Snow Days 2026

Kenny & Dana Koogler

Gabe & Mia Koogler

Adam, Crystal, Michael and Tessa Lindsey

Michael's girlfriend Olivia and her sister Emma

Grandmother Ruth Lindsey

Brooke and Rowan Nix

Jason Ledbetter

Papa Mike Lindsey

    Kenny and I were born and raised in Virginia. We lived there until twenty-four years ago.   

We were accustomed to snow and plenty of it.  Bitterly cold temperatures, snow and ice that lay on the ground most years until you had Mud Season in March.   East Tennessee and the foothills of the Great Smoky Mountains has much less predictable weather.  We have had Februarys that were False Spring and 70 degrees.   We have had sub zero Winters. One thing we have far less of is snow. Especially not significant amounts of it.  Most of the time you get a few inches and by 3 pm that same day it is melting or gone.   We finally got 8 to 10 inches of snow and the just right temperatures to have it stick around a couple days.  We went to Ace Hardware in Townsend and purchased four tobaggan sleds.  We brought our sliding saucers we've had since Jared & Crystal were little. We went over to the farm in Townsend to go sledding as the Whole Fam Damily!  

above and below:  Out front of Ace Hardware in Townsend. They had the best deal on sleds!! 

     Kenny finally broke out his solo stove I bought him two Christmases back.  He built a fire at the top of the hill.  We parked at the bottom.  The snow was dry and powdery which is very unusual for our area.  

Below: The first morning of snow from our front lawn. Our house looks cozy. 

      The first day we just mainly went up and down the hill on foot.  A few trips were made up and down with Jason's side by side, but we all got plenty of exercise.  The farm is extremely hilly and a great place for sledding.  The only obstacle was Papa's Quonset Hut at the base of the hill. 

We managed to avoid hitting it the entire time!  Michael managed to pull off the most crazy and daring ride of the day by going down the front yard, crossing the road, and ending up in the pond not once, but twice!  

       I wore it out.   I think Adam and I made more trips up and down that hill than anyone else.

I had the most crazy wreck of the day. Tessa wanted someone to go down the hill with her on the sliding saucers.  No takers, so Nanny said okay. I'll go.   We went down together, but somewhere along the ride I spun out and headed to the left minus my hat and my saucer. I rolled bodily across the snow six or seven times.  You could see the imprint the next day where I carved my own path.  It was hilarious.   I had snow caked in my hair.  I stood by the fire at the hilltop warming up and felt a chunk of snow slide down my back and the crack of my behind!  Now THAT's what I call a wreck! 

Below: Olivia and Crystal in the distance.  The solo stove is fired up.  

   

Below: First day of sledding.  

Below: my glove finger in the corner of the frame... sorry.  Quonset hut and up way in the distance Grandmother's house. That is the hill we came down.  

Below: just looking at the tree line during the snow storm. Day 1

Below: Day 2 of sledding. It had stopped snowing and was clear and cold.  You can see the mountains in the distance. 

Below: Looking out over Townsend. Grandmother's house in the right corner.  

Below: Day 2 Michael Rowan and Brooke.  Our RZR. We brought it day 2.   By now I was sporting a bite shaped bruise on my right wrist, my back was bruised and my left hip.  

Below: Day 2... Brooke and Emma and Mia and Papaw Kenny

Below: Crystal Mia Tessa and Gabe and Papaw Kenny

The first day we went sledding until it got to be supper time.  We went into Grandmothers after we dried off and shed our boots and coats.  We had taco soup and was it ever good!   It was great to see one another and fellowship.    

          We had a couple memorable days for certain.

 Below is a video clip of sledding. 

Paint Creek Recreation Area--Kelley and Dudley Falls

 

Paint Creek Recreation Area--Kelley and Dudley Falls 

 

Sat. Jan. 17, 2026

Kenny & Dana Koogler

TN Landforms Kelley Falls

TN Landforms Dudley Falls 

  We made a trip to Greeneville to see Broyle's Store and ate lunch.  Once that was out of the way we headed toward Paint Creek Recreation Area to see a couple waterfalls we'd never visited before.   We moved to Tennessee in December 2001.   I was not able to visit Horse Creek or Paint Creek to see these falls for a long time.  August 3 through 4th, 2001 Greene County and Cocke County had 15 plus inches of rain fall in a 24 hour period.  The devastation was immense.   Its hard for me to wrap my head around that amount of rainfall in those mountains in that short period of time.  

      At last we visited Kelley, Dudley and Ricker Branch Falls.  

 

above and below: Kelley Falls is quite pretty 

Below: Forest and the bluff across from Kelley Falls

Below: mat of debris below the falls. I can't help wondering if some of this is still lying around since the August 2001 flood event? 

Below:  The embankment you have to climb down to get to Kelley Falls.   It was slick as snot on a door knob.   

Below is a short video of Kelley Falls

    Next we went down the road a couple miles further and found Dudley Falls. It is a low cascade, but a pretty one and the swimming hole here is large and very pretty! There is pretty good parking at Dudley Falls and there are restrooms. 

above: Dudley Falls with its large swimming hole

Below: zoomed in a bit on Dudley Falls. Someone has put up rope swings. 

Below: The skies today over the forest were incredibly blue!  

Below: blue skies and white bluffs near Dudley Falls 

Below:  I'm on the embankment much closer to Dudley Falls.  

Below: a looking back at the pretty green swimming hole.  

Below is a short video of Dudley Falls that shows it better.  It is more than worth the trip to see especially if put together with the numerous other area waterfalls. I realized how it had been far too long between trips to the Northern Cherokee National Forest.  In my mind it is a long, long way off, but it really isn't.   It is closer than Brevard and we go over there plenty.   We need to remedy this situation with some day hikes and camping trips.   We did locate Ricker Branch Falls. I did not even take a photo of it as it was such a pitifully low flow.  At least it wasn't hard to find or reach.  

      Some on my wish list are a revisit to Red Fork Falls, Dick's Creek Falls, Sill Branch Falls, 

Pine Ridge Falls and Martin's Creek Falls. 

Below is the video of Dudley Falls

  

Broyles General Store--Country Store Blog Series

Broyles General Store--Country Store Blog Series 

 Sat. Jan. 17 2026

Dana & Kenny Koogler

Broyles General Store Facebook Page

  Saturday was supposed to be very cold and possibly rainy or snowing.   Kenny works out in the cold all week and while he wanted to get out he was not wanting to do a long hike in the cold. We planned something easy and fun instead.   We had not done any hiking in the northern portion of the Cherokee National Forest for many years.  Last time was to Camp Creek Bald.   Today we headed toward Greeneville, Tennessee. First we stopped by Broyle's General Store to check it out.  It was new to us both.   We loved it!  It is a toy land that any kid would love.   They have quality toys. Many old timey toys.   They have bins of penny candy.  They have garden seeds, tools, hats, fertilizers, bug sprays, 

animal feed, home decoration. They do not sell basic staple groceries.   It is a fun, old timey atmosphere.  We will bring the grandkids by here for certain.  They were warm and welcoming.  

   It was not crazy busy, but there was quite a buzz while we were there.  Families with kids!

above: front of Broyle's store located at 730 W. Main Street Greeneville TN 37743

Hours of operation: 

Wednesday	9 AM–5 PM
Thursday	9 AM–5 PM
Friday	9 AM–5 PM
Saturday	9 AM–1 PM
Sunday	Closed
Monday	9 AM–5 PM
Tuesday	9 AM–5 PM

Below: from the parking lot at Broyle's store the train tracks run behind it.  That is a plus for me!

Below is a video of the freight train passing by. I love trains.

 

 

Above: beautiful amaryllis bulbs in bloom. 

Below: collection of garden ornament roosters and the penny candy bins at the front

Above: What an assortment of bird feeders

Above: Papaw Kenny checking out sleds and ride on toys

above: I am not sure what is in the metal bins, but there are moon pies and candy. 

above:  customer checking out the farm toys.  We still have some of Kenny's farm toys from his childhood. I have some of Jared's also.  I even have one hampshire hog toy that was my Daddy's when he was a child. 

Below:  Gardening gloves and tools 

Below: The front room of the store is just past this doorway

Below:  dump trucks, tractor trailers, log trucks and all kinds of farm toys

above and below:  toys galore! If you look close at the bottom photo there is a bow and arrow set with suction cups. Jared had one as a kid. I can still remember those things whizzing by my head and sticking to the wall. 

Below: colorful sleds and ride on toys in the front of the store

Below: mushroom hummingbird feeders

Below: buckets of candy

Below: Toy Land indeed! Girls toys and baby toys.  Blocks, stacking rings, barns with shape sorters, doll houses. 

Below: potting soil and wood boring bee traps

Below:  seed jars of about anything you can think of.  

Below: cars and trucks

Below: animal feed and dog treats

Below:  hats for gardening and outdoors

  We enjoyed our visit to Broyles Store and will be back!   If you are in the Greeneville area give them a try! You'll be glad you did. 

Rhododendron Creek Manway with the Family--Best Day Ever!

 

Rhododendron Creek Manway with the Family--Best Day Ever! 

Saturday Jan. 10, 2026

Dana, Lydia, Gabriel & Mia Koogler 

Photos are HERE 

  My daughter-in-law Lydia and her children.. my two youngest grandkids wanted to go hiking. We set a date for Saturday and decided we'd go.   It would be Mia's first hike ever in the Smoky Mountains. 

  We decided to go to lunch at Calhoun's first so everyone would have a full tank for energy.

We would hike Rhododendron Creek for an easy, enjoyable hike with lots to see.   

We would then go for dessert after our hike.   Everyone was excited about it and we woke to chilly, but clear weather.   

   

      The plan went well.  Calhoun's was busy, but we got seated immediately. Everyone had a great meal and plenty of energy to hike.  It was a short drive out to the Greenbrier section of the Park to the trailhead.   Rhododendron Creek is not an official park trail, but an old manway.   I hiked it first in May 2003 with Reggie.   It was unforgettable.   I realized recently that all my grandkids had been to see it except little Mia.  We'd remedy that today.  I got the last parking spot when I pulled up to the location.

  I admit to being a little surprised to find anyone else there, but no matter.  

  

Below is a video of our day on the creek.

 We  had an awesome day.  Got back to the jeep to find my vehicle had been vandalized.  Antenna snapped off and some hiking stickers on the back scraped off.   It was a shitty thing to find out, but it could have been far worse.   It was a small matter and did not ruin our good time. We stopped by Mad Dog Donuts and Ice cream for dessert on the way back home.   Kids had ice cream and me and Lydia  had iced coffee.  It was refreshing. Nice pick me up.  We went home via Pigeon Forge and Sevierville instead of the shorter River Road.   Mia was car sick on the drive to Gatlinburg so I was wanting to avoid that. It was a wise decision.  We stopped off at Jared & Lydia's house where we found Papaw Kenny and Jared had installed the dishwasher, new kitchen ceiling fan/light and the doggie door!

 I am in the market for a T- shirt cannon that is big enough to fire a chihuahua.  Tippy won't use the dog door so it is going to take some repeated persuasion.