Blog Update - Wildfires and How to Help

First, please STILL stay out of the Gatlinburg area. First responders are still trying to clear roads from downed trees and power lines. The Red Cross is not accepting any volunteers that are not Red Cross Trained. Upon last known update, a curfew was being imposed in Gatlinburg between the hours of 6pm to 6am.

If you have new items you would like to donate and don't have a way to get it there, let us know. We can schedule a pickup in the Union County, Anderson County, and North Knox County areas. The persons delivering our items will be going up on Friday, Dec 2nd.

If you still want to volunteer, Volunteer East Tennessee is working to connect volunteers to volunteer needs.
Visit https://www.volunteeretn.org/DisasterRecovery
They will be able to assist you in finding the best place for your skills.

Wildfire in the Smokies - How To Help

Updated info as of 11/30 here: https://www.appalachiaandbeyond.com/2016/11/blog-update-wildfires-and-how-to-help.html

Most of you have heard about the devastating wildfires that have affected the East Tennessee area. Last night, Gatlinburg and the part of the National forest that stretches between Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge - known as the Spur - was victim of an enormous, swift moving wildfire. Hundreds of homes and structures were damaged or destroyed and many, many people were displaced, some at this time still looking for family members including beloved pets.

It is sad, sad news. We are heartbroken for all of these victims, for all of the animals affected, and for our ancient mountains as well. Although as old as they are they've probably seen more fires than any of us could imagine, but in my lifetime, I've never seen anything like it in the Smokies.

There are more than 2000 people, at this time, that are in local shelters - more than 14,000 people evacuated. With this being #GivingTuesday, you may be wondering what you can do to help.

Featured Parks Page

We hope that you are all staying cozy and warm on this chilly autumn day. If you are like us then you are sitting back relaxing with a warm cup o' joe. We just wanted to stop in for a minute and let y'all know that we have a new page on the blog. It's the "Featured Parks" page. Every so often we plan on featuring a new park, forest, wilderness area, etc. This month our feature is Cumberland Gap National Historic Park which straddles the borders of Tennessee, Kentucky, and Virginia.  So take a moment and hop on over to the new page, give it a look-see, and let us know what you think.

Happy Trails,
Tim and Robin

Max Patch or Bust....

So Sunday afternoon, after my mom and nephew left to head back home, Robin, the Rugrat, the trusty side kick, and I decided to take off and head out towards North Carolina and try our luck in finding Max Patch Meadows again. That's right I said again. We've attempted to go there 2 previous times and both times were failures. Regardless we had fun just getting out and about those two times. After a little research, making sandwiches, packing drinks in a cooler, and getting the rest of our gear together, we were out the door and on our way.

Max Patch Meadows is just over the border from Tennessee, in the Pisgah National Forest in North Carolina. It's just up from Harmon's Den. Those of you who have been on the AT for any amount of time or at least have studied and dreamed of doing the AT should be familiar with Max Patch. It is a bald sitting at 4,616' in elevation along the Appalachian Trail. The directions to get there have improved since our last voyage to get there and the signs once you exit the interstate (at least from the Harmon's Den exit #7 on I-40) have gotten better.

There is lots of flora and fauna to view on the trip up once you exit the interstate and head up the graveled forest service road. Tons of yellow, purple, orange, and red flowers. The rhododendrons were blooming in the gully's as we traversed the road and switchbacks on the way up. I will save all the technicals as there are plenty of sites that go over that much better than I can, such as: http://www.wildlifesouth.com/Locations/NorthCarolina/MaxPatchRd.html and http://www.griztrax.net/hiking/MaxPatch/Max.htm.

Anyway, it only took us about an hour or so once we left town and got on our way. We arrived at the parking area for Max Patch around 4:30pm or so. It was a nice uneventful drive the whole way there and not a sign of rain anywhere as we traveled. However the second we parked the windshield was littered with drops. We sat for a minute debating on whether to wait or head on up. Well the rugrat and I out voted Robin and we decided to head on up. We could see several other visitors (hikers, sight seers, etc.) headed down. Our trusty side kick seemed keen to get up the trail as well so on we went. I have to say that from the parking lot looking up to the top of the bald it doesn't look like a very steep route up. Boy was I deceived. It didn't help that by the time we were half way up the trail my entire back was soaked. As a matter of fact, all of our backs were soaked and Robin's glasses were of no help as they were totally wet with drops of rain. Every once in a while the rain would slack off but as we continued up, it would start up again. Needless to say, this had to be the stupidest thing we had ever done. We know better than to go into the mountains without having rain gear in the summer. As most of you know, a storm or shower can pop up in the mountains without a moments notice.

Despite the situation we arrived atop the bald and the view was spectacular. We stayed up there for a few minutes. The rain stopped long enough for Robin to snap a few shots. I have to say it's not a complete panoramic view from one spot. You have to move from one side to the other to see everything, but other than that, it's not that bad. We finally decided to head back down. Of course the rain wasn't complete. We were completely soaked by the time we got back down. I had rain dripping from my eyebrows into my eyes and would have to wipe my brow with my hand, or would shake my head to no avail.

The funniest thing happened once we got back to the parking lot. Yep you guessed it. The rain stopped, and the sun came out. D'oh, if only we had listened to Robin. We could have went up the trail at a leisurely pace. We could have taken our time, taken the big camera and tripod and got some really good shots. Oh well, that's just our luck sometimes. Anyway we hung around long enough to pull our shoes off and don the flip flops. We got dry enough to not be dripping anymore and decided it was time to head out.

Overall, it was indeed a fun and memorable experience. We finally found the infamous Max Patch. We will definitely have to go back again sometime. I would absolutely love to go up there sometime in the winter when the meadow is covered in snow. Talk about a great place to go sledding. Anyway, enjoy the pictures. If you find you have the time, there a few cabins up there that one can rent. You'll just have to Google "Max Patch Cabins" and you should find some suitable results.

Until next time, happy trails.

Tim and the gang.

The Rugrat, the Sidekick on 4 legs, and Moi.

Robin and Tim with the Sidekick's Tail
On Top of Max Patch

One of the Views from Max Patch

The Sidekick
Ready to Head Back to the Homestead

The View from the Parking Lot Whilst in the Car
(See it doesn't look that steep now does it?)

Speed Racer Himself
(Don't I wish?)

The Sidekick, Relaxin on the way Home.
("This is a chin rest Doddy Mans, not an armrest", so says the Sidekick)

Trees....

It was February 9, 2008 and winter had beared down upon us for far too long in our opinions, we decided the pretty day would be the perfect opportunity to bring our daughter to see the trees. The trees I speak of are the enormous 200 - 400 year old untouched tulip poplars that stand in the old growth forest known to us around here as the Joyce Kilmer Memorial Forest, thus named after the poet, Joyce Kilmer, known for the work "Trees". Joyce Kilmer Memorial Forest is located in the Slick Rock Wilderness Area in Robbinsville, North Carolina, just off the Cherohala Skyway, and is part of the Nantahala National Forest.

The trail around the memorial forest is a easy 2 mile figure-eight loop trail that meanders through the forest and along the Little Santeetlah Creek. The four of us (Robin, Kiddo, and our trusty side kick Clover Beene) began the hike. The first half mile or so is very pretty with lots of vegetation and a few wooden steps along the way. You can just start to imagine the size of the trees on up in the forest at this point as you gaze at the one in the first half of the trail.

After the first half mile or so you come to the intersection of the two loops of the figure eight. Here lies a memorial to Joyce Kilmer. As we continued along the trail we really began to see the awesomeness of the tulip poplars in all their glory. At one point along the trail we all decided to see if we could wrap ourselves around one of the trees. We each took sides of the tree and stretched our arms as far as they could and just barely touch each others finger tips.

As the hike continued the trees got bigger and bigger. I believe the yougin' was rather impressed with the beauty that laid upon her eyes. Some trees we posed at pretending to try and climb with all our might. We came to a pair of trees that were close enough together so that we could climb up a couple feet between them with our backs on one and our feet on the other. We did so and took pictures of each other. Even Beene wanted in on this fun.

Before long we were back at the intersection and beginning the last section of the hike, which meanders through a thick growth of Rhododendron and eventually joins back alongside the creek. After a little bit we emerged from the trail pleased with the wondrous views. Once of the trail we made our calls to nature, found some sticks to use as wizard wands, which to this day kiddo stills likes to find sticks to play Harry Potter with.

If you have children, or love the outdoors and nature, we highly recommend this trail as it is relatively easy, and very beautiful indeed. Robin and I have now done the trail twice, but have yet to do it in any other season than the end of winter. We will definitely have to go back in the spring, summer, and fall to see the trees and their natural surroundings in the rest of their splendor.

Indian's and Their Boundries

It was the 13th of January and the winter season was still bearing down upon us. Nevertheless, our cabin fever was nearing critical limits and we were itching to get out of the house. So, after sitting down in front of the trusty computer for a short while to figure out what to do, we had a plan to battle the cabin fever. We decided we would set out to glimpse some wildlife of the avian kind and any other woodland creatures we might find. Our destination was a bird viewing motor loop.

Being as cold as it was, we decided it would be best not to attempt any major hikes, we set out in the car and headed south towards the Cherohala Skyway in the Cherokee National Forest to drive the Tellico Auto Loop for wildlife viewing.

It was a beautiful drive, and we couldn't have asked for better weather. A few points of interest along the loop included The Indian Boundary, and the river area campgrounds along one of the Forest Service roads. The country back here was beautiful indeed, especially off the beaten path along the service road where the woods are thick and the river runs wild.

We did see a handful of wild birds, but other than that we didn't see much else. Below are some of the captures of the day.

Be on the look out for for the upcoming posts: Joyce Kilmer (Any relation to Val?) and O&W Bridge, do they make rootbeer too?