Adventures in nature, music, and robots

Late 2011 wanderings

2012-01-02T09:58:00.004-05:00

Due to a heavy school load, new job, and marathon training I wasn't able to get out in the woods much at all during fall 2011, but I did manage a few quick trips.

Beautiful fall color from my enemy, Poison Ivy:

My first national champion tree nomination- Baccharis halimifolia. This specimen is in the fantastic native plant garden at Georgia Perimeter College in south Decatur, GA:

This shot is from a huge tuliptree that fell in a park just east of where I live in the city of Decatur. It was so neat to be able to explore this tree from rootball to the highest sprigs- especially since it seemed to have recently fallen

The rootball alone stood 10'+ above a huge crater. You can see into the (partially) hollow trunk too. Very neat.

I walked from near the base into the crown. It's like a secret portal into a world normally reserved for birds, flying squirrels and the ever-so-rare tree climber.

I also found some large native vines in the floodplain of this park. I believe this is Virginia Creeper (or possibly Crossvine):

Here's a nice vertical shot of a tall Sweetgum near the PATH and Agnes Scott that I took in November:

Kousa Dogwood blooming near the GSU campus in NOVEMBER!

The always lovely Angel Oak tree- I took this shot during the Kiawah Island Marathon weekend in early December:

Ripe persimmon I ate at Davidson-Arabia mountain in late December- many of them were full of fire ants, thankfully this one was not:

I found this so neat. The loblolly pine seen here at Arabia mountain looks as if it was just peeled from the surface of the bare rock. Until falling it had survived many years with a rootball only 18" deep (more or less). Fascinating!

Here's a shot of the first maypop fruit (native passionfruit) that I've found in the Southeast. These were at Woodlands Garden in Decatur:

This was part of a really nice grove of Beech trees and a few scattered White Oaks on Emory's campus. It's here that I found the first Beech documented over 130' tall in Atlanta (and the second tallest in the whole state):

Amazing shelf fungus:

Finally, I'll end with a couple shots from the new Champion Tulip Poplar for Atlanta. It's quite a doozy and was hiding out in plain site on the campus of Emory University. It's 16'(192") circumference and 152' tall! Even had some old climbing rope tangled at the base... I wonder who climbed it and when?! The first limb is 75 feet off the ground!

till next time....

My latest tree news

2011-02-23T11:35:00.017-05:00

It's been awhile and this clearly should be updated. Here are some musings from my recent tree outings this winter:

My buddy Mike found some American Chestnut burs on the tip-top of Blood Mountain, GA. This was confirmed by the president of the American Chestnut Foundation and they'd like to collect pollen this summer!

I finally made it to Big Trees Nature Preserve in Sandy Springs, GA to explore and hunt for.. well... big trees! I found some very nice Virginia Pines up on the ridge:

found a state co-champion Shumard Oak on the property of Brookwood Hills Community Club:

this led to a very interesting series of events, including making contact with the community landowners, exploring an extensive mature floodplain forest along Clear Creek (a large tributary of Peachtree Creek), and the discovery and nomination of numerous (new) city and state champion trees!

Big Beech along the floodplain:

Clear Creek:

Champ Sweetgum:

Celtis spp. (probably Sugarberry, but could be Hackberry):

Finally, i got an increment borer and finally started coring some trees on the Fernbank property. I've only just begun and it's quite a challenge. So far I've done 2 Tuliptrees and a Northern Red Oak (this one threw my back out for 4 days!):

zoom on Tuliptree core:

Congaree

2011-01-01T12:44:00.002-05:00

grapevine

we saw wild boars, this is the kind of destruction they do

you should go: www.nps.gov/cong

much belated updates from late 2010...

2011-01-01T12:34:00.003-05:00

Holiday time building fire with the nieces!

New city champ European Cherry Laurel (Prunus laurocerasus)

Casey, Pop pop, and I ventured into Oakland Cemetary

Waiting for the MARTA during fall semester

Making lefsa with Pop Pop

Hangin' with our old buddy Charlie

new city champion Green Ash (Fraxinus pennsylvanica) in Cascade Springs, ATL

this tree had a hollow filled with ice!

the falls of Cascade Springs on a cold December day

knarly = old

cool bark on tuliptree = old

city co-champion White Oak (Quercus alba) in Connally Oaks Nature Preserve

gettin' paid

coldest december in Fernbank Forest in years

winged elm = winged root flares

champion Tuliptree I found in Storza Woods (Atlanta Botanical Gardens)

Is this a scarlet oak (Quercus coccinea) leaf??

Big Sur

2010-09-23T11:40:00.002-04:00

My wife and I got to spend a few wonderful days perched on the edge of the continent at Treebones Resort in Big Sur, California. We were lucky enough to share the experience with our dear friends as well. The photo's say it all.

Cascade Spring Nature Preserve

2010-08-05T11:44:00.002-04:00

It's been such a loooong HOT summer. Well really the summer seems to have flown by, but the intense heat has persisted. Despite being our 1st or 2nd hottest summer on record (depending on what data you look at and who you ask...) I still have the undying urge to get out into the woods.

My latest exploration was a work endeavor as part of the Atlanta Champion Tree Project with Trees Atlanta and Fernbank. Yesterday I spent most of the morning at Cascade Springs Nature Preserve. This is a true gem of a greenspace hidden in Southwest Atlanta. YOU SHOULD VISIT!! Here's why....

This is just about the best concentration of Bigleaf Magnolia I've seen in Atlanta

Peak bloom time for Cranefly Orchid (Tipularia discolor)

False Solomon's Seal

bark webs

box turtle

White Oak fiesta!

Nice (underutilized) outdoor classroom

Another metro-Atlanta population of endangered Starvine:

Utoy Creek runs along the edge of the preserve:

doing my thing

final shots

Did I mention i found a couple new champs! Also the biggest dang Sourwood tree (Oxydendrum arboreum) I've ever seen. I'll be going back soon and you should too!

Dog friendly road trip

2010-06-08T21:42:00.003-04:00

This is the brief account of a 5,000 mile journey I took with my wife and canine. We toured deserts and forest. We got back in touch with old friends and hung out with distant family. It was a blast, though at the moment we're thrilled to be home.

At our gas stops I am known to measure big trees such as this giant live oak in Louisiana. This one was around 23' CBH!

two more in front of the parish's welcome center- very appropriate

On the road...

Austin and neigbhoring environs

with my old roomie and dear friend Ruth

Lyndon Baines Johnson home site and WILDFLOWERS!

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a brief run

color select photo

more of TX and on the road...

not sure why I like this

high desert in New Mexico. we want to buy land here.

one of my favorite shots of the trip

the most beautiful woman in the world

that notch in the mountains is where the real 'Smokey the Bear' cub was rescued during a forest fire many years ago

yes, she got her own bed

and then playtime in an Albuquerque dog park

Arizona

well deserved rest

well deserved coffee

California is always gorgeous but especially after a good winter rain

Ophie found a mini-me

after a 10 miler on the Pacific Coast Hwy and up Solstice Canyon

at Zuma beach

Becca and Stephen's place in Pasadena. very nice.

their 22lb cat Murray

Becca is engaged!

even on vacation she crafts!

..and the marathon trip back

border patrol

desert dog

also one of my favorite shots of the trip

great fun. great times.

Liza Lost a Colon!

2010-04-08T14:33:00.001-04:00

getting ready the week before....screening shirts and makin' merch

Day of the show!...

ING half marathon

2010-04-08T14:28:00.002-04:00

I did fairly well- 1:30:45 (6:55 pace). 1st half (race) I've done. mid-50's and drizzly in mid-March. Excellent racing weather, horrible spectating weather!

Marta on the way (at this point i'm already shivering in the cold in my tiny running clothes):

After the race (I gave Casey my ING medal and Livvy my medal from the race on Brasstown Bald)

Springtime at Fernbank

2010-04-08T14:26:00.000-04:00

March Hike at East Palisades, CRNRA

2010-04-08T14:17:00.002-04:00

Heuchera

violet

red and yellow buckeye hybrid?

Trillium cuneatum and Podophyllum peltatum

frog eggs!

paw paw buds

spicebush flower and spider

This site has some nice tall Paw Paw's, River Birch, and (apparently) Bladdernut. I'll be back soon I'm sure. For those interested in visiting, just go on the Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area website.

Early hints of Spring in Atlanta

2010-03-16T15:47:00.002-04:00

Bloodroot bursting through last year's dead leaves

Neitch eats rocks.

this tadpole eats dead salamanders

What a cool Willow Oak in Dellwood Park

Hospitals, trees, wildflowers, etc.

2010-03-09T15:40:00.002-05:00

Our 3rd and FINAL surgery/hospital trip- mark my words!

Red Maples started blooming March 1st this year

Starting the garden early

20+ year old English Ivy vine from behind the neighbor's house

Some recent projects:

-Ironwood slice for teaching

Basswood utensil holder I'm working on

It's wildflower season again!

violet

trout lily, almost blooming

New Atlanta champion Ironwood Tree- (almost) 4' x 51'

Tallest (known) Northern Red Oak in Atlanta- 137'

Beecher Hills- Atlanta city park, invasive removals courtesy of Trees Atlanta

trying to get back into drawing more...

4" inches of snow in the ATL

2010-02-19T15:54:00.001-05:00

East Palisades with friends

2010-02-01T10:19:00.002-05:00

January DEEP freeze and thaw

2010-02-01T10:09:00.006-05:00

The first half of January was the longest cold streak in recent memory for most Atlantans. We even had a tiny bit of snow which quickly turned to ice. Thankfully I was able to get out and explore in this winter wonderland.

Fernbank Forest

Hangin' with Sueno

2009-12-29T15:02:00.003-05:00

On an impossibly gorgeous day in mid-December, 2009 I had the wonderful opportunity to get a personal lesson in tree climbing from none other than the father of recreation tree climbing and founder of Tree Climbers International, Peter Jenkins. This is an accout of that day.

I initially contacted Peter (and his wife Patti) regarding their weekly Sunday beginer climbs. That quickly expanded to a conversation on the old growth trees in Fernbank Forest where I work... and THAT quickly branched out to tree education and ways in which TCI and Fernbank could work together to help bring the wonder and awe of trees to the public in metro-Atlanta.

Trees behind the TCI hostel

Gear room at the TCI hostel

After a quick tour of the TCI hostel, climbing trees, and his home, Peter took us to visit a large stately Willow Oak on the far north end of the city close to Peachtree-Dunwoody rd and I-285. This tree is named "Sueno".

instruction from Peter

Peter throwing (he was damn good at this- only 2 or 3 tries for each line!)

Setting up the rope- cambium saver which protects the bark (and rope?)

I'm ready.

Matt

Robby

Robby climbing

Matt's face says everything you need to know about this amazing day!

We probably spent an hour or more up in the branches of Sueno, but looking back it seems like only a fleeting moment. Life was so different only 40 feet above the ground. No people looked up. Cars continued to drive by in the mad rat race of Atlanta traffic. At least 4 different species of birds landed near us on the branches of Sueno. All while we just hung there in complete awe of our surroundings. Each push/pull up the rope gave us a new view of this tree. New lichen colors and formations, pools of water in the crotches of the tree that birds used to quench their thirst, scars from limbs of yesterday that were long gone... It was really a magical place. The sky was impossibly blue- California blue as I like to call it. The wind would rustle the bare twigs, then just as quickly die down. I can't begin to imagine what life is like at the tops of the 350+ foot tall Coastal Redwoods that Richard Preston mentions in "The Wild Trees"- that book after all is what started my whole obsession with trees.... I look forward to experiencing where this obsession will lead me next.

December in Fernbank Forest

2009-12-15T09:30:00.003-05:00

A few days ago I had the opportunity to spend about 7 hours in the largest urban piedmont old growth forest in the world. It was amazing. I measured numerous trees with my new laser rangefinder and found the canopy to be 20-30 feet higher than previously thought in many areas. Tuliptrees topped out near 155' and there may very well be a few to 160'. Even the White Oaks were up near 140'. Really spectacular. I also traced the perennial Fernbank Creek upstream (nearly) to it's source. Many of the fern species Emily Harrison saw over 100 years ago (and consequently caused her to come up with the name "Fernbank") still line the stream in this area.

Even the front yard trees in Druid Hills are TALL- this was part of the original Fernbank Forest over 100 years ago and likely a relic from that time

lunch spot

150'+ Tulip Poplar (Liriodendron tulipifera)- I strongly believe there are some 160 footers in this forest too

'shrooms- it's like a rainforest with all the rain this year (75"+ in spots)

Loblolly Pine Bark

weird Beech tree trunk stuff

Fernbank Creek (perennial)

further upstream (close to the supposed spring)

Broad Beech fern

Exploring in Fernbank Forest

2009-11-16T15:34:00.000-05:00

Last Friday was a perfect fall day. 70 degrees. Sunny. Dry. Excellent weather for a necessary afternoon excursion in Fernbank Forest.

This is a White Oak that fell from the forest, crushed the fence, then landed across Clifton road during the record rainfall this past September

I got roughly 170 rings out of only a 2 feet diameter trunk cut! Some of these were TIGHT! Must have been drought years...

Fernbank Forest, like everywhere else, is not immune to exotic plant invasions. This is a shot of a tract of large bamboo along the southeastern fenceline

And a Chinese Wisteria monoculture

Oh and of course English Ivy- this stuff really weighs down the trees and can cause them to fall. This one temporarily blocked a bridge in the forest:

BW canopy shot

I finally found a nice Starvine (Schisandra glabra) in the forest

It's just such a graceful vine with its graceful twisting flight up the tree.

Reconnecting the pipes: surgery and recovery

2009-11-10T14:42:00.004-05:00

How do I feel about another week in the hospital? My face says it all:

Post surgery:

Beep beepin' down the hall!

Emily is texting the family (or is she updating FB?)

So to stay sane while Liza is recovering in the hospital (6 days instead of the planned 4 days..) I managed to walk around the Brookwood area. Here's some shots:

Chinkapin Oak?

Chinkapin oak shaped into a bush right in front of one as a normal tree:

R. Thomas

Nicest fall color on a Tulip Poplar I've ever seen... maybe

GA "alpenglow"

...from our room

No more ileostomy bag! Now just a pursestring hole that will heal itself

Halloween (pre-surgery) PARTY.

2009-11-09T15:18:00.003-05:00

Halloween/Pre-surgery party:

the crowd

Finn-ja turtle

Dorothy and Jigsaw

Slash and Axel

Jigsaw and Pigface are lovers?!

3rd wedding anniversary- BIG SUR!

2009-10-08T14:40:00.002-04:00

Big Sur Coast, California

Treebones Resort

Redwoods

Cone Peak

This is the 2nd highest peak in the Ventana Wilderness/Santa Lucia mountain range. Up on top I saw Santa Lucia fir trees which are endemic to the area.

Solstice Canyon, Santa Monica Mountains National Park; Malibu, CA

Many of my plants from the 2003-2005 EcoHelpers restoration project have survived recent fires and are thriving- even outcompeting some of the invasive species like Euphorbia and Brassica!

Friends and family in Los Angeles

Longleaf forests and Florida Springs...

2009-10-08T09:25:00.001-04:00

Pictorial account of a recent trip to Tallahassee, Wakulla Springs, and the Wade Tract (old growth longleaf pine forest) with Mike and Mary:

Wakulla Springs- bald cypress

Eastern Redcedar @ park lodge

manatees

cardinal flower

Wade Tract- one of the largest (and only) remaining stands of Longleaf Pine (Pinus palustris) in the world- this near Thomasville, GA

flowers and fruit of the longleaf understory

What a great trip and it was so amazingly nice to be able to catch a [brief] glimpse of the remaining old growth longleaf in south Georgia. I surely hope to return and explore more... these trees once dominated the coastal plain from Texas to the Carolinas to Virginia and now only a few thousands acres of old growth remain.

Longleaf Pines

2009-09-14T15:24:00.002-04:00

So neat, and so tragic. I MUST go see some of the remaining 0.01% of old growth left...

Pawley's Island

2009-09-14T14:49:00.002-04:00

Saturday:

Sunday:

On an afternoon bike ride...

2009-09-14T14:44:00.002-04:00

I saw some interesting things last week.

First off I went to my favorite spot to pick wild muscadines (native grapes) just off of the PATH near Candler Park and Paidea School. While there I found this interested grape with a dead insect inside of it.

Truly dying happy

Can you imagine dying while consuming a sweet delicacy that's 10 times your own size? That would kind of rule.

Further down the road I saw a tree company removing a GIANT tuliptree from someone's front yard. I was able to snap a few quick pix. The size of the trunk pieces was really impressive

I think I counted about 120 rings from this photo

Neat bike ride.

A [bountiful] harvest... sort of

2009-09-07T11:00:00.006-04:00

Finally we got some awesome tomatoes. And another nice cuke. What a harvest!

It's muscadine season again! These native grapes came from the vines I've let establish on our front white picket fence.

On the vine

the harvest (probably double last year's!)

a gift of various yard flowers and garden fruit to our friends

Up next... the HUGE tomato harvest!

OBKB is getting good.

2009-08-25T12:55:00.002-04:00

So my punk-n-roll band OBKB just played our 3rd show this summer after a 2 year hiatus. And we're getting good. Maybe we just needed to think about those songs for a couple years to bring out their goodness.

This show was Friday, August 21st at Wonderroot with our friend Perry Fowler and his friend Ben Henry. Both Perry and Ben were completely amazing in different ways. It's hard to get in front of a crowd with only yourself and a guitar... well Perry has a badass stomp box/tambourine too, but still it's hard. They totally pulled it off and I recommend you check them out.

Ben Henry

Perry Fowler

OBKB

...now we write new songs... then we dance

Mt. Mitchell forest

2009-08-12T09:54:00.001-04:00

Spruce or Fir tree on top of Mt. Mitchell

Adirondack Old growth

2009-08-12T09:52:00.001-04:00

This is Charlie next to an old maple at the
Ampersand Mountain trailhead in Adirondack Park

Stage 4: Burlington, VT and Camel's Hump peak

2009-08-09T19:02:00.002-04:00

Finally after 4,200 miles of driving for Charlie and about 1,300 miles with me we made it to Burlington! Most of my shots were from the lake, woods, and mountains, but the city is quite nice as well.

on the ferry

Charlie's new home

The view of Lake Champlain from the local park- stunning!

Hiking Camel's Hump- the highest undeveloped peak in Vermont and my first peak-bag east of the mississippi above the tree line

cool nearly alpine pond with Camel's Hump in the distance

neat birch roots

Indian pipes

There is a native species of Cornus (dogwood to us southerners) that grows as a groundcover only 6" high! Amazing!

nearing the top

stunted firs and spruce near the top- so neat.

lots of rare and endangered plants thrive at the top of Camel's Hump

a little over 4,000' up on top of Camel's Hump

Stage 3: Adirondack Park

2009-08-06T16:11:00.005-04:00

small charlie or big chair?

upstate NY countryside

Lake Placid left much to be desired (looked like the Helen of NY)

Old growth at the base of Ampersand Mountain

240+ year old hemlock trunk (Tsuga candensis)

357 year old white pine trunk (Pinus strobus)

Look how tight these growth rings are- due to a VERY short growing season and harsh conditions

Cool orchids

Giant maples like this were EVERYWHERE!

Later that day the sun started to peek out a little and we did a quick 1 mile hike up 1000' vertical on the "Poke-O-Moonshine" trail. Pretty sweet.

maidenhair fern

ripe (tiny) blueberries on the outcropping at the top

Streams were high throughout the Adirondacks due to seasonally high rain and this trail doubled as a stream in many spots

view of the road near the trailhead

Bobcat scat?

Amazing view from the top- WELL worth the hike

Ausable Falls near Plattsburgh- I'd love to explore this area again

We crashed in Plattsburgh, NY and caught the ferry the next day across Lake Champlain

Stage 2: Shenandoah's, etc...

2009-08-06T15:53:00.003-04:00

It was a foggy, misty day in the Shenandoah's, but absolutely gorgeous.

Pond or tallus slope?

Blackrock summit

Black Cohosh

lonely American Chestnut baby

There is an amazing meadow about 1/2 way down Skyline Drive. I thought surely it was a newer meadow that the park decided to maintain as such for aesthetic reasons... turns out soil cores have determined it's been a meadow for at least 1,000 years and maybe more. So it's either natural or it was maintained by natives in the area- so cool! There are numerous endangered species here as well.

Milkweed!

Parting shot of the Shenandoah's

Stage 1: NC and Blue Ridge Parkway

2009-08-06T15:34:00.002-04:00

Graveyard Field on the Parkway

St. John's Wort

Blueberries!

Adelgid damage in Asheville- I don't think I saw a single healthy hemlock in the whole town... :(

On the parkway

The conditions are harsh and the growing season is short up here. The first picture is of a valley grown birch, the second is of a birch near Mt. Mitchell (over 1 mile above sea level). They are the SAME diameter!

20 rings

70 rings

40 rings on this tiny stump! this tree would grown this big in 10 or 20 years in Atlanta!

Mt. Mitchell shots

Spruce-Fir forest at 6200' above sea level

Mt. Mitchell watershed

Evil adelgids! The Balsam Woolly Adelgid is devastating the spruce and fir at this elevation on many mountains in the Southern Appalachains... they essentially starve the trees to death.

Road trip: Georgia to Vermont

2009-08-06T15:26:00.002-04:00

I just got back from an amazing 10 day road trip with my good friend Charlie. He was traversing the country in his purple truck from Torrance, CA to Burlington, VT. After many desert and bayou stops he ended up in Atlanta, GA where he picked me up for the ride to Vermont. We stopped first in Asheville, then traversed the Blue Ridge Parkway, journeyed along Skyline Drive in Shenendoah National Park and briefly toured the Adirondack Mountains in New York before finally taking the ferry across Lake Champlain to Charlie's new home in Burlington, VT as he starts the Field Naturalist program at the University of Vermont. That was a ridiculous 4200 mile trip for Chuck!

I'll post the pix and stories in 4 sections below... enjoy!

My awesome weekend (plus friday...)

2009-07-13T09:59:00.004-04:00

Friday: Exploring the greenspaces and backyards of Druid Hills in search of city champion and superlative trees- Tulip Poplars in particular. Added 2 more 15 footers to the list!

A small grove of 3 nice old Tulip Poplars were on Williams Albrights property near Clairmont and N. Decatur Rd. Now only 2 remain including this giant- over 15' CBH (see my intern Kate for scale)

Next up: Hidden Cove Park- another 15 footer! I named this one "Sidepocket"

On to Fernbank Forest and some off trail areas I haven't seen in a couple years:

These "twin" Tulip Poplar are amazing- the one of the right is probably the biggest in the forest (largest CBH for sure)

Neat Bloodroot- I have to see this patch in bloom next spring... look at the unique leaf shape of the 2nd plant too.

Cool bark on an Ash tree- DEEP furrows!

Bones! maybe a hawk or owl dined here. I really think the Red Tailed Hawk is my spirit animal.

Saturday: Urban Hike on the Beltline with my Sis and 36 of our closest friends (see here for a full synopsis)

Sunday: Lazy day at home... well not too lazy

Harvesting stevia from the garden (note exoskeleton on leaf)

Biking with Liza (1st time since surgery!)

Dank meal with tomatoes and rosemary from our garden (thanks Liza!)

Snugglin' with Ophie during the thunderstorm

Crazy (long overdue) Thunderstorm!! 3 inches of rain = a creek you could canoe down in our backyard!

Ode to a Red Oak

2009-07-03T08:31:00.003-04:00

What a stately and graceful tree you were hugging that Tulip Poplar, stretching for sunlight.

Your limbs reached for help as you slowly crashed through the canopy layers to your current resting spot. It must have made a magnificent sound.

I wonder if it was during waking (human) hours or in the middle of the night. Either way I'm sure it stirred some creatures.

Your left your mark on the trees around you as well. It saddens me to see your striped branches once horizontal, now vertical as if in rigormortis.

The gap left in your wake will now allow your cousin White Oak to flourish though and create space for (a few of) the seedlings from the thousands of acorns you've dropped over the years.

Your life was not in vain, but I do have to wonder if it was cut short and if the hubris of my species was at all responsible.

Thank you for your life Red Oak. Thank you.

Playin' hookie in the Blue Ridge

2009-06-30T09:43:00.002-04:00

Chattooga River Trail

2009-06-15T11:14:00.003-04:00

Just did an awesome 8 mile out-n-back hike on the Chattooga River trail with some friends and Ophie! I even let Ophie off leash to play at the waterfall and she LOVED it.

We parked at the Russell Bridge trailhead just on the SC side of hwy 28 on the Chattooga River. Find directions here.

This trail goes along the side of the Chattooga River with an amazing canopy of White Pines well over 100' tall and probably 12' circumference. There are signs of dead hemlocks from HWA as well.

hiking buddies

Ophie- waterdog!

waterfall at 1/2 way (Lick Log Creek Falls?)

me and Kat

nice resting spot

almost blooming rhododendron

another native azalea

Indian pipes (non-photosynthetic plant)

Wintergreen in bloom

Red spotted newt

Ophie and Frida

Saying goodbye to a diseased colon...

2009-05-26T09:26:00.004-04:00

For those of you that don't know, my wife has been dealing with ulcerative colitis (inflammation of the colon) for the past 7.5 years. It has been the most difficult thing she's ever had to deal with and it has dominated her life for most of the time we've been together. We'll... as of Friday, May 22nd she no longer has that diseased body part thanks to the wonderful surgeons at Piedmont Hospital. This is an account of our last week in the hospital:

pre-surgery visit from Em and the girls

sunrise over Peachtree

happy couple

colon

Liza's colon (pix from her colonoscopy before surgery). White = inflammation

Post-surgery with new hardware (that's an ileostomy bag she'll wear for 3 months). A link to the "J pouch" surgery she had can be found here- great illustrations.

building up that lung capacity!

spit bath

mom visited from Georgetown

first solid meal

first meal dance

Beauty in nature- to say that I was stressed out and worried during the past few weeks would be huge understatements. The little things in life like these beautiful flowers around the hospital grounds really helped me to see the brighter side of things during our hospital stay.

Things get better and better each day and we expect to be back at home within the next 24-48 hours. Thanks so much for all of your thoughts, prayers, help, and kind words. We couldn't do it without our amazing friends and family!!

What I've been up to the last few weeks...

2009-05-06T08:55:00.003-04:00

Durkin' out hardcore on some plants in the forest:

32 year old cut poison ivy on a tree

flowering doghobble

HUGE Jack-in-the-pulpit stand

Magnolia tripetala- "Umbrella Magnolia"

mayapple fruit

paw paw

shrine and tripetala

Trillium rugelii- "Southern nodding trillium"

Calycanthus florida- "Sweetshrub"- a great landscape plant in the East

Old doorknob in forest

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Turnin' 29:

birthday lazers

Old Canoe- blew. everyone. away.

the fam

Waller boys

Lionell getting served by Kat

The Starter Kits

Yardwork. God this is your gift to America.

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Durkin' out on the Angel Oak tree in Charleston

25.5 feet CBH kiddo's.

sunset at CUJ and Jessica's wedding. Simply gorgeous.

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Durkin' out at Jake and Jessica's wedding:

....soon.....

Desert trip episode 4: Travel shots

2009-04-07T11:15:00.004-04:00

Random shots from the road (4000 miles gave me plenty of time for pictures)

It was hot in the desert

rainbow!

weird solicitation sign in LA

"UFO" in Shreveport

Gorgeous sunset after driving through 15 hours of torrential downpours

Austin (thanks for the hospitality Ruth!)

gassin' up

Study Butte, TX (pronounced Stoodie Byoot)

Jason's travel attire

wind in NM after front passed through

Cloudcroft motel

Sweettooth

Guadalupe Peak from behind a car windshield

last desert sunset on our 30 hour drive home

Desert trip episode 3: Gila Wilderness

2009-04-07T10:25:00.004-04:00

Our final stop on our desert tour was the Gila Wilderness in the Gila National Forest- this included a tour of the Gila Cliff Dwellings and multiple hot springs.

Desert couple

Homebase- West fork of the Gila River

Camp

Canyon grapevine above our tent spot

fire comes so easy in the high desert

Morning excursion to the Lightfeather hot springs. Liza could have killed me for this. It was around 20 degrees that morning and we had to cross an icy cold river twice to get to hot springs that were 6" deep and 140 degrees!

Gila Cliff Dwellings

view from large ceremonial room- the echo made your hair stand on end!

more of the dwellings and canyon...

Amazing lichen was all over the desert

Gila Hot Springs Ranch

Hiking the Gila Wilderness- this included a magnificent 12 mile loop from the top of a mesa to Little Bear Canyon and then 6 miles down the Middle Fork of the Gila River!

caves and waterfalls in Little Bear Canyon

more dayhike beauty in the Gila

from this point where the trail met the river we had 29 river crossings- the first dozen or so were frigid, but quickly became comfortable on firey feet

Sycamores and Cottonwoods

this cottonwood was the fattest one I've ever seen- over 20' circumference!

final shots of the hike

Desert trip episode 2: White Sands

2009-04-07T10:18:00.002-04:00

This was a brief stop-over at White Sands National Monument on our way from Cloudcroft, NM (cool town at 9,000') to the Gila Wilderness.

Visitor's Center

Desert Rat

Required desert reading

tracks

White sands (actually gypsum)

now this is America- an RV in a national park with a flag in the background and a dog tied to the bumper

Desert trip episode 1: Big Bend

2009-04-07T08:46:00.004-04:00

This is an account of the late March to early April trip I took with Liza and two close friends to the Big Bend National Park in Texas and the Gila Wilderness (and Cliff Dwellings) in southern New Mexico. It was amazing.

Beavertail cactus in bloom

Cane cholla (the least desirable fruit in the desert?)

Century plant- stores energy in roots for 20-30 years before blooming

Claret cup cactus

Many species of plants are endemic to the Chisos Mountains in Big Bend and nowhere else in the US- Drooping Juniper (Juniperus flaccida) is one of those species

Ocotillo- firey red blooms on spikey stalks with leaves only after wet weather

Rock Nettle

Opuntia species

Liza snugged down on the Rio Grande

Langford Hot Springs along the Rio Grande

old store and post office at springs

mornin' dip

views of Mexico, the Rio Grande, and the Chihuahuan Desert on my morning hike to the hot springs

Desert fossil

Chisos Mountains- high mtn campground and visitor center (5,000'+)- this is the only mountain range that is entirely within a single national park in the country

Dayhike up Emory Peak (10m RT) with Cindy

Look of confidence

Emory Peak- 7825' above sea level

View of "The Window"- this is where all rainwater from the Chisos Basin drains onto the lower desert below

Pinyon Pine sap and lichen

SNBR crew

Mexican Jay- this park has more confirmed bird species than any other in the US

yes, there are ferns in the desert!

desert sunset

camera fun at night

sunrise

Sapelo Island

2009-03-23T10:04:00.004-04:00

This past weekend I was fortunate enough to be able to co-lead a Regions Trip through Fernbank Museum to one of the most magnificent barrier islands on the east coast- Sapelo Island. These are pictures along with brief captions to attempt to describe the beauty of the environment I was able to experience.

ferry from mainland to Sapelo- there is no bridge

The Reynolds Mansion- our home away from home for the weekend

view from the front porch- the road leads one mile to the beach and on the winter solstice the sun sets directly down the path

original 1-lane bowling alley in the basement of the mansion

back view of the mansion

Eastern Red Cedar (juniper) and marsh (mostly Spartina alterniflora)

sunrise amongst the giant live oaks and dripping spanish moss

one of the biggest wisteria vines I've ever seen (and it almost seemed to live in harmony with oaks without doing any harm!)

Ilex vomitoria- "Yaupon Holly"
the leaves of this plant can be dried and steeped to make a drink known as "Asi" to natives in the area and later called "the black drink"- it was used in native american male purification rituals

sunrise at Nannygoat Beach

Sapelo Island Lighthouse and view

Vitis rotundifolia- native muscadine grape

the wind was steady at 30mph or so during this shot

forest understory after a recent controlled burn- notice grass and ferns resprouting already!

lichen on a live oak

"wrack" or dead Spartina grass that floats into the ocean then is deposited by waves onto the beach- these dead grasses then collect sand and thus dune formation begins

sunset on Sapelo's calmer creek side

Arabia Mountain- spring bloom!

2009-03-10T10:03:00.004-04:00

My good friend Mike was in town and I took the day off, so Mike and I along with Cassius and Odie ventured to Arabia Mountain near Lithonia and were fortunate enough to have great weather and catch a lot of the unique plants of the area in (or near) their early spring bloom.

Diamorpha smallii

lunar landscape (with some awesome plants though)

Plenty of recent rain and snow left Arabia quite lush in places

Me, Mike and Odie, and Mike

Trout lilies- Erithronium americanum

Black Cherry (Prunus spp.)

What a great day!

Atlanta magic snow 2009

2009-03-02T10:20:00.002-05:00

awesome satellite image of eastern snow blanket- March 2, 2009

Congaree Swamp National Park

2009-02-23T08:44:00.007-05:00

On February 20th, Matt and I embarked on a journey to visit the largest old growth flood plain forest in eastern north america- the Congaree. It was a gorgeous day without a single cloud in the sky. It was windy and a little cool, but nice none-the-less. Here's an account of that trip:

boardwalk over the floodplain

Matt at a 250 year old, 15' circumference former champion Loblolly

As soon as we arrived, we headed straight for the largest tree of the Pinus genera east of the Rockies- the Riddle Pine (Loblolly Pine- Pinus taeda)

The climbers had already been in this tree for hours- measuring the total volume of the tree was quite a task

we all had sore necks from gawking up at the 169' Riddle Pine!

The pine beside it was no slouch either- other climbers scaled it to get pictures of the main group climbing the big pine. This tree had a wicked curly-Q limb unlike any other Loblolly I've seen too

Some nice late day light on the gut beside the monstrous pines

The spires of dead pines were impressive as well

This beard was a lifesaver that first night

Little did we know the mercury would drop to 19 degrees (or colder) that night!

Ice! Cold! Jake's face says it all

That morning we started the fire back up to try and thaw out from the frigid night. I made a nice stack of mini-pancakes for us as well.

Next it was off to the visitor's center to rendevous with the Eastern Native Tree Society and then off for a 6.5 mile hike to find some big trees of our own. This park has the highest concentration of state and national champion trees anywhere in the country!

Another monster pine

Even Jake started durkin' out with us

Red (Swamp) Maples were in full bloom

More big trees and scenic shots on our dayhike

Big oaks were everywhere as well

Jacob exploding in sunlight

One cold anole

It's neat to see the canopy of a tree after it recently fell like this monstrous oak. You can see the aerial resurrection fern garden up close and personal.

a nice quiet spot to hang out

Most impressive cedar we noticed (see Matt for scale). I used Matt's arm span to get a rough idea of the diameter of this tree and came up with 7.3 feet diameter and 23 feet circumference at 4.5 above the water level! This is the largest diameter (eastern) tree i believe i have a ever seen.

We did one last jaunt into the muddy forest of giants before heading out

Quiet spot near a giant bald cypress

This photo sums up our trip and shows how being in the Congaree makes you feel

Winter Wandering...

2009-02-11T09:43:00.003-05:00

Some random pictures of various interesting spots and things throughout Atlanta this winter along with a pictorial update of my life as of late

Sweetgum in the sunrise on my walk to work

Wesley Woods at Emory (Sunday stroll with Bethany)

Hepatica blooming in winter- Wesley Woods

Witch Hazel blooming (native planting behind Fernbank)

Scaly White Oak bark at Woodlands Garden- visit this spot in Decatur!

my crazy niece

the fam

my bald head leading a recent urban hike

me and the head of the house

planning world domination

mini-machine gun party

In search of "Big Mouth"... Powers Island (CRNRA)

2009-01-26T10:21:00.003-05:00

Found it!

15.1' CBH

in the cave

grapevines

3 Lirio's

tree hunting companions

what a view

Ice climbing and hiking in GA- 1.17.09

2009-01-19T10:20:00.003-05:00

After having the coldest temp's in a decade (11F at my house with 0F windchill), the crew and I decided to go searching for frozen waterfalls in the North Georgia mountains. We found plenty of ice and realized that winter hiking isn't so bad after all.

view near Hogpen Gap

death by icecicle

Yes, there is (good) ice climbing in Georgia. This road cut at Hogpen Gap sees no sunlight in winter and has a constant drip that puts layer upon layer of ice on the wall from October to April (or later...)

ice climbing info for Hogpen Gap

en route to Raven Cliff Falls (GA, not the one in SC)

bottom, looking up

the main chute- just gorgeous.

Congaree Swamp National Park, SC

2008-12-29T14:00:00.004-05:00

words can't describe it, but maybe pictures will help...

Christmas time!

2008-12-29T13:31:00.002-05:00

Lots of fun Christmastime festivities and such... this had to be our poorest, but most fun Christmas ever! It's really true that friends and family are worth so much more than money!

Mike and Mary's holiday party

that's straight gangsta

Casey looks hilarious here!

Dickerson Christmas begins...

Rad quarry in front of my cousins/aunts/uncles house

Title defending champions!

Sunrise and dad's new camper

Mimamma! Mid-eighties and still kickin' it!

House. Party.

Family Christmas Picture 2008

Big Trees in Atlanta

2008-12-29T12:56:00.006-05:00

I recently came across a list of "champion trees inside I-285" on the Trees Atlanta website. Mattbott and I had already begun searching for big trees in patches of old growth spread around this city and now we've officially got a challenge on our hands. This list is a couple of years of and some of the information is unreliable in my eyes (with landowners wanted to claim ownership of trees for personal recognition and the rounding of measurements to the nearest foot on CBH, etc...), so we've decided to take up the task of creating a new list. One of our first trips was to a nice cove on the Emory campus...

Large Oak species (Black Oak?) right on Houston Mill

This was really a fun exploration for us

Rare native Star Vine (Schisandra glabra)

My new favorite Tulip Poplar- "Castle Grayskull". This is the largest (CBH) of the species that we've found in the city without any significant flaring/galls/caves at the base.

Felled beech tree

Devil's Walking Stick mini-forest

This was a truly rad trip. There's tons of nooks, crannies, old growth, rock ledges, wildflowers, historical stonework, etc... to see.

Hike Inn Trail- 12.14.08

2008-12-14T18:41:00.002-05:00

Speedy, Roly Poly, and me (Mappy) took a much needed 10 mile hike in the North Georgia mountains today. It was overdue to say the least. We opted for the Hike Inn trail at Amicalola. It's very rolling and not too difficult (much to Roly Poly's liking). I really recommend this trail and this Inn to anyone looking to make a quick escape from the city. At 75 miles from Atlanta it's a great spot for a dayhike or a weekend trip.

view from the top of Amicalola Falls- highest falls in Georgia

ground pine and seed heads

this trail is EXTREMELY well maintained with bright green blazes all along the way and nice spots to stop and catch your breath while enjoying the view with nice wooden benches built on the mountainside. There's even mile markers!

on the porch at the Hike Inn... the staff even invited us in for cider, hot chocolate, and cookies and let us thaw out by their wood stove!

view from the porch

Can't wait to go back and hopefully stay the night at the Hike Inn.

"Dude...that's an arm" -Matt G., Joyce Kilmer Forest - 11.23.08

2008-11-24T10:01:00.018-05:00

Joyce Kilmer Memorial Forest- Hemlock and Tulip Poplar

Matt and I made the 3.5 hour trek to this magnificent forest just west of Robbinsville, NC yesterday to see possibly the largest remaining grove of old growth Tulip Poplars (Liriodendron tulipifera) in the world. It was well worth the drive!

We measured quite a few trees- mostly Tulip Poplars, but also an oak and hemlock for kicks. The Tulip Poplars are the ones that really floor you though. Some of these trees are upwards of 400 years old! Here are some quick numbers we got:

Liriodendron tulipifera: Diameter(ft), Circumference(ft)
6.9**, 21.7
6.5, 20.4
5.9, 18.4
5.6, 17.8
4.2, 13.2

**that's just shy of 7 FEET in diameter 4.5 feet up the trunk** you could probably drive my FIT through that!!

Tsuga canadensis: 3.7, 11.8

Quercus falcata (?): 4.4, 13.7

I just can't get enough of these pictures, and yet they still don't do justice to the size of these relic trees!

these "twin" giants were exactly the same diameter and could have (theoretically) germinated the same year- around 300-400 years ago! Some scientists think there was a catastrophic event around 1550 that leveled the forest and allowed for the diverse seed bank to start this giant forest at that time.

another medium size Tulip Poplar

Matt in awe

there were enormous downed logs like this all over the place supporting an entire ecosystem on their trunks- lichen, mosses, ferns, shrubs, small trees, fungus, even a baby hemlock tree amongst a clump of ferns and club-moss

isn't this a huge birch root that Matt is trekking up?!

forest view

robot loving tree huggers

lichen in a fallen (dead) hemlock branch

you have to wonder what aerial ecosystem exists in the canopies and branches of these ancient hemlocks. little research has been done to my knowledge. researchers just started visiting the tops of these trees in the last 10-15 years, mostly to measure them and help provide more reason for protecting them... after reading The Wild Trees it sure makes me want to know more about the canopies of our eastern temperate rainforest trees!

This is a hemlock on it's last leg

The Hemlock Woolly Adelgid (HWA) has decimated this forest- even after a release of predator beetles a few years back. It's truly sad to see these forest giants quickly go the way of the Chestnut trees. And only humans are to blame.

only a few needles (at best) were left on most hemlocks

while I was admiring the main trunk of this Tulip Poplar, I heard Matt say "...that's an arm". That was the very moment he realized the log he was walking on was actually a fallen branch from the monster Tulip Poplar- not another fallen trunk of a tree!

Temp's had been pretty cold leading up to our adventure (single digits a few days back) as evidenced by these frozen rhododendron roots in Little Santeetlah Creek.

knarly branches

me in awe

a medium sized one

some trees were so big that going around them was a hike in itself

forest view on the way out.

What a great day!

To find your way to Joyce Kilmer Memorial Forest, visit this site:
http://www.cs.unca.edu/nfsnc/recreation/joycekilmer.pdf

"Snow on the Galax" -11/16/08- Tray Mountain

2008-11-17T15:56:00.000-05:00

Will, Mary and I were in route to Raven Cliff Falls when I saw a snowy ridgeline in the distance and our plans quickly changed. We opted for taking FS 79 up the mountain to Tray Mountain. There was about 1/2" snow from the storm and a mean windchill to accompany it. The views were insanely good with snowy mountaintops in the distance. Looks like the snow level was around 4000' or so. The sunny spots were quickly melting too...

Will and Mary (READ: NOT Sara or Sarah)

ice cold

wintry scene in route to the top

...now I've seen this before. always in muddy spots. does the cold somehow suck the water out of the mud into these little ice fans or what??

quite colorful for winter

god this is emo

mine and crazy uncles Jake's special spot

the Tray Mountain shelter on the AT

snow on the rhododendron

What a great day. A nice quick dayhike, back by dinnertime, good conversation, great views, a first chance to play in the snow this year... what more could you ask for?

**next day**
back at work the following day I got to follow up my awesome hike by doing a great recon mission into Fernbank Forest with some of my volunteers. We were doing plant ID and also measuring some large old growth trees. Here's a couple:

Oldest White Oak in the forest- 13 ft, 8in circumference; nearly 4.5 ft diameter!

bad picture, big tree (3ft, 4in DBH Tulip Poplar (biggest one was over 4ft DBH!)

Urban Biking/Fall in Piedmont Park

2008-11-05T15:38:00.000-05:00

What a great day! On a recent sunny, warm Sunday in early November I biked down across Atlanta to meet my friend in Piedmont Park. All of the trees are approaching peak color across the city and the air is dry and the sun is shining. It's quite nice. Though it wouldn't hurt to have a little more rain. October was probably above average, but the last 10 days or more have been bone dry. Here's some pix I took on my jaunt:

Urban Biker

it was THAT sunny

City view #1

City view #2

Fall color #1

Fall color #2

Beach volleyball... in Atlanta?... in November?!?!

Cicada shell Casey is holding

quick stop by Candler park to make Livvy cry (ha! i successfully and unintentionally made both of my nieces cry that afternoon :(....)

Fall in North Georgia

2008-10-16T10:06:00.000-04:00

Autumn has finally arrived (though it was in the mid-80's here in Atlanta yesterday). The days are warm and dry and the night are cooling off. Yesterday I had the great experience of exploring the highest mountain in Georgia- Brasstown Bald- and the surrounding area. It stands 4,784 ft above sea level- 500 ft shy of a mile. The fall color was stupendous up high as you can see in the pictures below. Maples, Tulip Poplars, Sassafras, Birch and Sourwood were just some of the highlights. Soon the leaves will all be gone though and great views will abound from my winter ridgeline hikes on the AT...

Fall color from Brasstown

colorful canopy

more color

those red sourwood leaves just POP!

Sassafras up high

Sassafras down low

those hearts are bustin!

silver maple

fraser fir- this guy only grows above 4500', which in Georgia is a very small range.

Tulip Poplar in Sosebee Cove- this tree is 6' or more in diameter and probably around 150' tall! These giants are relics of 2nd growth in an area that was logged extensively in 1903.

Urban Hiking

2008-09-30T16:03:00.001-04:00

So Bethany and I decided to forgo driving way the heck up to N. Georgia for hiking this weekend (gas shortage/extreme cost/time) and instead go for some urban hiking around Atlanta. It's really amazing how much more you see in a city by walking. We really tried to take a few lesser traveled (and sometimes scary) streets too. It gives you much more of a feeling of ownership of your town. You get to see a good cross-section of people and culture too.

city view near Midtown Arts area

I call this one "crucifixion on kudzu mountain"... it's right by the Whole Foods on Ponce- across from City Hall East

(sweaty) urban hiker

Vitis rotundifolia- my muscadines on the front fence

Outcrops mountaintops and noxious weeds

2008-09-26T09:32:00.000-04:00

My outdoor September thus far:

my adorable nieces

noxious reproduction- english ivy and kudzu blooming together on my walk home from work.

Beautyberry at Davidson Arabia mountain

Cardinal flower and sulphur butterfly at Davidson Arabia

Just looks cartoonish to me- Hearts a bustin' plant at Davidson Arabia

It has not rained here in a week or two and these ants on the rock outrcrop built a little wall/highway between islands of vegetation up on the rock face. neato.

dogs on the AT

false Solomon's plume

gutterpop grapevine

yellow spotted touch-me-not aka- jewelweed. I've never seen this yellow kind before, but the orange ones are all over metro-Atlanta. It's nature's remedy to poison ivy- just crush the stem and apply it to your skin where you came into contact with the urushiol (ivy oil that causes rash)

John Muir Trail, August 2-13, 2008

2008-08-19T16:05:00.000-04:00

*panorama pix hopefully coming soon*

JMT trip 1: Tuolumne Meadows to Yosemite Valley- 27 miles

Day #1
Upper Cathedral Lake 9,500ft elevation

"As I sit in the sun on the shore of this alpine lake I bask shirtless at the surreal landscape that surrounds me. And I thank God for all that I have."

6 miles, 1,000' elevation gain

our adventure begins- trailhead @ Tuolumne Meadows

wild columbine

our campsite

Day #2
John Muir Trail @ Cloud's Rest trail junction 7,200ft elevation

"12 full miles today and we feel GREAT! It's considerably hotter and at this elevation and tinder dry. We aim to crash early and rise at 5am to summit Half Dome before the crowds start coming up the cables. That's about 2.5 miles and 1800ft gain to the summit. It should be fun with fresh legs. After that it's down to John Muir's home away from home- Yosemite Valley."

12 miles, 400' gain, 3200' loss

view from Cathedral Pass

Long Meadow- one of the most lovely meadows I've ever seen

Western Hemlock (see characteristic droopy top)- resistant to Hemlock Woolly Adelgid

What we came to call "perma-dirt"- shows up after the 1st day!

Sugar Pine- tallest pine in N. America- cones can be nearly 18" long!! It would suck to have that drop on your head!

Sunset on Half Dome

Day #3
Yosemite Valley, 4000ft elevation

"Today was a BIG day. Our plans to rise at 5am were foiled by a faulty Timex. Luckily my internal clock is fine and I was putting in my contacts by 5:20am. Soon afterwards we were on the trail to Half Dome. The first mile was rather easy... then we hit the granite dome. Stairs chiseled from rock and a vertical cable skyway where we used gloves to grip and pull ourselves to the horizon. Dylan was especially slow going and I was getting nervous. When we finally summitted though we had the peak to ourselves (or it had us) for a good 15 minutes. Heavenly.

Going back down was quite a chore and our lack of water really began to show in our pace and Dylan's face. Stupid move on my part. Luckily we finally hit water in the most gorgeous spot- the Merced River in Little Yosemite Valley. After lunch it was a steep couple of hours to the valley where we dined on pizza and ice cream!"

9 miles, 1800' gain, 5,000' loss

Dylan and the Dome

The infamous cables- the angle is over 60 degrees in spots! Dylan and I were pretty nervous on this section. Plus the rock has been worn completely smooth, so you have to pull yourself up the cables using gloves.

morning sun and shadows

me at 8800'

Finally- water! The Merced River felt great here in Little Yosemite Valley

Nevada and Vernal Falls

Day 4
Mammoth Lakes, 8,000ft elevation

"Today Dylan and I just leisurely toured around the valley on a flat 5 mile loop greeting the base of El Capitan halfway- we even saw 3 specks on the side of the mountain- climbers. At 5pm we caught the YARTS bus to Mammoth- a 4 hour trip full of stinky, talkative hikers. Finally we found the Motel 6 and crashed in our comfortable beds"

5 miles, 0' gain/loss

El Capitan- largest single chunk of granite in the world?

help me out fellow botanists....

Day 5-6
Chillin' in Mammoth Lakes. Eating, sleeping, planning.

Sunset at Mono Lake en route to Mammoth Lakes

JMT trip 2: Onion Valley to Whitney Portal- 50 miles

Day 7
Onion Valley to Vidette Meadow, 9,500ft elevation

"Got up early, caught the CREST bus to Independence where a nice middle aged fisherman gave us a ride (after hitching for 1.5 hours). We arrived in Onion Valley and started hiking by 12:30. Our destination- Vidette Meadow. We scooted up to Kearsarge Pass (11,700'+) in near record time and had a very windy lunch of PB&T (peanut butter on a tortilla) on the pass. THen it was down into the gorgeous drainage below. We passed many crystal clear lakes and after Bullfrog Lake we dropped steeply into the Bubb's Creek/Vidette drainage. After seeing a 6-8 (actually 10) point buck (mule deer) we finally dropped low enough to find a campsite around 9'600'. After a quick dinner we were out!"

9.5 miles, 2600' gain, 2100' loss

Onion Valley trailhead (start of our 50 mile trip to Whitney Portal)

Lily

So many flowers, so many colors

Lake en route to Kearsarge Pass

Big Pothole Lake

Indian Paintbrush

Kearsarge Pass

10 point mule deer

Day #8
Forester Pass, 13,200ft elevation (border of King's Canyon and Sequoia NP)

"Well after nearly 6 hours and 7 miles we finally made it to Forester Pass- the highest point on the Pacific Crest Trail. The view is unspeakably good. And low and behold right at the very crux of the pass is the most hardy of all botanical mountaineers- Sky Pilot- in full bloom!... now at 11,200' in Tyndall Creek Camp... After a semi-jarring 5 mile hike downhill we're now at camp- and what a lovely campsite it is! The creek was instantly one of my favorites and we're in a prime location for a classic Sierra alpenglow as well."

11.5 miles, 3600' gain, 2000' loss

nice tall Shooting Star on way to Forester

rest break going up Forester Pass

Finally at Forester Pass (3600' uphill)

I saw my first skypilot not 5 feet from the Forester Pass trailsign at 13,200'

awesome alpine creek near our campsite

Alpenglow view from our tent

Day #9
Tarn above Guitar Lake, 11,600ft elevation

"We rose early and were on the trail by 7am. In a hurry we were up on the Bighorn Plateau and it was quite a site- almost desert or lunar with a nice small lake. Then we trudged on for countless miles to Crabtree where we crashed and ate. I enjoyed a nice rest in a meadow beside a tiny shooting star. From there it was 3 miles and 1,000' up to our camp at Upper Guitar Lake. Now I sit at 6:27 awaiting the sunset and alpenglow on the 3,000' face (back) of Fisherman's Peak -aka- Mt. Whitney.

12 miles, 2400' gain, 1600' loss

windswept

Bighorn Plateau (no bighorns in sight though...)

Is this a type of monkeyflower?

Shooting star where I napped in Crabtree Meadow

Shooting stars en route to Guitar Lake

instructions for wag bags (aka- poop bags) that were mandatory in the Mt. Whitney Zone. Thankfully we didn't need to use them.

Guitar Lake

View from our campsite

sunset above Guitar Lake

Day #10
Mt. Whitney, 14,497ft elevation; Whitney Portal, 8450ft elevation

"Wow what an incredible day... Dylan and I area at a loss for words mainly because we're exhausted. Up at 6am, Whitney at 10am, Whitney Portal at 3:20pm. Wow. The view was unspeakably nice. The weather was perfect- warm and virtually no breeze. No cloud in the sky. It's kinda surreal as Dylan and I sit here waiting on our cheeseburgers..."

16 miles, 2900' gain, 6,000' loss

Morning shadow of Whitney on the hike up

Sky Pilot was everywhere on Whitney!

Brothers

On top of the world (well... the lower 48 at least)

This marmot was the only noticeably living thing (besides the hordes of hikers) on Mt. Whitney- he was obviously well fed by the humans

rough looking USGS marker

Owen's Valley from Whitney

we're done!

Day #11-12
Lone Pine, 3900ft elevation

"We've been hanging out in the tiny burg of Lone P ine for two days now just conversing with trail friends such as "Turtle Don"- a 74 year old section hiking the PCT- and Crissy (aka "Benadryl) who is starting grad school for Physics in just a matter of days- she did 350 miles on the AT and then the entire JMT finishing within an hour of us at the Portal. Hikers are really a friendly bunch- always with food, stories, and beer to share. One thing this trip has taught me is that it's not really solitude I seek, but CHANGE! That's what drives me- adventure and new sights, sounds, and smells. I've also realized that the prospect of having children no longer intimidates me, but instead excites me! Seeing the father/son, mother/daughter combo's gleefully hiking up a steep pass made me long for a similar relationship. I feel it's time for me to share my adventures with a family."

view of Mt. Whitney and Sierra from our hostel porch

Vacation Post #2: Lone Pine trail report

2008-08-12T18:24:00.001-04:00

Well Dylan and I successfully capped off a 50 mile, 4 day backpacking trip by summitting Mt. Whitney (14,497' above sea level) yesterday. The weather was gorgeous. Initilly I was awoken by howling winds at 2 or 3am as we were camping by a small tarn above Guitar Lake at about 11,600' elevation. Soon after, some early risers tromped by and I could see their little headlamps slowly making their way up the mountain in the darkness. We were on the trail by 6am and on the summit by 9:45. It was sunny, blue skies, very little wind and quite comfortable on top. Maybe in the 40's, but with little wind, bright sun, and a racing heart it felt great. After a few pix we quickly (and I mean QUICKLY) headed down over 1 vertical mile on 11 trail miles to Whitney Portal. We were pretty ready for a shower and a burger (in reverse order). We had so many wonderful days and met many great people including a girl about to start grad school who had just done 350 miles of the AT and has now added the entire John Muir Trail to her resume- she's staying at the same hostel as us in Lone Pine. Pictures will come soon including numerous wildflowers including Indian Paintbrush, Lilies, Sky Pilot(!!), Penstemon, and Shooting Stars to name a few of my faves. See you all soon!
Vaya con Dios,
Eli (and Dylan)

High Sierra Adventure... checkin' in halfway

2008-08-07T13:42:00.001-04:00

This is our first internerd usage on this trip at an awesome coffee shop in the high Sierra town of Mammoth Lakes. So far Dylan and I had a great trip in Yosemite- near perfect weather- where we hiked about 32 miles (about 25 or so with our packs). We made it from Tuolumne Meadows to Yosemite Valley and summited Half Dome along the way. Pretty spectacular really. We woke up at 5:15am to try to be the first on top of the Dome... though a small group beat us to the top and we saw them coming down after they caught the sunrise. It was great though b/c after we climbed the scary-as-hell cables to the top we were alone on top for a good 15 minutes. A rarity on a block of granite that is visited by 100's of people every day in the summer.

We've been resting in town for the past couple of days and tomorrow we catch a bus to Independence where we'll hitch up to Onion Valley to start a 50 mile journey that will take us to the top of the lower 48- Mt. Whitney. The weather is turning for the better with the chance of thunderstorms diminishing greatly for the next week or so, which is good since we'll mostly be above tree line for that whole time. Lightning is definitely something to be avoided in the Sierra High country.

It's truly gorgeous here and I can't wait to be able to share pictures and memories with you all. I think Dylan is really having a great time as well.

Vaya con dios,
Eli

July 12th-13th: backpacking Hogpen Gap to Blood Mountain and back

2008-07-14T11:44:00.000-04:00

This was a neat 17 mile trip I just took with my youngest brother Dylan as a trial run before we spend a couple weeks on various sections of the John Muir Trail in early August. We drove up Saturday morning and we're hiking by 10am. Our pack were full, but not too heavy- mine was around 18 and Dylan's pack was around 22 or so. We were feelin' pretty bad after the initial steep 500 foot rise to Cowrock Mountain, but were relieved to find a much more gently rolling trail after that point. We crossed various rock outcrops, saddles, peaks and vistas and ended up at Neel's Gap by 2pm where we dined on hotdogs and combo's (much better than the Clif Bars we had packed).

We then decided to drop our packs and make the jaunt across the Gap and up to Blood Mountain. The weather was still great- hot, but mostly clear with blue skies and puffy white cumulous clouds (a nice break from a week of storms).

Upon arrival back to Neel's Gap we picked up the packs and headed back North on the AT. Our planned campsite was quickly overtaken by a dozen loud boy scouts, so we had to move on. All in all we ended up doing about 12.5 miles that day before crashing near Swaim Gap. We rose early the next morning and were on the trail by 7:30am, back at the car by 9:40 and back to Atlanta in time for brunch.

Pix:

I caught site of this interestingly phallus shaped fungus while taking a breather on that 500 foot hill up to cowrock. It's a "netted stinkhorn fungus"

a breather on Cowrock

fresh, ripe blueberries on the trail!

An assortment of wildflowers:

Tall Bellflower

Turk's Cap Lily

Leather Vase Vine (in the Clematis genus)

Wild Columbine- simply gorgeous

Shrubby St. John's Wort (on the sunny rock outcrop areas)

This is the only place on the entire Appalachian Trail where the trail itself passes through a building- Mountain Crossing's @ Walasi-Yi, Neel's Gap (about 15 miles south of Blairsville, GA): www.mountaincrossings.com

Apparently Walasi Yi literally means "Place of the Great Frog," and was the name of a small Cherokee village on the slopes of Blood Mountain. The Cherokee may or may not have worshipped a great frog that resided on and protected Blood Mountain.

Dodder attack on Blood Mountain!! (no mistletoe though...)

the bloody view

nice morning light

morning view from Cowrock

6/28-29 Rhodie trip on the Chattooga

2008-06-30T10:33:00.000-04:00

*First off this one's called the "Rhodie trip" because of all of the blooming Catawba Rhododendrons- there were everywhere and absolutely gorgeous!*

This past weekend I headed just west of Clayton, GA where I met up with my good friend Cindy and Neitch (her loyal canine) to hike into the wilderness on the South Carolina side of the wild and scenic Chattooga River. Thunderstorms were forecasted, but we stayed dry for the most part aside from a freak storm that we heard quickly approach as we were sleeping Saturday night. It's quite a different experience to hear feel a storm approaching out in the wild versus in the comfort of your home.

On this trip we hike north from the SC 28 trailhead about 3.5 miles to Ira Branch Creek to set up camp. From there we dropped our packs and headed out on a quick 2 mile out-and-back to the falls on Lick Log Creek. Why it's called that I have no clue. It was quite nice though and we could access the river. The water was suprisingly warmer than I thought it would be.

After dinner (mac 'n cheese with peas and tuna) and braving the storm (it really wasn't too bad) we crashed and then I woke up early to make a stack of blueberry pancakes. I had been eating some semi-ripe blueberries (and blackberries) along the trail, but I happened to bring in some fatties of my own for this b-fast. We then did a good 5-6 mile dayhike to another nice spot on the river and were able to chill out and relax there for awhile. It was quite nice to have the earth snuggled up around us as we dipped our legs in the comforting Chattooga.

After that we packed up camp and hiked the 3.5m back to the car. All-in-all we probably covered about 15 miles in two days. The trail and campsites were a lot nicer than I imagined they'd be too. Quite a nice trip. Also if you're hungry while driving through Clayton, be sure to stop by "The Mexican Store" on the right side of 441 when entering town- so good, and cheap!

Oh... and did I mention the plants on this trail?!

Trail tree #1

Trail tree #2 (The "number 4 tree")

Flowering Wintergreen

Catawba Rhododendron were blooming everywhere

Riverside native azalea

Click beetle (thanks Susan!)

Woman's best friend (and two of my best friends)

Bark beetle victim?

Placid river

11miler on the AT- 6/8/08

2008-06-12T09:28:00.000-04:00

Firepink and Azaleas! That's what I would title this hike. The firepink wasn't everywhere, but it did show itself in numerous rocky areas along the Appalachian Trail this past Sunday. Native azaleas were much more abundant and ranged in color from a buttery yellow to orange to a deep red. All in all it was a great hike and totalled about 11 or 12 miles depending on which trail signs/maps you read. A solid 6 hour hike with plenty of stops.

We started at the Woody Gap trailhead off GA-60 just north of Dahlonega and hiked over and around a few ridgetops all they way to Jarrard Gap. The first section is relatively flat, then climbs steeply to a great view on the two rock outcrops on Big Cedar mountain. Great views to the watershed below. After that we hit a few more high points and some long gently sloped sections mostly under the cover of deciduous hardwoods.

I just found a great site with VERY detailed info on the AT in Georgia including mileage, sidetrails, water sources, campsites, etc. Check it out: http://www.hike-usa.com/at-georgia/.
This will definitely come in handy when I plan future hikes.

Pix to come soon (Thanks Kat!)

fresh legs

first wildflower- Firepink!

One of many blooming Mountain Laurel shrubs (Kalmia latifolia)

Is this a "trail tree"? ...here's info that I found online regarding the mysterious trees:
Many years ago, the people native to this area, navigated through the Mountains, using an elaborate system of trail markings. The trunks of oak trees were purposely bent to point in a given direction, indicating, food, water, safety, etc....

1st azalea (Flame Azalea)

2nd azalea (maybe "pinxter"?)...notice the spot of yellow on each bloom

friendship rock

this guy attempted to get nectar from my pack for a good 5 minutes

Only halfway!

...I hope to do this section again sometime but as a through hike up Blood Mountain and down to Neel's Gap. Any takers?

Davidson-Arabia mountain with Ophie

2008-05-27T09:52:00.000-04:00

For those of you in metro-Atlanta, I highly suggest that you visit this amazing area. It's only 20 miles from downtown, but it's unlike anything you'll get in most other metro parks. Before I forget, here's a link to direction and other info: http://www.arabiaalliance.org/.

Last Sunday Ophie and I made our way over to Arabia to explore the trails and I was pleasantly surprised at the number of wildflowers. I figured there was a big lag between the spring ephemeral stuff and their famous late blooming wildflowers (Stone mtn daisies, goldenrod, etc...), but I was totally wrong. We did sort of a figure-8 loop that encompassed nearly all of the trails for a total of 4 or 5 miles. It was nice because a lot of it is "off-trail" but on an open granite outcropping with big views, so it's hard to get lost. I've probably been to this park more than any other hiking spot and on this trip I realized it's probably because it's the one place that reminds me of California... I'll explain below.....

First off, this shot really amazed me- Georgia or high Sierra?

This area is really dry with bedrock either at or near the surface, thus there are many pines, succulents, and other drought-tolerant species. This twisted pine was quite unique:

Geology much?

Noxious weed alert!! Damn Princesstree on top of the mountains!!

Sparkleberry! (in the Vaccinium genus with blueberries and cranberries)

Flowering Opuntia (prickly pear cactus)

Ophie really liked it out here, but it got pretty warm for her and
I'm sure the rock was burning her [big] paw pads.

Coreopsis!

...and finally....Indian Pink!

this is my new favorite wildflower. this is also the first time i've seen this species in the wild and it is truly remarkable to come across this beauty while hiking in bone dry pine woods.

my family

2008-05-26T15:47:00.000-04:00

So i've recently dug up some pix of my family that rule. Some old, some new. I'll add more as I find them for sure. enjoy.

me

the 'rents

my nieces

my boo (and me)

Ophie-saurus

AT hike, May 2008

2008-05-26T14:49:00.001-04:00

In early May, Will Clarke hiked with me and Ophie up on the AT in the Tray Mountain Wilderness Area. It was flippin' sweet. Tons of wildflowers and all the deciduous plants were just started to bud out. We did a good 1400' of elevation gain too. Ophie was tired.

Vasey's Trillium... i think

Me and the dog at 4000'

dwarf crested irises were everywhere!