Calderwood || 7/25/2008

We took a trip with YSOA (www.ysoa.org) this weekend to camp for 2 nights at a primitive campsite (primitive = not maintained, no bear bag cables, etc.). We left the Sycamore Tree Friday around 4:30, got to Calderwood a little after 6, and then hit the water around 6:30. Sam was running on a slightly different time schedule, so he left Knoxville around 4:30 with the plan to catch up to us on the water or at the campsite (more on this later).
One of the coolest things about the start of the trip was the fog on the water. When water is released from Cheoah Dam into the Calderwood impoundment, it's basically really really really cold water. When they release the really cold water in the really hot day, it makes a very thick fog. Within a half mile of the boat dock we couldn't see more than 10 yards ahead. The group broke up into two groups in the fog, with the first group going ahead to start setting up camp before dark. It took our group about 1:10 to get to the site (4 miles), which was located where Parson's Branch empties into the lake. The campsite, while beautifully located practically on top of Parson's Branch, was a bit cramped. There were 14 people in all, and if 6 of us hadn't had hammocks, there wouldn't have been enough room. We even had to move the fire pit to make room for one of the two tents. The second group got to the campsite about an hour after the first group, and we barely had time for everyone to get unloaded and camp set up before dark. In fact, bear bags and everything came well after dark. Also well after dark, around, say, 10 oclock, we start wondering... where's Sam?
So, Aaron and I paddled out into the main channel with out headlamps for the Sam Search Party. While kind of creepy, paddling on Calderwood after dark is definitely and experience I'm glad I've had. The water was still, the sky was dark... all you could see was glossy black water and the charcoal silhouette of the mountains against the grey sky. It was so dark that it was impossible to see the entrance to the cove leading to our campsite from the main channel. Even with 3 lanterns burning, we could neither see nor hear our site. Fortuitously, we'd only been on the water about 10 minutes when we see Sam's headlamp a few hundred yards away. In what we'll call the spirit of adventure, Sam parked two miles upriver from where we started and began paddling from there. The only snag in this plan was the aforementioned Cheoah Dam. The damn Dam where he had to portage the kayak up a shear shale wall and then a half mile below the dam, THEN the half mile back to his stuff, and THEN the half mile with his stuff back to the kayak. Then, once in the water, he was smack in the middle of the Calderwood fog, and then the dark. That being said, I'm pretty glad we were in the channel when we were, otherwise he might have seen the hydroelectic turbines at Calderwood Dam up close and personal. Anyway, he has some wickedly cool pics of Cheoah if you want to check out his blog whenever he posts.
The rest of the night was pretty uneventful, except for the massive rainstorm at 3am. My trusty hammock kept me dry, though, so I have no complaints.
The next day went well, mainly starting with a few hours on the lake to putz around, explore, and play kayak frisbee. During the 3 hours on the lake, I stayed bone dry. Back in the cove, though, at the point where I was getting out of the boat, I tried to take a risky route out of the boat so as to stay completely dry instead of getting the bottom of my shorts wet. The move didn't pay off, as it proved to be the first time I ever flipped my kayak. In 18 inches of water. As I was climbing up the back, I pulled my boat up to empty the water out, and I threw my paddle down on a yellow jackets' nest. Long story short, 7 stings, some benadryl, and a four hour nap later, we cooked out a nice hot dog super where I discovered, for the first time, the joy of sweet relish. I usually try to avoid meat, but when camping deep in the woods and sleeping suspended from a tree, what other way is there to eat besides roasting meat impaled on a stick over an open fire? After hot dogs and smores, it was bedtime. (brief aside... it was also during this time period that Sam had to leave early, so he paddled back to the boat ramp the rest of us started at and hitch hiked back halfway to his car, then ran and walked the other half. Yes, I checked, he's still alive.)
This morning, we got up, broke camp, and hit the water. We had a short church service on the water in the cove before making a break for the main channel. We took a few breaks to explore the Calderwood Cascades and the Tunnel. Unfortunately, water at the tunnel was too high to see the train inside (or, for that matter, to go in), so we just had to look knowing something cool was under the water. This time around the whole group made it back in about 2 hours, we loaded up, and hit the road back to Maryville.

Book Quotes || Summer 2008

One of the luxuries of working in a used book store is the ability to browse a variety of books at my leisure. Here are a few quotes from this summer's readings:

For a real-time book quote update, go here

In preparation for Independence Day, I'm brushing up on some colonial American philosophy...
John Stuart Mill -- On Liberty
The aim, therefore, of patriots, was to set limits to the power which the ruler should be suffered to exercise over the community.

The will of the people, moreover, practically means, the will of th emost numerous or the most active part of the people; the majority, or those who succeed in making themselves accepted as the majority: the people, consequently, may desire to oppress a part of their number; and precautions are as much needed against this, as against any other abuse of power.

Society can and does execute its own mandates: and if it issues wrong mandates instead of right, or any mandates at all in things with which it ought not to meddle, it practises a social tyranny more formidable than many kinds of political oppression, since, though not usually upheld by such extreme penalties, it leaves fewer means of escape, penetrating much more deeply into the details of life, and enslaving the soul itself. Protection, therefore, against the tyranny of the magistrate is not enough; there needs protection also against the tyranny of the prevailing opinion and feeling...


Biophilia Hypothesis -- E.O. Wilson
The brain evolved in a biocentric world, not a machine-regulated world. 32

The Ultimate Get Out More News || July 4, 2008

I found out yesterday that I was selected as one of 30 teachers nationally to take part in the Toyota International Teachers Program in the Galapagos Islands. I applied in April via a series of essays, finding out at the beginning of June that I was a finalist, and then yesterday that I made the cut!
Toyota will be footing the bill to send me to the Galapagos to work on developing cross-curricular lesson plans focusing on environmental sustainability, stewardship, and biodiversity. The trip will take place from November 22-December 6. Toyota will even be reimbursing the school for the substitute I will need to have while I'm gone. Talk about service!