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I spent a few days with my cousin in St. Petersburg, FL last week. We spent some time grinding floors with power tools and grinding brain cells with power beers. It was good to see him and it gave me some time to prep for my [tag]backpacking[/tag] trip through the [tag]Great Smoky Mountains National Park[/tag] (not to mention $40- thanks, cuz!).

I took a marathon drive from St Petersburg to Cherokee, TN, sleeping along the way at truck stops and rest areas. It’s not a bad way to go, especially when you can brew your own coffee and don’t have to depend on the whims of gas station attendants. But, I arrived in the Smokies early Wednesday morning and knocked on the door of the ranger station just outside of Cherokee. Florie, the nice ranger, was very helpful in picking out a route for backpacking. As rain was due on Friday/Saturday, I opted for a two night, 27 mile trek along the [tag]Appalachian Trail[/tag] and down to the Forney Creek area of the park.

Being early spring, I was treated to the earliest dusting of green leaflets over some of the trees, others were bare and others were in bloom with small white flowers. The photos just don’t do the place justice. It was as if some caffeine-hyped kid attempted to decorate a mountain of chocolate cupcakes with green and white sprinkles. In some places, the green was so heavy I thought I was in a rainforest. Other times, the many white flowers made me think of wedding albums. Other places still looked like late fall. Go figure.

But I completed the 27 miles without much incident. Except for a light sprinkling of rain on Thursday night, the weather was warm and calm. The trail itself was perfect. Downhill the first day for 14 miles, level the next for 6.5 miles, then climb back up 3000 feet over 6 miles on the last day. Believe you me, I was drinking that cold beer from my fridge about 2 miles from my truck (at least in my head). It’s good to know I still have it in me to do some real ‘packing.

Not much wildlife to report, except for one [tag]black bear[/tag] on Wednesday near dusk. I really only saw the bear’s backside, he heard me coming long before I saw him. Man, those guys are loud, I heard him crashing through the underbrush for about 2 minutes after he took off.

Also got a chance to visit [tag]Cades Cove[/tag], on the north-west edge of the park. This is supposedly the most visited area of the most visited park in the US. Luckily, when I visited the area on Saturday, the crowds were almost non-existent – probably due to the severe thunderstorms and tornadoes that eastern Tennessee caught on Friday night. Cades Cove is the remnants of a small rural community and was populated from 1830 to 1930. It has the largest collection of historic log buildings in the US. Very photogenic. But Cades is a very pretty section of the park, don’t miss it!

And just for fun, I visited the eastern edge of the park and stayed in the Cosby Campground. Not too many people visit that edge of the park, but it is quiet and very lush. I was hoping to see some [tag]wildflowers[/tag], but the weird winter seems to have delayed the bloom. They are probably blooming as I speak….

Next, I plan on driving the Blue Ridge Parkway to the other big easter park, Shenandoah, for more backpacking. See you ’round!