Old Dan Walking

[caption id="attachment_325" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Congaree National Park"]

[/caption] To skip the chatter and go right to the pics of this walk, click the link below: Weston Lake Loop Trail - Congaree National Park(Opens in new window) 4.4 mile loop hike on the Weston Lake Loop Trail (Congaree National Park - South Carolina), 260 miles from the Great Smoky Mountains National Park - April 26, 2009 Just back from nearly two weeks in California and Washington on business, I just didn't have the energy for a long drive to the Smokies despite the sunny and warm late-April Sunday weather. So I decided I would stay closer to home and take a motorcycle ride to our own National Park that is just 45 miles southeast of Irmo, Congaree National Park. Formerly known as Congaree Swamp National Monument, the park is now known as Congaree National Park. This would be my first visit since moving to these parts nearly 8 years ago. I've spent the majority of my years living in swampy Florida, and I must admit the thought of walking through a swamp had not been high on my to-do list. But I thought I would give our swamp a chance, and if it turned out to be a drag at least I'd have a nice motorcycle ride to get there and back. Well, as is usually the case with walking, I would not be disappointed. [caption id="attachment_326" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="The boardwalk along the Weston Lake Loop Trail"] [/caption] Starting at the very nice visitor center I grabbed a park map and scoped out a trail with a reasonable distance. Since I've been away for a while I didn't want to be gone all day, so I chose the 4.4 mile Weston Lake Loop Trail. Coming out of the visitor center I noticed the nice wooden sign with a dial hanging between the restrooms, which was a mosquito-meter. That's something that you don't have to think about when hiking the Smokies, but if you visit this park you better either bring a lot of bug repellent or an extra pint of blood. The meter on the mosquito-meter was on 4 (out of 6), which was the severe category. I ran out of pictures on my disposable camera (still trying to finish up the camera I used in the redwoods areas) before getting a picture of the meter, but category 5 and 6 basically warned it was armageddon and you better be wearing armor. See a nice photo of the meter here. Did I mention how much I love swamps? I'm a mosquito magnet and once again was not prepared for this walk, so I ducked back into the visitor center for some citronella wipes and promptly rubbed myself down. In the time it took between noticing the meter and ducking back in the store for the wipes, I had already been nailed twice by the flying banes of my existence. Warning, these evil things mean business around here, so if you visit make sure you prepare better than I did! So off I went on the elevated boardwalk above the swamp. Soon I would stop for picture and like a stooge drop my camera. Life went into slow motion as I helplessly watched it fall onto the boardwalk, slowly and agonizingly slide across the boardwalk, and drop over the side....PLOP, into the legendary swamp muck! My pictures from California were on that camera, and I was not about to let the swamp claim it, so over the side I went and into the muck. I retrieved the camera before it got too waterlogged, but after seeing my pictures after getting them developed today I probably wasted the effort. I should've let the swamp claim it. On the bright side, at least it wasn't my good camera. As you cruise the boardwalk you start to notice the forest change from mixed hardwood to tupelo and cypress, and you start to see the strange and eerie pointed cypress root columns sticking up out of the muck. The cypress trees grow wide at the base to help them stay anchored in the muck. Soon you drop off of the elevated boardwalk and onto the forest floor and muddy trail. You cruise through an flat old-growth forest and soon reach the first bridged stream crossing. This crossing is not like anything you'll find in the Smokies, and immediately the Doobie Brothers start ringing in your head. Oh, Black Water....This water was barely moving, and it was jet black. The cypress trees growing out of the water made for a good picture spot. This is the swamp you picture in your mind when you think swamp. You look both ways to make sure Mel Gibson and his band of Patriots are not camping nearby. [caption id="attachment_328" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Oh Black Water, keep on rolling..."] [/caption] Soon I reached the intersection with the River Trail and turn left to head around the top side of Weston Lake. The lake is not visible until I get to the opposite leg of the loop, but on the right is a very interesting scene of the slow moving deep black river meandering through the huge cypress. I stop every 30 seconds and take a picture, this is not stuff you see everyday. I start to worry about two things, the first of which is how many pictures do I have left in my disposable camera? I'm snapping away like a madman, and soon I would run out of shots unfortunately before even reaching Weston Lake. Next time, bring the digital! The second thing I worried about? Well, I was trying to play a balancing act with the speed of my walk. The trail was flat and I was cruising at a good speed. But I wanted to go fast enough to get a workout but not so fast that I started sweating badly. It was quite hot on this Sunday, in the low 90's which is well above average for late April even in these parts. Was I afraid to sweat like some kind of ninny? No, that wasn't it at all. Every time I stopped 100 mosquitos gathered around me to have lunch. If I began to sweat, that would spell the end for the citronella coating that was keeping me alive in the midst of the flying devils. So I made good, but not too good time as I cruised along amidst 1000's of flying devils, a huge array of emerald-colored flies, dragonflies, spiders, and probably lots of snakes. Ahh, the swamp, you've gotta love it! On the back side of the loop I lemented that I used up all of my pictures, because it was even more picturesque than the back side of the loop. The cypress trees were gigantic and the swamp areas more scenic, and I continually yelled at myself for not having my real camera with me. Soon I reached the beginning of the boardwalk and a nice spur over to the very peaceful and serene Weston Lake. Turtles, fish, and birds were everywhere, and you'll have to take my word for it because I sure couldn't take any pictures of them. One highlight on the way back was a former National Champiion Loblolly pine that was right beside the trail. This tree was impressive. It has recently been replaced on the top of the list by another nearby tree, so this guy now sits in second place. Another highlight of the walk back was a bright orange/yellow bird (unidentified, but not a goldfinch) that followed me for a while. The remainder of the trail is on the elevated boardwalk and I soon looped back to where I started. My impressions of the swamp? Well, I can't say it's a place I'd walk too often, but it was beautiful in its own way and with the right equipment (i.e. gallons of bug repellent) and in the right time of year it makes for a peaceful outing. I left with the feeling that the Congaree National Park was indeed very unique and worthy of National Park status. For pics of this walk, click the link below: Weston Lake Loop Trail - Congaree National Park(Opens in new window)

To skip the chatter and go right to the pics of this walk, click the link below: Old Sequoia Trail - Big Basin Redwoods State Park(Opens in new window) 4 mile loop hike on the Sequoia Trail (Big Basin Redwoods State Park, California), 2520 miles from the Great Smoky Mountains National Park - April 19, 2009 [caption id="attachment_312" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="The crew getting ready to roll - L to R, Ben, Old Dan, David, and Randy"]

[/caption] Ok, so I have a 'real' job. During the week you'll typically find me behind the desk of my assigned 5x8 slice of America, trying to make a living. "When is my trip to the Smokies?". Well, on occassion my real job interferes with my habit and I have to travel somewhere on the other side of America. Just such an occassion recently interrupted my hiking schedule, but fortunately for me California has a trail or two around specifically for Smoky Mountain hiking addicts to catch a fix while traveling on business. Sunday, April 19th I wasn't sure if I'd be able to get one of my travel companion co-workers from back East, David Greene, away from his computer long enough to visit some of the famed Coastal Redwood trees just southwest of our Santa Clara offices. To my surprise he decided to join me and my other co-workers Randy Ott and Ben Tyson, after getting an early start and putting in a full day. So just after noon we grabbed a quick bite to eat and some disposable cameras and headed southwest...destination Big Basin Redwoods State Park. The drive over was less than 40 miles, but it would take us quite a while due to the a couple of the typical Bay Area traffic jams and some slow driving over the Santa Cruz mountains and through the winding Park entrance road. Along the way we passed increasingly gorgeous California homes and the quaint small town of Saratoga, which I'll definitely have to come back to with Melodi some time. One of the traffic jams was just outside of Saratoga at Saratoga Springs, where a huge picnic was underway. I have no idea what the hubbub was all about, but the barbeque smelled fantastic. We passed many wineries too and thought about stopping for a tasting, but our late start meant we had to keep going or we would see no big trees on this day. Just before entering the Park you begin to notice the massive redwood trees growing all around. Most of these are not the true giants, but we did find a few worthy of stopping for a picture. We had nothing but $5 disposable cameras, and David was rightfully concerned that pictures would not do the trees justice. After what seemed like forever on the supremely windy entrance road, we reached Park HQ and a chance to get some water, a map, and do the tourist thing. Also, Old Dan is also Bald Man Dan and I had forgotten my hat...so I forked over a few bucks for an official Big Basin hat. The weather today was 100% sun and very warm, with record highs all around the area. Bald Man Dan would need a hat. Stepping out of the car near the Park HQ and Visitor Center, you can't help but look up and go.....WOW! These massive 2000-year-old Coastal Redwoods grow over 300 feet tall. David had never seen these giants before, and he was definitely awestruck. This is must-see TV. The parking lot was pretty full, but we would find out later while walking that the trails, campgrounds, and picnic areas were pretty much abandoned. Seems strange to me with 10 million people just a 45 minute drive to the north. [caption id="attachment_315" align="aligncenter" width="198" caption="Looking up a giant redwood"] [/caption] David and Ben talked to the Ranger at the Visitor Center and picked out a nice 4 mile loop trail called the Sequoia Trail. There are no "giant Sequoia" (Sequoiadendrum giganteum) trees growing in Big Basin, they grow only on the western slopes of the Sierra Nevadas. Here only the taller but less girthy Coastal Redwood (Sequoia sempervirens) trees grow. This was my 3rd time visiting the Redwoods, and I have yet to see a Sequoia. Off we went along the trail, noticing tree after tree. We must have stopped 50 times at different trees for pictures and to enjoy the peaceful silence. A blue jay joined us for a while and made lots of racket I assume trying to distract us from his nest. The Sequoia Trail winds through woods that have clearly been marked by fire on many occassions. The Redwood trees show the damage sometimes 100 feet up the trunk. Also impressive were the fallen giants all around. The forest was more diverse than I thought it would be, with many different species of trees, ferns, mushrooms, and wildflowers all around. Not like our Smokies, but more diverse that I imagined. We wound around through the trail and finally crossed the nearby road to view Sempervirens Falls. It looked like it had been quite dry up here recently, and the falls were not very impressive. But the ferns growing along the rock face, the opal color of the water, and the young Redwood growing in the pool made it a nice resting spot. We continued on up the trail, soon reaching Slippery Rock. Slippery Rock was about a 200 yard long barren rock incline that seemed like it would certainly live up to its name in the rain. But for Ben, Randy, David, and I, it was just a chance to work off some of the desk jockeying we had done all week. It was nice to get the heart pumping and do some incline walking, because the trail was reasonably flat most of the way. [caption id="attachment_314" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="The three amigos and one giant Coast Redwood"] [/caption] We looped around the Park and walked briefly beside Opal Creek, which was barely moving due to the lack of descent. We still were noticing tree after tree, and we stopped occassionally for pictures of the really giant ones. David continually joked that without decent camera equipment our pictures are going to look like we were standing in front of a pine tree at Harbison Forest back home, and unfortunately in many cases he was right. Soon we came to a peaceful bridge crossing at Escape Road, and we walked the road back to the headquarters. Along the way I kept noticing how empty the campgrounds and picnic areas were. Soon we reached the car and all of us commented about how very very happy we were that we decided to step away from our computers for a few hours. On the way back to Santa Clara we were treated to three deer and coyote passing just feet from us. It was a nice ending to a really peaceful walk among the giant Redwoods of coastal California that none of us will soon forget. [caption id="attachment_316" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Coastal California has a few nice views too"] [/caption] I'll add more pictures when we get them developed (yeah, remember when you had to get pictures developed?). For now...see what we have below... Update April 21, 2009 - Well, I got the pictures developed but most did not turn out...bummer! I've added the few that did to the album. For pics of this walk, click the link below: Old Sequoia Trail - Big Basin Redwoods State Park(Opens in new window)

[caption id="attachment_252" align="aligncenter" width="400" caption="Smoky Scout and her friends and family, getting ready to walk the Sugarlands"]

[/caption] To skip the chatter and go right to the pics of this walk, click the link below: Old Sugarlands Trail (Opens in new window) 3.9 mile shuttle hike on the Old Sugarlands Trail, plus a 1 mile side trip to the Sugarlands Cemetary - April 11, 2009 My Easter-eve walk on the Old Sugarlands Trail would be a special treat. On this day one of the good people that inspired me to keep walking and also start writing about it, Smoky Scout (a.k.a Sharon McCarthy), would become member #251 of the "Smokies 900" club. The Smokies 900 is an informal club of hikers that have completed every inch of the roughly 800 official miles of trails in the Great Smoky Mountain National Park. Smoky Scout's challenge to complete all the trails was unique in that she vowed to hike the entire distance in one year for the benefit of the Girl Scouts of America. With seasonal and other road closures, logisitics of car shuttling, issues with the legendary Smoky mountain weather, illness, family or personal commitments, not to mention the difficulty of many of the trails themselves, it would be quite a feat for a retired East-Tennessee area local to complete all the trails in one year. Smoky Scout was neither. She would have to accomplish this goal not just with muscle and stamina, but also with an extraordinary feat of planning and flexibility. Balancing her job and family, the loss of her father, and traveling the three plus hours from Charlotte every outing, Sharon was able to get it done by maximizing every trip and most often hiking 14 to 17 miles on back-to-back-to-back-to-back days. Old Dan is usually toast after one 10 mile day. Impressive... I had enjoyed following Smoky Scout along on her journey over the past year through her entertaining website. Today she had invited her family and several nice folks that have helped her accomplish her goal throughout the year. While I was not one of those people, she was gracious enough to invite me along as well. I was looking forward to meeting Smoky Scout and her hiking buds because I felt as if I already knew them from all the blogs. The forest was alive big-time on the trip over the mountain from Cherokee due to the pounding spring deluge of the past days. The cascades, creeks and streams were bursting, flowers were abundant, and the wildlife was active. I saw several wild turkey in different flocks and a large group of elk grazing. The greening up of the mountains in Spring is really something to see. After meeting Sharon, her family, and all of her hiking companions at the Sugarlands Visitor Center, we shuttled over to Cherokee Orchard Road in Gatlinburg for the start of this Saturday morning walk. The Old Sugarlands Trail starts just off Cherokee Orchard Road, and travels 3.9 miles through the site of the large former community of Sugarlands and two 1930's CCC camps. [caption id="attachment_255" align="aligncenter" width="400" caption="Yellow trillium"] [/caption] After some group and Smoky Scout individual pictures at the trail sign we made our way down the gravel road that is Old Sugarlands Trail. Sharon had joked that she felt like we were papparazzi with all the cameras flashing at her by the sign. Wildflowers, mostly violets and yellow trillium, were really starting to put on a show along the sides of the trail as we made our way across a creek and over the first of only a few minor uphills on the trail. I learned from Smoky Scout's hiking buddy Judy that the foliage that looked like little umbrellas sprouting all over the place were mayapple. Judy explained that they flower in May, and I enjoyed talking to her about her recent creek crossing incident on a hike with Smoky Scout. Judy is an AT thru-hiker, and is planning on doing it again soon. Nobody in this serious crowd of hikers, which included a couple of multi-900 hikers and several folks well on the way to 900, had any trouble whatsoever easily trudging up the first hill. I noticed almost immediately that with all the chatter going on as we walked along this group made some serious speed. Smoky Scout was like a Mom at wedding reception, circulating through the crowd making sure she talked with everybody. I enjoyed talking for a while with hiking book author Danny Bernstein, who had just celebrated another book launch. (Hiker-to-Hiker) Before today's walk I picked up a copy of Danny's first book, which she signed for me. I also talked a while with her husband Lenny, who after this weekend would be just 140 miles away from his Smokies 900 goal. After a while Smoky Scout and Danny joked that the way this crowd was chatting away we would miss the Statue of Liberty if we walked two feet from it. I began to notice some rock piles beside the trail and soon stopped to investigate. Off to the right side of the trail were the remains of an old stone structure, and an old wash tub sat closeby on a pile of rocks. My quick excursion meant the crowd had left me in the dust, so I walked solo for a while. I finally caught the group as they had stopped to investigate an old dam, and remains of a CCC camp and dump site. We soon reached a side trail that lead to Sugarlands Cemetary. The group decided we take the trip to investigate. I have no idea how far the side trail was, but my guess is about 0.5 mile. We sooned reached the cemetary, which sat peacefully on a hilltop as is typical for cemetaries in the Park. [caption id="attachment_253" align="aligncenter" width="400" caption="The Sugarlands Cemetary"] [/caption] In this cemetary were names that many people that frequently visit nearby Gatlinburg would recognize, such as the Ogle and Reagan. Also a name that many worldwide would recognize, Parton. These were ancestors of one of the most famous Smoky residents, Dolly Parton. Like all Smoky cemetaries, there were graves of many young children and those that died at birth. [caption id="attachment_254" align="aligncenter" width="400" caption="Imagine the loss the Reagan family endured on this day"] [/caption] After the cemetary visit we tagged up with group that had split to explore another area, and off everybody went. I had just started working on a quick snack so I stayed while everybody else went on. Although my break was short, I would not see the fast moving group for the remaining two miles of the trail. As Smoky Scout often said on her hiking website, they had "miles to cover". After connecting back up with the main trail I began to walk beside the loud and very picturesque West Prong of the Little Pigeon River. I gradually moved uphill and paralleled the river as the character of the trail changed to more of a trail and less of a road. Near the end of the trail was an impressive 70-foot tall rock wall, the remains of an old quarry used by the Tennessee highway department to build some of the first roads in the area. Soon the end of the trail was in sight, and there was the crowd gathered celebrating Smoky Scout's official completion of all 800 official Smokies miles. [caption id="attachment_256" align="aligncenter" width="400" caption="Sharon celebrates a great accomplishment with her family"] [/caption] One of Smoky Scout's hiking buds was at the trailhead waiting with champagne. Scout's husband Jim decided it was a good time for a Formula One moment, spraying Smoky Scout victory lane style. It was fun standing beside the bustling highway and enjoying the celebration. After singing happy birthday to Sharon and toasting her big moment, we made our way back to the Visitor Center to pick up cars and shuttle everybody back to the trail start. I said goodbye at that point and headed back to Cherokee to pick up the family for the drive back to Irmo. It was a pleasure and a real treat to be there and witness the big moment when Smoky Scout completed her goal. Congratulations Sharon! For pics of this walk, click the link below: Old Sugarlands Trail (Opens in new window)

[caption id="attachment_238" align="aligncenter" width="400" caption="Old Dan and family getting ready to walk"] [/caption] To skip the chatter and go right to the pics of this walk, click the link below: Oconaluftee River Trail plus bonus Cherokee snow (Opens in new window) 3.2 mile out-and-back on the Oconaluftee River Trail - April 4, 2009 Those of you that have been following Old Dan Walking for a while know that I promised to rant about my opinions on optimal day-hike trail distances at some point. Well, I'm still saving that for another day when I have more energy to rant, but... Some days you just feel like a walk on a short trail, getting that quick Smokies fix, and then having time to go back to camp for a nice dinner and campfire with the family. Yep, sometimes you just want to camp. Such was the case on Saturday April 4, 2009, when the entire family joined me for a leisurely walk along the Oconaluftee River on the trail that bears the same name. After almost a year of getting up relatively early on Saturday mornings after driving 200 miles the night before straight from work, then most often leaving the family at camp and heading out for a backbreaker trail that consumes the entire day, it was finally time for a nice, leisurely family walk. This time the whole family would come along, including our youngest daughter Oreo. Oreo was very pleased we could finally take her with us, because this trail is one of only two in the Smokies that allows four-legged daughters (or four-legged sons). 8) The Oconaluftee River Trail is a flat, easy 1.6 mile walk bursting with wildflowers and paralleling the nice river as it makes it way between the Oconaluftee Visitor Center/mountain farm museum and the town of Cherokee. We got started at the Visitor Center in mid-morning on a glorious Smoky Mountain Saturday, where temps were expected to be in the mid-70s. I'm not usually the cautious one of the family, but it was my suggestion for everybody to dress warmer than they were planning to because I thought it might be cool beside the river. It was not. It would've been a perfect day to be wearing shorts and t-shirts, but instead we all were overdressed for the 1.6 mile walk. With no leaves on the trees and no clouds in the sky, the bright sun kept the trail very warm and only a few places had the cool breeze that I expected. [caption id="attachment_239" align="aligncenter" width="400" caption="The mountain farm museum at Oconaluftee Visitor Center"] [/caption] When we arrived at the Center it was nice to see that they have apparently begun work on the new Visitor Center that will paid for partially by the donations from the organization we are members of, the Great Smoky Mountains Association. I was proud to explain to the family that our small donation would help make this new center enjoyable for years to come for the many millions of visitors that pass this way every year. The trail starts between the large, open grassland that is home to many groundhogs and the fence that encloses the mountain farm museum. If you stop at the Visitor Center take the few minutes to walk around the mountain farm museum, which has many restored buildings from early European settlements in the area. The buildings have been relocated here from locations all over the Smokies, and the Park also maintains a small collection of farm animals to add to the authentic feel of the place. Gourds hang above the corn fields and house many swallows and probably martins. We also saw bluebirds. Many violets grew beside the fence and the groundhogs were busy scurrying from hole to hole just nearby. Oreo was having a grand time watching them. Soon the trail catches up to the river for the first time and you make a sharp right to walk beside it. It was here that the many different kinds of wildflowers became adundant, including Spring Beauties and my first sighting of Dutchmen's Breeches. Unfortunately I forgot to put my camera in the correct mode so my pictures of the Dutchman's Breeches did not turn out. I had seen many shots of these flowers, but was expecting them to be bigger. (zoom shots fool you) The boys were having an enjoyable time as my oldest son walked ahead with Oreo and my youngest stayed close to me asking a thousand questions and standing guard for anything that buzzed. The bad news for him, Spring signals the beginning of the flying insect awakening, and he was not pleased. [caption id="attachment_240" align="aligncenter" width="400" caption="Cruising the Oconaluftee River Trail with the boys"] [/caption] We crossed a nice area where Raven Fork flows into the Oconaluftee and a rope swing sits above the river where I assume Cherokee youth cool off from the hot summers. We walked under the Blue Ridge Parkway, which ends here at this spot after starting 469 miles to the northeast at Rockfish Gap, Virginia. Not too long after we got started we began to turn away from the river through a tunnel of rhododendren and you could now see houses lining the river. The trail goes through a wooded area and across a small footbridge, and then loops back beside a giant hemlock tree. I showed the boys the marking on the base of the tree that signaled that Park Service had treated it for the hemlock wooley adelgid. Hopefully it will still be here when my grandkids take this walk with my boys in the coming years. Minutes later, you emerge into the town of Cherokee in front of the sterotypical teepee and beside the many shops that line Big Cove Road. The boys were proud to have completed the trail. All in all it was a day I had been waiting for for a while, a time when the family would finally join me in total for an afternoon stroll. Now, let's go camping.... Update: April 12, 2009 - I added the pictures and included some shots of the snow that Melodi and the boys enjoyed in Cherokee! [caption id="attachment_241" align="aligncenter" width="400" caption="A beautiful snowy scene in Cherokee"] [/caption] For pics of this walk, click the link below: Oconaluftee River Trail plus bonus Cherokee snow (Opens in new window)

Pardon me while I whine a little bit. Next week is Spring Break for my boys and I was all fired up for a nice couple of days of camping with a few hikes over an extended weekend. Well, the weather pulled a Lee Corso on me...."not so fast my friend." Spring in the Southeast can be frustrating in this way...long stretches of beautiful sunny 72 degree days, followed by long stretches of miserable, chilly, rainy days. The problem is, the stretches of beautiful days seem to line up with the days you're trapped in your 5x8 cublcle at work, and the miserable days tend to line up with the days you're released from your box. Last year was no different. Spring teased us with a beautiful stretch of days and we decided to take a few precious days off during the week of Spring Break to travel to Cherokee for some camping. Result...it snowed on us. Don't get me wrong, I love snow.....In January and February. But once the daffodils are past their blooming peak and the lawn mower has been dusted off and used, it's time to move on. So as Murphy would have it, the Smokies forecast for early next week is a beautiful balmy mid-40s for highs with rain and a chance for SNOW on Tuesday. Not exactly stellar Spring camping weather. Sorry old man winter...it's been fun, but I've moved on. The good news, the weekend forecast looks to be very nice. So, plans change....and I'll save those precious days off. Sorry to whine, I'm going to take my toys and go home now.