Sunday, August 16
I thought this would be a quiet, relaxing Sunday, baking bread and preparing for our trip. It turned into anything but! I got the bread going and before our with a Melton Hill walk. The fog was just lifting over the lake, giving the view a peaceful blur.
When we got home, I decided I should check the garden and pick whatever needed to be harvested. That turned out to be quite a bit - too many tomatoes (I gave most of them to Kathy), green beans, a few purple hulls and some yellow squash. After snapping and blanching, I put 5 pints of greens beans in the freezer and decided the squash would hold in the refrigerator. It was really more than I wanted to do! In intervals, I would work on bread-making steps. That wouldn't be finished until bedtime.
Amy & Andy Bolt gave us 2 pieces of barn board. Jeff Smith had requested a short length of board to be used in construction of the urn that he is making for Jake. I'll ship it to him next week.
Then there was some preparation for our RV trip tomorrow, but not as much as I had hoped. On top of everything else, the Matzek's had a breakdown of their boat on Melton Hill lake and we spent more than an hour rescuing them. We launched our boat and Bill went up-lake and towed them back to the dock while I waited with the trailer.
Supper and finishing the baking completed my not-so-relaxing Sunday.
Monday, August 17
A busy day started with a UMW officers meeting at church. We made some important decision about fall activities - or no activities. No general meetings for the rest of the year. We will try to meet in 2s or 3s to sort the sale items which are packed in 3 downstairs rooms. We will dispose of trash, give away most of the clothing and pull our some holiday items for a fall holiday/bake sale on November 4. We hope we can have our Christmas luncheon, scheduled for the 1st Saturday in December. But with the virus, we don't know what will be possible.
I got home around 11:30. After a quick lunch, I packed my things and the kitchen/food items for the trip. Bill had most everything else already loaded in the RV, so we were able to get away around 1 pm. (RV starting mileage 97916). After stops for groceries and gas we arrived at Indian Boundary, campsite #18 at 3:45. It was really not much more than a 2 hour drive without the stops. Our campsite has a great view of the lake and is at least mostly shaded. The path around the lake is close and everything is clean.
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| As we found it when we arrived. Looks like something Owen would do! |
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| Enjoying a pre-dinner snack |
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| Our access if we had our kayaks |
After we went to the camp store for coffee water that I had forgotten, we settled down for a pre-dinner appetizer of home-made sourdough bread with olive oil. Just as we finished, as I was about to start heating the beef stew that I made yesterday, our neighbor at the next campsite popped over. He invited us to bring our bowls and come over to share some excess Jambalaya that his wife had made. We couldn't resist Jambalaya. We found that we had a lot of common touch points with Mitch and Joan - Concord UMC, Pontotoc Co, MS, Cedar Key, FL, fishing, and more. They have been living in their RV since they sold their house in March because they haven't yet found what they are looking for. Joan's Jambalaya was fiery, but good.
Later we walked a short distance to the fishing pier to enjoy the sunset view. The sky was so clear that the sunset wasn't very dramatic. It takes clouds to make a sunset pretty. We struck up a conversation with an older gent who was fishing and found touch points - fishing stories and Cocodrie, LA. Both of these men were friendly and pleasant, but more interested in telling their stories than hearing ours. Listening is a gift, too. I realized that I was more tolerant of the older man's stories.
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| View from near our campsite |
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| Across the lake from our campsite |
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| No clouds mean no drama at sunset |
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| Sunset from the fishing dock |
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| Inside view before we set up the bed |
Tuesday, August 18
After a not-so-restful night, we slept in until 8 am and woke to a cool quiet morning in the mid-60s. We fixed our usual camp breakfast of sausage, eggs, grits & toast. Meal clean-up with no water is always challenging and we didn't have paper plates etc. We then packed up for the day's adventure along the Cherohala Skyway, ending at Joyce Kilmer Memorial Forest. The Cherohala Skyway is a 43-mile scenic drive along rivers and ridge-tops from Tellico Plains, TN to Robbinsville, NC. The name comes from the Cherokee National Forest in TN and the Nantahala National Forest in NC. For more information: https://www.monroecountytourism.com/cherohala-skyway
We finally got away from Indian Boundary at 10:45. Indian Boundary is a National Forest Service camp ground along the Cherohala. Our first stop was the beautifully scenic Turkey Creek overlook on the Cherohala. We were pretty sure that the stacks we saw in the distance were at Watts Bar, but could even be Kingston Steam Plant. After passing the Santeelah overlook, the highest overlook at over 5300 ft, we came to our first destination - Huckleberry Knob. We got to the parking lot at noon. The informational sign said that we were at 5300 ft and that our destination, the top of Huckleberry Knob was 5560 ft and a little more than 2 miles round trip. The trail was an old roadbed that climbed gently but relentlessless through a wooded area, out onto Oak Knob, through another wooded area and culminating on Huckleberry Knob. The Knobs or balds are naturally occurring clear/non-forested ridge-tops that occur throughout the southern Appalachian highlands. We love to hike to the balds because the 360 views are spectacular. At 5560 ft elevation, Huckleberry is the highest point along this region of the Nantahala NF. Yes there are huckleberry bushes on Huckleberry Knob, even with a few unripe berries. At that altitude, I sucked air going up 260 ft in elevation, but it was worth it and the hike back down was a piece of cake!
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| At the top of Huckleberry Knob |
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| The night sky must be spectacular |
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| There were a few huckleberry bushes scattered about |
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| Dramatic Sky, Dramatic views |
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| On Oak Knob and on our way to Huckleberry at the top of the picture. |
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| Looking back at Oak Knob |
We got back to the parking lot about 1:30. Since we had a late breakfast, we drove on to our next destination, Joyce Kilmer Memorial Forest. This pocket wilderness of virgin timber is dedicated the the author of the poem, "Trees."
Our picnic spot was beside a creek and we enjoyed the sound of water rushing over the rocks. The trail was not as benign as we remembered. With the humidity, the trail up the first loop was pretty rugged and I was sucking air again. The upper loop is where the giant poplars are located. That part was less steep, but still climbed for a half mile before finally turning down. Again, I was grateful that the way back was downhill. Even though we were worn out, we were thrilled to see the huge old trees, many over 400 years old. They are not like the giant redwood and sequoias out west, but impressive nonetheless. At the end of the hike, my FitBit had recorded about 5 1/2 miles and 60 flights (10 fit) up. I think it over-counted, but the hikes were strenuous enough for us.
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| One of the views along the Cherohala Skyway |
Our mileage at the beginning of the day was 97,982 and at the end 98,048, so we traveled 66 miles. We had a marvelous day and were ready for an easy meal of beef stew and an early bedtime.
Wednesday, August 19
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| Our wake-up view |
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| Relaxing after breakfast |
Camp breakfast this morning included potatoes left-over from last night's stew and the last of my sourdough loaf, along with sausage and eggs. Before leaving, we drove down to the swimming area for a few picture of this most scenic lake. Then to the dump station to take care of business. It was a few minutes after 11 when we actually left the park.
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| Claire in her new digs |
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