Firefly Hike

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Today I went on my first night hike. We set out to see the synchronous fireflies. The fireflies are best seen at Elkmont, but the area is only open to those with a pass from the lottery in April. We hiked Abrams Creek because I'd done it before and the start is along the creek, hopefully where the fireflies would be. We started about 45 minutes before sunset, and hiked about 2 miles, paused to take pictures at the creek, and turned around to hike back in the dark. Hiking in the dark was a bit creepy. Spider eyes reflected my headlamp like diamonds with beautiful pure colors, but there were a lot of spider eyes. After having only seen a few fireflies on the hike we got back to the car and saw dozens in the field and forest edge next to the parking lot. Not what I was hoping for, but fun nonetheless. 

Abrams Creek

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I hiked alone to Abrams Falls from Abrams Creek instead of the more popular trail from Cades Cove. I completed the loop on Rabbit Creek Trail that included two stream crossings I didn't know about before setting out. Carrying my boots and socks, I crossed bare foot. It was a peaceful hike, and I stopped many times to look at the spring flowers. I spent lunch on a rock in the middle of the stream a bit down river from Abrams Falls. Just before I got to the parking lot I heard a loud rustling in the woods. I looked over and saw a small black bear running away. I might not have seen it if it had not moved. The orange flower was toward the end of the hike around mile 11 and was the only flower of that type I saw on the hike. On my drive home, I saw a neighbor has about 25 of them growing just down the road.

Climbing Center Bouldering Competition

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Today I competed in my first bouldering competition at The Climbing Center. I got second place in mens intermediate division. There were 60 new boulder problems broken up into 4 divisions, beginner, intermediate, advanced, and open. We could try routes as many times as we wanted and just needed 2 people to sign off on successful climbs. The points for everyone's top 5 hardest climbs were added up and ranked. I won a bag of Friction Labs chalk and a 1 month pass for bouldering! The hardest route I climbed was marked in the V4-V6 range; the first one in that range I've climbed!

 

Gregory Bald

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This weekend a few friends and I hiked to Gregory Bald. This was a bit of a challenging hike with 3,000 feet of climbing in the first half (then descending 3,000 feet back to the car). The bald doesn't have any trees, only has azalea bushes, so there are beautiful views in all directions (including overlooking Cades Cove). We were about 2 weeks early to see the azaleas bloom. There were buds though. This was a great spring hike with a lot of flowers and greenery.