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Friday morning I checked my email and noticed I had a private msg from a WH member. I expected it to be from Gammy Leg Walker who regularly checks up on me and fills me in on his latest hillwalking trips. Instead, it was from HighlandSC who several of us met at the Glencoe meetup in Oct 2010. As many of you know, Scott recently married my fellow American Michelle from this site and now lives stateside near the West Virginia/Maryland border. Undoubtedly, Scott found the secret to wife-bagging. Basically, you take single female up a munro, get lost on purpose, and then take shelter in a bothy bag. Next thing you know you're walking down the aisle. Brilliant.
I last walked with Scott in April 2011. Since then we've been joking about a WH North America Meetup. We figured we could get ChrisW to come along from Canada (or he could fly us all up there), and the Hudsons out in Utah could join us as well. We didn't have time to make all the arrangements this time though. Scott and Michelle decided to jump in the car and head to Tennessee for the extended Memorial Day weekend. They had rented a cabin in the mountains in a fairly touristy area about 50 mins from my hometown and invited me to come down for a hike. Scott informed me that he wasn't exactly up to munro bagging fitness levels these days so I chose a route that he could handle
This route takes in a popular waterfall near Gatlinburg (Grotto Falls) and there is an option to continue another mile to Brushy Mountain which has a great view of Mt Leconte. There is a lodge at the top of Mt Leconte that I highly recommend to visitors - but plan ahead - it stays busy this time of the year.
We met up at 8am and made the short drive to the trailhead. I knew this was going to be a busy path, but thankfully the mass of tourists hadn't made it to the parking area yet. It's an easy walk to the falls which allowed us to catch up and reflect back on our Scottish hillwalking days. Once at the falls we took a few pics before the crowds arrived and then decided to walk on up to Brushy Mountain to get some views of the surrounding mountains. I was tasked with camera duties - this meant pics of snails, creepy crawlies, and mossy rocks for Michelle
As we neared the summit the rhododendron were in bloom - these usually come out around the first of June. After walking through a tunnel of these plants we came to the summit and were rewarded with some fine views across to the higher peaks. It was a very hazy day, but I managed a few decent shots.
At the top we took a snack break and that's when Scott discovered that Michelle forgot to pack his turkey rolls. He had been thinking about them for an hour
After a short break it was time to head back to the falls. I would say that there were about 25 people at the falls, and then we probably passed another 60-70 on the way back to the car. Certainly glad we got an early start! When we got back to civilization each of us downed a 1/2lb bacon cheeseburger at a popular place back near their cabin. We go big in the US you know.
Really glad Scott and Michelle were able to make it down for the weekend and it was great catching up. Hopefully they enjoyed their trip - despite the traffic and crowds - and got to experience the beauty of my neck of the woods. Thanks again for lunch guys.
WH North America Meetup One is now in the books!
Where will the next one be?
- Getting started
- Slower traffic on the trail
- Grotto Falls
- Walkhighlands North America Group Shot
- Old habits die hard
- Mossy Rocks - Michelle loves such things
- Pancakes or Fungi?
- Creepy Crawly
- Peek a Boo
- Crazy Shroom
- Rhododendron near the summit
- This way to Brushy Mountain
- Hazy views back to Pigeon Forge TN
- Rhododendron and Mt Leconte
- More rhododendron
- Mt Leconte
- Scott and Michelle on Brushy Mountain
- A last look at Grotto Falls