Standing Indian Campground

We camped at Standing Indian Campground in the Nantahala National Forest in western North Carolina over Mother's Day weekend. This is our old familiar C.G. and is only about 15 miles from home and we have camped here countless times over 30 years. 
For this trip, the grandsons joined us and we had our daughter and her family out for a Mother's Day cook out. We played baseball, splashed in the creek, hiked, and rode bicycles with the grandkids. What's not to like?

Gnometown set up in Site 51.

Wyatt was champion hot dog griller.

Cook out on Mother's Day.

Nanny played in the creek with the kids.

A little about the campground:
Standing Indian sits at an elevation of 3,880 feet at the headwaters of the Nantahala River, so it is always several degrees cooler than Franklin, down in the valley.
It is a beautiful campground, dominated by huge oaks and lush rhododendron, and surrounded by 5,000 foot peaks, including Standing Indian Mountain.
Numerous trails cut through the area, and the Appalachian Trail can be easily accessed at Deep Gap by the 4 mile long Kimsey Creek Trail which cuts through the campground. Fishermen love the trout waters and kids love playing in the creeks.
The CG consists of 5 loops (4 paved and 1 gravel) and approximately 80 sites. The gravel loop offers more secluded sites. Many of the sites are reservable and some are 1st come, 1st served. The cost is $16 dollars per night.
There are no power, water, or sewer hookups. However they do have showers with hot water and clean flushable restrooms.
A campground store offers a limited number of items, including sweet treats and fire wood.
There is no phone or wifi reception, so be prepared to UNPLUG!

I rode through on my bicycle and shot video footage:

Gnometown Campgrounds

I discovered on the popupportal forum  that I could create a Google Map of the campgrounds that we have stayed at with our little "Gnometown" pop up camper, and then save it to Google Drive. 

I thought this would be a great way to record the places we've camped in our pop up.

I came up with 28 campgrounds and I"m sure I missed some. Several of them like Tsali, and especially, Spirit of the Suwannee, we have camped at numerous times. 

I was also able to go into my Google Photo album GNOMETOWN and add photos.

Chuck Box

I finally spent the time this spring to build a chuck box for our little Gnometown pop up camper.

We always stored our kitchen wares in a deep plastic tote in the camper and it was a pain to dig through to locate the specific thing I happened to be looking for at the time.

Our Suwannee festivarian buddy, Wayne had a chuck box for his camp kitchen, and I always envied it.
After much procrastination I decided to tackle the job, and I think the end result is worthy of Gnometown.

Everything fits in it's place. I added a couple of plastic drawers on the left side to store small and/or loose items.

I originally designed it for legs, but it was a bit tricky to set up. I went back to the drawing board and bought two poly-type folding saw horses from Lowes to use as legs in camp. (Different saw horses shown in these pics).

Black Betty used her superior skills with a brush to stain and urethane.

Side view shows chest handles.

• There are lots of sources online to find various construction ideas. Many are from Boy Scout sites. 
• I literally took a look at what I wanted to put in it and designed the dimensions of the box and the shelving from that. 
• I checked and double checked to make sure it would stow away in the pop up, and fit through the door.
• I used 5/8 sanded plywood and pre-drilled, glued, and screwed every thing together.
• As you guessed by now, this thing is heavy. It will take two of us to set it up on the saw horses in camp.

Mooney Falls at Standing Indian, Nantahala Forest

Frank Lee and Allie Burbrink

Frank Lee and Allie Burbrink of The Freight Hoppers played at The Lazy Hiker Brewing Co. in Franklin last night. It's always a treat to hear Frank Lee play from his catalog of hard-driving, old time ballads, from the 1920's and 1930's. Here's a couple of videos I was able to shoot, in spite of the din of the crowd.

Please support live music and hear more from Frank and Allie  @  http://www.frankleeandallieburbrink.com/

Hometown Hiker // Siler Bald Hike

Hot Buttered Rum

We were downright giddy about seeing Hot Buttered Rum back at the Grey Eagle in Asheville last Friday night, after a 5 or 6 year absence. They did not disappoint! Here they are covering a Dr Ralph Stanley tune, enjoy!

Georgia Mountain String Band

The Georgia Mountain String Band performed at Currahee Brewing Company's grand opening celebration this weekend in Franklin. It was our first listen to this Decatur, Georgia bluegrass band and we liked what we heard. We'll certainly keep them on our music radar and hope to see them again soon.

https://m.facebook.com/georgiamountainstringband

Tsali Camping

We finally got out camping this summer for three nights at Tsali campground on Fontana Lake in the Nantahalas. We've had a lot on our plate this summer and didn't get a summer vacation, so we were ready for some woods time. 

I had designed and built a new awning for the camper earlier in the spring and this was my first chance to deploy it. Although it is by no means quick to assemble, it will work well if we're in camp for a few days. We did get some rain while we were out and it seemed to work flawlessly.

Little Gnometown camper set up with new awning configuration.

 We were joined by our grandkids for a night and had lots of fun swimming in the lake, fishing, riding bikes, and sharing campfire stories. Oh yeah, we ate smores too!

Grand Canyon 2016

Black Betty's first trip. She joined us for a hike down the S. Kaibab trail to camp at Bright Angel CG for 2 nights. We then hiked up the Bright Angel trail to camp at Indian Garden for 1 night before hiking out.

With: Floyd, Groceries, and Segue.

Magfest 2015

Gnometown set up for the weekend.

Bean Spence hood art.

Gnometown with Bean Spence print.

Ride across the Sewannee.

Black Betty grooving in the meadow.

Col. Bruce on the porch stage with Erin looking on.

Lily Kilgore's bride tribe.

Del and the Traveling McCourys.

Gnometown hangout.

Gnometown breakfast crew.

Mag tree flyer.

Jeff Austin Band.

Greensky Bluegrass

The Gnometown gang caught Greensky Bluegrass at the Orange Peel on Friday night, 9/25. Marie told me during the set break that she saw the lyrics to Lucy In The Sky backstage, so I was ready to capture it on video. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

Hometown Hiker Shuttle 2015

With Rock Man, Skinner, and Black Betty at Mooney Gap in the Standing Indian Wilderness.

It has been a busy spring hiker season, here in Franklin, NC. I have shuttled hikers from Springer Mountain to Fontana Dam and all points in between.

If you need a shuttle to a trailhead in the southern end of the Appalachian Trail, Bartram Trail, or in the Great Smoky Mountains, you can reach me through the contact information on this blog.

Happy trails, be safe out there.

Albert Mountain

I hiked up to the fire tower on Albert Mountain (5250') with Wyatt and Jack this afternoon. It's a fun scramble to the top, and is known as the steepest 1/4 mile climb on the Appalachian Trail inside the Nantahalas.
The tower's cabin is locked at the trap door, but the stairs are readily accessible to provide a beautiful 360 degree panorama.

Grand Canyon 2015 Trip Report

 

 

3/8 Hermit Trail to Hermit Creek

  We actually got started at a decent hour today. I had to crack the whip a little, and got a few grumblings courtesy of hike leader Floyd, but I knew it would pay off in the end. Our gang made its way to the park and rode the red bus out to Hermits Rest to the trail head. We began our hike down the steep Hermit Trail about 1215.

Awesome start photo. Groceries, Segue, Rudi, Hometown, Floyd.

Groceries adjusting her poles for the 3600' descent down the Hermit Trail.

There was still some scattered snow patches up top.

Pretty canyon pic.

Groceries and Rudi.

Segue and Floyd.

Rudi.

Pretty canyon pic.

We arrived at the Tonto Junction at 6:30. At this point we strapped on our headlamps and hiked through the darkness to Hermit Creek.

3/9 Hermit Creek

We arrived at Hermit Creek camp in the dark and could not find the camp site. We weren't alone, neither could Brandi and Marley from Mercer University. They camped with us. Neither could a large group who came stumbling by later that night. They camped up the trail from us. We ended up camping in a 100 year old mule corral.

Go Coyotes.

Hmm?

Groceries forgot her hula hoop, so had to do yoga.

Lunch.

Ufo?

Floyd trying out for his team.

Hermit Creek.

3/10 Monument Creek

Rudi, trucking across the Tonto.

The Tonto allows some really nice canyon hiking.

Hometown hiker.

Rudi's choice of hiking footwear. They seemed to serve her well.

My first sighting of the Colorado on this trip.

Here is one badass hiker.

Lizard hiding in the shade.

Selfie with Groceries.

3/11 Monument Creek

Monument.

Hiking down the Granit Rapids.

Add caption

Hanging on the Colorado.

Segue shooting the rapids. His camera was never far away.

Canyon dweller.

Pumping water for camp.

3/12 Salt Creek

Tonto.

Looking back at the monument.

I love this section of the Tonto.

Groceries.

Agave Americana.

Indian paintbrush.

Groceries and Rudi enjoying Tonto hiking.

Hiking in to Salt Creek on the Tonto, next to the deep

Rudi and Hometown strike a pose at Salt Creek camp.

Early morning moon rise at Salt Creek.

Salt Creek privy.

3/13 Hike Out Bright Angel

Dana Butte.

Tonto hiking.

Love on the Tonto.

Tonto plaform.

Tonto trail.

Groceries and Hometown.

Cottonwoods at Indian Garden.

Peeper.

Segue and Little Bug.

Mule wranglers at Indian Gardens.

Looking down Bright Angel towards Indian Gardens.

Pictographs.

Pictographs.

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