May 3, 2018 Big Creek Campground

The Vermont campers, Liz and Craig stopped in this morning before their hike up the Big Creek Trail.  We had a delightful chat.

Andy was obviously in a silly mood.  When I turned the camera toward him, he made this face.  He deserves to have it posted on my blog.

Daddy Long Legs season is officially here!  This group of five was on the campsite 12 signpost.

This cluster of Yellow Trillium was also near Site 12.

Here is yet another picture of Andy standing on the footbridge across Big Creek.

Andy spotted two turkeys crossing the road.  They wandered into the grass, but I could not get a good picture of them.

I got a clear shot of this one when it crossed the horse trail, but it was looking the other way.

Two men drove up in a park truck towing a trailer.  We had seen the trailer and four-wheeler in the parking lot last evening.  This morning the trailer was empty. The men said they were from Wildlife (a park department) and were looking for a bear.  I forgot to ask whether it was a "good bear" or a "bad bear".  They were also looking for a safe place to leave the four-wheeler. Andy told them to put it on our campsite. That four-wheeler would be easy picking for a thief - already on a trailer and ready to be towed away.

Here is a closer look.  I told the man we were going to take it for a ride, but he didn't seem concerned.

We have had campers arrive every day, not prepared for the new reservation system. Folks who have been camping here for years do not check the park website before they come.  So far they have bee lucky and there was still a campsite available.

While we were in the tent campground this evening, a carload of four men drove up looking for their campsite.  They had just made the reservation online.  But he did not have a cell signal in the campground and could not remember which site he had reserved.  And, he did not have his reservation number.  We could not put them in one of the two empty sites since someone else might have made reservations on the road too.  Andy and I walked back to the RV to check the reservation system again, but could not find them on it. Then, when we got back to the tent campground and the waiting men, one of them said they might have made a mistake and reserved the group site. Sure enough, they were on the group site reservation report.  We directed them to the group site.

About 10:30 this evening, two cars came driving in (through the group site, arousing the four men there).  They stopped when they saw me come out to investigate.  They had reserved Site 5 in the tent campground.  I gave them directions for finding it in the dark of night.

May 2, 2018 - Big Creek Wildflowers

OK, it's another wildflower day.  I have to snap them while they are in bloom.

This is along the creek from the campground to the picnic area.  I'll have to watch it and see what happens next.

The baby leaves are so soft and delicate.  I can't help caressing them as we pass by.

Here is Andy walking along the creek path.

This tree is at the edge of the tent campground, above the creek path.  I love how its roots have wrapped around the boulder.

This is Big Creek, looking upstream from the bridge in the picnic area.

And, here it is looking downstream from the bridge.

These Showy Orchids are just across the bridge.

I got these spiky flowers in better focus today.

I walked to the far side of the creek.  Andy is standing on the bridge.

This Sweetshrub or Sweet Betsy is growing along the campground road.

We set up our screen room today.  We were motivated by some bothersome gnats.

A small patch of tiny iris is growing along the path from our host campsite to the horse camp. That is something else I have not seen before.

The horse camp was empty, though it is going to be full this weekend. Here are some empty stalls.

Here, Andy is walking back up the trail to our host site from the horse campground.

Here is our campsite, seen from the horse trail.  Andy called it Camp Misovec.

On the radio:

A man was passed out along the Hazel Creek trail.

A car was on fire.

Several maintenance people were working on leaking water pipes.  It sounded as though someone had hit a water fixture with a car.  But, it is difficult to figure out what is going on unless we hear the very first transmission.

May 1, 2018 - Big Creek Campground

Our little RV is so full of tote bags full of food and assorted other essentials that I a finding it hard to function.  I cooked oatmeal for breakfast.  There is no counter space available to set the bowls for filling. As soon as I cleaned up the breakfast dishes, I started with the dinner.  I had a leg of lamb in the freezer at home, so I brought a crock pot with me.  The crockpot sits in a cloth basket behind the passenger seat.  I set it outside to cook. Without any counter space, I had to prepare it in the sink.

Maintenance-Man Spence stopped in to say hello. He told us that he worked all winter, except for two weeks.  In the past, he has been laid off for three months. He has been working all over the park, as Big Creek is closed for the winter. He also said that he is no longer just responsible for Big Creek.  He has to work at Cosby and Greenbrier.  He did not stay long as he had a lot of ground to cover.  He also explained that, with the budget cuts, he has been told not to do as much grounds work.  That explains why the grass is so tall.

Boss Larry also came to see us and explain the new procedures. He is also spread more thinly this year and covers a wider territory.  He said he will attempt to get over here once a week. I forgot to ask what he and Kristen did this past winter. They usually take some interesting trips in the offseason.

Here, we were walking up toward the parking lot and on to the tent campground.  The grass is tall and shaggy by Spence's standards, but there are a lot more flowers.

There is a bumper crop of Yellow Trillium this year. They are all over Big Creek and sometimes in patches.

Now, we are walking up the road to the tent campground.

Big Creek Campground has always been a walk-up, first-come/first-served campground.  You fill out an envelope, put your money inside, and drop it into the iron ranger. This year, they have switched to the reservation system. Reserve your campsite today at www.Recreation.gov

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Our job is to check the reservation website and prepare a registration card for each reservation, noting their arrival and departure dates. Of course, we still walk around the campground and greet campers, remind people about bears, and give out hiking and other advice. So far, we have had two campers arrive without a reservation - because they have been coming here for years not needing one. I let them use my phone to call the recreation .gov office to reserve a site.

I was delighted to see Liz and Craig from Vermont.  They are camping here on their annual spring wildflower vacation. I forgot to take their picture.

I have not yet begun to photograph wildflowers.

Big Creek is in Maryville and Knoxville, Tennessee

We spent most of the day visiting book stores.

Our first stop was Southland Books & Cafe in Maryville, TN, where we had a delightful visit with Lisa Misosky. The store is close to the park so I hope there will be some interest in Big Creek there.  Lisa thought there would be. She took ten copies. The store and cafe both look interesting and I might like to stop in again for the cafe on our next trip.  They are currently in the midst of expanding into the adjacent store space.

So, you Maryville folks, stop in and get your copy of Big Creek.  I would recommend a coffee and pastry while you are there.

Next, we visited a number of establishments in Knoxville.  I need to follow up with several, but Union Ave Books took three copies on consignment.  The classic downtown book store is small and they don't have room for too many copies.

We have never

Our last stop, on the way home really, was Tennessee RV Supercenter.  Most RV stores have a small book section so it was worth a shot.  Denise Harrell was interested in carrying it but wanted to check with her co-manager before making a purchase.  I gave her a copy of the book for review.

April 30, 2018 - Tallulah Falls, Georgia to Great Smoky Mountains National Park

After another short visit with Jo and Dan at Tallulah Gorge, we headed to Big Creek by way of Waynesville to get some groceries at Ingles. So, even though we were only a couple hours away, it took us all day to get here.  We arrived at 1630.

Here is Scamp settled in and hooked up to the utilities.  Our host site is a lot bigger with a smaller RV.

The Smokies are known for the wildflowers.  Today, I saw more and more different kinds than I have in the past. Andy walked up to the tent campground and told me that it does not look like Spence has been here.  The grass is tall.  These daisy-like things are growing on the lawn in front of the toilet building.

Here is a sight we won't see for long.  It is the late afternoon sun on the mountain on the east side of Big Creek. Once the leaves are fully out, we won't be able to see the mountain at all.

I have not seen these flowers before, but they are all over the place now. We get here around the first of May every year so I guess the difference is the weather.  Spring is a bit later in Big Creek this year and we are seeing flowers that are normally gone by now.  That's my theory anyway. These are about the size of the tip of my pinkie finger.

We will not see this much sky for long either.  Right now we have a good bit of sun in the host site.

Goin' Back to Big Creek in 2018

It is settled.  Andy and I will return to Big Creek as campground hosts for May and June.

Big News:  Big Creek is going to be on the reservation system this year.  No more driving all that way only to find that there are no sites available - or getting there early in the morning to hover over campsites that might be vacated.  Your site will be waiting for you!

I tried to go from the park website to get to reservations.gov today but it took me to the Cataloochee campground.

Where is Dinata Misovec

I have hardly been on line for the past three weeks or so.  It's a long story.  Maybe, I'll get to tell it soon,.