probably never do all 900, and that will be ok with me.  However, what I have undertaken as my challenge is to log as many new miles as possible on the hikes that I do in the Smokies now.  Currently, to the best of my ability, I have recreated my hiking adventures since moving back to Tennessee and have hiked 61.8 of the 900 miles of trails right here in my backyard.  I have hiked over a hundred total miles, but much of that was repeat mileage.  For instance, when I hiked to Grotto Falls and back, I covered 7 miles, but only 3.5 of those were new miles.  Same with Mt. Leconte--total of 10 miles, but only 5 new miles.

This past weekend our group did a loop hike that began about a couple miles down the mountain from the entrance to Cades Cove.  We hiked Finley Cane trail to Bote Mountain trail to Schoolhouse Gap trail and then traversed across Turkeypen Ridge, returning to our cars a total of 8.9 miles later.  On this day, we covered 7.8 new miles that none of us had ever hiked before.

Our hike was relaxing and not nearly as steep as climbing Chinquapin Ridge on the Walker Sisters hike a couple weeks earlier.  Our pace was quick though.  With only four hikers on this day, those who usually break out and end up waiting for the rest of us at waypoints along the hike stayed closer.  That challenged the older or less experienced members of the group to walk more briskly than usual to keep from hindering the youngsters.  I was proud of the pace I was able to sustain, but I don't feel like I get to see as much when I walk that quickly. Also, we never stopped to sit down for even a minute, so my conditioning is getting better, something that should serve me well this summer when, hopefully, we do another section of the AT.

This hike was characterized by several water crossings and since we've had a good bit of rain lately, they were challenges in the rock-hopping department.  In fact, the last one (thankfully it was the last or we'd have had wet feet all day) wasn't a rock hop at all.  It was just a wade on tiptoes and hope your boots are tall enough to keep the river out.  Mine were great! Only the top of my sock got wet on one foot, but one of our hikers had on low-cut hiking shoes and she was soaked.  That water was pretty cold too, seeing as we did the hike in January!  She was glad to get back to the car where we found her some dry socks.

One nice surprise on this hike though, due to all the rain, was an unexpected waterfall on the Turkeypen Ridge trail.  I'm not sure that it would be there at all on a day when weather had been dry for a while, so I felt privileged to stand and watch it's somewhat ethereal beauty.  It was quite pretty how it cascaded down the mountain, changing course when it hit a section of large rock outcroppings, veering off into what was almost a cave-like opening available to it as it rerouted around the boulders.

I find myself feeling very fortunate to have the camaraderie of such a wonderful group of ladies to hike with during this transition time in my life.  This is definitely helping to fill the void left by children who are growing up, moved out, and needing me less (or at least in different ways--seems like all they really need me for right now is money! And that's ok, too, for now).  I am sort of remaking myself, similar to the way they are finding their way into their futures.  I, too, feel like I'm finding new paths into mine.  And I'm liking it!