FIGHT FOR SURVIVAL
Most of us, when we go to the Smokies, we're looking for something big, furry, and black like what I just got done talking about. We've usually got our eyes up instead of looking on the ground. Well sometime the best shows are played out on the ground by the smaller things. That is what happens in this story. On our way to Grotto Falls we stopped for a short air and water break. As I was looking on the ground I saw this 4-inch purple salamander come down a tree root. (You can see him here in the upper right of this first picture.) A couple of feet below him was this type of bee. I'm not an insect expert so I couldn't tell you what kind of bee he was but I can safely say I don't think he was the stinging kind.
Anyway the salamander came down the tree and onto the ground and something happened I never expected. The salamander made a quick right-hand turn and went charging after the bee, at one point grabbing the rear of the abdomen in his jaws. I was amazed because the bee was 4 times larger than the salamander's head.
The first picture above was taken after the first attack, the reason being that I never expected it to happen. This next picture shows the second attack. The bee gets slowed down by a small twig. The salamander sees his chance and makes a lunge for the rear end of the bee again just as I hit the shutter button. I was really surprised as how vicious the salamander was attacking. When you pick them up and play with them you never really expect them to have the kind of dark side this one was showing in this case.

The bee kept ahead of the salamander but the small purpleish amphibian was not about to give up making another lunge. I'm sure at this point the bee was wishing he had a stinger so that he could have given the salamander the bad taste in his mouth during the first attack. With each move the bee made the salamander attacked time after time. Personally I don't know the diet a salamander has although I'm sure small bugs are part of their diet. I just didn't know they went after something this big.
At this point the bee gave himself a little bit of breathing room. Looking at the salamander, it kind of gave me the impression he was trying to figure out what he wanted to do next. There was no doubt he was really hungry and wanted to do the family size dinner but maybe he was taking on more than he could. After all, this guy was really big and wouldn't even fit in his mouth. There weren't any doggie bags around to take anything home to the kids or the wifey. And maybe he just wanted to catch his breath a little bit. I would love to know what was going on in that mind.

Like a big cat stalking his prey the salamander made another lunge but for some reason stopped just short of the bee. I don't really know what the salamander might have been thinking at this point. He had a wide open shot at the bee and might have even been able to put him down at this point. The bee seemed to have a broken left wing and was unable to even get off the ground at all. For several seconds neither creature moved, both trying to figure out what the other was going to do next. Was this the bee's last stand or would the salamander make the kill at this point???
It was here where the bee made his best move of the whole affair. Nearby was a small cluster of shamrocks and the bee ducked in under the small umbrella-like plants. (You can see part of him just left of center.) The salamander also dove into the patch of clovers but this time the bee had a larger branch he could crawl up and over for his escape. He made the climb and reached safety as the salamander was left to ponder why he didn't make his move at the last stop when he was just an inch away. It would be another day where the salamander would have to wait for lunch.
What I was wishing for the whole time that I watched this was one of the high-definition video cameras like those used by National Geographic and The Discovery Channel. This was a series that definitely would have fit right into the likings and the kind of footage I'm sure they would have jumped for. I realize the pictures aren't quite National Geographic quality but for this story they'll do quite nicely.
The moral of the story is this. The next time you're out taking a walk look under your feet once in a while. You might just see a whole new world and see something that nobody else will. It's definitely worth the look......%-)

The Furry Things

Now I bring you some of the furry things that we saw down on this trip. The first thing we did when we got to the park was to drive a section of the Foothills Parkway. We had some great views and had a picnic lunch on top of one of the smaller mountains at a picnic area that gave us a great breeze to eat by.

After that we made our way to Cade's Cove hoping to see something big and black. First though there were lots of deer out on this day. Deer aren't really a big thing for us as we see them all the time. Just a few days ago we had two in our yard in broad daylight, a doe on her way to one of our apple trees and a 6-point buck that was already there and wanted all the apples to himself, chasing away to doe so he could have his pickings of it all.
This deer was the first one we saw. She was pretty used to all the cars that went by and just mozied around looking for food. She did take the time to look at at the parade of cars occasionally.

Then we came upon the first buck. This guy wasn't really all that big but he had a nice 8-point rack mounted on his head. (Maybe I shouldn't use the word 'mounted' in his presence.)

He took his time as well chewing on the fresh grass that had been softened by the recent rains. He didn't pay much attention to anybody either but looked up long enough let pose for me for this picture. Not many people get a chance to get this close to an antlered deer so there were several cars that stopped to take pictures as well. Still though I was really wanting to photograph something a little more hairy and darker. It wouldn't be long that I would get that chance as we noticed that the long line of cars had stopped in the road and weren't moving at all. In Cade's Cove, or anywhere else that matter in the Smokies, that's a sign that somebody is seeing what most people come to see.

Yes....it's the bears. This one had been on the ground when it was first seen then made a 70-foot climb into this big tree. I know he had to be wondering what in the world was going on around him. This one appeared to be a younger male and probably in the 200-pound range. For him climb up this tree was as easy task with his large claws holding him on to the treebark as he scrambled up. I've seen them as high as 90-feet up feeding off the highest, and thinnest, limbs before their winter hybernation.

This guy (he acted like a guy by his mannerisms in the tree and the way he moved around) was pretty content to just watch all the goings on below him. Every once in a while he'd sit up on his perch, either to scratch himself or just take in the view. We don't really know how long he stayed up there before he came down. I'm expecting it was a good while as there was a very long line of cars behind us and everybody was wanting a chance to see. One woman, who must have got up on the wrong side of the bed, yelled out the window for everybody to leave the bear alone. All I can see is she just doesn't have much of a taste for nature. We watched him for about 20 minutes before finally going on our merry way and hoping to see more.

We saw another bear on Wednesday but she was in no mood to have her picture take or anything else. She cross the road in front of a pickup truck in front of us and went ahead into the woods. She seemed to be on a mission knowing where she wanted to go because she didn't slow down at all.

Thursday we went back to Cade's Cove that morning and came up on this doe that was eating close to the fence along the road. She was in a place where I could quietly slide off the road to get really close. At first she just kept on eating but then raised her head to look right at my camera lens. It was like she was saying, "Okay, I'll pose for you." After about 30 seconds she said, "Okay, now back to my salad." and got on again with the food duties. We saw a few other deer along the way and even took at side road that looked very beary but still saw nothing.

But then came the trip back. We had gone about a mile from the Cade's Cove entrance when I just happened to look down into a gully on the opposite side. There in the bottom was a mother bear with a cub walking behind it. Okay...my brain kind of went crazy at this point and I really wanted to get back to see it. I first tried pulling off the road but here came a ranger so I pulled back onto the road and drove up to the first pull off to turn around. On the way back I had to figure out which gully it was because a couple of them look alike. I couldn't see them so I turned around again. Back up we went but saw nothing again. I was really getting crazed now. We came back one more time and parked in a small parking area near the first gully.

I got out of the car and with my sense of direction all messed up went the wrong direction. I realized what I had done and turned around. As I started walking quickly back up the hill here is what I saw.

The mother bear came down off the hill and into the road. She was in a bad spot really on a curve and the two cars here had to get on the breaks pretty quick. The mother came out first and stopped in the middle of the left hand lane as the van came up on her. She eased over toward the side of the road and then the cub came down. At one point the cub stood up and wrapped his paws around his mother's nose. She was a larger female at probably between 200 and 250 pounds. I was really mad at myself for going the wrong way as she probably would have stepped out in front of me and I could have got my best bear pictures yet. But I guess that will have to wait for next time. Both bears stood along the road for about a minute and then I guess Mama had had enough of the traffic and the pair went back in the woods. Hopefully if I get to go back in September I'll get to see some more...and hopefully my brain won't go to self-destruction so that I can get a better picture next time.....%-)

GROTTO FALLS


I'm sure there's got to be a few people who read this that will have been to this falls at one time or other. But just in case you haven't this is a waterfall well work the walk to see. The trailhead is on the Roaring Fork Auto Trail out of Gatlinburg. (Just turn at stoplight #8 and head up the mountain.) The trail itself is 1.4 miles long to the falls but if you've got a whole day to hike you can go all the way to the top of Mt. LeConte. (You have to have reservations to stay at the lodge on top. I haven't made that climb yet but want to very badly.)

Anyway the trail up really isn't that bad but it's rated as a moderately difficult trail. When you get to the falls, though, you'll find it well worth your muscle soreness later. The falls is between 20 and 30 feet tall. You can even go back underneath of it on the backside as the trail takes you inside the small grotto there.
What makes this water unique is that in a way it creates its own air conditioning system. While most of the trail was in the upper 70's to low eighties at the bottom, the temp here was in the upper 60's (68 or 69). The cold mountain water cooled the air around it. The wind from the falling water created its own little breeze to spread that air around inside this small little pocket of rock. It was a very popular place while we were there and I could see why. You've got the soothing sound of the rushing water, cooler air, and lots of big rocks to sit on to take it all in. Why would you want to leave???!!!
Oh.....I did get the wife Peggy to go up with me on this one. She doesn't hike much but she did the whole 2.8. She was a little slow at times but I was the same way when I first started doing this too. The last hike I had her on was a 2.6 miler. We got a little farther this time. Maybe before long I'll have her on a big hike........%-)

BACK TO THE SMOKIES

This one isn't about a big hike I took this week but about 3 days where me and the wife decided to make a quick getaway trip...something everybody needs at one time or other. I think what I'm going to do first for this one is just show you some pictures to tease you with. This first one is of some ferns near Grotto Falls. Another picture will be on a magnolia flower on the way up to Grotto and also some river pictures, one at Roaring Fork and some others at the Chimney Tops Trailhead. After this I'll then get into some wildlife we saw and then another section on something very extraordinary that I saw. Right now though here comes a nice set of pictures to make you drool about. Oh....the bibs are up in the left-hand cabinet under the towels.

BACK ON THE TRAILS

Hi Guys!!!! Yeah I know, it's been a long time since I've been on here. I've just had a lot going on and needed some down time too. BUT I'M BACK!!!!

I was going to put lots of stuff on here from the Kentucky Derby, Indy 500, and Nationwide Meijer 300 on here but to see those pictures the best place to go is http://www.clarionnews.net/ and then click on the photo galleries. There's more pictures there than I could get on here so jump on over after you get done with the blog and take a look. Lots and lots of pictures for sure.

Okay....I finally got back on the hiking trails. The hike I'm telling you about first is one in the Harrison-Crawford State Forest where I was planning on doing 27 miles on the Adventure Hiking Trail. I wish I could say I got all 27 in but sometimes things don't go exactly the way you want and I ended up coming up 4 miles short.

The first day was a good one...at least most of it anyway. Let's say the first 12 miles were anyway. I got an early start at about 7:30 that morning and made for the Isaac Bottom trailhead. It didn't take long to see some wildlife as I jumped up a big covey of quail that also had two wild turkeys in it too, one of them landing on a tree limb for a good five minutes before finally jumping off and floating down into the valley. Deer were jumping up in front of me too but mostly giving that wave good-bye with their white tails. But the body wasn't feeling too bad considering I hadn't hiked at all for a few weeks.

A shower kept the air cooled for me and the forest canopy did a good job of acting as umbrella enough that I didn't have to pull out my rain jacket. It did kind of slicken the trail up some, especially on one steep section that forced me to dirty up my backside a little bit. After a while, however, I made it to my first real stop of the old iron bridge, which I've showed you before.

If you look at the first two pictures you'll see debris in the middle of the bridge. That was left behind during a major flood in the spring that caused a lot of damage all over the Midwest. When you look down at the third picture you can see how high the water had to get to leave that debris behind. The river even covered a small part of Indiana Highway 62 forcing the road to be closed, something I had never seen happen before. This was the same flood I told you about that flooded the town of Milltown. I know it caused a big mess for a lot of people to clean up.

After the break at the iron bridge I continued on and met some horse riders from Corydon out for a leisurely stroll through the woods. After climbing the next big hill I took a break where most of the horse riders were camping at. The weather was still pretty good with nothing but clouds to keep the sun and heat away. A little later I made it to the Pioneer Cabin and then to the top of the next big hill where the burned down shelter that I'd told you about before had once stood. Nothing has been done yet to rebuild the structure but somebody had left behind a Kawasaki Mule that I guess had some mechanical problems.

During my break there a little thundershower let go with a little bit of rain and low rumblings up in the clouds. I didn't think about it much until the thunder got a little louder and being on top of that hill was really not the best place for me. So I decided it would be best if I head down the other side. I only got about a quarter mile and the clouds unloaded everything all at once. The downpour was enough that I had to grab a poncho out of the pack and also the pack cover. Lightning flashed overhead and the rain came down in a deluge but I kept on going ahead at the same time wishing that shelter was still standing.

Then I came to a section and I have now named Mind-Bender. You first have a very steep uphill climb. (This is the toughest section of the whole trail by the way.) On the other side you have a very steep downhill and the rain had made the trail very slippery forcing me to hang on to trees as I made my way down the hill. Not only was it using up a lot of my energy but just when you think you're close to the road you find another steep climb in front of you. Then on the other side of that hill you can see the road but the trail winds back and forth so that your brains really get scrambled. Finally though I was at the Cold Friday Hollow Road where I took another quick break. After one more climb of just over a mile I finally made it to the top where I gladly crashed into the Homestead Shelter after 16 long miles.

Yes this is what I looked like after the first 16 miles. I'm going to admit it took a lot out of me. I think the muddied section through Mind Bender where the footing got really difficult used up a lot more energy that I had intended on using. Had it been dry I don't think I would have been near as tired as I was. After just sitting for a while I pulled out the pad and sleeping bag and tried to get in a short nap. I had made it to the shelter by 3:40 pm which was really pretty good time considering that I hadn't really done a big hike for a while.

Sometime between 6 and 7 pm Steve, Chuck and Carole showed up to give me some company for the night. They arrived as I was cooking up a bag of Mountain House lasagna for supper. Steve got a fire going to keep the skeeters away and we watched the sun go down through the trees. All it all it had been a pretty good day but I was a bit worried how stiff I would be the next morning.

Actually I wasn't as stiff as I thought. I did a lot of tossing and turning during the night but I did get a few hours in anyway. I know I must have because Steve said at one point he woke up to see a brightly lit moon, something which I didn't see. Steve and Chuck got their coffee going and I slugged on a bottle of water with some Propel in it for a little vitamin B6 and b12. I've been off coffee for 18 years so decided just a little flavored water would work best for me. I did eat a little breakfast food and Chuck offered me a cinnamon-apple cookie, which I gladly took.

We finished breakfast and finally got on our way but a wee bit later than what we really wanted to. There was a little concern about water but Steve and Chuck told about water they had place about 3 miles down the trail. After leaving the shelter we soon came upon a stretch of a lot of downed trees, big ones too. It was obvious some type of micro burst with possibly 80-90 mph winds had swept through the area turning the stretch into a kind of maze. Some of the markers had been knocked down and unless you knew what you were really doing it would be easy to get sidetracked. Steve had been through it before and led the way. After about a half mile things finally got better and we entered a really nice section where rays of sunlight beamed down into the woods. We crossed one area where is the wet season there would be a 20-foot waterfall. I know I've got to try to get back here during next year's spring rains to both see it for myself and show it to you here. It will be worth the walk, that I know for sure.

We finally made it to the Indian Creek Shelter which I've had on here many times. We took a break there and then headed for Old Forest Road. The next three miles turned into the hardest for me. I knew we were getting low in water and had no sources really with all the springs now dried up.The last four miles the day before had taken more out of me than I thought and the last hill before Old Forest forced me to end it here. Carole was kind of glad of it too because a sizable blister had formed on her foot. Steve reached his wife on the cell phone and he and Chuck met her to go get my car. We then went to his car and called it quits until another time.

I do plan on making the effort again to do the entire 27 miles in two days. I'm already looking at doing it sometime in April when the springs are up and running and the streams have sufficient water so that the water worries are out of the way. It was still a good hike and I'm ready for another one but of shorter distance for now. I am considering a September hike back in the Smoky Mountains, which I'll have some things to tell you about from a quick three-day visit there. Now it's time for me to go on to the next adventure.