June 28 New River Trail Galax to Fries

In 1986, Norfolk Southern donated the abandoned railbed to the State of Virginia for the purpose of creating a State Park. The 57 mile trail is one of the gems of the state park system. It hugs the bank of the river for 39 miles. The trail crosses the river 3 times on trestles like the one above near Fries Junction.

My ride today, began in Galax. The first 15 miles are along Chestnut Creek. The same creek runs by several still operating furniture mills in Galax before the state park trail begins. Obviously, the railroad would have passes by all the mills.

After arriving at Fries Junction where Chestnut Creek flows into the New River, I turned left The 5.5 mile spur connects Fries to the main line. About halfway to Fries, this falling down farm can be seen on the left, riverside.

Just beyond here is a low water bridge road crossing of the river. It is my normal turning around spot. The trail into Fries is not as scenic as it passes many backyards and is near a road.

Despite the sky threatening rain all morning, there are many folks on the trail. I saw 3 campsites occupied at Cliffview as I rode by. They all seemed to be sitting at their picnic tables waiting for it to rain. After riding, the sky cleared and temperatures were very cool for summer. It did not rain until Sunday morning. 

June 20 Grilled Pizza

Everyone is grilling pizza on outdoor grills. I'm ready to take the plunge and join in. I know it is not a forno, but a gas grill should be able to cook pizza too. Here are the ingredients for the dough. I'm making extra because I think I'll need a thicker crust when grilling. 

Do all the regular dough procedures as normal. Then when the dough has risen you are ready to go. I stretched out the dough into four pizzas and refrigerated them. This seemed to make things easier as the process really speeds up when grilling. I could only cook one at a time. Just put it right on the grill and it bakes. Of course it is tricky getting a nice thin and flat piece of dough on the grill. For that reason, I recommend using a pan to start the dough on. After is bakes into a stiff piece, it can be moved onto the grill au natural. After just a couple minutes, it can be removed, flipped over and all the ingredients can be added. Mine had lots of ground beef, chanterelles and spinach. Then it is just 5 minutes or less on the grill for it to be ready. So, when doing four, it is fast paced. The end result is a much crispier crust - not gooey when there is raw dough under all the moisture laden ingredients. Red wine helps in any case.

June 13 Roundtop Trail

One of my final trails to complete on the Tennessee side, Roundtop, involves an "over the boot" trail crossing of Little River. The sign above alerts you to that. My mother-in-law might think that sign refers to a card game, banned in the smokies. No Mahjong here either. Head over to Cherokee for that nonsense. 

This trail was originally part of the Boundary Trail which bordered the park on the Tennessee side. Thus, I was able to see several of the latest "No Trespassing" signs. 

You can clearly see there is a million dollar reward for information regarding damage to any aspect of the property. I'm planning to turn in the pine beetles that destroyed this tree. I'll rat on those pesky Pilated Woodpeckers too. I couldn't find any adelgids but those guys are on my list as well. 

No carpet or floor covering can come close to the beauty of this moss on the rocks.

I catch a glimpse of the river I'll need to wade across. Once I got down to the river, I could clearly see a line to cross it. It required a upstream diagonal route. It was just barely above my knees. I'd look for this to be higher most of the rest of the year.

June 12 Rabbit Creek & Hannah's Mountain

Both of these trails represent new trail for me. I walked Wet Bottom Trail first. I have no idea why it is called "wet bottom".

Then there was a ankle deep crossing of Abrams Creek. I think I crossed Rabbit Creek at some point too but there wasn't much of interest on this trail. Once I got on Hannah Mountain Trail, it was a smooth, pine needle cushioned walk. I could have walked barefoot for long sections. However, it was raining today and my sandals were wet and eventually wore a couple blisters into one foot. 

There were a couple big trees and a couple views of Gregory Bald. Otherwise, it was just a pleasant trail to hike. At the Parsons Branch trailhead, I met my companions after their hike up to the bald for azalea viewing.

June 11 Twice around Cades Cove

My first ride around Cades Cove began at 6:15am. I caught a glimpse of a coyote about 1/3 around the loop. There were many deer in the tall vegetation just before the Abrams Creek bridge.

On my second circuit, rain came about at the half way point. These two bears didn't seem to mind. They appear to be an adult female and a yearling. It wasn't much fun bicycling in the rain so I opted not to make a third circuit even though I had plenty of time before the cars were released at 10.

June 10 Camel Gap Trail

Today's outing begins at the Cosby trailhead. It consists of Low Gap, Camel Gap and Appalachian Trails forming a lollipop loop. About half of the 15 mile route is new trail for me. Beginning and ending on Low Gap Trail, I have only 2.9 miles of trail to walk twice. Low Gap Trail is not a scenic trail but is a very expedient way to get up and over the ridge from Cosby to Walnut Bottoms. The rest of the route scores very nicely in terms of scenic and pleasant trail. 

Portions of Low Gap and much of Camel's Gap trails are overgrown with ground vegetable spilling over the trail. Although there were only a few spots I could not see where I was stepping, I suspect that later this year, without maintenance, these trails will be covered over in many spots.

Walnut Bottoms is a popular place to camp, along Big Creek. There was a very large tent set up. Possibly it was carried up by horse although I did not see any horses today.

From this point on for several miles, I hiked alongside Big Creek on Camel Gap Trail. Finally the trail turned away from the creek and ran into the AT at Camel Gap.

Above is a photo, ok, it is a blurry photo, of a Common nettle stem. You can clearly see the hairy trichomes which inflict a sting. They easily detach when you brush up against them. At that moment they also inject histamine and a few other things, possibly formic acid, into your skin. It feels just like you have been bee stung. However, it dissipates quicker than a sting. Apparently, there are 6 subspecies of Common nettle. Most have the stinging capability but a few do not. To tell the difference, you have to notice the hairy or smooth stems. Unfortunately, they can grow side by side so you really need to just avoid them all as it is just too hard to see the stems all the time. Occasionally, I have been stung slightly, right through my hiking pants. There were a bunch on the trail today but I managed to avoid a sting even though I was in sandals. 

June 9 The Jumpoff

It began as a gorgeous day. By early afternoon, I was wondering if I needed to get my umbrella out and have it handy. By evening it was pouring.

Our hike today is short at 6 miles, beginning at Newfound Gap, heading north on the AT. Take your first left, then your first right and you are at the Jumpoff.

Peering over the ledge it looks like a long vertical drop covered in vegetation. I ate lunch here with my friend Terry, from Pennsylvania. His knee kept him off the trail with his backpacking friends doing the stretch through the national park. 

On our return, we met many folks heading out from Newfound Gap. This critter was not shy one bit. I bet it gets its share of handouts. Red squirrels are often seen at high elevations in the park.

May 30-Jun 1 Uwharrie Trail Through Hike

Wild Ginger Bloom

The Uwharrie Trail hike organized by Crystal Cockman of The Land Trust for Central North Carolina was really two journeys in one. The 40ish mile hike along the Uwharrie Trail was a very nice "long weekend" outing. The second journey is the trail itself and how it came to be. Conceived in the early 1970's by Joe Moffitt in his role as a scout master; his original trail was modified many times and then huge gaps were lost for various reasons. The rebuilding of the trail has been a journey embraced by Crystal and her small cadre of trail enthusiast. Through the generosity of many committed persons, the trail is staging a rebirth. 

Crystal had arranged for a 3 day and a 4 day hike of the entire trail. I enlisted in the 3 day version which called for 8 or 9 of us to catch up to the 4 day group by hiking two days worth of trail in one day. Through some last minute logistics, I was able to do this 20 mile day with just a day pack. With my two buddies, Will and Jim R along, we had lots to talk about. Although not hot, humidity was very high and I was sweating profusely all day. 

Lady Trusses 

We were met by trail angel, David Gardener at two road crossing. Our progress was slow. Will thought it was too slow and we were tiring due to the pace. On the last leg, the three of us, moved out ahead. We had an extra mile or more to hike due to our having to retrieve our backpacks at a road crossing beyond the group campsite designated for the night. We made it to the crossing and barely walked 1/4 mile further before finding a spot to camp. It was late, between 6 and 7. Our night was short. The humidity continued and finally during the night, rain came.

Crossing Spencer Creek

Will and I lay in our tents the following morning, wondering when the rain might end. I was able to briefly see a radar weather website and it looked promising. After gathering up our gear, we walked back to the road crossing and there was Jim R getting his morning shuttle back to the trailhead. He had gone out to dinner last night and met my wife in the restaurant while I was sweating in the tent. All is forgiven, we can load our packs in his car and retrieve them in the evening. So it is another day with only day packs.

Our early morning hike over Dark Mountain is a breeze. We meet a couple folks at the next road crossing who are joining the main group. However, we are probably hours ahead of them at this point. We push on so we can hike at our pace today. It is still late morning when we cross over Little Long Mountain. The trail here is heavily overgrown despite some weed whacking having been done. I'm afraid this section will require constant maintenance throughout the year. later in the day, the main group will cross this exposed mountain in full sun and there were some sunburnt heads in the evening.

Deformed or Manipulated Tree on UT

About noon we stop for lunch after crossing Kings Mountain. Here we meet David Craft, doing some trail maintenance. He stops for a nice chat and soon we are both off in different directions. About this time, we start the off trail portion of the hike. The National Forest Service has yet to approve the route we have designated through this section. Until approval is given, we have only flagging on trees to lead us through here. I thought I could easily find my way, having been here so many times during the scouting process, but with the leaves on the trees it looks like a different place and I have to search for the flagging in fear of getting lost.

We manage the route with only a few glitches and are on the road for the 1/2 mile road walk to the Milliken Farm and our camp for the evening. We are the first hikers to arrive and are greeted by many generous folks. Eight pork shoulders have been in the smoker since 4 or 5 in the morning. A port-a-potty has been rented for our use and there is beer donated by Natty Greenes in Greensboro. First order of business is to dry out all the wet gear. It is sunny and a perfect day for doing that.

We had wonderful pork barbecue  that evening with the standard issue of cole slaw, smoked beans, corm bread and beer. Now this is camping! I had a very restful sleep. During the night a cold front passed through. We had light winds and low temperatures.

My Saturday Campsite

Our group of three was on the trail early. Our last leg is through the Birkhead Wilderness, an area I know intimately. We breezed through the trail and were finished before noon. What a great weekend outing.