Awesome website for 'post-Irene' imaging

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Check out this picture courtesy of USGS, taken after Irene on Wednesday 8-31-11.. Our friends at OBX Connections found this (thanks "twcmaster"): http://coastal.er.usgs.gov/hurricanes/irene/post-storm-photos/irene_photo.html

These are 3mb files that offer excellent resolution, just click on the orange dots up and down the coastline to view your neighborhood of interest! Our place "Stone's Throw" is almost in the middle of the picture, the square house with our silver truck in the driveway. For those unaware, if you're thinking about the obx for next year's vacation please check our mgmt company's website for both up and downstairs' units: http://www.hatterasvacations.com/

Guess who's moving to the beach?

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Kathleen Elizabeth! And she leaves for the beach Sunday, as she has enrolled in the NC Real Estate Class that starts Monday in Nags Head. Her plan is to work part time while taking the class (has an interview with Midgett Realty on Tuesday), and afterwards take the broker exam while working full time. Classes are MWF, 6pm-10:30pm. She'll stay at the beach house for the 2 months of classes. After that, well... she's even looking at travel trailers she can park in a campground. So away she goes, paving the road for us to follow. I'm betting she does just fine, which means i better figure out what i'm going to do down there. Maybe i'll learn how to fish.

I'm In Love With Sam Knob

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Sam Knob & Chestnut Bald SB6K’s – 3/31/12 – 9+ Miles
Warning:  multiplephotos of Sam Knob (which is a mountain, not a person) – I was a littleobsessed.
Weather.com is a wonderful resource.  I had a free Saturday and the forecast forCharlotte was rain, rain, rain.  But accordingto weather.com’s hour-by-hour predictions, if I timed it just right in PisgahNational Forest I could dodge the raindrops. And that’s just what I did.  Infact, I only encountered rain on the morning drive, and the rest of the day wasfilled with alternating sunshine and interesting clouds.
I was excited for another solo hike and this time I had new Trek hiking poles.  Lately my old ones were collapsing atunexpected moments (probably too much dirt in them and they wouldn’t tightenproperly) and I was ready for some new ones, more lightweight and able totelescope down even smaller.  So near BlueRidge Parkway milepost 420 I turned onto Forest Road 816 with new gear and anexpansive feeling of anticipation in my chest – ready for Sam Knob and ChestnutBald, two more SB6K’s. 
The purpose of FR 816 is to get hikers a mile off the BRP toaccess many trails in the Shining Rock and Middle Prong Wildernesses.  There is a large parking area and vaulttoilets at the end of the road and multiple places to pull off along the wayand enough hiking to keep you busy for months.  Most of the ten SB6K’s in the Great Balsams section can be dayhikedfrom the FR 816 parking areas (some hikes might be longer than you like,though).  I hiked to the dualsummits of Sam Knob once before, in pouring rain in July 2006, before I knewwhat an SB6K was, and it wasn’t a full five-mile trip so…time to do it right.
Sam Knob #1, two summits with a dip in between – love atfirst sight
Sam Knob #2

The trail to Sam Knob crosses open fields worthy of twirlingin your Sound of Music skirt.  Afterabout a half-mile the trail splits – turn right for the Sam Knob SummitTrail.  Very quickly I turned again, thistime left, and began ascending into the trees. The trail is very eroded going up this much-loved mountain.  In a couple of places there is a teasing viewof what will be laid out to enjoy on the Pisgah buffet at the summit.Near the top the trail splits again and either choice takesthe hiker to a summit.  This is one casewhere two roads diverge and you should take them both!  First I went to the right.  The wind was strong and clouds were movingquickly all around. 
The prominent bump in the left background is the Devil’s Court- house, an imposing rock outcropping reachable by a short, steep trail froma parking area on the Blue Ridge Parkway – but also reachable by me from whereI presently stood.  The mountain in themiddle foreground is Little Sam Knob.  Helooks like his hair is drooping rakishly over one eye.  The highest peak in the right background isMount Hardy, an SB6K which I conquered a couple of months ago.  I take great pleasure in being able to orientmyself by landmarks to keep track of where I am in the world. 
Where are all the people? It was a stunning Saturday and the parking lot was full of cars.  I had the place to myself. 
Shuffling over to the other summit (the oh-so-slightlyhigher of the two) I had a quick snack. This chunk of quartz is as big as a Volkswagen.  Mount Hardy is the high point in the distance.  The sky islooking quite ominous, eh?
Okay, let’s walk on over to the Devil’s Courthouse.  First I descended the Sam Knob Summit Trail,passed that first intersection and headed towards Flat Laurel Creek.  The trail was wet from recent rains and severalwooden footbridges helped keep my feet dry.  I heard the creek long before I saw it andwondered if I would be getting wet after all. But although the creek was robust, I was able to rock hop across.
And then went back to sit and savor the moment.

On the far side of the creek there is a T intersection – theFlat Laurel Creek Trail.  Turning left, Iwalked happily along with the creek on my left and Little Sam Knob on my right,looking for my next intersection, a right turn onto Little Sam Knob Trail.  Although this is a wilderness area, signagewas very good and I was feeling full of myself. I passed a wide-looking space on my right but there was no sign so Istrode confidently on down the trail…until I got that familiarthis-doesn’t-look-right-anymore-I’ve-gone-too-far feeling.  Geez, here we go again.
I backtracked to that wide-looking space, still notconvinced it was legit, but it sloped gently up and around the left flank of LittleSam and certainly was a trail.  After abouta mile I saw a single yellow blaze on a tree. Well, this must be it. 
A common reminder of logging days in these mountains
A nice campsite if you don’t mind being in the middle of thetrail
My next landmark was at my old friend, the Mountains-to-SeaTrail – took a right turn here towards the Devil’s Courthouse, which is ablue-blazed side trail off of the MST with no designation.  The blue blaze trail crosses over the BRP andjoins the main steep trail to the summit. 
Here I encount- ered a bit of humanity on a blustery andexciting Saturday, allowing me to be included in the photo this time (Little Sam and Sam Knob in the center #3).  A full circle moment:  a photo of Sam Knob from Devil’s Courthouseto bookend the photo I had taken a couple of hours earlier. 
Sam Knob and Little Sam on the far right #4

One goal completed, one SB6K to go, the part I was mostnervous about.  I back- tracked on the MST,bypassed Little Sam Knob Trail and continued on in search of ChestnutBald.  Similar to Mount Hardy, it doesnot have a maintained trail but I had vague instructions to help me find thepathway, things like walk ten paces past the big rock and look over your leftshoulder for the old NPS boundary sign.
And I found the break in the trees stepping off theright-hand side of the MST, but there was nothing like the trail going up MountHardy.  Was I good enough now at“feeling” my way to the top?  It wassupposed to be short.  I tried to keep ina straight line and I saw a couple of orange tags.  I kept climbing straight up until there wasno more “up” and I declared this tree the summit of Chestnut Bald.  AND I found my way back down.  Triumph!
Back on the MST eastbound, almost immediately I reached asuperb lookout point that deserved a few minutes for lunch and celebration of abeautiful day and a mission accomplished. That is Looking Glass Rock in the distance.  Can you believe I have never climbed it?  Somebody write that down on the list…
Just a couple of miles more on the MST to cross over intoShining Rock Wilderness.  Speaking ofShining, what is that glinting in the underbrush?  It was a tall beer can, looked prettynew.  Well, the least I could do wascarry it out.  When I picked it up I feltsloshing, so I turned it upside down to pour out whatever was in it.  Imagine my surprise when a pink, hairlesslittle leg popped out!  I shook the canhard and a tiny, very dead mouse slipped to the ground.  Ugh! Yes, I shook the can some more to make sure it was truly empty and thenstuffed it in a side pocket of my daypack. Leave no trace, people.
I crossed FR 816 at its midpoint and turned onto the ArtLoeb Trail towards the summit of Black Balsam. I had already tagged this SB6K, along with Tennent Mountain and GrassyCove Top, on an epic hike to Cold Mountain a couple of years ago, but I wantedto climb it again because it was right there and it was a beautiful day.  However, as I neared the summit I saw perhapsa dozen people on it and more on the trail, and I changed my mind.  I turned left onto the Art Loeb Spur anddescended to my car at the end of FR 816 – but not before taking a few moreawesome photos of my heartthrobs.
Sam Knob #5
Mount Hardy, Little Sam and Sam Knob #6

I have been fortunate to hike in some exotic locales in thepast several years, but this day was as good as it gets for me:  I feel God in these mountains. 
There are many, many awesome areas along the Blue RidgeParkway to explore and Shining Rock, Middle Prong and Pisgah NF are my favorites.  There is so much to see and the elevationgains and hiking are easy to moderate.  TheMST runs like a thread all along these areas, criss-crossing the BRP.  FYI, I researched my route using DannyBernstein’s “Hiking the Carolina Mountains” and the Carolina Mountain Club’sSB6K link.
Take a day and go exploring, won’t you?
Igo to nature to be soothed and healed, and to have my senses put inorder.  ~John Burroughs

Three More, Let's Make It Four

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Smokies SB6K Backpack – Day Two – 6/9/12 – BalsamMountain/ Appalachian Trail/Off-Trail – 12 Miles
I got up once during the night for a nature call andrealized anew what a bad spot my tent was in. Getting out of the door required crawling uphill, and when I stood up inthe pitch dark I could not get my balance on the slope.  Arms pinwheeling, I pitched forward into atree branch about neck high, which bounced me backward onto my butt, and then Irolled downhill back onto my tent.  Thankgoodness I didn’t knock it down completely, it just sagged a little (okay, alot).  After peeing, I crawled back inand vowed to die there rather than get up again in the dark. 
The trail crew guys were up early making noise, which neverbothers me – I enjoy lying in my sleeping bag while other people are up.  They left by 7:30 a.m. and I carefullycrawled uphill out of my tent again.  Hadto wake Jeff up.  We packed our stuff,ate a little something, and then explored the crew’s base of operations.  We had a fun Goldilocks moment sittingin their chairs in the shelter – tee hee.
Packs on our backs and ready for three more SB6K’s, Jeff wasin front of me as we headed back to Balsam Mountain Trail.  As Jeff stepped past, a brownish four-footsnake popped out from underneath the shelter and began its slinky sidewaysapproach down the path straight toward me. I began to yell, “Hey, hey, hey!” which to me meant “Snake, yikes, saveme!” and to Jeff meant absolutely nothing because he didn’t turn around(perhaps he thought I was singing?)  Istopped on the path and the snake kept coming, until I stepped off to the rightand it slithered off to the left.  Ididn’t make note of its markings because I was fascinated by its graceful glide. 
In the first half-mile we caught up with the trail crew,taking a quick break from their morning’s work improving Balsam Mountain Trail.  With hazel hoes and rakes theyhad cut deeper into the bank and widened the trail.  Ours were the first hiker footsteps on thisnew improvement.
Balsam Mountain Trail is one of the best trails in the parkthat few people ever see.  From LaurelGap the trail takes a distinct left turn and runs along the ridge of BalsamMountain, acting as the horizontal bar of the letter “H” connecting the MountSterling ridge on one side and the AT ridge on the other.  It’s an easy trail to walk on, not muchchange in elevation, with glimpses into the valleys on either side.  The trail character alternates betweenhardwoods and alpine forest, rocks and roots and lush green ferns.
Peaking through (notice the dark cloud looming above?)
Balsam Mountain Trail #1
Balsam Mountain Trail #2
Balsam Mountain Trail #3
Balsam Mountain Trail #4
Bear print – we saw several of these, always headed in theopposite direction – I guess Mr. Bear was here yesterday?
Dropping our packs to climb Luftee Knob


Although not a picnic, bush- whacking up to the summit ofLuftee Knob was not as difficult as Big Cataloochee yesterday.  In retrospect, Big Cat was an excellent firstexperience to measure the other summits against.  I didn’t like it, I was exhausted by it, butI survived it and felt that elation of accomplishment.  I continually asked Jeff for a ranking of allthe other summits and a comparison to Big Cat. Why?  I was going to do them nomatter what.  But with any endeavor thechallenge is mostly mental, and it helped me to get psyched (or resigned) towhatever was coming up.  Luftee Knob wasa .6-mile round trip, less steep but just as gnarly with lush undergrowth anddowned tree obstacles.   There wasnothing to indicate the summit other than Jeff’s GPS said so. 
A couple of miles further along Balsam Mountain Trail wereached our next challenge, two summits originating from the same location onthe trail, one to the right and the other to the left.  First, Mt. Yonaguska, which Jeff had notsummited. (Those funny SB6K guidelines say that either Mt. Yonaguska orTricorner Knob can count because they are the same height and are consideredspurs of each other – Jeff has bagged Tricorner Knob.)  So up we went, the shortest trip yet at .25miles each way and Jeff creating a GPS track, to this scenic spot on top of Mt.Yonaguska.
(And how do you pronounce that?  Yon-uh-GOO-skuh.  Say it out loud now.  Nobody is listening.)
Coming back down, Jeff says “Follow me.”
And I’m trying.



A little rest and something to eat while Jeff explains ournext summit to Mark’s Knob.  This is 1.1miles one way, which I equate to multiple hours based on what we’ve experiencedso far.  But…this used to be a maintainedtrail (decommissioned how many years ago?) going around Mt. Hardison and Mark's Knob and over to Hyatt Ridge Trail (which now dead ends at Campsite 44) and it’s relatively level, not muchelevation gain until the final push, and discernible where trail builders cutthe trail out of the mountainside and leveled it (just like the trail crew wasdoing when we passed them this morning – go back and look at that photo).  AND several people had put up flagging tapethe whole way.  I was thrilled. 
Summit of Mark’s Knob
New growth on balsam branches
One rather significant detail – unmain- tained means crews no longer clearthe deadfall on the trail.  We were constantly stepping over, duckingunder or climbing over trees of all sizes. On the return leg we counted about 350 trees across the trail.  Yes, that means that out-and-back, 2.2 miles,we had over 700 trees to negotiate around.  Yetthis was my favorite summit because of little elevation gain and a marked pathso I could find my own way. 
On the return, Jeff took the time to also summit Mt.Hardison (the “trail” skirted around the summit), adding to his long list ofbagged peaks and making his time a little more worthwhile.  He still arrived back at our meeting point onBalsam Mountain Trail shortly after I did; he can move much faster when I’m notwhining along behind. 
And hey, look, it’s still early.  Maybe we can make one more peak today?  Mt. Chapman is beckoning.
One more mile and we reached the end of Balsam MountainTrail and our home for the night, Tricorner Knob Shelter.  We’ve stayed here before, know that theshelter sits on a very narrow ledge and there isn’t much room to pitch tents ifthe shelter scene is less than fun.  As wewalked down to the shelter Jeff pointed out a camping spot to the right of thetrail, sitting high up on the ridge. Perhaps we’ll end up there?  Butlet’s see what’s going on at the shelter first.
Five backpackers were sprawled out in the shelter,20-somethings from Texas who were hiking the Smokies section of the AT.  Their first question was did I bring anybeer?  (I didn’t even need to look atJeff for his opinion.)  We chatted withthe young’uns for a few minutes, didn’t get any warm and fuzzy feelings, andthen we left to conquer Mt. Chapman. 
Mt. Chapman is an SB6K mountain about a mile south ofTricorner Knob on the AT.  Then it’s ashort bushwhack (.2 miles one way) but quite steep.  I was running out of gas by now and even alittle elevation had me breathing hard. 
Dead balsam on Mt. Chapman - unusual bleached effect
Yellow bead lilies were so numerous we couldn’t avoidwalking on them (aka blue bead lilies when the blooms fade and it bears dark bluefruit).
View of Mt. Guyot – shuddering chills and ominous music –one of tomorrow’s goals and the worst one of all (and those clouds hovered all day but no rain)
Summit of Mt. Chapman – four SB6K’s in one day! 


On the way back to Tricorner Knob Shelter, we discussed our sleeping options.  TheTexas folks didn’t have reservations, so it was possible that the shelter couldget a lot more crowded.  As we talked, wecame up behind a young couple with loaded backpacks who was also headed forTricorner (without reservations). They wondered what we were doing, hiking around up on the AT without anygear at all (we had left everything at the shelter for this short sidetrip). 
That settled it for Jeff – he was going to check out the littlecampsite and relocate.  Iwasn’t thrilled because rain was on the way and I did not want to take down awet tent in the morning.  But it seemed amore peaceful option than staying in the shelter.
Again…oh ye of little faith! The five Texans had discovered the campsite and moved in themselves! 
If we’d had a webcam set up, the next few hours would show the weary young couple from the AT arriving andspreading out their gear, several more hikers showing up, investigating thelayout, choosing hidden spots in the woods behind the latrines to hang hammocksor set up tents, and various forms of food prep, including one guy who didn’tlike to carry a stove (minimalist) but was not shy about asking for any hotwater anyone had left over (yes, I let him use my stove).  One of the Texas girls came back to get herhiking stick, which was leaning against the wall and I had mistaken for a random stick and had hung my sportsbra on to dry (sorry about that). 
We ended up having a very pleasant evening, just Jeff andme and the backpacking couple staying in the shelter, talking about past hikes and future plans.  A goosebumpy feeling, the farthest point away from a road in all of the Smokies, sitting high up on a mountain as the light faded.  Slept well. 
"Keep close to nature's heart, yourself; and break clearaway, once in a while, and climb a mountain or spend a week in the woods. Washyour spirit clean."  ~John Muir  

Wouldn't Take Nothin' For My Journey Now

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Smokies SB6K Backpack Trip – Day 3 – 6/10/12 – AT/Snake DenRidge Trail – 13.1 Miles
Through the night I dozed and listened, quiet except for a raucouschorus of frogs in the wee hours.  Rainwas predicted the day before but it avoided us. According to Jeff, rain was again predicted for today beginning at 7:00a.m.  But rain or shine, this was ourlast day and I could handle whatever came. By 7:00 a.m. we were packing up and still dry. 
Raindrops began to whisper on the shelter roof at 7:30a.m.  Ah well…
Suited up for a wet day – two SB6K summits to go. 
Despite the clouds, we still had a view and some rhodosblooming on the AT
An old granddaddy rhodo- dendron bush covered in glowing lichen


From time to time I am asked which trail in the Great SmokyMountains is my favorite, and my standard answer is that I have some favoritedays hiking there due to a combination of the trail, the weather, my fellow hikers(or solo), and the events on that hike.  But…it’shard to downplay the uniqueness of the Appalachian Trail following theridgeline of the Smokies.  Every step ofit is infused with magic if you open yourself up.   NorthCarolina drops down over one shoulder and Tennessee drops down over the other.  Impressions of tens (hundreds?) of thousandsof footsteps are underneath your feet, of humans on a soul-searching walk oranimals looking for lunch.  The2-by-6-inch white rectangles painted on the trees are the same as the ones inMaryland and in Maine.  So whether thesun is shining or the rain is dripping, the AT through the Smokies is a specialplace to be. 
Rain gear doesn’t really keep you dry when it’s above 50degrees, because you sweat inside with the exertion of hiking.  But it makes you think you’re stayingdry.  And today it served anotherpurpose:  protecting us from morescratches and scrapes during our bushwhacking. The rain tapered off but the woods were saturated as we began ournext-to-last and most difficult SB6K summit, Mt. Guyot on the AT.  Jeff’s memory of Mt. Guyot was accurate:  a terrible, awful, no-good, very badbushwhack.  The half-mile slog uphill tookus a solid hour.  Even with Jeff’s GPStrack, we tried and abandoned a couple of routes near the summit because of additionaldeadfall since his last visit.  Theblackberry briars grew way overhead and we spent a lot of time stomping a paththrough (which helped a lot on the return, only a half hour). 
Slimy snails were every- where, a bumper crop, and they seemedto bother me much more than the thought of gigantic rattle- snakes.  Grabbing onto tree trunks and branches, a fewtimes I squished a little fellow and shrieked, doing a little dance of disgustas I wiped my hand on my rain pants. YUCK.
The summit of Mt. Guyot at last.  Yes, this is worth it.

The final summit of Old Black was also difficult but muchshorter, a .4-mile roundtrip.  A bitanti- climactic after Mt. Guyot, but a triumph nevertheless.  Now all we had to do was walk to my car –about two miles on the AT and then 5 miles down Snake Den Ridge Trail.  Downhill sounded great, but I knew that by trail’send my thighs would be shaking and my knees would be aching.  But hey, I just finished bagging sevenoff-trail peaks in the Smokies!  I feltgreat. 
Continuing northbound on the AT past Old Black, we kept oureyes peeled for the remains of an F-4 Phantom fighter plane that crashed intothe ridge near Inadu Knob in 1984. Fragments from the wreck are scattered around the area close to the ATintersection with Snake Den Ridge Trail. I had not seen this the last time I was here.  I don’t know how I missed it then, but it isvery obvious just off the trail to the right. Jeff guessed that some of the pieces had been collected together at thisspot.
We turned left onto Snake Den Ridge Trail and began our longdescent.  At the next intersection wesplit up.  Jeff turned onto Maddron BaldTrail so he could get in some new miles and also check out the Albright Grove Loop,a .7-mile side trail through rare old growth hardwood forest.  I continued on down Snake Den Ridge.
The smoky view from Snake Den Ridge Trail
Galax blooms lining the trail
Something big was digging around here not long ago
Can never have too many photos of rhodo- dendron up close
Crossing Inadu Creek on Snake Den Ridge Trail, I met afellow here who had backpacked in overnight carrying a huge camera and tripod
Alternate-leaved dogwood
Fun fungi

A half-mile from the end of Snake Den Ridge Trail is theWilliamson Cemetery.  Most of the graves datefrom the early 1900’s, but noteworthy is a marker dated 1982 for Ella V.Costner, a World War II POW and Poet Laureate of the Smokies. 
The day was not over when I arrived at the trailhead.  I walked through the Cosby Campground to thehiker parking area and saw my precious Honda Pilot waiting where Daniel andMike had left it, along with a note of their whereabouts today.  Turns out they were walking the same trail asJeff (Maddron Bald) but we missed them by a couple of hours.  I changed clothes, cleaned up a little, andwent in search of the Maddron Bald trailhead, going completely on memoryseveral years old.  Luckily I recognizedroad names and landmarks.  After a shortwait, Jeff stumbled up with tired, sore feet and was ready to go home.  Me too.
I knew that this weekend would be hard, hard work…and itwas.  Yet for all that physical effortand discomfort, the feeling of being on a trail was as uplifting and transformativeas always.  I don’t know if I will evergo bushwhacking again without a specific challenge goal, but I hope I can keephiking the trails forever.
Thanks, Jeff.
Wouldn’t take nothin' for myjourney now.  ~Jimmie Davis