Dogwoods and redbuds - one of the new posters available this fall
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(pictures and text are unedited)
6/1/00 Another early day with my screaming friend outside my window. I know that whip-poor-wills are lovely birds and all, but good grief, couldn't they at least sleep until sunrise! Just kidding. It is great to have TWO critters that get me up at first light - the bird and Aspen. When the whip-poor-will begins to scream, Aspen wakes up, and then he leaves his bed on the floor and jumps up into my bed, and he pesters me until I get up and go down the stairs. One last day without mocha. And another day of clear skies and sunshine. There were a number of summer tanagers, indigo buntings and other colorful birds flying around. I was glad for their company as I struggled to regain my senses and plan the day. The book was basically finished, but I had a ton of paperwork to do before I could pass it on. Plus, I had several posters that I had to select and design and get all prepped for the printer, so it would be another full day in the office for me.
SUMMER begins at Cloudland on June 1st. A red ball rose into the hazy sky, a scene that would be repeated many times in the months to come. It is a wonderful scene, but I only get a glimpse of the sun through the line of trees directly to the east of the cabin. In the winter and early spring I have a great view of the sunrise since there are no leaves on those trees, plus the sun is much more to the south. But the trees help shade the cabin in these hot months to come, so I am happy that the sun does not get a direct shot right away.
I won't bore you with the details of the work day, suffice it to say that it was very long, but I did manage to get everything finished and the proper files and paperwork delivered to my print broker in Fayetteville. Since I now have a CD recorder, I got to burn all of the files onto a single CD in about two minutes, a process that in the past has taken me an hour just to copy everything onto zip or optical disks. I love CD's!
I ended up with four different poster selections to go with the new book. I'm not sure if any of them will actually be printed or not - it will depend on what the final price is from the printers. Their prices for the book printing itself is VERY high, since the price of paper has gone through the roof. In fact, even though this book will be a little shorter than the last picture book, with less images (but almost twice as many photographs - the last one had many paintings in it), my cost for it is a lot more than for the last book. Yikes, it will cost me much more than my house in town did!
One of the posters will be the image of the baby blue-eyes that is posted in the May journal. Another one will be a close-up of a cinnamon fern from along the Ouachita Trail (not the same one that was posted, but a much closer version of it). One will be the same image as posted on May 3rd, and finally the fourth one will be the same image as the new book cover, shown below. I'll keep you posted on the posters, and as to the progress of the book, which will take several months to complete.
The drive back out to the cabin from town was a good one, although I was really exhausted. But I did not have to spend any mental energy looking for pictures, trying to figure out if the wind was blowing, etc. I did catch myself straining to see this or that scene to see if it would be a good one for the book. Down boy, the book is in the bag.
And I bypassed the office and went straight to the cabin, poured myself a stiff gin and tonic, then crawled into the hot tub under a blanket of stars. I could spend a few minutes relaxing at last. It has been three long months of constant mental energy, which I'm sure did me a lot of good. It didn't take long for me to drift off into the night.
6/2/00 It was 5:13am before the alarm started to sing - this bird must be getting tired of getting up so early - I sure hope so! Then Aspen quickly followed, and I had no choice but to go outside and slip into the hot tub. But I did have a fresh batch of MOCHA to sip on! The sunrise was really nice today - blood red.
Now that the book is complete, I can spend some time catching up, as I have been neglecting other office work and personal chores. But first there was a hike to do, although a short one, since I wanted to jump right into the work day.
The summer forest was dark and still, and the air was heavy. Most of the leaves were all the same color - that medium green that will be around for many months. A number of birds were calling out from deep in the woods. I passed by five or six different species of wildflowers along the trail up to the office, and I couldn't identify any of them!
While typing away later, I heard a GIANT crash out in the forest somewhere. The tree that fell was so large that it shook the office, and got Aspen up from a nap to run outside and bark. It must have been one heck of a tree. And its time must have been up, because the wind was not blowing a bit.
After I got a chance to update the journal and get a little paperwork done, it was time for a mid-morning hike. Besides, I wanted to go look and see if I could locate the big tree that had fallen.
We hiked on over to the Faddis meadow. I counted no less than fifteen different species of wildflowers in bloom! This is the time of the year when the spring flowers are about gone - but still hanging on - and the summer flowers are coming on strong - so there are many species blooming right now. Since the wind wasn't blowing a bit, and a group of clouds had gathered, it was perfect lighting for pictures. But I put away the camera equipment, which meant I could simply enjoy the hike instead of WORK!
As we dropped on down the hillside, I began to hear raindrops, large raindrops. Within a minute it was raining hard, and making a lot of noise. But we were not getting wet - not just yet. You see, in the summer forest around here the first few minutes of rain are captured and held by the thick canopy of the trees high above. Once they get all they can hold, then the rain comes through. But those first few minutes are really nice, because you get to hear the glorious rain, smell that ozone in the air, see the motion of the rain in the treetops, but don't get wet.
Just the first few minutes. Then all heck breaks loose. I did not have any rain gear with me at all - just shorts, t-shirt and a pair of tevas. When it began to rain, I had the opportunity to run up the hill and take refuge in the Faddis cabin, but I decided to just stick around in the forest and let the rains come.
And boy did they ever! Once the rain broke through the canopy it only took about twenty seconds for me to get completely drenched. But it was a wonderful experience, standing out there in the forest, soaking up the first cloudburst of the summer. I leaned back against a mighty oak, turned my head skyward, closed my eyes and let the drops splatter. That lasted for about a minute, then I got chilled, so I moved on along.
My pace quickened as the rain got heavier. Then it let up, and by the time I had reached the cabin, it had stopped altogether. A half inch rain in about fifteen minutes. Let it rain, let it shine, let the wind blow, I have no weather worries now!
I got all dried off and returned to the office, spending the rest of the morning and afternoon at the computer. It is about quitting time now (hey, I don't have to work until midnight today!), and another group of black clouds is gathering. I think I will wander off and see what I can find...
6/3/00 Overcast and cool at first light. Lots of birds. No wind. Let's see, I can go up to the office and spend the entire day working, or go on a hike. Hum, what to do, what to do...
It was a glorious hike indeed, through lush forests and meadows, surrounded by music and laughter from the trees and the air. And a bit of unexpected color.
The first thing that came upon was a batch of mayapples - they were everywhere - up and down the slopes along the trail. I have gotten to know this community pretty well, as I have been photographing them for a couple of months now. But today there was a bit of sadness in the air, you see, they are beginning to get to the end of their lives, turn yellow, and fall over. They have been a grand showcase for springtime though, so their lives were not in vain. Imagine that, if any of us humans could have a significent impact on the world around us for nearly our entire lives like these mayapples have. What a wonderful thing to strive for.
Next we wandered on through the East meadow, which was thick and lush with tall wheat and other things that Bob has planted there. The color of the wheat is really nice right now, and compliments the green of the surrounding forest. There is a mowed path along the top of the meadow where we hike and drive. It gives a great view down over the meadow, and I like this location better than the old one that ran right through the middle of it all. Probably disturbs the wildlife less too. I caught Aspen trying to do his business on the path, and I sent him off into the meadow. Nothing worse than stepping in dog poop.
The lane between the meadows was lined with daisies and a pleasure to stroll along, as always. Aspen got really excited as we passed this one area where there is always something going on. I have seen deer, bear, wild turkey, a coyote, and all sorts of other critters there. It must be some sort of runway or something, where everyone in the country passes through. No way to get a look at anything off of the lane right now through, because the brush is grown up so thick!
Next we visited Bob's cabin, for were are officially on bear patrol now and have to make sure everything is OK. It was. His flower bed is coming along just fine.
Then we went to the edge of the North meadow, where the fertilized wheat is way over my head. It seems that some visitor on four-wheelers to the Woods Boys cabin last weekend beat down a wide path right tough the middle of the wheat field, something Bob has been trying to avoid (the Woods boys built a special four-wheeler trail around the meadow last year, which works great - someone must not have gotten the word).
Back up at the Faddis cabin there were birds and butterflies flying everywhere, and a very happy pup springing up over the tall grass and running breakneck everywhere. My soul soars every time that I watch this guy having such a grand time!
We ducked into the dark woods to continue the search for the giant tree that I heard fall the day before. I wasn't actually looking for a big tree on the ground, but rather a bright spot in the forest where light was pouring into the new opening in the canopy.
Aspen disappeared over the edge of the steep bench, and soon let out a terrifying yell, which brought me a running. The first time that I saw him he was retreating from something and barking over his shoulder. Bit by a snake I thought? When he saw me coming down the slope he turned around and began to make his way towards an overhang in the bluff, barking and screaming like crazy. An overhang? Uh oh. Bears like to hand around such places. Was this going to be Aspen's very first face-to-face encounter with a bear, only one of the faces would be mine?
As I got down on the same level as the bluff, I strained my eyes to look into the darkness and see if I could make anything out without getting any closer. No such luck. So me and the dog moved slowly towards the bluff. You could tell that Aspen was glad to have reinforcements with him.
I finally got to the bluff and ducked under the overhang and had a look around. Nothing. Just then Aspen turned his attention to a large oak nearby that had a sizable opening in the base. No large enough for a bear, but certainly for a raccoon. So I figured that he must have found a coon in under the overhang, which made a run for the tree, and he was now safely up inside the hollow tree somewhere.
Speaking of bears and raccoon, in case you never saw anything of it there was a hiker killed by a 111 pound black bear a week or two ago over in the Smokies. It is the first ever recorded death by a bear in an eastern park. And the ranger said that it was an unprovoked attack. Now most people can't believe that a hundred pound bear could kill a person. Quite the contrary. I have come face-to-face with an angry raccoon a couple of times, and let me tell you, a wild animal that small can tear a person from stem to stern in no time. Now just imagine a wild critter ten times that size - a black bear - it is no contest. So while bears are nice to see out and about, remember that they are wild animals, and can kill you in a second, and are to be respected and given plenty of room.
OK, on to more pleasant things. Just before getting back to the cabin, and after I was sure that Aspen was off on another adventure, I went on over to see what the whip-poor-will on the nest was up to. She let me get very close to her, and so I had to snap a picture. Pretty darn good camouflage!
And if she sensed that I wanted to know what was going on, she flew off the nest and landed on a nearby limb, just to let me have a look at her brand new chicks. They were two tiny balls, looking like they were covered with fur instead of downy feathers. When mom flew off she knocked one of them out of the "nest" on the ground, so I carefully replaced the little guy. It is NOT TRUE that a mother bird will abandon a chick or egg that has human scent on it - just try and keep her away! I quickly snapped one picture then backed off. Mom had returned within two minutes.
The day remained overcast, cool and just delightful outside! It didn't feel like summer at all. I did a few chores up in the meadow, including taking care of my sagging tipi. It seems that the rope they sold us with the lodges was already beginning to rot. Not only were my stake loops coming apart, but the main rope that holds up the entire tipi cover had rotted, and so my cover was sagging quite a bit. I removed the liners and hung them over the deck railings down at the cabin. (Also hung out the three wool rugs on the upper railings - it looked like I was having a Native American party at the cabin.) Once the big canvas cover dries out, I plan to take it down for the summer. I had wanted to do this anyway, just because it was probably going to be too hot in there in the summertime, and I didn't want a wandering bear to rip things up.
I spent part of the afternoon going between the hammock and the back deck swing, reading. Reading? Yes, reading. I don't read much, but do find that I enjoy reading in the summertime, especially during the daytime. But I have also added a short spurt in the mornings, and again at night. My brother gave me a book that he read in high school during study periods. I had never heard of it before, but it is a classic, and a very good one if you like outdoor stuff. It is called Cache Lake Country, and was written by John Rowlands and first published in 1947. It is a delightful book, and just the right kind and speed for my taste.
Anyway, my morning ritual now is to get up when Aspen comes a calling for the second time, which is usually around 5:45am, send him on his way outside, then I go put a mocha in the freezer while I go read for a little while. I discovered that I like my mocha a little colder than my frige keeps it, so ten minutes in the freezer is just right. When Aspen is finished with his first exploration of the morning, he comes in looking for me. That is a sign that the mocha is ready, so I grab it and go soak in the hot tub, enjoy the mocha, and watch the world come to life as the sun peeks out from behind the distant hill.
Aspen will often just sit on the edge of the deck and listen to the many different types of birds singing out there in the forest. I try to pick them out, but there are still too many that I don't not know by song. But I am getting better, and have added the summer tanager to the list. This guy really knows how to sing. His is a very laid back tune, and it is obvious that he is in no hurry. Nice soothing music, as opposed to the loud whip-poor-will outside my window at 5 something each day.
For some reason, I decided that it was time to watch a movie, so after baking a pizza, I sat down with a frosted mug of homemade beer and put in my new DVD of Dances With Wolves. I had never seen the DVD version, which no doubt contains extra scenes. I would have been funny to anyone who might have happened by to see all of the tipi stuff hanging out to dry, and hearing all this Native American language coming from my home theater system.
This is one great movie, although I could do without all the blood and gore. And the DVD edition played on my system is nothing less than spectacular. But I didn't realize that it was so LONG!
6/4/00 The "natural" alarm waited until 5:23 to go off this morning. Must have been the overcast skies and cool temps - in the upper 50's. I went through my routing of reading while the mocha was chilling, then soaking in the tub to the sounds and sights of a dozen different birds. It felt more like fall than early summer. Perhaps aided a bit by the fact that I was reading the September chapter in the north woods book, when fall was happening.
I plan to spend today working at the office, going on a hike or two, reading a bit here and there, and just trying to enjoy a rare day with nothing in particular in mind to do. My plate is still full, in fact overflowing, and I will get back to heavy work soon enough.
By the way, for any of you who might be interested, next weekend is the international butterfly festival at Mt. Magazine over near Paris. They will have interesting things going on all weekend - including many things not directly related to butterflies. I will be there leading short hikes up to the tallest point in Arkansas (very anti-climatic, since the high point is out in the middle of the forest and you can't see a thing - but it is the high point), as well as other short hikes around the top of the mountain, plus a couple of quickie photo workshops, and will be giving a slide program on Saturday night down in town. I don't know what they are charging this year, but last year I think it costs a buck to attend any of the programs.
The afternoon found me all laid out in the big leather couch, reading the last of the Cache Lake Country book. I don't read many books, but when I find one that I like, I usually stick with it until I am finished (I am a slow reader). Just about the time that I got to the end of this one, I heard raindrops on the tin roof.
I sat out in the front porch swing listening to the music of the rain for a few minutes, then decided that I was wasting valuable time, so I quickly got dressed for a summer bushwhack in the rain, and headed out for a hike. Walking in the rain is a rare treat, and how I do love treats!
It's funny how most people would run for cover during a rainstorm, and lay out in the bright sunshine of midday, while I am exactly the opposite. Hum, I wonder what that says about me?
This was a true "ramble" instead of a bushwhack, because I literally had no particular destination in mind, and just sort of wandered on through the forest and meadows wherever the wind happened to take me.
One of the places that it took me to through the Faddis meadow, where I found a solid area of these daisy fleabane - thousands of them all packed together. While they are tiny blossoms (a quarter inch maybe), when they all gang up like this it is quite a show.
While looking into a bright spot in the forest, I came across the giant tree that had fallen over with such a large bang the other day. And brother was it a BIG one! I stepped it off and found it to be almost 80 feet tall. The base was hollow, and filled with decaying wood, which is what weakened the living tree and brought it down. I counted seventeen other trees that were either killed outright (3) or injured in some way by the fall if this giant. Lordy, what a crash!
I have been seeing a lot of cucumber magnolia tree fruit on the ground. Green, and about two inches long, they look out of place. I don't recall seeing any sort of bloom on these trees, but I'm sure they had them.
The ramble continued, and before I knew it, I was standing at the entrance to Magnolia Canyon. The rain had stopped, so I decided to sit a spell and see what was happening in the little world hidden from the rest of the forest.
First off, I disturbed a phoebe. Her nest was directly above the entrance to the little cave there. Both the male and female were around, and they moved on over to a tree at the opposite end of the canyon and sat there quietly - that was a bit odd.
I sat down in the soft earth - thick with four or five inches of dead leaves - and leaned up against the main canyon wall, which was covered with moss. It all was at a perfect angle for me to lean my head back and survey the canyon, which also happened to be a perfect napping attitude. And so was my internal attitude, so before I got in too much searching around, I drifted off to the quiet hush of the deep forest.
Aspen woke me up. He was getting a bit restless, and apparently the two phoebes had not returned to their nest, and he spotted them up in the trees. He sat there at the base of the magnolia tree where they were located, trying to figure out how to get up to them. Then he decided to give the canyon wall a try. The wall is pretty straight up here, with no foot holds for man nor beast (I take that back - I'm sure there are some good rock climbers who could scoot right on up it). After a few minutes of jumping around, he gave up and returned to my side, where he found a nice snug spot curled up between a couple of maindenhair ferns.
The phoebe did finally get comfortable with me sitting there, and returned to her nest. I had peeked at it when I first got there, and found five or six tiny white eggs there. The other phoebe nests that I had seen had already hatched out, and some of them the chicks were about out of the nest. Guess this pair had gotten a late start.
On the way back to the cabin, I climbed steep slopes, wandered through a big flat of open forest, and made my way along the edge of the East meadow, examining a number of wildflowers. I have been seeing these purple trumpet flowers a lot lately (wild petunia). And I found a single, rich-colored wild rose. Up in Aspen's meadow there are tons of these very tiny bright red flowers with yellow centers blooming - never seen them before. The bloom is only about an eight of an inch across. As luck would have it, I returned the pile of ID books back to the library at the cabin, so I can't look any of them up just now, but I will try to do so before the next update.
Another splash of color that is along the ground these days are black gum leaves, small but brightly colored red and yellow. It is so funny to see such a small leaf coming from a towering giant like the black gum. I don't know why they are turning this time of the year, but they always seem to do so in early summer. Not the entire tree - just a few leaves up near the top somewhere.
While I was sitting out on the back deck cooling down from the ramble, a turkey vulture landed on the big dead snag. I put the scope on him and watched for a few minutes. And uglier critter Momma nature has not produced. Well, I guess the armadillo might tie for that title. And the opossum isn't too handsome either. But this giant scavenger with the wrinkled red skin covering his head is a sight to see, especially up close. I guess he does a great service by ridding the lovely wilderness of all the dead and rotting carcasses that none of us would like to come across on a warm summer day. So I salute the vultures, may I never have to do their job!
It remained nice and cool all day, and the little rain shower didn't produce all that much. A wonderful day to be out in the woods, or lying in the couch reading.
While soaking in the tub late in the evening, the night sky was lit up like the fourth of July. A constant stream of flashes coming from some distant thunderhead. And not a sound.
I decided to get adventurous and see if I could get a picture of the lightening, so I loaded all my camera gear up and headed for Aspen's meadow for a look-see. That is what this meadow was made for, gazing into the night sky. And it was a wonderful view for sure. Most of the sky was clear, and the stars were out. But up to the north, there was a band of black clouds, and at least two big thunderstorms going on inside of them - one to the east, and one to the west.
I took a seat in the grass and watched a while. The lightening was back in the clouds, and I only got to see the bare bolts a little bit, so it wasn't worth photographing. But it was quite a display of sheer brightness coming from behind those dark clouds. The only problem was that I could not get a good look at both the storms at the same time, since they were so far apart, so I ended up staring at one at a time. And of course, every time that I would stare at one storm, the lightening flashed in the other one. I don't believe that time was ever wasted sitting in a meadow looking for lightening.
6/5/00 Wow, everyone in the wilderness overslept this morning! The whip-poor-will never said a word. Neither did the summer tanager. Aspen snoozed on. So was on my own to wake up, which I did not do until sunshine hit me in the face sometime after 6am. I got up and with no book to read, took my mocha in the tub at normal frige temperature (and it was still pretty good).
The sun quickly faded into a sky filled with dark clouds. But there were patches of blue here and there. It is supposed to clear off today or tomorrow, with the week being bright and sunny, and a wee bit warm for my taste. I simply LOVE the weather and the temp right now - cloudy, with temps in the low 60's.
An item of importance that happened this week was when Ken Eastin and I were clearing the meadow down below the cabin. This was before the cabin was built three years ago. I had cleared away the spot for the cabin itself, and we were trying to open up the view some, and had just cut out enough trees to see out into the wilderness jungle. I eventually cleared the rest of the meadow as a fire break and bird sanctuary, which opened up the view even more.
Anyway, we were sitting there tired and hot and sweaty when we heard this noise. Sounded like an ultralight craft up there somewhere, and not a real airplane. Then we were both stunned into silence when right before our eyes, out in the middle of the wilderness valley in front of the cabin site, appeared the Goodyear Blimp. Neither of us had a camera. We watched as it slowly dropped into the valley, then made its way up Whitaker Creek to Hawksbill Crag, then it pulled up and left the valley, heading to the Wal Mart shareholders meeting in Fayetteville. That has got to rank as the most unusual sight ever at Cloudland! My kingdom to have the chance to photograph it.
**Correct address now: Bob wanted for me to pass on this web page address. A bird man down in Texas has been taking pictures of the birds that he sees and posting a picture of each one on this page - the count is way up over 200. http://www.martinreid.com. I think that I will go check on my baby whip-poor-will chicks now and see how they are doing.
Also the butterfly festival web site is http://www.butterflyfestival.com.
While I was working away in the office, Bob called and said that he was coming by with some friends to go on a hike to the river, and wanted to know if I would go with them. Of course! When they arrived one of the most unusual coincidences happened. First, a little background. A couple of years ago I planted seeds in front of the cabin from a daylily plant that was growing next to the square well down at the old homesite at the base of the ladder trail. They came up last year but never bloomed. This year the plants at my cabin looked great, but still not a bloom in sight. I figured that it was just too shady where I had planted them. It was shady down at the old homesite as well, and I don't recall ever seeing them in bloom there either.
OK, back to real time. The first guy that got out of Bob's truck was Andy Friend. He spent his early childhood down at the homesite at the foot of the ladder trail where the square well is. I have been waiting a long time to get to go hiking down there with someone who actually knew what was what, and was thrilled! As he walked towards me I began to tell him about the lily flowers, when low and behold I realized that the one that was two feet from where he was standing was in BLOOM!!! How weird is that? This flower somehow knew that his childhood friend would be here today, so it sprang to life.
With Andy were Anita DeLa Rosa from Washington state, and Debbie Wafford from Utah. Both were descendants of the folks who homesteaded the area around the mouth of Whitaker Creek. Wow, this was going to be one terrific hike! And the weather was delightful as well - it was actually very cool, with hardly any humidity.
We started off down the ladder trail, and Andy recalled not only how he used to take the trail from his home up to school every day, but how they had to carry his dad's body up the trail and over the bluff when he died. I had heard this story before, but was never able to actually speak with a participant before. I asked him why they took him up the ladder trail instead of going out the wagon road along the river, and he said that it would have taken too long to go out the road. They would have had to use two teams of mules just to get the wagon up the steep hill that climbs out of Boxley Valley. And they might not have even been able to get that far in the first place because the old wagon road crossed the river so many times, and it often was clogged with large boulders in the riverbed. This was in September. I never thought to ask what his dad died from.
He showed me where the original ladder had been - the one that is there no is shorter, and in a slightly different spot. As we slipped and slid our way on down the trail, Andy would point out the ID of this or that tree from quite a distance off - folks who grew up in the woods can do that with ease.
Before we knew it, we were standing at the edge of his root cellar, which is located right next to the trail. And then for the first time in a very long time, Andy stood proudly at the edge of his old homesite, which was nothing more now than a pile of rocks where the foundation and chimneys once stood. He turned around as if sitting on the front porch and pointed to the root cellar and said how there used to be the large front porch that looked right over to it. And son of a gun, there were several day lilies in bloom - first time that I had ever seen them blooming - again, I'm sure they did so to welcome Andy to his old place!
We made our way on over to the old well. Andy said that it was 28 feet deep, and he remembered how they used to lower their mild down into the cool water to keep it. He pointed out the second chimney, mostly down on the ground now (I had thought there was only one - this must have been a nice cabin). And drew me a map of the shape of the house, and showed where the different rooms were. There was a twinkle in his eye with each step. What a great feeling that must have been for him!
He pointed over across the "road" to a spot where "the meeting house" once stood - church. Then he showed us the old wagon road that intersected the road trace that we were standing on.
His family moved out of the house and up on top of the hill (where Eddy Silcott's property is now) around 1935, although they still owned the land for a while after that and used to lease it out. He remembered going back down the ladder trail to collect corn to feed their hogs up on top - and having to carry tote sacks fulled with the corn up that steep hillside. He recognized an old chunk of steel that we found on the ground near the root cellar as part of a molasses something or other (I forgot what he called it).
When we got to the very front of the root cellar, Andy said that it looked like a great spot for a big old copperhead to be hanging out. I mouthed off that I had been in the woods every day this year and had not seen a single one yet. Aspen was in there exploring around (there is no roof on the cellar - Andy said there used to be a building on top, where they used to keep corn), and just as he jumped out the front, son of a gun, I spotted a copperhead. I wonder if Andy had one as a pet when he was a kid?
As we left the homesite and moved on down the trail, he really came to life when he heard Whitaker Creek running. He showed us where the old mule trail took off up the creek. He said that it went all the way up Whitaker Creek and came out up ON TOP along Cave Mountain Road at the house where the Whitaker Family had lived. That was a MAJOR bit of info for me, because I have longed searched for just such a trail. It was much too thick to hike it out today, but he said that he would come back next winter and try to find it with me. There is a spot or two along the route that he really wants to see again.
We made it on down to the other homesite, which is located just a few feet from the banks of Whitaker Creek, where the stone chimney is still standing, although it is beginning to lean a bit. Andy described the cabin, and how one year the creek got up so high that it left sand a foot deep in the living room. This is where the two young ladies entered the scene. Their relatives had once lived in the cabin, as well as others in the area, and they had a picture of the place that was taken in 1907, with a proud family all lined up in front. Anita and Debbie had done a great deal of research and looked up many of the old records at the courthouse.
They all talked about "the orchard" up on the hillside. In one of the deeds that they found it listed "140 apple trees" as part of the property. I've never seen the number of trees listed before. Andy knew that old orchid well, and we set off to find it.
But first we crossed Whitaker Creek at the old ford where they used to cross over to the big field on the other side. I had know of this field, which is lined with a very nice rock wall. We walked along it and marveled at how much was still standing. Andy said that they used to grow a lot of corn there. He said that there used to be several headstones down at the far corner, but one of the folks that they had leased the field to had removed the headstones and planted corn there. We wondered who had been planted there before the corn.
We followed the old wagon road as it switchbacked up the hillside away from the field, to a point where it leveled off along a big flat. This had to be the spot where the orchid once stood, because it is the only level spot large enough. And Andy remembered the exact route of the old wagon road, and said the orchid was located just to the right of it, which is where the big flat was. It had been 50 years since Andy had been to the orchid (he is 72 now), and he REALLY wanted to find something left of an old apple tree. But try as we might, no trace could be found. Although we did locate this one dead tree that looked like it could have been an ancient apple tree.
At one point Andy pointed to a spot and said that he had left an old axe under a log there but never came back to retrieve it. I wondered if it had been picked up long ago by some other woodsman and used to build a cabin and keep his family warm, or if it was still there, deep down under inches of new earth keeping all its secrets to itself.
We made our way on down the hillside and arrived at the Buffalo River at a spot where we all were connected. It turns out that the swimming hole that I use nearly every day in the heat of the summer is called "the Kimbriel Hole," and is named after Anita and Debbie's relatives. And, of course, Andy used to do a bit of skinny dipping in the hole when he was a kid!
Andy showed us where he used to dive off of a big rock into the deep pool. I showed him where I swim laps now, and where the big fish are - he already knew that. Then we moved on down to the next hole, named "Bob Kimbriel Hole" (a brother of the other Kimbriel). This one is not nearly as deep as my swimming hole, but it does have a large, flat boulder sticking out into the water. This rock was the very first spot that I came to after I bought Cloudland. I simply dropped off of the hill below the cabin, and bushwhacked straight down the hillside, landing at the big rock. I spent the night there, giving thanks for having the great fortune to have been handed a parcel of this wonderful wilderness to care for.
Boy, all of these historical names got a bit twisted in my head, even after Anita drew me a family tree. But the two main early families down there were the Kimbriels and the McKnights, with the Friends and the Collins family, plus a dozen or two others during the brief history of settlement there, which stretch from the late 1800's through the mid-1940's. Nothing left now but the stones of the walls, chimneys and cabin foundations, a well or two, many old road traces, and lifetimes of memories.
The day was speeding by, and I had a lot of work to do, so I reluctantly had to bid the group farewell and headed back up the steep hillside - through one of the thickest jungles I had ever bushwhacked through! At one point, the brush was SOOOO thick that I had to jump up on a large fallen log and followed it up to the next bench to escape. As I was nearing the top of the hill, I realized that I had not even broken a sweat - the humidity was that low! Most any other year we all would have been soaked, but the low humidity and temps have been terrific this week.
I hadn't been at the office long before the rest of the group joined me. I got to tell ya, those two 70+ year olds (Andy and Bob) not only kept up but led the way! I hope to be half as energetic at their age.
What a wonderful hike and visit that was! So many blurry things were cleared up for me, and I will now walk down the trail and past the old homesites with a vision of what once was. And I look forward to Andy's return visit when we go find that trail up Whitaker Creek.
6/7/00 Lots of sunshine and bright blue skies today. I went on down to visit the whip-poor-will chicks, and found them to be growing up quickly. Mom allowed me about thirty seconds of time with them, then she got a little nervous. She flew right on up to me - within two or three feet - then hung there in mid-air, kind of standing up straight and flapping her wings. Never seen a bird do this before. I didn't stick around long, but I did get a good look at her mouth. GOOD GRIEF, when she opened her mouth there was nothing left but mouth! It opened up really wide so that she can scoop up a lot of bugs while flying. I had a swimming coach in high school that had a mouth like that once. She went on to host a TV show in Hollywood - whip-poor-will mouth, that is what we should have called her.
The Wildman came out in the afternoon to do a little maintenance on his tipi. The high winds had taken a toll on mine, and we decided it was time to bring it down for the summer. I had planned to do this anyway, and now seemed like a good time. So now there is only one lodge in the meadow, standing tall and looking out across the wilderness. We will have the official dedication of his lodge on June 17th.
While we were up dealing with the tipis, the lumber truck arrived. We are going to build a sunset and star-gazing deck in the meadow on June 17th, and this was the lumber for it. It will be 20 x 24 feet, and a foot or two off of the ground. It will face north, and will be near the top of the ridge, in between the two tipi sites. I will run electricity underground to it to power a telescope (and a blender for bushwhackers and daiquiris).
6/8/00 No alarm this morning - I guess the guy who has been yelling so loud is now too occupied with parenting duties to mess with getting me up in the morning. And you know, even though I have been complaining about it for a couple of week now, I sort of miss that wake-up call. Another cool, dry and sunny day out, and very pleasant. Aspen and I made a couple of bike trips out to the mailbox, but spent most of the day at the office, slaving away.
When I did take time to lounge around out on the back deck at the cabin, I found the meadow below filled with birds of all kinds. Especially indigo buntings - looked like the forest had been taken over with them! Lots of summer and scarlet tanagers sitting around too. And in the afternoon, way off out in the wilderness, I spotted three red-tailed hawks circling around.
After work I strolled on up into Aspen's meadow to soak up a bit of moonlight. Not even half full yet and already the silver lamp is sending down a lot of nice, soft light. I like this time of the month because there is enough moonlight so that you can hike around without a flashlight, yet the sky is still dark enough so that you can see some of the stars, including brighter shooting stars.
6/9/00 As I was sitting out on the deck this morning eating a bowl of yogurt/strawberries/granola, I noticed that most of the birds out were ones dive bombing the meadow. They would sit up high in the trees at the edge of the meadow, then take off head first and disappear in the tall brush below. Much of that brush will be blaze orange in a few weeks - wild sunflowers.
Clouds gathered just after sunrise, and it is another really nice cool day.
6/10/00 Up and gone at 5 this morning, headed to the International Butterfly Festival high up on top of Mount Magazine, the highest point in Arkansas. I counted 73 indigo buntings between the cabin and the highway (nine miles of dirt road). As luck would have it, rain was in the forecast. It turned out to be super foggy as well. At times you could only see 50 feet. I was to lead a number of hikes up to the high point, plus give a couple of photo workshops, which would include a visit to the famous old, twisted cedar tree that David Muench, A.C. Haralson, and Ernst have published pictures of over the years.
My first photo workshop was to be held under a small tent near the front edge of the festival site. We started off with a dozen or so folks - novice to expert. As we stood there and went over a few things, the thick fog began to come down as rain. The longer I spoke, the harder it rained. I'm not sure if everyone actually was there to listen to me, or out tent was the first dry thing that they came to after getting off of the bus, but by the end of my little presentation, the tent was jammed packed with people, and it was raining pretty good.
We finally did make it down to the cedar tree, although one gentleman near the front took a hard tumble on the wet, rocky and steep trail. I hurried on over to see if his camera was OK, and it was. He was banged up a bit though. Like a true pro, he held on and protected his camera while taking quite a lick himself. I usually just send my camera gear sailing and worry about my own bones.
The old cedar was interesting looking, standing there silhouetted in the blowing rain and fog. I'm not sure if anyone got a picture, but at least now they know where it is. Lots of wildflowers hugging the glade areas along the top of this tall bluff, which is where the cedar is as well (it is pictured on page 4 of the ARKANSAS PORTFOLIO book).
My next event was a hike up to the highest point in Arkansas. It was pouring heavily, and I was looking forward to no one showing up so that I could go get a funnel cake and sit under the big tent listening to the live music. But a family from Scranton did show up and was all fired up to go hiking. I wasn't going to point out the obvious, so the four of us took off up the trail. Mom and daughter had rain slickers on, but dad only had an umbrella.
The trail was pretty easy, winding around the hillside through lush and jungle-like forest. We went through one of the thickest stands of pawpaw trees that I had ever seen. There were a few wildflowers blooming along the way too, but mostly just thick green vegetation everywhere, and lots of fog. When we reached the summit, we found a large domestic rose in a vase sitting right next to the elevation marker (with a note attached that said "Happy Birthday Mom!". There was also a registration pad there. As I looked in the register and read the note written by the fellow who had left the rose, a few tears streamed down my cheek and joined the raindrops. It said that the rose was for his mom, who loved the mountain, and who had died some time ago. He had spread her ashes there, and had brought the rose to celebrate her birthday two days before. What a wonderful son she has!!!
The next hike was to be along the top edge of the bluff, down by the old cedar tree. It was raining a bit when our group took off - a larger group than before. By the time we reached the cedar tree, the foggy sky opened up and it really began to pour, hard. At that point, the group decided to pack it in and head back to the big tent! A short hike, but at least everyone got to see the cedar tree.
Still raining for the last hike, but not too hard. We had a delightful hike, a much larger group, and the foggy conditions only added to the enjoyment. My lady friend from Little Rock, Lola, joined the group. She is turning out to be a pretty good little hiker, although hadn't done too much of the wild stuff until she first came to Cloudland.
6/11/00 An early start and another foggy day up on Mount Magazine. I had the first program of the day, but I think most people were still in bed. The rain held off, but the fog remained very thick. I haven't said much about the butterflies, mostly because there weren't any. They don't like the rain much. There was a tent set up (of mosquito netting) with many butterflies loose in it, feeding and resting and playing on all sorts of different wildflowers and other plants. This is always the best part of the festival to me, since you can go in and wander around and get a close up look at all of them. Even take a few pictures. How about a monarch on a coneflower? Only problem was that the heavy rains took their toll on these guys too, and they really weren't in the mood to romp around much.
I had two other hikes scheduled for the day, both to the top of Mount Magazine. Both hikes were crowded, and we all had a grand time. There seemed to be more wildflowers out this day, and we got to spend some time talking about them, as well as the jungle around us. We found several types of plants that I had never seen before.
For those of you that have never been up there, the highest point in Arkansas is nothing like Mt. Everest. In fact, it is flat, and forested - you can't see a thing but lots of trees. An easy trail goes right on up to the sign proclaiming the high point (2753'). This trail is part of a 14.2 mile trail that runs up from Cove Lake, and the entire trip is a very nice one (our little hikes were only two miles total each).
It was nearly midnight when I returned to the cabin, and I was one happy camper to be home.
6/12/00 Lots of sunshine today. Bill McNamara came by in the afternoon. Most people know him as one of the best watercolor artists in the country, but he is also an expert on Native American culture and artifacts, especially those of Arkansas and Louisiana. I had taken him several of the points that I had collected in Aspen's meadow, and he was interested enough to come by and have a look up close.
We spent nearly an hour walking around the meadow in the bright sunshine. Most people would walk right on past without seeing anything. But Bill spent a great deal of time bent over, picking up tiny pieces of stone. So did I. By the time the hour was up, we had collected several handfuls of artifacts, including a number of small stone tools. Bill would show me where they had worked the stone, and how it was used for this or that. He was surprised to find such an active site up on top of the ridge, far from any water or shelter. And the points and tools had come from several different cultures, spanning 7,000 years. No doubt that Aspen's meadow has been used throughout history as a gathering place, camping spot, and no telling what else.
We tried to look around and figure out what it was that attracted them to this site. We figured that during much of their activity the forest was different, somewhat of a savannah a lot like west Texas, with shorter trees and more grass. That would make Aspen's meadow one of the best lookout spots in the entire area.
We tried to pinpoint the areas of concentrated use, and discovered that Aspen's lodge was right smack in the middle of it all. Hum, wilderness sages thousands of years apart put up their lodges in the same place as Aspen's! I knew this spot had some magical powers, and so did the previous "owners" of the meadow.
One thing that Bill showed me was how most of the arrowheads that we usually find have actually been worked and worked and reworked, breaking off more and more stone to sharpen them, until finally the stone is unusable. He said that many arrowheads we find were simply worn out and discarded. He has this thick book that shows examples of points throughout history. I could see how many of the points I have found in Aspen's meadow matched the ones in the book, and how they had been worn down. This is fascinating stuff to me.
6/14/00 No sun today, but lots of rain. Boy, we sure do need all of this rain, and I am SO glad to see it! I can't take waterfall pictures now, but the land needs it to head off the projected drought this summer. My cleaning lady, Mary, showed up and spent most of the morning scrubbing the cabin. I try to keep the dust down, but like to have her come in at least once a month and really get the place shining. You know how us bachelors live!
After Mary left, I was sitting out on the back deck enjoying the thunderstorm. The rain had actually quit, but there were heavy clouds overhead, and steam vents swirling all over the place down in the valley. Out of the corner of my eye I caught a giant flash, turned and saw a lightening bolt, ending in a fireball, explode on the hillside just across from the cabin. HOLEY SMOKES!!! A second later there was a tremendous crash, and the cabin shook and the windows rattled. It echoed on for what seemed like an eternity. It was quickly followed by rain. The hair on the back of my neck stood at attention.
I starred through the rain and fog and could just barely make out the tree that had been struck - or what was left of it. The telescope revealed that the electric knife split the tree right in two - there was nothing standing but half of the main trunk. Wow, I had never actually seen a tree get struck by lightening before. I will go find that tree one day later this month and show you exactly what happened to it.
I made a quick trip into town yesterday and came back with a sled filled with new toys, I mean tools, for the cabin. Like a pair of walkie-talkies so that we can stay in communication with each other (between the cabin and the office, either of those and the meadow, hikers and the cabin, etc.). They will especially come in handy when Lola is here - she works on the computer down at the cabin a lot while I am working up in the office. And it will really be nice when anyone come out to go hiking, and wants to call in to the cabin to see when cocktail hour will happen.
Also got one of those iced-tea makers. I love iced-tea, but seldom ever remember to put out a pot of sun tea in time. And the biggest toy is a CD jute box. Holds 300 CD's, and to play one all you have to do is select the number of the CD that you want and push play. You can program all 300 of them in any order, or group, or any number of individual songs. Imaging putting it on random and letting it play continuously day and night. I have a lot of CD, and up until now they have all been carefully sorted into groups of six, but my guests have not been able to get the hang of my sorting system. This little jutebox will make it all so SIMPLE!
Oh yea, I also brought out the newest batch of Cloudland t-shirts. The front of the shirt is the same as the first version, but the back of each shirt has a detailed map of the greater Cloudland metroplex on it, including all of the cabins, trails, roads, bluffs, waterfalls, Aspen's tipi, even Yukon's grave and the skinny-dipping hole.
The journal book will have an even more detailed map in it, but this one will do for the t-shirts. The first batch of shirts only lasted a few weeks, and I suspect these won't last very long either. They will be given to special guests who visit Cloudland.
We got two inches of rain, which made the river into a giant stream of hot chocolate. Lots of clouds being born and swirling around all over the place. The rain was great, and there is more to come over the weekend.
I forgot to mention that Mary used this new floor cleaner on the pine floors in the cabin - they shine like brand new now! This stuff is really amazing, and is supposed to help protect the floor from scratches too. When you have a superdog like Aspen and soft wood floors, you need all the protection that you can get.
After I shut down the office for the day and retired to the hot tub, a very bizarre scene swept across the wilderness. All of those new clouds had gathered together to form a solid fog bank, which is typical after a heavy rain. But once it got dark, the sky above cleared off and a 3/4 full moon broke through, lighting everything up. It was a wonderful, wild, and eerie sight! And one of the many scenes that simply can't be photographed. That was fine with me, since I got to sit back and enjoy it all instead of trying to run around and capture it.
6/15/00 A deep orange sky took the place of the whip-poor-will this morning and woke me up. I rolled on over, but soon got up and found bright sunshine and a classic Cloudland view out the back. No matter how many times it happens, I run for the camera - if only the digital one to show all of you what it looks like.
But I couldn't linger around too long, for today is going to be one long work day. First off I have to select the exact location for the star-gazing deck, measure off the corners, then dig nine holes and fill with cement for the post footings. That is the most critical part of the entire process, and will most likely take me the rest of this morning to do. Then I will have to make a quick trip into town for more chores - mainly getting ALL of my junk out of my house in town and hauling it out here on the trailer. Got a big party and work event this weekend, and I need to get all of that out of the way.
It was warm, no hot, heck it was BURNING hot out there in the meadow this morning! After several hours of digging holes, fighting with the roots, hauling water and mixing concrete, I realized that I should have kept my shirt on - I was one red hot potato! I am somewhat of a shade worshiper, and don't really like to be out in the direct sun. Mostly because I prefer cool temps.
But it was a spectacular clear day up in the meadow, and the deck location is all set and ready for construction to begin - well, almost ready. I still have to run power over to the site from a nearby power pole, but that is for tomorrow. The deck is in between the two tipi locations, slightly down the hill and to the north from them. Since everyone always asks me which direction is which, I oriented it basically north-south and east-west. The ridge runs kind of east-west anyway, so it lines up nicely with everything. There is a great view out over the Buffalo through Boxley Valley and on to the hill overlooking Ponca, plus the ridges to the west for good summer sunsets. And with the exception of a few trees low on the horizon to the east and south, there is a 360 degree view of the sky, which will be the main object of our visits there anyway. I expect to spend many night on this deck looking skyward. It will be 20 x 24 feet, assumg that we can figure out how to build it!
It was near dark when I returned from town, and the nearly-full moon was already climbing into the eastern sky. There was a loud, shrill noise when I slipped into the hot tub - me screaming when the hot water hit my steaming sunburn. The pain only lasted for a few seconds, then it felt great. Not many summer bugs out yet, but I do expect them to out in full force before too long. I guess all of the rain has kept them indoors for a while. The sound of the running river below mingled with the call of distant night birds and the wind and made for a pleasant soak.
6/16/00 No sunrise this morning, but there were lots of fast-moving clouds blowing across the sky. It is supposed to rain sometime today, but I hope not until after I finish all of the electrical work up in the meadow. There were many birds out singing, but they all quieted down a bit when I let out another scream as I slipped into the tub.
It took me a couple of hours to lay out 200 feet of electrical cable from the power pole to the new deck site, feeding it through 3/4" PVC pipe. Man, it was nearly impossible to get the 12 gauge romax wire through each 20 foot section of pipe. But I eventually prevailed, and got everything glued up and set in place. We will dig a trench to bury it all tomorrow (I hope - if it doesn't rain too much). Then I wired in a new breaker at one end, and an outdoor plug at the other, so now we can plug in power tools tomorrow, or the blender for bushwhackers.
Tomorrow is the summer bushwhacker party, and there will be a herd of folks arriving all day long. My plans are to get going on the deck by noon, and have it more or less finished up by the end of the day. I have ordered in special rib-eye steaks, which I will marinate for a while and then grill to perfection. Others are bringing all sorts of goodies, from fresh salsa, shrimp dip, and homemade herb bread to key lime pie. There will be new Cloudland t-shirts for everyone, and of course, plenty of Bushwhackers!
The grand finale for the day will be the official dedication of the Wildman's Lodge, which we will do after the moon rises and is high in the sky - sometime near midnight. I hear The Wildman is bringing some tobacco to smoke in the peace pipes (we couldn't find anything legal to smoke in mine when we had Aspen's Lodge dedication). I will, of course, post all the details here once the weekend is finished.
In the meantime, my perimeter alarm just went off, and I believe Lola is arriving - I must go attend to my guest!
We went out for a couple of hikes, the first one being a short one around the immediate area, and the second a longer one near dark - on bear patrol. We found this interesting-shaped stalk of fungus growing right out of the ground - anyone know what it is?
Later, right down in the meadow below the cabin, we found a ton of huckleberry bushes loaded with fruit. Some of the sweet berries were already ripe, and we were forced to sample. This is wild blueberry, and while the fruit is smaller than the store-bought variety, it is often much tastier. Bears like them too.
We also found many colorful wildflowers growing in the meadow, including many that were covered up by the heavy brush and could not been seen from the deck. Some were from a mix that I had planted a year ago, and others were there naturally. Plus the poke salad plants are about to take over - you can see how colorful their stalks are. Later in the summer their berries will turn dark purple and can be used as war paint.
No bears spotted during our later hike. In fact, with the exception of one set of tracks that I found down along the river several weeks ago (and one that Aspen chased a couple of months ago), I have not seen any sign of bears up here at all this year - a good sign indeed! Last summer was pretty tame as well, but the summer before - good grief, the bears tried to take over the mountain, destroying a great deal of stuff in the process.
Aspen searched nearly every square inch of land around us as we hiked, springing up in the tall grass to get better looks. He got a little tuckered out towards the end of the hike, and I snapped this picture of the devil dog during a rare inactive moment in the dark forest.
It was so dark in the woods that we had to follow the white of Aspen's behind to make it back to the cabin.
Cloudland pizza and homemade brew for dinner. No sign of the full moon - the sky was packed with thick clouds.
6/17/00 It began to rain soon after midnight. Hard. Very hard. I got up once during the night to go downstairs and secure the windows. I checked the rain gauge on my way down, and then again once I returned, a total time of about five minutes. It had rained nearly a quarter of an inch in five minutes! By dawn it had rained over four inches. It was mostly rain, with little wind, but a few loud flashes with rumblings. Boy, we sure did need that rain!
I soon realized that the rain was going to continue and the deck might not get built today, but that was OK with me. It was great to lounge around with Lola and soak up the swirling clouds. And speaking of Lola, she made the most wonderful SCONES for breakfast! I love scones. Heck, I like most anything with lots of sugar in it, and these were terrific. Fresh scones and Mocha and the sound of raindrops. It was going to be a great day!
And then a very strange thing happened. About the time our guests began to arrive, the rain quit. That wouldn't last long I figured, so no reason to get all set up for deck work. We broke out the turkey sandwiches and beer, and I passed out the new Cloudland t-shirts.
But the rain continued to hide, so we decided to make a run for it and see if we could get the posts up and the band around them for the main deck framework - that would be the most difficult part, and one that I could not do very well alone.
Lola and I, Bob and Dawna, Roy and Norma, and Patsy headed up with a load of tools. And Hete.
My biggest concern is that I don't ever do a very good job of measuring where the posts go, but this time I had dug very large holes (now filled with concrete), so I had a lot of leeway in all directions.
While it took a great deal of brain work to figure out the final details, we soon had the posts and band up and all screwed together. And much to my surprise and delight, my holes were pretty much right where they were supposed to be - everything fit!
As time wore on and more guests arrived, the sky continued to cooperate and we got all of the joists in place. I had to send Lola down to the cabin to make up the large batch of special marinade for the rib-eye steaks. We communicated through the set of new walkie-talkies - a great tool. Ken and Terry, The Wildman and Mary, Luke and Mary.
And then it was time for the first pitcher of bushwhackers! Since we were still working, we had to set up the bar on the workbench. And Aspen's Meadow was officially dedicated as I poured out a couple batches of the chocolate delight. Smooth, very smooth. It did look and feel a bit odd though to have the blender right next to the power saw.
Before long we had the deck basically secure, and while we didn't get any of the deck boards put on, I was thrilled at getting so much of it done, despite the threat of rain all day. So we called it quits and moved the party down to the cabin.
It had rained about five inches in the morning, and the river was really cooking. Scott and Carolyn, Karen, Dan and Deborah Coody. The guest list was complete, and the map bar was covered with a ton of wonderful dishes. Oh yea, and the grill was piled high with a couple hundred bucks worth of dead cow, sizzling and smoking away.
I had two blenders working overtime to take care of the crowd. We had orange, red and brown daiquiris (dreamsickle, strawberry, bushwhacker). And did I mention pie - at least three of them. And wine cake. And, well, it was a typical Cloudland feast.
Since the rain had returned, we decided to do the official Wildman Lodge dedication at the cabin. We all gathered in a circle, and the Wildman and Mary led the proceedings. A Native American peace pipe was circulated (I had it made by an artist in New Mexico - very nice indeed!), as well as the traditional smudge stick that was sent along by the tipi makers in Oregon. The smoke of the Great Spirits blended together and filled the cabin with peace, while flute music danced through the air.
After the ceremony, the CD jutebox got to work and the crowd danced the night away.
6/18/00 Everyone survived, the rain had stopped, and after breakfast of blueberry biscuits and the Cloudland summer granola-yogurt-fruit mix, a group of us took off in search of waterfalls, and headed on over into Dug Hollow.
The first big splash was Robert's Falls, which was running about as good as I had ever seen it.
Then we passed a triple-drop falls that is normally just a little trickle.
Next we found the main waterfall area, and it was really pumping. While we were all standing around trying to figure out how to cross the creek, I looked up and saw a blur - it was Dan Coody, and he just plunged right on in and splashed on over without skipping a beat.
I must pause for a moment and tell you about Dan Coody. He and Deborah have been to Cloudland a number of times and are first rate folks. He is running for mayor of Fayetteville, and in my opinion, is the only real choice to bring our once-great town out of the muck of the current administration and back into the future. As I have noted here before, there is no leadership in Fayetteville right now, and in fact the folks running it are pretty much destroying the quality of life there. It is so sad to see what they have done to it. But I really do think that Dan will be able to pull things together and get Fayetteville back on the right track. And he will do it in a way that protects that rare quality of life, yet still allows for the tremendous growth that continues to happen in northwest Arkansas. I have always said that we can have controlled growth and maintain the quality of life (which is one of the main reason folks come to and live in northwest Arkansas in the first place). But the current mayor and city council have done nothing to help things along, and have only lined their own pockets with gold and sent Fayetteville into the toilet. I am not a political animal of any sort, and in fact can't even vote for Dan (since I no longer live there). But I have gotten to know him this past year, and have seen how he cares for the earth, and the folks who live here, and know that he will make a great leader for Fayetteville. He knows what quality of life means to the community. You can tell a lot about a person by the way he walks in the woods, how he looks at the plants and animals - you can see the wisdom in this man's eyes. If you live in Fayetteville, know that Dan Coody is the one who should be running things, and is worthy of your support (http://www.DanCoody.com). And he will be wearing a Cloudland t-shirt part of the time!
OK, back to the woods. We all made it across the creek, and on around to the big unnamed waterfall where the weird rocks are. We decided that the fact that the rocks remain untouched is a sign of the character of the folks who visit wilderness. They are a sort of "redneck barometer" - none have visited or they would have been destroyed. Pretty darn nice waterfall there too.
We climbed up through the bluffline and made our way back towards the main waterfall area. The going along the primitive trail was pretty tough though - there were huckleberry bushes loaded with ripe fruit lining the trail, and we were forced to stop often and graze.
The only way that we could find to cross the river a second time was to scoot along behind the big waterfall. Then we took a group picture, and headed up the steep hillside. It was a fine little hike to some of the most scenic waterfalls in the state, which were at their peak!
While we lingered out on the back deck watching all the bird life, Dan spotted a very strange critter feeding on some wildflowers below. It was a hummingbird moth he said, which sent me running for the ID book. I carefully studied the object through the telescope - it looked EXACTLY like a hummingbird, but with a pair of antennae sticking up over its head. The picture in the book matched exactly. Dan had noted the sighting casually, but it will go down next to the Goodyear Blimp as one of the most unusual sights ever at Cloudland. Perhaps they are common, but I had never seen one before.
After a bit of lunch, everyone drifted back to their real lives. The well had been drained the night before, so no water at all at the cabin (it takes a day or longer for the well to recharge). Lola, Aspen and I were forced to take a long afternoon nap, then watched most of Lonesome Dove on TV. It had been a full weekend, and we felt like being lazy.
6/19/00 No sunrise again this morning, but lots of heavy clouds hanging around just above treetop. Lola had to get to work in Little Rock, so she sped away just after daylight. Aspen and I returned to the office. As I am sitting here writing this, a heavy fog has creeped into the lush summer forest.
Since we ran out of water early in the party process (someone forgot to check the toilet flap, and it drained the well), most of the dishes did not get washed. This is typical, and I do plan to take care of the situation later this year. But the dishes from this party seemed to sit around longer than usual, partly because the water did not get back to normal until today. When the water finally came on a bit, I attacked a small pile of the dishes, but there were so many of them that I barely made a dent. A couple of my guests did try to scrub them a bit, but I was told by one of them to be sure to wash them all again. Just one of the problems with living in a log cabin out in the middle of the wilderness.
6/21/00 It looked like a million flashbulbs all went off at the same time. A sky filled with lightening at 2am, quickly followed by heavy rain. Aspen was afraid of it all, and leaped from his bed on the floor up next to me. The wind was blowing pretty good, so I had to close the windows. By dawn another two inches of rain had fallen. Needless to say, the rivers were roaring below.
The rain continued all morning, then on and off into the afternoon. I had made a big decision, and spent most of the day learning how to use the new digital camera that I just bought. It will produce the black and white images for the new waterfall guidebook, due out next spring. Since we are having an unusual amount of water right now, it was time for me to get going on the book, at least the pictures part.
So the waterfalls were all at their peak, but I was stuck in the office waiting for an overnight shipment of some special disks for the new camera. Airborne Express. "It will be there by 5pm, guaranteed." Yea, right. I waited, and waited. With the disks that I had the camera could only take five pictures (these are very high resolution images - 3.3 megapixels each for those of you who follow such things). There were a couple of waterfalls that I really wanted and needed to get out and shoot with the high water, but I waited. And it gave me time to refine my technique with this new camera, and figure out just exactly which type of file/picture I would take with it, and how to use the dozens and dozens of controls. Lordy, this tiny little camera has more controls than my car!
When the clock struck five, I gave up and took off anyway. Five pictures would be better than none. Neil Compton's Double Falls is where I wanted to begin. I had been to it twice before, and while the water was running pretty good, I knew it would really look nice today. But the hour was late, and the heavy cloud cover made it pretty dark, so I decided to take a short cut route into this wilderness waterfall. A shortcut - you know, the farthest distance between two points.
To get to this waterfall, you normally park along an old log road, and bushwhack a mile or two across the top of a ridge, then drop down several steep benches until you come to the creek. Then you either go up or down stream to find the falls. There is no trail - not even a hint of one. Of course, the directions in the new guidebook will be a bit more specific than this, along with a map and GPS coordinates.
Anyway, I parked at the usual place, but instead of taking the direct route across the top of the hill, I went down another old log road which led around the side of the hill, think it would be easier walking than going through the heavy brush. It was a lot easier. And soon I came to this giant pond that I had been to before.
There were a couple of ducks resting out on a floating log in the middle of the pond. Aspen spotted them immediately and took off on a 100 yard sprint. This is the first time that he had ever swam any great distance. Of course, the ducks flew off at the first sight of us, but that didn't matter to Aspen. He not only swam out to the floating log, but made a couple of laps around it just to be sure no ducks were hiding anywhere.
Meanwhile, I had continued on my hike, dropping below the pond into the deep woods. And I do mean DEEP woods! After 20 minutes of sliding on down the muddy slopes, I realized that this would not be the easy shortcut that I had planned on. In fact, after a few more minutes, it became clear that the hillside was not doing what I had thought it did. Hum, not very good. I don't like to carry a compass, and GPS units are about as worthless, but I do like to look at a map every now and then, especially when you can't see out because of all the leaves. But I didn't bother with any map today, or I would have discovered my mistake.
I wasn't really lost, because I could always turn around and go back to the truck the same way that I had come, or drop on down and follow the creek downstream to the main creek, or even simply bushwhack uphill until I came to the old log road. But all of those options would take more time, and I needed to get to the waterfall. I wasn't really lost, but I sure didn't know exactly where I was either. I did know that if I continued along the same bench that I had been following, I should eventually find out where I was. Good thing no one else was with me, or they would have been rolling in the leaves with laughter.
Sure enough, after another 15 minutes of hiking, I heard the giant deep bass roar of the double falls. Thank goodness - I sure didn't want to hike all the way back. My shortcut turned out to be perhaps twice as long as the normal way in.
This waterfall is located in the upper reaches of Whitaker Creek. I had dropped down to the main creek a time or two to try to get my bearings, and every time that I did I found another great waterfall or two - they were everywhere! And the creek itself was nothing but whitewater. But I wanted to photograph the main waterfall, and so that is where I stopped.
Man, it was REALLY ROARING!!! I was very careful to attempt a crossing of the creek well above the waterfall so that if I fell in I would have enough space to get out before being swept over the edge. No way to keep my feet dry, so I just waded on in and across the raging torrent.
The last time that I photographed this waterfall is when I went over the side and nearly died. I returned to the same spot, and carefully tied myself up once again, but this time did not allow any slack in the rope. Man, this falls was really going.
I set up the digital camera and composed a picture. Within a minute I had taken all five pictures. Wow, that was quick. But I still had a little memory left on one of the disks, so I decided to shoot a movie. You can shoot up to a minute or more of color movies with sound on the same disk with this little camera. I was a bit surprised at how nice the little movie was when I played it back - you could really hear the roar of the falls! An unexpected extra for sure. And then just to be sure, I set up and shot a few pictures with my big camera. OK, first shot for the new book completed, now it was time to hike out.
It had taken me nearly 45 minutes to hike in, but I made it up the steep slope and across the top of the hill in about twenty on the way out. Then I hit the old road and followed it back to the truck. Some shortcut.
I was all set to add my little movie to the web page, but then I realized there was no way to rotate the movie, and since I had shot it as a vertical, it would look pretty funny with the waterfall on its side. I will work on that and see if I can figure out a way to rotate the image like I do with still images.
After a quick pasta dinner and a shower, I slipped into the hot tub under a sky filled with stars - first time they had been out in a number of days. A shooting star streaked across the sky as if to say they stars were still there, just waiting for me to sit and gaze up at them.
6/22/00 OK, waterfall #2 was in my sights this morning. Since the stars were out, I knew that I would only have a few minutes of pre-dawn light to shoot (before the harsh sunlight ruined the scene), so I got an early start. Up at 4am, sipping Mocha as I drove off into the foggy morning. It took me an hour and a half to reach the trailhead, a location next to the Ozark Natural Science Center near Eureka Springs. I had hiked into this neat waterfall last April, but found it dry - and that was after an inch or two of rain! It had to be running today.
Aspen had to stay behind, so I bushwhacked through the twilight on my own. The brush was thick, and wet. I knew the way, and ducked my head and kept my feet moving, although I think I was still half asleep.
A whip-poor-will that flew up right in front of me startled me back awake. I looked around for a moment but could not locate a nest. No trail to this waterfall either - just thick brush, and lots of it.
When I reached the main creek, I found it running fast and clear. Once again my boots got soaked with the first step, but since it was warm, I really didn't mind too much.
There is a long flat that runs alongside the creek through this area, with a horse trail on one side of it. But I had to wade through waist-high weeds to get over to the trail. About half way through the weeds I realized that those were not ordinary weeds, but stinging nettle - yikes! This is a sly little weed. You see it has tiny spikes that get into your skin and itch like crazy when you brush against the plant, only it doesn't start to itch right away, but rather waits until you are out of identification range of the plant before it gets to you. But this patch was so wide, that I was still wading through it when the terror stuck. Good thing that I had long pants on or I would have gone crazy with the itching, but many of the spears made it through anyway.
Finally, good trail. And before long, I could hear the roar of the waterfall, one of the most interesting waterfall in all of Arkansas, and one that I had never seen running before. It is unusual because not only had the creek drilled a hole through the top of a bluff, but it has also drilled an escape hole through the SIDE of the bluff, where it exits, as opposed to simply dropping down through the bluff like the Glory Hole does.
Wow, what a sight! It is called Tea Kettle Falls, and is The Madison County Wildlife Management, and is owned and operated by the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission. I still only had five pictures. After looking around for a few minutes, I set up at the only spot that I could find hat showed off the waterfall well. Shooting with this digital camera is sort of anti-climatic. I guess because it is over so fast. With my normal camera, I might have spent an hour shooting every angle. The one good thing about this digital camera is that I get to take a look at the picture after I have shot it, just to make sure that it turned out OK. And if something is wrong, I simply erase it and take another one.
The hike out was a tough one, mostly because I got myself caught in the middle of a small bluffline without any hand holds, and nothing but mud and moss all over. And while I was struggling to find a way up, I slammed my head into the rock. I could just see me knocking myself out, and then tumbling over the edge of the bluff. Hey, if you ever find me dead at the bottom of a bluff, be sure to check to see if I did something stupid like that.
I do worry a bit about falling off of a bluff, or something else happening out in the middle of the woods that would take my life (or worse yet, being badly wounded and having to lay there and suffer for days!). Knowing that the last picture that I took might be worth something to someone, or the one that I might be remembered for, I try to make every picture a good one - especially the last one on the roll before I hike out of someplace. So if you ever find me dead in the woods, be sure to look at that last picture!
The brush is soooooo thick out there right now, sometimes it is tough to see where you are going. I had taken a different route back to the truck than how I hiked in in the dark this morning, a route that I had not been along before. Once again I found myself wondering just where in the heck I was, but pressed on in the direction that "felt" right. A few minutes later that same whip-poor-will startled me once again, and I knew that I was on the right track (still couldn't find her nest). Aspen was glad to see me, and I him.
Once again I am sitting here waiting on a shipment from Airborne Express. UPS has been here today, so has Fed-X. And actually Airborne was here too, but with the wrong package!
As I look outside the window I see that clouds are gathering. There is plenty of water to shoot great waterfall pictures, but the sun has been out and so no good shooting (once I get back to the computer and unload the five pictures, and can go out and shoot five more). But now the clouds are here, I think I will go find another waterfall!
One of the problems with doing this waterfall guidebook is there will be so many waterfalls in it that are not named. They have to be called something, so I guess it will be up to me to name them. The tallest waterfall that I know of on Whitaker Creek is where I headed to this afternoon. Since it does not have a name, and is the tallest one, I am going to name it Whitaker Falls for now.
We dropped on down the steep hillside and followed the creek. It was flowing pretty good, and making a lot of noise. The directions in the guidebook will tell you to follow the creek until you come to a nice waterfall, then turn right and follow the bluffline to the really big falls. When I arrived at the smaller falls, I realized that it too was a nice one, and worthy of inclusion in the book, so I set up and took a few pictures. I'll call it Lower Fork Falls, because that is what the creek is named on the topo map.
Typical of the waterfalls in this area, there were many ferns growing at the base of this one. It was a lush, wonderful paradise. The entire time I was set up shooting, I detected a hint of snake in the air. They have this particular odor to them, quite unlike anything else in the forest. Hum. Snake odor. I had better be careful. It was copperhead country.
With my picture taken and no snake bites, I made my way along the bluffline to the tall falls, which was also cooking pretty good. The sun was going in and out - I can't shoot with the sun shining - but my timing was great today, and just as I approached this tall waterfall, the sun went behind a large cloud. I scurried to find the right spot for a picture, and get my equipment set up (a lot easier to do with the digital camera).
I have never measured this waterfall before, but will do so before the book comes out. That will be part of the fun of it all - getting to see exactly how tall these waterfalls are. I am going to use a 100' measuring tape for all but Hemmed-In Hollow and a couple of other falls. I want an accurate measurement for them all.
This waterfall is tall and skinny, and very impressive. I got my pictures, then the sun came out, so it was on to the next waterfall.
As I passed behind the first waterfall that I had shot, and up the other side, I found traces of an old road or trail - piles of rocks all lined up along the lower side. It was too narrow to be a road, but very wide for a trail. I wondered if this was the horse trail that Andy Friend had told me about that goes all the way down to the mouth of Whitaker Creek? He plans to come back this winter and we are going to walk the entire thing out, so I will find out then.
I made my way along the top of the bluffline, past scores of huckleberry plants with lots of ripe fruit on them - had to stop and graze a time or two. Then I came to a third waterfall for the afternoon. This one is actually three waterfalls - one after the other splashing down the hillside.
The first falls is not too tall, but it does spill over a nice overhang where Native American artifacts have been found. I could just imaging them living and working there next to the pleasant music of the falls. I set up and shot a couple of pictures of the water, backlit by sunshine that was now filling the wilderness.
The second falls is just downstream a few feet, and is about the same size as the first, although no big overhang. Then the creek throws itself off of a tall bluff. This is the most impressive of the three falls, but there is not a good place to photograph it. I will use a picture of the upper falls in the guidebook. And with no other name that I can think of at the moment, I will call these falls Hawksbill Falls, since they are located along the trail to Hawksbill Crag.
While on the way out I made plans to make one more waterfall hike this evening. But I was out of space on my disks, so I had to return to the office to download the images first. When I got there I found out that the first set of color proofs from the new spring picture book had arrived in Fayetteville - all plans for another hike were dropped, and after a quick shower, I sped off to town.
After you spend many months and even years working on a book project, and a great deal of money, there is always an uncertainty as to what the book will actually look like. Will the prints on the page look like the original picture? You never really know. So I held my breath and walked into my print broker's office.
EUREKA, the images look very good! A big sigh of relief from me. That was the first overall look at the proofs. I would be spending a lot of time the next few days going over everything with a fine tooth comb and seeing what needed to be tweaked. But the first look was good, very good. In the past, we have had to redo as many as 75% of the images because they did not get them right the first time. They have been getting better, but you never get everything right the first time. And all four posters looked great! In fact, they all were perfect, and didn't need any fixing at all.
It was very late when I returned to the cabin. But there was a sky full of stars to greet me as I eased down into the hot water. And it was mostly quiet out - not really any summer bugs out yelling yet. I guess they have been kept inside by all the rain.
6/23/00 Sunshine at daylight today. No waterfall pictures for sure. I spent the morning working in the office, and going over the book proofs. I discovered that while doing an over all fix to the book text, I had accidently changed a number of words, and they would all have to be fixed. What happened was that I did an automatic placement of "ligatures" in the text, but forgot to make them case sensitive. A ligature is when you replace the "fl" or "fi" in words with a single character. When the computer came across "FI" in a number of places (in CAPS), it replaced them with the "fi" in small letters, and I failed to double-check everything.
In the afternoon I drove over to the Ozark Natural Science Center to have the experts there do a final look at the text and images, just to make sure I had everything OK. Lori Spencer, the butterfly expert, was on hand to help out. She only found one mistake - I had not capitalized Echinacea in two places. I doubt that I will ever write and publish a perfect book, completely free of errors, but I want to get as close as I can.
There were puffy clouds and lots of blue sky overhead, but since I was in the neighborhood, I wanted to go find a new waterfall that someone had told me about. It is a 40' falls tucked into a grotto just off of the Kings River - Eagle's Nest Falls, in the Madison County Wildlife Management Area.
It appeared that all of the little creeks flowing towards this spot were spring-fed, and the water in them was clear and cold. After a short search, and several stops to graze on huckleberries, I came to the little grotto. It was a very nice waterfall! The only problem was that in order to get a good view of it, I had to rope up, and there weren't any large trees handy. So I put the rope around several smaller ones, and hoped that they would hold if I slid over the edge. I was concerned about Aspen too, since there was no flat edge for him to run along. I made him lay down in a bed of damp leaves, and he stayed put.
And luck was once again on my side, and a nice big cloud drifted in front of the sun and gave me about five minutes of soft light for my picture. This one will probably end up in the waterfall book, although I will need to put a large CAUTION sign on that page since it is a bit dangerous along the edge. That is a common thread of many of the waterfalls - the best and often only view is from a dangerous spot. The waterfalls will be categorized as to their danger level and difficulty of getting to.
Like the day before, I detected a hint of snake odor in the air. I had to work fast to get the picture before the cloud moved on, so I didn't get to look around much. But that odor does put your senses on high alert. Hum, where was this guy?
OK, got my picture. The sun came out again, and so I packed up and headed back to the truck. But before I went too far, I wanted to look around a little and see if I could find that darn snake. After looking for nearly five minutes, I found him - within ten feet of where I had been standing taking the picture! It was a small timber rattlesnake, coiled up tight and minding his own business. He was right next to a rotting log, in the shade. I didn't want to push my luck, so I slowly backed off and left the area. The following picture is not of this snake, but of another one that I found one day while building hiking trail.
6/24/00 They were calling for a 20% chance of rain today, but it sure felt like rain when I got up at daylight and slipped into the hot tub. As I drove on towards Lake Leatherwood in Eureka Springs, it began to pour. The radio said we now had a 70% chance of rain - why do they even bother trying to predict the weather!!!
It was still raining when I reached Lake Leatherwood, where I was to lead a hike along the trail around the lake there. I wasn't surprised to find a good group of folks at the trailhead, patiently standing in the rain. We had twenty in all, and no one even thought about not going on the hike (well, at least not out loud). Just as we got started, the rain quit, and we had a delightful hike.
This group was almost too large for this dayhike, mostly because the trail was so narrow, and when I wanted to stop and talk about something, it was tough to get everyone gathered around. We found a number of wildflowers, including several that I had not seen before. About half way through the hike, the sky opened up once again and the wet stuff came down. I don't think anyone cared.
When it is wet outside, the colors are richer, the smells are more fragrant, and you just feel better. At least I do. Walking in a summer rain shower is one of the best things that you can do.
Aspen didn't like it much though - I made him stay on the leash, so he couldn't run wild as I know he wanted to. Too many people, and too much mud.
The group got strung out once we crossed the dam and headed back towards the trailhead. Part of the trail is on a road there, but most of us stayed down along the lake. Not too many fishermen out on the lake, but there was a boat or two. Sometimes the fishing is really good during a rainstorm - I think the fish know that there might be some juicy bugs washed off of overhanging limbs and right down onto their dinner plates.
The rain quit by the time we finished the hike. And, what, blue sky? Yep, the clouds were beginning to break up. But I was glad we got to hike in the rain.
Most of the group went on about their business. We had folks from many places on the hike, including Little Rock; Conway; Bella Vista; Springfield, Missouri; Fayetteville; and of course Cloudland. It was great to get such a diverse group together enjoying the trail.
After a quick stop at the McDonalds drive-thru in Eureka, I headed for the Shaddox Hollow trailhead at Beaver Lake State Park, where the second hike would be. The clouds were all swept away, and we had blue skies and sunshine for this hike. The group was smaller, but we had a grand time just the same. In fact, we were forced to graze a couple of times on bushes that were simply covered with ripe huckleberries. They make a nice snack.
Another great hike, and all too soon it was time to go home. The sunshine remained, so I couldn't use the excuse of seeking out another waterfall to take pictures of.
6/25/00 After another trip into town to get the new picture book proofs finalized, I returned to Cloudland and got to work on the star-gazing deck, which I had only worked a few minutes on since last weekend. While working on getting the decking installed, I realized that the boards they had sent out were of a very poor quality. It was obvious that since I was just an individual and not a construction company, they sent me leftovers and not first quality stuff. And I probably paid more for it too. I don't like people who do business that way, and I may not order from this place again (Pine Creeks Lumber in Clifty). Since the boards were too long for me to haul back to the lumber yard and exchange, I would just have to make do. Some of the boards were OK.
I spent the next couple of hours with the screw gun in hand, bent over double, working away. Every now and then I would stand up and take a break to look around. As the evening drew on, the western sky grew quite colorful. In fact, just before the sun went down, it was downright spectacular! And there was a cool breeze blowing across the meadow. Yes sir, this is going to be one fine place to sit back and sip on a gin and tonic while watching the summer sunset. Still no summer bugs out screaming at twilight.
As I made my way down to the cabin in the dark and then out into the hot tub, a sky full of bright stars came out to greet me. And for the first time in a while, the Milky Way was visible. The firefly population must have decided not to be out done by the stars, because there were a million of them out as well, kind of a reflection of the twinkling stars above.
6/26/00 I slept in a bit today. No real deadlines to meet. Just a lazy summer day in the wilderness. I spent most of the morning catching up on my writing, and e-mail, and cleaning up the office a bit. Then about noon an impromptu gathering for 28 folks happened on my back deck. They were a group of gifted students from all over the state, our wandering around visiting the six different natural divisions in Arkansas. They had just been up to the McNamara's place, and were on their way to Hawksbill Crag, and stopped off at Cloudland for a visit. A very nice group of young people.
Once they left I decided to make my back to the cabin via the East meadow. The summer woods are really lush right now, especially with all the rain. And lots of red and orange and brown mushrooms on the forest floor. Or should I say the fruit of a mushroom - what we see on the surface is only the fruit, and the plant is actually underground. At least that is what I have been told. While I love to look at and photograph mushrooms, I can't stand to eat them.
Just as we entered the meadow, I spotted a deer at the far end. What a wonderful, lustrous coat she was wearing. They are brown during the summer, and mostly grey the rest of the year. Even though the wheat was five feet tall, I decided to wander on through the meadow a bit. There were plenty of butterflies to keep Aspen happy, and he bounded off one direction, then the next, springing up as high as he could. That dog sure does enjoy himself!
And then all of a sudden I almost stepped right on him. A very young fawn appeared right at my feet. Spots and all. Our eyes met, and a thrill and a chill came over me instantly. I was probably the very first human he had ever seen. The poor thing was scared to death, and didn't really know what to do. I backed off slowly, and he stayed put. Where was Aspen? I sure didn't want him around. Then I saw him out of the corner of my eye, chasing a butterfly in the opposite direction. I backed off some more, then turned and walked away. A couple minutes later I saw the fawn jump up and run off into the woods in the direction where his mom had gone. I suspect this deer will repeat that action many times throughout his life. I wondered if I would ever see him in all his glory, in the fall, with a tremendous set of antlers? I felt blessed to have seen him at all.
While I did have my camera with me, I elected not to take the chance of disrupting the fawn any further, so I didn't take a picture. But here is one that I took a few years ago, when I was about as close as I was today.
It remained cloudy most of the day, with a bit of sunshine here and there, and cool. I spent the last hour of the day working on the star-gazing deck. It's not hard work putting all of the deck boards on, but there sure are a LOT of them! I usually spend as much time working as one screw gun battery lasts. Each 24' row of deck boards takes 36 screws, 3" long. How did we ever get along before the screw guns? I guess we used nails, which were a lot easier and quicker to put in, but didn't work nearly as well.
The sky was spectacular again this evening, and I spent at least half of my screwing time looking toward the north and west. There was a line of dark clouds, with several bands of multi-colored light coming from behind. Then the red ball of a sun dropped below the cloud bank. The tall grass in the meadow - now turning golden - was all lit up by the fading sun. Aspen was out there chasing butterflies. Birds were playing in the wind and singing. It was a magical scene. I like this meadow.
6/27/00 Grey skies this morning at first light. It was cool, very cool, and felt a bit like fall. I had the cabin windows open all night since the outside temp was lower than the inside temp. Window management is important this time of the year. So far, the inside temp has remained at 75 degrees or below. I don't like it much above that. All I have to do is keep the windows closed off all day and the temp will remain cool inside. But I like to circulate as much fresh air as I can, so will open everything up when the outside temp gets below the inside temp.
The wildflowers in the meadow at the cabin are coming along nicely. A number of the wild sunflowers are beginning to open up. Once they all join in, there will be a sea of bright yellow below. There are still lots of purple and red and other yellow wildflowers down there as well.
I am on the computer this morning, researching B&B's in Colorado on the internet. We had a week-long raft trip in southern Utah planned for next week, but the water levels out there are too low and the trip got cancelled. So we are going to spend a week in the mountains instead. Normally I would simply car camp or backpack the entire week, but I am getting old and lazy and soft, and rather enjoy the luxury of B&B's these days. After the long drive out, we will camp a couple of days in the high country, then move into a nice B&B in Ouray and spend the rest of the week based out of there. Lots to see and do in SW Colorado.
But right now I am getting hungry, so I think I'll wonder on through the woods here and see what I can find in Bob's garden to cook up for brunch. I hope none of those spotted fawns get in the way...
As I made my way through the thick forest, I came upon a clump of wild sunflowers that were all in bloom. They added a brilliant dash of yellow to the dark green of the forest. I wasn't sure why they had chosen that particular spot to live, but I was glad they did.
Then I came across the following flower: anyone know what it is?
Sorry, but it was a trick picture. A squash from Bob's garden! I had one for dinner, along with a hand full of string beans and an onion, all fresh from the garden. And as you can see, the corn is about to take over. It will be a while before the corn is ready to eat - that will bring the bears out for sure. I will have to make an attempt to beat them to it.
On my way back to the cabin, I found two sets of deer prints in the trail. Right next to a normal track was a TINY deer track - it looked so funny, especially when compared to the normal-sized one made by his mom.
Later, as I went up into Aspen's meadow to see what the afternoon sky was doing, Aspen began to bark and throw a fit at something on the ground. He had found one of the most beautiful critters in the wilderness - a speckled king snake. This is my favorite snake for sure, and it is a very beneficial one too. I tried to make Aspen understand that while many snakes were good, it was not a great idea to play with any of them, since he just might get a pair of rattlesnake or copperhead fangs in his nose one day.
6/28/00 It was very foggy when I returned from a quick trip to town, and it had rained about an inch and a half. I loaded up my digital camera gear and sped off towards Eden Falls at Lost Valley. While on my way to the falls on the trail there, I came across one of my former photo students Tom Ewart. He was a pretty darn good photographer when he came to my class, but now is a first rate pro (no real thanks to me). We wandered on along the creek, stopping to take a picture here and there.
Eden Falls was running nicely, so I set up the digital camera and shot a picture for the waterfall guidebook. I'm afraid that I am getting used to the lightness of this camera - the camera and tripod weigh less than a single lens of my normal camera system - I'm hooked, and spoiled. I wish that I would have taken the real outfit with me on this trip though, because the falls were so nice.
On the drive back to the cabin I made mental plans to spend much of the next day in the woods, chasing waterfalls with the digital camera. Some people chase ambulances - I chase waterfalls. I guess one of these days I should do a waterfall picture book, but I'm not sure if I could make it interesting enough - page after page of gorgeous waterfalls might not hold up. I'll keep it in the back of my mind.
But the waterfall guidebook was first on the agenda, and I recycled all of the camera disks and got batteries and everything all set up for the anticipated day of great shooting ahead. The rivers and waterfalls were running pretty good, and would most likely stay that way for at least the next day.
It remained foggy at the cabin, and no stars showed up.
6/29/00 It was five something when I opened my eyes to a horrible sight - blue sky!!! I wanted, and more importantly NEEDED cloudy skies all day. But it was not to be. The pre-dawn light provided a nice show though, as it lit up the fog and low clouds - pink and orange against the blue sky.
But I thought that I would try to get at least one waterfall picture before the sun got up, so I jumped into the truck and sped away, stopping at the Woods Cabin. We hurried on down the steep hillside towards Robert's Falls (I've never taken a picture of it for the guidebook, nor any of them in Dug Hollow). As I was making my way down the bluff stairway, the buckle that was holding my camera fanny pack on broke, sending the camera bag tumbling down the bluff. Oh no, not another smashed camera! Luckily, the camera itself is so light weight, and I had it packed in a padded case inside the camera bag, that no damage occurred at all. Big sigh of relief.
The falls were running great, but I knew my time was short. I snapped a couple of images, then decided to put a little scale in the picture (me). I pushed the self-timer button and ran off towards the base of the falls. I was in such a hurry, and probably still half asleep, that I stumbled and fell towards the jagged rocks below. I have this habit of sometimes hitting every part of my body on the ground without ever actually landing. And that is what I did today. While it was not a total disaster, I did tear my hand up pretty good on one sharp rock. But I got the picture!
Then I looked up and saw sunshine peeping through the fog overhead. Oops, I had to get after it if I was going to photograph the rest of the waterfalls in the hollow, so I packed up and trotted off. Well, you can't really go very fast across the rocky terrain through the thick brush there, but I did the best that I could.
I made it on over to the waterfall were the weird rocks are, but had trouble finding a good view of the falls (I need to name this waterfall). I ended up shooting it from back under he overhang there, once again putting myself in the picture for scale. This time I was able to use the little remote control to fire the camera (I had been too far away at Robert's Falls to do that, and had to use the self-timer instead).
OK, two down and one more to go, but I could see blue sky ahead, so I hurried on. As I climbed up and made my way across the top of the bluffline towards the final waterfall, I was distracted by the sea of huckleberry bushes lining the trail and full of ripe fruit. I only stopped once to graze.
I reached the falls and shot a couple of pictures just in time. As I got the last shot finished the sun broke through the fog and ruined the scene. Whew, that was close! The Dug Hollow waterfall area was really nice this morning, perhaps the best that I had ever seen it - high water, but not muddy water.
Back to the cabin to clean up and dry off. I had gotten soaked bushwhacking through the thick brush because it was all still wet from the rains of yesterday, and from the fog clinging to it this morning.
On my way up to the office from the cabin I found this incredible scene of the sun breaking through the