Another wonderful weekend in the backcountry! The outing was sponsored by the Smoky Mountains Hiking Club and our friend Steve was trip leader. John, Duane and I got on the trail a few hours later than the 11 other hikers. John and I spent the morning working on a plumbing issue in my house while Duane enjoyed Saturday morning breakfast with his wife.
We arrived at campsite 9 a little after 2:00 pm and quickly set up camp. Campsite 9 can accommodate a lot of tents but most of the terrain is downward sloping toward the creek. The sites we found that were reasonably flat were well away from the rest of the campers. This had it’s pluses and minuses. The biggest minus, drifting smoke from the campfire!!:-(
Since we were late into camp, the three of us hiked to Spence Field by ourselves, meeting the rest of the group on their way down. We arrived at the AT about 4:45 pm, looked around and hustled back to camp before the sun fell behind the mountains. We enjoyed dinner, social time and finally a good night’s sleep. Thanks for a great trip, Steve!
On the trail to Spence Field, John and Duane pause to let me catch up. Light snow covered the higher parts of the trail although the temperature in the lower elevations was near 60 F.
The snow turned icy close to the top, causing us to watch our steps carefully. The top (the trail junction with the AT and Spence Field) is in view!
Just off the AT near Spence Field, this beautiful sun-filled field provided a warm respite from the cooler conditions we encountered on the hike up.
Ahhhh…dinner! After a 7.0-mile hike, we were ready for Pad Thai. John fixed the spicy, tangy peanut sauce at home. We enjoyed it in camp with rice noodles and a side of fresh cool cucumbers.
Morning coffee cup holder! Our tent was an uphill walk to the “kitchen” area so we decided to have breakfast in. We enjoyed relaxing and packing in our long johns, at our base camp.
Duane enjoyed breakfast in his long underwear too. As a matter of fact, we all enjoyed Duane’s bluebird long johns!
Hubba Hubba Bill! Bill is pretty proud of his new Hubba Hubba tent by MSR. He bought it on sale at Mt. Rogers Outfitters in Damascus, VA. Duane tells us his brother brought a Hubba. That would be a single person version of the two person Hubba Hubba.
Steve, our fearless hike leader. Hmmm, that would be fearless until the subject of flying comes up. Steve is going on his first “out west” distance backpack this summer and is already stressing over the flight.
This morning was almost perfect, a bit chilly with deep blue skies and clouds drifting about. A real treat on top of one of the clearest nights we have experienced in the backcountry in a long time. The moon was not visible so millions of glittering stars lit the sky. We couldn’t believe our luck to be out on such a star filled night!
A deer grazing at the horse camp area on Anthony Creek trail. The deer is a male although he is missing his antlers. Just after seeing this deer we ran into a family with two kids and an out of control lab on a leash. Duane mentioned that they might want to hold the leash tight because of the deer and “did they know dogs were illegal on the trail.” He-he-he”, the father giggled nervously at being caught, “we know.”
