Oct 19 Albright Grove

 

Horace Albright served as the second director (interim) of the National Park Service, after Stephen Mather. He was interim director 1917-1919 and director 1929-1933.  This grove of old growth forest was named for him in the 1930s when the park was still being planned. 

My very first visits here predated the demise of the Eastern hemlocks. Now, many of the grove's Hemlocks have died and are toppling. The Hemlocks created a dark forest here. Now that they are gone, the grove has lost some of its magic. Huge holes in the canopy are creating dense undergrowth. Also, the loss the of the Hemlocks exposes other large trees to more wind. Walking around the .7 mile trail through the grove can be an obstacle course of downed trees. 

Having said all that about the demise of the place, it is still a top tier destination. The largest Tuliptrees in the park reside here along with maples, silverbells and magnolias. 

I took this photo so I could enlarge it and count the tree rings. Someday, I might even do that.

The foot log bridge over Indian Camp Creek is one of my favorites. 

Oct 18 Kuwohi formerly Clingmans Dome

 

Same place, different name. In 1859 the second highest point in the eastern US was named after Thomas Clingman, a US Senator from Tennessee. Clingman later became a Confederate General. In September 2024 the US Board on Geographic Names renamed the peak Kuwohi at the request of the Eastern band of Cherokee. The name means "mulberry place". It is in a Spruce/Fir forest now. Mulberry trees are found in the lower elevations, below 3500'. It is hypothesized that the Cherokee may have gathered berries nearby in an isolated grove of Red mulberry that survived near the top or maybe berries were gathered at lower elevations and brought to the top for a ceremony. A Cherokee legend says the bears have a dance house here too. Still, the mulberry connection is not clear.   

Rather than hike back to the parking area on a paved trail. we hiked on the AT southbound to the jct with Forney Ridge Trail.

A little icy today

Along a connector trail, just below the parking area is a series of boulders with these odd circles. I have seen these many times before. They are naturally occurring. 

This rock's circles are different. These appear to to be convex circles of rock. 

Oct 6 Hognose Snake

 

This is only the second Hognose snake I can remember seeing. It was in the forest behind my home. This guy has flattened out its head which, somehow, looks like a hog's nose. 

I've read that Hognose snakes flatten out their heads like a Cobra which can be a threatening look. They also may attempt a mock strike. I didn't bother this one to see that reaction. It just remained still which is another of its survival techniques.  

Sep 27 Horne Creek area of Pilot Mountain State Park

 

PHOC had a short outing at the picnic pavilion at the end of the road in Horne Creek section of Pilot Mountain State Park. Beginning at the parking area along Hauser Road, we walked to the river and back. This area appears to have been heavily farmed in the past. Forests are in a series of early to late successional forests. Above is one of my favorites. The Blue Mist BBQ restaurant was a Randolph County institution for years. Now, long closed, this Blue Mistflower always reminds of that place. 

The American strawberry bush becomes Hearts abusting bush this time of year. Here is a prolific example.

Umbrella leaf magnolia populates this area in numbers I've not seen locally. 

The railroad came through here in 1890 and is still here but used sparingly. The railroad was built alongside the Yadkin River. Its construction mostly obliterated the remains of the Bean Shoals Canal. The canal was a failed 1820s project which tried to skirt around "Bean Shoals", a 2 mile section of river. 

It is this retaining wall that sunk the project. Locals anted up funds to built the canal but in the course of constructing it, a 1000' retaining wall was deemed necessary to stabilize the canal. Construction of the wall depleted the funds and doomed the project. I am told that this is the only remaining part of the canal. The railroad was built on top of it.  

This is looking across one channel of the river. A long narrow island splits the river here.

Sep 23 Lobsters are in season at Caraway Creek

 

This is the first time I have seen Lobster mushrooms in North Carolina. They are along the Caraway Forks Trail. Lobsters are a fungus that grows on another fungus. Milk caps and russula mushrooms are often the host fungus. there is no shortage of those. I have eaten lobster mushrooms once but did not think they had much flavor. 

Sep 11 Hiking in Balestrand Norway

 

Himalayan balsam

Balestrand is located on a large fjord. The only land that can be developed in located along the fjords. The rest of the land is steep terrain with along no roads penetrating away from the fjords. We climbed a steep hillside today at the fringe of town. It was unrelenting. I broke away from the grouip so I could spend time with all the different vegetation I was seeing.

Foxglove

Sep 10 Hiking in Fjaerland

 

Today's hike is from the small town of Mondal, ancestral home of the Mondale family. The Backroads crew drove up a valley on a rough road. We were told cows were kept up this valley since the land was nor suitable to being farmed. Milkmaids would live in the small cabins we saw along the way. Cows need to be milked so they stayed here under cold weather set in.

The area is very lush with vegetation and fungi. There was also an odd orange lichen covering all the freshly unearthed rocks along the road. This was identified as Orange Sunburst lichen.

This is the top of the valley. Near vertical walls were a series of waterfalls cascading down toward us. A sizable creek formed alongside the road. 

An old shack still serves as someone's getaway.

Orange Sunburst lichen