Smoky Mountain Rain - Part 2

Did you read Part 1?

Our second day's hike, along the Middle Prong Trail, in Great Smoky Mountains National Park

We woke up on Tuesday without too many ill effects from our hike the day before; my right instep was a bit angry with me, but after warming it up a bit, it seemed fine for a second day of hitting the trails.  The rain was coming down at a decent clip, so we took our time putting together breakfast burritos and coffee/tea; eventually, with the rain allegedly over, we geared up and headed down the hill to a nearby parking lot with Bea and Zoe.  While driving around town the day before, we noticed a paved pedestrian path that ran right along the main thoroughfare in Townsend, and it seemed like a great spot to stroll the girlies before we put them in their kennels for the morning.

We all had a great time on our stroll; the pavement was warm but not hot, and there was plenty to explore.

We didn't check out the Caverns on this trip, but we did use the big sign as an easy way to find our turn from the main road.

After hiking five miles on Monday, we wanted to see if we could go a bit further on Tuesday's hike; we were also interested in exploring a different part of the park, preferably one without nearly as many people as we'd encountered the day before.  The Indian Flats Falls via Middle Prong Trail option fit the bill perfectly; it was eight miles, and it was located in the Tremont section of the park, which is pretty quiet, overall.  We really enjoyed the hike - it featured a decent elevation gain (and then loss - it was an out and back trail), but it was extremely gradual, so you didn't really feel it for most of the way.  Middle Prong Trail dead-ended into Greenbrier Ridge Trail, but we took the short detour to Indian Flats Falls instead and then headed back to the trailhead.

Driving to the trailhead takes a litle bit of time, but the scenery was worth it.

Both the road and the trail run along the Middle Prong of the Little River,

and you can see and hear the water almost the entire way.

We didn't hike far enough, but this trail would also get you to the AT - maybe some day!

To say it was verdant is perhaps the understatement of the century

Slug friend!  While the trail was damp, due to the recent rain and the nearby river,

the grade was so easy that it didn't really matter.

Mushrooms!

We saw a handful of other hikers on the trail, but we saw more folks fly fishing in the River

Snail friend!

The side quest trail to Indian Flats Falls isn't super well marked, but it's mentioned on every trail website.

I made it about halfway down the short side trail to the Falls, but things got a bit slippery and narrow for my liking.  Since I didn't want to exacerbate my instep or risk falling and hurting myself further, I asked Chris to go on without me and take pictures for me to look at later (aka, put on this blog).

Very pretty!  I'm bummed I missed it, but it was the right call.

It's Chris' turn to have a Falls selfie!

Overall, the hike took us just under 3 hours, and as we made it back to the truck, we planned the rest of our day.  

My watch data from the hike - check out the complete lack of cell service in this part of the park.

This was pretty common - a lot of the park where we found ourselves had zero connectivity.

Unlike on Monday, we hadn't brought lunch with us, figuring we'd stop on the way back to the cabin to grab something to eat.  We were really grimy, though, so we headed straight home to clean up and see the girls, where we snacked; we ventured back out a bit later for a mid-afternoon lunch/dinner combo meal (linner, maybe?).  Unfortunately, our pick of spots was really disappointing, which is why I'm not naming it here (if anyone plans a trip to Townsend, let me know - I'll fill you in). 

Although our linner option was a bummer, it temporarily sated our hunger, so it was on to our next stop, Company Distilling, a nearby distillery/brewery.  We always love visiting local spots, whether they're coffee/tea shops, restaurants, bars, wineries, or breweries, and we put distilleries in this category as well.  However, we've found that there's a tendency for distilleries in areas like the Smokies to mainly distill moonshine and its ilk, and that's not really our thing.  Thus, we're always a little wary when visiting spots in this area, unsure if we're going to find something we enjoy.  We were very happy to be proven wrong by Company and their offerings; while, yes, they did have a variety of moonshine, they also had whiskies, bourbon, rye, gin, and vodka - and most of the options were fantastic!  Chris had a cocktail, while I picked the signature tasting with chocolate pairings (from the Chocolate B'ar, a local confectionery), and we enjoyed all the spirits.  After chatting with the bartender and other folks there, we selected a few bottles to take home with us (their signature rye and dry gin).

Noms!  The rye we picked up is the one all the way on the right.

One of the reasons Company was so great is that their master distiller, Jeff Arnett, 

used to serve in the same role at Jack Daniel's (I imagine that means you're pretty good at this whole thing).

Company is planning to open a spot in Lynchburg soon, so if anyone heads to JD, stop by Company as well -

I don't think you'll be disappointed.

Inspired by my pairing, Chris was craving sweets, so we made a stop at the B'ar for chocolate options, and then we ran by Peaceful Side Social, site of our Monday dinner, so I could pick up a take home sandwich (I was craving good food after my disappointing meal earlier).  Back to the cabin and the girls it was, where we hung out the rest of the night and watched some tv before bed.

Bea says, "where you have you guys been?"

Wednesday started much like Tuesday did; a little bit of stiffness in my right instep, but not enough to prevent us from doing Hike #3 in as many days.  Once again, we strolled the girls on the path in town, including using the pedestrian underpass to cross the main road and obtain an iced coffee for Chris at the Towns End Coffee shack, in the parking lot of the IGA and PSS.

A fully caffeinated Dad and dog romp in a nearby field

Zoe is keeping an eye out for Chris while Bea investigates the Polywood display

Over our time in the Smokies, we'd been driving a shorter and shorter distance into the park each day, and this time, we barely made it past the entrance sign.  The very first parking lot we found also happened to be the trailhead for our hike for the day, Chestnut Top Trail.  Chestnut Top started near the River and quickly ended up on a ridge (we actually had cell service here!), so the first few miles involved some serious climbing; however, the grade eventually leveled out, and the hike was quite nice.  We planned to do all eight miles of the out and back trail, but when we hit our turnaround point, we decided to challenge ourselves a bit more and go for ten total; we made up the difference with a crossing that likely led to the Scott Mountain Trail.

Trail sign selfie, Day 3!

This trail was lovely as well, but for being so close to a major parking lot,

we didn't see that many other folks during our hike.

We really wished we'd brought bear spray, so we made some decent noise while we wandered, just in case.

Thankfully, we didn't have any ursine interactions, but other folks have reported seeing them on this trail.

At Schoolhouse Gap, you stumble out onto a regular road with a bunch of houses.

I turned around and saw this sign, thought it was cool, took a picture.

Cute little orange mushies!

Don't molest the marker!

In Winter, this trail must have great views of the ridge next door, but it was a little hard to see right now

We called this "Side Quest: Badger Hole," but neither of us dared to peek inside

This is the last tenth of a mile on the trail - see the truck down there?

The elevation drops about 400 feet in that .1.  It's steep!

Stumbling out of the woods back at the trailhead, the River looked really inviting (lots of folks were taking advantage of the warm weather to enjoy a splash/float), but we were HUNGRY after all that exercise.  We hoofed it to Burger Master, a local burger and shake shack, and proceeded to gleefully put about 8,000 calories in our faces.

Thank you, ten mile hike, for making Burger Master possible.

Get in my belly!

The Burger Master folks also own River Rat tubing, which was right next door.

This was their tube relocation system, which I found delightful.

With burger time over, we headed back once again to the cabin and the girls.  We cleaned up and proceeded to hang out on the porch for the rest of the day, moving inside once darkness fell to watch tv and start packing for the trip home on Thursday.

Enjoying some bone chewing on the porch

Sitting like a dude - this is a pretty common Bull Terrier thing

"Guys, is it time to go in for dinner yet?"

Hiking shoes lined up on the windowsill, drying out before being packed

On Thursday, we were up and moving around pretty early; while the bed in the Airbnb wasn't terrible, it wasn't our mattress at home, and after several days of sleeping on it preceded by a decent amount of physical exertion, we were ready for a good night's rest in our own bed (the dogs felt the same way; they weren't pleased we left their memory foam beds at home, and they rebelled the final night, ditching the pad we'd created on the floor for them in favor of the Airbnb's couch - don't worry, we brought lots of extra dog blankets to cover the couch, just in case).  After putting together one final round of breakfast burritos, we packed up the truck and got underway.  We made it home in time for lunch (more black bean-quinoa salad!), and we spent the rest of the day in our AC, unpacking, washing tons of laundry, and napping.

What a great trip!  We had some trepidation about Townsend, since we didn't know if it would be as gross as Gatlinburg/Pigeon Forge, but it was a great spot.  It had enough restaurants and things to do to keep us interested, and it was completely manageable, tourist-numbers wise (we definitely saw the crowds increase as we got closer to July 4th).  The city was also close enough to the park entrance to make our hiking plans easy to carry out, and the pedestrian thoroughfare was fantastic for exercising the girls each morning.  We highly recommend it!

We feel like our hiking went pretty well, too.  We did hikes of 5 miles, 8 miles, and 10 miles back to back to back, and we emerged mostly unscathed.  While we were a bit stiff and sore, we never felt completely wrecked or like we couldn't have hiked another day.  My instep also cleared up after a few days, and I was able to start walking on the treadmill pretty soon after we returned home.  I did lose the nail polish off the outer corners of my big toes after three days in my hiking shoes, so there's likely some rubbing happening there; I didn't have toe or nail soreness or bruising/discoloration, though, so I can probably continue using those shoes (I don't really want to break in another pair at this point, less than 90 days from the Scotland trip).  Chris and I will be heading to Mammoth Cave National Park to camp over the Labor Day holiday and do another three days of daily hikes; fingers crossed that goes well, too!

See the missing polish?

Will I lose my big toenails after Scotland?  MAYBE!

(I've lost them before and will likely lose them again - they normally grow back)

Later!

Amy