Go confidently in the direction of your dreams. Live the life you have imagined.

Henry David Thoreau

Easy Wednesday Plus Two Sections Down and Best Bear Pics So Far

Wednesday September 2  and Thursday September 3, 2015                              Most Recent Post:
Big Meadows Campground                                                                                  A Visit From a Friend I’ve Never Met
Shenandoah National Park, Virginia

 

 

WEDNESDAY

 

The clouds are on the mountain this morning when I go up to meet Sharon, (the friend I met for the first time yesterday-see link above) for a short hike up to the Black Rock Summit behind the lodge. They claim it is 2/10th of a mile but it is nowhere near that long. It is a good view out though and would be excellent for sunset.

The views are actually a bit better than they look in these pictures but it isn’t a crystal clear blue sky day yet.  Still, we are here, we take pictures.

 

 

 

This one shows the roof of the Big Meadows Lodge and the mountains in the distance.

I sit here Sharon sits behind me while we spend some time chatting and just enjoying being the only folks out here.

 

In time, we walk down from the lodge to the Story of the Forest Trail which goes by the campground and then to the Visitor’s center.  You can see the golden colors of fall beginning in both our pictures from the top of Black Rocks and here on the trail.

 

 

 

 

 

Looks like this swallowtail has had a rough summer.

IMG_5095

 

 

First we see the excellent film on the CCC in Shenandoah.  Then we walk through the wonderful exhibits and history of the visitor center and I find a  special trail marker showing the mileage on the AT South to Springer(902)  and North to Katahdin (1285) from Big Meadows.  Finally we see the short film about the people whose lives were altered irrevocably to enable the park to be created.  It’s called The Gift.

 

IMG_5097

 

IMG_5101

 

Outside the bees are buzzing in the native plants garden outside the restrooms. 

IMG_5104

 

IMG_5107

 

 

We walk back to Winnona across the rock bridge and through the campground.  On the way I spot a butterfly that looks a lot like an Orange Sulfur except the two largest markings on the wings are not quite the same.  Otherwise the color and the wing edges are identical. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We spend the rest of the afternoon reading under the awning. It’s an easy comfortable friendship. It doesn’t require that we be interacting all the time.

 

David has gone to the Cancer Center today and hasn’t come back by the time we are hungry for some home made soup and bread.  No pictures of the food of course and none of the really major thunderstorm with loud thunder and  lightning so close you couldn’t count to one.  The bolts in the sky were shockingly close. We really got dumped on.   Looking outside the door, there is a lake on our patio.  It’s the most powerful storm I’ve been in all summer.

 

 

THURSDAY

 

 

Today is Sharon’s last day here.  She wisely came on a Monday and wants to get back to Knoxville on Friday before the Labor Day group gets on the road.  So she will leave early tomorrow morning.

To give her a taste of my AT quest we take two cars up for a one way trip to finish my last section of the AT in both the North and Central sections of the park.  

Sharon says she wouldn’t want to thru hike the AT but would like to hike at least 5 miles in every state it goes through.  I think she’s already done that in Virginia but these will be different miles.  David joins us today.

 

Sharon may worry about meeting a bear on the trail but she has got bear karma.  On the drive to the trail head we spot one rather thin black bear crossing the road.  I’m driving and my camera is in the back seat of course.   Then a little further on, too far ahead of us for pictures, we spot a mother bear and two cubs also crossing the road.  I wonder if these are the only bears we’ll see all day.  But I certainly shouldn’t complain, I’ve lost track of the total bear count for the summer.   That idea makes me smile.   And I do have bear karma Sharon with me today.

We haven’t walked a hundred yards on the trail when I spy this interesting lavenderish mushroom under a log.

 

Like most of the hikes in Shenandoah,  the AT goes up and down but unlike other hikes it is not always down first.  This time it is pretty steeply up to a view overlooking the overlook on the drive.   Hope that makes sense.

 

IMG_5148

 

 

SAM_3652

 

We come to the first junction and Sharon carefully checks out the directions.

IMG_5151

 

There are two or three westward views.  David stops to take in the second of them.  He takes a lovely panorama from here but somehow his camera doesn’t stitch it together correctly and it seems to have a big square of blue right in the middle of the clouds. 

IMG_5158

 

David took this picture which I thought was pretty cute though I can’t remember what Sharon was looking at. Perhaps she thought she saw a bear.  She is definitely on the look out.   She would really rather not see one so close.

SAMSUNG CAMERA PICTURES

 

I am seriously enamored of these orange shelf mushrooms which look almost like a ruffle running at the foot of the tree and up the back.

 

 

 

 

 

 

SAMSUNG CAMERA PICTURES

 

As is also common on the AT, it crosses the drive at least once every few miles.  Today it will cross four times.

SAMSUNG CAMERA PICTURES

 

 

At this intersection we turn off of the AT to visit the Gravel Springs AT Hut.  Sharon lives in Knoxville and frequently drives into Great Smoky Mountain National Park to hike where she sees the huts on the AT there which have been recently redone.  I doubt our simple shelters can compare. 

 

IMG_5174

 

We’re almost down to the hut when we pass this fellow sunning on a rock by the water.  Sharon walks right past him and is surprised when David, behind her, points him out.   I think he’s a northern water snake.

 

 

We look over at the shelter and find that it is being used.  That’s pretty unusual for us to find since usually we are stopping for lunch at mid day and thru hikers are long gone or not yet arrived.  But these two who go by the trail names of Grouse and Robin are eating their lunch here too.  They are South Bound from Maine.

 

IMG_5181

 

They are filtering the spring water into their bottles and packing up to leave as we sit down for lunch. 

IMG_5182

 

On our way back up to the AT  the water snake has not moved and I get a close up of his snaky face.

 

We cross the road again at Gravel Springs Gap, head down the Browntown Road/Trail and then turn up onto the AT heading North.

 

SAM_3706

IMG_5190

 

 

IMG_5192

 

Yesterday I spied these fruits with the shape and feel of grapes  and had no idea what they were.  I asked my readers but only Heyduke suggested I show pictures of the leaves.  David finds them today and takes pictures of them.  Both times they have been in the trail and after looking around, we cannot find where they came from or their leaves.  They certainly are interesting though.

 

SAM_3725

SAM_3724

 

 

Today’s hike is a little bit longer than Monday’s at 6.36 miles but Sharon will be moving on past that mileage when she gets back to her Smokies.  It was wonderful to have her here.  She makes an excellent hiking companion. 

Thanks David for these pictures of us at the end of my final segment of the AT for both the Northern and Central Sections of the park.  I have 4 more hikes to go.  All of them are way down South in the park.   Thanks Sharon for being willing to be part of the quest.  Wish there had been bears though I know you are glad there weren’t.

 

IMG_5193

 

IMG_5196

 

Now I wasn’t kidding when I said she had bear karma.  She didn’t attract them on the trail, probably because she doesn’t want to see them that close, but on our way back to Big Meadows, I turn off the drive to take her through Mathew’s Arm campground so she will have seen 3 of the 4 campgrounds in the park.   We start up one of the loops and there he is walking right through a campsite.  I stop the car, roll down my window and get my camera going.  

The bear is to the left of the car.  With the car between Sharon and the bear, she actually gets out and takes some pictures from the passenger side.

 

IMG_5201

 

He doesn’t care a bit.  He looks at us a little and then goes on about his business.  I’m not sure what his business was.  He actually looked pretty sleepy.  He was yawning at one point.  With bear boxes at each campsite and every cabin, there is pretty much never any food left around so I doubt he came expecting that.  Perhaps he’s just wandering through.

IMG_5206

 

I think these are the best pictures I have gotten of any of the bears we’ve seen.

IMG_5207

 

Isn’t he glorious???

IMG_5209

 

I know, too many bear pictures.  But he was so fabulous.

IMG_5211

 

And handsome!

IMG_5212

 

 

He can’t decide what to think about us in that big red car I guess so he turns around to leave.

IMG_5214

 

Just one more look back.   We of course haven’t moved since we stopped to enjoy him.

IMG_5215

 

And then he walks away.  Boy he made my day.  Thanks Sharon, your karma is still in tact.

IMG_5216

 

One funny note.  Most of you know that David gave up his blue hiking pole in favor of a longer stick we found in the park.  He’s putting a finish on it and has a Shenandoah National Park medallion on it now.   So you can imagine how unhappy he would be if he lost it. 

Well he set it up on the kayak rack while he changed out of his hiking boots as we were leaving to come back.  He forgot it, I never saw it,  but it rode all the way back, including around Mathew’s Arm campground on the roof rack a total of over 35 miles.

 

SAM_3750

 

 

Later this evening, after a shower and some dinner, we walk up to the lodge to say good bye to Sharon who is leaving early in the morning for home as are we to go down to Charlottesville for an 8am appointment with a second opinion cardiologist. 

I want to take these pictures of her room which is right off the main lodge balcony.

IMG_5218

 

She has room number 5.  There is only one room beyond her.  She says it has been very quiet and she likes her room very much.  I’m so glad to hear that after Carrie’s experience when she and Matthew stayed at the lodge.

 

IMG_5219

 

IMG_5220

 

The only problem about which she says she doesn’t really care, is that the maid service is bizarre.  Today they didn’t even make the bed.   One day they made the bed and left the used towels hanging around even though they left new ones. 

In any case she has a cute little fireplace and  twin beds.  The lodge was built in 1939 with stones from nearby Massanutten Mountain and has Native Chestnut wood paneling throughout.   We swoon over the chestnut walls in her room.

 

IMG_5221

 

IMG_5222

 

No pictures of the final good bye hugs. 
Besides it isn’t good bye, it’s see you later, ‘til next time!

22 comments:

  1. You can never have too many bear pictures, and the ones today were excellent. He's looking for people food, which will get him into big trouble some day if he ever finds and gets used to it.

    Yesterday we went to Fishkill Farms to pick up our CSA order (my d-i-l bought a small share this year). On the ground close to where we were picking something or other was a vegetable my grandson said was a "husk tomato". It wasn't sliced in the middle like your picture is, but he said it's supposed to be like a tomato inside, with a soft "husk" on the outside. Could be what you are holding.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Love the bear photos, since we never seem to see any!
    We stayed at that lodge about 20 years ago and it still looks exactly the same.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Love the bear pictures! Saw 'A Walk in the Woods' yesterday and thought of you as we watched scenes of the AT.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Cool bear photos and what a wonderful visit with Sharon.

    ReplyDelete
  5. What a lovely recap of our three days hiking in Shenandoah. I have no doubt there will be many more times in the future. Even without ever having met, you have been a dear friend to me through the worst part of my life and I am grateful. Your blog readers whom you've never met in person need to know what a kind heart and loving acceptance is found in both you and David. Funny how I'd never seen my bear skepticism as fear until I saw it through your eyes. The bears in the Smokies are often, and very sadly, so habituated to humans and less afraid of them that hikers are constantly warned to be wary. I've had enough close encounters to know that I prefer seeing them mostly from the car so I ordered all those just for you! I am currently in Maggie Valley, NC with my mom (no hiking, she's 87) and sadly, we saw a bear on Interstate 40 yesterday that had been hit by a car. That was a first for me and broke my heart. It was a cub! Eventually, I'll get a post up on my blog and YOU can read about my visit through MY eyes. You are both precious people and I am glad we call each other friends!

    ReplyDelete
  6. We have yet to see a bear...and gee, how many have you seen?.....too many to count. Lucky you. And your luck is doubled by hiking with Sharon. What more could anyone ask for?

    ReplyDelete
  7. Oh, wow, what a great day. Those are some of the best bear pictures I've ever seen taken up there. I've got to show them to my friend who is up there frequently, always looking to take a bear picture. Thanks for sharing!

    ReplyDelete
  8. Wow, great photos of the bear. He looks like he needs a little more fat on him before his long winter's nap though.

    Whenever we stay in a hotel for more than a night or two, we always tell the cleaning help that they don't need to come and clean our room or change the sheets. We don't do that at home so we don't see a need for that at a hotel. If it is longer than an 3 or 4 days then we might have them come in and restock the toiletiers and maybe change the towels. We prefer the privacy even though we might not be there when they come in to clean.

    www.travelwithkevinandruth.com

    ReplyDelete
  9. Wow! That was a terrific bear sighting!! Amazing that Dad's stick stayed on the car that long. I laughed...meant to be! Nice snake photos too. I like the look of Sharon's room. The fireplace makes it look a bit more cozy, I think. What a lovely comment from Sharon. I have the best parents! :)

    ReplyDelete
  10. The bear shots are amazing- it looks like he's had a good summer.

    ReplyDelete
  11. OMWow!!! Such great shots of the bear. Thank you Sharon for having such good bear karma.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Snakes and bears, a pretty sweet critter day indeed! Seems Sharon has bear CARma :-) , your photos are incredible. He's sure got his winter coat started early. I love the ruffled skirt on the big tree, so fancy. Darling cabin/room Sharon had.

    ReplyDelete
  13. You can not have to many bear photos. I love those mushroom photos too.

    ReplyDelete
  14. Best bear pictures ever! How cool is that and so close up too! The rooms in the lodge look nice- AND why is an acid green butterfly called an orange sulphur??? XXXOOO

    ReplyDelete
  15. How nice to have a second hike with Sharon:) What very cool orange shelf mushroom! The snake looks so very comfortable. It is interesting how much skinnier the bear is than the bears in the west. He looks huge with long legs but he isn't very fat. Guess he better start eating!

    ReplyDelete
  16. WONDERFUL bear pics! And so many sightings in one day...what a bonanza!

    ReplyDelete
  17. You can never have enough bear pictures. What an amazing visit with that bear that was so kind to let you snap away. Absolutely awesome!!! :cD

    ReplyDelete
  18. Great fungi finds. Two twin beds means maybe next time I come too, right? ;-)

    ReplyDelete
  19. Loved your wildlife encounters... bears... and a snake. You are brave with the close-up of the snake face. The only time I have ever seen a snake face that close up is through a glass window. How nice that you and Sharon met up and had the opportunity to hike together. That David never gives up.. so admirable,,, and yes! he should not be faced with his health challenges. He is a fine example of living life to the fullest every day. Glad he didn't lose his cherished walking stick.

    ReplyDelete
  20. Great day all around - loved seeing the bear and the snake too.

    ReplyDelete
  21. Sherry, I think your mystery "fruit" is actually a plant gall created by some type of insect. We see very similar growths on oaks here in the West -- and I've also seen them on beach roses, although those have a fuzzy exterior. Love your amazing photos of your bear sighting!!

    ReplyDelete
  22. Great shots of the bear. It's amazing he seemed so calm and unconcerned about you.

    ReplyDelete

Your comments are the best part of this blog for me.
I LOVE hearing from you!