Well, I'm "on the road again" (hello Willie) and glad to be here even though things got off to a really rocky start. The very first day was full of torrential rains, high wind gusts, 'killer' dogs, and me wading through extra high tides in the middle of the night in my underwear and thinking I'd be swept out to sea. Check out the trip report. There's no way I can summarize those disasters.
I encountered a fair amount of wild life on the way down through Maryland on the eastern shore of the Chesapeake Bay. Close to a dozen of the notoriously shy wild female (hen?) turkeys crossed the road in front of me, 50 or so white snow geese could be seen feeding out in a small cove, a few doe were grazing by the roadside, a few quail or partridge (fat little suckers) watched as I went by, lots of turkey buzzards soaring around looking for dead stuff to eat and of course 100's and 100's (thousands) of Canadian geese, as they and other birds migrate to the Chesapeake for the winter.
I spent close to a week at the Assateague Island National Seashore just off the Maryland and Virginia coasts. This island is noted for its wild horses (pony size) and they are everywhere (along with piles and piles of horsesh*t). Some claim their ancestors swam ashore from a Spanish wreck in the 1500's.
They don't seem to advertise them, but a large population of white tail deer thrive on this island also. They too were everywhere and I saw several decent size bucks. Both the deer and the horses wander wherever they choose, even through the campgrounds. I watched as horses walked right into campsites and started rooting around through stuff while the owners were off somewhere.
One day during my morning walk I saw something about 150 yards ahead along the side of the road. My first thought was it was a large Labrador dog. Then it moved and I didn't know what it was. It was too large for a dog, too small for a horse and too heavy to be a white tail deer.
It was dark brown in color, had the chest and neck of an elk and the head and antlers of a mountain goat. When I got within 50 yards of it, it saw me and took off across the road and I saw it also had a big white butt. It didn't run like a horse, or leap like a deer. It hopped like a four legged kangaroo on a pogo stick, all legs off the ground at the same time.
No sh*t! When I gave that description to a park ranger he laughed and said it was a Sika deer imported from Japan before the island became part of the National Sea Shore system and is a member of the elk family. This is rutting season and you're supposed to hear the males bugle for quite a distance but I didn't hear them. There's a whole herd of them on the island. None of the literature I've seen mentions them, maybe because they're not native. And I got a picture of it to back up my claim. Check out the Photographs section under Maryland (Assateague).
For 10 bucks you too can cross the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel that connects the eastern and western shores of Virginia together across the mouth of the Chesapeake. The bridge goes about 5 miles then there's a one mile tunnel under the bay, another 5 miles of bridge followed by another one mile tunnel and another 5 miles of bridge. Giant tankers, nearby warships, freighters, etc. don't need a drawbridge, they just go over the tunnels.
The plan was to drive up to the Blue Ridge Mountains in the Shenandoah Valley in Virginia. I stopped off at Westmoreland State Park, 60 miles south of Washington D.C., along the Potomac River for a few days. The shores of the Potomac in this area are made up of 50 foot clay cliffs. They're interesting because the erosion seems to be coming from wind and rain at the top rather than the waves from the river at the bottom. Landslides occur occasionally and when they do, 1000's of fossils are revealed. There's supposed to be billions of 15 million year old shell fossils in the cliffs as well as marine animals, including prehistoric whales and sharks. I picked up a fossil to keep that looks like a giant whale or shark tooth but in reality is probably part of a very large clam. (You're not allowed to climb or dig in the cliffs but you can collect fossils off the beach).
I finally got to the Blue Ridge Mountains in the Shenandoah National Park but didn't stay long. Two nights were all I could take of temperatures in the teens or single digits and 40-50 knot gusts of wind. I sold most of my winter gear and left much of the rest in storage so I'm really not prepared for that kind of weather. Even so, I was pretty toasty at night. It was getting up, preparing meals and such that was a killer.
Skyline Drive goes along the tops of the Blue Ridge Mountains for the entire 109 mile length of the park. I don't know what to say about them. Even in November with no leaves on the trees they're beautiful. Almost the entire drive, there are deep valleys and mountain ranges in sight, one behind the other. Check out the photo section on the web site.
And deer... Geesh! There must have been a herd of 50-100 right near the campground I was in. I got several pictures of some large bucks with big antlers. I guess they get a chance to grow up because they're not hunted there. I was having supper one night and had visual sight of 13 does at once. Who knows how many more were just out of sight.
I was headed for the North Carolina coast for some paddling but made a slight detour to the Great Smoky Mountain National Park of North Carolina/Tennessee. The Blue Ridge Parkway begins right where the Skyline Drive ends but I was in a hurry to get away from those cold mountains. When I got to the Smokies the temperature was nice so I decided to take a quick peek and stayed almost 3 weeks.
Cades Cove seems to be the most popular area among the tourist types. That campground had two camping areas open and they were almost filled every night, in November. There's an 11 mile loop road through the valley through terrific mountain peaks and ranges. Early morning and late afternoon bring the deer out to feed. I got some more pictures of some good looking bucks, several while out hiking.
One day while on the 11 mile loop I saw 25 people or so gathered in a semi-circle around a large tree in a field as if they were having some sort of religious experience. I didn't know what to think, maybe the Virgin Mary has appeared in the tree branches or something. But no, what finally caught my eye, was a black lump at the bottom of the tree. As I approached, that lump evolved into a black bear. It was a female and had, not one, not two, but three cubs with her. I got a couple of shots when I noticed she was paying particular attention to one of the cubs. Maybe it was sick or hurt or something and that might explain why she tried not to pay attention to all these people around her. Black bears shy away from humans and seeing a really wild one is rare.
She was much smaller than I would have thought. I guess when you think of a bear, grizzlies or polar bears come to mind as they tower over you. This black bear, on all fours was no more than 2-2.5 high. Standing, she was maybe 4+ feet tall and must have been way under 150 pounds.
One dork (I can think of no other name for this guy unless it's butthole) worked his way around to the other side of the bears and then started to inch his way ever closer. Finally the she bear had enough of that and took off after him and she was fast. I'll say one thing for the big dumb guy, he had good reflexes and took off like a shot. The bear stopped after a few steps and went back to the cubs. When she took off after the guy, two of the cubs just froze but the third hit the tree running and got up 5-6 feet. Mom satisfied herself the cubs were now out of harms way and turned back to them. That's when I shot my last picture. Two cubs standing there, one in the tree and mom moving towards them. And then I was outta there.
It started getting cold again so I headed over to the North Carolina side of the Smokies hoping it might be a little warmer. What a wonderful drive it was over the mountains on Newfound Gap Road. Newfound Gap offers some breathtaking views and are now the benchmark for determining if a view is worth a picture. It was cold over there too, in the 20's at night and I made the mistake of getting the pictures developed and had to hang around several days waiting for them.
But that gave me the opportunity for some more hiking and to finally get myself lost in the Smoky Mountains, with nightfall approaching and the temperature dropping fast. I ended up on the Cherokee Indian Reservation and one of them gave me directions like, go down this steep slope, follow the creek bed a half a mile, climb that ridge like he was talking to ol' Dan'l Boone hisself. So I'm stumbling around the mountains till well after dark on trails that are almost pitch black. In case you're wondering, I didn't die and everything turned out OK and what the hell, that's just another war story to tell around the campfire, now.
I met a biker from Myrtle Beach, S.C. who says it's in the 20's at night on the coast and 40's-50's during the day. That won't do it for me. I've had enough cold for a while and may be pushing south a lot faster than I thought. Christmas in Keys. How does that sound?
Now as I go paddling into the new millennium, here's hoping it also brings you and yours everything I'm sure you so richly deserve (tongue in cheek).
Happy Holidays!