The Swag opened on Monday, April 22 for our 32nd season and welcomed guests from Georgia, NC, Ohio and Texas on opening day!  The weather has been a bit on the rainy side with cool temperatures, but that hasn’t kept our guests from enjoying the miles of trails both here and in Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Special event leaders have included storyteller Donald Davis and naturalist Bob Collier who have spent time leading hikes and identifying for guests the many spring wildflowers blooming along the trails; bluets (below), white and painted trillium, bear corn, bleeding heart, foamflower, fire pink and wake robin.  Bob Collier has spent several mornings birding on the front lawn before breakfast, introducing guests to the familiar sounds and identities of the mountaintop birds such as the rose-breasted grosbill shown below.

There’s even been a couple of sightings of the familiar baby bear.  Yesterday while hiking, some of our guests saw twins climbing 80 feet or so into the tree tops…Mama Bear is teaching them well. This photo is from last year, we’ve not been lucky enough this year to grab any new ones.

Tommy Little and his wife Debbie have been coming to The Swag for many years.  Each year he writes a poem during his stay with us.  Enjoy his tribute below in recognition of our 31st season.  The painting is by Asheville artist, Ann Vasilik.

STILL  SWAGGIN’ AT  THIRTY ONE

(A Tribute to The Swag Mountaintop Inn)

We come every year to see her, to make sure she’s o.k., holding her own. 

And she always is, waiting anxiously for her streams of guests in that old home spun dress. 

You know, the one she borrowed from Lonesome Valley Primitive Baptist. 

I love that dress, the one that catches my eye from the last gravel switchback.

She always keeps the old Blue Spruce out front to watch for us,

waving its branches laden with its weight of deep green years and lichen.

“Ya’ll come on in”, she always calls, wiping her hands on the apron of her porch. 

“There’s supper in the kitchen and a fresh bed made. 

It’s so good to see you again. 

I always miss my friends. 

They keep me going, you know.”

Then my heart warms when I reply,

“My dear old mountain home with your old homespun dress, wear it well. 

 Wear it a long, long time. 

We’ll be here every year to check on you.”

Doug and Kathy Peters, Swag event leaders for our last week in September, led enthusiastic guests Larry and Caroline Thompson from Snellville, Georgia, Chuck and Carol Murray from Elm City, North Carolina, and Dean McCumber from Durham, North Carolina on a unique hike in Cattaloochee Valley on The Boogerman Trail.  The seven and a half mile “History Hike,” was highlighted by Doug and Kathy’s narrations of descriptions of life in the Cattaloochee Valley in the early 1900′s before formation of the Park.

Robert Palmer, also known as The “Boogerman,” was the grandson of George Palmer who, according to “History Hikes of the Smokies” by Michael Strutin, moved his family to isolated Cattaloochee Valley in 1848.  He and his family thrived in Cataloochee  and became leaders in the Valley.

The Boogerman Trail traverses approximately 250 acres owned by Robert Palmer which still contains rock walls, old fields, and remnant homesites.    Due to the Boogerman’s refusal to allow logging on his land, the hike is an incredible walk through old-growth forests with many stately trees and numerous stream crossings over foot log bridges.

Doug Peters, also our singer/songwriter at the Swag , entertained guests following dinner with his original song “Bridges on The Boogerman Trail” which contains the following lyrics so deftly expressing the importance of The Boogerman’s efforts to preserve these treasures and our responsibility to follow in his foot steps:

Some things in life we treasure

Some things we forsake

And in the end how much should we give

Or should we take?

And what will be our story

That our children’s children tell?

And will tall trees still be growin’ across

The bridges on The Boogerman Trail?

“America is the land of the free—and that applies to many of the country’s star attractions as well. Make the most of your summer by visiting these famous spots around the United States; you won’t have to pay a penny to do it.”

“Great Smoky Mountains National Park is one of the few major American national parks that doesn’t charge admission (and there’s actually a deed restriction on the land saying that no toll or fee will ever be imposed). The park has so much to offer. Into wildlife? Come here to spot hundreds of species, from bears to deer. Looking for a more cultural experience? Learn about the history of the southern Appalachian region. Active visitors will be endlessly entertained as well, with many options for hiking, biking, and riding.”

Read the complete story  at   http://abcnews.go.com/Travel/usas-best-free-attractions/story?id=16708792

A week or so ago, The Wall Street Journal had an article about a Roll Call on popular sports (see Saturday/Sunday June 9-10). “Governments around the world spend millions to get their citizens off the couch and onto the sports field.” Companies work hard to make sports equipment to tantalize people to get going. A report from the National Sporting Goods Association shows that the percentage of participants seven years of age and older participated more in hiking than tennis, soccer, baseball, golf and basketball. So now you know why our Romantic Mountaintop Hiking Resort is such a hit. In 2011 more than 40,000,000 participated in hiking!

So we had such fun when one of our couples (from Florida) decided to take a hike that no one has thought about taking. They left The Swag on the Cataloochee Divide trail, down Double Gap Trail to Caldwell Fork, up past The Big Trees to Rough Fork and Paul’s Gap and back home to The Swag. When Dan and I saw them coming home by way of the vegetable garden, they said the hike was just “four miles longer than they would have liked.” However, they said it was beautiful.

Last weekend Charles Maynard and a group hiked two excellent hikes. One from The Swag to Cove Creek Gap and back past Taylor’s Turnaround and then up via The Purchase, Ferguson’s Cabin and home.

The next day they drove down into Cataloochee and walked the beautiful gravel road trail to Little Cataloochee Church. This has always been one of my favorites. I have taken people there to see the dates on tombstones of little children lost to illnesses we no longer fear.

Charles Maynard

FYI,  Janice, his wife,  has hit the big time with her romance novels. Charles continues to write and put together new facts for new books.  Each evening, before hors d’oeuvres, he met us in the Chestnut Lodge to tell us bits from new books he will write.  One was about the Conqistadores who trod these trails long before the Cherokees did.  We learned that man has been in these oldest of mountains for at least 12,000 years.  Charles’s remarable coffee table book, The Blue Ridge, has fabulous photography and delves into the history of these remarkable mountains and their people.

Charles enthralled us with an account of D.R. Beeson and C. Hodge Mathes’s exploration of our great mountains before they had been really discovered by those who put in the trails, roads, and cut down some of our most beautiful trees. (See In the Spirit of Adventure, A 1914 Smoky Mountain Hiking Journal, written by D.R. Beeson.)

Another fantastic afternoon, Charles told us of Horace Kephart’s instrumental role in the creation of Great Smoky Mountains National Park.  Libby Kephart Hargrave will be with us for a book signing October 2 and 3.  She is Horace’s great-granddaughter.  In 2009 she authored the foreward to his novel, Smoky Mountain Magic. The manuscript for this was not discovered until fairly recently and is a real page-turner.

HAPPY 95th BIRTHDAY NANCY TANNER

Also last week we had the honor of helping Nancy Tanner celebrate her 95th birthday. Her family came from all over the country. Those of you who go “way back” with us remember that Nancy’s late husband was Dr. Jim Tanner. He was a professor of ornithology @ The University of Tennessee, and one of our first Special Events leaders. He was the foremost authority on the Ivory Billed Woodpecker. Nancy has co-authored a book about this extinct bird and is the only living person to have seen it.

Ivory Billed Woodpecker

AN INTERESTING OCCUPATION FOR A RECENT SWAG GUEST…ALLIGATOR FARMING

A fun bit of incidental information. A  guest finally told us what he did for a living. We had been curious, because he had teased us about it. He farms alligators and currently has 25,000 gators! Guess what he does with them? He sells them to Hermes! They turned out to be such a delightful couple. They were one of our big hikers.

Bill Harley

GRAMMY AWARD-WINNING ARTIST BILL HARLEY RETURNED TO THE SWAG

This week we have Bill Harley here with us. A two time Grammy winner, and gifted songwriter as well as story-teller, he has enthralled a full house @ The Swag with hilarious tales. To know more about Bill and his many talents — especially with school kids — look him up at www.billharley.com.

AVID BIRDER BOB COLLIER WILL BE LEADING BIRDING & WILDFLOWER HIKES JULY 1-6

Birding On The Lawn

Hot off the Press: Bob and Louise Collier have had a change of plans and are going to be here for the week of July Fourth, getting here on Sunday night for “birding on the lawn” on Monday morning. There is nothing like a stroll in the Park or on The Swag trails with Bob and Louise.

WE ARE LOOKING DOWN THE ROAD TO JULY FOURTH

The Hill Country Band here from 5:00 – 7:30 in the Dog Trot.
We will have the ever-popular Lawn Games: Egg Toss, Egg Race with a spoon, Sack Race, Tug-of-War
6:00-7:00 hors d’oeuvres.
7:00 Prayers for our Country, songs around the flagpole and Pledge of Allegiance.

7:15 Chef Keith Davis has gone all-out with his very popular grill menu: Ahi Tuna, Grilled Chicken, Slow-Roasted Baby Back Ribs, Beef Tenderloin, wonderful Caprese Salad, Corn on the Cob, Asparagus, Deviled Eggs, and the fabulous assortment of desserts by Linda Duckett.

We will have the maestro of the keyboard, Dan, playing the player piano with a selection of our favorites, as well as such specials as You’re a Grand Old Flag, etc.

At 9:30 we will gather on the Swag steps to see Lake Junaluska’s stellar fireworks. (far from the maddening throng, we will wave our own sparklers and thrill to the spectacular fireworks).