A Big Thank You is due to all our family and friends who helped make this first retirement trip so good and made it possible for us to enjoy being away for nearly 5 months. At home Berry and Alexis kept the plants watered and watched out for the house. Alexis lived here and took care of our cat and took good care of our house, although I think she and her friends almost wore the lake out. All our neighbors Beverly and Randy, Bill and Maxine etc watched out for the house and for Alexis.
On the road Dave in Montana, Janie and Bill and their family in Portland, Cousins Bryant and Peggy / Carolyn and John / Uncle Don. Also Marshall and Catheryn and Farmer in Bend. It was wonderful visiting Roberta and CT in Arizona and going to the Gila Wilderness with them was really special. And finally my brother and his family in Ft Worth who we visited on the way home. All provided sanctuary from our truck and tent while we were on the road. We really enjoyed getting together with everyone again after too many years had passed without seeing all these wonderful people. The people we met on the trails and in campgrounds made the trip really fantastic too, especially the special people we met as we hiked the High Sierra Loop in Yosemite. Yosemite is a very special place with interesting, active, positive people.
We went to the Great Smoky Mountains to get away and celebrate our 25th anniversary. We rented a cabin on the Little River at the edge of the Smokies in Townsend TN. Our friends Sandra and John came for a day of the five e spent there, using the second bedroom in the cabin and joining us on a couple of hikes in the mountains. John fixed a great breakfast for us and then they fixed a great dinner. Crawfish étouffée with a butternut squash soup and a spinach salad. All was really good and topped off with a fresh home made lemon meringue pie -- made from lemons that Sandra picked while visiting home in Lafayette Louisiana. We enjoyed an after dinner drink from the 25 yr old scotch that John gave us at our retirement party.
We'll be hiking down to Phantom Ranch in the grand Canyon later this week and then going to Whitefish Montana to ski and snowshoe until mid February.
A couple of days ago we hiked at a favorite local train - Laurel Snow Pocket Wilderness. We hiked up to Laurel falls and saved the hike to Snow falls for later. Maybe this Monday.
Below are some home, Smokey Mountains and Laurel Snow photos.
A log bridge right before getting to the Mayna Avent Cabin. She was an important american artist with paintings in the Smithsonian. This isolated cabin was her summer studio where larger windows were added to a much older cabin for the light. We have been visiting this cabin for years and always find it a peaceful place.
The Cabin
Photo through the added larger windows/doors
John and Sandra on the porch of the cabin.
A log with the tannin water frozen running out of the hollow end. Eyes were complements of John.
Crossing Cucumber Gap on the way over to the Little River trail from Jakes Creek trail. The top of the gap is covered with numerous wild magnolia trees of the type that have long thin seed pods that resemble the shape of a cucumber, so they are called Cucumber Magnolias.
Heading for Cucumber Gap
Above and below -- John and Sandra at Cucumber Gap.
A small falls on a creek going down to the little river.
On the Rich Mountain Trail
Views of Cades Cove from the Rich Mountain Trail
A beautiful creek on the Rich Mountain Trail
Our buddies posing on the rocker in the cabin's bedroom with a view of the Little River running behind the cabin in Townsend.
Laurel Snow Pocket Wilderness is a beautiful place just north of Chattanooga just outside Dayton Tennessee. This is one of our favorite close to home hikes.
Richland Creek into which Snow and Laurel Creeks flow.
Susan on the trail. We love the numerous large folders along the trails.
I've always called this rock 'the whale' it looks like a whale coming up from the water.
A cascade on lower Laurel Creek
The trail comes through this crawl under some boulders.
On the trail
Laurel Falls in the distance.
The spray was freezing on the limbs around the falls.
Falls as we were leaving
Triple bridges over Richland - on the Snow Falls Trail. We will do Snow Falls trail on another day.
A moss face on a boulder.
This is an old coal mining area from the 1800s. This is an old mine portal.
The walls built for the narrow gage rail line to get the coal out make for beautiful backgrounds for portraits of friends and family.
That's it for now. I'll update again sometime in February.
