Gregory's Bald || Monday, June 16, 2008

Backstory--mid to late June is prime time for Flame Azaleas to bloom. A more apt description can be given by the 18th century botanist William Bartram...

"The epithet fiery I annex to this most celebrated species of azalea, as being expressive of the appearance of its flowers; which are in general of the color of the finest red-lead, orange, and bright gold, as well as yellow and cream-color This is certainly the most gay and brilliant flowering shrub yet known."

Backstory part II: Jodie has an aunt who has always wanted to go to Gregory's Bald, home to one of the most brilliant displays of flame azaleas, well, anywhere, to see them bloom. It was also one of the things on my life list, and although I made it up there last year in July, they had all already bloomed and wilted.

SO, we got back from Disney around 12:30am Sunday morning, and at Jodie's grandparents house the next day around noon, we set up a trip to the bald for today. Already car-lagged and operating on way too little sleep, we got up this morning at 6 to start making our way up there. Total participants: 7. Total of participants over the age of 12: 3. Myers, 2 years old, Bailey, 7 years old, cousin 1: 7 years old, cousin 2: 11-12ish, me, Jodie, Jodie's Aunt.

The hike to Gregory's Bald starts on the Parson's Branch road, one of the exit routes from Cades Cove. The trip to the bald is essentially 4.5 miles, all of which were uphill. The trip back is the same 4.5 miles except downhill. Do the math: 9 mile trip. Bailey's previous longest hike was a little over 5 miles. We had a pretty bad start, as all the kids were whining within a half mile. We did stop frequently at the beginning, as Jodie's aunt used to be one of the people in charge of the education dept. at Tremont, so it was a lot of fun having a plant identification person on hand. I can now ID pipsisewa, galax, blood root, and that's about it. I am horrible with plants. Scat is way more my thing. One of the early highlights of the trip was finding a real live brood 17 cicada who was docile enough to be put on all the kids heads for picture ops. Bailey is 7 now, and the next time an offspring of this cicada will be seen she will be 24. Scary stuff. Anyway, around mile 2 Jodie's aunt started a game of Disney Trivia, with the rule that she would only ask questions if we were walking down the trail. The kids went from how long to break how long to break to getting up and urging us on when we were taking a break. Brilliant.

On up the trail, miles 3-4.5 were particularly taxing, but we made it to the bald just in time. While pretty beat, the kids still found it in them to explore some, spying azaleas, climbing a weird, short, bonsai-looking oak tree, etc.

The walk with kids in tow basically took from 930am to 2--4.5 miles in 4.5 hours. The way back, being downhill, went more smoothly in terms of time. However, going downhill, especially with Bailey's joint issues, posed a problem, as Bailey fell and twisted her ankle big time with about 3 miles left. On already wobbly footing, she fell hard two more times, but she got up and did an awesome job. We also saw a once in a lifetime event on the way back--a millipede molting. Like snakes shedding skin, invertibrates have to grow new exoskeletons as the grow. "Eagle Eye" Bailey spotted the really bizarre happening and got our attention. It was basically like it had just crawled out of it's skin, but instead of being dark brown it was now bright white. Very cool. It also spelling like cherries. I will give kudos to anyone who can comment and tell me why it smelled like cherries. It's a neat factoid.

Anyway, we make it back to the car and COLLAPSE. Nine miles is usually a warm up when Sam and I go backpacking, but nine mile with Myers on my back and three other kids running around was INSANE. Once in the car, we took Parson's Branch out to The Dragon and went to the Tail of the Dragon Motorcycle resort for bathrooms and food (very good hotdogs... hotdog + drink + really good fries or onion rings for $4.19). On the way home, Jodie and I stayed awake while Myers and Bailey slept. Once home, it was showers, tick checks, and bed. Bailey was dead tired. Her eyes are swollen and blacked, myers is asleep where he passed out while playing in my bed, and Jodie is zonked. I'm very proud of all of them. Jodie in particular was a trooper. She loves outdoorsy stuff, but as she puts it she likes "controlled" amounts of nature. Long haul hikes are not really her thing. Especially after her stint in the hospital a year and a half ago with her lung condition, stuff like this is a big deal. While it kicked her (and everyone else's) butt, she did great. Bailey also rocked, hiking through tears after a particularly hard wipeout in the mud (damn horses). Myers, well, he didn't hit me in the head with his sippy cup too hard. His general temperament was excellent as well. We started hiking from the bald at 3, and were at the cars at 530, so we were on the trail a total of 8 hours. He was in the backpack carrier for 7 of them and he didn't go insane, so props to him. The rest of our crew did an excellent job as well--good trip.

The best part is that although it whipped all our heineys, I already brought up the next trip and they didn't stone me. For those of you wishing to make future plans, the next trip will be a family oriented trip to Abrams Falls... 2.5 miles to the falls, swimming and lunch below the falls, and 2.5 miles back to the car. This is tentatively being planned for between July 3-6, but I'll keep everyone posted on a final time table. This trip will be MUCH easier,and well suited for beginners or those who haven't been out in a while or who haven't taken kids out before. It's a classic trip.

On a personal reflection level, this was my third trip to Gregory's Bald (the first using this route), and while I don't think I'll make it back the 100+ times Bert Garner did in his lifetime, I don't think it'll be my last time there. The view of the mountains and the cove are phenomenal. As this is the first time I've been there in clear weather, I had never really appreciated the view. If you live in the Knox/Blount/Sevier area, this is a place you need to make it to at least once in your life.

Pictures will be posted as they are uploaded. Basically, I'm way too tired to walk to the kitchen where the camera is to get it to upload photos.