2/20/11

Crooked Arm

Jerky Mikes demonstrates how this site got it's name.

I came up from Rich Mountain out of Tuckalechee.  These great views are overlooking the Townsend valley.

It was a good climb from Rich Mountain road but on such a beautiful day and weekend, you have to maximize your exposure.

I ran into this guy, Patrick Morales.  He is an old friend of the SouthernHighlanders and is a great environmental advocate.  He is the owner of this blogspot.  We May be Back.  I hadn't seen him in a few years and he was dayhiking out as I was climbing the hill. He is the kind of bulldog the Smokies needs to confront the environmental hyprocrisy in Washington and has given our representatives an earful or two.

"Say the secret word, win a hundred dollars"

Bill says he doesn't care to hear any more secret words whatsoever from Mike.  Bill says, I've heard it all.

 President Dumplin has something to say about all of this.

         The moon got bright and induced some howling.

This is George's idea of cowboy camping.  I think he was just a bit too lazy to establish a tent.  That worked out pretty well until this morning when the five minute rainstorm was upon us.

Lots of sinkholes around Ace Gap.

Campsite 5 (two miles away)was a bustling on this long holiday weekend.  Again, we must apologize tO the group that had to be relocated from our spot but as they say, first come first serve.  The weather was really incredible.  It had been almost a year when we last visited the crooked arm.  This time last year, we were up to our thighs in snow on Miry Ridge in a little different weather.

And finally.  It seems as if Uncle LeRoy was bored and took to amusing himself by creating a Highlander photo caption contest with this picture he took at Walnut Bottoms last week.  That set off a flurry of Dumplinvalley emails with a variety of responses, some of them were even amusing. By thursday it had pretty much run out of steam but it was apparent that Gobbie emerged victorious with the following caption.  "Rikki, I’ve got some very warm hot dog length buns if you need em"    Yeah.  they didn't think I would print that.  Just goes to show you that Robbie is capable of one minute of wit if you can tolerate three days of  ...it.