I met Alden at 6:00 in the Goodwill parking lot, thinking if we got an early start we would have our climbing in before the heat of the day set in. There was a heat warning out but we decided to tough it out anyway. Liz couldn’t go today since she is preparing for her Japan trip that she leaves for on Wednesday. We will miss her but glad she is getting this opportunity to go visit with her sister and family

As we were going down from Newfound Gap on the North Carolina side of the mountain, we spotted something on the right side of the road. Alden thought it was a rhinoceros at first but getting closer we realized it was a wild boar. I was driving, so I hurried to the next pull off, turned around and went back to have a second look. Alden had the camera ready as we went by the second time. There were two of them but as soon as we slowed down they headed for cover in the trees so we didn’t get a picture. We were amazed at the size of the. I did not realize they got that big. They were at least three feet tall.  

We arrived at Cooper Creek Road, drove three miles until it came to a dead end where we parked on private property next to a barn, the same place Liz and I had parked when we did this hike last year. The last section of the road was in pretty bad shape with ruts and large rocks but we maneuvered over and around them. We were on the trail at 7:40.

Cooper Creek Trail is a level wet .5-mile that connects to Deeplow Gap Trail. The creek is the park boundary and on the right of it is private property with a couple of unkempt cabins with broken windows. Deeplow Gap is a steep climb and there was no air stirring and very hot. We had a pleasant surprise though when we reached Thomas Divide where a breeze was blowing that we welcomed with joy! I stopped to take a picture of a mushroom that looked like a golf ball and realized my memory card was full. It took me awhile but I finally figured out how to delete them, and while doing this I found the zoom. After all, I’ve only had this camera over a year. The rest of the hike was spent zooming in on mushrooms. There were plenty to practice on them. 

Thomas Divide Trail was overgrown in briars and weeds. By the time we reached campsite #52 where we had our lunch, Alden’s legs looked like she had been in a catfight. A ridge runner came up behind her, startling her when he said good morning as he ran by. With shorts on we’re thinking his legs probably look the worst since he doesn’t have the hiking sticks we have to fight the briars with. There were several wildflowers blooming and we stop to observe and try to identify each one. I took a close up of a Turk’s Cap Lily and Rattlesnake Plantain. There were lots of Fire Pinks and Bee Balm. The summer wild flowers have been really pretty this year. Other thing we observe is the huge piles of bear scat on this trail. And since we didn’t see the bear we took a picture of a souvenir he had left at the campsite. When I took my pictures to work to show to my co-workers they could not figure out "why in the world"! anyone would take a picture of this. We didn’t have to examine this close to see that his diet consisted of a lot of berries. We noticed that Mr. Bear had been digging in the fire ring also. We ate our beanie wienies (Alden just had beanies) hoping he wouldn’t smell them. We were hungry and didn’t want to share. 

The bugs were starting to get really bad so we sprayed ourselves before starting back on the trail at 11:35. We met a nice couple on the Mingus Creek Trail. He was from Indianan and she was from Austria; they were both biochemist. His job had sent him to Austria, hence they met and she had come here to visit him. They were visiting his parents who live in North Carolina, but were planning on spending the night in the backcountry. They still had a lot of hiking to put in for the day, but they looked like they could very well handle it. This would be the only two hikers we would see today plus the ridge runner. 

We took a break when we reached the Deeplow trailhead and Alden took a picture of me playing with my camera. I took a lot of pictures with my new zoom going down Deeplow Gap. Alden helped me look for mushrooms; I tried to get all the different colors. We found a Cream colored one like a golf Tee, a mother and child, mostly white, an orange colored cup, an earthen colored one that looks like the one that Little Miss Muffet sat on, a stately white one with a round cap, a round yellow one, three trumpets, and a burple colored one. These pictures were more interesting than the ones of the bear scat. Hey wait, next mushrooms may grow in the bear scat. wonder what color they will be?

By the time we were getting close to Cooper Creek Trail, the gnats were so bad! I had to dig one out of Alden’s eye and after both of us inhaling a few; all I wanted was to get to the car. I had read in the Backpackers Magazine to light a cigar and just hold it in your mouth to keep the gnats out of your face. So I had Dennis to pick us up a pack but forgot them at home. I don’t smoke but when they are this bad I’m willing to try anything. These little creatures can turn a hike in to misery! We saw a lot of wildlife today, including the two wild boars on Newfound Gap, one snake slithering across the trail, one frog, and lots of birds. Back at the car at 3:00 for cold drinks that Alden had thought to bring. Were they ever good!! With the traffic being heavy it was 6:00 when we got home. It was another great day for a hike!