East Lake Shore Feb. 26 2010
About a dozen of us hiked East Lake Shore Trail on Friday, Feb 26, 2010. It started clear and cold but ended not so cold and sunny. This trail is always a joy to hike in the winter time. The views of Tellico Village are excellent. Kudos to the trail builders who keep the kiosks well stocked with trail information and the trail clear of hazards.
Here are some pictures. Note the dead fish. It got too cold for these fish this winter in Tennessee. They wish they had retired to Florida. The seagulls are feasting.
February 26, 2010 Hike has been changed to East Lake Shore
Due to icy conditions on Sugarland Mountain Trail, we will be hiking East Lake Shore Trail instead. See you Friday at 8am.
Website Attack
If you've visited this site in the last two weeks, you would have seen lots of extraneous material, links to all kinds of insurance and health and sex sites.
We've been under attack!
People from around the world, from Taiwan to Brazil to Russia to Indonesia to California have been stopping by to leave these links. I do not understand what the value is for these people to do this. Nor do I know why they chose this site from the millions of other sites out there.
On the other hand the site has had more traffic than ever and one of the spammers even left a comment to let me know they liked the site. First comment from a viewer ever! I'm sorry it was from a spammer and not a hiker.
If you visit this site and see this type of trash again please email me and let me know so I can clean it up.
Lou Miller
Hike Cancelled
Meigs Mountain Trail Hike February 10 is cancelled due to lousy weather.
2010 Calendar on-line
The 2010 Calendar is now posted under the calendar link or go here.
It's a google/gmail calendar so if you have a google account you can link this calendar to your calendar.
January 6 Hike delayed to January 13
Old Sugarland Trail Hike is now scheduled for January 13.
Hiking Love Stories
Here are two stories about couples falling in love while hiking.
Overnight Hiking Trip
Curt organized an excellent overnight trip to Maggie Valley, October 27,28,29. Some folks canceled because of the rain Tuesday, but Wednesday and Thursday were beautiful, sunny and cool. The tourist towns on the east side of the Smokies are less dense than Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge, more comfortable, too. But don't eat in the restaurant we ate in.
Here's some pics:
Fall Color Report
Higher elevations will stay at peak color through October 23, lower elevations through November 6. All trails are great to hike now.
The real story of the John Muir Trail Hike
Diane Anderson sends this photo that captures the John Muir Hike better than anything else:
Snakes and Hornet
See the snake warning!
See the Hornet!
Yes, some of us did get stung and we did see a copperhead. Here it is in all its magnificent glory:
Copperhead
Lessons Learned
On the TwentyMile Trail Hike on September 9, 2009, your webmaster, Lou Miller, was stung twice by bees as were several other hikers. I am allergic to bee stings. Normally, I carry an EpiPen with me but could not locate it before the hike. (I did find it the day after.) If you are allergic to bee stings you can suffer an anaphylactic reaction which means your blood pressure drops severely and you have difficulty breathing among other symptoms. It can kill you, if left untreated. The anaphylactic reaction can occur a few minutes after the sting or several hours after the sting or not at all.
78 year old does 900 miles
78 year old completes 900 miles in Smokies.
It's not to late for the rest of us. You, too, can qualify for the Geezer 900 T shirt.

