Lookin' for Rattlers

24-Sep-2015

It was good to see the mountains & get off the plains last night as we arrived in Colorado Springs Co. Still learning to pronounce all these places (Salida, Limon, Buena Vista, Cache le Poudre) in the proper Colorado manner.

Sister Maggie cooked us a great welcome meal. After  a glass of wine, some catching up with her and husband David we were off to bed.

A lazy morning & we made off for the CastleWood Canyon State Park just north of Co Springs.
It was a pretty ride up route 83 (kept us off route 25) and only 30 minutes from Mag & Dave's house.
We heard it was rattlesnake country so there was no stopping us from the quest for rattlers.

Here's  a few photos from the 4 mile hike

We never found our rattler but at least we did find a snake
Just a littler garter snake

Across the Plains

Not much to say.
Feedlots and grain elevators.
Hard driving once it flattens out
I guess its pretty out there but there sure is a lot of it 

 A grain elevator. Any grain elevator

Here now we come to the end of the trail
Your hair hide and carcass to the stockyard for sale
We'll see you in a tin can when you get shipped around
So lay yourselves down, little doggies lay down

Woody Guthrie

Kansas City Mo

Another early rise and a long run to KC Mo

where we arrived at the home of our great friends from Avon NC Frank and Pat Clark and Miss Sadie.

Notwithstanding the massive comforture of the Cobra Gunship bed it was indeed nice to sleep in a bed in a house, especially after a few hours of cocktails

A day of sightseeing around KC Mo with Frank and Pat including a stop at Lidia's Italian Restaurant for lunch. 3 different types of pasta, red wine and pumpkin ice cream to boot. Some tips on how to improve my pasta carbonara from Anthony (un chilango) the pasta chef. Another front porch party to end the day

Off the next day to Mark & Becky's Farm and hour or so out of KC. The two of them have a beautiful place on 80 acres. Mark is involved in many, MANY projects including an ongoing apiary/honey business that produces some real high quality product. We managed to grab a few bottle for the gunship and a chunk of beeswax for the woodshop.

On the way home we stopped at Joes Bar-B-Que in KC Mo at the original gas station location. This is a spot that must not be missed! As good as Lidia's was the day before, Joes was equal to or better. Ribs an pulled pork, a couple of sides, onion rings, great fries all washed down with a session ipa from the local Boulevard Brewery. It was fabulous !!

Cumberland Gap/Mammoth Cave

A lot of poor man make a five dollar bill
Keep him happy all the time
Some other fellow makin' nothing at all
Any you can hear him cry

Can I go buddy, Can I go down
Take your  shift at the mine

Gotta get down to the Cumberland Mine

Hit the road early
We hit the Waffle House in some town along the way to eat their version of the "Grand-Slam" Breakfast. Like wolves we set upon the food after eating pistachios & Cliff bars for dinner last night

A Stop at Cumberland Gap to watch a movie and hike a few miles. Learned a bit about old Daniel Boone and others before him. Native  American viewpoint not a  major focus of the history lesson.
Oh well. Very scenic beauty from the Pinnacle.

Push onward and arrive at Mammoth Cave Campground just before dark.  Manage some peanut butter (Peter Pan Super Chunk) and a couple of bananas at the camp store before they close.
Don't even bother pitching the tent for the 2 nights we stay.

Next morning rise and shine for a 5 mile walk around the perimeter of the Visitor Center property. Plenty to see including a few sinkholes and a couple of caves. Also the Green River.

Take me back down where cool water flows
Let me remember things I don't know 

I guess that about sums it all up
Oh, they have lots of caves at Mammoth Cave Park.
But no mammoths whatsoever.

Cataloochee

Long drive on interstate across most of NC we passed through Asheville and on toward the Maggie Valley. The obligatory stop at BiscuitVille to chomp down on a fried pork chop stuffed inside a biscuit doused in hot sauce left us feeling like you can imagine.
An hour or so later we left pavement and began a cris-cross switchback 3 mile road that tool us to the Cataloochee Campgraound in the Great Smoky Mountains of North Carolina.

What a beautiful little place!
Nice National Park Service campground (Make reservations online) with primitive campsites and running water and toilets. No showers.

We pitched the tent and then never used it at all. We have since stopped pitching tents at the campground. After a dinner of whatever we had we spent the first night sleeping in the Cobra Gunship. Carol & I both woke up well rested and ready to hit the trails.


Breakfast reduced to trail mix yogurt and a banana as the absence of a store and our lack of planning means we run out of food shortly. Not a bad thing for this man's diet.

Anyway we slogged 8+ miles around Boogerman (I kid you not) Trail & get back near the end of the day with wet boots, dead camera batteries and pretty sore. Maybe we should have started our forced marches with a few less miles. The forests in the valley were full of big mature trees of numerous species. If you dig eastern hardwood forests, this is the place. Just remember to bring your  waterproof boots as you will be fording streams. A few of the bridges just don't exist any longer.

Most people come to Cataloochee to see the re-introduced elk that roam the valley floor. I took many pictures of these critters as well as the wild turkeys. Here are a few photos.