Van Hook Glade – Highlands, NC

Now this is a tiny campground! 21 sites in all, most of them rather small, but well separated. You won’t find any 30+ footers in here! It’s all dry camping (no hookups for you tenderfoot TLs), but they do have rather new and well kept bathrooms/showers. The location though…. Now this is something to think about! The campground is right of the highway, just outside of Highlands. So yes, there’s plenty of TL traffic during daylight hours. Ah but the Highlands itself. A mountain rainforest this – getting around 90 inches of rain each year. It’s make for very interesting habitat – High altitude, cool/cold temps and wet. Very different from many of the places we’ve been.

We took a shortish walk/hike here, along what was billed as the “Cliffside Vista” trail. No cliff, no vista. And a fair amount of deadfall…of magnificent proportions. These were the trees ”of a certain age” that lost their battle with wind and rain. A challenging obstacle course for the TwoLeggs – The Toad, of course, hopped through without a second thought. On we went, confident of our mountaineering skills. That is, until we reached the downhill side, near the end of the loop, where the trail crosses a little mountain creek. Which a beaver had recently dammed, forming a small micro pond. Which covered the trail for the rest of the (admittedly limited) visible way forward.

But you know this crowd – we’re an improvising sort. We improvised – and turned ourselves around! With rain on the way, the TwoLeggs were decidedly against getting any wetter than the incoming rain promised. Having passed by a shorter return route, we opted for it this time. Naturally, it too, was blocked by an even greater barricade of deadfall. Making matters worse, it was obvious that no Forest Service or Volunteer Trail keepers had been along in quite some time. There was no discernible trail beyond the fallen trees. Oh my.

Yes, the Toad toad them: “Follow me, Two Leggs, I’ll get you out of here!” And back yet again we went. The Toad remembers all things, you see, including the third option to complete the loop. Once again, the intrepid TwoLeggs sallied forth! And almost made it back to camp before the downpour began. Almost. Good thing I have hearty TLs to travel with! We scrambled back to the Great Escape, dried off, and settled down for a scrumptious dinner, courtesy of Carlos, Chef Extraordinaire.

Next up: New River State Park! Stay tuned, and hope for good cell service so we can continue to post!

Out of Hibernation!

Long time, no write. Some sleep. Some travel. And that crazy TL Pandemic!

But here we are, Carlos, Minkie and me – traveling again exploring a few new places, revisiting familiars (some of which are definitely of the magical persuasion), and as always, finding new things to enjoy. Life is great when you’re a Toad…. the world is ever changing, ever entertaining!

Up first: HAMBURG (no ER) State Park, in sorta northwest central GA. It’s a smaller campground, much to our liking, with about 30 campsites, all nicely spaced, and almost all either on the lake, or with a lake view. There’s a grist mill here, trails to wander an a lake to explore, should you so choose. The rent canoes and kayaks for the TwoLeggs, but tadpoles, BEWARE! Alligators are resident here, and no swimming is allowed. Which is fine by me.

Minkie, Carlos and I took a wander and wonder in the woods (note that fine toad alliteration), admiring the local flora and fauna as Minkie stopped to identify plants with her intelligent phone. This has become a new hobby – learning what grows in the area, or flies, or crawls….

Here’s white snake root:

Yep, that’s the very plant that caused milk sickness when those early European settlers came here with their cattle. The cows ate the snake root, passed the toxin into the milk, settlers drank the milk, and, well, some got pretty sick. Some died. It’s what reportedly killed Nancy Todd Lincoln, though I’m not sure I can swear to that fact. The plant root was also used medicinally by the Indians (?), but if I were a TwoLegg, I’d avoid trying it out. It’s pretty though, isn’t it?

We also saw something we think maybe Low Smartweed. A dainty red thing, that was introduced from Asia, and is apparently just a weed here…. Though I gotta tell ya, The Toad tried it and doesn’t feel any smarter…

And that’s it for now, fellow Toadsters. More after we get to the next available spot for writing!