Charlie’s Bunion/Kephart Prong

 

Saturday, August 16, 2014

Who's riding with Beth? No, Who is going up on Friday with Che. Why go up on Friday? No, Why is going up on Saturday with us. What are you talking about? Well, What will already be there, coming in from Knoxville. Where do we all meet? No, Where became ill and had to cancel out. How is this ever going to come together? No, How isn't coming back with us; he's staying up there that night. That pretty much sums up the transportation planning that went on all week before this trip! But at the end of the day we had the same 13 hikers that we started with, so... Couldn't say that about some of our stuff, though; among the items that were in a car going the wrong direction were a pair of glasses, a rain jacket, and even a set of car keys! Ooops!

Jumpoff

 

 Charlies Bunion
Oh yeah, there was a hike. And once again this hike proved to be a nice break from the heat and humidity of our local area; 59 degrees when we reached the parking lot at Newfound Gap! Thanks to the early arrivals the car shuttle was already set up. For a change, we got pretty clear views from both the Jumpoff and Charlie's Bunion.
Sweat Heifer trail Footlog on Sweat Heifer
When we started down Sweat Heifer Trail it was a little overgrown, but that soon improved; and that was a new trail for about half the group. Altogether a nice day on the trail in the Smokies. Dinner was at Subway in Townsend, including ice cream for those who wished to indulge. Hikers were Che Carico, Arlene Swallows, Barbara McCollum, Beth Jones, Debbie Lambert, Bob Butterfield, Tim Chomyn, Wendy Gunn, Wayne Chambers, Reggie Jay, Priscilla Clayton, Boe Rudder, and "Air traffic controllers got nothin' on me" John Rowland reporting.