Alright, spring fever finally got the best of me this past Friday. Two of my hiking buddies and I took the day off and went to the woods; no cell phones, no computers, and very, very few other people.

It was a great day for a hike. We drove over to the Cataloochee Valley on the North Carolina side of the Park and hiked the 7.5 mile long Boogerman Trail named for a former local Valley resident whose real name was Robert Palmer. There are several stories about how Mr. Palmer got the nickname “Booger” but the most commonly accepted one came from his early school days.

The teacher was going around the 3rd grade class asking each pupil what they wanted to be when they great up and Robert said that he wanted to be “the Boogerman” and the nickname stuck.

me (running), Don & Bill at the start of our hike

this is the kind of photo you get when you only set your camera timer for 2 seconds instead of the 10 you intended. ;-) Oops!

Trying again with a 10 second window to get into the photo, this one turned out a little better.

A scenic overlook in the Cataloochee Valley

Don Anderson, Jim Lee, & Bill Furlong ready to enjoy a day in the back country.

We could not have bought better weather. It was in the mid 60s, big fluffy clouds overhead, and a light breeze; perfect spring hiking weather in east Tennessee.

The Boogerman Trail is home to some spectacular old growth Poplar forests. We got on the trail about 10:00 AM and took a lunch break at noon by the base of a huge Poplar tree that turned out to be hollow. It was large enough for the 3 of us to fit comfortably inside with room for 2 or 3 more!

3 hikers in a tree

Me, Don, & Bill inside a HUGE hollow tree.

There were lots of wildflowers in bloom with Painted Trillium being the most abundant. There were lots of them along most of the length of the trail.

Painted Trillium in bloom along the Boogerman Trail

The delicate white blossoms of the Painted Trillium are a beautiful springtime sight in the Smoky Mountains.

there are around 20 stream crossings on this trail with the widest ones bridged by footlogs; Here’s Don Anderson making his way across one over Caldwell Fork.

don anderson crossing on a footlog

Don’t slip Don, that water is very cold this time of year.


Below is a scenic view of Caldwell Fork as we neared the end of the trail.

Caldwell Fork in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park

Tired but refreshed from our day in the woods we came back to Knoxville and the world of real estate, computers, and cell phones. Too bad you can’t still make a living in spots like this one.

www.KnoxvilleHomeCenter.com is a great place to look for a new home in the Knoxville area.

One of the many great things about Knoxville is that you can be at many spots like the one pictured above in less than an hour.