Smoky Mt. Nat. Park (June 8)

We took off early and headed up Rt. 129 including the famous "Tail of the Dragon" which is a motor cycle challenge. This is not a route we would choose to drive the motorhome. We planned to fish the Little River near Elkmont Campground, but just as we started to fish, a storm came through and chased us off the water. We stopped at Sugarlands Visitor Center to wait out the storm, then headed back over Newfound Gap. We stopped at the spot on Walker Camp Prong, where we fished last week and Joan managed to catch two nice rainbows while all John could do is watch. We made it back to Trackrock about 9:00 PM after driving 250 miles. We love the Smokies, but will use the southern part more in the future.

Smoky Mt. National Park (June 1)

We joined our friend Steve from Trout Unlimited for a day of fly fishing in the park. We decided on Walker Camp creek north of Clingman's Dome on Rt 441. It was gorgeous here and we actually caught several nice, wild rainbows and brook trout. The fish here in the park are mostly small which makes Joan's nine inch brookie a near trophy trout. The weather was perfect and while the lower elevations were in the nineties, we enjoyed being in the seventies.

View Picture: https://picasaweb.google.com/johnjoanW/SmokyMtNationalParkJune1#



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Lake Chatuge (May 30)

Our neighbors here at Trackrock invited us to join them on their boat for some fishing and tubing with their seven beautiful children. We had a great day with them and appreciated being included.

View Pictures: https://picasaweb.google.com/johnjoanW/LakeChatugeMay30#

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Standing Indian NRA (May 16-20)

We took the MH 38 miles to one of our favorite places near Franklin NC, despite forecasts of rain for most of the time. We donned our rain gear and sweats each day along with chest waders and fished the Nantahala River and Kimsey Creek that flow through the campground. Despite higher and faster than expected water, we managed to catch several wild rainbow and a couple wild brown trout. We had the best success using Parachute Adams and Prince Nymph, and did better on Kimsey Creek. The nights got down in the 30s, but three micro-fleece blankets kept us warm at night. This campground has updated restrooms and showers, but the sites have no hookups. We had an opportunity to use the ramps we built, since the site had an appreciable slope and it keeps us from having the levelers lift the front wheels off the ground.

Click to view pictures:
.https://picasaweb.google.com/114754015214438395393/StandingIndianNRAMay1620

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Kayaking on Hiwassee River (May 13)

We met near the McDonalds in Murphy, NC and went downstream a short distance and went upstream on Valley Creek until it got too shallow. We then turned around and returned. It was perfect weather and good to be back on the water with our friends. We topped off the outing with lunch at Brothers in Murphy.


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Fires Creek (May 10-11)

We received two days of excellent instruction on small creek fishing from Steve B. from our Trout Unlimited Chapter. We fished several areas of Fires Creek in N.C. that are not stocked, but contain only wild trout. These fish are smaller than hatchery trout, but much smarter. We caught several fish each and learned a lot about reading a stream and hatches that occur here. Dry flies we found most effective were Adams Parachute and Female Adams Parachute. Wet flies that worked were Bead Green Weenie and Prince Nymph.



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https://picasaweb.google.com/114754015214438395393/FiresCreekMay1011

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Hike Inn at Amicalola Falls SP (May 3-4)

We hiked the 4.8 miles into and out of the inn and stayed overnight with the Mountain High Hikers group we belong to. The inn is beautiful, provides excellent views, food, and service. Pam from the group will be putting pictured, including some of ours on YouTube. Here is the link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MBwCZIwfQUc