Stahahe High Peak

This place should be a well kept secret. Trail to it is unmaintaned and unmarked except that someone did blaze it with a dripping baby blue dot most of the way. Best part is that it's barely thirty minutes from the trailhead. Their is a great Vista, plenty of flat land to pitch a tent, lots of shade trees and peaceful serentity abound. We'll be sure to return here sometime to enjoy one of the few nice places in Harriman where it is very unlikely to run into any other people.

The Pinnacle

Reaching this view was one of the easiest 8.7 mile ascents to 1695 ft ever! The pinnacle along the AT ( Ahem - "white trail" ) gradually climbs above the farmland in eastern PA. We were chased off this mountain once again by the impending doom of PM T-Storms.

Harpers Ferry

Wild wonderful West Virgina... Harpers Ferry from across the Potomac with the Shenandoah off in the distance. Perhaps one of the best views of any town so rich in history. Directly behind us a thousand feet above was "Maryland Heights" where Union troops held the high ground with 30 - 100 Lb Cannon Batteries and camped beginning the spring of 1862 to hold off any attempt of a rebel invasion into the north. This photo was taken mere moments before we were overrun buy a torrential thunderstorm. Over three years have passed without having to bust out the emergency Poncho. Well today - it was an emergency.

ATC Headquarters

H & A standing before the ATC-HQ where as any good pilgrim would - bought a load of souveniers at a pretty hefty 25% Member (pilgrim) discount.

Paulinskill Rail Trail

Once again took an easy stroll further westward on the rail trail. When the urge to climb the hills in Harriman subsides we head out to Sussex County to take down a few of the 27 miles that is the Paulinskill Rail Trail. The cinder bed runs from Sparta to nearly the Delaware and we began from the Barn in Fredon that marks it's halfway point and went only 2 miles west to Stillwater road and back. Click the link above to read all about it.

"Et tu Denzel?"

Spent the better part of this afternoon at the Belasco Theater in NYC to see Denzel Washington's portrayal of Brutus in Shakespeare's Julius Caesar. This wouldn't necessarily find its way into my blogspace except that following the show I found myself in the line with Playbill in hand to meet and greet the Oscar-winning actor. With very few celebrity sitings under my belt, I have to say it was a pretty cool experience. Denzel was carrying his own "Sharpie" and it wasn't the knife in the photo above. Shook his hand and then we made our way over to Virgil's BBQ on 44th btw 6 & 7 for dinner. (I asked if he wanted to join us but he had another performance to do. Oh well.)

Small Batch

My current stock of bourbon. New, in the foreground, is a bottle of A. H. Hirsch Reserve. Much credit goes to my friend T, who shared some of his with me this week. He also shared the source and after a little info from a book by Charles Cowdery (the expert in all things bourbon) I realized how rare and unique this label is and that no connoisseur of American whiskey should be without. The Pennsylvania distillery closed in 1988 and the only remaining spirit was barrelled in the spring of 1974. Sixteen years old and a limited supply that can never be replaced warrants the $70 price tag. Maybe I should have bought two of them as T did, one to savor and one to store. Preiss imports is the distributor who has control of the world's only remaining stock describes...
"Widely acclaimed by authorities, A. H. Hirsch Reserve is that complete rarity: a whiskey of such uncompromising quality and individual character that words simply cannot do it justice. A thick-textured whiskey, which coats the mouth. Rich, complex flavors, very spicy, with plenty of mint, evergreen, dried apricots, toffee, and vanilla. Long soothing finish."

Maple Hill Manor
mcv

Ready to Dip
mcv

Fog, balds, tour groups, and packing up

Andrews Bald

After yesterday's hike washout we were determined to get some trail time today. However, the weather did not quite get in line with our plans. We were up early enough today, but the fog just wouldn't lift. We headed up to tbe Clingman's Dome parking lot anyway, determined to get started by at least 11, a random time we decided by which the fog must be gone!! At the top at about 9 a.m., M did a walk-away test. He barely made it 15 feet away before I couldn't see him. As thick as peanut butter! A bunch of tour groups--busloads of loud, crazy loud, high school kids--showed up and headed out without jackets (it was 37 degrees!) toward the "easy" path to the dome tower. We followed our plan and got on the Forney Ridge Trail around 11. As soon as the trail dipped down a couple dozen feet from the parking lot, the fog was gone and we even saw sun. Cheers! The trail was very wet and slippy. The trees smelled really great--or was that a freshly cut evergreen that had been moved off the trail...? We subtely lost elevation all along the trail as we headed to our destination, Andrews Bald. Once there I took a sweet nap (see this post's photo) and M walked around taking photos. On the return trip, the sun was out and we heated up quickly, especially as we regained all the elevation we'd lost on the trip out. We picked up a trail that took us past the parking lot and that met up with the AT. We saw one thru-hiker pass by as we were headed up to the AT. Near the parking lot we heard the cacophony made by the tour bus people. Yeesh! Once on the AT, we were on the other side of the mountain, the unsunny side. Brrrr. There were no views down in to the valley--only fog being moved by a fast-moving wind. Back on with the layers. We followed the AT to the dome tower, just in time for a gang of band camp kids to come screaming up from the parking lot on the paved path. We sat below the tower eating our lunch, waiting for to leave. Two thru-hikers eventually sat down near us, looking in good spirits but tired. They went up to the tower after us, but there were just no views to be seen. A total white-out. We took the easy path back to the cars and all along the way every kid we passed asked us for our trekking poles. It wasn't that hard an uphill walk. I guess this is what happens with PE classes are cut because of school budget problems.

Back at the cabin, we were sad to have to start packing up for an early morning exit on Friday. We got in a few more rounds of pool and M relaxed one last time in the hot tub.

(written by H)

North Carolina Smokies

Why they're called Smoky

We woke up to foggy rain, so we decided not to hike and instead spent the day driving around parts of the park we hadn't been to yet. The fog was think in Cades Cove. From there, we took Rich Mountain Road because the Parson Branch Road was still closed, probably flooded. RMR was a fast climb with lots of switchbacks and was mostly unpaved. We were relieved to finally reach the top. We next headed to the Foothills Parkway and then Hwy 129 to Fontana Dam. Right before the dam the road again climbed and was one switchback after another. We were surrounded by a swarm of Mini Coopers, and when we finally go to the dam town we found even more--some sort of Mini convention. To stave off further carsickness, we grabbed some snacks at the dam store. Think we saw some AT thru-hikers hanging around on the porch. We drove across the dam and took photos of the Welcome to the Smoky N. P. sign, where we saw more hikers headed south. Back on the road, we headed southeast into the Nantahala National Forest, eventually turning back north in Bryson City and going through the town of Cherokee on the Cherokee Indian Reservation. The other visitor center, the Oconaluftee, was already closed by the time we arrived. Newfound Gap Road took us back up to familiar park territory. A long day in the car, but worth it for the great views and the chance to see more of the park than our "home" corner by Gatlinburg.

(written by H)

Alum Cave Bluffs

GTM Day

Today's hike was on the popular Alum Cave Trail, with a possible goal of reaching Mount Le Conte. We didn't get on the trail till late morning (the elevation change and days of driving really wiped me out!), and there was still a chill in the air below the massive old-growth (I think?) trees. We sure don't see trees this big back up in Harriman or Stokes. The trail followed a fast-flowing stream and there were lots of breaks in the trees and bushes and outcropping of rocks around the stream to allow for wathcing the water fly over the mini-rapids. We crossed a few branches of the stream via bridges made of very thick logs cut in half. Super sturdy, but railings only on one side (but not good for bridge-chickens like H). The trail took an interesting turn upward after another bridge, and follows a staircase (thanks trail maintenance folks) set under a rock arch. Not quite the caliber of Utah's arches, but beautiful nonetheless. Up to this point we met up with at least a dozen hikers who were coming back from summitting Mount Le Conte. Ooff. What time did these determined souls rise this morning?! The trail veered away from the stream at another log bridge and switch-backed all the way up to a scenic vista just short of the cave that's the trail's namesake. M dropped some carbiners into a prickly bush but with unusual dexterity managed to rescue them with his trekking poles. Good job, M! Leave no trace! A small trickle of water dropped down on us from atop the Alum Cave, making the trail slip-slidey in this spot. We ducked under the cave briefly to get a sense of its size (huge!) and moved on up the trail, looking for a lunch spot away from some chatty (where're you from??) day hikers. Finding nothing but more climbing and deciding not to keep going all the way to Mount Le Conte, we turned around and passed the cave and found a lunch spot with a nice view into the valley. A barking red-coated squirrel quickly claimed that turf as his and tried to make off with our spicy nits and other lunch snacks. He didn't succeed, and we sure didn't feed him, though doubtless others have. The walk back down the trail was uneventful. A couple who had jumped ahead of us on the trail disappeared into the woods, or so we thought. We finally caught up with them at the car parking area. They must have run to keep ahead of us! Overall a good hike.



(written by H)

Chattanooga to Gatlinburg

Day 5

Downtown Chattanooga is a great little town, streets are empty of pedestrians and traffic and thought that was quite odd. Also you can't miss that at the cities edge there are no less than six bridges that cross the Tennessee River in about a mile. ( Should have that much infrastructure at the Hudson! ) We started the day heading back out to a little town called South Pittsburg where we were going to follow up on a glimpse of a billboard for the Lodge Factory tour; unfortunately the cast iron cookware maker was merely a retail outlet so no tour for us mistaken travelers. Took another dip back into Georgia across the time zones having to reset our watches once again and H mentions that in an hour when we get back it will be right about now. spent the remainder of the afternoon crawling up Scenic TN 411 through Maryville destined for Pidgeon Forge and Gatlingburg. Both of these towns nestled in the foothills of the Smokies have lost their charm and have sucumbed to the Disney-esque and over commercialization of trash tourist entertainment on a grand scale that makes a NJ Boardwalk look like a ghost town. Not so sure Dolly is to blame for this but if you like Pancakes your in luck as there are probably no less than thiry eateries that feature the flapjack. We checked into our beutiful mountain cabin Moonlight Ridge where H promptly passed out and I relaxed in the hot tub sipping some Tennessee whiskey. I dried off she woke up and we headed for Food City to pick up our groceries for the next four days. Hey did you know that Cilantro was Chinese Parsley!?! me either.

Road Trip on Tennessee 64

Day 4

Drove 300+ miles today, bound for Chattanooga. First we stopped by Sun Record studios where we were both literally attacked by a small bird, Hitchcock style. I turned my back and chirp! chirp! the little bastard bit me on the ear. After that we took the scenic route all the way out on Tennessee's Route 64 through the farmland. The local counties are about as rural as you get out there and are very beautiful. One county in particular, McNairy (notice the bullet holes in the sign), caught my interest as it is the home of the legendary sheriff Buford Pusser, who used to carry around "The Buford Stick." By the time we got through there we headed for Lynchburg for none other than the Jack Daniel Distillery for the tour. H & I are on the right side of the group photo. Our tour guide, Bruce, was hilarious and made the trip a lot of fun. Best part of this visit was that I was able to get ahold of a couple of special commemoritive bottles of the Tennessee whiskey, both of which are autographed by the master distiller himself, Jimmy Bedford. Priceless! Okay, by now we are still starving and between the churches there's still nothing to eat. Jump off the interstate just outside Chatanooga and find a Hampton Inn, which was much nicer than both the Radissons and a lot cheaper. Headed downtown for a long-awaited meal at the Mount Vernon Restaurant. On the way back to the hotel we made a wrong turn and found ourselves at the Chattanooga Choo Choo which is the city's train depot turned Holiday Inn. The main waiting area of the former train station is now the lobby; behind the check-in counter is the old train schedule, just like at the old Union Station in Nashville. I found a New Jersey shot glass in the gift shop, go figure!

Memphis in May

Day 3

Heading out of Nashville, we still had breakfast at the Loveless even though we had more than 200 miles to go to get to Memphis. The drive out there was as eventful as any afternoon spent on an interstate but soon enough we found ourselves in the parking lot of the Heartbreak Hotel for the almost required visit to Graceland. The house itself is small for today's rich and famous folk and the interior has a few rooms left the way it was but for the most part it's a museum. Headed out of Graceland with a hearty appetite for some of the famous barbecue the city is known for. Our first stop was A & R. Unfortunately, it was Sunday and the place was closed! (You'll find almost everywhere in Tennessee good food is hard to find outside of a residential kitchen; you will find more banks and churches than anything else.) Other famous BBQ joints, Interstate BBQ and Rendezvous were again both closed. Not giving up on the quest for food we headed far east out of downtown on Poplar Avenue and hit Corky's an equally renowned smoke-pit that serves on Sundays. Here I was awarded that famous smoked pulled pork topped with a little sauce and cole slaw. Delicious! Back downtown after driving into R-Kansas for kicks we checked into the Radisson Memphis. Someday this will be a real nice hotel but when we were there the lobby was under construction and ramshackly. H passed out from the pace we set so far but without hesitation I strolled over to the Peabody Hotel to see the famous Ducks get escorted from the lobby fountain to the rooftop penthouse. Back on the street outside carriages lined up like it was Central Park South. Went back to our hotel and at the bar downstairs sipped on a JD Single Barrel waiting out the nap H was taking. Once refreshed we headed out onto Beale Street to check out the famous Memphis music scene. All we really saw was people drinking hurricanes and REALLY BIG BEERS (in 32-oz plastic cups) served right out on the street. There is always some room for some good Southern cooking so we had supper at Isaac Hayes's soul food restaurant for catfish bites, gumbo, fried chicken, and turkey meatloaf. Food was fine but typical among the big corporate eateries. One more lap on Beale for some pictures, but my camera died and would not read the SD card. Almost-tragic loss of 200+ photos, but thanks to Wal-Mart I was able to save those memories to CD.