As we have often mentioned, we are blessed to live with our neighbors Cataloochee Ski and Cataloochee Ranch.  While we miss our horse neighbors in the winter (they are moved off the mountain to warmer weather in our normally harsh winters), that means the horse trails on the 1000 acre ranch are open to us for exploring and hiking.  We literally can step out our back door and onto these wonderful trails.  Last Sunday, we took one of those horse trails to the top of Hemphill Bald, a 5,535 foot summit that straddles the ranch and the Great Smoky Mountain National Park (the boundary literally runs along the peak).  It was a beautiful, sunny Sunday morning and we want to take you along on our hike.

The Black and White Team settled in early for the hike.

Rusty was always exploring the edge with the Red Team.

But don't worry, the Red Team can get serious when need be.

The good part of a horse trail on the ranch is that they have set up places for the horses to get a cool drink of clean, fresh mountain spring water. Don't mind if we sip a little too.

As you near the top, there are hitching posts for horse riders to secure their horses while they picnic and enjoy the views.

Oh. Did we say view?

In this view, you can see our neighbor, Cataloochee Ski. You can also see the only snow we have is the man-made snow at the resort.

Good thing for the ski area that it was cold enough to still be making snow.

Time to head back down the hill to the house. Hope you enjoyed our hike.

A closing note.  If you are ever curious about what our weather is like, the ranch has installed this webcam on the top of Hemphill Bald.  The picture is continuously updated, so you will what we are experiencing.  Just click here and bookmark the page.