The Tree

My right hand has been messed up for the last month. I'm very right handed so this has meant no fishing, fly tying, playstation 3 or excessive typing. Pretty much no unnecessary movement. Its been a long month. The hand has been feeling better this past week and I am sick of watching tv on my days off. Last Sunday I couldn't stand it anymore and thought a hike wouldn't hurt. As long as I don't fall or do anything stupid.

The Kidd and I tried last fall to hike to a big poplar tree in the Smokies I had heard about. The manway follows along a little stream (that holds feisty little trout!) with several clearly visible homesites along the way. We didn't find it the first time due to the manway shrinking and eventually fading into in the freshly fallen leaves. Hoping the trail would be more visible this spring we decided to try it again.

I love rhododendron tunnels.

Is it already foam beetle time?

No wonder we lost the trail.

I found a morel on the trail


Somewhere around three miles in (I'm absolutely guessing) we finally found it! That it took two tries made it even sweeter.

We stopped by the stream for a rest on the way out. You can't see it here but there are rocks stacked on both sides of the stream. My guess is it was an old bridge since there is a homesite I have visited before while fishing. I tried but couldn't talk the Kidd into crossing the stream to visit the hidden gem.