Joyce Kilmer Memorial Forest || Tuesday, July 10, 2007

Today we fought the dragon and went over the mountain to Joyce Kilmer Memorial Forest. The home to a large stand of virgin timber, JK is close to Robbinsville, North Carolina (where Nell was filmed... think early 90s Jodie Foster) and Fontana, NC (where the dam scene in The Fugitive was filmed... think early 90s Harrison Ford). While there, the four of us hiked a 1.25 mile loop on a very well-maintained trail. If you're intimidated by hiking but would like to try it, this is a good idea. On the way there, we stopped at a boat ramp along Santeelah lake where Bailey showed us one of her new talents... Apparently she's a prodigy at catching butterflies with her bare hands... between her index and birdie finger. She had 4 catches in about 10 minutes. Very impressive. On the trail, Myers used the Lord's name in vain for the first time, as he was sitting kind of crooked in the backpack and yelled, "Oh, God!" Well, at least it sounded like that. To avoid car sickness on the way home we came back over the Cherohala Skyway and saw a huge Timber Rattlesnake on the side of the road (still alive). We stopped and gawked for a few minutes, until an old guy pulled up and got out of his car to try to play with it, then we left so Bailey wouldn't have to see someone shout and curse and scream, though it would have been a valuable lesson: Don't be a dummy.

Total Mileage: 1.25 miles

Route: Joyce Kilmer Memorial Forest loop

Date: 7-10-2007
Hikers: Andy, Jodie, Bailey, Myers

Gregory's Bald || Saturday, July 07, 2007

(Saturday, 7-7-07) Today I tackled one of the hiking trips that's been on my to-do list for a couple of years. The basic attack plan was to take the Gregory Ridge Trail out of Cades Cove up to Gregory's Bald, the Gregory Bald Trail down to Parson's Branch, then the Hannah Mtn Trail to Rabbit Creek Trail and then to Abrams Creek for a total of 21 miles. The main downer was that due to the cove being closed to cars until 10am on Saturday mornings, we couldn't start until at least 10am. After the cove opened, it took another 1.5 hours to get to the trailhead that was about halfway around the loop. Soo... 21 mile day hike, begun at lunch time.. winning idea. Jodie, Bailey, and Myers drove myself and Dave Talley around to the trailhead and dropped us off right at 11:30. The climb up to Gregory's Bald is persistent, but not that bad. The worst part was the 90+ degree heat, which made it possible to literally wring sweat out of every item I was wearing, including my backpack. On the was up we saw and spooked a black bear that was about 75 yards ahead of us on the trail. We made it to the bald at 2 and had lunch in time to watch clouds roll in and surround the bald (much like what happened at Andrews Bald a few weeks ago). Most of the Flame Azaleas at the bald were already past their prime, but their were several in bloom for us, as well as some not quite ripe blueberries. Like Andrews Bald, Gregory is being maintained as a Bald by the park service, which means that rangers and volunteers have to periodically trek their way up with weedeaters and other tools to clear land. Before leaving the bald we saw a doe and faun grazing along the trail. The faun was tiny and still had the white bambi spots. They were amazingly very tolerant of our presence, and they walked along the trail a short way ahead of us for several minutes. By the time we'd made it down the trail a few hundred yards the downpour had begun. It rained consistently until we reached Parson's Branch Rd (stilllll under construction) at 4:30. From here, we took Hannah Mtn Trail. It's one of the trails that has been eyeing me on the map for years saying "heh heh, you haven't hiked me." It was one of the few trails west of Tremont that I hadn't finished, and it was becoming an albatross. At one point, Hannah Mtn was a widely travelled trail, as it was the primary route to Gregory's Bald from Blount County (Montvale Springs Resort, in particular) prior to the formation of the part. However, today it is, as Dave put it, a trail you have to plan to be on. There are no really easy ways to get on the trail, and once you're on it its 7.6 miles to the next trail junction. The trail was a nice, gentle downhill slope, and I counted 5 toads along the way (I love toads and always keep a toad tally). Also along Hannah Mtn trail there was a large tulip poplar tree beside the trail that is at least 6 feet in diameter. We made it to the Rabbit Creek trail by 7:30, and from there it was a quick jaunt out to Abrams Creek Ranger Station. We got to Dave's car at 8:53, exactly one minute before sundown. Overall, great hot, wet, soggy, long trip. Pictures

Route: Gregory Ridge Trail to Gregory Bald Trail to Hannah Mtn Trail to Rabbit Creek Trail

Total Mileage: 21 miles
Gregory's Bald

Bird Banding and Otters || Wednesday, July 04, 2007

Today was bird banding day at Tremont (by the way--bird banding days are open to the public as part of the Citizen Science Program... if you're interested I can find out future banding days for this breeding season). For the 4th we did banding as a family outing today. Myers was content most of the time, but Bailey was a wee bit of a scaredy cat and wouldn't touch a bird for anything. In the yard she'll try to catch birds with a butterfly net, but with one 6 inches away being firmly held by a professional, she won't touch it. Oh well. Myers would have put it in his pocket if we'd loosen our grip. The highlight of the day came around 10am, however, when 3 river otters came down Little River immediately behind where we were banding. The first two were adults and the 3rd was a juvenile. As the came through they were separated and to reunite they did a "high pitched chirpy bark thing" (that's the official scientific terminology...) to try to get back together. Very cool. Pictures by Jodie After banding, we did the obligatory fireworks thing, hosting a cookout for my parents and Jodie's parents. Pictures of fireworks

Dragonflies, Butterflies, and Dead Feral Pigs || Tuesday, July 03, 2007

Today we went to Cades Cove to monitor butterflies, dragonflies, and snakes. We began at the Gregory homesite and continued up to Gregory Cave, which is about a guaranteed salamander spot. This time there were fewer than last time, but I still found 2 long tail salamanders and Isaak found a northern slimy. Random Gregory Cave Tidbits:

--the temperature of any cave will approximately be the average yearly temperature for its region at any given time... so in E. Tennessee, about 56 degrees fahrenheit year round.

--the cave could possibly hold evidence of a permanent Cherokee settlement in Cades Cove, something archaeologists had previously ruled out

--the cave contains pictographs

--the cave was used as a bomb shelter during the cold war

--the cave hid union loyalists in Cades Cove from N. Carolina's Confederate raiders during the Civil War

--the cave was once the site for summer dances

--the black stuff on the ceiling isn't guano--it's buildup of soot from years of fires and torches

--the cave is super easy to get to

--you shouldn't touch the ceiling in a living (still-forming) cave--the oil from scraping your fingers against the ceiling can delay stalagtite formation by about 100 years

After Gregory Cave, we went to Stupka sinkhole, near the Abrams Falls trailhead. With the drought, the sinkhole was dry, but during wetter weather there are abundant salamanders and a kind of algae (I know... wow... algae) that is only found in that sinkhole. Between the sinkhole and Mill Branch (a tributary of Abrams Creek) we found a Norther Watersnake in one of the research tins and the decomposing body of a euthanized feral pig. Introduced in a hunting preserve in North Carolina in 1908, wild boars escaped and have become one of the largerst nuissance species of exotics around. There are hunters on the National Park payroll whose job is simply to hunt and kill wild boars (tidbit... there are no species of pig native to the americas). Since they reproduce so quickly, half of the boars in the park must be killed each year for the population to stay even. To promote a balanced ecosystem, when a boar is killed it is left in its place so decomposers can go to work and so it can fertilize the area.

Once on Mill Branch, we went down the branch with nets in hand. Bored with finding no dragonflies, I started flipping logs and found a Northern Slimy Salamander. Tons of damsel flies (especially ebony jewel winged damsel flies), but few dragonflies. Isaak and Spencer (a 7th grader from Oak Ridge) netted a dragon hunter, though. Dragon Hunters are the largest dragonfly species in the park (about 3-3.4 inches) and are so named because they eat other dragonflies.

Following this stop, we went to the lagoons near the end of the loop road (they're behind the horse stables). Several damsel flies, a few common white tail dragon flies,and tons of blackberries. I found a clutch of 26 large snake eggs under a log, Probably from a black rat snake.

By the way, with holiday traffic, travelling around the loop road with no stops takes about 3.5 hours right now. Enjoy :)