Hiking the Smokies: Finley Cane, Bote Mountain, Schoolhouse Gap, and Turkey Pen Ridge trails 1/24/21

Dara joined me again this weekend for another Smokies hike.  We did an 11.3-mile loop beginning at the Laurel Creek Road trailhead for the Finley Cane trail, hopping on the Bote Mountain trail for a bit to connect to the Schoolhouse Gap trail, walking Schoolhouse Gap all the way to its end at the Scott Mountain trail junction (Scott Mountain is currently closed, BTW, apparently due to a helluva lot of trees falling), then coming back down Schoolhouse Gap to the Turkey Pen Ridge trail and following it back to Laurel Creek Road (where it comes out just across the road from the Finley Cane trail).  The great majority of this hike was easy walking, with just a slight uphill or downhill grade.  There were a few steeper sections, but they were short and not extremely strenuous.  Many sections of the trail were also pretty wide and road-like, allowing Dara and me to walk side-by-side quite a bit.

This hike didn't have an "aha" moment or a destination-type site to see, but the whole thing was really pretty and very enjoyable.  

The cane on the Finley Cane trail

Moss-cicle

I'm glad we did this one in the winter because there were several winter views that we would've missed otherwise, but there was also a ton of rhododendron and mountain laurel on this loop, and I bet it's gorgeous in the middle of summer as well.

Not a ton to say about this one, but it was a good (and relatively relaxing) day!

Unduplicated Smokies miles: 148.6
Total Smokies miles: 180.6