You're My Blue Sky

This weekend and last were absolutely fabulous weekends for hiking in the park. I had forgotten just how nice the sun feels on my shoulders.... and I was also beginning to wonder if we would ever see the ground again. Beyond the way these warm mid-winter days feel, the sun has done wonders in getting the park roads open to trailheads all over the park.

Dave and I haven't gotten to go on a hike together since before the summer, with different days off putting us in a solo hike/run pattern that we both like, but I know that I was excited about chance to get out in the woods with Dave for a little recreation.

Both weekends were spent in Cataloochee, partially because we are steering clear of the high country(very unlike us I must admit) at least for the time being, until the drifts and unbroken trails melt a bit. "The Looch" also happens to be one area in the park where we both have trails that neither of us have hiked.

Boogerman Loop was pretty awesome. Although we were both prepared to trudge through mud on Caldwell Fork, the trail was frozen solid which made me happy that we did this trail in the winter. We followed the prints of a coyote along the majority of the trail and saw the prints of many other critters (fox, raccoon, etc.). We even caught a glimpse of a wild boar trotting along a ridge above us.

The massive trees are what this hike is famous for. It isn't very common to see such a big piece of mixed species old-growth in the Smokies, but this cove is pretty impressive. I felt grateful for Robert "Booger" Palmer's unwillingness to sell out to the logging companies when many pre-park families were bending under the pressure. You never know what is going to be rare 100 years from now, we could use more of that stubbornness today.

Yesterday was an absolutely brilliant day for hiking. Blue skies and warm breezes made for a great day along Cataloochee Divide Trail. 9.2 mile out and back in roughly 4 to 6 inches of week and a half old snow, but nice enough of a day to make up for the slushy conditions. I can't wait to go back for summer wildflowers and blackberries.