First Walk (Not quite a hike)

On New Years Eve day, the weather was phenomenal, and considering it was likely going to be the last pretty day for a little while we decided to take full advantage of it and get out for a bit. Granted we've been out a couple times since the wee little one arrived almost two weeks ago, it's not been any getting out that we wanted to do. It seems that when you go out because you have to it feels more like a chore than it does anything else regardless if you've been cooped up for any length of time (just ask Robin). It was different this time. Yes, we did hit the big local box mart but not before we got outside and filled our lungs with some much needed fresh air.

Hiking to Camp Sam - Norris Dam State Park 7/2/2011

Another 4th of July has come and past us by. Two weeks later and the neighbors are finally getting the fireworks out of their system. Of course it'll probably be another 2 weeks before their completely out of explosives... and then they'll reach into their ammunition stores. For the rest of us (here at the Bird House) we are over the basement fiasco, thankfully. The pipes are repaired, everything that was ruined or deemed as junk has been cleaned out, and hauled off to the landfill. I call that progress.

So the weekend of 4th of July (on the day of the basement fiasco and prior to the get together), Robin and I decided we needed to take solace in the woods for a little while. It had been nearly a month since our last hike so it was well overdue. We packed up our day packs and headed out to Norris Dam State Park, just a hop, skip, and a jump from our house, and decided to hike the Camp Sam trail via the Norris Dam Tea room.

Happy Fourth of July

It's been a long weekend, and if you're anything like us, you've been busy hiking, attending parties, and cleaning out basements. o_O Well okay, you've only been doing the first two, and maybe enjoying some fireworks. We were able to get out for a hike on Saturday of just over 2 miles at Norris Dam State Park and then attended a big family/friend get together later that day where Robin and I won the "Cornhole" Tournament (don't laugh, it's a real game and not what the name implies). If you don't believe me look it up on Google but do so at your own risk. Oh and we will have a hike report up in a couple of days too.

So today we celebrate our country's independence. We feel very fortunate to live in this great country, that we are free to play silly named games if we want to, or have parties with our friends and family when we want to, and many other things that we take for granted (like running water) and that if we lived in some other country, we could be arrested for doing. For that we are truly thankful that we live in the USA, even if we have some major problems with the economy and plumbing. Anyway for today we will be swimming in the basement - having been overly and prematurely motivated to clean due to the mess that we were blessed with after our party attending festivities on Saturday. I guess that's what we get for playing cornhole, we get cornholed.

We hope you are all having a safe and enjoyable holiday. God Bless the USA and God Bless all of you.

Happy Fourth of July.
Tim and Robin

"Hey! Thiz iz a candlez! I askeded for a bottlez rocketz! 

Oh wellz. Happy Birfday America!" ~ Ms. Coo

Lots of Running and Walking

We hope everyone had a wonderful weekend, and we especially hope all the mom's out there had a fantastic Mother's Day. Our weekend was a busy one, but very pleasant and the weather couldn't have been better. We've been doing a lot of walking here as of late and I've been doing a good bit of running again. If you hadn't heard I was in a contest to win a pair for Vasque Mindbenders (Trail Running Shoes) and free entry into Rock Creek's Scenic City Trail Marathon/Half Marathon race in Chattanooga towards the end of May. Anyway, today was the last day for voting and it was neck and neck between me and another runner up to the end. At 3:00pm today I was defeated in the contest by Leah Jones, a local trail runner here in Knoxville. So if you have a moment head over to Vasque Footwear's Facebook page and congratulate Leah on a well deserved victory and wish her luck in the race next week.

So back to the walking and running. Friday I went on a trail run while Robin and the girls (Clover, Ashby and Jodi) walked. We went to Big Ridge State Park to do so. I ran from the group camp to the Fisherman's Trail, out and back on the trail and back to the parking area just past the gristmill. I thought I would never get through the Fisherman's Trail though. After all the storms last week there's a lot of downed trees blocking the path around the loop at the end. I had to do more than just trail running let me tell you. It was a good workout though. We won't even get into the argument we got into with the crazy people that were up in the Group Camp. Needless to say we proved our point and let them know they didn't own the road going up there.

On Saturday, Robin and I got up early and with Clover along with us, we headed to Norris Dam State Park. I got a good 2.5 mile trail run in on the Song Bird Trail while Robin walked just over 2 miles on the trail. It was a beautiful day and not very many people were out there at this time, which we absolutely love. Afterward, we came home and relaxed most of the day, Robin in our Eagle's Nest Outfitters Double Nest Hammock, and I catering to momma's every need. Ain't I a good husband? :P She is working really hard making a baby after all and it definitely takes it's toll.

Sunday we didn't do much. Baby had Robin feeling pretty yucky most of the day. I did make breakfast, lunch and a cake for Robin. She deserves it that's for sure. Afterward we spent a couple of hours at mom and dad's house watching a movie with them and relaxing some more.

Hopefully we can get out this next weekend for a good hike or something and give you all a wonderful trail report. Until next time...

Happy Trails,
Tim and Robin

Trimble Trail Tracks:
Big Ridge - Fishermans Trail Run:


Norris - Songbird Trail Run:

An Earth Day Rescue - A Lesson for Everyone

Tim and I had a magnificent Earth Day. Early in the day, we awoke to a misty, mucky morning. There was quite a bit of rain that moved through early, but it was hit and miss. We lucked out and got a couple of hours of just clouds in order to enjoy an early morning walk at Norris Dam State Park after we dropped Ashby off at school.

Last week, Norris Dam had opened the floodgates due to all the heavy rains the area has had recently. This is a rare spectacle and a treat indeed. Friday morning was a prime opportunity for photographs. The large crowd we'd seen Thursday night was nowhere to be found, and the overcast morning provided a perfect softness to the light.

Multiple shots later, Clover was bugging to go for a sniff. She loves the Songbird Trail, probably because there are so many other dogs and animals that frequent the area. It gives her nose a good workout. So we decided to start our walk by the small fishing pier.

Since we both had our cameras, we usually take turns holding Clover's leash. I had spotted a Goose Family (baby goslings in tote) floating down by the fishing pier, and began slowly approaching to get their photos. I noticed one cute little fluff-ball of a gosling standing on a rock away from the rest of the group. I began snapping away, taking the opportunity to grab some shots of the solo gosling.

It was then that I noticed, as he tried to join the group, that he just sort of toppled off the rock. I watched him get up, bounce back on the rock, stand there a moment, and then once again topple over as he tried to jump in the water. I knew something had to be wrong, so I slowly crept closer only to find that the poor thing was caught up in a tangle of monofilament line that someone had mindlessly and carelessly left lying on the ground. How sad!

Momma goose was not very happy about me approaching her baby, and began to honk, hiss, and lunge at me as I tried to get a handle on how tangled he really was. Tim brought Clover down, and she helped subdue Momma goose long enough for me to figure out the line was tied, multiple times, around the little gosling's leg.

With Clover's help to keep Momma Goose away, I was able to carefully grasp the baby in order to try to unwind the line. But it was no use.  It was just too tangled and knotted up. Thankfully, Tim had his pocket knife and was able to cut the line and free the gosling's leg. We released it back to Momma Goose, and it happily - and freely! - joined the group.

Another good example of why you should ALWAYS clean up after yourself. Please don't ever leave fishing line lying around.

Happy Easter!

It's a gorgeous day here in sunny East Tennessee, and we just had to stop by and wish everyone a Happy Easter. We have enjoyed our time off, and it's allowed us to be very productive around the house. But we can't wait to get back to blogging on Monday! We have lots to share including a gosling rescue, pictures of the Norris Dam open floodgates, and two gear reviews on our Eno hammock and the Bass Pro compression sacks.

Until then, have a blessed Easter Sunday!

Oh, and Ms. Coo wanted you all to know that she's practicing up. Maybe next year she'll make the cut as the NEW Cadbury Easter Bunny.

Photos of the Week

Impromptu Camping Under a Big Bright Moon

It's 4:30pm on a Friday afternoon, the weekend is just an hour away, what do you do? You suggest an impromptu, no-fuss camping trip to the wifey. I like to keep Robin on her toes from time to time. Of course she keeps me on my toes way more. LOL. But when I suggested a camping trip on Friday afternoon, she was hesitant at first, but was quick to say okay after I suggested we just take bare essentials and just go for the night. Besides, what better way to start off our camping theme week, than to go camping, especially with the Super Moon in the night sky thanks to it being at perigee?

Of course as always, I told Robin that I would help pack once I got home in the next hour, but by the time I got there she had our packs mostly ready and there was very little left to do. (Have I ever mentioned how much I LOVE her? If not, then words really can't describe it. "Insert cheesy 'More Than Words' song lyrics here"). Anyway, we decided that since it was going to be just a one night camping trip and we wanted to make it as little fuss as possible, we only took the bare essentials and pack our backpacks as though we were headed to the backcountry for a night, well sorta.

Within an hour of my arrival home we were all packed and ready to head out the door. We first had to drop the kiddo off at Joders as she didn't want to go on our overnight. We'd decided we would stay the night at Norris Dam State Park, and when we were there earlier in the week, the bathhouse in the east campground was still closed. For Ashby, that's a HUGE deal. Once we had her squared away, the next task was to get some food for supper. We figured since we would be arriving after dark, we would just pick up some "good mood food" rather than cook supper at camp. Remember it was a low-fuss trip so every corner we could cut to spend the night under the stars we were going to cut it.

With food obtained, we headed to the campground and began the search for a site. When we arrived we decided instead of the primitive campground, we'd take a gander at the west campground since we had never stayed over there. Much to our amazement, there weren't very many campers, and the bathhouse was open on this side of the dam. Can you say "BONUS"?! After picking out a site and paying the $18 fee to the ranger (it's $20 if you are RV'ing), we started to setup. First thing on the plate was to set up our tent. This was relatively easy as we only brought our 3 season Ascend Hiker 2 backcountry tent. It fit Wifey, Me and the Beene quite nicely. With a 20% chance of rain looming, we also put the rainfly on. After the tent was up and our sleeping bags and pads inserted inside, the next task was to find wood for a fire.

After about 20 minutes I had gathered enough to start a nice little fire to enjoy until bedtime. Of course, there were a few more wood hunting trips through the night but I didn't have to go very far. There's been plenty of windy days over the past couple of weeks, so wind fall was plentiful. With the wood gathered we decided to give the magnesium fire starter a try as we didn't bring any fire starter bricks (our normal campfire starter). This was indeed a lesson in futility. For one, the dead grass I gathered was still a bit damp from the monsoon like rains we've had over the past couple of weeks. For two, the wind was a bit brutal so we would extinguish any flame that was produced almost immediately. We did successfully produce a small flame with this method, but it wasn't enough, nor did it last long enough to produce a sustainable fire. After a few more minutes, we broke down and got one of the paper bags from our supper, and in seconds we had fire.

With the fire going, chairs out, and tent up, we were free to do as we pleased. We sat and enjoyed the fire for a few minutes and it wasn't long before Robin was up and grabbing her trusty camera and tripod to capture the Big Bright Full Moon. I guess we spent the better part of an hour capturing the moon, and then other night time shots. Of course, I didn't snap any shots as I'm not that experienced yet, so I was content to sit back, watch and learn from my master.

After the photo session, we returned to our chairs, stoked the fire and enjoyed the pleasant spring evening and each others company. It was indeed very relaxing and very enjoyable to watch the moon as it traveled across the sky. I think the Beene had just as fun a time as we did. As the hours grew later, we realized, once again, that we were the last ones up in the campground. What can I say, we are night owls, always have been and always will be. However, it wasn't long before we were tired and ready to call it a night. Besides, the wind had picked up and it was getting very chilly.

The next morning we were awoke by a barking dog somewhere in the campground. Not sure who's dog it was, but that's all it did for a good 5 to 10 minutes. It was all good though. It was early and something about camping always causes us to get up early so we can enjoy the day. The sleep for me wasn't bad. Of course I can sleep in pretty much any situation and I can sleep through a tornado. Robin on the other hand didn't sleep that well. She was up every 20 minutes or so. Something about being to old to sleep on the hard ground and her head being cold until she realized she could put her sweater over it.

It didn't take us long to emerge from the tent. Within minutes we were out, and I was working on a morning fire to enjoy our coffee by. As I worked on the fire, Robin worked on the coffee. We decided that we would wait until we got home to have breakfast, as we knew we had a lot to do that day we didn't want to dawdle too long at camp. We used our backcountry MSR Pocket Rocket stove and Jetboil fuel to boil enough water for our coffee. I have to say that once we figured out the way the wind was blowing in it didn't take long to bring the water to a boil. Robin had rigged the cookware to block it. **Something else to add to the want list: Windscreen** Boiling 9 ounces took 2 minutes tops with the burner at half power.

We sat for a while enjoying the fire, the soft morning light, and our camp coffees. These are indeed the moments in life to live for. Very simple. No worries invade at these moments. Just a calm presence shared with our companions in quite simple solitude. If every morning started in this way, I don't think I would dread going into the cube farm I call work as much as I normally do. Wait, never mind. Of course I would, because I wouldn't want to leave that for anything. :P

After a couple morning shots with the camera, and our cup of coffee down, it was time to break camp, pack up the car and head on our merry way to take on the day. Besides, our bellies were screaming for sausage biscuits and they weren't going to let up until they were satisfied.

Happy Trails,
Tim and Robin

New Featured Park - Norris Dam State Park

In case you hadn't noticed, the Featured Parks page was down last night and most of the day today. That is due to a new featured park. That's right the page is back up and for the next month or two, here at Appalachia & Beyond, we are featuring Norris Dam State Park. So mosey on over and check it out, and if you have the time visit the park. There's plenty to do and see.

River Bluff Loop - River Bluff TVA Small Wild Area - 12/5/2010

It's cold and snowy and you're still 30 miles away from your 100 mile goal for the year. What do you do? What else, go hiking. That's just what Robin and I done. Robin has less than 25 miles to go and I just under 28 before the year is out.



For a while we hadn't done much hiking in bitter cold or snowy conditions, however we've been striving to break out of that mold. There's no reason why you can't bundle up like you are going to go play in 6 inches of snow and walk. To be quite honest, it wasn't as bad as one might think. If you remember Robin's Winter Hiking Tips, then you are good to go with hiking in the cold weather. As the boy scouts say, always be prepared. Expect the unexpected and a winter hike will do the soul some good.

After much deliberation and consideration of the weather and other circumstances we decided that we would head down to Norris and hike a trail we hadn't done in a few years, the River Bluff Loop Trail in the River Bluff Small Wild area nestled in between Norris Dam State Park lands. As a matter of fact the last time we did the trail, we were in worse shape than we are now and it wasn't for hiking's sake, rather it was to find a geocache that was hidden there. At that time it was either Spring or Summer. I can't exactly remember. I've slept since then. However I do know that it was green as could be and this time around we saw things on the trail that we didn't see before.

The River Bluff Loop Trail is approximately 3.2 miles and is located on TVA land on the west side of the dam. The trail is an easy to moderate trail with a good foot path. There were only a couple of blow downs along the trail but nothing difficult to overcome. You can start out up hill by going right at the fork, like we did, or stroll along the river first by going straight. Total elevation gain/loss is approximately +/- 210ft. It's definitely enough to get the heart rate up and the blood pumping.

It was a beautiful hike, with the snow blowing off and on and the sun popping in and out. Along the river, the views of the bluffs were very apparent and rather beautiful. The last time we were here I don't think we even noticed them, as we were busy searching for that geocache.


This time around however the sluice gates of the dam were open and you could hear the roar of the water not to mention see the spray from it and watch the river rage down stream. Come to think of it, I don't believe I have been hiking at Norris when any part of the dam was open. Of course after all the rain we had earlier in the week, I suppose they had to return the lake back to it's normal winter levels.



While we hiked, Robin snapped photos (when she wasn't wiping a drippy nose), and I shot video. Robin took one turn behind the video camera though, but is only for a short moment. The unfortunate thing was that the last time I cleared the memory card, I forgot to format it, meaning I lost half of the 2 minute video shots of the first part of the trail. It's too bad that happened. I was thinking a video hike covering sections of the trail would have been nice. We still might be able to put together something. It may be a few days before we can do that. The holiday season keeps us hopping.

All in all, we had a wonderful time out in the cold and snow. We got a little closer to our 100, and we got to commune with nature and each other. And Beene had a blast, too. There wasn't a soul on the trail so she went wireless the whole time, and enjoyed catching snowflakes on her tongue.

Happy Trails,
Tim and Robin

"Oh Hai! Just 16 dayz!" ~ Ms. Coo

Marine Railway Loop - Norris Dam State Park - 11/28/2010

Another Sunday, another new "I'll make you wish you could call in on Monday, Sunday". This time out Swiss Army Gauge (Wifey), Tim, and The Trusty Side Kick Beene, headed out to Norris Dam State Park to hike the 4.3 mile Marine Railway Loop Trail.

I know what you are wondering. We came up with Robin's new trail name, Swiss Army Gauge, or Gauge for short, this afternoon on the trail as we were discussing how various parts of her body could tell us many things while out on the trail. For instance, her hair can tell us what the humidity outside is (a hygrometer), her knees can tells us approximately how far we have traveled (an odometer), her joints can tell us if rain or storms are likely and what the temperature is (thermometer). Finally, her head can tell us the barometric pressure, that is if it is high/low and whether it is falling or rising (barometer). So now you can see where Swiss Army Gauge was derived.

So back to the trail. There are two starting points for the Marine Railway Loop. One is on Hwy 441 just before the west side entrance of the park if you are coming up from the dam. The other trail head is on the west side of the park behind deluxe cabin number 8. Of course at this point there isn't a trail sign anywhere until you walk back behind the cabin.

The blaze on the trail is black and luckily the blazes are relatively new. Otherwise you might think it's a blaze but actually your eyes being tricked by the trees, much like Tim's eyes did thinking a tree had a white blaze on it at one point along the trail. Behind cabin 8, you walk a couple hundred feet before you see the blaze and a trail sign pointing to either the left or right. To the left, the trail heads straight down to the lake side. To the right the trail meanders along the ridge top at a gradual grade down. We opted to head down to the lake first, as we didn't think we would like that climb out after 4+ miles.

The trail is more or less a figure 8 loop. So there are a few options on how to traverse it. Also, as I stated earlier, you can start the trail from two locations. Total elevation Gain/Loss on the trail is 200+ feet. There are two ascents along the trail and two descents along the trail regardless of which direction you take it.

One of the descents/ascents is along an easement. It's great place to stop and take pictures, if you can keep the power lines from being in the shots. It was a steep hike down - a spot where if there were over a foot of snow, it might be a blast to sled down or something. Robin thinks this is ludicrous, and is rather, a sure-fire way to die.

Another notable spot along the trail is a rest area just off to the side of the trail. The rest area sits next to what would be an island if the lake was up but otherwise was a peninsula in the lake. We took that detour and walked around the peninsula and couldn't stop thinking how great of a place it would be to camp. Unfortunately, there are signs posted everywhere that state "No Camping". Darn the luck. I guess the park has had problems with boaters camping there or something. Nonetheless it is still a cool spot worth checking out.

The rest of the trail offers great views of the lake and along the easement at one point, a great view of the Appalachians, quite possibly the Smokies, off to the east. This trail is definitely one that will get your heart rate up but otherwise not real tough. The footing is decent, not a lot of roots or rocks. There is a bit of dead fall here and there but otherwise nothing real major to be concerned with.

So if you find yourself in the area and would like a nice little challenge of a hike along with some wonderful views, then stop by Norris Dam State Park and check out the Marine Railway Loop. You can also learn a little bit of the history surrounding this area at the Friends of Norris Dam State Park website. Oh and don't forget to play on the playground at the deluxe cabins when you're done. Until next time...

Happy Trails,
Tim and Robin