Abrams Falls

OK, now that my wildlife encounter rant is out of the way, I return this blog to our regularly scheduled travel reporting!

The plan for the day was to visit the Great Smoky Mountains Heritage Center, a “nonprofit organization formed to preserve and present the heritage of the East Tennessee region.”  Located in Townsend, just down the road from the Tremont Outdoor Resort, it’s within walking distance, but we were carrying too much gear to get there under our own power.

Mui had just parked the car when we noticed that we had company — two bus-loads of school kids.  Oh!  Oh!  Noticing our concern, a staff member from the center told us that they had two busses a day coming in every week morning for the foreseeable future.  “They’ll be gone by 1:00p,” he continued.  OK; so we’ll come back later.  Well, we never made it back!  Instead, we drove into the park and hiked the Abrams Falls Trail, located not far from the Cable Mill Area of the Cades Cove Loop.

Our focus on this trip is the Cades Cove area; just a tiny portion of the GSMNP.
The inset shows where the Abrams Falls Trail is located in relation to the loop.
[maps courtesy of the National Park Service website.]

Designated as moderate, the in-out trail is 2½ miles (4 km) each way.

It was 11:15a when we set out from the trailhead.  Normally, we’re not ones to start hiking this late in the day, but the cool 60F (16C) temp and the long hours of daylight made it quite feasible.  Despite the ups and downs, and the rocks, boulders, and tree roots that made it imperative that we pay attention to where we were stepping, I’d rate the trail easy-to-moderate.  The trail climbs up to 1800 feet (~550 m) at one point, but you’re 200 feet (~ 61 m) below your starting point when you reach the falls.

With glimpses of Abrams Creek through the trees and wildflowers galore along the path, the trail has what we like to call ‘high entertainment value’.  We made so many stops to take pictures and enjoy creek-side snacks that it took us almost three hours to get to the falls.  We missed seeing rhododendrons and mountain laurel in bloom, but perhaps that wasn’t such a bad thing as we probably would have doubled our time going in otherwise!  (By comparison, the return hike took a little under two hours.)

Left: Pink Lady's Slipper Orchid — considered rare/endangered in Tennessee.
Right: Crested Dwarf Iris — very common; found growing on wooded hillsides.

The Red-Belted Conk is a ubiquitous shelf fungus that can grow to huge proportions.

Clockwise from the top left: Rhododendron (just blooming); Purple Trillium;
Spicebush; Mountain Laurel (budding); Meadow Beauty; Dog Hobble.
[please correct me if I am wrong on any of these.]

I didn’t mind the tree frog (looks like it’s about to pounce on its lunch).
I didn’t mind the five-lined skink (to the right of the snake in the top right photo).
but I sure could have done without seeing the common water snake.

There were three or four of these log bridges on the trail.
They were easy to cross actually; I’m just hamming it up for the camera :-)))

A boulder in the middle of Abrams Creek makes for a nice spot to have a snack.

Left: Now why can’t I just take a picture from the path like everyone else?
right: this cross vine was hanging down in the middle of the trail; I’m guessing that someone who walked up after us broke it off because it wasn’t there on the hike down — grrrr :-(((

At this uphill portion of the hike (left) we get a glimpse of Abrams Creek through the trees.

No, Mui; you don’t get to go for a dip at the falls.

Located as it is within the Cades Cove Loop, the Abrams Falls Trail is very popular, so we were very pleased (and lucky) that we didn’t encounter very many people while we were hiking.  The falls were similarly near-deserted.  The couple that was enjoying a snack left soon after we arrived; as did the young man who was taking a break from his 48-mile three-day hike.  More power to him.

We made ourselves comfortable on a couple of boulders at the edge of the water and had lunch in view of the falls on the far side.

Though only 20 feet (6 m) high, the volume of water rushing over makes the falls a sight to behold.

A Zebra Swallowtail Butterfly joins us for lunch.

After a while, we moved to the spit of rocks at the base of the falls.  We thought the spray from the rushing, tumbling water wouldn’t allow us to get too close.  But there was no spray whatsoever, so we stuck around to play a bit.  A few other visitors showed up, took photos and left; a family arrived just as we were leaving.

Any closer and we’d be taking a very cold shower.

I was surprised at how many people we saw going up while we were on our way down.  I sure wouldn’t want to be on this trail at dusk.  We made a few stops to take photos, but otherwise maintained a pretty even pace all the way back to the parking lot.

a ‘Silky water’ view from our snack break spot on the return leg of the hike.

Once off the trail, I wanted to stop at one of the heritage sites on the opposite side of the Cades Cove Loop.  So we took Hyatt Lane, one of only two roads with two-way traffic that cuts across the loop.  That detour led to a black bear sighting — this time a sow with her tiny COY (cub of the year).  This was followed by four other sightings; only one of which fit my definition of an encounter — we could see its beady black eyes.  Our total for the day: seven black bears, including the one that was the inspiration for my rant; and another bear we saw high up in a tree, looking down at a man that was standing at its base — I’ll resist the temptation for another rant.

See those eyes; if I can see them, the sighting is an encounter.

The return drive was particularly slow thanks to a couple of wildlife jams on the road ahead of us.  Nope, not for deer.  Nope, not for elk.  Nope, not for bear.  Rather, the traffic jams were all for wild turkeys :-)

Just as we exited the loop road, the rain that had been expected yesterday afternoon finally arrived.  The slow drizzle turned into quite a downpour, making for a slow drive home.  We were in no hurry, so we took our time driving the narrow, curvy roads.  Even as I finish writing this at 10:30p, the rain has not stopped once.  I love the sound of rain on the roof of the motorhome; it lulls me to sleep.  Speaking of which, it’s time to get under the cozy comforter.

Root Beer River

I just love the color of tannin-rich rivers! Tannins are commonly cited as being the cause of root beer colored water. The Presque Isle River in Michigan's Porcupine Mountains Wilderness State Park has some of the most delicious-looking root beer colored water that I've ever seen! This photo shows one of the first ledges of many that make up Manido Falls. This was an incredible waterfall to photograph using my 100-400mm lens and I easily could have spent the whole day photographing just in this one area. Alas, I had to hit the road for home after a few hours of shooting in the early morning light.

Happy Anniversary

Yesterday after a morning of getting up at 5:30 am but not leaving the house until 7:15 am and stopping for pee breaks and gas breaks and then getting lost when the google directions had us take an exit off the freeway that was closed, we arrived just a touch too close to Morgan's start time. I think he had maybe 15 minutes to get ready.

I got out of the car and almost threw up because we'd just driven 75 mph on a two lane highway with some near misses in a gigantic safari land cruiser packed with bikes and food and other crap.
All this so we could race for 45 minutes each.
I went up the hill and registered all four of us for our respective races and then pinned and poked Morgan a bit.
With the kids off on their bikes to explore and climb trees and Morgan taking his one lap pre-ride, I went back to the car to make my breakfasts - some peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. Then it was back up to the course to hang around and watch and take some pictures.
I ate both peanut butter and jelly sandwiches in a matter of minutes and was a little too stuffed. And then over the next few hours I drank a whole lot of water.
The kid's race was right before the women's race and regrettably I missed them starting because I was down at the bathroom taking the 12th of my 15 pee breaks or something like that. On the way back up to the start I could hear them making their way down the side of the course so I pulled over to wait and cheer. And there he was, poor Sam, on the ground whimpering.
I made my way over to him and he moaned something about how he'd crashed on his "you know whats". Which of course a mom tries to be empathetic about, but also doesn't fully understand because us moms have never experienced the getting hit "in the you know whats" pain.
So as he was doubled over I asked him if he was ready to get back on and finish and he shook is head yes and got back on and I pushed him through the sand, hopped on my bike and rode the rest of his race right behind him cheering him on. By the time he got to the finish he was sobbing and thankfully there were a few dads there who understood what he was going through. Ice was magically shoved into my hand (does that really help with the nut pain?) and Sam sat down to rest.

(pic of lulu by rick)
Afterwards he told me that he'd hit the top tube with his "area" and then proceeded to ride down the hill in that position and then hit again at the bottom. A double whammy.
My race seemed short. I brought along some good mojo from some of those Facility kids and tied it in a secret place and it helped. I felt like I was really racing this time instead of just hanging on from a thread way in the back. I was in the mix this time.

The peanut butter and jellies and water came back to haunt me though. First because I think I had one of those peanut butter and jelly mustaches while I was racing. I was so busy peeing and pre-riding that I'd forgotten to check and primp my hairdo and face. I could kind of feel it on my cheeks and so I kept trying to wipe it off on the down hill. It was there, I think, maybe. Like a pirate mustache.
On the 3rd or 4th lap, I tried to pinch Tom Feix's butt while he was standing on the side talking to Rod and getting his strawberry trophy. So on the next lap he gave me some strawberries and I grabbed them and tried to eat one on a very STEEP climb and that one bite just pushed me over the edge. I started gagging and the dry heaves gave way.

I kind of heaved and gagged for the rest of the race.

(these 2 photos by rick too)
And then I finished and immediately proceeded to throw up in the bushes. And it tasted like strawberries and peanut butter and jelly. People pretended not to see me. I pretended not to see me.
Later that night Morgan suggested I google "dry heaves" and "bike racing" like it's some sort of condition. Maybe it's called "soccer mom trying to pretend she's still 30 and racing cyclocross in the B, B, B's and not really training" condition.
On the way home after another bathroom break for the kids in a dirty gas station bathroom, Lulu announced that she'd gone poop 5 times that day (probably because she'd eaten 3 tins of strawberries on her own) and it was then that Morgan turned to me and said "happy anniversary" and I said "oh yeah, that's right! it's today!"

Anubis FWA

The Comb showing the line of Anubis, on the day of the ascentQuite unexpectedly, I managed to complete my long term ambition to make the first winter ascent of my own summer E8, Anubis on Ben Nevis. The number of hours to finish the lead might just be countable on one hand, and completely exhausted me for the following three days. In other words, I completely went for it.



Starting up the initial overhang Photo: Christina BellIt seems to contradict reason, but it seems clear to from my experience that there are many different states of mind which seem to work well for bringing out the best (or should it be worst?) in climbers for hard leads. ‘confident and solid’ is most consistent, but suffers often from nerves and fear of failure. ‘Invincible’ can produce moments of sickening boldness/recklessness, but always makes for a short career in climbing. ‘Angry’ is only really good for pull-ups. Climbing is too delicate for it’s unchannelled release of energy. ‘F**k it, what have I got to lose?’ was where I was at on the crux of Anubis. Life is too short for caution when you are on the right route, at the right time. So I dispensed with caution.A small gear ripping fall on the initial wall leading to the main roof helped a lot to relax the body. I had been needing that for about two or three seasons. I started again. This time climbing like I wanted to get higher.



Crossing the crux roof Photo: Christina BellSeveral hours later, with nothing left in my arms, my feet slipped off again on the final headwall, well out from the last gear. I had the eyeball bulge of a leader with three seconds to find a solution or fall. A footless speed-downclimb of about 8 moves and kung foo kick back onto the footledge under the roof saved one more chance to get to the belay. Christina burst out laughing at the sight of it. I laughed as well, after a minute or two.Next time up was my last strength, so I got there. I pulled through my 70 metre ropes, tied them together and kept going up the comb in a 140 metre pitch, before untying and continuing up the ice grooves, and eventually standing in the quiet of the summit by myself for a few minutes.Grade in winter? No idea. I’ll have a think about it. I haven’t ever tried or done anything harder in winter. I guess there are worse chores than grading your hardest route. The route started as an idea to see if it was possible today to maintain the Victorian mountaineering tradition of opening a new climb in summer conditions, and progressing to an ascent in winter. Great that it’s still every bit as possible as it was a century ago.



The highpoint of my 2nd attempt, the other week Photo: Andy Turner



Anubis in summer E8 mode Photo: Cubby Images



Postscript: Just before I posted this up I read a timely post on Ian Parnell’s blog with a full list of all the routes of grade IX and above. I can’t say it really helped that much for making a wild and disclaimer-ridden stab at a grade for Anubis. But what did stand out was the consistency of routes which are often reasonably protected HVSs working out at IX in winter. There are of course some E2s and up to about E4s that have been done as winter mixed routes, generally where the cruxes involve cracks. Anubis, although dramatically harder at E8 does have a useful short crack at the crux, but then a section of E5 6a face climbing on small crimps. Bla bla… the long and short of it is I do think it’s a significant step up from any of the routes I’ve done. The crux is not much harder than Don’t Die, but then the rest is like stringing three of the IXs on Ian’s list together. So maybe it’s XII if my other two routes are really XI. Or if The Hurting and Don’t Die are really grade X then Anubis might make it into XI. I’ll keep thinking about it...

Iris reticulata 'Pauline'

This little beauty might not make it until Garden Bloggers Bloom Day on the 15th so I took its photo even though the light was already gone from that bed. What a surprise to see a new flower after last night's 20ºF! The prediction for tonight is 24ºF - then no more hard freezes for a while.

This is Iris reticulata 'Pauline', bulbs bought at the Natural Gardener in December. I used to grow several varieties of this iris in Illinois but haven't seen one in flower since 1999. Somehow it feels like a symbol of hope on this historic day.

The Advantages of Aging

"The great thing about getting older is that you don't lose all the other ages you've been." Madeleine L'Engle
It's true that we accumulate decades like charms on a bracelet and can remember where we were and what we were doing and how we felt. Hopefully all the experiences will make us wise. I want to be a wisewoman. Not just a woman who is wise but a Wisewoman. It sounds more romantic anyway!
I love reading L'Engle's non-fiction. If you've never read her, try her. She also writes sci-fi, but I'm not into that AT ALL.

Are we nearly there?

You can imagine the five year old Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon asking this as the pony and trap, or the stately Daimler, moves slowly down the long driveway towards home. Home was Glamis Castle, seat of the Lords of Glamis since 1372.
Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon later became the Queen Consort of King George VI, and after his death the much-loved Queen Mother.