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.

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!

Suwannee SpringFest 2012 Report

Suwannee SpringFest 2012 was highly anticipated around the Hometown Homestead. The lineup was spectacular, maybe the best in years. We had our tickets purchased before Christmas and kept the fires burning all winter. Finally on Thursday morning, we packed up Gnometown and headed south from western North Carolina to arrive on the banks of the Suwannee Thursday afternoon.

I was particularly excited to see Hot Buttered Rum. It had been perhaps five years since I was last able to catch them in Asheville. This San Francisco area band just hadn't made it out to the East Coast for a while, and Black Betty and I really missed their high energy, positive vibes, jammy, grass groove. We weren't to be disappointed since they played the little Porch Stage on Thursday night and fired us up with their infectious enthusiasm and great songs.

Next, we caught Great American Taxi driven by Vince Herman. It seems that every time I see them they get better and better. They are certainly hard rocking and soulful, everything you want in a live band. They were joined on stage by Drew Emmitt, Sean Foley, and Zebulon Bowles.

Friday morning we slept in as long as possible before riding our bicycles to the crowded beach on the Suwannee for some cool and refreshing bathing and swimming. It was a good time spent relaxing with family and friends before committing to the many hours of music that we had ahead of us in the Friday lineup.

Black Betty, Michael, and Sam

Suwannee kiss from Melanie

Our big Friday shows were: Hot Buttered Rum, Larry Keel and Natural Bridge, The Emmitt Nershi Band, Elephant Revival (1st time for me) Great American Taxi, Jim Lauderdale, and Greensky Bluegrass. We were especially pleased that Greensky Bluegrass had the big Friday night Amphitheater show; they have worked hard, toured hard, and are finally getting the recognition that they deserve. They produced an inspired and ass kicking performance at the crowded midnight amphitheater. I swear I even spotted Billy Nershi dancing in the wings!

 
Saturday Morning started out with rain and a visit from my sister, niece, and  two great nephews, Dutch and Raleigh. Not only was it Dutch and Raleigh's 1st music Festival, it was the first time that Black Betty, Becky, and I got to meet the little fellows, so it was doubly sweet that this all took place at Springfest. The weather soon cleared and we were off to show the boys how to Festival!

Gnometown Gang

Dutch checking out Greensky Bluegrass

Raleigh diggin' the groove

Meadow stage

Our Saturday shows were Darol Anger and Republic of Strings, Bobby Miller and the Virginia Dare Devils, Larry Keel and Natural Bridge, Randall Bramblett and Geoff Achison, The Joe Craven Trio, Donna The Buffalo, Greensky Bluegrass, and Yonder Mountain String Band. As always, it was give and take, it was hard to miss other groups that we would have like to see but choices had to be made.

Paul Hoffman and Mike Devol, Greensky Bluegrass.

Mike Bont, Greensky Bluegrass.

Yonder Mountain String Band closed it down on Saturday night with a kick ass jam with a virtual Who's Who of Springfest musicians. I know I'll skip a bunch but I remember seeing Larry Keel, Vince Herman, Drew Emmitt, Anders Beck, Paul Hoffman, Zebulon Bowles, Sean Foley, Josh Pinkham, Andy Thorn and Wildman Steve on stage. What can I say? It was a great show, great jam, great Suwannee Springfest Saturday night! We joined the huge Amphitheater crowd in dancing, twirling, stomping, and singing along with Vince Herman to the Leftover Salmon anthem, "we gonna rise up...we gonna wake and bake"!

The Yonder Spring Jam

Sunday was cool and breezy in the morning. We were looking for a relaxing day, because we didn't have to pack up and leave like we have at times in the past. We wandered up to see Guy Clark and Verlon Thompson playing the Amphitheater stage. I still have memories of happy times and happy tunes from Guy back in the 1970's. It's all pretty dark these days and Guy has been battling poor health for a few years now.  If you've seen him in the last few years, you know what I am saying. Many tears were shed during the show.

Verlon Thompson and Guy Clark.

Dread Clampitt rocked the Porch Stage, and then we hit the Meadow for the fabulous Ralph Roddenbery Band. The Infamous Stringdusters were up next with plenty of hot licks and great tunes, followed by The Mosier Brothers. The Mosiers were joined onstage by the insanely talented cello mad-man Rushad Eggleston and young newcomer, Emily Morris.

Ralph Roddenbery.

Jeff Mosier.

Donna the Buffalo closed the show down on Sunday, as is the tradition. They played several of their hits and crowd favorites and then started being joined by friends on stage. Randy Judy, Verlon Thompson, Sean Foley, Rushad Eggleston, Donna Hopkins, Taylor Martin, Bobby Miller, Ralph Roddenbery and Samantha Jones, and then again with Randy Judy for Seminole Wind. Verlon's rocking cover of a Dylan tune with improvised lyrics and Ralph's wonderful sing-a-long of  That's Gonna Leave A Mark were the highlights of the jam. Donna finished it out with one of my favorites, Mystic Waters.

Nephews

Suwannee Chicks

Gnometown Gang, Phil, MDiddy, BB, Becky, Nate

 

Lilly, Chris, Black Betty, and M Diddy enjoying the Yonder show

Festivarians, Becky, Rex Thompson, Black Betty, Marie

       Final Thoughts:

• Once again this festival was a wonderful way to start off the season for our family and friends.
• I hate that we had friends who couldn't be there. We missed you!
• These musicians are among the best in the business. I'm sorry that I didn't get to catch many of the wonderful bands that played. You just can never see them all. Maybe next year.
• The crowd is always friendly, accepting, and appreciative. Anyone would have a difficult time not fitting in.
• The organization of the festival was as smooth as ever, no surprises, no hassles.
• The grounds are always a great place to camp, the river a sweet place to swim. The weather, perfect.
• Did I mention Sweet Revenge's apple crisp and ice cream?
• Boogie Cat was in attendance, but seemed pretty mellow. It looked like there were several lone dance-masters ready to step in and take his place if he's lost his boogie.

Happy Festival!

Your Hometown Hiker's Camping Stats 2010

 Gnometown at Buffalo Bill State Park, Cody, WY.

Black Betty and I got in plenty of "bag-nights" camping in our little Gnometown camper this year.
We did our first big trip to the Western States along with our Granddaughters, Aijia and Scout. It was a trip that we'll always cherish, being able to spend quality time with our two delightful girls and exploring the natural wonders of the Black Hills, Badlands, Yellowstone, and Grand Tetons.
This road trip ended up at 26 days and 5600 miles. We camped at 5 State Parks, 2 National Parks, and 1 State Recreation Area.

    Hobo Camp at Delfest 2010, Cumberland, MD.

We also were fortunate enough to attend 6 music festivals in 2010 for 15 days and nights of  the best live music played anywhere, anytime. I can't forget  to mention the joy of hanging with all of our Festivarian friends from around the country.
This year we went to Suwannee Springfest near Live Oak, FL, The Keel Family Function in  Lafayette, GA, DelFest in Cumberland MD, Music on the Mountain Top in Boone NC,
DelFest Carolina in Black Mountain, NC, and MagnoliaFest at Live Oak, FL.

   My brother, Matt and I in the Florida Panhandle.

I also managed to pull off 2 bicycle trips this year. In April, I rode with my brother Matt and another friend, Phil Potter for over 400 miles visiting State Parks in Florida. In late September I was able to complete my 5th Cycle North Carolina ride. This year we rode from Asheville to Ocean Isle, North Carolina for another 433 miles or so.

                     With Aijia, Scout, and Black Betty in The Grand Tetons, Wyoming. 


All in all, 2010 turned out to be a great camping year for your Hometown Hiker. With all the numbers totaled I had 41 nights in the little Gnometown pop-up and another 13 tent camping for a total of 54 bag night!
Not bad.....

Cades Cove Weekend

Black Betty and I are home from a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend camping trip to Cades Cove in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. I figured that the crowds would be gone (they were) and the camping would be sweet. It was a rare opportunity to enjoy the Cove without having to experience the horrible traffic-choked nightmare that the loop has become during peak season. The campground was also sparsely populated, creating a quiet and peaceful campsite.

We awoke to heavy frosts on Saturday and Sunday mornings with temps in the 20's. The little pop-up was pretty chilly, the only warm place around was deep inside our sleeping bags. It made for some great camp fire time, though.  The stars were spectacular in the night sky and I was treated to a couple of the quietest nights that I've experienced since my AT hike. What a great setting to enjoy eating our Thanksgiving left-overs in. Mmmm pie!

Black Betty told me that it was all worth it (speaking of the cold) as we watched 2 bear cubs and their momma dig for grubs while they sauntered through the  chilly woods on Sunday morning. She was right!

The Great Family Road Trip

                                                                  Art by Aijia

7/7  We left home with the Jeep towing the little pop-up loaded with bikes. Granddaughters Aijia and Scout joined us. We drove 420 miles to Metropolis, IL on the banks of the Ohio river. Camped at Fort Massac State Park which had around 50 sites with only about 6 occupied. We visited the fort, rode bikes, grilled burgers, and played bean-bag toss.

7/8 Drove about 400 miles to Pershing State Park near LeClede, Mo.  A small, secluded campground with only hosts and us camping. Lots of bicycle riding for the girls. Cloudy weather and pleasant breeze kept the bugs off. Spent a relaxing evening.

7/9 Newton Hills State Park near Canton, SD (mile 1218) Beautiful park in SE SD. Lots of campers, great swim in Lakota Lake. We stopped to resupply at Walmart in Sioux City.

Swimming in Lakota Lake

7/10-7/15 We stayed at the wonderful Bluebell campground in Custer State Park located in the Black Hills of SD. We really loved this park and CG. While here, we saw hundreds of bison, pronghorn, prarie dogs, and a couple of little big-horn sheep. We drove the gravel roads of the Black Hills and the Badlands and visited Deadwood with the graves of Wild Bill and Calamity Jane. Went to Lead and saw the "open cut". Visited Mt Rushmore, Crazy Horse, the Corn Palace, and  Wall Drug. We learned about Lakota astronomy one night during a naturalist program. We drove the Needles Highway and had dinner in the lodge. We also had a $900. repair to the Jeep (a/c compressor) and a rental car for a day.
Did I mention the hail storm where it covered the ground? Also, lots of bike riding and some CG bluegrass.

The Badlands

7/16-7/18 Buffalo Bill State Park near Cody, WY. This has to be the windiest CG in the USA! I really thought that our little pop-up was going to be blown away a few times. It was also the most scenic CG spot of our trip, so it balances out. By the way, did I mention the heat? We loved Cody. We went to the Old Trail Town and saw the grave of  Liver Eating Johnston and the cabin of Butch and Sundance and the Hole in the Wall gang. The Buffalo Bill Historical Center in Cody was the best museum I've been in for many years. We spent hours there and could have spent an entire additional day there. The museum actually houses five separate museums covering Buffalo Bill, the Plains Indians, Western Art, natural history, and firearms. The Whitney Museum of western art and the beautiful Plains Indians artifacts (shields, head dresses, bead work) were among the highlights for me.  We took the girls out to the Cody Cattle Company for a dinner and a show. This turned out to be great fun and we were fed and entertained with cowboy music by the Martin family, champion yodelers and flatpickers. Aijia and Scout really loved this stuff (we did, too). We wrapped up our Cody stay with the famous Cody Night Rodeo. It was the girls' first rodeo experience so they were fascinated with the entire program.

Buffalo Bill State Park

7/19-7/24 Indian Creek CG, Yellowstone National Park. I cannot say enough about this little quiet CG hidden away in the NE corner of Yellowstone, far away from the crowds and noise of the populated parts of the park. This place was a gem, no generators allowed, no monster motorhomes, unbelievably clean vault toilets. Great! We were able to take nightly mountain bike rides down a secluded and gated gravel road and spot elk and coyotes and ride through creeks and just have all kinds of fun with the girls. No tourists, just us and the critters. So, for all the folks who told us how crowded Yellowstone was in July, I agree with you, if you are around Old Faithful and the other big commercial centers in the south and central areas of the park, but it was a different experience in the north! Since we spent 6 days in Yellowstone, we really saw all the main attractions. We never saw a grizzly but we did get to see a black bear on the Blacktail Plateau drive, a 7 mile gravel road that followed the Bannock tribe trail on the way to the buffalo hunting ground, pretty cool in itself. We did a great little hike with the girls on the high towering cliffs above the Yellowstone river (again no tourists, just us). My favorite time came the last evening we were there. I decided that we would go out to the beautiful Lamar Valley far in the NE corner of the park and look at wildlife. As the sun was going down, we found ourselves sitting quietly in the Jeep in the midst of a huge herd of bison as they migrated from one side of the road to the other. This situation wasn't the same as the numerous "buffalo-jams" that we had encountered in Custer and Yellowstone; in this setting, in this pristine and secluded high mountain valley, in the last rays of the setting sun, this was something timeless and primitive and beautiful and sacred. I feel honored to have been there. Wow!

Lamar Valley

7/25-7/27 Colter Bay CG Grand Teton National Park. We stayed at the huge centrally located CG at Colter Bay Village. We were in a no-generator loop. After Yellowstone, it did feel like we were staying in town, but we made the most of it (again riding our bikes all over) with nightly rides to get ice cream at the general store. Teton is pure eye-candy with the big alpine mountains and high mountain lakes. We spent the time swimming (OK, mostly Aijia and Scout) in the cold mountain lakes and hiking. We did do an early (beat the crowd while you can) boat shuttle across Jenny Lake with a hike to Hidden Falls, Inspiration Point, and a short way up Cascade Canyon.

7/28   Super 8 Motel Wheatland, WY. We left Tetons and headed east across WY on the secondary highways and encountered lots of road construction with long sections of  muddy gravel roads.  My advice to anyone driving on the back roads through Wyoming: Fill up with GAS if you drop below a half of a tank!  The map had town names on it in fairly large type, but did these towns have more than a population of 10? No. Did they have gas pumps? No. We drove a record 45 miles with the gas light on, towing a trailer! I can't believe that we weren't stopped dead on the road but somehow we made it. We were ready for a motel room and swimming pool by the time we reached Wheatland, WY.

7/29 Sherman Lake State Recreation Area, NE.  We walked out to the parking lot and found a flat tire on our little pop-up, so I started the day by putting one of my two spares on the trailer. Still keeping to the back roads, we continued across the beautiful Wyoming country side to the town of Guernsey where we stopped to see the deep ruts left in the rock by the hundreds of wagon trains above the N. Platte river as they journeyed west on the Oregon trail.  Next we stopped to see Carhenge near Alliance, NE. We continued across the little back road Hwy 2 and camped at Sherman Lake SRA for a bargain price seven dollars. When we got there, I noticed that my other original tire was low on air. When I pushed on the tire valve stem, it leaked air. I went ahead and switched it out with my remaining spare.

Carhenge

7/30 Best Western Motel, Moberly MO. Found a tire store first thing this morning and had a valve stem put in the spare for $5 so we were ready to roll. Heavy thunderstorms pushed us into the Best Western motel in Moberly, MO.

7/31 Best Western Motel, Murfreesboro TN. Again, a swimming pool!

Art by Scout

8/1 Home, Franklin NC

Stats: 26 days, 5600 miles. 5 State Parks, 2 National Parks, 1 State Rec Area, 3 Motels, 2 flat tires.