Charlotte's Birthday Hike

Destination: Giant Trees on Ramsey Prong

What a treat when a grandchild agrees to spend time on a hike with the Grands! Early February has been unseasonably warm with spring-like weather offering the perfect opportunity to hike in the Smokies. Our daughter Emily, who is an avid hiker, runner and cyclist, suggested to her 5 that a mountain field trip would be a great way to spend the day. 

 With the temperatures expected to be in the upper 60s, Grand-Dad suggested that we head to Greenbrier to hike Ramsey Cascades Trail to the giant Tulip Trees. 

 For the first 1.7 miles, the trail follows the old road which the Park closed sometime in the 70s. 

 Who can miss an opportunity to perform on a giant rock?

 Log lizards being silly on one of several blowdowns.

 Thankfully for the Grands there were benches at the end of a hard pull up the mountain!

 Jordan, our 5-year old grandson, never slowed down. He found lots of "swords" and "spears." I especially enjoy watching the wonder on the grandchildren's faces when they find rocks, sticks, bobcat scat, mushrooms and other interesting features on their adventures in the Smokies.  

 The former turn-around was the perfect spot to eat lunch.

 At this point on the hike, the trail takes a left turn to follow the course of the Ramsey Prong. The trail begins a steep climb and becomes more rugged as the "gorge" narrows. We had to navigate rocks, roots, blowdowns and streams. 

 Birthday girl enjoying a moment beside the stream!

 Griffin was fascinated by the lumpy growths he spotted on trees and rhododendron. 

 What little boy can resist climbing?

 It takes a lot of strength to push over a massive tree.

 Once we reached the foot bridge that crosses Ramsey Prong, we knew the trail was going to get very steep. I am thankful that the Park replaced the old washed-out bridge with a wide sturdy one. The old bridge, which washed out a couple of years ago, was a very narrow bridge perched high over the gorge downstream from the current one. The old bridge was scary to cross!  

Our reward! The kids could not believe the size of the trees and were eager to wrap their arms around the solitary giant to see how many of us were required to touch finger tips. Six! A math lesson ensued and we determined that the tree was more than 22 feet in circumference and more than 7 feet in diameter.  

Wonder of wonders! Two giants stood sentinel over the trail which passed between them. 

 During winter when the foliage does not block views, you can see other very large trees scattered up the Ramsey Prong watershed. They are often easy to spot because their huge branches not only dominate the forest canopy but their limbs are as big as mature trees. Awesome wonders!

 This youngster never got tired of wandering and climbing. One would expect a 6-mile hike to weary a 5 year old! 

 What can beat a glorious day in the Smokies with grandkids who love hiking?

Winter Hike at Glendale Branch

The unseasonably warm winter days of January offer opportunities to get out and hike. Today, although overcast, was warm enough to nudge us to hike. We chose to hike the Glendale Branch Trail along the East Lakeshore and create a loop hike by taking the shortcut to complete a 3-mile lolly-pop hike. 

 Recently we have enjoyed several hikes on the East Lakeshore Trail System along the Little Tennessee River. We like the gentle ups and downs of following the lake shore. 

 During this time of the year, there are no bugs, poison ivy, tall weeds or ticks! 

 Most of the trail system is relatively flat with occasional creek crossings on bridges that remind us of those in the pocket wildernesses. A construction of wire mesh on the surface of the bridge prevents wet boards becoming slick. 

 On the Glendale Branch section Chris spotted what appears to be a cable with old bell-shaped insulators. We had never seen one quite like this one. 

 There were about 10 separate insulators strung along the cable. 

 Looking closely, you will notice the chipped and cracked ceramic elements. Only a small portion of the exterior remains. Chris' research concluded that these are high tension insulators. Just down the trail, we passed under two power line towers. So, perhaps these old insulators were once part of TVA's power system. 

 On our hike today we passed through a large chattering flock of robins. I don't recall encountering so many robins at one time. I wonder if they are wintering here before they head north in early spring. 

On all of the trails we've hiked on the East Lakeshore we've noticed an abundance of Cranefly Orchid (Tipularia discolor). A few orchids produce leaves in the winter. An interesting fact about Tipularia is that once the orchid blooms, the leaves begin to deteriorate and wither. By peak bloom time, usually during midsummer, the leaves are dead.  

 We spotted large patches of these interesting leaves scattered along the side of the trail. 

 The picture below was taken at the end of July. Without the foliage, the nondescript flower stalk is camouflaged in the leaf litter and shadows. This orchid caught my eye because it was spotlighted by a ray of sunshine. The individual flowers, barely an inch long, resemble a crane in flight but unless the viewer gets a close inspection, these beauties remain illusive although they are considered common in our East Tennessee woods. 

 One striking feature about the Tipularia leaf is that in the winter the top of the leaf is green while the underside is purple. However, I was surprised to spot two leaves that were purple on the top and bottom. 

 I thought my mind was playing games when I spotted this gnawed tree near the shore. I spotted a couple of similar small trees gnawed completely in half. Beavers! It had to be, but I never saw any other evidence. 

We never quite know what we will encounter in our exploring! It was a wonderful day full of beauty, fragrant smells and birdsong! 

Wildcat Ridge Spur Trail

January 9 was another gorgeously mild winter day. What better opportunity to hike a segment of the East Lakeshore Trail along Tellico Lake! Although the temperature early this morning was 28 degrees, the day warmed up into the upper 50s to lower 60s. Perfect for hiking! 

The trailhead begins at the edge of the parking lot at this park, but during the winter months the gate is locked. So, we parked outside the gate just off the road but not blocking the gate.

 It's just a short walk from the gate to the trailhead. We are not quite sure why the spot is called a "park" because the only structures on the property are a block restroom facility and the kiosk describing the trail segment. We wonder if there will be picnic tables, standing grills or a playground constructed one day. This park is the terminus for the southern end of the trail system. 

 Wildcat Pointe Trail begins at the kiosk. 

 The northern terminus of the East Lakeshore Trail system is 28.5 miles from where we began our hike today. 

 After a steep 0.2 mile climb, we came to the marker indicating the Wildcat Ridge spur trail which leads out to the overlook. 

 Chris and I both set our watches to measure the distance from the marker to the pointe. It was actually about 1.5 miles to the pointe. But who's counting!

 One of the lovely things about the trails along East Lakeshore is not only the view but the abundance of very large trees, mostly oak, although we did see some large hickories as well. 

 Yes, we are tree huggers!

 We had nice views from along the ridge top, but when we reached the pointe, we had spectacular views of the lake in three directions. 

 Looking closely, you can see a railroad truss bridge and beyond it the US 411 bridge.

 The trail wound among these three giant oaks, sentinels on top of the ridge. 

 Our return trip gave us a view of the communications tower and an interesting knotty tree bulge. If you zoom in on the tower just below the bottom panels, you can see the 2 large vultures that were keeping an eye on us. Of course, we insisted that we felt fine. Our exertion was not going to kill us.

 A field of goldenrod fluff danced in the wind and sunshine. 

Out of curiosity, we actually hiked down into the woods along a manway. We thought perhaps we could access the lake cove beyond the parking lot. We came across some interesting "debris." An old collapsed log structure was covered in vines.  Two tiny creeks merged to become a bubbling creek. The manway ended at a wide place at the creek. Crossing would have required some serious rock hopping. Across the creek on the side of a tree was a bucket mounted on a platform about eye level. We spotted a couple of large empty cat food bags nearby, so we wondered whether someone was feeding wildlife such as bobcats or raccoons. Just speculating! 

We returned to our vehicle and headed home after spending a lovely day hiking and exploring.   

Christmas 2020

For the first time in 9 years, our family was together on Christmas Day. The kids had Christmas morning at their respective [and even respectable] homes before coming to Grand-Dad and Grandmama's for a huge brunch followed by gift exchange. So much fun!

Francis 2A

W's

 Francis2B

 After several trials, squabbles, shifting, posing and clamoring, we finally got a shot of all 14! 

 Woops, who flipped?

God has truly blessed my family!