Last 2 days in Franklin

Day 10 – (Monday, 10-15-12) Hike the Appalachian Trail!

Let’s try hiking again! This can’t be that difficult!!  Not finding an awesome hiking trail in NC is like not finding a dive site in the Keys. We decided to try a section of The Appalachian Trail (AT) which crosses a major highway just west of Franklin (no forest service road). We drove out to the trail head and took the dogs with us. They really do enjoy hiking with us. We took the trail side that heads north. It was a beautiful sunny, but chilly day. When we started up the trail, we warmed up quickly. The boys actually liked the chilly weather; it seems to get them all excited. Kirby really surprised us and was more active than Kruzer (Kody). Kruzer wears a backpack and carries water bottles for both dogs. (He needs the extra exercise, as he could lose a couple of pounds.) The trail was so beautiful and the fall foliage made it even more awesome! The trail was mostly uphill, but the hike back was mostly downhill (just the way it works). We crossed a couple of creeks and the boys took advantage and drank from the creek. There was one nice little waterfall that fed the creek. We stopped at a couple of campsites that AT hikers use, and we rested and drank water there.  Also, met a couple of guys who had just embarked on a week-long hike on the AT with their dogs.  We hiked in for about 2 miles, which was perfect timing. Kruzer always wants to lead the pack and Kirby follows. We hiked for about three hours total, including the return trip. When we got back to the truck, we were all pretty tired.

When we got back to camp, Kurt decided to kayak a part of the Little T, just upstream of our camp.  I dropped him off at a nearby put-in and he paddled upstream for about 1 mile, then headed back to the camp.

Day 11 – (Tuesday, 10-16-12) Tsali again!

OMG!!! We are going to Tsali Recreation Area again. We got up fairly early; well, early for this crew, 7:30.  The plan was to go to there and spend about half a day, then come back to the RV, drop off the dogs then ride the Greenway Bike Trail, which goes thru Franklin along the Little Tennessee River.  Well, we get to Tsali mountain bike parking lot and discover we forgot our ice chest (contained lunch, water drinks, etc…) AND the change of clothes we were intending on using. So we decided that we would just make the best of the situation and work with it… We did have snacks and water, so we could survive! Kurt went on a trail ride and I hiked with the dogs.  No new pictures, since this was a repeat of Saturday at Tsali. The weather was beautiful and we all enjoyed the day.  We were all ready to go back to the RV and have some lunch. After lunch decided to go for the bike ride that I wanted to do all week. We left the “tired” dogs in the RV, then Kurt and I went to the Greenway trail to ride the river front path through 4 miles of Franklin.  It was very nice, mostly paved or packed trail alongside the Little Tennessee River. There were various river crossovers and bridges. The trail was more than what we expected; we both actually enjoyed the ride very much. It was even an easy respite for Kurt, who had busted his ass on the mountain bike trails. (Some day he will learn that it’s not all about “balls to the wall”.)  We returned on the same route and 1.5 hours later we were back in the truck and heading to camp.

We realized we had a lot to do before leaving in the morning. We prepared and packed as much as possible to save time in the morning. After having a “leftover” dinner, we were ready for some rest.  Again, the boys were in bed long before we were.