Appalachian Trail to the Jump Off

5/12/15 I have no idea why they call this the Jump Off, but it sure is beautiful! This trail starts at Newfound Gap, and goes north along the Appalachian Trail for a couple of miles.  It is very rocky and rugged, and mostly uphill.  Eventually you come to the small trail to the Jump Off, which is shorter  but more steep and rocky.  The view is certainly worth it!  Plus it's downhill on the way back!

I was not expecting to see wildflowers on this trail.  It was really too late for most of the spring wildflowers, but we were at a higher elevation, so spring comes a bit later.  These are fringed phacelias, but we also saw red trillium, violets, spring beauties, and many others.

This grouse was in the trail, and was in no hurry to leave.  We thought it was a pretty bad place to build a nest, but what do we know?

Early snow and a thru hiker

This past weekend we had the privilege of hosting a thru hiker for a few days. Trevor is the grandson of one of our FL neighbors, and is hiking the Appalachian Trail, from Maine to Georgia.  It is over 2000 miles in length, and as you might imagine by the time a hiker gets to the Smoky Mountains, they might need a break! Trevor had planned to be at Newfound Gap on Friday, long before a major winter storm was forecast. We met him about noon, and the storm rolled in that night. Another example of God's perfect timing. 

We had about 4" of snow at the house, and there was almost 2 feet at Newfound Gap.   The roads in the park were all closed, and Trevor ended up with us for 3 nights instead of the one we had planned.  We were all grateful that he didn't have to spend those nights out in way below freezing temperatures! By Monday the roads were open, and he set out again, and sent us this picture the next day.  There is STILL snow on the ground at the higher elevations, and lots of tree branches down everywhere.

Charlie's Bunion hike

Funny name, great hike. We had a group of 8 today, 2 women and 6 men.  This is one of the harder hikes that I've done.  It's 8 miles total, with some pretty significant elevation change, and a very rocky trail.  I was thankful for my hiking poles!   Most of the hike was along the Appalachian Trail, with a short side trail to the destination.
The story is that this rocky area was named by Horace Kephart, one of the early park rangers, in honor of the state of his friend's feet after a long hike.  It started out as a joke, and the name stuck.  I have to say that my feet were very tired and sore after this hike but they sure didn't look that bad!

 This rock cliff is almost vertical.  Very rugged country.

 Steve at the tip of the bunion.  It's straight down from there!

 It was a warm day, so we were all hogging the cool spot.  Steve, Sam and John, contemplating climbing out onto the rocks.

 Some amazing lichen.

Our intrepid group.  From left, Larry, Larry, John, Hank (orange shirt), Sam (dark shirt), Gina (in back) Vicky, Steve