Eeyore Has Company in the Woods

June 17, 2008

I was hiking along as usual, getting a little bored with the green woods, no views, no special microclimates to get excited about. Then along came a speedy hiker - we chatted as she passed, and her trail name was - Tigger! She was through-hiking southbound (SOBO in the lingo) with three other women, and they had picked Pooh names, too (but none of them was Eeyore!).

Here are two of them taking a break at the Cable Cap Shelter; it's located on the slopes down to Fontana Dam where the Trail crosses the Little Tennessee River at Fontana Lake.

The guy with the dog is from Chicago, just out to try some backpacking with his dog. He's a bookstore manager from Chicago, who wants to move to North Carolina.

Crossing the Nantahala Gorge

June 12-13, 2008

The Nantahala River runs through a gorge that is eroded deep down into a marble layer, so we Trail hikers have to go down and up 2700 feet from the mountain tops of Wesser Bald and Cheoah Bald to the river level.

These photos are from the Jump Ups, which are little promontories at the 3800-4000 ft level on both sides. I suppose they represent some particularly hard strata in the overlying rocks, which resisted erosion. The top is looking north from the Wesser Jump Up, at the ridge I've just climbed up, with a little glimpse of Fontana Lake in the distance, and the Smokies beyond. Below is a view south from the Cheoah Jump Up - it's been raining and the clouds are amazing. You may be able to see the river down there at the bottom. It's a popular rafting section, I think with water releases from a hydro-electric dam upstream.

As I climbed out of the gorge heading south, the rosebay rhododendrons were blooming along the shady north slopes.

Heath Bald - Laurel Slick

May 25, 2008

The top of Standing Indian Mountain is covered by rhododendrons, azaleas, and mountain laurels, taller than a person - it's called a heath bald or a laurel slick.

Here at the top a little view patch has been cut, looking south into Georgia, where I'll be headed soon. It was Memorial Day weekend, and there was quite a crowd up here, maybe a couple of dozen people - what a surprise after walking alone in the woods for a few hours to get here!

Springtime in the Nantahalas

May 24, 2008

I spent the Memorial Day weekend at Standing Indian Campground in North Carolina, in a basin around which the AT makes a giant C-shape, so lots of hiking from one base camp. 

Trilliums are maybe my favorite flower - except for a hundred others that are wonderful too. What a great time of year!