This past weekend Mat, Maddy and I were dropped off at Sam's Gap right off of an interstate. We threw on our backpacks, climbed through a gate and down to another highway, walked along the highway for a minute and then we hit our trail. It was an awesome time of year with the leaves changing.
Here is our trail dog...
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Maddy finally taking a break...
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After hiking for some hours, we arrived at the top of Big Bald Mountain, which had a great 360 degree view of all the mountains. We were hanging out enjoying the view, when a family with little kids came hiking up the trail to enjoy the view. I was thinking hey, that's cool, they are out for a pretty good walk. Then Mat pointed out that they parked right down below. Maddy and I are on top of Big Bald.
After being on top of Big Bald we hiked up the next hill and we noticed a bunch of nets were set up for catching birds. A few feet more down the trail we ran into one of the volunteers catching the birds and he told us what they were doing. AND that they had caught a sharp shinned hawk (a smaller forest raptor) which they were going to put a band on and take some measurements shortly. Were we interested in watching? Mat and I were like, uh, of course. Turns out that Maddy and I got to walk up and down along the trail while Mat watched them take the measurements and put the band on. They came back out from their research spot behind a rock with the hawk and let Mat release it. I got to see it it up close. It was pretty cool.
Then we continued hiking for another hour or so, set up camp and then the next day we hiked most of the rest of the way, so that we only had a few miles to bust out in the morning to meet Sara by 10 a.m.. It all worked out perfectly. We woke up and hiked for about 15 minutes or so in the dark and then it was a beautiful sunrise to watch while walking out. We ended up arriving at the Nolichucky River trailhead about 1.5 hours early! But it was fine, we hung out at the hostel right near the trailhead and checked out the Nolichucky River.
Independent Thoughts
These pictures look great. Love it. Looks and sounds like you guys had a great hike. Did you get any pictures of the hawk?
ReplyDeleteNope, we were so excited about it that we totally forgot!
ReplyDeleteAwesome! Can't believe you forgot, admin.
ReplyDeleteWe don't get the automatic blitz thing that says you updated. So keep letting us know. Pics are awesome.
We'll have an update for you soon...at least MA hopes it is soon. She's counting down the days for baby number 2!
Sounds like you had a fun trip. And that's cool that it worked out so you could meet up with Sara on time! That's awesome that Mat got to help with measuring and releasing the hawk. You guys are definitely adventurous.
ReplyDeleteAwesome pictures. It looked so beautiful. You 3 are awesome outdoors folks.
ReplyDeleteIt is a great time of year to hike.