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!