Snowbird Backcountry Area, Nantahala National Forest

Ah Memorial Day, typically spent this holiday out on the lakes around Charlotte back when we lived in NC, but this year decided to take it to the woods.  Our friends Cortney and Chris picked the spot - we would have gone anywhere given the forecast for the weekend.  No chance of rain, sunny and mid 70's.  Now that's my kind of day.

We arrived in Robbinsville, NC and met up at the Hungry Bear.  Robbinsville is approximately 2 miles of road with gas stations, restaurants and super market.  After I blew by the Hungry Bear by accident I realized it could not be located using a GPS.  I stopped at a local gas station and to my astonishment, the natives had no idea what I was talking about.  How do you miss one of the maybe 7 restaurants in your own town?  Bizarre.

The drive in to the trail head is mostly paved, with one long stretch of gravel road that passes multiple creek side car-camping sites.  It's a beautiful drive to get there, and I rolled down the windows for the boxers to stick their heads out and enjoy the breeze.

We began our hike here, selecting the path on the left (there are two at the trailhead):

Here are our friends Chris and Cortney and a shot of Aaron and myself...

Along the trail...

Then we came to the creepy abandoned van and almost decided to camp there.  Fortunately Chris made it across the stream and informed us that an even more perfect site was situated just beyond where we had stopped.  We crossed the creek to get there.

I believe it was the most grotesque affront to "leave no trace" I've seen when we got to the site.  Someone had literally fashioned a table into the tree for cook prep and there were foils and wrappers scattered about. We did our best to pick up the debris we found, and made sure not to leave any of our own.  It does beg the question: how much of other's people's trash should you pick up?  We tried to get it all, but I resented that this was now our problem, and not the jerks who left it a mess in the first place.

Definitely enjoyed some good food and a nice camp fire.  The hand held chain saw in particular came in handy as we gathered downed logs and trees from the area.

Night 1 was cold.  Too cold to attempt the ENO hammock tent type contraption I had procured, thought we gave this a shot on day 2.

Day 2 we struck out on the trail to find a good fishing spot.  I am continually told that we can find great fish using fly rods.  I am continually disappointed when we catch no fish.  Obviously my fly fishing abilities leave something to be desired.  Here is the neat bridge we found:

Night 2 the doggies were exhausted.  This was the most exercise they had enjoyed in a while.

When we woke on Day 3, the skies were overcast and we determined it would be best to head out and back home to Nashville, to enjoy a day of Arrested Development and grilling at home before returning to work.  All in all, a great trek, great spot for camping right near the water, and a chance to catch up with old friends.