Big Frog, Oswald Dome, Chestnut Mountain, and Little FrogBunches Bald, Cataloochee Balsam, and Cold Mountain: May 31st-June 2nd, 2023

Big Frog, May 31st

After a while feeling unsatisfied by my hikes, Big Frog re-instilled what hiking should be for me, a ten-miler with 2000+ft of elevation gain, with a well-maintained trail up the whole way. I started from the Western-most trailhead on the north side, and the dirt road up was pretty manageable. The trail itself was well-maintained, and I enjoyed the hike, but found no views whatsoever, whatever!

Oswald Dome, May 31st

For Oswald Dome, I went up the USFS roads from SR-30, specifically turning right at the junction and going up Presswood, as that was the most direct route. Overall these roads were in pretty good shape, and totally doable in a sedan, but there is a nasty rut at the hairpin up Presswood at 1700ft, so maybe try the other way or hike up if you have a low-clearance vehicle? Idk, about 0.2 miles from the gate, I pulled off because I had been spooked by a sandy section just before, and was worried about driving down that one, but it would have been fine, as the road was fine after that. The walk up to the summit was simple enough, and there are at least half-a-dozen towers at the summit, but no views between any of them, which was honestly disappointing. Recommend this one if you're a prominence-based peakbagger, but otherwise, probably don't bother unless you want to ATV/OHV/dirt bike up the roads!

Chestnut Mountain: June 1st

Chesnut was a slog starting from Hiwassee Occoee Park and heading up the Horse trail at the turnaround. The trail was good enough, though the horse trail obviously left a lot of ruts and shit everywhere. No good views or anything, but the (very) brief bushwhack to the summit wasn't too bad. The worst part was that it was really fucking hot the whole time, leading to a quite tough hike for me, starting from 700ft in Southeastern Tennessee in June - what did I expect? Anyhow, I took the rest of the day off even though I could have done Little Frog, that would have to wait for tomorrow

Little Frog Mountain: June 2nd

Little Frog, also called Sassafras Knob, is most easily accessible from the USFS road on the northern side of the mountain - unless you want a long bushwhack through the wilderness, I suppose. I took the road from SR-68, and found it to be doable in a sedan, but higher clearance will make your life easier. Anyhow, I took the logging road to the top and ran into a few boars at the hairpin turn! I was able to get past them, but after the underwhelming summit, I bushwhacked down to avoid another run-in