Gregory Bald Hike

Front:  John, Vicky
Back :Hank, Gina, Cindy, Sam, Steve, Bill

6/15/2015  We had been looking forward to this hike for ages!  Of course the trail can be hiked any time of year, but we specifically wanted to go in mid-June, because the flame azaleas are blooming then. 
The hike actually started the night before, when we gathered for a delicious spaghetti dinner at Hank and Margaret's house.  Carb-loading to the max!  I think we all ate too much!
A funny side story, when I uploaded the photo the right to Facebook, it immediately zeroed in on my face, and identified me as my daughter, Jacki.  Way to start the day!

John, Gina, Hank, Sam, Cindy, Vicky, Steve

There are two ways to get to Gregory Bald, and neither one is easy!  We chose the shorter, less steep route that involved more driving.  Gina's husband, Bill was recovering from knee surgery and not hiking yet, however he was cleared to drive.  He graciously agreed to drop us off at the Trailhead, drive many miles along a winding gravel road, kill some time, and meet us at Twentymile ranger station late that afternoon.   As we turned onto Parson's Branch Road, we were greeted the by furry fellow above.  He wasn't too concerned by our presence. We left the house at 6:45 and were on the trail by 8:30.
We hiked to a backcountry campsite near the bald, and left our packs there.   The park service provides a cable system to hang packs and anything that might contain food, out of the reach of bears.  It's harder than it looks to hoist those packs up high!  We felt it was important, since we had already seen one bear, and seen lots of "calling cards" on the trail.  We walked another 1/2 mile( the steepest part of the whole trail) to the bald, spent some time there and came back for lunch and a rest.



This fungi was growing along the trail.  Beautiful orange color!

I will lift my eyes to the hills, where my help comes from.  My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth.
 Psalm 121

 And what a beautiful earth He made!  Could you imagine spending the summer up here, grazing your livestock?  That's what the early settlers did.  After getting extremely hot on the trail, it was wonderful to enjoy this view, and the cool breeze  that was blowing.  The view is looking down in to Cades Cove.

The Flame Azaleas were just beautiful.  They occur in every shade from yellow-orange to a bright reddish pink.  They were everywhere, and each one was prettier than the last one.  The bald covers 14 acres, and I think we walked every inch of it. 

 All too soon, it was time to hit the trail again.  Although the rest of the adventure was mainly downhill, we had over 7 miles to go.  The downhill trip was uneventful, and we sure were glad to see Bill and his cooler full of drinks at the end! 
Thanks to Gina for these two photos and to Hank for the "people" photos and the bear picture.

This was the longest hike I have ever done, and I am proud that I completed it,even if I was the last one in (only by about a minute).  Even better was the good friends I got to enjoy it with. 

The end of the trail.  Notice we are all sitting, boots off, and most of us have a cold drink in our hand.  We were a hot, sweaty, fragrant(!) but very happy bunch in the car on the way home!