Back to Bee Rock

6/10 - 6/12
2016 bag nights: 7

We talked about meeting friends (also have 3 kids) to go camping. Since I am the backpacker in the bunch, I got to pick where we would rendezvous. I decided that another visit to Bee Rock was in order after Kid #2 and I enjoyed it last summer.

We decided to spend 2 nights, unfortunately summer weather showed up and the temperatures were in the 90s all 3 days. Thankfully, it wasn't too humid, so the shade was ok, but in the sun, it was hot. I was glad I had two tarps for shade, I ended up hanging one above our tent to help keep it from heating up during the day.

Unfortunately, there was not much of a view from our sites, but there was a short path down to the river, the kids loved getting muddy/wet.

We hiked up to the top of Bee Rock again, even the littlest ones did great.

We all (the adults) enjoyed the views from the top

The oddest thing was there was a motorcycle rally on the Laurel County side of the campground (thankfully, we were on the Pulaski County side). If it had just been me there, I would have been really annoyed at 500 bikers, but the kids loved it. They even got to sit on a couple of the bikes.

I asked a couple people what was going on, it turns out it was the inauguration of "The Rattlesnake" part of the road near by was going to be given a name to encourage bikers to come ride similar to "The Dragon" in NC. The "opening ceremony" was at the Bee Rock boat ramp.

One last sunset

A great couple of days outside and a nice way to catch up with friends. I highly recommend Bee Rock for family camping.

Fireflies in the Smokies

Great Smoky Mountains National Park
Elkmont/Little River Trailhead
6/6 - 6/8/16
2016 bag nights: 5

I read about the synchronous fireflies in the Smokies and thought it sounded like a great kids backpacking trip since the trail is pretty flat.

There are 3 sites along the Little River Trail (21, 24, 30). Site 21 is about 2.5 miles from the trailhead so even my 5 year old would be able to come. So, I marked my calendar to make sure I would get camp site reservations for the time when it seemed the fireflies would be doing their thing. And no problem at all until a couple days before we are going to leave and I get an email from the NPS saying Site 21 has been closed because of bear activity. I looked at the map and decided the kids could make it to Site 24 (about 4.5 miles) and called the backcountry office early the next morning. It actually worked out great because I had reservations for 3 nights and the first day/nights weather looked terrible. Because my reservation had been canceled, I got that nights fees back.


Anyway, we started at the Little River Trailhead next to the Elkmont Campground and headed up the trail. Lots of Dayhikers in the first couple of miles, but a very nice trail/old road to walk on.

The kids had fun climbing on rocks...

looking at waterfalls (Huskey Branch Falls)...

and the Little River itself.

Not to mention snails and butterflies

After the bridge over the river, the trail becomes a little more rougher and wetter, but still easy for little legs.

After a couple hours, we got to camp and got situated.

Site 24 is a short walk to the Little River where there are lots of rocks to climb over and to throw.

That evening we talked with some of the neighbors and borrowed a campfire to roast marshmallows. While we were chatting and waiting for the fireflies, a deer wandered out of the woods near by.

The fireflies started appearing a bit after 9pm but did not really get going until about 9:30, which is way past the usual bedtime. The kids watched for a little bit and then climbed into bed. I managed to stay up until maybe 10:30 before it was my time as well.

One of the "problems" with backpacking in the Southeast is it is hard to find views to enjoy sunrises/sunsets. But, I always like how the tops of the trees start to glow while everything down low is still in shadow, sort of like our version of alpenglow.

 Sunrise through the trees

We were staying at the same site for the second night, so there was lots of time to explore the riverbank.

We also hiked a bit further up the Little River trail as well as the Rough Creek Trail and dragged back a lot of dry wood for a fire that night.

The next morning it was time to pack up and head back to the car. The morning was a little chilly so the kids hiked in PJs with Buffs on their heads.

One last look at the Little River Trail.

Summary: great weather, kids played nicely, fireflies were cool. The oldest asked this morning when we were going back to the Smokies, I think the trip was a success.

Carter Caves

The family has enjoyed the cabins at other state parks in the past. It was decided a while back that we would spend the MLK weekend at Carter Caves State Park because the weather would not matter if we were in a cave.

The weather was mostly overcast and low-30s on Sat and Sun. Woke up Mon to mostly clear skies and mid-teens.

I got to explore the park a little bit with my oldest and then by myself. There is good day-hiking and lots to see in the park. We will be back.

Dad and daughter go backpacking

Great Smoky Mountains National Park
9/5 - 9/7/15 (Labor Day weekend)

I decided it was time for the oldest kid (6.5 years) to do a "bigger" backpacking trip. The previous summers we had done a short overnight trip at the Red River Gorge, but never walked more than a mile from the trailhead. This time we were going to go for 2 nights and and do about 3-4 miles each day. Unfortunately, my work schedule is very limited right now so we had to go over a holiday weekend (Labor Day). I was afraid that the Smokies would be packed but as we got closer to the weekend, the weather forecast got worse. There was a high chance for afternoon thunderstorms all weekend and I think that scared some people away. I crossed my fingers and hoped that it would not rain too much and we headed out on Saturday morning.

The plan was to park at the end of the "Road to Nowhere" outside of Bryson City and then hike the Lakeshore Trail to campsite 74 on Forney Creek. JC and I had passed through this site a couple years ago when I hiked the whole Lakeshore Trail and we both remarked that it would be a great place to bring kids. Then the 2nd day, we would hike back towards the car and then head down the Goldmine Loop Trail to campsite 67. Then finish off the Loop Trail back to the trailhead on the 3rd day.

After a long drive, we got to Bryson City as the sky completely opened up. The drive up the Road to Nowhere was nice because the rain stopped by the time we got to the tunnel. Unfortunately, it started again before we could even get out of the car. Well, no point in getting soaked if this might blow over, so we sat in the car and I showed her how to use my new Delorme InReach if there was an emergency. The  rain stopped after about 20-30 minutes and we headed through the tunnel and down the trail.

We got to the campsite by 5:30 and hung the hammocks and filtered water. While we were doing that a couple guys came down the trail to share the site with us. It is a large flat area so we were in no danger of feeling crowded.



















We enjoyed the view from the bridge over Forney Creek and the flowers.

and before it got dark we went to explore down the trail a little bit. When I passed through here the last time I was unaware of the history of the area and why there were dirt roads in some places. Just past the bridge the actual Lakeshore Trail heads up the hill and a "road" continues straight where it deadends at the lake. We played there a little bit and then headed back to cook dinner. The two guys were nice and let us share their campfire and conversation.

The next morning we walked back to check out the lake and play a little bit. Unfortunately, it was way to cold to think about a swim, but the view was very nice and the kid enjoyed playing at the beach.

Later we moved back towards camp, but got distracted. The kid played along Forney Creek while I read a little bit and then we headed back to camp to pack up.

We headed off to the next campsite and took a detour up the "road" we had passed the day before. I was pretty sure it would end at a cemetery and after about a half mile up hill we came to a clearing and a small cemetery (Woody Cemetery). A number of the graves were new and some had flowers, but a lot of the stones were tipped over. It looked like some hogs had been rooting around. We talked a little bit about how hard life was in the area a hundred years ago. I pointed out all of the children's graves, sad how many kids did not see their first birthday. My companion did a little neatening and then we headed back down hill. 

Of course if there is a cemetery, there is a road from the lake and she wanted to see what was down the hill. I warned her that if we walked downhill, we would have to walk back up. It was about a mile down to the lake so I was glad we did not have a long way to the next campsite.

Along the Goldmine Loop Trail we passed an old homesite 

and ran into a mom and two kids (about 10 and 15). They did not have a map and were not quite sure how to get back to the trailhead. I tried to help them out, showed them my map. Hopefully they found their way but I'm pretty sure they got soaked in the rain that came not long after we got to the campsite. I was able to hang my tarp and find some wood before the rain started so we were able to have a small campfire before bed. We also walked down the trail to the lake where again much fun was had and the view was enjoyed before heading back for dinner, campfire and bedtime stories.

In case anyone is looking for hammock info, site 67 is a nice small tent site, but there are not a lot of good hammock trees. I ended up hanging across the trail that went out the back of the campsite past the bear hanging poles. You can see the trail just to the right of our hammocks.

The next morning we had breakfast and then went back to the lake to play before heading back to the car. One of us wore their pajamas on the hike to the lake since it was a little chilly.

I had noticed bear tracks at the lake the day before so while she played in the water I went looking for more tracks in the sand in the process enjoying the view of the lake. 

After a bit of play time, it was time to hit the trail for the climb to the trailhead. After a nice hike with a couple of rest breaks and a lot of discussion of what we were going to have on our "celebration" pizza (pepperoni and olives) we came to the trailhead and our car. A short drive got us to Bryson City and pizza at Anthony's Pizza (right across from the train station). I had had the pizza from there before while having beers at Nantahala Brewing and I thought it was fine. But, I won't bother going back to the actual restaurant. There is almost certainly a better place in town for a post-hike meal. 

All in all a very successful first backpacking trip. We totally lucked out with the weather. In the end the only rain that fell on us was "tree rain" also known as water dripping from the trees. We both thought that campsite 74 was great, we will definitely go back there again, next time she gets to carry some stuff.