Sunday Hike on Laurel Prong and Cat Knob Trail

We decided to start the hike early while it was still quite cool.  We headed north up the Appalachian Trail where we soon hit some nice uphill sections which brought us up a ridge to near the top of the hill before we came upon the Laurel Prong trail turn-off.  We headed down a very gradual trail with a mixture of dense fern vegitation, great vistas between trees and large boulders that the trail weaved around.  We came upon more vistas and dense forest of Mountain Laurels which created a neat alleyway down the trail in several places.  We came upon a bear hiding in the vegatation downhill of us which hustled away from us quickly.  We walked until we came to the next turn off at shady glen of ferns and grasses and a very large oak tree.  We used that as our turn around point and headed back to our starting point, the campground to pick up the trailer and head home concluding an exceptoinally good weekend.

This is a short, Sunday morning hike up Laurel Prong and Cat Knob Trail up towards Jones Mountain trail and back.

Total time will be about 1½  to 2 hours and 4.2 miles

Bring waterproof hiking boots, water, lunch, sweat rag, and snacks.  Since this is the Appalachian Mountains, bring a jacket and poncho (or waterproof jacket) for the occasional summer shower.