Myers's First Hike!

 While Bailey was at camp today, Jodie and I took Myers on his first hiking trip. We left from the Metcalf Bottoms Picnic Area (between the Y and Gatlinburg) and hiked the Metcalf Bottoms Trail to the Little Greenbrier Schoolhouse (1.4 miles roundtrip. On the way we saw stone walls and steps, indicative of old homesites, a cherry scented millipede (hint: don't eat cherry scented animals--the cherry smell comes from cyanide), scads of the dreaded hemlock woolly adelgid and several dead hemlock saplings left in their wake, evidence of pine bark beetles, the Middle Prong of Little River, and, of course, the Greenbrier Schoolhouse and cemetery. If you ever want to get an idea of how infant mortality rates have improved over the past 100-150 years, walk through this cemetery. It makes me feel blessed that our children have survived to 14 months and to 6 years.

• Route: Metcalf Bottoms Trail to Little Greenbrier Schoolhouse (.7, .7)
• Total Mileage: 1.4 miles
• Highlights: Myers's first hike (while Bailey was stomping in the river at Camp Wesley Woods); hemlocks decimated by woolly adelgids, cyanide laced millipedes, taking pictures of Myers near a stone wall and stairs leading to an old homesite

Date: 6-13-2007
Hikers: Andy, Jodie, Myers (his 1st hike!)

Bear Hair Snare || Tuesday, June 12, 2007

Pictures
Today I got to do an 8 mile hike with a biologist from UTK doing work on estimating the black bear population in the park. Whereas this used to be done with live traps, this year the study has transitioned to DNA tracking that requires only a sample of a bear's hair to identify individuals. The snare set up to catch the bear hair is amaaaazingly high tech. It involves: barbed wire, a can of sardines, a tampon, and a bottle of raspberry extract. Sound intriguing? Check here for pictures. I got to inspect bear scat with someone who actually knows something about it (while I LOVE scat, I know little about it). I also found out about "ritual trails," the way black bears, like the Sand People from Star Wars, will step in their own and/or other black bear tracks when traveling on a frequently used trail. Why? No clue, but it looks kind of neat. We also saw some pine trees with paw swipes and scent rubbing, a few American Chestnut samplings (that unfortunately will die before making it to adulthood, plenty of squaw-root (a bear favorite), a juvenile timber rattler that, miraculously, didn't bite any of the 4 people who stepped directly over it, tons of hemlock woolly adelgid, and a few bear scat deposits. How's that for a summer job?

Bear Hair Snare

 

• Route: Lumber Ridge (4.1 miles) to unmarked manway leading to upper Spruce Flats Falls (4 miles).
  
• Total Mileage: 8.1 miles
  
• Highlights: Checking bear hair snares, juvenile timber rattler, American Chestnut sapling, "ritual trails," bear scat, coyote scat with feral pig hair, Spruce Flats Falls...

Date: 06-12-2007
Hikers: Andy, Jason Love, Isaac Evans, Jessica, Jared, Justin, 7 campers

Summer Blog Postings || Monday, June 11, 2007

For my summer job this summer, I am working at the Great Smoky Mountains Institute at Tremont as a teacher intern for the All Taxa Biodiversity Inventory (ATBI), a project sponsored by Discover Life in America, that aims to identify all species in the GSMNP. As part of my internship, I am to make a presentation next fall, and it seems to me that the best way for me to keep up with the information is going to be to post a daily blog. So... here goes.

Pre-Father's Day || Sunday, June 10, 2007

Due to limited stock and a good sale, my father's day present from my loving wifey and young uns came a week early. See photos from its innaugural float here (Chilhowee lake up to the mouth of Abram's Creek). ... ok... the pics are MIA... I'll look later.

Water Mites || June 10, 2007

Yesterday we took the family up to Tremont for a citizen science workshop on water mites. If this sounds like an unknown topic to you, it probably should as there are only 5 biologists in North America doing research on these mites. These lovely critters can be found in basically any body of water, but are about the size of a speck of sand. We had a great time first collecting samples from the Middle Prong of Little River and then sucking water mites out of a dish with pipettes. Jodie, in particular, is quite the budding water mite specialist. Anyway, some of the pictures from the workshop can be found below:

 

• Chilhowee lake to where Abrams Creek empties into the lake.

Date: 6-10-2007
Sam & Andy

 

• Chilhowee lake up to Chilogatee Branch

Date: 6-3-2007
Canoeists: Bailey, David, Andy

Kyker Bottoms || Saturday, June 02, 2007

Kyker Bottoms: We took the day to explore Kyker Bottoms Wildlife Management Area near the Blount/Loudon line off of Garland Rd.