Pisgah National Forest: Blackstock Knob via the Big Butt Trail

It rained Friday and Saturday, but luckily I got one good weather day out of my three day weekend. Besides the rainy weather forced me to complete a project I'd been tasked with by Noelle, to take the sliding glass doors off the bathtub. Anyway, I woke up early this morning and gathered up the pack I had packed yesterday. I made it out onto the road just after 6:30. I would be headed over into North Carolina and the foothills of the mighty Black Range; the highest range of peaks in the eastern United States.

The drive was uneventful, but it did take a little bit longer than I had anticipated. I reached the northern trailhead for the Big Butt Trail at about 8:30 after eating a quick breakfast in the car.

The hike started off with a pretty steep climb. It was one switchback after another. Soon the ground was sprinkled with little pellets of snow.

This snow would get slightly deeper as I ascended, but never too deep. Soon my first objective for the day came into view through the trees: the summit of Big Butt Peak.

From what I had read online there was a "manway" that led to it from the Big Butt Trail. One description I had read online said that it was a tough bushwhack, but I found it to be practically a maintained trail with little brush to contend with. I soon found myself on the summit where I found the benchmark

and took my official summit photo.

There was an area just off the summit that had some pretty nice partially unobstructed views to the west.

From the summit of Big Butt I retraced my steps on the "manway" back to the officially maintained trail. Along the way I passed through an area where fog must have condensed and then frozen to the trees
and other vegetation.

It made for hiking in a real winter wonderland, though the photos I took don't do the scene any justice.

To my surprise my ascent to the summit of Blackstock Knob was now turning into a descent. I made my way down into a gap and back up to the summit of Little Butt. There was a rocky outcropping near the summit that offered views to the Black Range.

I admired the view and then continued on. From Little Butt I again descended and then ascended up to the Big Butt Trail's intersection with the Blue Ridge Parkway.

The road must have been closed because as I ate a snack at the overlook I didn't see one car.  

After finishing my snack of mixed nuts and prunes, I hit the trail again. Now I would be hiking on a section of the Mountains-to-Sea Trail. The elevation was quite high and the dusting of snow got a little bit thicker.

There were lots of spruces and firs lining the trail. The summit of Blackstock Knob is not marked, but the MST passes right over it. I hiked the trail on the ridge and after I was sure I had hiked over the highest portion of it, I backtracked to that spot to claim as the summit. I took my photo there but did not linger much.

I still had 7 miles of hiking back to the car on a short winter day. 

The hike back to the car was rough. This was the longest hike I had done in a long time and my body is just not accustomed to hiking these distances anymore. There was a lot more ascent to my return trip than I remembered there being including one really long section of stairs.

My fatigue did allow me to take a few breaks and I was able to admire the thick algae and fungal growth on the trees.

I also stopped to take a break at a nice overlook of the Black Range.

Finally, I stopped at an interesting, gnarly old tree I had seen on my ascent.

From the gnarly tree it was a steep descent back to my car.

Cherokee National Forest: Meadow Creek Tower via Gum Springs

It snowed a little bit last night and I was really itching to get up into the mountains to enjoy walking in the white stuff. Luckily, Noelle let me head out and so I drove towards North Carolina on TN-70. At the intersection with TN-107 I turned off and headed towards Del Rio. Once I arrived at the Houston Valley Recreation Area I parked outside the locked gate and crossed the road to hike the Gum Springs Trail and Meadow Creek Mountain Trail to the fire tower on Meadow Creek Mountain.

The hike started out on a trail lightly dusted with snow.

It was just enough to make hiking a bit slippery, but not enough that I had to trudge through it. The trail gently ascended to Gum Springs Branch and followed the icy stream for a bit. At the head of the stream, Gum Spring, I found myself at a junction with the Meadow Creek Mountain Trail.

I turned left onto the trail that was signed as leading to the fire tower. The snow was just a little bit deeper as I ascended. It must have been windy last night as the snow on one side of the ridge was blown away, while on the sheltered side the trees and plants were frosty with snow.

Eventually I reached a snowy road and turned right to ascend to the top of the mountain. The walking was slippery on the road, but still quite easy. The views from the road were spectacular,

especially on the sheltered side of the mountain. Trees, plants and the skeletal remains of last summer's flowers were crusted with ice and snow.

I found a sign for the fire tower as I approached the top of the ridge

and shortly thereafter I found a short trail which led not to a fire tower, but to a viewing platform.

The viewing platform looked relatively new, so maybe there had been a fire tower at the site recently. I climbed the stairs to the top of the tower and was rewarded with wonderful views of the surrounding mountains and lowlands.

There was no snow remaining at the lower elevations,

but the higher areas were frosted with sugar-like snow.

I admired the view for a bit and then retraced my steps back to the car. The return hike was uneventful. However, the drive back towards Greeneville was pretty spectacular.  The last of the clouds that had enveloped the summits of the mountains had burned off and the views to the peaks, including nearby Camp Creek Bald were amazing!

Davy Crockett Birthplace State Park: First Day Hike 2014

Noelle, Sierra and I decided to get outside for the first day of 2014. We made the short drive over to Davy Crockett Birthplace State Park for the Tennessee State Park System's First Hike series. Tennessee and many other state park systems are participating in this program to get people outdoors and active. I thought it sounded like a wonderful way to start the new year.

We arrived just before 11 am and met at the Crockett Cabin replica.

Soon enough we were hitting the trail. We closely followed the Nolichucky River for a short distance before we headed upstream alongside Limestone Creek.

The creek was quite lovely with lots of small riffles and ledges.

We even passed through an area where the trail was lined with scouring rush.

At the site of an old mill we headed away  from the creek and passed the grave of a Civil War soldier named William Collett.

This was the same man who operated the mill that once stood on the banks of the creek.

Past the grave site the trail headed into some grassy meadows and then into a dark white pine plantation. Hiking through the pines gave the impression of being much further north than Tennessee.

Finally, the hike ended at the park visitor center where we were treated to cookies and hot cocoa. It was an enjoyable hike and I met some students who recognized me from Andrew Johnson National Historic Site. Sierra made a friend also!

Brew Beers Eve 2013

We've never really been big on celebrating New Year's Eve, but now that we have Sierra we have an added excuse to not go out. Instead we've elected to stay in and instead of drinking mass quantities of alcoholic beverages, we brewed mass quantities of alcoholic beverages.

This could become a New Year's Eve tradition. Tonight's brew is a Dry Stout in the style of Guinness.

Happy 205th Birthday Andrew Johnson!

Wreath sent by President Obama to commemorate the birthday of former President Andrew Johnson. 

Thomas Wolfe Memorial

Noelle really wanted to get out of the house and I really wanted to go to Asheville. We had not been to Asheville since before Thanksgiving and were in need of an Asheville beer fix, plus I wanted to sell a pair of mitten shells at Second Gear. We made the drive into the city and ate lunch at the downtown location of Asheville Brewing and Pizza. The 828 Pale Ale was excellent!

After lunch we made the walk over to the Thomas Wolfe Memorial to check out the house and learn more about the author who grew up in this boarding home in Asheville.

We bought our tickets and headed into the house for our tour. This was the first tour we've been on since Sierra learned to walk and it did not go so well. She, being the toddler she is, wanted to walk around and play and touch things. All of these actions were prohibited and so Sierra was not a happy girl.

We did make it through the full tour, but I must apologize to our guide and the other two visitors who were there to see the home. After guiding countless families (some with cranky toddlers) on cave and home tours, I now know how it feels to be on the other side of the equation. Needless to say, we will not be going on any house tours again anytime soon.

Merry Christmas from the Grunwalds

Santa was good to us all this year. Here are some photos of our family Christmas celebration.