Charlie's Bunion

A few weeks back I decided to plan a quick three day trip into the Smoky Mountains to hike some of the trails I have been wanting to see, but never find the time when I am up there with family. I didn't catch everything on my list, in part due to weather, but the highlight was a visit to Charlie's Bunion.

Charlie’s Bunion, which can be reached from the Newfoundland Gap parking area on Hwy 441, was created in the 1920s when a fire razed the area. The exposed humus was washed away shortly after in a rainstorm. The highest elevation on the trail is 6122 feet.

It’s an 8 mile round trip to visit Charlie’s Bunion, and the trail is well defined and in good shape. You’ll walk over and maneuver around many rocks and go through elevation changes, as you would expect in the Smoky’s. The photos give you an idea of the terrain.

My hike, and the photos in this blog, took place on 3/29/2012.

I started at 10:30, which is much later than I had scheduled to start. I planned to photography the sunrise off the Clingman’s Dome road and then start the hike, but when I woke up that morning in Sevierville I saw daylight coming in through the window blinds and knew I had missed the alarm. Guess I needed the rest. Before heading out I made sure I had plenty of water and snacks, and rain gear. The weather forecast for Sevierville was sunshine and no chance of rain, so I figured it would be a good day for the hike. As it turned out, the rain gear was a good decision.

The 4.1 mile trek covers a portion of the Appalachian Trail. I started at the parking area and headed up the trail, which is mostly uphill for the first couple of miles. Lots of rocks and a good warmup. A hiker caught up with my while I was snapping photos, and in our conversation he said his son had passed by earlier, and planned to walk 11 miles that day. He is walking the entire AT, and his dad is following in his RV and meeting up with him through the journey. What a great way for dad and son to spend six months together sharing a dream.

At the 1.7 mile point I reached the intersection of the Sweet Heifer Trail, which forks off to the right. You must continue on straight here.

A short walk down the Sweet Heifer Trail, and the view is beautiful. I can tell the first part of this trail will be gorgeous when everything blooms.


Back to the AT, Go straight at the Sweet Heifer Trail junction, and a mile further you reach the junction of Boulevard Trail.

At this point you turn right. Charlies Bunion is 1.3 miles ahead.

After the Boulevard junction look for great views to your right, then at approximately 0.2 miles you reach the Icewater Springs Shelter. Three hikers were sitting on the bench at the front rail, and two more hikers who are hiking the entire AT stopped in. The sleeping area has a canvas hung to protect the campers from the elements, but it won’t stop bears from getting inside and foraging for goodies. I spoke to a GSM employee who was working on the trail just past the shelter, and he said the shelter is closed for three months during the summer due to bear activity. Seems the bears have learned where to find easy food. He said the campgrounds in lower elevations have frequent visits from bears because of food being left out. Once they lose the fear of people, they are a danger to themselves and potentially to humans.

Looking out from the shelter

Looks like a face burned into the wood

Crossroads

Serenading

Posters were left out throughout the trail for a missing hiker, who has been unaccounted for almost two weeks. This probably accounts for the four ranger vehicles in the parking lot.                  

Spring water is available just past the shelter, but it must be treated.

Past the shelter the trail begins a long downhill run, which can be tiring coming back up. Through this section a few streams run down from the left, across the trail, and further down. The Park Service has done a great job maintaining the trail.

Approaching Charlie’s Bunion, the views turn spectacular to your left. Sheer drops and contrasting hues across the mountains make this well worth the hike. When you reach Charlie’s Bunion, the sign says “Closely control children.” That’s an understatement, as the photos show.

Across the path and on down the moountain

 Nice overlook

Started sprinkling rain here

As I approached the final stop, I found old hidden fears can surface when you don’t see it coming. Most of my hiking has been at lower elevations, and I admit I got a bit wobbly-kneed on the last piece of the trail. I need to push through this. A few raindrops at the Bunion, the first hint of a storm system coming, didn’t help either. Still, what an amazing view, it was worth pushing through a few nervous moments.

Returning was uneventful for the first three miles, once I got past the uphill portion leading to the shelter.

A steady rain

Then light rain began sporadically filtering through the trees and touching my head, arm, or my cameras. Before long it became apparent the rain wasn’t going away, and I stopped and pulled my rain parka out of my backpack, and replacing it with one of my cameras and lenses. The other camera hung around my neck and was tucked safely under my parka.

I kept a steady but slow pace, in consideration of my tired legs and a wet, slippery trail that has many boulders to climb over on this portion of the trail. Fifteen minutes from the parking lot the thunder picked up and a loud, crackling lightning strike hit nearby. A couple of rangers, both much younger and in much better shape than me came up from behind and, as they went by, one said they had been tracking this storm, and it was dangerous. I eventually made it to my car, just like they both did.

Newfoundland Gap parking area

To summarize, this is great trail with incredible views. I plan to return after the seasons have done their thing and allowed the greenery to fill back in.

Go prepared.

In Due Season

In the blink of an eye you'll look like me. Sneer all you want, wish for your own world without me in it, but just remember. When your friends are gone, some through natural attrition and others because of life, you will reminisce. Oh, to wish for that distant memory, as I was on that sunny afternoon years ago. In your eyes I was in my twilight, but I was just like you on that day.

Now I have caught up with you, years later. That's me out there, walking so slow, but everyone smiles now. Your scorn lasts only for a season.

Where are you today?

One Last Time

One day, barring an accident or sudden debilitating event, we’ll all sit in disbelief, with the family gathered; looking around incredulously, wondering how this moment could already be here.
Visitors will be reduced to puddles of emotion and lots of good memories, in some cases, while others will drop by out of obligation. Some may wonder if anything is in it for them.

My appointment. Can’t say I’ll make things better next year because the end is now. All of the thoughts running through my head are overwhelming; I don’t have time to say them all. Should have written them down, now the stories will be slowly diluted until they either have no meaning or they’ll simply be forgotten altogether.

What was my legacy? Hopefully I helped mold others into something better so my thoughts and beliefs will last a while longer, at least another generation.

I look down at my spotted, wrinkled hands that have simply run out of hours. It’s been a good run, but now it’s time. Wish I could have another good five years. Or even five days. A work week would seem a lifetime. Sometimes I’m really tired of the fight, but I still long to make a difference. I’d like to try one more time to talk to that knot-headed grandson; maybe something would click this time and turn him around. They’ve all been on their own for years, but now…..no more help from me.

Memories are flooding my mind, saturating this tired old head that needs to rest. My last trip to see the kids at Thanksgiving, it really was the last. It’s hard to let go of everything so familiar, but so it is.

As I gaze beyond the familiar faces, the window seems empty, as if it goes on forever. I feel like there are so many things I haven’t accomplished, I feel like crying. I’m looking past the people so dear to me, and I’m grasping for everything in sight.

Pain runs down my shoulder and into my back, and then settles in the hip. Tears well up all over again.

I know how to start my life over, only better, but I no longer have the time. Why did it take me so long to figure it all out?

Did I remember to tell her how much I love her? When? Last night? My memory is fading.

Songs run through my mind; wish I had them to listen to, here, now. They’re like a scrapbook of old photos. Each chorus brings up another picture, as vivid as the day it was taken. Everyone seems so much younger when the right song is playing.

Now, I will finally take those dark secrets with me. That’s enough to put a smile on my face. No one has to ever know, and that’s how I want it.


The light shining into the window is getting brighter. My recollections are becoming small.

I lay here, as my mind comes and goes. Next week the grandkid’s school will be in full session and they’ll be busy, thinking about the summer that will last forever, and a lifetime ahead of them. Live for the moment, their future is as wide as the horizon. Or so it seems. They’ll soon forget about me, until someone opens up an old photo album. Or maybe they’ll repeat something I always said, and then scratch their head, wondering where it came from. I can only hope.

Could Be Worse

I am not normally inclined to sleep in on a Saturday, but this morning’s steady, soaking rain, added to the January chill in the air made for a perfect match between me and the warm confines of the bed. Problem was, we needed to go find a new washing machine.

Our washer gets enough use that it’s probably 110, in dog years. Five adults in a household make for lots of clothes washing, and that’s where we’re at these days, with a son taking local college courses and two teenage daughters. A few months back we knew the washer was on its last legs. Sometimes my wife had to run the clothes through the spin cycle four or five times, and a couple of weeks back we were given a used but working washing machine. It worked well for two weeks before the shock of being run around the clock accelerated its degeneration to the point it died a quick and painless death. No struggling to spin clothes out, it just said no more, I quit.

So, we got to go out and look for a new washer on a rainy Saturday morning with a tornado watch and flash flood watch in effect. We managed to find a good deal, and the clothes washing will be up and running again in three days.

I’m actually thankful that we’re in a position to buy one, lots of people aren’t these days.

While we were in the appliance store my cell phone rang, and my son spoke. He informed me that his basement room was flooded. All sorts of thoughts ran through my head, and I began asking questions. I found the adjacent rooms were fine, but the water had managed to reach his bed, and the rugs were saturated. I found out later how saturated they were, I think one must have been holding fifty pounds of water.

Nothing like an unusual rain to bring out the worst in something, whether it’s a house’s roof or basement, or a convertible top on a car. I have experienced problems with all three at one time or another.

What we discovered after pulling saturated rugs outside, moving furniture to higher ground, and mopping the room was that water was still coming in through the walls that separated his room from a long, narrow closet. Beyond the closet is a dirt crawlspace that has a section dug out the depth of the bedroom. We found later it had nine inches of water standing, and as we mopped water up it kept seeping in through the walls. I climbed over the wall and down into the crawlspace and began filling a five gallon trash can, and handing it to my son to go empty outside. In all, we emptied about 30 gallons from his room, and around 100 from the crawlspace.
Quite a tiring three hours.

I’m thankful this did not happen right after we left to go out of town a month ago.

So now I have one other challenge that I may tackle tomorrow, I’m not sure. Something recently built a nest in our fireplace, right above the chute, and from the smell that hits you on entering the room it must have died. I’ll put a box or some type of papers down and open the chute, then react to whatever drops out. My fertile imagination has it all figured out. I’ll see a big half eaten rat drop out, covered by a cloud of debris as the contents of the chimney hit the gas logs, then the ravenous rodents that were enjoying the meal will all hit the ground and scatter throughout the house. Then we’ll hear clicking in all the shadowy places, especially at night when we’re trying to not think about things running across the bed.

I know this won’t really happen, and that’s why I need to go ahead and clean out the chute. And do something about the fireplace cap that must be awry. Things rarely end as badly as I imagine them, and that’s a good thing. I would never want to be a character in my mind; I have to get past the first layer of imagination before I expect things to happen for the good. Human nature at work? Or is it just me?

Without a Catch

At some point in our lives we all experience change. That mind altering shock, the moment everything we thought within reason goes out the window.


Things we thought were etched in stone are blown away in an instant, like a dandelion hit by a gale force wind. Nothing was as it seemed, and you figure nothing will ever be as it should be. We're on the wheel of fortune, and where it stops nobody knows. You look from side to side frantically, looking for something familiar to grab hold of, something that you can call home.


Do you define a true friend as someone who agrees with you regardless? Someone who slobbers over your ideals to make you happy? What if they disagree?



Ever stop and think about what a true, lifelong friend means? For me, “Without a Catch” creates an image of that elusive person. One whose friendship doesn’t waver with life’s changes of direction, differences of opinion, and lifestyle changes, at least up to a point.


Acquaintances come and go, floating in and out of our lives with the changing winds. A disagreement on this or that, befriending someone who doesn’t meet their criteria, or a number of other life events can turn what we thought to be a close friend into someone we despise, and it can happen overnight. One phone call can do it. And they can turn on you with such a vengeance it’s tough to trust again. It’s just the way some people are, they’re looking for a band of followers or a gaggle of people to agree with everything they believe. They expect it, and won’t accept anything less. Their way or no way. Cross their road on the wrong side and see what happens.


People have a natural tendency, especially kids, to gang up on the dissident. It happens in the animal world; their version is called survival of the fittest. In this case I don’t mean someone who resists authority and paves a new road to travel on, but I’m talking about the one who is singled out, vulnerable, and easy pickings for a group. Riding this wave of popularity isn’t fulfilling; they’ll turn on you at some point too. It seems so cruel looking from afar, but it’s human nature at work.
Games are laid out with a simple pattern for children to understand, but the game playing doesn’t stop with our youth; the results simply become more scornful and vicious as we supposedly mature into adults. The games we played in school had the same basic rules as the ones later on, but with different paths to follow and different lines drawn in the sand. Divisions are created over family wealth, color, background, what school we attended, etc.


We all have parameters we want to stay within. Who we surround ourselves with will have a big effect on how we talk, think, and exist. One bad influence can turn our children into something we never though could happen, and it can be difficult to pull them back. I remember something my grandmother said to my parents years ago, when I wasn’t being the best of kids. She said if you put good things in them, it will come out in the end. I agree that if it’s put in at the critical influential years it will always be there to either guide or condemn us; it’s our choice which path is followed.


Despite this, a true friend stays a friend through good and bad. Love doesn’t come and go like the flip of a light switch, it’s something that saturates our whole being, once it’s there. A true friend may not agree with us or even hang around when we’re bad; we probably cross the boundaries of their convictions and they can’t let us pull them into our pit of despair. Our families need our protection, and this shield may be from the words and influence of a long time friend that has gone astray because of their decisions, changing convictions, or simply a life event that creates a divide. However, the deep seeded love and caring is there, no matter what. And a true friend will be there to help pick us up after our failures. It may be a phone call or a visit away, but he/she will be there to do what can be done, and you know it’s with a caring heart.


A true friend is that special person you would contact if your life was at a crossroads, with dire consequences hanging in the balance; the one you know would offer the best hope and advice, based solely on your well being. And, that doesn’t mean always hearing what you want to hear. Often it won’t be. When we’re under duress we can’t always make rational decisions, but someone who loves us can offer the tough advice that’s needed.


Other times we need a shoulder to lean on, someone who cares enough to be there when we hurt. Someone who cares deeply about our well being, and we know they care, without having to wonder.


We like people because, and love them although.Sort of like comparing acquaintances and true friends.


And, a true friend can keep your secrets. They can’t help you if you’re afraid to reveal to them your vulnerabilities. They can look at you without a blink and you know they know, but it’s okay .And you want them to know things no one else knows. A true friend can learn how we think, if they’re around us enough. And they can sometimes finish a sentence we start, and don’t know how to finish it ourselves. Our words and thoughts need to be created, and put in their proper place. It’s in us, but a true friend can bring it out. They get you, when others don’t.


A true, lifelong friend can often times say a few words and make your heart feel warm, and help put life’s perspectives back in their proper place. And you look forward to hearing their voice, even when you don’t really like what they’re saying. But you still listen.

Suwanee Creek Greenway 9/30/2011

Took an hour long walk with my camera today, enjoying near perfect temps, in the mid 70's at 11AM. As I expected, the butterflies are pretty much gone now, and tonight's cold front will no doubt take care of the few that remain.

I did see a hummingbird and a few butterflies, along with a mama deer with her two spotted fawns following behind. It's a nice place to walk, run, or ride a bike. I parked at the Martins Farm Road lot.

I spend some time at the creek, photographing the beautiful reflections. I will be back with my camera gear in about a month when the fall colors are spectacular.