I opted to return to the Great Smoky Mountains for this hike, since I had some time for a mid-week trip. It's a bit farther than I normally go, since it's a few hours to the park, but when my wife and I had done some hiking in the Smokies during our vacation, I developed an interest in exploring the park further. Thus, I decided to try the Deep Creek Loop Trail.
Quercus Ilicifolia Blog
For a number of years now, as I've been living in the upstate South Carolina area, I had seen signs for "Chau-Ram". I kind of vaguely wondered what it was, perhaps thinking it had something to do with the Chauga River. But I never pursued it, until I read a write-up on the hiking trails available there. Turns out, Chau-Ram is a nice-sized park near the confluence of the Chauga River and Ramsey Creek; hence, Chau-Ram.
In late summer, I got a new hiking book, Explorer's Guide 50 Hikes in South Carolina: Walks, Hikes & Backpacking Trips from the Lowcountry Shores to the Midlands to the Mountains & Rivers of the Upstate, and the author spoke of a waterfall called Station Cove Falls that can be reached by way of the Oconee Station Historic Site. This area, located in upstate South Carolina, not far from my home, is one of the oldest frontier stations in the mountains.
So, my wife and I, still on our hiking vacation, decided to take some time in the Great Smoky Mountains along the border between Tennessee and North Carolina. After looking through some hiking choices, we opted to go for the Andrews Bald Trail. This trail is about 3.5 miles round trip to a peak that tops out at around 6300 feet. It is a moderate trail, with an elevation gain of about 900 feet, but it's a nice day hike.
This is a relatively brief post about more of the wanderings in Kentucky that my wife and I did in August of this year. After finishing the Natural Bridge Trail, we decided to do more hiking in the area, and chose the Whittleton Trail. This trail is a 2-mile in-and-out trail that purported to be relatively easy to moderate, and it was just up from Hemlock Lodge, the center of activity in the Natural Bridge State Resort.
A few weeks ago, in late August, my wife and I took some time off. Our wanderings led us to some hiking trails in Kentucky, around the Red River Gorge area. We took an interest in the Natural Bridge State Resort (not sure what the difference is between a State Resort and a State Park, but that's neither here nor there), and decided to wander around and see the sights.
As I've done a lot of hiking in and around north Georgia and upstate South Carolina, it has become increasingly difficult to find new day hikes that fit within my schedule and conditioning. So, I picked up a new book, Hiking Georgia, by Donald Pfitzer, to see if I could find some new hikes to try. After a quick sifting through the book, I found the Angel Falls Trail, just over the South Carolina border in northeast Georgia, not far from Clayton, in Rabun County.
I've been to Paris Mountain State Park many times now (Mountain Creek Trail, Brissy Ridge, Sulfur Springs Trail), and each time I've been to the park, I've been impressed at how fortunate Greenville is to have such a great resource just north of the city. I had been on the Sulfur Springs Trail last winter, but it seemed like a good time to try it again, this time during the summer.
Yes, it's summer in Georgia, which means stifling heat, high humidity, and the strange propensity of the weather to be unpredictable. I went off to the North Georgia mountains to try the Andrews Cove Trail, which is a 2-mile in-and-out trail north of Helen, GA. I knew that there was a chance that rain would be on the playlist for this jaunt, but if I didn't try to go even with the threat of rain, I might never get my chance to get on the trail. That is especially true of this summer.
It has been much harder than I might have expected to go hiking during the summer. My weekends have been filled up with other activities and distractions, but I started jonesing for the outdoors, so I made some time for a quick trip into the mountains. Due to time constraints, I decided to go to a place I've been before, Glassy Mountain, a short hike just north of Pickens, SC.