My daughter & I got an invite from Firebird to hit a trail that I’ve had circled in my favorite backpacking book for some time – Standing Indian Loop.
I think I first heard of it here on the forums when I joined, and have been meaning to get there ever since.
We had a great time going with Firebird. There were many memorable & fun stories but alas not enough of these seem to find their way onto video. I’ll have to work on that.
I do have to share one memory that is etched in my brain – the picture of Firebird riding onto his high school football field on a horse brandishing a card board sword to save a fair princess. Now picture how a horse might react to all the bright lights, noise from fans, etc. and let’s just say it’s good the fair princess (and Firebird) made it thru ok.
This trip lived up to its billing – great views on Albert Mountain & Standing Indian & a few places in between. The weather worked out great – the forecasted rain hit at night and the lows didn’t get quite as low as projected. Lot of thru hikers on the trail, along with section hikers & weekend hikers. I stopped counting after 30 one day.
Here’s some trip data for anybody considering the trail:
Location: The loop is near Franklin, NC – generally south of the Smokey’s.
Start: We started near the Standing Indian Campground at the Backcountry Information kiosk
Trails: (clockwise) Long Branch -> AT Southbound (at Glassmine Gap)-> to Kimsey Creek (at Deep Gap)->back to the start.
Distance: 24 miles total, per day 7.65, 12.64, and 3.6
Camped one night at Betty Creek; second night at Kimsey Creek
Oh, and I’m using a new camera, and of course I noticed the lens had a smudge on it when i started looking at the footage. Such is life.
I also filmed this at 60fps (by accident), so if the YouTube quality seems off, let me know.
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