Author: searcyf@mac.com

29 April 2019

You might know I would have to return to Florida to see a bear! I was out of the tent, packed and heading out of the park at 7:30 am when I saw Ursus americanus. He was heading away from the road as I passed. Actually, he looked pretty healthy and big! Fortunately for Florida, it was not Ursus horibilis!

My cold is worse. I’m going to heavily medicate tonight. I got a great night of sleep last night but the medication wore off around 4:30 am and I started coughing up a lung. I am now trying to cough up the other one.

The trip home took 6 hours. The traffic flowed pretty well down I-95 but I-95 north was basically a parking lot. I never saw what the hold up was but I felt for those poor people stuck in traffic.

Once I got home, I unpacked everything and got the camping gear ready to store in the closet. I pitched the tent again to let it dry out and, of course, it immediately started sprinkling rain. I don’t care, even if I have to leave it out a day or two to air out. I also need to turn it inside out to get the dirt and debris from inside out of the tent.

All this unpacking and storing comes from my days in Boy Scouts. I was applying for the camping merit badge and one of the adult counselors asked me if I unpacked, cleaned and stored gear on the day I returned. I said yes. He knew I had just been camping and was impressed. What I didn’t tell him was that was the one time I hadn’t done that. Ever since then, my guilty conscience has insisted I unpack, clean and store everything immediately upon return from a trip.

My first wash of clothes from the trip is on and I have another load to go.

As far as my intent to see spring wildflowers, the trip was an amazing success. I’ll eventually post them on my web site. It was great to see Terry, Jimmie and Stephen. Now, if I can only get rid of this cold.

28 April 2019

After more Waldorf Salad and a half of a bagel, I bid Jimmie and Stephen goodbye. What a great visit! It’s always great to see them. I anticipate a visit from them next year when they come down for a cruise.

As I headed down the highway, I realized I was developing a full blown cold. I hope I didn’t infect Jimmie and Stephen because they have a major trip coming up.

It’s a 9 1/2 hour drive from Greensboro to the state park. I stopped in Middleton, Florida at the Publix for a combination pack of Dayquil and Nyquil. I’ll take the night time after dinner (a Publix sandwich) and the Dayquil as I start out tomorrow.

Strangely, the park has a “boil water” alert. When I checked in, the ranger did not mention it. I have plenty for the night and I’ll get coffee and breakfast at Mickey D’s tomorrow morning so it won’t be a problem.

I’d like to come back to this park. They have some interesting formations – in particular, a ravine that needs exploring. Unfortunately, I arrive too late to do any hiking. They also have a map of hiking trails that I can’t make heads or tails of, so I’d probably get lost anyway.

After pitching the wet tent, I changed into shorts. I went from low 40’s in the Smokies to high 80’s in north Florida. Welcome to the sunshine state, the global warming state, the sea level rise state, etc. Tonight is supposed to be in the high 60’s so it’ll necessitate a change to a lighter sleeping bag for tonight.

Just outside the park, a few miles down the road is Camp Blanding where my Dad was stationed prior to WWII. It’s now a Florida National Guard camp and the new governor already has his name on the sign. I think governors of states must have crews on standby to change “Welcome to … ” signs at state lines, on public buildings, and anything else they can think of. I’m surprised they haven’t figured out a way to put them on cattle in pastures so you can tell which state you are in by the cows.

Tomorrow is a 6 hour drive home, mostly on I-95.

27 April 2019

Stephen made scrambled eggs and toast for breakfast. That was a real treat not having freeze dried food for breakfast.

We decided to pay a visit to Duluth Trading Company. I’ve known about this company for years but I’ve never been in a store of theirs. While at the store, Stephen found a book that said they had been in existence since 1989. It seems they have become experts at marketing and they have some of the best tv ads in the business.

I crawled all over the store and found lots of things I wanted but nothing I absolutely needed. The same with Jimmie and Stephen. It was great to see what merchandise they have and if you ever get a chance to visit the store, do so.

After Duluth, we headed to Bicentennial Park. There were several flowers Jimmie wanted me to look at in the park. I didn’t know exactly what they were but I have an app on my IPhone called Plant ID that allows you to take a photo and using recognition techniques, gives you several suggestions as to the plant’s identification. We were able to identify the species in question using the app.

The app is pretty good with horticultural species and hybrids but is less accurate with wildflowers. Part of the garden is set aside for wildflowers and there were several species in bloom and fortunately, I knew most of those. This is my second visit to the park and it never fails to impress. They do an excellent job of upkeep of the park.

Lunch was at Natty Greens in downtown Greensboro. Greensboro has that southern charm of an old southern town with tons of brick buildings and 1800’s and 1900’s storefronts. Natty Greens is an interesting eatery and brewery. It’s my second visit to this establishment and it’s always a treat to eat there and see downtown.

The afternoon was set aside for naps and reading and dinner prep. Stephen and Jimmie prepared an excellent chicken curry with rice and garlic bread. Jimmie also remembered I loved her version of Waldorf salad with pecans instead of walnuts, yogurt instead of mayonnaise and a sprinkling of sweetened coconut. Add raisins and fuji apples and let sit overnight in the fridge. Try it, you’ll like it. She also had an excellent carrot salad and I had forgotten that like mother, she put pineapple in the carrot salad.

Tomorrow I head back to Florida with a night at Mike Roess Gold Head Branch State Park near Keystone Heights, Florida. If, like me, you don’t know where Keystone Heights is located, it’s near Blanding, Florida where the state penitentiary is located. No snide comments please. A better description is it is inland from St. Augustine. That’ll be around an 8 hour drive tomorrow and more than a 6 hour drive from their to home on Monday.

I’ll post again from the park and perhaps when I arrive home on Monday.

26 April 2019

I checked the weather before going to bed last night and the forecast was for a slight chance of rain between 7 am and 9 am the next morning. At 10:30 pm, the skies opened up. I got out of the sleeping bag a 7 am and decided discretion was the better part of valor and packed up the wet tent, loaded the car for everything except to make breakfast. I ate quickly and was on the road at 8:30 am and the skies opened up again. I got while the getting was good.

I pulled into Boone, NC after passing through what I think was Blowing Rock. I say I think because it was so foggy I wasn’t sure there was a town there. I called Terry Hamilton in Boone and invited myself for coffee. We caught up on old times and I have to say I laugh more with Terry than just about anyone. We then headed to a barbecue place near his house that has some great barbecue.

After a short tour of his neighborhood, I said goodbye and headed to Greensboro. It seemed like I was trying to catch up to the rain, but it beat me there and was actually over when I pulled into the drive of Stephen and Jimmie. They were waiting at the garage door for me when I pulled up.

We spent a little time catching up and then headed out to eat. They knew of a place I could get a steak and it was cooked to perfection.

After dinner we stopped at their REI store and I bought a bear bell. I had one on my day pack but I noticed I wasn’t hearing it ring. I thought something had wedged in it but when I examined it, the clapper inside had fallen out. Luckily, I didn’t run into any bears this trip – yet. Now I’m prepared!

Later, we returned to the house and I introduced them to The Brokenwood Mysteries on Acorn TV. It’s about a detective in New Zealand. After that I need to get some sleep.

By the way, the chicken vindaloo did come back to haunt me tonight.

25 April 2019

It’s overcast this morning and just as I finished breakfast, it started to sprinkle. The phone app called Dark Skies said expect moderate rain for the next hour with 100% chance of rain today.  

This was growing in my campsite. I’ve always been fascinated by this plant. It was one of the first I learned to identify in Boy Scouts.

I did a quick drive through the rest of the park.  There is only the family campground I am in and a horse campground and two parking lots.  Like I wrote yesterday, this is a hikers park.

While on the very short drive, I saw several big leaf magnolias in bloom along side of the road. I stopped and got several photos so you can better see what I meant in yesterdays photo.  The zoom shot didn’t show any detail.

I scoped out some potential hikes for this afternoon and then returned to camp. I figure its a good curl-up-in-the-sleeping-bag morning and read a book.  If the rain abates, I’ll think about the hike. 

10:30 am, the rain let up and I hit the trail at 11:02 am.  This time I decided to take the north branch of the Little River Trail.  It’s rated as moderate and the first part of the trail is pretty steep.  However, once to the top, at 1,730 feet, it levels off and follows the ridge. 

It then merges with the Turkey Ridge Trail (I saw no turkeys but I did see two deer) and from there, I branched off to the Hidden Cove Trail (I also didn’t see the cove).  

As per usual, I managed to get turned around at the point the Turkey Ridge Trail merges with the Hidden Cove Trail.  If you start your climb in the opposite direction than I did, you will see the trail plainly marked.  However, if you start the climb where I did, just before the actual junction of these two trails is another trail leading off.  It was not marked.  To make sure it wasn’t the trail I needed, I hiked it a ways and realized it was not what I was thought.  I probably added 1/2 mile to my trip this morning/afternoon with my little side adventure.finished up at 2 pm so my 5.9 mile excursion took me 3 hours with rest stops and a lunch break.

Tonight’s meal is Chicken Vindaloo.  I may pay for that later tomorrow.  In any case, I’ll pack up (probably in the rain tomorrow) and head to Boone, NC to see an old friend Terry Hamilton.  He taught Anatomy & Physiology on Central Campus while I taught Biology on South.  We’ve been on a few field trips together and it’ll be good to catch up with him.  After I have lunch with Terry, I head to Greensboro, NC to visit my cousin Jimmie and her husband Stephen.  Showers and a bed!

24 April 2019

I really feel sorry for the owners of Fort Wilderness RV Park.  They have to contend with the kennel of dogs continuously barking (they went at it literally all night long – I slept with the white noise app playing in my ear) but they also have a squirrel problem.

I was busy with my morning constitutional when I heard something running across the roof of the bath house.  Then all of a sudden, a loud explosion and I was in the dark.  Luckily, I knew where everything was – on me and in the bath house).  Apparently, there will be fried squirrel for lunch today.  I didn’t bother notifying them since no one but me had been in the bathroom during my stay.  I’ll let them find out when the season arrives.

I was out of there by 8 am and headed for Mickey D’s in Cherokee.  From there I called my friends Reed and Sandra Bilbray in Asheville and invited myself to coffee.  Actually, when Reed read my itinerary, he suggested I stop in.  It’s always good to see those two.  They are so up and positive. It’s great to be around people who always look on the bright side.  I also got to meet the newest addition to the family, Oreo.  I think the dog loves me.  I really appreciate Reed and Sandra taking time out of their day.  We talked hiking, camping, and how Asheville and Fort Lauderdale are having transportation problems and infrastructure problems.

Oreo followed me out the door but Reed insisted he not go camping today.

To get to South Mountains State Park, you follow I-40 east for a ways and then head down  US 19.  This is a wonderful back road with curves and dips and beautiful scenery.  It reminds me a little of the old roads I used to take into the Smokies.

Everyone I know that I’ve talked to in North Carolina have never heard of South Mountains State Park.  It won the park of the year award in 2017 (I assume NC). 

I’m in the family campground which is predominately tents and hammocks.  I had high hopes of no more dogs but wouldn’t you know it, a lady with a hammock is parked next to me with a yappy dog that starts in when anyone comes anywhere near her campsite.  It may be a long night – again.

The park is full of hikes.  The map they provide you upon checking in has 22 listed with degrees of difficulty from easy to moderate to strenuous.  One of the main attractions is High Shoals Falls.  I can’t resist a good waterfall so I headed out at 2 pm.  It was 80 F out so I made sure I was in shorts and a tee shirt.  

You first walk through the parking lot of the family campsite and then follow the River Trail until you merge with the Clear Creek Trail.  It’s at this point I made a fortuitous mistake.  I meant to follow the River Trail until it merged with the High Shoal Falls Loop Trail. 

Instead, I incorrectly shifted to the Raven Rock Trail System .  Trust me when I say it is all up hill.  It’s listed as strenuous on their map.  I have to admit, either I’m getting good at this hiking thing or I’m just in better shape.  I didn’t find it any more difficult than the Smokemont Loop Trail which is rated as moderate.

From the Raven Rock Trail, I finally merged with the High Shoal Falls Loop and it was all downhill from there.  Fortunately, my tendonitis did not act up and I made it pretty well.

The reason I said fortuitous mistake is once you reach the falls, there are wooden rails and steps all the way down, down down.  If I had correctly followed the map, the ascent to the falls would have been twice as steep as the trail I took. 

By the way, I hate steps.  I know parks mean well with them but they have to fit the landscape and the rise is either too high or too low.  I take a pounding when I walk down steps.  

I made it back at 5 pm, so the entire hike was 3 hours.  I clocked in at 5 miles exactly.  The campground is at 1286 feet in elevation and the top of the mountain is 2022, so I had a 916 foot elevation gain.  That was a pretty good workout.  I’m tired.  

Tonight is Three Cheese Mac & Cheese.  

Tomorrow, I’ll probably take it easy and do some short, easy hikes.  

Either spring has not really sprung here or it’s already sprung and gone.  There isn’t much as far as wildflowers.  My one big thrill was as I was hiking, I had an overwhelmingly sweet scent waft to me.  It reminded me a little of honeysuckle.  I looked around and didn’t see anything and then I looked up and in the distance and saw a big leaf magnolia (Magnolia macrophylla) in full bloom.  I’ve seen these before but not in bloom.  The leaves are not thick like the southern magnolia.  Instead they are paper thin.  The blooms are not as large either but they certainly produce an aroma.  The tree was some 50-75 feet away.

Post Script. The dog turned out to be perfectly behaved last night.  It apparently only barks when she encourages it to bark.  It didn’t make a sound all night.

23 April 2019

I went from the most peaceful, restful night of my camping career at High Falls State Park to the worst night at Fort Wilderness.  Someone over on the next hill seems to have a kennel of dogs that are kept outside.  They started howling and barking around 6 pm and maybe let up around 2 am. I mean loud.  I think one of the bayers was a Tennessee Blue Tick Hound from the sound of it.  Another sounded like a blood hound.  Not to be left out was some small happy dogs.  I think I counted 5 distinct barks.  To add to the excitement, someone was shooting a rifle. They were apparently a very bad shot because they kept shooting. At one stage, they let off a semi-automatic round. Peaceful.

Finally around 11:30 pm I used the app on my iPhone to generate white noise.  The good news is are the dogs are at it again this afternoon, so I can assume I can look forward to another baying session.

I did discover one thing about my 30F sleeping bag.  You stay warm and toasty except for the top of the bag.  It wasn’t terribly uncomfortable, but you could tell your upper body was cooler than your lower body.  I solved the problem by putting another sleeping bag (50F) over the top of the first one.  It was perfect.

Whoever said Smokemont Loop Trail was excellent for wildflowers knew what they were talking about.  It was wildflower nirvana.  The loop is 5.9 miles (often referred to as a 6 mile loop) but since you have to walk a ways to the trail head and then back to your car after the loop is completed, it is about 6.3 miles.  

I began at an elevation of 2,080 feet and the peak elevation was 3,604 feet, so that figures out to 1,524 feet of elevation gain in about 3 miles.  In other words, up, up, up.  Most say it takes 3.5 hours to complete the loop.  It took me four but I have a good excuse because I was stopping every few minutes to take photos. 

I met four sets of hikers on their way up as I was on my way down.  Many like to hike it in the opposite direction to get the steep climb over and done before the heat of the day.  There were also two people working on the trail.  It’s interesting about meeting hikers. Some want to stop and talk and others just grunt as they pass you. I prefer the talkers so I can stop and catch my breath while they talk.

The wildflowers were a riot.  Even better, I found five species to add to my life list of plants.  One of these (Bishop’s Cap) I’ve been looking for for years.  It was also good to renew acquaintances with old finds of past trips.

After the hike, I headed to Clingmans Dome.  I usually climb it every visit.  My last visit, the observation tower was closed so I missed it.  However, it was open today and it was packed.  Cars were parked all down the sides of the road because the parking lot was full.

People thought me a little strange because I started to walk back down backwards.  On the Smokemont hike, I could feel a tendon aching in my left knee.  It sometimes does that when I have a long way to walk down.  

I found that if I walk backwards while going down, it takes the stress off the tendon.  There were a couple of people on the trail that knew what I was doing.  Apparently, I’m not the only one with tendonitis while walking down hills.

I stopped by Chimney Tops to see if I could see how it was recovering from the fire.  You can no longer walk up to the Chimneys.  They have blocked the upper part of the trail due to fire damage and what they say are unstable conditions.  I’m glad I got to see them before they blocked them off.  

I started to drive to Cade’s Cove and got about 1/4 of the way and changed my mind.  I was tired and hungry.  I made it back to Fort Wilderness, had a nice shower, and had my freeze dried Italian pepper steak with rice and tomatoes.  Yum.  

Tomorrow, I head for South Mountain State Park near Connelly Springs, NC.