Mountains of West Virginia

This picture is of the

New River in West Virginia, this morning looking from my room at Hawks Nest State Park. a beautiful location despite the fact that MTR coal mining is occurring close by? I wonder whether or not you can drink the water.

The Bugs

Park Resource Managers with the Great Smokey Mountains National Park recently confirmed the Smokies first backcountry emerald ash borer (EAB) infestation. According to Great Smokey Mountains National Park Biologist, Glenn Taylor, “The emerald ash borer is a 1/2 inch-long metallic green beetle that lays eggs on the bark on all species of ash trees. After hatching, the EAB larvae burrow under the bark, and create feeding tunnels that cut off nutrient and water flow to the tree. The tree can die in three to five years.” Accidentally introduced to North America from Asia, EAB was first discovered in southeast Michigan in 2002, and has spread to 16 states and two Canadian provinces killing tens of millions of ash trees. Since 2009, officials have been monitoring for the presence of EAB. Front country infestations were confirmed in June 2012 at Sugarlands Visitor Center and at the Greenbrier entrance to the Park. An off-duty park employee discovered the backcountry infestation on Injun Creek Trail in the Greenbrier area on November 8, 2012. The employee noticed a pile of bark chips at the base of several ash trees. Signs of woodpecker activity on ash trees is an excellent indicator of an EAB infestation. Paul Merten, a forest insect specialist from the USDA Forest Service in Asheville, NC, confirmed EAB at the site by looking under ash tree bark for feeding tunnels left by the immature beetle. “The infestation is well established, probably two years old or older,” Merten said. Complete eradication of EAB is not currently feasible, but Park Resource Managers are developing a management plan to maintain public safety and protect ash trees where possible. EAB and other tree pests can be transported in firewood. Park regulations prohibit bringing firewood to the Smokies from areas that have been quarantined for EAB or other destructive pests. For more information about firewood regulations at the Smokies, visit their website at http://www.nps.gov/grsm/planyourvisit/firewood-alert.htm

Pigeon Mountain Pocket Wilderness

The Mysterious One and I took a short walk in the Pocket Wilderness located just south of Chickamauga GA, today, and as you can see, we were blessed with lots of remaining leaves and bright colors. Peace

Panther Creek/Miry Ridge/AT/Greenbrier Ridge/Middle Prong Lolipop

Dudes and Dudettes, this Labor Day weekends, overnight excursion was fabulous! After consulting with Pam, Dan, and Mike in the Backcountry office over two days and finding the first few choices of shelters and campgrounds along desired routes already full we chose the route described in the title of this entry. I had walked all sections of it on various hikes and backpacking excursions and the "Mysterious One" had done some sections of the route. We started Sunday early in the afternoon and finished today (9/3), at about 4:30pm. The walk began with PC skies and humid temperatures in the 80's. After we accessed Panther Creek trail we saw no one until Sunday on the AT, which allowed for a quiet night in campsite #26, which sits a little ways past the high point of Dripping Springs Mtn (4801'). Even with the growing cloud cover at this altitude we had some views of Thunderhead (et.al) as we stopped at this point and appreciated what has been given.

We were delighted to see the campground empty, which may be more a testimony to the frequent lack of water at this campsite and vicinity, than to our good fortune, knowing this we had filled our bottles up along Panther Creek (There was no water at #26, or anywhere near it we were to learn on Sunday). Either way, we enjoyed the privacy, fixed one of those gourmet BP'g meals you hope you can repeat someday; one that was very light to carry, inexpensive, and tasty, and built a nice fire with the plentiful dry wood laying around the area. After enjoying the evening together the "Mysterious One" and I climbed into our tents...and then it rained! There were several thunderstorms throughout the night and I quickly found myself floating in a puddle as the groundcloth I was using had become exposed on one edge and was collecting water. Between storms I drained it and adjusted the exposed edge making for a much dryer night. The next morning despite the rain we did not find any running water so after oatmeal and coffee we started our 13ml+ day with no water. Now we did not go down the Lynn Camp Prong trail in search of any but rather continued on thinking we'd surely find a wet spring. We didn't, until we turned down Greenbrier Ridge trail and had it not been for a gift of about 16 oz of water from a pair of AT sectional hikers we would have been mighty thirsty. They told us that they had not seen water since the Derrick Knob Shelter but we found it like 1/10ml down the Greenbrier. I drank plenty and topped off my bottles for the remaining 8+ miles.

This hike brought challenging terrain and obstacles, beautiful vistas which will be more frequent along most of the route during the coming months and well maintained trails. Besides the distance on the second day (13+mls), this hikes most difficult section was Panther Creek up to Jake's Gap, and portions of the approach to the AT on the second day. All things considered including the scarcity of water I'd call it a difficult hike for many, though worth the effort . Peace

Visit the Stars

Great Smoky Mountains National Park is hosting a star gazing event on Friday, September 7 at one of Haywood County’s clearest views of the sky -Purchase Knob, home to the Appalachian Highlands Science Learning Center in Great Smoky Mountains National Park. The Astronomy Club of Asheville will lead an exploration of the night sky at this high elevation site with a 260 degree unobstructed view of the sky. Visitors can expect to see the planets Neptune and Uranus; the wonderful starry glow of our Milky Way Galaxy stretching across Purchase Knob's dark skies; the beautiful spiral disk of the Andromeda Galaxy; the numerous star clusters of late summer and early fall; as well as several binary star systems. The event starts at 7:30 pm with an indoor orientation, which will be held rain or shine. The Learning Center is located at 5,000 feet in elevation so please bring warm layers. The program is limited to 60 people so reservations are required and can be made by calling the park directly at (828) 926-6251. Purchase Knob is located off US 276 near Maggie Valley, North Carolina. It is not recommended to use a GPS or an internet map service to find Purchase Knob, but the park staff can provide reliable directions. -NPS-

This just in...Gatlinburg Loop Closed....at times

Just in... Great Smoky Mountains National Park officials announced plans today to complete road projects on the Gatlinburg Bypass and a section of Newfound Gap Road near the Sugarlands Visitor Center. Work will begin on August 29 and is expected to be completed by September 1. Weather delays, however, could extend the project into the Labor Day weekend. To minimize impact to visitors, all work will be completed at night. The bypass will close each evening at 7 pm and reopen at 7 am the following morning. Newfound Gap Road will not close completely, but will be restricted to one-lane traffic from 7 pm to 7 am. For additional information call 865-436-1207

Natural Tunnel State Park in Virginia

Last week I spent 4 days in a lodge at this state park located in southwest Virginia, while attending a business meeting for an organization to which I belong. The park consist of 850 acres and has a few short trails to hike with no backcountry sites, given its limited size. Though it is a very beautiful area with some picturesque vistas.

The park has a swimming pool complete with a tall spiraling slide, meeting facilities which were very nice but had limited access for some cell phone services, and what I thought was a relatively good wifi connection. I hiked daily on the short trails in order to clear my thoughts and relax and it worked with views and blooms; Passion Flowers I believe, like you see in the pictures. Peace.