Still The Best Mexican In Greeneville

Well, when I am in Greeneville there is only one place I go for Mexican food and that is the Costa del Sol. It is a little restaurant located off Tusculum Boulevard just up for the Weigle's Market on Justis Drive. 

I blogged about it before but I thought I would say a little more about this hidden jem. On this trip I had a couple of things I have enjoyed before. The first is an old favorite of mine a Gorditia with my meat of choice...Beef Tongue!  At Costa del Sol one can get a choice of meats from the regular to the exotic. I have had Special Seasoned Pork Meat (Pastor), Pork Skin Stew (Chicharron), Cow's Cheek (Cachetes) and a coarse Lengua (Beef Tongue). 

While I liked all of these the Lengua is absolutely my favorite. I know people will cringe at the thought of tongue, but trust me it is wonderful.  Beef Tongue is super tender and soooo good!

It is funny but the first time I ate there I ask for Lengua and Cachetes our young waiter was a little surprised I had ordered them. Later when he came back to the table, he ask how I liked them? I told him the cheek was good, but the tongue was better. He said that his favorite was the Lengua too. Glen then ask how many people order the tongue, the waiter said "quite a few, but not many that looked like me."

I love the Beef Tongue Gorditia, but the best thing I have had there or at any Mexican Restaurant is the Menudo. This soup is only offered on weekends and is a Beef Tripe brew with a special broth. It is rustic, flavorful and just a delight to eat!

The soup alone would make this place my go to Mexican. However, all the food I have had there has been excellent. I would also be re missed not to mention the friendly sevice one finds at Costa del Sol.

So, if you are in Greeneville this is a must visit place. It is located at 526 Justis Drive in Greeneville, so what are you waiting for just go!

There Really Are Bears In The Woods

Well, it happened, my quest to see a Black Bear in the wild finally was realized a couple of Saturday's (June 14) ago at the Clingmans Dome Parking Area. I wasn’t surprised it happened here because there had been plenty of sightings in this area before.

Black Bear at Santa Land.

Black Bear near my Dad's Cabin.

The sighting happened after a long day of hiking to Andrews Bald, Clingmans Dome and the Appalachian Trail (AT), I will talk about these jaunts at a future date. Anyway, as anyone who reads this blog or knows me is familiar with my quest to spot my favorite animal in the wild since I was a kid. My desire to see a bear had
become more active in the past couple of years. Some might say I was like Captain Ahab.

Yes, I had seen bears in zoos and at some of them roadside attractions (where I talked about the evils of that here).  I have had some close calls in the past. At my Dad’s cabin in the southwest Virginia Mountains he has a bear that roams around up there. My Dad has trail camera pictures taken near the cabin and has even had them eating out of his humming bird feeders. Then a couple of summers back we stayed up there and grilled out a couple of times. No bears came around, but after we left, the next time he went to the cabin the grill had been flipped over, by a bear.

AT near Beauty Spot.

Bear scratched tree.

A few years ago I was up in Tennessee in the early spring and there was a bear that had come out of hibernation and was roaming around Greeneville. He was seen in people’s yards and even helped himself to the grease pit at Stan’s Barbeque. It seemed like everyone spotted this bear, but me.

Since then I have been to plenty of places in North Georgia, North Carolina and Tennessee where there are plenty of black bears. While not seeing any I have had a lot of close calls. One of these was last fall near the Beauty Spot where I was hiking a stretch of the AT. I headed some cracking in the woods above me, heard some huffing, smelled a musty odor and on the way back near the same area I found tracks and scat (bear crap). It was this encounter that encouraged me to buy bear spray.

Another near miss on the trail was near Tray Mountain where I caught out of the corner of my some

large and black thing falling out of a tree. I don't know if it was a bear, but it could have been one. At other places, like Amicalola Falls, I have found tracks and trees scratched up where bears were digging for termites, but I had not seen any actual bears. I even found a track on the Wildcat Creek trail on my Hike Georgia outing back at the end of May.

Bear track on Wildcat Creek Trail.

The one place everyone seems to see bears is at Cades Cove in the Smokies. I have had people tell me that they have seen four or five on a trip around the loop. When I went last July I struck out like I had everywhere else. I did have a close call. As we were entering the Cades Cove Loop the line of cars had stopped and people were getting out and so did I. When I got to where everyone was looking I asked “What’s going on.” This guy answered, “You just missed a bear he ran up right over there.” This surmised my bear view experience, close but no cigar!

So, when we headed into the Smokies last week headed to Clingmans Dome and Andrews Bald I knew I would like to see one, but I didn’t get my hopes up. While about halfway on the Forney Ridge Trail we came across, in the mud, the best bear track I had ever found. It was here that Deb said she thought she heard huffing above us. It was at this point we turned on our bear bells.

Forney Ridge Trail.

Clingmans Dome Tower.

Andrews Bald.

Bear track on the Forney Ridge Trail.

Anyway, we passed people on the trail and I had more than one person tell me “I saw plenty of bears in Cades Cove.” Still, while I knew there were bears around I wasn’t banking on us seeing one. Don’t get me wrong there have been plenty of sightings at Clingmans Dome. I like a lot of others have seen the YouTube video of a hungry bear trying to break into a car. But remember, I am the guy who couldn’t see one at Cades Cove, so I haven't had a lot of luck. Well, after we made it back to the parking lot I hiked up to Clingmans Dome and did the loop of the AT and Clingmans Dome Bypass trails and ended up back in the parking lot.

My first Black Bear picture.

He was eating from a trash can.

As I was taking some final pictures I saw a guy looking at something down the slope of the parking area. Then I heard someone say bear and I rushed over and a guy was pointing to a black thing in the brush and thereto my surprise was an adult Black Bear. He was about 30 or 40 yards down the hill and he had what looked like a trash can. He was digging in and just eating away, paying us humans not much notice. I think excited covered how I was feeling.

He liked that can.

After a few minutes I remembered Deb was at the car, which was in shouting distance of where I was standing. Deb had stayed at the car while I finished the last part of the hike. I looked up at her, waved and mouthed bear. It was 30 seconds before she was with me and the bear was still there with that trash can. After about at five minutes a couple of park officers showed up with an air-horn.  The stood there for a couple of minutes wondering what he had. I told them it looked like a trash can. Anyway, they finally gave out a blast from the air-horn they had brought and he took off, but he didn’t totally leave. He was barely visible at the edge of the woods, so they blasted the horn again.

At this time they asked if anyone had binoculars so they could get a closer look at what he was eating. I told them I had a monocular and ran to fetch it. After looking at it through my monocular it confirmed what I thought, it was a trash can. They speculated where it acquired the trash can, their theory was it had come from the vault toilets at the parking area. I know that unnerved Deb because she had waited for me at the car and she was just imaging that bear passing by the car with her in it.

There is a dark side to this visitation, the park officials were worried about the bear because they had no idea of what he was eating out of that can and by the look of the receptacle it seemed as if he had been eating said can. One of the officers told me that they had recently had a case of a bear that someone had tossed a two-liter soft drink to and the bear cut-off its tongue trying to drink the soda. They later found the bear dead. Before the park rangers arrived a guy brought a bag of chips down to where we were at. I thought if that guy threw those chips to that bear he would be the next thing tossed to him. Remember kids “A Fed Bear is a Dead Bear!”

So, I finally got to see a bear, was it what I thought it would be? I would say yes, I hope the bear is alright and didn’t eat something that might harm him. I will say it was good to see one where they belong in the wild and not in a concrete prison at some roadside attraction.

Spring Thru '14

Well, spring is unofficially at its end and that means a very successful Spring-Thru is over for 2014. The season started on March 1 and went to May 31, 2014. So, with that said here is Spring-Thru '14, enjoy.

Total Hiking Days: 15

Hikes: 18

Total Hiking Miles: 85 Miles

Longest Hike: Hog Pen Gap to Levelland Mtn.- 12 miles (03-21-14)

Shortest Hike: Mt. Oglethorpe - 1-mile (03-26-14)

Coldest Hike: Mt. Oglethorpe - Temp. 42 degrees

Warmest Hike: Wildcat Creek - Temp. 85

Mountain Peaks: 15

Highest Mtn. Peak: Tray Mtn. - 4,430 ft (04-23-14)

Lowest Mtn. Peak:Indian Seats - 1,696 ft (

Fire Towers: 3

Highest FT: Sassafras Fire Tower - 3,252 ft (03-26-14)

Lowest FT: Juno Fire Tower - 1,619 ft (03-26-14)

Waterfalls: 11

Tallest: Amicalola Falls - 729 ft (03-09-14 & 05-11-14)

Shortest: Carnes Cascade - 6 ft (05-21-14)

Lakes: 3

Largest: Lake Lanier - 59 Square Miles (05-01-14)

Smallest: Lake Zwerner - 233 Acre (05-04-14)

Trailheads: 18

Highest: Woody Gap - 3,173 ft (04-27-14)

Lowest: Lower Overlook Buford Dam - 1,130 ft (05-01-14)

Named Gaps: 20

Highest: Tray Gap - 3,847 ft (04-23-14)

Lowest: Tribble Gap - 1,349 ft (03-02-14)

Gift Shops / Visitor Centers: 11

Highest: N.C. Visitor Center - 2,931 ft (04-06-14)

Lowest: Sawnee Mtn. Preserve - 1,200 ft (03-02-14)

Overlooks: 12

Highest: I-26 Metcalf Scenic Overlook - 3,660 ft (04-06-14)

Lowest: Lake Lanier Overlook #2 - 1,071 ft (05-01-14)

Major Trails: 8

Appalachian Trail Times Hikes: 8

Waterfall Fun When You Hike Georgia

Mountain Laurel

Well, Saturday (May 31) it was the final hike of Spring Thru ’14 and it had an added twist it was my first hike with the Hike Georgia Meetup group. 

As anyone knows I do a lot of solo-hiking and there are times when I actually like being out in the woods on my own. However, I really do enjoy hiking more with others. Most of my friends here in Georgia don’t hike and Deb is limited to five miles and she doesn’t like the trail if it is two boggery (grown up with summer foliage) so for long hikes in the summer it usually is just me.

However, back in the winter I found this group on Meetup, a site that allows

At Dicks Creek Gap

people of all interest to get together. Anyway, I found this one called Hike Georgia. It is a group for people who liked to hike and since I fit the bill I joined up. I did notice that like a lot of hikers in the group were not very active in the winter, so I had to do a number of my cold weather hikes on my own. But, when spring approached hikes started to pop-up on the group site. I signed up for a couple, but each time something came up like weather or Deb wanted to go out (her favorite time to hike is early spring).

After doing the solo-hike at Dicks Creek Gap I was wondering what to do next. Since late spring means that vista were hit and miss I decided to hit a waterfall hike. Then I remembered a hike not too far from where I live in Dawsonville. The hike, which I read about in Jim Parham’s book Hiking the North Georgia Mountains, was in the Dawson Forest WMA and followed Wildcat Creek to a couple of nice waterfalls. The hike was about 8.5 miles out and back which included a hand cable ford of Wildcat Creek.

Big Canoe

While thinking about doing the hike I happened to check Hike Georgia and to my surprise this very hike was scheduled for Saturday. So, I signed up because this killed two birds with one stone, I got to do the hike and it allowed me to finally do one with Hike Georgia.  One of things I found out about the hike was unless you were hunting or fishing one had to by a Georgia Outdoor Recreation Pass (GORP). These pass are $6.50 for a three-day pass. So, I went online and got my pass for the hike.

Hike Georgia Group

The drive to the trail first takes one through the Big Canoe community, which is basically a private town near Mount Oglethorpe. It is a nice drive which finally got to the turnoff to Wildcat Campground Road and I was surprised about how rough the road to the trailhead turned out to be (no Jim didn't say anything about this). I have been on Forest Service roads that where much smoother. There was one particular spot which was steep, mostly red clay and had me concerned about getting out if it rained particular hard. I traveled 40 minutes, so I was going to hike.

So I arrived, and met up with my hiking partners and they were all really nice. The hike leaders Dwayne and Sue Brown, with a couple of others, were hiking the almost nine miles barefoot. I like being barefoot, but I don’t know if I am ready to hike that way. After about 15 minutes waiting for everyone to arrive, we took a group-shot and it was off down the trail. Since this was my first hike with the group I didn’t know what to expect and I will say the pace was a little faster than I was use too. I guess one reason for this is because I take a lot of pictures and because of this I brought up the rear.

Headed up the trail.

Trail is green blazed.

Summer trail.

Mountain Laurel.

Footbridge across the creek.

Wildcat Creek.

Someone put in a slide.

Some of the beautiful spots on the creek.

Tree on the trail.

Trail cuts through the tree.

On the way to the falls.

Besides taking pictures I wanted to make sure no one was left behind. One of the people in the back was Steve an older gentleman who was struggling with some of the uphill spots. I think this is the time to mention Mr. Parham’s description. Once again there is no description of the difficulty of the hike and while it was far from the hardest hike I have been it was more difficult than Parham let on oh and his mileage was slightly off.

One thing Parham did get right is after passing a footbridge to Turner Trail there would be a spot where hand cables would be used to ford Wildcat Creek. 

The footbridge...

...that goes to...

...the Turner Trail.

The reason I mention this is because this is where my hike with Steve would come to an end. When we reached the cables, most of the group had crossed the creek. Dwayne called to us and said that only one person had fell in the creek here on other hikes he had been on to this spot. Also, a lot of the people who crossed had done so barefoot. I decided I could make it with my boots on and Steve made the same decision. Anyway, I let him go first in case anything went wrong, and it is a good thing I did.

The hand cable creek crossing.

Here where Steve had his problem.

Looking from the other side.

So, Steve started to cross and in a flash he slipped off the rock and landed on them. I knew it was bad and when he found his footing he yelled up he thought he had broken his finger. One look, because I could see bone, confirmed it. I helped him out and started to dig in my back for my first-aid kit. By this time Linda, who had come on the hike with Steve, had come back across the creek it was certain his hike was over. She told Steve that she would go back with him, because he definitely needed a trip to the Emergency Room.

After seeing off Steve and Linda, I headed across the creek, via the cables, which I made without incident. So from here it is off to the 60-foot waterfall off Fall Creek after first passing a beaver dam.

Beaver Dam.

The 60-foot...

...Lower Fall Creek Falls.

Sue & Dwayne enjoy the falls.

Group shot at the falls.

One last look.

 I will say it was a beautiful waterfall and a chance for the group to assembly again. We had lunch, a group photo and some people even jumped in the water before the group moved on to the second waterfall.

It was another mile-and-a-half to this next falls and it was mostly uphill. It was about this time that one of the group, Carol, asked if she could use one of my hiking sticks. I have learned that even when the hike is not supposed to be too difficult that they sometimes hard than advertised, so I always bring my sticks. Anyway, I let her use one of my hiking poles.

We are headed on the Fall Creek Trail.

Trail now white blazed.

Fall Creek Trail.

Log across the trail.

Another shot of the summer trail.

This trail reminded me of some of the waterfall hikes in Tennessee. Well, eventually the trail came to a creek crossing and the 80-foot waterfall.  This cascade of water was even more impressive than the other falls. One of the cool things I spotted near the top of the falls was a blooming thicket of Mountain Laurel.

The 80-foot Upper Fall Creek Falls.

Water & Laurel.

This was a wonderful waterfall.

Everyone seemed to enjoy the falls and after taking time to admire the water, the clouds started moving in and it was looking more like that 50 percent chance of storms was looking more likely by the minute, which signaled it was time to head back.

Once again I waited to make sure everyone caught up and the last person was this cool guy Greg. The 4+ miles back to the trailhead we hiked together and I found out that he use to own a software company and he was now working on a phone app. 

Headed back.

More summer trail.

Cool white blaze.

Trail headed back.

Rapids at the hand cable crossing.

Trail we came from.

We eventually caught up with the Carol, who has my other hiking pole, and Joe. It was about the time that we caught up that we came to this sloppy patch and it was here that I found the best bear print I have found in my travels. I know they are in the area because I saw a picture of one from nearby Mount Oglethorpe.

Bear print.

Wildcat Creek.

Another shot of the creek.

Damn at the swimming hole.

Another nice shot on the trail.

We are back.

Had to stop & get a picture...

...of this Mountain Laurel.

We got back just before the storms rolled in. I know Greg was even more concerned then me because he had a real wheel drive Hyundai sports car, but we both got out with any problem. I even had time to check out a batch of Mountain Laurel I somehow missed on the way in. Anyway, it was a nice hike, the people where cool and I look forward to a future Hike Georgia Meetup outing.