Sunrise Hike to The Jump off and Charlies Bunion

Sunrise Hike to The Jump off and Charlies Bunion
October 29, 2016
9.35 Miles Total
0 New Miles
823.72 Total Smoky Miles to Date (Since November 2013)
224.75 Total Miles in 2016

The day began at 4:00 am in the Newfound Gap parking lot!  We hiked out to the Jumpoff (3.25 miles) to watch the sunrise.  I would recommend this experience to anyone!  It's amazing!  I would say it's a moderate hike, not too strenuous for someone who hikes on a regular basis.   

From there, we continued our hike out to Charlies Bunion (adding another 1.7 miles).  Luckily getting there so early we pretty much had the bunion to ourselves, which is rare because this is a popular trail.

The return trip from Charlies Bunion is 4.4 miles.  It can be considered strenuous when your legs are tired and you got up at 2:00 am!  Lol!  All in all, a beautiful day in the mountains.

Sugarland Mountain Trail

Sugarland Mountain Trail
October 22, 2016
12 Miles Total
0 New Miles
814.37 Total Smoky Miles to Date (Since November 2013)
215.4 Total Miles in 2016

Fairly easy hike, a lot of downhill so hard on the knees.  There are some uphill sections to give your knees a break though.  It was a beautiful day for a hike.  Still a lot of color to enjoy today during this very short fall we had.  Very cold start to the day.  First snowfall of the season.

Pretty Hollow Gap and Little Cataloochee Trails

Pretty Hollow Gap and Little Cataloochee Trails
October 6, 2016
4 Miles Total
3.2 New Miles
802.37 Total Smoky Miles to Date (Since November 2013)
203.4 Total Miles in 2016

This is a day I will never forget!

I started my hike on Pretty Hollow Gap Trail to get to Little Cataloochee.  Pretty Hollow is a nice wide path, an easy, peaceful walk.  I turned right onto Little Cataloochee Trail and that is where my adventure began.  Not even half a mile in a yearling cub ran across the trail not 10 feet in front of me, so I knew it was going to be an eventful day.

This is a beautiful trail, serene, almost fairy tale like.  With little creek crossings all along the way.  I was walking along enjoying the day when I heard a noise.  I knew that this was also a horse trail so I stopped to listen and still heard the noise and I could tell it was a large animal.  So I banged my pole on the tree to determine if it was horse or bear.  Upon hearing this noise the first baby bear called out to mom and scurried up the mountain a little bit.  She yelled back so I knew the location of baby bear #1 and mom only by sound at the moment.  I stood still, looking for them in the places I had heard them and as I scanned the trees I saw baby bear #2 straight up the mountain in front of me.  I continued to look for momma bear and baby bear #1.  Momma was tearing up a tree with brute force for her lunch, so it was easy to know where she was.  At this point I had baby bear #1 on my right, baby bear #2 straight in front of me and momma bear to my left.  I decided at this point the best thing to do was to not move because I didn't want to move towards any of them and upset momma.

I stood beside the tree where I had stopped for a good 30 minutes before baby bear #3 decided to let me know where he was located.....  IN THE TREE I WAS WAITING UNDER!!!!

So,  I moved slowly towards baby bear #1 since it was the furthest from me.  Allowing baby bear #3 to come down the tree.

You Tube Video Link

At this point I am completely surrounded by the bear family of 4.  I decided to sit down because my legs were getting tired.  I sat my bear spray out in front of me and was waiting for one of three things to happen:  more hikers to come along, horses to come along or the bears to get done eating in that area and move along.

Some horses did come along but it didn't scare the bears so I continued to wait.....

After an hour and a half the bears finally got done eating in that area and moved up the mountain enough for me to continue my hike,  I didn't get to complete my hike because I had told the ranger I would be back at my tent by 5:00 so I turned around but I will go back one day to finish this hike.

It was one of the most scary moments of my life but also one of the most amazingly peaceful moments of my life just sitting there watching the bears in the woods all alone with all the beauty that is the Smoky Mountains.