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Saddle
Up the Horses
Smoky
Mountain Camping Trip Journal
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Butterfly Hollow Farm ____ The Path Leading Us Here ____ How The Farm Got Its Name ____ Restoring the Old Farmhouse ____ Where The Beefalo Roam ____ Saddle Up The Horses ____ Saving Wilderness and Farm Land ____ Farm Journals ____ Sharing The Farm ____ Guest Book ____ Site Map ____ |
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(An
excerpt from our 1999 Farm Journal)
We just got back from another wonderful horseback camping trip up in the Smoky Mountain National Park. There were seventeen of us on this adventure. We all met here in the hollow and loaded trailers with horses, tack and camp gear and set out for the mountains. We set up camp at the Big Creek horse camp in the Great Smoky Mountain National Park. After we fired up the grills and ate dinner we fed and watered the horses and went to sleep listening to the songs of the river in the background. Our first day out on the trail took us up and out of the valley. We crossed and followed the river for several miles and eventually found our way up to a pass where the Appalachian trail crosses. We strung ropes in the trees and made hitches for the horses and ate the lunches we had packed in the saddle bags. These mountains are so beautiful. It's as green and lush as a rain forest. The air is clean and cool and each inhale is a fresh mixture of wildflowers, pine trees, and the sweet smell of good earth. It was a long ride and the ol' camp site was a welcome site to see. A few brave souls went down to the river and inched their way into the frigid waters. After dinner we sat around the camp fire and talked about horses, friends, journeys, and dreams. I pulled out the ol' guitar, sang a few songs and passed it around to a couple other pickers. As the full moon cast its shadows through the forest we slowly drifted from the fire and into our tents and horse trailers for a good nights rest. We woke up to the smells of coffee drifting through the woods. Everyone pitches in and before long we added to the morning fragrance the smells of bacon and eggs. There were a few folks that decided to rest their aches for the day and headed out on their own day hikes or sat by the river reading a book. Today we rode to a great swimming hole. It was soooo cold but felt sooo good. We climbed on top of a 30+ ft boulder and jumped and dove into the bottomless, clear swimming hole. That afternoon we went fly fishing, practiced lasso roping, and ate watermelon. We spent another evening around the camp fire singing, sharing, and trying to roast the perfect marshmallow.
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info@butterflyhollow.com
Butterfly
Hollow
Gordonsville,
TN 38563