Lost Mines , N Carolina trip

[oldsparkey]

Sunday, May 20.06 all of us are here, Bearridge and Karen, Oldyaker and Pat, Joe and myself.

We planned on a Low Country Boil for supper and asked MS. Jean and Sam (adventure foods) to join us for supper. When Jean & Sam arrived the chow was ready. Jean brought dessert, ( a ton of them which we enjoyed for two more days) Choc chip cookies, Brownies and a Lemon Cake.

The Low country Boil is potatoes, carrots, onions, Kil-a-base , corn on the cob and shrimp. Yak did the cooking and all of us did the eating. It was cooked with some of Yak's secreat seasonings ..... It was... GOOD.

For a better look........

Monday I did one of my Cajun Beef suppers cooked in wine with noodles and fresh bread on the side and for Tuesday , Yak did a Meat ball and sgetti with some Italian Sausage in the home made sauce which we used the rest of the bread with, dipping it in the sauce.
We ate really good darn .....GOOD. Then we had beef jerky and some of those home made beef sticks to snack on.
Bacon and eggs in the morning and some Amish butter to put over everything. Yep ... We ate really good .... Like we always do.

To hold off a little rain Yak set this up as the kitchen. Left to right Bear , Joe & Yak.

Part of the camp , Yaks and Bears area ... I was camping next to the kitchen.

Bear decided to get a better canoe rack for his truck. With Joe and Yak helping him.

We listened to this creek while sleeping at night. In the cool nights (upper 30's) and enjoyed it during the nice days ( upper 70's)

Our path to the outhouse with hot showers.

The campers across from us but there were not really loud at night....just during the day.

I keep this easy and holding off for the others to put some comments in here about the trip.

Chuck.
PS... This is oldyakers air mattress being aired out. He likes to sleep on a thin mattresses :roll: That is a normal size picnic table it is on folks.

I have more pictures but there are being withheld as insurance or protection for me , one can never be to safe.

 

[Swampy]

Man those were pretty days!
And that big tarp! WOW so many colors in it .... I did see that small gray looking thing over a tent(?) ..... someone got their toes wet right? :mrgreen:
That meal looked to be great!

swampy

 

[bearridge]

Them yeller butterflies like ta hang out round pee. I caint figger out how come...'n aint sho I wanna know anyway. Nature aint always like Marty Stouffer 'er Marlon Perkins sez anyhow. [It sho aint like Mister Walt Disney....less yer a Socialisto Moonbatto.]

Miz Bear sez I kin see the pichurs she took tomorrow. Womens.....mitey hard ta figger. [I like ta go swimmin' with bowlegged ones.] :roll:

I am mitey glad we didnt talk bad bout Swampy this time. Dont ya'll hate it when we do that? But it iz a tough job 'n somebody gotta do it. oldyaker smiled a lot while he done it....so did the Master of Flow Bizness. It looked like it wuz hard fer Joe, but he done okay after he warmed up. :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen:

There wuz a mitey good time had by all. I hope more of ya'll kin make it up ta the Lost Mine Campground....if ya know how ta be quiet. Harley boys kin stay home....she 'n Mister John make 'em push their hawgs down the road before crankin' up. She dont even allow no radios....'er stayin' up late makin' racket. If ya bring a camper under 21', ya kin stay, but ya caint crank up yer compressor 'er yer tv.

I tole everbody Swampy wuz ok in my book. I mite even by a used car off him. :mrgreen:

regards,
bearridge
paddlin' geezer canoe clud

If you fake the funk, your nose will grow. George Clinton

 

[oldyaker]

Swampy, We didn't "crack" on you at all......................well, maybe just a little about the "crack up" you had on a previous trip. :roll: BTW, that's not a Kelty over the tent, it ain't plastic either. Well, G'Night. I gotta get up at the "crack" of dawn and "crack" some eggs for breakfast so I can be at work at the "crack" of eight. :lol: Chuck holding back on pictures? What the hell did I do? :roll:

PS: Bear made a "crack" on ya, it was a nice "crack" anyway..... :?

 

[Swampy]

Ya'll crack me up! :mrgreen:

Sounds like Chuckles had the rain down on you all .... :?

And to allow those mountain trout a chance to survive is un-thinkable! :shock:

Yeah .... my back is starting to heal ... to even coinsider ya'll didn't gosspi! LOL :roll:

swampy

 

[oldsparkey]

Yeah .... my back is starting to heal ... to even coinsider ya'll didn't gosspi! LOL :roll:

swampy

Heck, Swampy , if that was holding you back, you could have just laid around in camp and defended your honor ... "O"oooop's ... I mean, helped us pick on that other person.

We had plenty of groceries so you could have been eating, nap, snack, nap, eating, nap, snack, nap, supper and then bed for you and having to repeat it the next day.

Chuck.

 

[bearridge]

Sounds like Chuckles had the rain down on you all

Friend Swampy,

We poked fun at the High Sheriff bout the rain. Like that tv ad fer fake butter, it aint nice ta mess with Mother Nature's fatherless child, the Sparkanator hizownself. We allowed az how Ole Sparkey lost hiz Mojo. Dont none of you little pardners ever try that.

First nite the thunder rolled all down the gorge up under the Walkin' Trail ta Appalachia. The campground lit up frum the big lightnin' bolts. Our Coleman begun ta leak some, but it wuz a Kingfish Hoodoochie.

It rained some the next day, but it felt purty nice after all the hot weather. Ole Joe showed up first thing Saturday, so me'n him tole each other some tales while we wondered when oldyaker 'n hiz daughter would blow in. It rained on me'n Joe, so we went up 'n set on Miz Ann's office porch. That wuz nice, then the first cook showed up. We all set on the porch some more.

It rained purty danged hard Saturday nite too, but Sunday, when the High Sheriff rolled inta camp, the sun wuz shinin', so we went ta teazin' him. It rained a heap more on Sunday nite.

We ate all that low country boil we could......bout half. We give the rest ta Miz Ann 'n Mister John. They never ate such fine cajun food. [It warnt hot.....oldyaker's daughter likely dont care ta feel sweat break out on her head after each bite.] 8)

Monday evenin' it wuz Iron Skillet Chef Chuck's turn. He cooked a big roast with a cup a wine....cept he poured the whole bottle in it. He iz the cook Mary sez he iz, but he iz one strange fella.....I reckon ole cops jest caint act rite. :wink:

It wuz purty cool (high 30's) three nites, but the rest of the time it wuz in the 40's at nite. After Monday, the river couldnt hold no more rain 'n the sky turnt so blue it didnt seem like a real sky. I reckon it got up ta 80 when the bright sun took the stage.

Some folks drove up the Nantahala 'n drooled over the trout fishin' spots. oldyaker 'n Miz Pat seen the Joyce Kilmer forest with the real ole trees.

I liked the trip jest fine cept fer the can a whup ass I got down ta the falls. Lucky fer me the big rocks jest hit my butt. I wuz all alone on the river so I had ta fetch my paddle, hat 'n boat in the fast water below the falls. I done better with the rescue than I done in the falls.....but it aint eazy ta run that thing ass backwards.

I oughta know that by now. :roll: :mrgreen: :roll:

regards
bearridge
bodine school of river rescue

P.S. Miz Bear took a pichur of the backwards part 'n the ass whuppin' part. It looks like some real ole fellow musta fell off the bank...thinkin' he wuz on Golden Pond. :wink:

Excess on occasion is exhilarating. It prevents moderation from acquiring the deadening effect of a habit. W. Somerset Maugham

 

[oldyaker]

A visit to this area of the Smokys takes you near Joyce Kilmer Forest, a beautiful two mile hike starts up the mountain but gets easier as you near the top. Here is a mountain brook at the start of the hike.

The old growth trees are just incredible in size. Here my lovely wife Pat tries to give an idea of the trees size, and she is a small girl.

Here is a set of twin huge trees. I have no idea how old they are, one wonders if they were here when Columbus sailed the ocean blue.

Looking straight up, it looks as if these beautiful trees are reaching into heaven itself.

Hiking back on the trail and looking thru the trees reveals a set of falls on the mountain brook. Reminded me of the TV series 'Lost' the scenery was so beautiful.

About four and one half miles from the entrance to Joyce Kilmer Forest is the Maple Spring Overlook. Well worth a visit. This picture does not do it justice. When standing there, it seems as if one is standing on the edge of the world. An uplifting experience.

Seems unusual and alot of folks don't know, Joyce Kilmer was a man from NJ who wrote the poem, 'Trees'. He was killed in the first World War.
If you are near this area of NC, do yourself a favor and visit this most beautiful Forest. Wear some comfortable walking shoes and carry a bottle of water!

 

[oldyaker]

Chuck tried to escape any movement on this trip. Other than cook us some fantastic Cajun Beef over noodles, and counting butterflys, this is most he moved around the whole trip. I'm sure you won't get him confused with Bears most beautiful and extemely nice Missus, Karen.
Chucks Cajun Beef recipe secret: One 5 pound beef roast, one half gallon jug
of wine! Than we have pickled beef or pickled Chuck.....Can't remember?
JEEZ Chuck! Take it easy! You might work up a sweat.

 

[Swampy]

Quick ! $25 bucks for the picture that shows Chuck working ... LOL

this was the only thing close to "work" LOL

Beautiful pictures Yak! I gotta see that place and why don't we fish it too? :wink:

swampy

 

[oldsparkey]

Someday you geniuses will realize that there is a division to work ... there are the workers (as in an ant colony) and then there are the supervisors (the KING ant) who directs the operations.

To put it simply, in this world , it is dictated that one person does the thinking while others do the manual labor or physical stuff like toting that bail or hauling that barge. (Like Bear and Swampy are doing in the above picture) You can see I actually had to get up and help them. (If you will notice I can hold them back with only one hand and standing in a relaxed pose)

I have no idea how all of you manage to accomplish anything when I am not with you on a camping trip unless you are just working from memories of the last trip... Let's see ...... Chuck said it would be best to do it this way .. ( I Think ) ...... Darn , it would be nice if he was here to let us know now to do it.
Since he is not here ......I know :? let me do like he does and sit down to think about this.

Whew ... :lol: it is hard to be humble when your as great as I am. choke , cough , sniffle , gag , gasp

Chuckles
PS. After all of that cooking I did have to go down the hill and take a long hot relaxing shower.

 

[Swampy]

Did anyone notice that was the gray , plastic tarp? he he :shock:

swampy

 

[oldyaker]

Did anyone notice that was the gray , plastic tarp? he he :shock:

swampy

I thought that it was that leaky old singed tarp. I thought you'd have put it out of it's misery by now! :roll: Looks like yer work'n yer a$$ off to get that cumbersome thing up. A kelty or Cookes is light as a feather and no heavy tot'n bales and tug'n lines like you and Bear are doing. I see you behind him tak'n hide off his back with that line.
Almost forgot, you wanna hear something funny Swampy? Pat even got a shot in about tofu on this last trip! Got Chuck right in the heart! :lol: :lol: There was total silence after that shot in the camp. All eyes were on Chuck. Good thing she didn't say anything about mocha latte'. :shock:

 

[adminold]

Did anyone notice that was the gray , plastic tarp? he he :shock:

swampy

Almost forgot, you wanna hear something funny Swampy? Pat even got a shot in about tofu on this last trip! Got Chuck right in the heart! :lol: :lol: There was total silence after that shot in the camp. All eyes were on Chuck. Good thing she didn't say anything about mocha latte'. :shock:

Since you brought it up....... Why not tell the truth about the TOFU and WHO cooked it and WHO it was for or was invited to that supper and they ATE it.
Someone besides myself has had a TOFU Burger there daughter made (Smart Girl , eating healthy) :lol: Now we have to work on it to drink a Latte'.

Since we are on the very subject ... Should I say anything about the Georgia Peaches and there ...........FUZZY............Ya skin crawling ? Honey hep me , honey hep me , the nasty ole peach is getting me. Honey......HEP ....ME....................................while I stand there just enjoying one of those Fuzzy , Delicious , Tree ripe , Fuzzy and really Juicy Georgia Peaches. That Fuzzy skin was so good and then all of the juice to go with the fuzzy and delicious part of the peach. I can still feel the fuzzy part as I bit into that peach and slowly started to chew it all together..... Some sort of GOOD.

Chuck.

 

[oldyaker]

:roll: :?