June 16, 2018 - Kathy Visit

Daughter Kathy came for a visit and joined us for a walk around the campground.

Larry asked Spence to bring this cart to Big Creek. We did not use it as one reason we volunteer is to get in some walking time.  Clyde and Debbie will use the cart in July.

This tuft of grass in next to the picnic area parking lot.

I walked down the creek bank to take a picture while Andy and Kathy enjoyed the scene from the bridge. 

Every time Kathy comes to visit, she brings some new method of making coffee.  I forgot what this one is called.  It is something like a French Press but only makes one cup at a time.

We went to The Beantrees in Hartford for lunch and got a table at the water's edge.  A mimosa tree was in full bloom next to the deck where we sat.  The white spots are sparkles on the river water.

June 10, 2018 - Unremembered = Forgotten

Since the computer was dead, I could not write my log at night.  These were the photos I took on June 10, but I don't remember that day at all.

Andy Walking Up To Parking Lot

There had been a smaller tree on this spot, now a hole in the ground.  There must be a dozen baby trees sprouting up around the hole.

The door to the men's room was coming off its hinges.  Two maintenance men fixed it one day, but it did not stay fixed.  Spence propped it up with a rock to prevent men from opening and closing the door - and it falling off completely.  Eventually, the maintenance department sent Spence some materials with which to fix the door better.

There are wild strawberries growing in Big Creek.  They don't have any flavor.

June 9, 2018 - Daddy Long Legs

I don't think I've mentioned the Daddy Long Legs yet this year.  They are everywhere!

There was at least a dozen of them on the ceiling for the screen room, clustered in every corner and on every seam.

Since we have moved to a smaller RV, we set up a "kitchen" on the picnic table in the screen room.  Here, Andy is performing the waffle-making ritual.

We saw an interesting truck from Colorado.  The big black package on top says "Cascadia Vehicle Tents". It looked to me as though the package stayed on top of the vehicle and folded down to make a tent. After looking them up online, I discovered the tent actually stays on top of the vehicle and you use a ladder to get inside it.

Two friendly and interesting women were camped in the horse camp with an RV.  They had a beautiful Christmas Cactus on their picnic table.

The horse-camp day-use parking lot was full of cars, so Andy told a family pulling a trailer of four horses to park in Site 6.  The horses were patiently waiting while the family was eating lunch 

The day-use lot was definitely too full to park a horse trailer and unload the horses. When it gets this crowded (and sometimes before so) people start parking along the narrow roadsides.  That is when I hide out at our RV.

June 8, 2018 - I Killed My Computer

It started off as a beautiful day.  The sun was shining and all was bright (and dappled).

Big Creek was flowing clear and cold.

This Giant Leopard Moth was resting on a tree near the toilet building.

Then I went and ruined my day by closing my computer with a ballpoint pen lying on the keyboard!

This was all I could see.  We waited for the next Monday to drive to the Best Buy in Farragut, TN. The Geek Squad said they don't carry old screens.  I could probably find one online and they would replace the screen for me.  I decided to go ahead and buy a new computer since the beloved Lenovo was so old.  Then, we had to make another trip after they transferred the data from the old computer to the new one. When I finally got my new computer, I realized that I had left my program disks at home. The next week, we went back to buy new software.

June 7, 2018 - A Little Bit of Wildlife

This snail was along the campground road.

We saw this doe several times in the forest along the campground road.

Some horseback riders stopped at our site to tell us that a tree had fallen across the trail, so we walked down to have a look.  It was not a very big log - until we tried to move it.  It was a tall, tall tree wedged between standing trees.  Andy called dispatch to report it.

This is the spot where the trail divides.  The left path goes to the horse day-rider parking lot and the right one goes to the horse campground.  I love the green-ness of the Smokies!

We only heard a bit of a Search and Rescue underway today.  A man fell fifty yards off Alum Cave Trail, a very steep mountainside. Rescue Ranger Heath was on the rescue team.  Dispatch announced, "emergency traffic only".

June 24, 018 - Not Dead

No, we did not get lost in the forest.  Or fall off a cliff. Or get run over by a truck on the interstate. We are well and fine.

It was the computer that died.  I killed it by closing it up with a ball-point pen lying on the keyboard. Cracked the screen. We waited until the next Monday to go out and buy a new computer.  Then we waited for them to transfer data from the old computer. I finally got the new computer and then realized that I did not have my program disks for Photoshop or Quicken.  I can't write a decent post without pictures.  Since I can't find my voice recorder, the pictures remind me what happened during the day.

June 2, 2018 - Rain

It occurred to me today that I have not been reporting what we hear on the park radio.  I have noticed that I am not tuned into it.  There could be a lot more going on in the park than I realize since I am not paying close attention.

I can say that we have heard of three motorcycle accidents so far.    Yesterday, there was a lost 15-year-old boy who hiked on ahead of his family up the Alum Cave Trail to Mt. LeConte.  The family had not seen him all day.  A team was formed to look for him on the likely trails.  It was about dark when a ranger reported "Got him" at Newfound Gap. He had followed the wrong trail back out.  Today, a man slipped and fell on a slippery floor and hit his head against the wall.  That was probably in one of the toilet buildings.  With this humidity and rain, they can be very wet inside.  An ambulance arrived and they checked the man.  He was going to go to the hospital or doctor in his own car.

It seems there are bear reports every half hour.  Rangers and volunteers try to shoo a bear back into the woods and attempt to keep bear/human interactions and traffic backups to a minimum.  Boss Larry assisted a woman hiker who said she was followed on a trail by a mountain lion.  Larry was convinced the woman was believable although the park officials do not think there are any mountain lions left.

May was relatively quiet for Andy and me.  There has been so much rain that many campers do not show up.  A large percentage of them leave before their reservations are over. We have had a good number of day visitors hiking up to the Midnight Hole, but we have given up trying to control the parking when things get hectic.  Also, people seem to be going to park in the horse camp on their own without us having to tell them. The group site has had no-shows at least half the time.