Mt. LeConte via Boulevard Trail 2008

I am a public school educator and after the high school graduation each year I head out on a "walkabout." A walkabout is a term I picked up in Australia to describe an event when men take off into the outback for a week, month, year, or more. Usually, they come home ... I certainly always will ...

Looking at the picture, you're probably wondering how an old man lived after carrying such a load up LeConte. My son constantly gives me grief about lightening my loads, but I generally overprepare and, therefore, have fewer difficulties along the way. I packed in a tent--although I had reservations in shelters--just in case my old legs quit on me and I had to bivouac somewhere along the way. (Was camping down near Ravenfork many years ago when the mice ate my fish-smelling bootlaces and, thankfully, I had packed in a second pair.)

It was a very hot day at the end of May when I left Newfound Gap heading up the AT to Ice Water Springs. The clouds occasionally covered the trail, but mostly I hiked in the sun. And, of course, it was Memorial Day weekend, so the parade of day hikers blew by me with looks and mumbled comments about my load. Several asked if I were a through-hiker, but didn't know that through-hikers wouldn't survive carrying the load I was carrying. The Memorial Day parade continued all of the way up to Icewater Springs. Most were heading to Charlie's Bunion, which must be a mess these days. I picked up some trash along the way ... powerbar wrappers and such.

When I got to Icewater Springs, I refilled my water bottles and sat to rest at the already crowded shelter. While I was there, three guys came in and dumped their packs. They were hiking the Smokies Crest Trail from Shuckstack to Davenport Gap ... seemed to be enjoying each other's company and the long weekend hike ... it was their 2nd full day on the trail.

Thirty-five years ago, I picniced at The Jumpoff on the back side of Mt. Kephart, so I wanted to see that again. Instead of leaving my pack at the shelter, which I would have normally done while day-hiking, I decided that the Memorial Day Parade might bring in some looking to pick up a few camping supplies, so I figured to hump my pack up to Kephart and leave it there while I went down to The Jumpoff.

Isn't it interesting how the mind mis-remembers things over time ... I remembered The Jumpoff much differently than it is, but recognized a view between a couple of trees. In case you've never been there, the view looks west across to the north side of Charlie's Bunion. I remembered that view of Charlie's Bunion as much more "buniony," but it appeared pretty green these days. It's behind me here in this picture ... bad angle, but didn't have much to strap my camera to that would get the right angle.

The sunset was nice from Kephart, and I stayed late to get some pictures before stumbling back down to the shelter at Icewater.

Monday morning was smoky ... imagine that! ... as I headed down the Boulevard Trail on my way to LeConte. Okay, even though it had been more than twenty years since I had hike down the side of Kephart on the Boulevard Trail, I hadn't mis-remembered that it takes about 45 minutes to get down and is not fun climbing back up on the return trip. I was already dreading the hike out ...

The trilliums were pretty along the way and I got several shots of that delicate flower. The trail was beautiful along the way, as usual, and not nearly as crowded as the AT, of course. I met a father an his son somewhere along the way. They had been at the lodge up on LeConte and were hiking back to Newfound Gap. The Boulevard Trail is a very nice trail and not overused like most of the Smokies trails, although I've hiked it five times.

I stopped for lunch at the trail u-turn at Anakeesta Knob. I think I've stopped there and watered and gorped each time I've hiked the Boulevard. It's a good spot to water before the hump up the side of LeConte. I'm sure it's a familiar site for those of you who have hiked the Boulevard. While I was sitting there enjoying my gorp lunch, a single woman with a hydration daypack scampered by. She looked as if she were out for a Sunday stroll ... I was already pretty tired looking, I'm sure. She said, "See you at the top ...."

Hiking up the side of LeConte, my age was telling and seven women blew by me heading to the lodge. They all said they were staying in the shelter, but , since they had only daypacks or hydration packs, I thought they meant the lodge ... and, indeed , they were NOT staying in the backcountry shelter.

When I reached the side trail to Myrtle Point, I stopped for a photo. I was happy to know that I was only a mile or so from the shelter and my bed for the night.

When I passed the cairn on High Top (the highest point on LeConte), I was a little amazed at the size of the rock pile. When I first added my pebble in 1956, it was a very small pile. It is a huge pile now, as you can see in the photo.

The shelters on the AT and on LeConte no longer have the chainlink bear cage. The roofs are much improved and the shelter now has a space in which to cook and eat out of the elements when it rains ... as it so often does in the Smokies. In the old days, we put our packs inside the shelter and closed the gate to the cage. The bears came by to look in at us as if we were the ones in the zoo cages ... Now the park service has put up wires and pulleys so you can get your pack out of reach while staying in the shelter. Of course, now you are totally at the mercy of your fellow shelter-mates, trusting that they will not keep any food on the bunk next to you that a friendly yearling might want to grab during the night.

As usual, no bears around the shelter, but the mice are still in abundance. All the more reason not to keep foodstuff in the shelter ... the critters are plentiful and active. I felt a few run across my bag during the night, much as I had the previous times in a shelter. If you stay in a Smoky Mtn shelter, you can just be prepared, because there WILL be mice ... I remembered them being tiny, and my memory served me correctly this time.

Sipsey Wilderness, Alabama - July 2008

It was hot! Hiked in on a Friday afternoon from the Thompson Creek trailhead (FT 206) and got to the riffles on the Sipsey River on the east side of Ship Rock about 8:15 or so, and decided to cross the river and set up camp on the south side. Got my tent up first and then sat down to fix supper on the best fire-side log in the Wilderness. Can't take credit for it ... already there ... and much appreciated!

It was dark by the time I pulled out my Jetboil, but I tried to cook as much as I could in the dark. I used my headlamp with the red filter when I had to see something small. Turkey Tetrazini ... um-mm, good ... and a little fruit of the vine I had packed in ... nice dinner in the woods anytime, but especially when the woods weren't crowded. When I am in the woods, I am so relaxed and comfortable. It's not like I don't know that there are critters, but in northern Alabama there aren't many that will do serious damage. A shout will send most of them away.

Okay, let's talk about the scarcity of people in the woods in July ... bugs, chiggers, spiders, sweat, and heat ... must have kept most people out of the Alabama woods that weekend ... I took only a sheet that I usually use to cover my car ... all I needed on my pad to soak up the sweat until about two in the morning ... perfect conditions for an old man. Nobody around but the critters and the woods ... why wish for more!

Saturday morning was fairly cool -- for a while. I hiked up the Sipsey to where the Parker branches off and looped to catch the north end of FT 201. That is a pretty nice trail up through the laurel to the top of the bluffs. I reversed and came back to the campsite to resupply on water , then hiked south along the Sipsey until I intersected FT 209 where it crosses the Sipsey. I decided to hike up to the top of the bluffs on 209 until it intersects 201. When I got to 201 I decided to hike on it back down to the Parker and back to my campsite.

Along the way I remembered that a biology teacher colleague of mine was not familiar with the Big Leaf Magnolia, so I strapped my camera to a tree and snapped a pix.

Unlike the more common Southern Magnolia, the Big Leaf Magnolia is deciduous and when it drops its leaves the forest looks as if someone threw newspapers all over the forest floor. I have seen these trees in the Smokies, but only occasionally. In the Sipsey Wilderness they are ubiquitous.

Sunday morning was a lazy one. Hearing a lot of thunder, I expected rain during the night--and, in fact, moved my tent out of a little sink hole--but I got no rain .

One mystery ... across the Sipsey from my campsite was a yellow tent that was there when I got to the riffles Friday evening, and there when I left about noon on Sunday ... never saw a soul over in that campsite ... didn't smell any dead bodies, so assumed that someone simply wanted to reserve their space for the week ... they needn't have worried ... too hot for most campers.

Sunday morning, on the way out, I was hiking slowly, just wishing my weekend could last a day or two longer, when I saw a movement in the leaves. After closer inspection, I saw that the movement had a hour-glass design on its back and said to myself, "Careful, Dave, that looks like a copperhead." It was a pretty big one for a copperhead, but was moving a little sluggishly. I messed with it for a while and got it to coil and pose for a picture. He/She was not amused, but didn't object too much.

The remaining hike out to the Thompson Creek trailhead was uneventful except for the pile of clothes at campsite #1 ... someone left sweat pants and two blankets piled up by the fire ring ... a start of a good story about the teenagers boy and girl who were camping together when the girl's father showed up and snatched her back to his car at the trailhead ... or the guys who were camping and a copperhead slithered into their midst causing a hasty retreat ... whatever ... my trip was certainly worth all the sweat ...