Saturday in The Smokies: Boogerman, Clingman's Dome & The TN/NC State Lines

Today was so full of laughter that I'm not really sure just how to fully encapsulate it in one blog. Don't get me wrong; I'll try, but there are no guarantees.

Not sure what I mean? Well, for starters, the three of us collectively agreed last night that we would play today by ear, depending on the weather. Varying forecasts had been handed to us from separate parties at the camp and then from radar readings as well. We were expecting somewhere between zero rain to a washout. Fair enough.

That being said, at 5am, Mare and I awoke in our tent to the sound of "rain."
Okay, no. Correction to that: Marianne awoke to that sound. I awoke to the sound of Marianne saying [in the most matter-of-fact voice ever], "BECKY." Becky replies, "Yes?" Marianne: "LIGHT. RAIN."

I say "rain," because we're not all together lucid at 5am in a tent, and had forgotten that we were within a stride of the river. It was the river leading us to believe we were in a downpour, not the rain [a relief at 5:15am when we finally got out of the tent].

yeah... there's only 3 of us on this trip, believe it or not.. haha

With that first false-alarm disappointment out of the way, we packed up our tents as a pre-emptive measure, made & ate our jet-boiled breakfasts on Ernie's tailgate and then climbed in the car to continue sleeping for about 2 more hours. Yes, there were sleeping bags involved. Yes, it turned out to be just fine.

car sleeping done right :/ 

With the extension of sleep out of the way, we realized that the rain still hadn't come, so we committed at that point to a day hike over the Boogerman Trail. P.S. - Marianne drove us the 600-some-odd yards there while wearing a sleeping bag. Thankfully, there's no traffic on that straightaway stretch of road at 7am... not even the elk.

We unloaded at Boogerman and opted to leave packs behind. That left us with rain gear, river-crossing footgear, daypacks and water.

 

The hike itself could be mostly summarized in 4 bullet points:

* Footbridges are optional; river crossing is not. 

* Cold Water. Barefoot Hiking.
* Pictures. Laughing. Real Conversation. 

To Becky's disappointment, the Boogerman trail did not contain the longest footbridge in the park that she had believed was there; My best guess is that it was washed out, as many of them were. Marianne made her mark in the wild by forcefully sitting down [aka falling] halfway on a rock and more so directly into the river, after which point she finished the remaining 2 miles barefoot. I had a fight with my Chaco's that lasted for about 80% of the 4.5 hour hike, until we finally stopped and I did a total readjustment. 

The GOOD THING [among the many, really] was that the scenery and history of the Boogerman property had completely consumed us, and regardless of our immediate inconveniences, we were elated to be there and just.. be present in those moments of exploration and discovery. 

hello from the boogerman property! 

For anyone who might wonder what people on a woodland hike do, here's an example: 

Also this: 

tool from the boogerman workshop property

We concluded our hike with that sense of accomplishment that comes only after you've forded rivers without bridges 9 times, and with bridges an additional 7... without losing any of your equipment or breaking skin [or bones] by way of falling. :) 

last river fording.. 

With the first part of our day concluded, we thought it fitting to explore a different part of the mountain, so we set off in search of some other wonders. Our journey took us through a smaller stretch of the commercialized zone, which we were nearly confident we would dismiss, until we spotted a familiar object of affection: COFFEEEEEEE. It seemed like such a luxury after just 2 short days of being without. It was a rather impromptu stop: A small, empty coffee shop in which we found both our caffeine fix and a kind suggestion of a local gem that wouldn't take long to visit. With caffeine in hand, we obliged the suggestion before continuing on the whatever the day had to unfold:

coffee vs. waterfall..... always say yes to coffee..

We switched gears and opted for a more domestic chapter of the day, so we started our drive ascent further into the mountain, a process interrupted several times by the photo opps:

Eventually, we reached Clingman's Dome, a lookout that is the highest point in the entire Smoky Mountains Park. It was a windy little jaunt to and from, but well worth it.

On the way back down to camp, we veered off again to the State Line lookout and did what all the tourists do when they are at the divide between two states in a national park: take pictures!

We made it down to camp just shy of daylight disappearing, which gave us ample time to once again set up hammocks for a short time, stake down tents and get dinner going. The day's been pretty full already, so it's an early night. Tomorrow's going to be a long day...

We're ready :)
Goodnight from the Smokies!

xo | cmd