Fun find for Gramma

Eric and I were able to make it to my parent house at in the early afternoon. The boys were up running around and were excited to see us. Livvy was still napping so we had to wait a little bit before we were able to see her. 

 After everyone was up and about my Dad had planned a little BBQ with all of our family. While we were waiting for everything to come together Eric took the kids across the fields to see if they could find anything interesting. 

 Leave it to Eric to find a snake for the kids to torment Gramma with. At first the boys were not too sure of it but Livvy thought it was pretty cool. After they played with it for a little bit the boys thought it would be great to take it and show Gramma. So they put it in there little toad tank and brought it to Gramma. 

Since Gramma was in the kitchen you could hear her scream from outside because the windows were opened. And then you could hear the boys laughing. They though it was lots of fun to scare Gramma ; )  After they had their fun they went back out to the fields and let the snake go. 

Finley, OH

Since we had been backpacking for the last two nights and with all the heat and humidity we were ready for a nice place to sleep with some air conditioning and food that you did have to just add water. 

Our plan was to go get the kids from Michigan after we were done with our hike, but it was quite a drive and we were both pretty tired from the hike and not able to really sleep much. So we had planned to stop some where in Ohio that night. 

When we were looking for places to stay we were thinking about staying somewhere in the Cincinnati area but they were all booked up. At the time we didn't really realize why being in the middle of the week so we just looked a little further north to Finley.  As we were driving we realized that it was the All-Satr game in Cincy so we were fortunate that we caught the traffic at the right time : )

After we got the hotel our first priority was to take a shower. After we were all cleaned up we wanted to go to a nice place for our successful hiking adventures.  After some research we deiced we wanted to go to an italian place so we saw this pizzeria on trip advisor we thought we would give it a try. It was a really good find! We had some really great food! We got some cheesy breadsticks, then Eric got a pizza and I got a stromboli. For dessert they had a couple of dessert pizzas so we got a s'more one to take back to the hotel with us. 

It was so nice to sleep in a bed and not be sweating all night. In the morning we were able to have a good breakfast and finish our drive up to Michigan. We did stop and look at Cabelas in Dundee on the way up, but we were able to make it to my parents house at a nice time and the kids were excited to see us both : ) 

Heading out

That night was still pretty hot and humid. Even though we were tired from the day long hike it wasn't the best sleep that we had. I think we both tossed and turned most of the night. 

We both had sleeping pads but with no fan and not any type of breeze we were just not able to get comfortable to sleep well. So after a long night we were both ended up getting up around 5-5:30 am. 

Since it was still dark when we got up we fished out our head lamps and was able to eat all of our gear packed up pretty quickly. After we were all packed up we were on our way back to the truck. We were really not too far and soon we hit Cooper Road Trail. This was our last trail as this headed right to the campground we had stayed the night before. 

Niether one of us anticipated this early of a start plus the trail was a pretty easy hike so we ended up making it back to the truck at a very good time. It was fun to see the sunrise and when we made it back to the truck it was light. 

We really only stopped once on the trail so I could switch out my glasses, and because it was so early we were really not ready for breakfast. At the overnight parking there was a picnic table that we took advantage of to sit and eat our breakfast. 

After we ate and got things loaded up, we changed out of our hiking clothes and head out. Probably about an hour on the road we discovered we were both happy that we ended up getting such an early start, because it started pouring down rain. If we would have slept in we would have been trying to get things packed up in the rain and then having to hike back in it. So we were thankful that we were able to get out and into the truck and on the road and not deal with being wet and having wet gear. 

Backcountry camping

After we has a nice break at Abrams falls we headed back to Hatcher Mountain trail from Abrams Creek Trail. 

We were only on Hatcher Mountain trail of about 0.2 miles but it was in the heat of the day and the sun was out and the trail was clear. On top of the humidity and a slight incline it was a tough 0.2 miles. It had some nice views and we could see how much we had climbing in that little bit as we could look down to the creek in certain spots. 

We knew once we hit Little Bottoms Trail we were not too far off from the campsite. All in all we were making really good time with the hike and only stopped once on Hannah Mountain when there was a shady so we could switch our empty water packs. 

Probably a little less then a mile from the trail junction we found backcountry site #17. It was a lot bigger then what we had thought and there was only one other tent that was set up in the back of the site. So we looked around for a few minutes and found a good spot for our tent. 

This tent is pretty fast and easy to set up so after that was done we went ahead and got everything set up for our campsite. Because we had just had lunch a little bit ago back at the falls we were not too hungry yet so we were able to relax a little bit and get all our gear repacked and organized. 

Because the Somkies is considered bear country they had these cable that you could put all your food and smelly things high and not having to worry about a bear coming into your tent. We had gotten a waterproof bag and was able to pack up all our things and then put it up into the trees. 

Since all the back county sites are by water we thought it would be nice just to sit and relax by the water. So after our site was all set and bear proofed we headed back to the trail where Abrams Creek was. It was nice to cool off and put our feet in the water and enjoy the scene around us. It was very peaceful and relaxing. 

After a spending a good time by the creek we headed back up the trail to our campsite, as we were both getting pretty hungry. We had picked up some dehydrated meals so all we needed to do was boil some water and pour it into the pouch, let it sit for a few minutes and we were ready to eat. We had made sure to have a ziplock bag that we could put our trash in and put it in our bear bag so we could toss it went we got back to the truck, it worked out very nicely. 

After dinner we had brought a card version of Settlers of Catan that we set up at our site. It was nice to have something for a little entertainment and this is a favorite with our family. Besides some later comers when it was getting darker that were a little odd, it was a nice peaceful night. 

Hiking back to Abrams Falls

Rabbit Creek trail was nice. The first part of the trail had a bridge which was nice after what he had to cross later in this hike. With just doing Mt. Cammerer the previous week incline that we had on Rabbit Creek was not as long so it was a nice prep for this hike. 

 This was a really pretty trail with a lot of things to see. When we read the description we new once we rounded a corner most of the uphill would be behind us. It was about a mile into the trail when we rounded our corner. 

 Eventhough it was just a mile with our packs we were happy to be done with the steep incline. We stopped and took a little bit of break and had a small snack. As we packed our bags we had our food in a Ziplock bag but right on top so we didn't have to dig through the bag. After our break we where back hiking on Rabbit Creek headed to Hannah Mountain Trail. 

 Rabbit creek had a couple of these scenic outlooks which was really nice to stop and take in the view. We had climbed a good distance so and with the clear day we were able to see a good way out. Along this trail as well Eric and I came across quite a few blackberry bushes. We did try some and we were surprised that they were not that great, so we left them for the bears ; )

 Once we hit the cross point for Rabbit Creek and Hannah Mountain we took a little break. We could tell it was getting pretty hot and the humidity was getting worse. We though it would be a good idea to make our pants into shorts and they have the zips around the knees. We have never had problems with ticks before so we didn't think about it too much. But after being on the trail just a few mins we both found ticks on us. So every so often we had to stop an look for ticks.  

 At the end of Hannah Mountain we had to cross Abrams Creek. At this point we didn't bother to the zip part of the hiking pants back on until we crossed. Since it had been raining the creek or more of a river at this point was pretty high. Since it didn't have a bride we had to ford across it. It was not easy and both Eric and I would agree the most challenging part of this hike. Thankfully we crossed it together and made it across safe : )

 After drying off and having a snack we were headed to Abrams Creek. Because we didn't want to mess with the ticks anymore we decided that it was better to mess with the heat then the ticks so we zipped the bottom half of our hiking pants back on and we never had a problem again with the ticks so that was nice. 

After about 1.7 miles we were too the falls again. This was really the only place that we had seen hikers. Since we had come up the back way this was a new and different stretch that we did then we he had hiked with the boys the year before. Eric and I both agreed that this back part was a better way to hike to the falls. We were able to eat our lunch and enjoy the falls for a bit. 

Getting ready for our hike

That night it was pretty warm as well as humid. There was a point where inside the tent we had condensation so we had to open the tent up and let some air flow through which made a little more comfortable to sleep. 

Once we woke up we wanted to get a good breakfast in because we were going to hiking about 8 miles  with our packs on. We had been to this side before but never did these trails, even when you have done your research your not sure what your going to run into.

So while Eric was getting our tent packed and all our gear ready to go I was able to get breakfast started. We had pancakes and bacon, so it was simple and filling : )

After we got everything packed up we were ready to go. Besides being hot and humid the campsite was great. We were right on the water and the spaces were nice and big. And because it was only 12 sites in the whole camp it was quite and not a lot of people. 

After our campsite picture since we were not going to stay at the campground that night we had to dive up to entrance of the campground where the hiking/overnight parking was. The first trail we were to start on was Rabbit Creek Trail to Hannah Mountain trail. 

We had both weighed our packs and Eric ended up having about 40 lbs and I had about 20 lbs. We had walked around a little bit with our pack back home and we were both happy with our choices. We had also distributed the packs evenly and neither one of us felt there was much on our backs : ) 

Abrams Creek

Since we didn't have the kids for a couple week Eric and I had planned two trips down to the Smoky Mountains. One weekend was the Forth of July and the next weekend we had planned to do our overnight trip. 

One of the things that was on our bucket list was to hike and do a back country camp. Eric has done a few being in boy scouts but I never had and we thought this would be a great time to do one. It takes a little bit of time and money for the gear so we had been planning this for a while.  

Since this was our first experience backpacking in the smokies we didn't want to plan anything to much so we planned on staying the first night at Abrams Creek. We got a good start in the morning and were able to make it to camp in good time. This campground was rather small and only had about 15 campsites. 

This campground was a first come first serve but coming on a Sunday afternoon we were able to pick a nice spot. We had the river right behind us and the trail we were planning on taking in the morning was just up the road. We had planned foiled dinners for dinner so after we got camp set we started the fire. 

We wanted to test our survival skills so we had brought a flint and steel to see if we could start our fire with that instead of matches. It was a fun challenge and I was able to get the fire going! After warming our dinner we were able to sit around the fire and enjoy being in the Smokies : ) 

Last morning in Cosby

Our last morning in Cosby we had just planned to sleep in and have a little more of a relaxing morning before we had to pack up and head home. We were still a little sore in the morning but not as much as late year so that was a bonus. 

That morning we were up at a decent time and we had planned omelets and hash browns for breakfast. Last year the boys had gotten me a camping grill and it has really come in handy this this year on our camping adventures. 

We were both amazed to see fast we were able to eat and get thing packed up when it was just Eric and I. We were both pretty happy with our backpacking tent and really didn't have any issues with the rain. 

Cosby is a really nice campground to get on the holidays because you can skip out on going through both Gatlinburg and Pigon Forge. The Fourth of July in the Smokies is pretty crazy but with Cosby you can really get away from all of that so it works out nice for us : ) 

Because we had a little bit of time to spare and with the early start we had we drove through a little more of the park and Eric wanted to stop and see if he could find and bottle caps for Sup. On the picnic tables at Metcalf Bottoms they had these signs. We couldn't help but think of Sup ; )

We thought we would go out by way of Cades Cove and drive the loop.  We were hoping to get there at a good time so that we wouldn't have to much traffic. That wasn't the case. Even though we made good time it was still pretty crowded. But at the end we were rewarded with seeing a bear so we decided it was worth it!