CNN iReport – Travel with Goneguru

The Dry Tortugas west of Key West

70 miles west of Key West sits a group of islands that when first discovered by the European explorers where reportedly home only to birds and turtles, hence the name Tortugas in honor of the Turtles. Attempts at making them useful were thwarted by the fact that there is no fresh water on the islands, thus the dry was added to the Tortugas.

Nevertheless, the United States Government in the early 1800’s determined that the islands were vital to the security of the southern shores of the United States and began building Fort Jefferson. They built this house upon the sand and although it has had an interesting history, including a stint as the prison holding Abraham Lincoln’s assassin’s doctor, one Dr. William Mudd who was convicted of treason for setting John Wilkes Booth’s leg, the fort was never finished in accordance with its original plans. It was sinking too much and became obsolete while being built. Today, a small park service contingent and tourists on vacation, along with the occasional wayward Cuban refugee, are the primary people interested in Fort Jefferson and the Dry Tortugas. To get here, you can take the ferry, from Key West. The boat trip takes a little over two hours and day trippers can come to the island and stay until about 4:30 pm when the ferry returns to Key West. For the lucky few, however, overnight camping reservations are available. The reservations are limited and need to be made well in advance, however, the ferry ride can be arranged the day of your trip. If you don’t want to ride the boat for 2+ hours to get to the Dry Tortugas you can also take a seaplane from Key West for approximately the same price as the ferry. The seaplane, makes two trips per day and the guests get to stay about the same amount of time as the folks who ride the ferry. We spoke to the pilot who has been flying this route for the last several years and he says he has no intention of giving it up. Who can blame him, with living in the Florida Keys and making two short trips a day as his primary job? The plane is bigger than it looks, so if you want to be an overnight camper you can get your gear out here on the plane, however, we’d recommend the ferry. You can bring a cooler or two on the ferry which comes in handy since there are no provisions available on the island. Remember that you will be in the DRY Tortugas and that there is no water available on the island. Fill the coolers with ice and water and what ever other beverages and perishable items you will need for your stay and jump on the ferry. You can also get to the island if you are lucky enough to have your own private boat or a charter. While we were there a resident of the east coast of Florida showed up in his boat and anchored beside the fort. He single-handed the trip. I think I would have brought a friend. The limited campsites include a permanent grill and a picnic table, so you are essentially car camping from a boat, with no way to get to a store.

You are in a small grove of trees just to the south-east of the walls of the fort and there is not much else on the island. There were about 8 of us who came over on the boat and another 5 or 6 who came to the island on a private boat so after 4:30 in the afternoon the entire island was deserted except for the campers and a lone ranger who stayed in his quarters inside the fort. We were fortunate that we had great weather and were treated to an amazing spectacle in the sky at night as there was no ambient light to diminish the stars. We sat on the beach in the first picture above just south-east of the fort and were amazed at the stars you never see around civilization. The fort is an unfinished marvel.

As noted above, during the decades it was being built the sheer weight of the millions of bricks began to make the fort sink, thus only the first and third levels of the fort were ever outfitted with cannons. Further, the invention of rifled bore cannons soon made the smooth bore cannons installed on the fort obsolete. The garrison stationed at the fort had to be truly miserable and the letters on display inside the small museum attest to the fact. Their uniforms were wool and they were required to wear them while stationed here even though the tropical heat and humidity would at times make them unbearable. A doctor and his family was stationed here, but ironically, the doctor fell ill and died from typhoid fever while Dr. Mudd was imprisoned here. Mudd then aided the sick and was credited for nursing many of them back to health. Eventually he was pardoned for his role in treating these patients after having been imprisoned for treating the wounded John Wilkes Booth. You will also be entertained by the permanent residents of the Dry Tortugas: the birds including the seagulls and the pelicans. The eastern part of the island is a bird sanctuary and you are not allowed to go there, but the pilings of the abandoned and long demolished coal resupply station provide hours of bird watching.

The dark area under the pilings is not grass but rather millions of bait fish in schools. The pelicans dive off the pilings to grab the minnows and the seagulls jump onto the head of the pelicans and try to steal the minnows out of their mouths. In the water, silver flashes cut through the bait fish (see the circled area) as mackerel feed on the minnows. The feeding goes on for hours until near sunset when the birds head off to roost. We were here in September, the shoulder season in Key West, when there were few tourists and lots of time. If camp overnight here, you may never have a more peaceful night. I’ll update this later on with a few more notes.

Grand Teton Wildflowers

The images of the wildflowers in this post were taken during our backpacking vacation trek in the Grand Teton from Granite Canyon Trailhead to Jenny Lake. No more words, just images and captions.

This delicate bloom grows along the trail in the Grand Teton National Park

The trail runs through the wildflowers in Grand Teton NP

A trail runs through a sea of yellow in Granite Canyon

Leaving Banff in the Morning

It was time for us to leave Banff.

The Banff city limit sign — Welcome to Banff

So we said good-bye to the city limits of Banff before dawn and headed west on the Trans-Canada Highway.

Early morning veiw along the trans-Canada near Banff — Sunrise near Banff

The sun began to paint the sky and brought the mountains into view.

After dawn we soon encountered this bull on the side of the road.

Bull Elk

We had turned south and were headed toward Radium Springs when we met this fellow.

Grizzley

Banff is definitely a do again for us.

Between Banff and Radium Springs. — On the road to Radium Springs.

Smoky Mountains-Mount LeConte via Rainbow Falls Trail

We did our annual fall hike up Mount LeConte in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park . We may only make one hike up next year as we didn’t get a reservation at the lodge for the fall in the lottery. For those who may not know, the picture below shows Mt. LeConte from a cabin we rented just above Gatlinburg.

The lodge on top is between the two major peaks just to the right of the group of three peaks. I’ll just caption the pictures and tell you the story in another post.

He was actually at the bottom of Rainbow Falls trail

The leaves were peak

Here are the falls.

A welcome sight!

The marker you’ve been waiting for.

The lodge office and lounge

Morning sky.

All of these pictures were taken by Mary. She just lets me use them for your enjoyment.

Georgia State Parks: Endangered Species!

We decided to add kayaking to our skill set, partially because we attended a Georgia Conservancy/REI lecture on paddling the rivers of central Georgia and partially because a friend recommended Paddle Georgia to us as another adventure. We knew that we would like to start this outdoor activity with a group, so we decided we needed to take a lesson before we burdened any group with a pair of absolute newbies. REI’s Outdoor School offered several classes on kayaking and since I have a tender shoulder and back, we thought kayaking might be easier than canoeing, so we signed up.

Our class was held at Ft. Yargo State Park, near Winder, Georgia. We had never been to this state park, so we looked it up on their website and learned that they offer a wide variety of outdoor opportunities including camping, hiking and fishing. We checked with the park and found that we could reserve a campsite on the lake in the park for the Friday night before our class as well as Saturday night after the class. We chose a walk in campsite on the lake. The view of the lake was beautiful, and although the location is only an hour from Atlanta and just off Georgia 316, it feels like you are in a wilderness.

100_0246 — Break of day camping in Ft. Yargo State Park

While setting up we encountered another camper who said he had spent a lot of time at the park, but that he had heard that the park was likely to shut down by 2015. We decided not to take his word for it, so before we left on Sunday we decided to check with the ranger station and see if he was correct.

Before we got to talk to the ranger we found out a lot about the park ourselves. You can get details from the link to their website in the text above, but here are a few of the notables. Camping is cheap; the walk-in site with an improved tent site, fire ring and picnic table was $23 per night. If you preferred an RV site or true tent car camping site, those were $29 and $25 per night and gave closer access to running water and electricity. All the campsites were within a hundred yards of very nice toilet facilities, with flush toilets, lighting, hot and cold water and showers. If you want to bring a family to the outdoors but don’t want to camp, there are six yurts on a point of land extending into the lake. The view from the yurt balconies extending over the water is fabulous. Each yurt sleeps 6, has electricity, and a heater as well as a hardwood floor and its own canoe. The yurts were renting for $70 per night while we were there. There is a seven mile hiking trail around the lake that goes through the campgrounds; parts of the hiking trail is shared with a 12 mile mountain bike trail around the lake. There’s a beach with a large picnic area and a rental office that rents kayaks, canoes, paddle-boats, jon boats, and paddle boards. There are a lot more treasures, including an authentic 1793 log fort preserved on the grounds, that you can find by taking a visit, calling or checking their website.

By nine o’clock Saturday morning we were standing on the boat ramp inside access B to the state park, near the pier used by the University of Georgia crew teams when they come to the park to practice. The REI Outdoor School had unloaded half a dozen kayaks. Instructors Carson and Jackie greeted us and put us through the ground school phase of the instruction, then we walked the one person kayaks down to the water and gingerly followed their instructions on getting into the boat.

100_0230 — One person kayaks for REI Outdoor School class

With our foot pegs properly adjusted and our thighs pressed against the hull of the little boats, we felt locked in and ready to go. We managed to get in position to watch as Carson demonstrated the forward sweep stroke used to turn the boat, the draw stroke to move it sideways, and the forward stroke and back stroke used to move the kayak along a line. Jackie sacrificed herself for us demonstrating how to eject yourself from the kayak if you happen to tip over. (None of us did). Throughout the morning we watched their demonstration of different strokes and tried to emulate them as we paddled across the lake and back, growing ever more confident that we could do this and that it could be a lot of fun. After a short lunch/bathroom break we hit the water again for a tour of an arm of the lake and concluded our class. We are eager to put what we learned to use on an adventure. These two instructors were as good as any we have ever had in any class. There was no BS and there was no ego of how good they were that overshadowed the instruction. It was great and I highly recommend the class. They agreed with us that REI ought to incorporate the overnight camping with the kayak class and make it a multitasking weekend adventure.

Later that afternoon we pulled the hybrid bikes off the rack and rode around the park, stopping at historic Ft. Yargo and marveling at what our pioneer ancestors went through. Then, Sunday morning we hiked the seven mile trail around the lake. From a spot across the lake from the beach, we watched as a religious group baptized some of their members in the lake. Trail runners and mountain bikes were few, but we encountered a couple and in each case the behavior was courteous and sharing. It was a great walk in the woods by a lake.

Then it was time to pull up stakes and head home. Another group of fellow travelers had stopped at our campsite to borrow our stove and a few other pieces of gear for a trip to Cataloochee, so the packing was lighter than usual. Fearing the worst about this marvelous state park, we stopped at the welcome center just inside the main gate. Park Manager Ray Smith, Jr. was sitting in his office just off the welcome area when he heard us ask the staff whether there was any truth to what we had been told. With an upbeat air and an optimistic attitude, he told us that it was indeed true that there was a financial mandate from the legislature that each state park become at least 75% self sufficient by 2015 or else face some service cutbacks. He then explained that the park revenue counted in this does not include the $5 per car daily fee because that money is automatically sent directly to the general fund. Instead, the park has to reach the goal of paying its operating expenses out of such things as overnight camping rental, pavilion rentals, and other user fees that do not include the basic user entrance fee. He said they were already understaffed and expected to make more changes to try to meet the mandate, but, that Ft. Yargo was in the same boat with all the Georgia State Parks, many of whom were not quite making to the needed 75% level. We asked him how their situation would improve and he gave us a simple answer. If more users come and stay overnight or rent pavilions or take advantage of the other revenue generating features, rather than viewing the park as a day-trip, they could make their budget needs. They have the capacity, particularly during the week and during the cooler months.

So, here is the bottom line. Georgia State Parks and the state parks of the other states are a great deal. They provide tremendous value for the buck, but they are taxpayer supported and are on the block. This is something each individual outdoor enthusiasts can do something about simply by choosing to incorporate the state parks into your annual events. Make it a point to go to the state parks and learn what they have to offer and then take advantage of more than the entrance fee. Go camping there, rent a boat, have a party at a pavilion, suggest a state park as a venue for a corporate outing, and tell your friends to do the same. You don’t have to write a congressman, make a donation or do anything you wouldn’t enjoy doing. All you have to do is choose to spend some time in a particular part of the great outdoors.

Coeur d’Alene and Ironman Triathalon, too!

Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, USA (June 2012) Near this tree on the banks of Lake Coeur d’Alene is a commemorative sign telling of the Native Americans who once gathered on the shores of the beautiful lake in northern Idaho. After the Europeans came to America and made their way westward,

On the shores of Lake Coeur d’Alene

and the great railroads were built, Couer d’Alene took its spot among the beautiful hideaways of the west. Easily accessible from the Spokane, Washington airport via I-90, Couer d’Alene presents a marked contrast with the sprawling and industrial Spokane. The centerpiece remains the lake with its clear water surrounded by the green hills, but the town of Coeur d’Alene has done a lot to make the visitor welcome.

Lake Coeur d’Alene

The visitors have come and some with star quality names have built homes in the area that we will only read about or fly over and look down on their pools and tennis courts and guest houses.

Along the lake the town proper is a mixture of shops and homes, where walking into the shops gave the impression that the shopkeeper was genuinely pleased to have you in the store, rather than the department store “I just work here” stare. Walking to get about was clearly no problem and a pleasant hike around Tubbs Park will relieve the stress and provide you with some spectacular views of the lake. We will return to Coeur d’Alene for its beauty and charm, and will come back to take our road bikes on the nearby Trail of Coeur d’Alenes rails to trails project nearly spans the Idaho panhandle. But, on this trip we were not brought to the town by any of these.

This trip we came to Coeur d’Alene for the Ironman Triathalon. An Ironman Triathlon is not for everyone. In fact it is only for the fittest of the fit. Ironman competition began in Hawaii more than 25 years ago when several highly fit military men came up with their ultimate test based on swimming, cycling and running events in which they had participated. The challenge they set for themselves was an open water swim covering 2.4 miles, a bicycle ride of 112 miles, and a marathon run, all in one day. From a handful of participants on that day the Ironman has grown into a world wide franchise, with thousands of participants testing themselves in Ironman sponsored events all over the world. We have an Ironman finisher in our family, so we came to watch him participate, see Coeur d’Alene for the first time, and take a side trip to Banff.

The first leg of the contest is the swim. The men and women in their wetsuits lined up along the beach shown in the photo below to dash into the 57 degree F. water where they would swim away from shore 0.6 miles, parallel the shore 0.2 miles, and back to shore where they would re-enter the water and do it again!

The start is awesome. You might see 25 or 30 professionals start half an hour before the age classified amateur participants and it is inspiring to see the pro’s go at it, but the big rush is when the 2500 hit the water at the same time!

Coeur d’Alene swim start

Although it is a difficult spectator sport, as you can see thousands of supporters for the athletes were en masse near the beach and along the seawall yelling and urging their favorite participant on. The water sorts the athletes out by their ability, with swimmers straining stroke after stroke to finish the 2.4 miles before the two and one half hour time limit expires. Then, they run across the sand to the the transition area where they are helped out of their wetsuits, into warming rooms if they need them, and onto their bicycles. Some are unable to continue beyond the swim.

The bike ride is 112 miles. For this part of the race, a lane of US 95 heading south from Coeur d’Alene and major streets in town were closed to trafffic. It is along the streets that you will get the best views of the cyclists.

Ironman Tri-athalon cyclists

Although, the bike ride is also two laps, the laps go so far out of town that each athlete is out of sight for hours, so for a spectator there is plenty of time to grab a bite to eat, see the sights, and get ready for the next time your athlete speeds by. Some say the smart ones take a nap. We chose to walk around the world’s largest floating boardwalk adjacent the Coeur d’Alene Resort. The boardwalk is 3300 feet long and surrounds the marina. If you look at the boats tied up in the Marina, you’ll understand that quite a bit of money is spent on the enjoyment of Lake Coeur d’Alene.

KONICA MINOLTA DIGITAL CAMERA — Looking at the Marina from the Boardwalk

We also took in some of the shops and a couple of miles of trails in Tubbs park before it was time for the marathon part of the competition.

The marathon is grueling. Even the fastest finisher has to run part of his marathon in the heat of the day. 26 + miles in two laps through the city streets of Coeur d’Alene. Although we cheered the athletes on, there is no team in this sport. Each athlete is on his own, testing his or her own willpower to put one foot in front of another.

Punishing afternoon sun

Now they are faced with the final deadline: Be across the finish line by midnight or you are not deemed to have finished the race at all. For some, what started filled with adrenalin at 7:30 in the morning will end in anguish after midnight. But for most, they will hear the crowd cheer and give high-fives as they near the finish line.

The Finish

The finishers are checked by medical personnel, wrapped in thermal reflectors to keep their bodies warm as walk around with family and friends or head to their bed. Many come back to near the finish line or sit where they can hear the music playing and hear the announcer give voice to the name of each finisher. Deep into the night the music plays and the names are called out. Then, at midnight, the music stops, no more names are called, and the crowd leaves. What seemed forever to train for and watch is suddenly over, but the Ironman finisher has a memory and medal that should last a lifetime.

Ironman Finisher’s medal

Lake Louise to Lake Agnes: A vacation hike worth the walk near Banff

Lake Louise, Alberta, Canada (June 2012) If Banff is on your bucket list, then you need to fill your bucket up to the brim and drive a few miles northwest of Banff along the Trans Canada Highway to Lake Louise. The modern fascination with Banff and Lake Louise dates back to the late 1800’s when the Canadian Pacific Railroad made it possible for tourists and vacationers to get to the interior of the Canadian Rockies. Banff had and still has its hot springs while Lake Louise has this turquoise glacier feed water encircled by the towering Canadian Rockies.

Along the shore of Lake Louise

One grand chateau has replaced another over the years and today the Chateau offers all the modern conveniences and service one could ask for. But, the Chateau is not why people come here. The natural beauty of the region is surreal, even on a day such as we had when the clouds hung low, obscuring the mountain tops, and rain threatened as we stood by the lake. It was this natural beauty and a chance to walk among these giant mountains while soaking in the unending views that make you think every direction you look is more beautiful than the last that brought us here. We had a choice to make since we only had one day to hike at Lake Louise: would we hike to the Plain of Six Glaciers and visit the tea-house there, or hike up to Lake Agnes with its tea-house and head out to the Beehives? The trail-head for the two is the same, along the shore near the Chateau, however, we decided to do the Lake Agnes hike with a promise that someday we will return to hike other trails in this magical place.

Looking down at the Chateau on Lake Louise

We had read several guidebooks before this trip and the Lake Agnes hike was described as strenuous to difficult, so we anticipated significant elevation gain and potentially rough terrain to cross. Lake Louise sits at about 5600 feet above sea level and the hike is a continuous up hill with no up and down or leveling out as you might have if you were walking a ridge-line so the altitude and the constant up hill do make it strenuous. But, probably because it gets so much use in the winter and summer and probably because it was used by rangers to go to fire stations on the beehives until the late 1970’s, the lower part of the trail was practically a boulevard to walk on.

It is enticing, so we were not surprised when we were soon overtaken by two photographers dressed in street shoes and business casual attire. They smiled as us as they hurried by but three quarters of a mile up the trail, before the first switchback, we passed them panting on the side of the road. They had brought no water and did not ask for any but breathlessly asked how far to the top. We told them that the hike was about 3 miles long and that they were less than a third of the way up. They said they wanted to go to “the top” and take a picture of the lake and chateau. At this, point the lake was obscured by the trees, so when we told them that they were less than 1/3 of the way up they grimaced, looked at each other, and turned around. The image of the chateau above is probably what they wanted in the picture, but as you see a camera couldn’t really capture it. Less than a quarter mile after they turned around we came to the first switch back, which also afforded an opening for a view of the lake. We took pictures of the mountain across the lake and debated on whether we should hurry back down the trail to bring them to this spot.

Looking across Lake Louise

Moving up the trail was serenely peaceful. The trees gave way to the vista’s more often and we saw the lake below frequently. There was practically no one on the trail but us, as we had started the hike early in the morning. WARNING: If you start the hike at midday, you will be among a swarm of people for at least a part of the way up. We only encountered the large groups of tourists when we were near the bottom of the trail in the afternoon after we had made our hike.

A couple of switchbacks brings you to Mirror lake, which is a small glacially fed lake that reflects one of the formations on the way up. The trail splits here with both branches leading up to the tea-house at Lake Agnes, however, the left leads to a junction with a trail to the Plain of Six Glaciers, so be careful if you go left. It is well marked but you have to keep your head up to see the markers. We went to the right and soon encountered the horse trail (unmistakable. Why don’t horse riders carry bags to clean up after their horses? Hikers would appreciate it!) The trail is not as pristine here but is not a scramble and soon leads to a paddock where the horses have to be tied and and a wooden stairwell beside the waterfall feeding out of Lake Agnes.

Of course, we had dressed appropriately for the hike, so I had a small bead of perspiration on my brow as we passed the waterfall and began up the stairwell. As we neared the top of the stair the wall of the tea-house came into view and the wind picked up. The temperature of the air dropped twenty degrees and pellets of sleet and snow started hitting me in the face and bouncing off my rain gear. Then we saw Lake Agnes, beautifully resting partially encrusted in ice and even more surrounded by the mountains.

Lake Agnes in Summer

It was still early in the day, so we decided to press on to one of the Beehives. The Big Beehive is reached by following a path along the shoreline of Lake Agnes and making an assent around the lake. It is about a mile hiking distance and is said to be well worth the walk. We headed up the trail to the right, past the teahouse restrooms, and further up the mountain to the little bee-hive. Before too much longer the trail was covered over by snow and we saw where others had tried to make the passage before us. The problem was the tracks in the snow lead in different directions. We looked around and saw that the snow ended to the right of of us and the trail resumed, so we went to the right for a few hundred yards and cleared the snow. As I mentioned earlier, the Canadian Forest Rangers used a tower on the Little Beehive to watch over the forests and control potential fires up until 1978.

The tower was removed but the base is still there along with a bench for sitting when you’ve expended your time and energy to reach this very peaceful place. There was no snow or rain and it was a beautiful summer day as we sat and enjoyed the view.

The Big Beehive actually has a gazebo like tower on it if you elect to go that route. We came back down the trail, crossed the snow patch again and headed down to the teahouse at Lake Agnes. We began encountering a few more people and when we entered the tea-house at around noon, there were only a couple of seats available. We gladly scooted into them, because as before, the wind was howling off the little lake with sleet and snow mixed in. The effect is similar to the winds in cities between tall buildings. Remember this when you go to the tea-house at Lake Agnes. They only take cash. No checks, no credit cards, no IOU’s. We had spent very little on our trip, but we had used credit cards and only carried a small amount of cash. Scraping together our change, we had enough for one bowl of soup. Fortunately, we had packed along a couple of sandwiches and plenty of water, so the soup and sandwich meal was fabulous!!

The Lake Agnes teahouse

The tea-house is built in a style popularized by the Swiss mountain guides who came to Alberta in the 1800’s to show the tourists how to climb the mountains. Its rustic, homey, and well worth your stop on the mountain.

We crossed a bridge across the stream from the lake that feeds the waterfall and headed down the alternate route mentioned earlier. The snow was a little trickier on this side and by now there were several groups of people who had made it as far as the tea-house and were heading down. The leader of one of the groups made an ignominious landing when he showed them how not to cross a snow pack across the trail. Fortunately, all that was bruised was his ego and his buttocks.

Going down may be more beautiful that coming up. The sun was trying to break through and the clouds were a little higher and the mountains at the end of the valley were spectacular.

On the trail below Lake Agnes

We came back down around Mirror Lake from the side opposite where we left, noting the trail to the Plain of Glaciers and made it back down to the Chateau on Lake Louise without incident other than running into the groups of people making their way up the trail in the early afternoon. Should you desire to go, note that there is a campground within a couple of miles of Lake Louise and if you are making it a day trip from Banff, there is a campground in Banff as well. If you decide to go, let us know, we’d love to go back and join you.

Ponies, bikes, trails, and the Virginia Creeper

Along the Virginia – North Carolina border, near the little town of Damascus, a section of the Appalachian Trail runs out of town over the mountains and through Grayson Highlands State Park. Damascus itself is noteworthy as a resupply station for the Appalachian Trail through hikers. Grayson Highland is an amazing state park with great camping facilities set in a remote setting not too far from I-81. In between the two of them, you’ll find the Virgina Creeper, or maybe you’ll go to do the Creeper and explore Damascus or Grayson Highlands. Either way, give yourself a couple of days in the area to soak it all in.

You can start your hike on the Appalachian Trail approach trail inside Grayson Highland and head up to Mt. Rogers if you are a peak bagger. Mt. Rogers is the highest peak in Virginia and is only few miles away from the parking lot in Grayson Highlands. Expect to see the wild ponies along the way.

Wild Ponies — The wild ponies in Grayson Highlands State Park.

From the photo above, you might not guess it, but we were on the trail in August. The temperature was in the mid 60’s and there was a dense fog most of the day. A hurricane had moved up the east coast and although it wasn’t directly affecting our weather, we felt that it was. It also has something to do with the park being at about 4,000 feet above sea level. The horses are quite used to people and came right up to us as if to beg for a snack or to be petted. We gave them no snack but we did rub their backs and scratched their ears a bit. The hike was easy to moderate, however, since we were in the fog and uncertain about sundown we did not make it all the way to Mt. Rogers. Be sure to carry an accurate map and compass as the area between the parking lot is criss crossed with horse trails for riders and hiking trails with somewhat confusing markings. We did alright but we went out of our way on the return trip when we consulted with another group as to which way they had come. I can’t attest to the vistas because of our cloud cover, however, the area was largely a bald or meadow area, thus on a clear day you would have undoubtedly had a great view.

The campground at GHSP is a great car camper park with a variety of sites that can be reserved in advance to suit your camping needs including running water and electricity, or, you may elect a site that does not have electricity. It is a family friendly camping area, where one little boy ran up to us excitedly as we drove in, only to be disappointed when we told him there were no children with us. It is east of Damascus by about 30 miles and will take you the better part of an hour to get there. There is a camp store and bathhouses as shown in the link. You may want to consider checking out the Mount Rogers National Recreation area for some camping in a little less crowded area. The Beartree Recreation Area campground has primitive sites without hookups. Hurricane Campground has sites with tent pads and fire rings.

Along side the road between Damascus and the park, and in fact from Abington, Virginia adjacent Interstate 81 into Damascus and beyond for about 17 miles is the famous Virginia Creeper Trail. Total length of the trail is about 34 miles. We had decided that we would ride the Creeper’s eastern end, downhill from White Top to Damascus on our way home from camping and hiking, but we hadn’t brought bicycles with us. So we stopped along side the road at a rental shop and picked out a couple of mountain bikes to make the ride. An ordinary hybrid would do fine as the trail is well packed cinder that follows the old railroad track at a grade of less than about 7% all the way into Damascus. We budgeted two hours for the 17 miles since we consider our selves experienced cyclists on our road bikes and hybrids. What we didn’t count on was the peaceful beautiful scenery and the glimpse of the past you’ll encounter on this mellow ride.

Virginia Creeper Trestle — Beneath the Trestle

Because the trail was built for use by steam powered trains trestles were used to eliminate the ups and downs of the valleys and hollows. Stepping to the side of the trail, you will be pleased to see how well maintained the trestles are and will be amazed at the work and ingenuity that went into building the trail decades ago.

Don’t limit yourself to two hours on this trial. Take a couple days and take your time. You’ll find plenty to see, an ice cream store or two, sandwich shops and other “creature comforts” along the way. Best of all, find an older local to talk to. The lady that rented us the bikes we used had lived beside the Creeper all her life. She told us things to look for, like the place she went skinning dipping 65 years ago, that you would never look for on your own. Enjoy.

Something new in the Smoky Mountain NP for the Through Hikers near the Appalachian Trail

Our little group just finished another hike to Mount LeConte near Gatlinburg, Tennessee, USA. I’ll post all the details later, but I wanted to share a part of the trip with you in a condensed version. We were at the top of Mt. LeConte for two nights spending the entire day there on April 27. As usual the weather was changeable. We had hiked up in a thunderstorm on the 26th and had intermittent clouds and sunshine most of the 27th.

As you can see above the day started off with clouds. It was somewhat humid, but the temperature by afternoon was in the mid 50’s Fahrenheit. Our intention was to spend the day hiking around the top of Mount LeConte and taking it easy. We had come up Alum trail again which is a fairly strenuous trek, particularly in the rain of a thunderstorm. We wanted to go over the top of the mountain to Myrtle Point, which affords the best views of sunrise on Mount LeConte, to spend an hour or two in the afternoon resting on the rocky ledge looking out over the Great Smoky Mountain National Park. As we pushed along we soon saw an unmistakable image of why these mountains are called the Smokies.

Looking at the above picture, the view is along a ridge that runs south from Mount LeConte. The Boulevard trail follows this ridge from LeConte to the Appalachian Trail. The wind is from the west, or moving from right to left in the picture. As the wind rises up from rises up from the valley to the crest of the ridge there are no clouds to the west, but as soon as the wind crosses the ridge, clouds boil up from the east side like smoke from a volcano, creating a vision of smoke rising out of the ground. After a couple of hours it diminished, but it was an amazing sight while it lasted.

On Myrtle Point, even with the Smokies haze, the view is what you go to the mountains for. Although, you might see something similar from a car, there is nothing like getting to the top of a 6000 foot mountain on your own feet and taking your shoes off while resting in the sun and the clouds. Yes, sometimes you are in the clouds. Myrtle Point juts out into space and is a granite point surrounded by low growing Myrtle shrubs. It is accessible only by walking at least six and a half miles up and over Mount LeConte or by hiking over seven miles from Newfound Gap along the Appalachian and Boulevard trails. Thus, the view above is not a sight everyone will see with their own eyes. You should try though, because it is incredibly peaceful and restful, to sit there and look out at the mountains and the ever-changing sky.

Near the crest of Mount LeConte, along the Boulevard trail, there is an Appalachian Trail through hiker shelter that gives the through hikers a respite if they decide to take Boulevard to LeConte and then venture down into Gatlinburg. Since our last visit to LeConte about 6 months ago, the National Park Service installed a new composting toilet for the use of the through hikers. It seems to work well, but like every thing else I’ve been talking about. It’s up hill to get there. In fact, at the bottom of the Alum Cave trail the National Park Service erected this sign which has warnings to hikers to take precautions

DSCF1697 (768x1024) — National Park Service Trail Map and Warning

because of the footing. The sign states, in part: “This trail is steep and rocky. Wear sturdy boots with adequate ankle support.” Further, if you look closely, you will see that the sign also indicates that the summit is over five miles away, at over 6,500 feet and takes four of five hours of hiking to reach.

DSCF1708 (1024x768) — An easy part of the Alum Cave Trail

The part of the trail shown above is in the lower half of the trail. As I stated earlier, the new composting toilet at the through hikers shelter is near the summit of Mount LeConte and there is no way to get there, except on the trails. So, take a look at what the National Park Service installed for the through hikers to use.

They have their very own Americans with Disabilities Act approved toilet. I have carried a back pack up or down every trail leading to this toilet on all sides of Mount LeConte. I guarantee you that any person who required such a toilet as part of his/her normal life would not be able to roll their wheel chair to this toilet, even if you carried them to a spot within a quarter of a mile from the toilet. At Goneguru, we want everyone to have a quality life and to enjoy travel and the great outdoors. We support research for such disabling diseases as Multiple Sclerosis, but some things just don’t make sense. If you can explain to me the logic in why this toilet was configured to be ADA approved, please do so.

Crosses and Castles and Close Encounters – Ireland

Not everyone in the world has an Irish Heritage, but on St. Patrick’s Day many a lad and lassie believe that somewhere in their ancestral past is the vestige of Éirinn go Brách . My wife is legitimatley part Irish and I can trace my ancestry back to Dublin, but my Dublin is a city in America, not Ireland, however, even in this American town, the celebration of all things Irish is roundly upheld. When the opportunity arose for us to go to Ireland there was certainly no reason not to go. This little article shows a few pictures of a personal Ireland on a trip taken around St. Patrick’s Day and shows a few spots in Ireland from a personal point of view.

The cross above stands in a graveyard in Killarney National Park. I don’t know the identity of the interred, but I am grateful for the beauty of the resting place. To the best of my recollection, this image was taken at Muckross. Nevertheless, it represents crosses we saw all across Ireland on our trip there.

Like many others we started in Galway and ended in Dublin, with too little seen in between. We were there in early spring, so the images you see should reflect the Irish landscape around St. Patrick’s Day. But, don’t take our word for it. Go see for yourself. Even at the early date of our trip, you could none the less tell the beauty of this green island and its well earned lore. I was surprised by the hilliness and the beauty of the lakes resting in the valleys.

The Connamera region of Ireland is full of mountain, lake and bog land, with a rugged beauty that may not fit with the bright image of Ireland that you may have. However, it can bring to mind the potato famine of the mid 1800’s that sent so many Irish to foreign shores that each of us now feel an Irish kinship. In the midst of this ruggedly beautiful land, you will find man made places that are unimaginably beautiful. One of these is Kylemore Castle which is currently inhabited by the Benedictine Order of nuns also known as The Irish Dames of Ypres.

This is a “modern” castle, built in the 1860’s, and purchased by the Benedictine Oder in 1920. Like much of Ireland, its history can be considered tragic or uplifting and I will leave it to you to research and decide which you think it is. Here is a link to a website that will be helpful. http://www.kylemoreabbeytourism.ie/benedictine-community .

Far to the south of Kylemore Castle, you will find a castle that is far more famous and which is on the ‘to do’ list of almost any tourist to Ireland. I am referring to the famous Blarney Castle. According to the legend, if you kiss the Blarney Stone. you will be gifted with the ability to tell a tale with your listener’s being unable to determine whether you are telling the truth or lying. Blarney Castle sits on a beautiful setting but, because it sits right beside a rather mundane road, upon arriving, you may wonder if you’ve arrived at all. None the less, a few feet along the path you realize that you are in a special place, even if you aren’t sure why.

The castle does not look like a “Disney” castle, but was clearly a functional fortress, capable of defending her master’s interests. To kiss the Blarney Stone, one must ascend to the top level of Blarney Castle, find the opening in the parapet that is designated as the “stone”, lie down on your back and extend your face into nothingness until your lips press against the wall.

It take some concentration as well as trust in the one holding your legs. As you can see the person kissing the stone hangs his/her head between heaven and earth. Note also the modern day grip bars installed to allow even the most reticent tourist to kiss the stone. I, for one, think it should be done the old fashioned way with neither grips nor assistance.

Getting around in western Ireland gives you a great appreciation for the skill and courage of the Irish drivers and lorry-men who navigate these roads. The roads can be narrow and closely bordered with the ubiquitous Irish stone fences setting out the fields of one landowner from another. In this photograph,

the two drivers of the oncoming buses, squeezed their buses through a space that left no more than 4 inches separation. No dents, no bumps no bruises. These narrow roads will take you past the traditional Irish fields that you have to say you’ve seen. No trip to this emerald Isle can be complete with out looking out over the patchwork Irish countryside divided by the stone fences,

each set with no mortar and expected to stand forever. Some of these fences are hundreds of years old and hearken back to an earlier time in this place where peat was burned for heat an thatched roofs held sway. In some places, the old ways live on.

Beyond the green fields you come to the land of peat. As you can see, the peat is cut into short logs for burning and it is indeed still burned. Perhaps you will find a village in which some of the houses still have thatched roofs. Blarney Castle, peat bogs and thatched roofs alongside green fields and stone walls were what I expected when I came to Ireland and the land did not disappoint me.

Although the houses above were not the little cottages in the field I had envisioned, they gave me the imagery of the houses I had wanted to see.

From the western shore of Ireland, the Atlantic stretches to America. On that shore you’ll find the Dingle Peninsula, where some of the most scenic stone walls fields and seascapes will be found and to the north you’ll find the Cliff’s of Mohler jutting between sea and sky and providing sanctuary to thousands of birds. Although no one can own the scenery, standing there on the cliffs and looking along the shoreline, you feel as though you belong to it, even if it can’t belong to you. Even when you try to capture it in a photograph, you look back and realize that you couldn’t really show what you see.

Once you’ve seen these cliffs and the images of Ireland will reappear in your memory and even in your dreams, some times in the strangest ways.

From the Celtic Cross to the cliffs of Mohler and back to Dublin, the emerald isle captures your imagination and lets you blend history and fantasy into one, taking part of the tales of Ireland you may have heard and fixing them in places you finally see with your on eyes. Even when you visit Dublin and all of its bustle, there may be time for you to visit the Papal Cross that was erected near the edge of the Fifteen Acres in Phoenix Park and contemplate all that you have seen.