Hidden Treasures on the Mountain

It's been a REALLY wet weekend.....we had 6 inches in 2 hours on Friday night.  No major damage to the garden since we had already staked up the Tomatos and Potatos.  Some of our bush beans took a real beating, but they are starting to stand back up today, so all in all, not bad.

Today, I (Dave), went "mountain walking" with a good friend and nieghbor.  Leroy is 73 years old and has lived on the mountain here his entire life.  I really enjoy the time that we spend together as I always learn something new about the area and life the way it REALLY was here 60 and 70 years ago. 

Since our property borders the Smokey Mountain National Park, there is an abundance of unknown secrets to be discovered here.  Leroy knows them all since he grew up here and and has been taking me to old homesteads where stone chimneys still stand, spring houses are still existing, some log cabins that are still intact, etc.  The below picture is of the old Baxter cabin, build in 1877.  The park service still maintains this cabin, so it stays in pretty good shape. 

Today, we hiked up to a part of the mountain where the "butchers" came in over 100 years ago and clear cut the land, but somehow, they managed to miss a few of the old growth pine and poplar.  I've included some pictures here and managed to get a picture of Leroy next to one to put it in perspective as to just how BIG these old growth tress are.