Hot Springs, NC

Three day weekend, how about that! We took this one to Hot Springs, NC. I found this crazy treehouse village campground on the dang ol' interweb called Creek Ridge Camping and thought we'd give it a try. I heard some people at work talking about Hot Springs and it's claim to fame, some really...uhh...hot springs. Most people go there, stay in a cabin, and take a soak in these hot tubs that you rent by the hour and they fill up for each party with actual hot mountain spring water. But you know how we like pretending we're homeless on the weekends and "roughing it"? Well, I just had to choose the most rugged organized campground in the area, and go there instead. So let's preface this by saying that I think the next time we go to Hot Springs we're renting a cabin and relaxing in hot tubs. But I'll have to report on that later.

The basic deal with this crazy place is that that have a handful of really sweet campsites along this little creek down in a holler. You can't park your cars anywhere close to your site, so you hike in from the cabin at the top of the mountain and the guy who runs the place drives you gear down about 3/4 of the way on his little 4-wheeler. This would be awesome, except when the guy is gone for the whole afternoon and his hippie teenage nephew isn't allowed to drive the 4-wheeler. This resulted in more trips up and down that damn hill than I care to remember. Just in case you ever go here- pack like you're backpacking not car camping. Here's the trusty Cherokee at the top of the hill-


But the good news is that these little sites they have down by the creek are just lovely. Each one has a covered deck structure they call "peekas" or something made-up like that. Some of them are more treehouse-ey than others, and ours - "Birds Nest" - was kind of close to the ground. But cool nonetheless.


The sites were nicely separated and fairly private, which they ought to be for all the effort involved. There was a thick understory of fraser magnolia trees (according to the eastern forests book). And being right on the side of the creek, it was really pleasant to sleep to that sound. Nice rock fire ring, with which to burn all the firewood I had the teenage nephew carry down for us.



It was actually a good thing to have the covered deck at the site, because it rained for a good part of the weekend. Seamus hid behind the tent. He's our lil' dumbass.

Puppy Goes to the Mountains

This weekend we took our new puppy, Seamus, on his first little outing in the woods. We packed up and headed out to Paint Creek Campground near Greeneville, TN on the northern edge of the Cherokee National Forest. Paint Creek turned out to be a nice little campground very far off the beaten path. I can't believe that anyone actually makes it out that far, but lo and behold it was filled up by dusk. The only method we have for finding these campgrounds is a guidebook. But it looked like many of the other folks there were locals. Particularly the burly ladies I borrowed a can opener from (terrible packing oversight).

The little bugger was a pretty good boy, save for some unnecessary barking at neighbors, and a 2 AM out-of-tent rest stop. He liked the falling leaves and his first sighting of a large body of water (no swimming lessons yet). He's only about 5 months old, but soon enough, he'll get his own backpack and be ready to hit the trail for real.

First Weekend out in the Smokies

So here we are in Tennessee, and the Camry's official!


We got the first chance this weekend to head out into the hills and do some camping in Great Smoky Mountain National Park. Our first choice was Big Creek Campground, a quaint little 15 site walk-in joint. Alas, it was already filled by Friday afternoon. So it goes, and so we headed the 12 miles over the mountain to Cosby campground. Of the big national park campgrounds, Cosby is supposed to be one of the best. And it was nice, they were right. The trees were tall and it really was situated down in the holler between huge peaks. And plenty of room for pancake cookin' on the new stove.




The sites were a little packed-in and close together. But it turned out to be a pretty friendly tent campground with nice flat tent pads. If they had filled up every site, it would have been uncomfortably cramped, but as it were there were a lot of open sites. Some Texans moved in across the road from us, and aside from their pickup truck-mounted shower, they weren't too bad for neighbors.

On Saturday we took a nice hike from the campground to Hen Wallow Falls, about 5 miles round trip, 3 leisurely hours. The trails in the national park so far are really heavily used, but thus really well maintained.

Tree roots paved the trail.


Danny and the falls.


Catchin' crawdads.


Don't have to get your feet wet.


And the best part of the whole weekend? Not having to drive through Staten Island traffic to get back on Sunday night. Here's to many more!

Spring in Macedonia Brook

Okay, so Connecticut is not a large state BUT the largest state park is Macedonia Brook. And boy, is it nice in the spring. The park is essentially two tall mountain ridges cut down the center by Macedonia Brook, a quiet little stream that snakes through a couple of miles of picnic areas and campsites. We visited last August, but our site wasn't nearly as idyllic as the one we stayed in this time. Oh site 43, you treated us well.

After a run-in with some angry teen girls who really wanted site 43, we were victorious. So we threw up the tent about 15 feet from the edge of the brook, just so the sound of the water could lull us to sleep. Cold sleep. It's still only May in New England. The site was nicely tucked away from other sites, and although this was by far the best in the campground- all the sites here are great. Compared to some of the dusty parking lots they're calling campgrounds up here, Macedonia Brook's sites are all nicely spaced out and wooded. Some are more private than others of course, but overall it's a really nice place to do some car campin'.



On Sunday the sun was shining and the trails were calling. There are many miles of trails all within the park, aside from the Appalachian Trail, which passes close by outside the park boundaries. We decided to stay in the park and hike up to the surrounding ridges right from our site. There is a 6.7 mi circular ridge trail that basically surrounds the perimeter of the park, with a bunch of other easier trails criss-crossing throughout. We ended up doing most of that ridge trail, but cutting off the north corner. We managed to hit Cobble Mountain though, which is the highest peak in the park, the route up there is a bit, let's say "rugged". When all was said and done it was 5.7 mi, 4.5 hrs. It was the first hike of the season and I felt it the next day, but it was a good first outing.

Little Pond

Quick trip this weekend to Little Pond Campground in the Catskills. I had reserved this hike-in site a few weeks ago, since they seem to be pretty sought after, especially when the leaves are on fire in October. For good reason, because this site right at the edge of the lake- a little close to the trail that circles the pond, but really, really nice. It's worth hauling in all your firewood and stuff, because you get your own little piece of the lake for a weekend.

So all was fun and games on Saturday afternoon when we got there, but as soon as the sun went down the sky opened up and it rained all night. Some pictures from our site before it was all wet...

Let's Give these Catskills a Try

In an effort to get as much car campin' in as possible before the season's over, we paid a visit to the Catskills this weekend. Found a quiet, but slightly crowded, tent campsite at Woodland Valley. The weather was nice and the mosquitoes were mean.



On Sunday I had it in my head that we would take the trail from the campground up to Panther Mountain. Then we got to the trailhead, saw the mileage, and stared straight up the hill we were about to climb- and decided to go for the closer overlook, Giant Ledge. Hell of a trek up that damn thing, but pretty nice at the top.

Summer Recap

Here's some highlights from this summer.

This past weekend we camped at Blue Rocks and hiked at Hawk Mountain in Pennsylvania. This nine-mile death march started at the Hawk Mountain Sanctuary, where they have trails for old people to watch birds. But they also have a bunch of crazy rocky trails that run over the crest of the mountain. We crossed the ridge on one of these, and met up with the AT on the other side, then down the mountain, then back up the mountain.

The view across the valley:


At Dan's Pulpit on the AT:




Over Labor Day, we went up to an AT section in Harriman State Park. The best part was the giant rock formation, 'Lemon Squeezer'.





Some August weekend we spent up in Connecticut at Macedonia Brook State Park. Camped at the park, but the AT crossed the road on the way in, so we hiked all over the place.

AT in CT:



The cottage in the mountians:



These are from the first weekend we spent up at Blue Rocks in PA.

Glaicial rock field:


Sweet campfire:


Red Eft in the middle of the trail:


The Pinnacle:


Rocky trail between Pinnacle and Pulpit Rocks:



And the rest is summer miscellany: