Maycation - Hail Yes!

I'm proud to announce - Hiking and Camping Season at the Wood house has finally commenced! . I've been gone from blogger world and the real world for a week - and I haven't missed the day-to-day madness one single bit. J and I took our little Maycation this past week between Spring and Summer school. It was a-MAY-zing!

Back in Elementary school, I learned that the 3 basic needs are food, water, and shelter. They were right.

{I'm going to provide several links in this blog for those of you who might want to visit some of these places or hike a few of these trails - or if you're just curious}

J and I took off headed East to the Smoky Mountains last Tuesday, despite the grim forecast that had been predicted. It was hiking and camping season - dangit - and we were doing it, come hail or high water. Well, we didn't really bargain for the first, but we were prepared for the latter.

We got there late, late, late on Tuesday night and decided to crash in a hotel to get one last shower and one last bed night before several full days of playing Outdoor Barbie and Outdoor Ken. Thanks to Meggo - she kept Lily for us. Lily likes her amenities.

Tuesday after work, a coworker french braided my hair. I figured that it would be the best, low-maintenance way to wear my hair for days without a shower. I'm tellin' ya - one could fry chicken in the grease from my hair after a day without a shower, much less camping. So - braids it was. I joked with her that my caucasian hair wouldn't hold up like her daughters. It held up and did the job I sought after, with a few touch ups here and there - oh, and a really cool "hippie" headband from the old Wally World.

[scary tight - I have a huge forehead, apparently.]

Day #1:

We set up camp that morning after a delightful Starbucks, shower, and good night's sleep in a bed.The weather was beautiful! It was a warm 70ish and a few clouds, nothing major. We took full advantage of the sunshine - set up our camp, got the bed made, put up the hammocks, and did our usual runnings around to our favorite hot spots - Happy Hiker, Donut Friar.... I'm like a small kid when I head East. It is sort of like going home - the inner hippie hiker gal comes out in full force. I had butterflies in my stomach about the list of hikes that I wanted to do before we even left home. I told J to just get ready.... I had no idea what we were in for.

When we checked in at the Elkmont Campground, we were greeted by a jolly little man. I asked him to make sure that he provided us with lovely weather for our entire stay - since he was the host and all.

He said, "Honey, I've come to learn that the weather around here is like a woman - you never know what you're gonna get...." Bitter man, maybe? I chuckled, J thought it was hilarious. Hmmmm....

Our "home" away from home.

Day #2:

I had high hopes for Thursday's hike. I had planned for us to hike to Charlies Bunion. Last October, my cousins and I attempted Charlies Bunion only to get to the very top and be met with a white wall of clouds and fog blocking the view from nearly beyond arms length. I wanted to see what I was missing, so J and I drove up to the trail head on Tuesday morning only to find this.....

... another white wall. After reading my Hiking in the Smokies book, I learned that this area at Newfound Gap is showered with nearly 7 feet of rain each year. So, yea - clear days are hard to find. Instead of hiking all the way up to Charlies Bunion to see another white wall of nothing - we opted for the Chimney Tops trail.

When we got to the Chimney's trail head, it was warm and sunny - very promising. It's amazing how quickly the weather changes just over one mountain to another. The hike to the Chimney's is 4 miles round-trip and is a continuous climb to the top. But, once you get to the top - the view is amazing. It is truly hard not to believe in our amazing Creator when you're sitting atop a mountain with breathtaking views.

J decided he'd be eco-friendly and Go Green - I don't think they're talking about an entire green outfit, honey.

We didn't read the sign at the bottom that said part of the trail at the top was closed for maintenance. We just went around the sign - shhhh, don't tell. J thought I'd attempted to kill him.

I couldn't have been more pumped. This is what I had been waiting for - my season. Hiking Season! The view was amazing. What's that sign say behind me? - you ask.

Neat.

From the top of Chimney Tops. We did it! Day Hiking #1 - check!

After our nice trek up to the Chimney's - we took the remainder of the afternoon to rest and nap in our hammocks. Meggan gave J his hammock for Christmas last year and he's been chomping at the bits to get it up since then - it was definitely worth it! These little hammocks are a-mazing. They're made by Eagle's Nest Outfitters and they're made of parachute-like material. ENO makes a quick strap to harness around a tree. These little guys make a delightful place to relax or nap!

Day #3:

After a bit of rain on Thursday night, we woke up to a beautiful morning in the campground. I rousted J out of the comfy tent slumber and we headed for our 2nd attempt at Charlies Bunion. J and I have often been made fun of for our "gear" - but, generally we're prepared for anything. We called ourselves being "prepared" for our hike atop Charlies Bunion. Charlies Bunion is an 8 mile round trip hike. This hike runs along the Appalachian Trail and passes the Icewater Spring Shelter. These shelters are for "thru-hikers" or over night backpackers. The shelter is about 1.5-ish miles from the top.

Now, we were prepared for rain on our Day #2 hiking adventures. We had rain coats, hats, the camera in a nylon bag "just in case," and hit the trail. About 100 yards up the trail, it began to rain. No biggie, right? We've got the gear. Albeit the rain, the hike up was great. The rain subsided several times and allowed for breathtaking views in several spots.

We made it to the top only to find another. white. wall. There was one other gentleman up there - we'll call him Mr. Alabama because we caught where he was from, not his name. Mr. Alabama said that he'd hiked Charlies Bunion nearly 100 times and said that if we were patient, the clouds and fog would lift. And, it did. Our photos do not even come close to doing the scenery justice. We ate lunch, enjoyed the view, and relaxed for about 45 minutes atop the Bunion. The view was awesome!

As we began to pack back up, the beautiful clouds we were admiring sheer minutes before turned charcoal and began to rumble. J and I quickly threw on our gear and took off up the trail. From the top, the hike inclines to the shelter then declines for the remainder of the hike back. As soon as we got on the trail headed back, the bottom fell out of those clouds. Now, when you're 4 miles up a mountain - you're a loooot closer to those clouds. Lightening began to strike, thunder roared, and hail began to pelt us. Yes. Hail. Not hell yes - hail yes. I've never seen anything like it. We were hiking up a river of what used to be the trail. I felt like a trout swimming up stream. We looked for a place along the trail to seek shelter from the hail storm but to no avail.

I've never been so scared in my life.

Here we are - atop a mountain and it's storming like I've never seen but from indoors. Our trail was now like a river, running fast a furious towards us. The hail was marble sized and coming down in sheets, and we had no gloves to cover our hands or face coverings. Our boots - even though they weren't water proof, it didn't matter - were drenched, the water was up to our calves. There was no shelter in sight - except the one that was 1.5 miles into the storm. We kicked it into high gear - it's amazing what a little bit of fear and adrenaline will do.

We finally made it to the shelter - in the nick of time. As soon as we ran inside - a lightening bolt hit right outside. Thank you, Lord, for keeping us safe. We hung out in the shelter to attempt to let our soaked clothes dry but that was a failed attempt. Thankfully - I had packed a long sleeve shirt in a ziploc "just in case" the one I was wearing got wet.

We enjoyed an hour of conversation with a man from FL who was in his first day of a week long backpacking trip. He was staying in the shelter for the night and already had his sleeping bag out. He didn't realize how close he was to having it "borrowed" by some cold, wet girl. Soon after, we were joined by Mr. Alabama - who weathered the same storm we did, under a rock. The storm finally eased up enough for us to get back on the trail to safety. The rain didn't stop but the hail and lightening did, and that was fine with us.

So, Day #2 hiking was an adventure and a hiking story we'll not soon forget. Though it was rough weather, the view from the top was worth it.

We played around taking pictures on the way up. That orange thing in my hand was our sad attempt at keeping the camera from getting wet. Somehow - it made it out alive.

Obviously - it hadn't began hailing.... yet.

This was what it looked like when we got to the top - Mr. Alabama promised that it would get better.

And, it did! The view was incredible. (I took note from my cousin, Noelle, back in October. She was the only one who brought gloves up that day - she was prepared. I took note and brought mine this time. Thanks for the tip, Noelle!)

When the clouds lifted, we got to admire one of God's many pieces of artwork.

The view was defiantly worth the climb.

Day #4:

Meggan joined us in Gatlinburg, along with Lily on Day #3. After the hail storm, she came with some comic relief and enjoyed dinner with us before heading to her hotel - she heard there were storms in the mountains and opted for a hotel. She's the smart one. Ha! J didn't feel so much up to hiking on the morning of Day #4 (really, neither did I) but I couldn't resist the warmth and not take advantage of the blue skies and sunshine. So, I rousted Megs out of her hotel and we took a stroll on the Gatlinburg Trail. The Gatlinburg Trail is a 4 mile roundtrip walk right on the outskirts of town. It's fairly flat and generally great for a walk or run alongside the Little Pigeon River.

After our little walk, we had brunch at the campsite. Nothing beats bacon and pancakes at in the great outdoors. I don't care what you say.

Once we let our food settle, the sun continued to show it's pretty face and I erged J and Meg to do a "short" 2.7 mile roundtrip hike to Grotto Falls. I read about it in my handy dandy book I mentioned earlier and - with all of my persuation tactics - they agreed to go (probably to shut me up). We got to what we thought was the trailhead and parked in the parking area only to find out we'd struck out on a trial that connected the two parking areas - a difference of 2.7 mile roundtrip to 7 miles roundtrip.

Meggan had made previous dinner plans and there was no way we would make it back in time for her to shower and make it on time. So, she hiked with us for a mile or so and saw her waterfall....

...and hit the trail back to the hotel. She planned on getting ready for dinner and making it back to scoop us up at 6:45p. J and I made really great timing getting to the falls. Once we passed the correct parking area and other entrance - it is indeed a 2.7 miler. Way to go, Cruise Director Mauri. Nonetheless, the falls were great! The crisp air around the falls was refreshing. We wished we'd had our hammocks to hang out for a while.

Since we were on a time schedule, we headed out with plenty of time to make it back to meet Meg. Of course, on our way back - it started to rain. Again. This time, it was just rain - no thunder or lightening... but rain nevertheless. We laughed and yelled, "Bring it on! Is this all you've got!?" We were quite cocky after our day of hail the day before.

We got back to the parking lot with about 20 minutes to spare. We hiked back 3.4 miles in 1 hour. Whoop! Since we were early getting back, we didn't want to sit around and wait in wet clothes and took off walking. We were "those" people with boots and packs... walking down the road.

Though this trail wasn't particularly planned - we had a good time seeing the falls and getting one more hike under our belt before having to head back to reality the following day. :(

After we made it back to the campground, we found that it had yet to rain there - but it was coming. The weather on the radio predicted flash flooding. At this point, we'd weathered our fair share of rain. It was time to get dry. We decided to take advantage of packing up our camp while it was still dry and graciously utitilize Meg's hotel room for the night. She didn't even call us crazy or say I told ya so.... We got everything packed up right before the bottom fell out of the sky and the floods definatly came. It rained all night and all morning the next morning.

After being hailed on, caught in a lightening storm, rained on in 2 different hikes and not showering for 4 days - that cheap hotel shower felt like the most luxuiorous shower we'd ever had.

J wanted to order room service and crash for the night but I felt the need to wash and dry my hair and put on mascara and feel like a normal kid again. So, we met up with Megs at the Smoky Mountain Brewery for dinner and a large celebratory drink that we'd hiked, camped, and throughly tested our bodies to the extreme. And, we loved every. single. minute. of. it.

4 days, 4 trials, 22 miles later - we're ready for the next trip!