Smokies Fireflies and kids

Little River Trail

6/7 - 6/9/21 (2 nights)

2021 Bag Nights: 7

The forecast looked a little wet, but we decided to give it a shot. 

We started off with a light drizzle along the Little River Trail, but it was never very heavy and the rain quit after about an hour. 

The first couple miles of the Little River trail is an old railroad bed, so it is very easy walking.

It parallels the Little River ...

... and crosses on solid bridges. 

Wildlife

Tulip Poplar

Mountain Laurel

After about 2.5 miles the road disappears and we were hiking on a trail.

We got setup at Site 30 and talked to the people who were already there. 

Swallowtail

Large fungus

At one point, there were lots of bees everywhere. They did not bother us, but they were everywhere. 

Time to head home

We ended up not seeing any synchronous fireflies. I think we were at too high of an elevation. The people that camped near us hiked about a half mile down the trail and saw fireflies, but I did not want to do a night hike and river crossing with the kids. Instead of synchronous fireflies, we saw Blue Ghost fireflies. These were really neat, because they are a glowing blue color and the light up for 20 - 30 seconds at a time, so there were blue streaks floating around. 

Honey Creek Loop

Honey Creek Loop

Big South Fork 

5/15 - 5/16/21 (1 night)

2021 Bag Nights: 5

I offered to help plan a trip for someone online who had never been to Big South Fork. The process of thinking about trips made me decide that I needed to revisit the area. 

I started up top at the East Rim Overlooking parking area since there had been recent flooding and I was worried that the Leatherwood Ford area would be shut. When I got down there, there were signs of high water but parking would have been no problem. Oh well, I had an extra couple miles of hiking, but they were good miles. 

Mountain Laurels were blooming

I think this is Wild Geranium

Sweetshrub or Calycanthus, I've been told this is rare, I've only seen it in Big South Fork.

The Big South Fork of the Cumberland River

On the other JMT

Nice waterfall a couple miles into the hike

View from the O&W bridge

Jake's Falls

Pink Lady Slipper

Needles Eye or Hole in the Rock

Honey Creek Loop, the trail is a little wet in places

I got to the area I was planning on camping and found it already occupied. But they invited me to setup nearby and I ended up sharing their campfire and chatting for a couple hours. 

Weird Rock in the river (edit: thanks to Georgia Yankee on backcountrypost.com for identifying this as Lepidodendron fossil. More info here - https://samnoblemuseum.ou.edu/common-fossils-of-oklahoma/plant-fossils/fossils-by-plant-group/fossil-lycophytes/)

I climbed up to see the Honey Creek Overlook. The last time I was here there was too much fog/rain to see anything.

Eastern Columbine

Iris

Honey Creek Falls

Different angle

Ice Castle Falls

Secluded Falls

View from an unofficial trail. I ended up chatting with a couple horse people here for a little bit.

And a couple hours later, I was back at my car. This was a great 30ish hour trip with just a few more people than I would normally prefer.