Showing posts with label Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Show all posts
Sunday, May 18, 2014
Cataloochee Trout
Wednesday, October 30, 2013
Wildlife Sightings - Some of the wildlife I have seen on my adventures.
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| Elk |
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| Elk |
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| Elk |
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| Crawdaddy/Crayfish |
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| Crawdaddy/Crayfish |
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| Millipede |
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| Millipede |
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| Millipede |
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| Owl |
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| Owl |
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| Owl |
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| Turkeys |
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| Bear |
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| Lone Turkey |
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| Lone Turkey |
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| Turkeys |
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| Pale Turkey |
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| Brook Trout |
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| Wasps |
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| Chicken |
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| Rainbow Trout |
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| Rainbow Trout |
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| Hawk |
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| Brown Trout |
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| Salamander |
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| Salamander |
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| Salamander |
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| Bees |
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| Bees |
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| Snake |
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| Snake |
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| Snake |
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| Hellgrammite |
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| Millipede |
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| Rainbow Trout |
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| Bear |
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| Bear |
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| Beaver Sign |
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| Beaver Sign |
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| Beaver Sign |
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| Brown Trout |
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| Otter Prints |
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| Brook Trout |
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| Brown Trout |
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| Snake |
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| Hawks |
Wednesday, July 17, 2013
A Child's Ghost Story - The Lady in Black
When camping the talk around the campfire always seems to turn to ghosts or other scary things. It is always great to go around the fire and have each person recount a ghost story or talk about something that scared them when they were a child. It's really fun when the young folks are around and they want to tell their story. From time to time, you hear kids say that they have seen things and you believe them because of how genuine their story is. I personally think that kids see the world differently than we do and it is great to hear them talk about what they have seen without asking leading questions or putting ideas in their heads about what it was that they saw. So far I have head three really good stories from kids about seeing ghosts or things that they didn't quite understand. Here is one of them.
The first is the story of the Lady in Black. One evening, we were sitting around the fire next to the creek and some of the folks had brought their kids and there was this wonderful 5 year old little boy that started talking about the lady in dressed in black that had looked through the back door of his house one day. This kind of startled his parents. They had never heard him talk about her before. It also kind of concerned them so they asked him to describe her and what she did.
According to the little boy, when he saw her, it was starting to get dark, but there was still plenty of light and you could still see really well into the back yard. He said he was in the family room alone watching his videos. His Mommy was upstairs doing some house work and that his daddy was gone. He said that a lady in a long black dress came down through the back yard. He said her face was gray and that she didn't have any eyes. He also said that she didn't have any feet. It was like she floated. He said that she came onto their back porch and came up to the window like she was looking into the house. He said that she stayed there for a couple of minutes, turned, and then went back up through the backyard and disappeared into the woods. He said he wasn't scared when he saw her and that he just watched her as she came out of the woods, looked in the house, and went back into the woods.
According to the little boy's parents, the back door in question is a sliding glass door without a screen and the curtain is kept tied away from the glass so they can see into the backyard. The backyard is fenced and backs up to a small, but thickly, wooded area. They stated that the "Lady in Black" would of had come through some thick woods, over a lot of downed trees, and jump or climb a 4 foot fence to get into and out of the yard. It would be hard to imagine that someone would do that in a long black dress just to look into a house. They also say that he still talks about the Lady in Black and that he always describes her the same and tells the same story of her looking in the window. He also says that he hasn't seen her again.
Next is the "Man that Jumped into the Fire".
The first is the story of the Lady in Black. One evening, we were sitting around the fire next to the creek and some of the folks had brought their kids and there was this wonderful 5 year old little boy that started talking about the lady in dressed in black that had looked through the back door of his house one day. This kind of startled his parents. They had never heard him talk about her before. It also kind of concerned them so they asked him to describe her and what she did.
According to the little boy, when he saw her, it was starting to get dark, but there was still plenty of light and you could still see really well into the back yard. He said he was in the family room alone watching his videos. His Mommy was upstairs doing some house work and that his daddy was gone. He said that a lady in a long black dress came down through the back yard. He said her face was gray and that she didn't have any eyes. He also said that she didn't have any feet. It was like she floated. He said that she came onto their back porch and came up to the window like she was looking into the house. He said that she stayed there for a couple of minutes, turned, and then went back up through the backyard and disappeared into the woods. He said he wasn't scared when he saw her and that he just watched her as she came out of the woods, looked in the house, and went back into the woods.
According to the little boy's parents, the back door in question is a sliding glass door without a screen and the curtain is kept tied away from the glass so they can see into the backyard. The backyard is fenced and backs up to a small, but thickly, wooded area. They stated that the "Lady in Black" would of had come through some thick woods, over a lot of downed trees, and jump or climb a 4 foot fence to get into and out of the yard. It would be hard to imagine that someone would do that in a long black dress just to look into a house. They also say that he still talks about the Lady in Black and that he always describes her the same and tells the same story of her looking in the window. He also says that he hasn't seen her again.
Next is the "Man that Jumped into the Fire".
Friday, July 12, 2013
Fish with Me
If you are interested in fishing some of the small streams and rivers in the East Tennessee area drop me a line at outdoorswithbill@gmail.com. I will share with you what I know and if you want a guide I will show you where to go.
Saturday, May 18, 2013
Abrams Creek Hike
This hike stared at the Abrams Creek parking area. It was warm, maybe in the mid 80s and a little humid. It had rained the day before. There were several cars in the parking area, and a couple eating lunch on the picnic tables. The gate to the camp site was closed and locked since the camping area is closed due to the Sequester. As I started my hike up Cane Creek Trail, I passed one person on the gravel road between the gate and the camping area. Other than that one older man, I didn't see anyone the rest of the hike. I did see this odd looking fungus growing on a log at the bend in the gravel road.
I did note a lot of footprints in some of the fresh mud that seemed to be heading in the same direction I was going, east on the trail. The trail generally follows the creek heading NE, but turns away from it after about 1/2 mile. It is a wide trail that is well maintained and is graveled , wide enough for a truck or jeep to drive up and I noted that someone had driven up the trail recently. After about a mile I turned off of Cane Creek Trail to Little Bottoms Trail. At this point I was heading due East, I waded a small creek and followed the trail through a Rhododendron thicket. It smelled good. Nice and fresh. It also looked like the Rhododendrons were about to bloom. After I passed out of the ticket, I started up the ridge. The ridge is steep and the trail switches back and forth a couple of times. From the trail, you can see down into camp site 1. There wasn't anyone camping there. About mid way up I saw this little guy (Ring Neck Snake - http://www.tnwatchablewildlife.org/) sitting the middle of the trail. I took his picture a couple of times and shooed him into the woods some some crazy hiker wouldn't stomp on him or smash him with a stick.
The trail up the ridge is pretty steep, you can see the Look Rock Tower through the trees on your left as you climb, and as you crest the ridge it opens up into a nice sitting area with a couple of logs where you can see the trail going down in both directions and you can hear Abrams Creek in the distance. One thing that I noticed was there was A LOT of poison Ivy, and it was everywhere! All the rain has created a great growing environment for it. From the sitting area I made my way down the trail toward the river. Some of the wild flowers were blooming along the trail. I thought this one was colorful. I have no idea what it is called.
I got down to the creek, it should be called Abrams River, and saw it was running high. I fished a little without much luck. I stuck to fishing from the bank. The rocks in that river are so slick and due to the geology most of them are flat and angled one way or another. That combination of high water and slick rocks doesn't make for a good wading experience. I hiked and along the river up to camp site 17. Along the way I saw lots of lizards, butterflies, and this great big Hellgrammite. I have never seen one that big before!
I also saw a lot of brush piles that were several feet above the trail. The water looks to have been several feet over the level of the trail during some of the big rain events that we had.
When I got to camp site 17 I and turned around and hiked out. I figured I would be out just before dark and I made it. On my dive out I stopped at the corner of Happy Valley Road and Abrams Creek Road and took this picture looking across Happy Valley towards the Foothills Parkway.
On my way out I took Happy Valley Road over the ridge line and got these pictures about 2/3rd of the way up the ridge. This is looking SE across Chilhowee Lake into the Citico area.
These are looking NE into the Great Smoky Mountains National Park
I did note a lot of footprints in some of the fresh mud that seemed to be heading in the same direction I was going, east on the trail. The trail generally follows the creek heading NE, but turns away from it after about 1/2 mile. It is a wide trail that is well maintained and is graveled , wide enough for a truck or jeep to drive up and I noted that someone had driven up the trail recently. After about a mile I turned off of Cane Creek Trail to Little Bottoms Trail. At this point I was heading due East, I waded a small creek and followed the trail through a Rhododendron thicket. It smelled good. Nice and fresh. It also looked like the Rhododendrons were about to bloom. After I passed out of the ticket, I started up the ridge. The ridge is steep and the trail switches back and forth a couple of times. From the trail, you can see down into camp site 1. There wasn't anyone camping there. About mid way up I saw this little guy (Ring Neck Snake - http://www.tnwatchablewildlife.org/) sitting the middle of the trail. I took his picture a couple of times and shooed him into the woods some some crazy hiker wouldn't stomp on him or smash him with a stick.
The trail up the ridge is pretty steep, you can see the Look Rock Tower through the trees on your left as you climb, and as you crest the ridge it opens up into a nice sitting area with a couple of logs where you can see the trail going down in both directions and you can hear Abrams Creek in the distance. One thing that I noticed was there was A LOT of poison Ivy, and it was everywhere! All the rain has created a great growing environment for it. From the sitting area I made my way down the trail toward the river. Some of the wild flowers were blooming along the trail. I thought this one was colorful. I have no idea what it is called.
I got down to the creek, it should be called Abrams River, and saw it was running high. I fished a little without much luck. I stuck to fishing from the bank. The rocks in that river are so slick and due to the geology most of them are flat and angled one way or another. That combination of high water and slick rocks doesn't make for a good wading experience. I hiked and along the river up to camp site 17. Along the way I saw lots of lizards, butterflies, and this great big Hellgrammite. I have never seen one that big before!
I also saw a lot of brush piles that were several feet above the trail. The water looks to have been several feet over the level of the trail during some of the big rain events that we had.
When I got to camp site 17 I and turned around and hiked out. I figured I would be out just before dark and I made it. On my dive out I stopped at the corner of Happy Valley Road and Abrams Creek Road and took this picture looking across Happy Valley towards the Foothills Parkway.
On my way out I took Happy Valley Road over the ridge line and got these pictures about 2/3rd of the way up the ridge. This is looking SE across Chilhowee Lake into the Citico area.
These are looking NE into the Great Smoky Mountains National Park
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