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. 

Snow Ride Campbell County

Snow Ride Campbell County

Sat. Jan. 23, 2016
Dana & Kenny Koogler 

  We only got 1/4  inch of snow in Blount County.  We decided we'd head to Campbell County and ride the new RZR in Sunquest/Royal Blue. We figured it would be pretty and fun.

We had several features there we wanted to check out.  We planned on hunting up 

Waterfall Hollow Branch Falls which we have yet to locate.  We wanted to revisit
the waterfall in Thirteen Hollow.  We wanted to see if there was a way to check out Number Twelve Hollow and find out of there were any waterfalls in there? I have not been to Town Rock yet and we thought we'd go see that.  We had all kinds of fun things planned.

    We figured since the only road that was bad at our place was the 1/2 mile out to Rt 411 from our lane...... and the trails start right off I-75 we'd be in great shape.  Well........ it did not turn out that way.  We wondered why no one was out trying to ride and enjoy the place when we arrived?   We were soon to find out.  The first reason was that it was COLD. Very cold and damp.  The second reason was that they got several inches of snow on Tuesday while we got 1/2 inch.  Tuesday's snow melted and refroze.  Then it snowed another six inches atop that icy mess.  It made it hard to get around in anything!   

 

            We parked alongside Flatwoods Road just past the Adult XXX World.

We took off from there and it wasn't long until we realized what a foolish idea we'd had.

The trails had so much snow and icy all the shrubs and bushes were bowed down in them.

Getting through was darn near impossible making slow going even slower.  Lots of downed trees in the trails.  Now and then we'd see an abandoned vehicle stuck in the road or alongside it.   We did see a few people later in the day. It was beautiful, but the cold and damp and wind was biting.     The new RZR 1000 performed great, but it doesn't matter what you have....... getting around in that stuff in deep snow atop ice is tough.

           We saw a few elk and some red birds and hawks.  We enjoyed the frozen forest.

We didn't take long to decide just how bad an idea this was. All we wanted then was to leave and get back to the truck and home. 

            We both ended up with sore throats despite how we bundled up. 

I learned that I needed warmer layers and hot hands for my mittens and boots.

We got home. I got in a hot bath.  I got warm and got in bed.  When I woke a few hours later my sore throat and upset stomach were gone.  I was no longer cold.  I do not want to do that again and neither does Kenny.

This is what Thirteen Hollow Falls looks like from a previous visit.  We'll go back but it is going to be no snow!

A few photos of elk and snow and the RZR and Kenny.  I looked a lot like him in that I had snow blown all over me. Even part of my hair was frozen!  

West Prong Hicky Fork Hike

Outhouse on Meadow Creek Mountain.

Meadow Creek Mountain and West Prong Hickey Fork Falls Hike

Nov. 2013

Dana & Kenny Koogler

     The last hike I took before becoming ill and all the other catastrophe that befell me 

and Kenny was a Winter hike.  We wanted to fit in a Saturday hike adventure before the madness of Thanksgiving and Christmas.  I talked him into a waterfall hunt. 

We ended up wandering around exploring in the mountains along the boundary between Tennessee and North Carolina.  

 We found the Meadow Creek Mountain Fire Tower and went up there to enjoy the view.

It was icy and snowy and very cold, but the sun was out and the view was marvelous!

They have installed a privvy for visitors to use.  All the conveniences, eh? The wind was really whipping and it was very cold!

Heading up the trail to the tower. 

 View from Meadow Creek Mtn Tower

   We wound along those back roads into the Shelton Laurel community of North

Carolina. We found the trail head to West Prong Hickey Fork Falls.  It was very pretty back there and isolated.  We ate a quick lunch in the jeep and then hit the trail.

It was only a short, easy hike to the falls. It was prettier and easier than expected. The woods were snowy the entire way. That part of the woods doesn't get much sunlight.

We found the falls and there is another big 100 foot long sliding cascade before the main falls.  The trail here continues and comes out on Camp Creek Bald along the A.T.

Snowy woods of Shelton Laurel. I love the pink gold tinge of alpen glow in the pictures.

West Prong Hickey Fork Falls.  It is very pretty!

Sliding cascades before the main falls.  It was quite impressive!

Foot bridge over the stream at the start of the trail.  Very sturdy.

Friendly deer and horse on the way to the trail to hike.

     We enjoyed our hike. We made it back and decided to hunt up another local falls. Waterfall on Hensley Branch. We missed it by a gnats butt.   We were out in the middle of nowhere. Kenny did not want to drive home on those twisting roads again.  He was tired and cold and had a jones for Cracker Barrel dinner. We got on Interstate 26 East in the middle of someone's back yard....... so it seemed... and off we went.  The new section of the interstate is spiffy. It really was much better than going home the other way!

      We had a good time.  The holidays were messed up for us this year in many ways.

I was glad we did this hike.  I thought back on it as I was in the hospital. Quiet woods 

dusted in snow. Falling water. Murmuring streams and wind through the trees. Fresh air.

Winter sunshine. Icicles. It helped hold me over until I was able to get out again.