Bays Mountain

We had a very pleasant hike today!  We seem to be getting lucky with our selection of hike weekends.  It was a calm day with just enough warmth to be perfect for hiking.  The sky was deep blue, and we had great views through the naked trees.  We hiked the Azalea trail to the antennas and then out the ridge to the firetower, where we had lunch.  The trail, except for a few marshy areas, was easily navigable, which was quite nice, especially after having to watch our footing closely on recent hikes. We've gotten off to a great start this year!  Looking forward to many more hikes!

Chadwell Gap to Hensley's Settlement

Wow!  That was a tough hike.  We hiked over 8 miles and were on the trail over 7 hours.  The weather was warm and sunny until we got to the Ridge trail which crosses over into Kentucky on the north side of the mountain.  Up there, the wind fierce and the snow from Tuesday afternoon had not melted.  We hiked in about 6 inches of snow for the last mile, and observed tracks of raccoon, coyote, deer, and......bear.  A big bear it seemed had meandered around Hensley's settlement.  Thankfully we didn't encounter the bear; the tracks looked a couple of days old.  We ate lunch at Hensley's Settlement and didn't tarry long there.  I think all of us were anxious to get back for some southern trail exposure!