sidekick

Success and failure. We think of them as opposites, but they're really not. They're companions - the hero and the sidekick. 
--Laurence Shames (b.1951) author.

Above: Blue and my shadow on the Appalachian Trail. This is the view from Round Bald looking out on Jane Bald and Grassy Ridge.

gratitude and vision

Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity. It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend. Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today, and creates a vision for tomorrow. 
--Melody Beattie (b.1948) American author. 

Above: Blue at Chestoa View, Blue Ridge Parkway mile 320.8 (elevation 4090 ft.).

Chestoa View offers great views of the Linville Gorge Wilderness and is a short walk from the parking area. In the photo above you can see Table Rock in the distance (top right). More discussion of this fantastic overlook here.

december swim

All men should strive
 to learn before they die

what they are running from, and to, and why.


--James Thurber (1894-1961) American author--

With temperatures reaching above seventy degrees, Blue was happy to go for a December swim in Watauga Lake.

healing nature

Everybody needs beauty as well as bread, places to play in and pray in, where nature may heal and give strength to body and soul. 
--John Muir (1838-1914) Scottish-born American naturalist, author, and early advocate of conservation of U.S. wilderness.

Blue hasn't had many adventures since his knee went out last November playing frisbee. It's been a long, slow healing process. This was one of our first "long" treks since his surgery -- a hike up Round Bald down to Engine Gap and then back to Carver's Gap. He did great and enjoyed being out on the trail. :)

Boone Lake Draw Down

What a difference five months makes. With the draw down of the Boone Reservoir to repair the leaking Boone Dam, there have been dramatic changes to the shoreline. These photos were taken near the Winged Deer Park Boat Ramp -- on April 11th and Sept. 8th. The draw down was necessitated by the discovery that the integrity of the dam, north of Johnson City, had been compromised by underground water seepage. The Bristol Herald published some good articles this week on the dam's problems, the impact on local property owners and the steps the TVA will take to resolve the issues (click here and here).

It is stunning to see not only how low the reservoir is right now, with boats suspended dozens of feet above the ground, but the rapid growth of vegetation in what was only recently the muddy lake bottom.  The bad news for homeowners, marinas and those who enjoyed boating and fishing on the lake is that the TVA estimates it will take 5-7 years to fix the dam. To read more about the draw down and the ways the TVA will repair the dam, visit the TVA's website: click here.

dog days

"The first week of August hangs at the very top of the summer, the top of the live-long year, like the highest seat of a Ferris wheel when it pauses in its turning. The weeks that come before are only a climb from balmy spring, and those that follow a drop to the chill of autumn, but the first week of August is motionless, and hot. It is curiously silent, too, with blank white dawns and glaring noons, and sunsets smeared with too much color. Often at night there is lightning, but it quivers all alone. There is no thunder, no relieving rain. These are strange and breathless days, the dog days, when people are led to do things they are sure to be sorry for after.”
― Natalie Babbitt (b.1932) author.

Above: Blue enjoying the dog days of summer at Watauga Lake. 

go placidly

"Go placidly amid the noise and the haste, and remember what peace there may be in silence. As far as possible, without surrender, be on good terms with all persons.

Speak your truth quietly and clearly; and listen to others, even to the dull and the ignorant; they too have their story.

Avoid loud and aggressive persons; they are vexatious to the spirit. If you compare yourself with others, you may become vain or bitter, for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself.

Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans. Keep interested in your own career, however humble; it is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time.

Exercise caution in your business affairs, for the world is full of trickery. But let this not blind you to what virtue there is; many persons strive for high ideals, and everywhere life is full of heroism.

Be yourself. Especially, do not feign affection. Neither be cynical about love; for in the face of all aridity and disenchantment, it is as perennial as the grass.

Take kindly the counsel of the years, gracefully surrendering the things of youth.

Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune. But do not distress yourself with dark imaginings. Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness.

Beyond a wholesome discipline, be gentle with yourself. You are a child of the universe no less than the trees and the stars; you have a right to be here.

And whether or not it is clear to you, no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should. Therefore be at peace with God, whatever you conceive Him to be.

And whatever your labors and aspirations, in the noisy confusion of life, keep peace in your soul. With all its sham, drudgery and broken dreams, it is still a beautiful world. Be cheerful. Strive to be happy."

--Max Ehrmann (1872–1945) American Writer, "Desiderata"

Above: Trail at Sycamore Shoals State Park, Elizabethton, TN

ol' blue eyes

A dog is the only thing on earth that loves you more than you love yourself. 
--Josh Billings (1815-1885) American humorist and lecturer.

Hard to believe it's been four years... This was taken the day Blue arrived home from the shelter. From the very start he's loved playing fetch. :)

traveling companion

The world is a book and those who do not travel read only one page.
– Saint Augustine (354-430) Christian theologian and philosopher.

Above: My traveling companion, Blue, exploring Rocky Fork.

travelers vs. tourists

The traveler was active; he went strenuously in search of people, of adventure, of experience. The tourist is passive; he expects interesting things to happen to him. He goes "sight-seeing." 
--Daniel J. Boorstin (1914-2004) Historian and educator.

'Blue' being a tourist, taking in the beautiful sights from the Chestoa View Overlook on the Blue Ridge Parkway.  Click here to read more about the overlook and to see a similar photo I took three years ago.

trail blazers

We met Sockless and Blazer (trail names) on our hike to the overlook near Little Rock Knob on Iron Mountain yesterday. They are South-Bound Flip-Floppers from Cincinnati.  Let me explain..."South Bound" in that they are traveling from North to South on the AT with their destination being Springer Mountain in Georgia. "Flip Floppers" in that they started in the middle of the AT and are doing the southern part first, with the expectation of then completing the northern section of the 2,200 mile trail. There are no rules saying you have to walk in an uninterrupted line along the AT! In fact, some who complete the trail do so as section hikers -- hiking large sections of the trail, often over the span of many years, in order to complete their thru hike. Click here for an article on the increased popularity of flip flopping the Appalachian Trail.

Sockless and Blazer came across a little dog on their journey which someone had obviously abandoned. The poor little guy was hungry and in need of help. My hiking companion Lee (you can see her blog here) agreed to take him home and so we left the mountain with an unexpected addition to our hiking group! She's calling him "Blaze" in honor of Blazer and as a reminder that it was the Appalachian Trail (marked with white blazes) that brought them together.

From Hughes Gap, it's 2.5 miles each way of fairly easy hiking. The view from the Little Rock Knob overlook is incredible on a clear day. Click here to read more about this hike.  And click here to read about taking the Appalachian Trail up and over Iron Mountain. Below is a panorama of the fantastic view from the rock outcropping near Little Rock Knob (click photo to enlarge).

blue + green

Green is the prime color of the world, and that from which its loveliness arises.
--Pedro Calderon de la Barca (1600-1681) Dramatist and poet.

"Blue" in the midst of the brilliant green of the Appalachian Trail in spring.

footprints

One who walks in another's tracks leaves no footprints.
--Proverb 

Above: Blue walking along the Appalachian Trail near Iron Mountain Gap on the Tennessee/North Carolina border. Much more snow up there than I anticipated finding! I thought we all agreed it was spring?

Remembering Sadie

What we have once enjoyed 
we can never lose;

All that we love deeply,
 becomes a part of us.
 
--Helen Keller (1880-1968) American Author and Educator. 

My thoughts and prayers are with my friend Lee who said goodbye to her precious Sadie last night. You wouldn't know it to look at her, but Sadie was rough and tumble. She never took the trail, she made her own path -- scurrying into the woods, zig-zagging her way back across the path down the ravine, back up the cliff -- she was fearless. More Jeep than Cocker Spaniel, she loved an adventure and was always wanting to explore. As she grew older, her mind still said 'let's go' long after she was physically able to continue her quests. All along she was a loving companion with a big heart -- and such a blessing to Lee, who gave her a wonderful, adventure-filled life.

one giant leap

All growth is a leap in the dark, a spontaneous, unpremeditated act without benefit of experience. 
--Henry Miller (1891-1980) American Author. 

climb every mountain

We have not wings
we cannot soar;
but, we have feet
to scale and climb,
by slow degrees,
by more and more,
the cloudy summits
of our time.
--Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807-1882) American Poet. 

These were taken last week at an overlook just below the summit of Jane's Bald in the Roan Highlands. In the foreground of the photo at the top is Round Bald and beyond that is Roan Mountain. The photo of 'Blue' makes it look as if he's in a pretty perilous place, but he's actually standing on the rock you see in the foreground of the top photo. Funny what a difference a little change in perspective can make in a photo. :)

top dog

The better I get to know men, the more I find myself loving dogs.
--Charles de Gaulle (1890-1970) French General and President. 

Above: "Blue" anxiously waiting to resume swimming and playing fetch at Sycamore Shoals State Park in Elizabethton, TN.

hearts and home

Where we love is home - home that our feet may leave, but not our hearts.
--Oliver Wendell Holmes 

Went out for a short hike with "Blue" on the Appalachian Trail. It was as if we hiked back in time to March -- 60 degrees down below and in the 40s up on Unaka Mountain. We hiked about 3 miles roundtrip and in that short span came across ten thru-hikers on their way to Maine. It was fun talking to them about their hike so far and the beauty that lies ahead -- especially the Roan and Grayson Highlands. 

expectancy

To prepare our hearts for Christmas, we must cultivate the spirit of expectancy.
-- Handel H. Brown 

A very merry Christmas to you from Blue and I! :)

first snow

November comes
And November goes,
With the last red berries
And the first white snows.

With night coming early,
And dawn coming late,
And ice in the bucket
And frost by the gate.

The fires burn
And the kettles sing,
And earth sinks to rest
Until next spring.
--Elizabeth Coatsworth

I was surprised to find large patches of snow still remaining atop Unaka Mountain, a week and a half after the remnants of Hurricane Sandy came through the Appalachians. "Blue" was delighted.