Day 30 Big Rock Candy Mountain

View of Big Rock Candy Mountain

Day 30, Saturday, our friends, the Timms, from Spring City, came down to spend the day with us. (more pix) We had a great morning sitting around chatting, but shortly after noon, Carl, Shasta and I took off  to walk the trail through the canyon that leads to the Big Rock Candy Mountain Resort where Kara and Carl’s wife Jeannie would be waiting to pick us up. The resort takes its name from a song Harry “Haywire Mac” McClintock is credited with writing. Burl Ives would clean up the song and make it famous decades later. In the late 20’s someone posted a sign near where the resort now stands labeling the colorful hill, “Big Rock Candy Mountain.” The name stuck.



Carl Timm and Shasta









Carl Timm



The trail winds along the Sevier River, crossing it from time to time, as it passes the old narrow gage train tunnel and through some spectacular scenery made up of fascinating rock formations with a wide spectrum of colors highlighted by bright splashes of yellows, golds, reds, oranges and greens of the fall foliage.





Rich Lewis - master fly fisherman!

We mozied along, taking pictures, telling stories, looking for fish, and watching Shasta run up and down the trail or taking a plunge in the river below. It was a wonderful way to spend an afternoon. We met a man along the way, Rich from Mapleton, who had been fly fishing on the river. He was carrying a weighted down net filled with Browns and Rainbows. He said he caught a fish on almost every cast – nearly 50 in the time he had been there. He said he kept the ones that were too tired to be put back. He had seen me walking in Mapleton a few weeks earlier but wasn’t sure what I was doing.



"Hillbilly" and his best friend Cody

As we neared the end of the trail, a bearded man approached on a bike with a large dog following behind. He said, “Your wife sent me to check on you. She says you’re late.”. He introduced himself as Hillbilly and told us that he was riding his bike with his dog from Butte, Montana to Yuma, Arizona. He led a transient life, doing odd jobs and switched back and forth depending on the weather. He was originally from Alabama, got injured in Desert Storm serving in the 101^st Airborne when his main shoot failed to open and his reserve opened at about 125 feet off the deck. He broke a host of bones. After he got fixed up and had some body parts replaced he returned home to find his wife had been unfaithful. He said he lost everything and decided to go on the road. That was 17 years ago. He has quite a story that could fill a book.




Kara ran into Hillbilly at the Big Rock Candy Mountain Resort, where his bike and home-made trailer that his dog rode on had broken down. She gave him $20 to help him get what he needed to fix up his bike and invited him to church. He agreed to come. She also arranged to have him spend a few nights at the Lizzie and Charlies RV Resort where we were staying.

Arlyn and Ronni Eggen at Hoover's

Carl and I finally caught up with Kara and Jeannie. Hillbilly and his dog, Coby, were still talking with Kara and Jeannie when we arrived. We got him on his way and then Kara told us we were going out to dinner. We picked up Elise and headed to Hoovers, just south of the Resort, where we had been invited to eat, compliments of the owners. I could not believe the variety of dishes on the menue. Hoover's is owned and operated by a husband and wife team. He is the chef and he has been to many parts of the world, cooking and learning new things. How he came to this place to start a restaurant is a real mystery to me. The quality of the food is superb. What’s more, every dish comes with scones that are as close to Kara’s scones as I have ever encountered. If you have ever had one of Kara’s scones, you know this guy can whip up some great food! The meal was amazing. If you are ever down this way, this is definitely the place to eat.