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I had never really done much mowing before, other than doing the orchard a month or two ago, but that was an easy one. Aspen's meadow would be more of a challenge because it slopes a great deal, and parts of the powerline right-of-way is very steep and rocky, and covered with a thick forest of ragweed.
The mowing went very well, and the tractor and brushhog worked like a charm. The biggest problem that I had was having to cover up my mouth and nose from the thick cloud of pollen from the ragweed. Much of the ragweed plots were well over my head, even when I was sitting up on top of the tractor! And while my current condition is certainly the result of being allergic to something, I really don't think it has anything to do with ragweed - even though I was totally engulfed in this stuff for many hours today, I never even coughed a single time, nor did I have any other reactions.
Aspen's meadow seemed to go on forever, but the brush was much lower and easier to mow. And it was a lot more colorful. The goldenrod was just peaking, filling the meadow with brilliant yellow flashes. Lots of tiny sumac plants too, which were deep red when I was traveling with the sun to my back, and ON FIRE when I was heading into the sun and the plants were backlit.
Since there really isn't too much to do when you are up there on the tractor mowing, you do get a lot of time to think. I have always been around tractors, but never really been UP on one much. And I got to thinking about my early childhood days and how they were connected to tractors. And I realized, that for the very first time, I was actually completing a circle that had begun so very long ago.
We used to spend every August on my uncle Jim's farm in southern Minnesota. My mom's brother Jim Zimmerman and his brothers had one of the largest sweet corn farms in the state (just outside of Waseca). There were always tractors around, and seemed like everyone was up on a tractor from daylight till dusk, and sometime all night if we were there late and the sweet corn was ready to pick. I always loved those tractors.
One of the greatest conservationists I ever knew (still know) was (is) my uncle Jim. He was a farmer, but had this incredible connection with the land that few people ever make. He was (is) also a big hunter and fisherman too, and an outdoorsman in general. Anyway, I learned a great deal from this man in those early years, and much of that has stuck with me to this day. And now here I was, at last, up on a tractor, just like my uncle Jim. I felt an immense amount of pride in being related to such a person.
While I was thinking back on all of this, the sun was setting, and Aspen's meadow was transformed into one of the most beautiful spots on earth. And right in the middle of it all, an even more incredible sight appeared - the GIANT harvest moon topped the eastern horizon. WOW! It actually won't be full until tomorrow, but it was large enough to bring tears to my eyes, and to make me realize how lucky I am to be living in such an incredible place.
And speaking of me being lucky, here is another note from my lovely bride:
This evening as Amber and I drove home from town we were entering Boxley valley when we saw a stream of cars pulled over to the side of the road. The ELK were out. We pulled over to join the growing crowd as the sun set and the action became fierce. Two bull elk were competing for the affections of a herd of cows. The racks were immense and the clash of muscle to muscle, horn to horn echoed through the valley. The sheer power of it all. As the battle of the kings continued two smaller males were trying to romance the females without confrontation and without much success. The larger bulls seemed equally matched in their strength but one finally turned and high-tailed it out of there. The winner turned his attention to his prize and let out a cry like one I have never heard before. The two smaller males ran for their lives. As we were standing there taking all of this in, an older gentleman came over and offered his binoculars to us. I gratefully took them and adjusted them for Amber to view the ongoing saga. I lowered them to her small face, placed them to her eyes and then heard the most wonderful noise a mother can hear. “OH, WOW!” She sighed. Her breath taken away by the beauty of these creatures. The sheer joy and excitement of a small child experiencing some form of mother nature for the first time, what a TREAT and an HONOR for me to be able to show her these things.
10/2/01 It was a very strange sight - all of the Whitaker Creek drainage was glowing white, yet the Buffalo River valley was dark. There was a good bit of fog/clouds settled down on Whitaker Creek, and the setting moon over there in the west lit up the white mist. The moon will be officially full at 9:49am this morning.
Somewhere out there in the moonlight there was an owl with a problem. Or perhaps he was simply overjoyed with the full moon. He was talking a lot, but not in normal patterns. And no one was talking back. Aspen stood on the deck next to me and turned his head back and forth with this puzzled look on his face.
10/3/01 Shots rang out at 5:12am this morning. Someone was just down below the cabin firing a semi-auto weapon. Boom. Boom. Boom-boom-boom-boom-boom. I jumped out of bed and ran out into the night (well, actually I slinked). The full moon was still up, and it was rather bright out. The air was filled with a very strong odor of skunk. The dogs went nuts. Now I don't normally pack a gun with me - and I think they should absolutely be left at home when someone goes on a hike - but they do have their place, and one place is for self protection. We have a number of guns here at Cloudland, and everyone knows how to use them (Amber is just learning, but is getting better). I will not hesitate to use one if necessary to protect my family OR property from man or beast.
After a few anxious moments and looking around, I cleared the area and had a chance to sit down and try to figure out what had happened. Here is what we think went on. There was some wako hiker dude that parked at the trailhead and was out hiking in the dark. There was a NOLS sticker on his vehicle (National Outdoor Leadership School). I know many NOLS folks, and most of them are fine people, but sometimes they tend to get a little closer to the mental edge then others, especially when it comes to wilderness things. Anyway, I think this nut was hiking in the moonlight, and came across a skunk. Naturally he pulled out his semi-auto 9mm Glock and emptied it into the night. He never hit the poor skunk, but it must have scared the skunk so bad that the skunk cut loose with spray - the air stunk around outside the cabin for hours (let's hope the skunk hit his mark). This all happened on our private trail just a hundred yards below the cabin. I'm sorry, but sane people don't pack guns and shoot at skunks in the middle of the night in someone's back yard. Our dogs chased this idiot down over the bluff via the ladder, and he continued on his hike into the wilderness. He is still down there now as I am typing this, and we have heard a couple of other gunshots since - must be some vicious squirrels making faces at him. I will say that I feel pretty good about the security here at Cloudland - when we are here and when we are away.
On the other side of the coin, it was a spectacular morning here, with the full moon big and bright against the deep blue sky of early morning. And the meadow flowers shone brightly. These flowers seem be encouraged by the terrific fall weather we are having and simply don't want to go away.
Amber thinks that Aspen is trying his best to please her. Amber's favorite color is purple. After each romp in the woods his fur coat has become more and more purple - she thinks he is trying to change his color just for her! And he is doing a pretty good job of it - polk berries make a fine purple color on fur when a dog rolls in them. Good dog.
A caravan of drilling equipment arrived in the middle of the afternoon and immediately went to work. While I actually do enjoy going down into Boxley Valley every week or two to get water from the spring, the heavy load is taking a toll on our truck, no doubt, so it is time that we got a reliable source of water. That means going DEEP, really deep.
The drilling rig set up in Aspen's meadow between the water storage tank and the Wildman's Lodge site (we do plan to get the tipis set back up again later this fall). The rig was pretty tall, and quickly began belching and coughing and making all sorts of racket. Then the first 20-foot section of pipe disappeared into the ground. And then the second, and the third, and forth. 100 feet deep within the first couple of hours. The first few hundred feet are easy to drill, then it gets a lot slower. Don't know how deep we will have to go, but are prepared to get down to the bottom of the valley (about 800 feet below the top of the ridge), and even lower if we have to. Having an ample water supply is essential.
The wind blew all day long, and kept the warming temps down right delightful. It was a terrific day to be in the woods. Amber picked a ripe persimmon and we cut open a seed to see if there was a spoon or knife inside - to determine how hard the winter is going to be. No news yet - we have to wait until after the first frost for the test to really work. I'm thinking it is going to be a "good" winter for me - which means a fair amount of snow, cold temps, and the opportunity to chop firewood every morning. Neither Pam nor Amber share my wish for cold temps, but Amber is looking forward to lots of snow ice cream!
10/4/01 Much quieter this morning at 5am than it was yesterday. The moon still high in the sky, the wind dying down during the night. Funny how the summer bugs are still out there though - cicadas and crickets. A cold snap is on the way, and will probably drive them back into the ground.
After Amber got off to school, Pam and I ventured down into Boxley Valley to fill up the water tank. The temp was about 15 degrees cooler down there - in the low 40's, with a bit of fog hanging in the valley. It was quiet, and still, and just a wonderful time of day in a beautiful spot. We wondered on out into a nearby field and watched the first rays of sunshine light up the opposite hillside. The nearly-full moon was still up, and was growing pink in a sea of blue sky.
It is late at night now, and there is a powerful wind blowing. The big cold front has not arrived yet, but it is certainly on the way! And that wind is coming from the East, which is a sure sign something is about to happen.
I was watching the weather channel a few minutes ago to see when the storm was going to hit, and listened intently as they gave the fall color report. I was quite surprised to learn that the Ponderosa Pine in Colorado were at their peak color right now (actually the lady said "Pan"derosa Pine). Now COME ON FOLKS - this is a NATIONAL network, and their writers have not even graduated from kindergarten!!! Hum, I wonder if the same people are making up those super-accurate weather forecasts?
We had eight inches of rain in September (WAY above normal), and it would be nice to continue with that trend. I for one am looking forward to a bit of the wet stuff tonight, or tomorrow, or whenever.
10/5/01 The cold front did not arrive during the night, but the wind continued to howl. And a very warm wind at that - it was still 64 degrees at first light. But at least a few clouds had blown in. By daylight we began to get just a little bit of rain. It is noon now, and we have had some light rain, but nothing much. I must tell you though, the moisture and some fog have combined to produce conditions out in the forest that are simply GORGEOUS!!!
Today is one of the most beautiful days we have ever had here. I mean there is COLOR everywhere you look. Deep, saturated, rich color. The poison ivy and Virginia creeper plants are vivid yellows, reds, and oranges - a kaleidoscope of color that carpets the forest floor as far as you can see. The black gums are just incredible - not only the deep reds that they are famous for, but also very bright reds, and oranges too. Most of the smaller black gums are 100% color right now, and so are many of the larger, mature gums. Dogwoods too are blood red. A number of maples have turned brilliant orange overnight. And hickories and elms are turning yellow, pure yellow. The moisture in the air continues to create the saturated colors - many folks don't like to be out in "weather," but I'm here to tell ya you are missing out on the best color if you do.
The hillside across the way from the cabin is changing color minute by minute - almost as you look at it. Really quite amazing!
I just had to laugh when I got the following e-mail from our friend Glenn - here is his color report from the Harrison area:
"I was inspired by the Weather Channel's report you mentioned last night. I just wanted to let you know that up this way the cedars are ablaze with fall GREEN, the best year for them in a while. A few of the pines are starting to change to a beautiful GREEN and even some plants folks have planted are starting to show off. Just yesterday I noticed a holly that was an absolutely wonderful shade of fall GREEN. The transplanted blue spruces are still in the blue-green phase, but are expected to be at their peak BLUE-GREEN in about a week. Should be a great year for everGREEN colors!!"
Our new well is down to 505 feet, and they have hit a good bit of water - we've got a gallon a minute now, which if that holds up will be plenty for us. They have to let it sit awhile and then do some testing before we shut the drilling down and hook up the new well. Man, that will be nice! Just a note for those of you wanting to move out into the woods and need to find water - while the shallow "pounded" wells are fine for very small amounts of water, if you plan to live out here, you really should spring for a drilled well and go ahead and go deep enough to get good water. I have heard so many horror stories of late from people who have many shallow wells but none good enough to provide adequate water. It does cost more for a drilled well, but if you are going to have to have it done anyway, spending money on shallow wells is only a waste of money. Wish someone would have told me that five years ago.
And Aspen is in the dog house. He is being blamed for stealing my wallet and hiding it out in the woods somewhere. He does that with things, but mostly just water bottles and gloves (only the left glove). I guess we won't know if it was him for sure until we find the darn thing, but all the evidence is pointing his direction. I need to train him to nap OTHER people's wallets and not mine!
From Pam:
What a glorious day for a hike.
Lucy and I headed out into the forest. The wind was blowing, it was wet,
there was a foggy haze, and everywhere you looked there was so much color
that my eyes thought they were in a candy store. The cold front had not
moved in as of yet and it was just a light mist, so I took off my rain
jacket and let the color wash over me. What a magical forest.
Back at the lane I startled some deer, or maybe I should say they startled me. It was by the pawpaw patch, and I wondered if they enjoyed the fruit half as much as my husband had. I never saw them but they huffed and snorted to let me know they were there. Then I heard the sound of hooves as they left their private picnic. This picnic was obviously by invitation only and I was not invited.
On the other side of the loop trail I heard a huge crash and prepared myself for the sight of a bear. Lucy took off in a flash and stopped abruptly by a tree. I noticed the branches moving high above Lucy and then the next tree moved and all of a sudden directly above me was a squirrel looking down at me with laughter in its eyes. I knew what was coming before it even happened, but I didn’t have time to put my rain jacket on. And the little rascal picked the biggest branch with the biggest leaves with the most rain collected in those leaves....and he jumped. Even though I knew what was coming, I had not expected the raindrops to be nearly so cold as they drenched every bit of me. Lovely Mr. Squirrel, appreciate that.
It was not over though. I continued on my way but the squirrel and Lucy had other plans for me. It went like this. I walk ten steps, the squirrel hops to the tree directly above me, Lucy moves to that same tree to stare at the squirrel and to be rained upon as well, the squirrel jumps, we get soaked. I move ten steps, the squirrel moves...... you get the picture. I think Lucy actually loved it. She would stand under the tree with her tongue hanging out just waiting for the big drops of water. After awhile all I could do was stand there and laugh. I was cold and soaked to the bone. Laughter is good for the soul (and it will keep you warm when some squirrel makes you wet).
Black gum tree
Sumac and goldenrod
Sumac, with just a touch of fall fever!
10/6/01 It was a little chilly when I drove off at 5am this morning - 39 degrees. We got only two tenths of an inch of rain yesterday, but the forest enjoyed it for sure. The temp reached down to 33 degrees at a couple of points on my drive to the Woolum Access in the middle part of the Buffalo River. I was leading an overnight hike this weekend on the Ozark Highlands Trail, and this is where we were meeting everyone.
The river was pretty low, so we loaded up our 14 hikers and drove right on across the Buffalo and took the back roads over to our starting point - Richland Creek Campground. It was a perfect day to hike, with cool temps and bright blue skies and lots of fall color. We had folks from four states hiking, and this was the first of a series of monthly hikes that will cover the entire 165-mile trail. More than 30 hikers had called to sign up, but the cool temps and little bit of rain kept more than half at home - which was fine with me - I hate to hike with such a large group. We normally limit our overnight hikes to 10 people, although don't put a limit in these special end-to-end trips.
One of our hikers proved to be a perfect example of why you need a hiking trail GUIDEBOOK and not just a map. He was not ready to hike when it was time for our group to leave, so instead of making everyone wait for an hour, we all set off, and the guy was going to catch up with us at camp that night. He never showed up. I hiked back several miles to try to find him the next morning, but never did see him again. Turns out he missed a very simple turn in the trail - off of a log road. He had a map, but no guidebook. If he had read the description in the guidebook, he would have known to be on the lookout for this turn, which was clearly marked. While I do make a living writing and selling hiking trail guidebooks, the main reason why I ever wrote the first one, and why I continue to update them and write new ones, is so that people can enjoy their hike and NOT GET LOST! Maps are fine - I include many of them in every guidebook - but that descriptive text is so much better.
One thing that I always do before we strike off on a backpack trip is to weight everyone's pack. Most people carry way too much gear, and/or overestimate the weight of their pack. I was rather surprised when several of these packs weighted in at under 30 pounds, and many were in the mid-30 pound range. There were just a couple in the 40's, and none over that. This was a work trip for me, so I had a tape recorder and camera, and my pack tipped the scale at just under 20 pounds. Aspen had his pack too, filled with dog food.
This section of the trail from Richland Creek Campground to Woolum is one of my favorites. And it did not disappoint this weekend. While most of the forest remained green, there were still many trees blazing away against that blue sky. And there was a lot more water along the way than we had expected, including several streams that were actually flowing.
We stopped for the night at Lawyer Hollow, built a small fire (withOUT a fire ring - you DO NOT need a firering!!!), and had dinner finished by the time the coyotes came around to visit. Aspen and I found a secluded spot a few hundred yards away from the group and curled up next to a moss-covered boulder and were snug in bed by dark - 7pm. Since this section has so many bears, I was concerned that Aspen would be up most of the night chasing after them, but he only once left my side and ran out into the night. The temp remained warm, only getting down into the mid-40's
10/7/01 As daylight broke I was just finishing my hot chocolate and oatmeal, crawled out of the sleeping bag and headed down the trail, to go back and look for our missing hiker. Aspen seemed happy to be able to run around without his pack (me too). It was a delightful stroll through the early fall woods in the pre-dawn light.
It didn't take us long to make the next 12 miles and exit the forest at the Buffalo River at Woolum. A spectacular weekend with a fine bunch of folks.
Pam and Amber had been doing a bit of traveling themselves, including going to this special nursery in London, Arkansas, that specializes in native plants (they filled the car with neat flowering plants!). Then they drove up to Bull Shoals Lake to spend the weekend with Pam's parents, who were camped out there for a week. By the time I arrived back at the cabin I could see fire in Pam's eyes - she had a plan for all of those new plants, and was anxious to get to work.
We will be developing the circle drive in front of the cabin here in the coming months. That is where Amber's fort is (still unfinished, but I will get to that too). I have always wanted to do something with this area, and now I have a shared soul in Pam. Our collective ideas will produce a terrific little plot of land there, although it is going to take a great deal of work to create, and to maintain. We already got started with some of it last weekend, and we built/installed a cedar arbor that is the entrance to the trail that leads up into the wooded circle to the fort. Pam is going to be in charge of the landscaping, and I her able servant. Amber will be a big help too, as she already has been.
10/8/01 Bad news about the well - that gallon a minute did not hold up, so the well driller went back to work. He went down another 400 feet (900 feet total) and finally did get that gallon a minute back, although we still don't know if it is going to hold up. If not, it will be a very expensive hole in the mountain!
Once Pam and I got a major book order out the door, she rolled up her sleeves and got to work planting all of those native flowers and shrubs in the circle drive area. They include some climbing, flowering, evergreen vines that will cover that cedar arbor, many different kinds of wildflowers, and other plants like French mulberry, which produces those purple bunches of berries and are in "full bloom" right now.
While I was taking out a few more of the understory trees in the circle drive area, I discovered a bee hive in the ground - or should I say the bees discovered me! There was quite a swarm of them, and I was luck to have only been stung once. (I had to sneak out later in the night and dose the hole with gas.) When Amber got home from school she joined the efforts, using her wheel barrow to haul topsoil to the places where Pam was putting the new plants. It was a great feeling to have all of us working in the woods together.
One major feature of our circle drive will be a double stream that will have several pools and waterfalls, all lined with native stone and plants. This will be the biggest part of the work, but we are looking forward to the challenge, and to the delightful sound it will bring to our little home. It may be spring before we get it all finished up, but will be worth the wait. Actually it will be an ongoing project that will take many years to perfect.
10/9/01 There was a ring around the moon early this morning - a sign of rain in the near future. The wind blew all night, but the temp remained warm. The sun made a brief appearance, then disappeared into a layer of clouds. Must be a storm a brewing! Pam drove Amber into school and is going to volunteer today giving hearing tests to the students. Then we are going to make a quick run to Batesville tonight, where I will be giving a slide presentation at the college there.
Right now at mid-morning it is windy and dark outside, but no rain yet.
10/10/01 We fought through a major thunderstorm as we arrived at the cabin around 2am this morning - it is a VERY long drive from Batesville! But the drive over there to give a program at Lyon College was worth it - nice campus and a great turnout from the community.
Three hours after we got home it was up and Adam again to get Amber and Pam off to school (Pam is doing a bit of substitute teaching). The rain was coming down pretty good, and the wind was blowing in the 30mph range. I spent most of the morning up at the office, unpacking from the show and processing paperwork. The rains continued off and on all day, bringing down many thousands of brilliant red and orange and yellow leaves. At some points it was raining more leaves than water!
Later in the day a pair of long-time journal readers arrived at the cabin - Nanette and Dave Ward from California. Nanette is still recovering from a terrible fall she took last summer, but was able to get around pretty good and have a look around Cloudland (their first visit here). She is one of several folks who have sent along goodies for the cabin (and for Aspen) over the years.
Fog drifted through the colorful trees here and there throughout the day, and the temp remained rather warm. Few sights excite me more than fog in the fall, and I was forced to take a break or two from my chores to go out and wander around through it all. The colors really pop when there is moisture in the air, and the smells of the forest come out too. I guess I would rather smell that earthy aroma than just about anything else, other than fresh bread baking, or witch-hazel in bloom, or ripe pawpaws, or...
I built a fire in the fireplace and Pam and Amber and I roasted a few marshmallows as tremendous lightning blots lit up the dark wilderness outside. Then the lights flickered and the electricity went out, and the reflections from the fire dancing on the cabin walls were our only illumination. Now that my life is a little more organized, it didn't take long for us to fill the place with candlelight (candles are now all stored in their own section in the cabinet!). We were operating on about 20 candle power for the rest of the evening, and we all seemed to enjoy it.
10/11/01 It was about 2:30am when the power came back on again - getting me up from a very deep sleep to run around and turn off all the lights and other electrical contraptions that were on when the power failed. The rains had been steady all night, and by first light this morning, we had more than three inches since yesterday morning. The Buffalo was running and singing a lively tune - probably could have heard it even without the windows being open. Still a heavy wind blowing. And I must admit that when I hopped into the tub for my morning soak in the darkness, I used an umbrella to shield me from the rain. Well, not exactly from the rain - the rain gutter overhead is all messed up and there is often a stream of very cold water targeted at my head.
There was a bit of drama with the deep well the other day. I was with the well-driller when he did the final testing to see how much water we actually had - the well was at 895 feet deep. He fired up his equipment and began to blow a powerful stream of air down through the middle of the long pipe, with the idea that this air would lift the standing water in the well and blow it out the top. The well driller guy could tell how much standing water there was by how much pressure it took to lift the water. At first, he got all excited because it was taking a lot of pressure to lift the water. Then a frown appeared, and finally a few choice words came out of his mouth as he informed me that the $6,000 hole was DRY! Apparently any water that he had been able to find had all run out and there was nothing left. I was not a happy camper, not only because of the large expense, but also due to the fact that we are counting on having a good quantity of water here.
An hour later the well driller came down to inform me that there was indeed water in the hole, so much so that his equipment was not able to lift it! Whew, I breathed a large sigh of relief. We ended up having to put a liner down into the first couple hundred feet of the well, which raised the price of the hole a lot, but that was safer than risking a cave in of the looser top layers. We still don't really know for sure how much water there is, and won't until I get another guy out to install 850 feet of galvanized pipe and a submersed pump - then we will be able to pump it all out and see how much volume we will actually have. Until then, Amber will continue to use an egg timer to figure out how long her showers are!
It is just now breaking daylight, and there is a low cloud layer hanging around the wilderness. The temp is about 55 degrees, and the wind is still blowing, with a little bit of rain coming down. From what I can see from here there is a rusty-green shade of color throughout the wilderness, with a few individual trees more brilliant orange or red or yellow. Often when the fall color is marching on like it has been, a big rain like this one will dull everything down, and even stop that forward progression of the brilliant color. I actually prefer a dryer fall for really spectacular color, but also love the moisture in the air, AND, perhaps, now we might have a few waterfalls to go along with the color, which we almost never have in the fall. Of course, that waterfall potential will cause me to have to get up off of my lazy behind and get out into the woods today, with cameras in hand, to see what I can find to photograph.
I made a quick trip down into Dug Hollow. The waterfalls there were running pretty good, but the water was muddy. I spent an hour or two in there and never even unzipped my camera bag. Next I went on over into the Whitaker Creek drainage. The water levels were not as high there, but the water that was present was still muddy. I did manage to take a couple rolls of film of two scenes though - of fall color and no water. We have certainly had a good bit of rainfall of late, but most of it is either being soaked up by the parched landscape, or running off as muddy water - neither conditions inspire me to take a lot of pictures!
But the forest was absolutely WONDERFUL!!! It remained cloudy and very wet all day, and the rich color just oozed out of trees small and tall alike. The dogwoods were looking especially nice, and some maples were turning, and many black gums were still hanging around. What strikes me most about the fall colors so far this year are the different colors on the same tree. This often happens with sweet gums (which are also beginning to show nice color), but not so common on other trees - the maples and dogwoods and others often will have red, orange, and yellow leaves all on the same tree. Very nice indeed!
We received some bad news about my mom and I had to make a quick trip into town to help get her into the hospital. It was dark when I drove back to the cabin. My mom always loved fall in Arkansas, and she used to get several hundred mum plants and plant them in her yard. Pam has three mums in the circle drive already, so I guess my mom's legacy will live on here. I can remember a multitude of colored leaves falling and landing on mom's vast mum display.
When I was in the emergency room at the hospital I had walked up to the desk and asked if there was anything else that I needed to do in order to get my mom admitted to the hospital. One of the guys behind the desk immediately spoke up and said "yea, update THE JOURNAL!" Hum.
10/12/01 Still cloudy and wet outside, but no additional rain overnight. The river was running pretty high and making a lot of noise. The colors out in the wilderness were really nice, especially when the sun popped out and lit everything up.
Amber was out of school today so the three of us made a quick trip to Lost Valley to hike the trail there. Amber and I will be doing a kids dayhiking guidebook, and she needed to hike this one and see what she thought of it. I was rather surprised to find that the creek there was bone dry, and only a trickle of water in Eden Falls. There was some nice color though, especially up high. We found a pair of Indian Pipes growing next to the trail. These guys are always odd-looking and seem out of place - they have no chlorophyll and hence no green.
I had Pam and Amber pose up on the ruble pile under the big overhang that is called Cob Cave for a picture or two.
As we drove back through Boxley Valley the colors there were very nice - entire hillsides of red, orange, yellow, and still a bit of green. Fall is making a full-scale assault on the Ozarks! At least in the Buffalo River part of it. There aren't many colors in other parts of the forest, but I suspect that will happen in due time.
10/13/01 There was one enormous boom around 2am that rattled the cabin and shook the bed, followed by heavy rain. The power went out again, but was back on by first light. The river below was louder this morning that it has been in a very long time, although the water level was actually lower that it had been yesterday.
I hooked up the trailer and drove down to the spring in Boxley Valley - we were almost out of water once again. The river was running pretty good in the valley - plenty of water for a good canoe float. All of that water created a muddy spring - first time I had seen this spring muddy, although I am not normally around it when we are getting lots of rain.
This muddy spring water is a great lesson. Most people think that spring water is clean and pure and filtered, but that is simply not the case. I have done a lot of scuba diving back into springs and have found large objects that had been washed in from the surface - obviously not filtered out much! And while most of the time that water that flows from springs is clear, that is often because the sediment has settled back inside the spring somewhere and not because it has been highly filtered. So when you come across a nice, refreshing spring, don't assume that the water is good to drink. By the way, bats like to roost over water - water that often emerges as a spring! Hum, there is more to that water than meets the eye...
One thing that I have noticed about things going on this fall is that berries are really super this year - dogwood, black gum, rose hips, and juniper/cedar berries are especially plentiful and colorful. Some of the juniper trees are so covered with their bluish berries that they look just like blue spruce trees. I need to get out and photograph the berries sometime soon before the birds eat them all! And one curious note about the berries - the deciduous holly tree up near the Faddis cabin that is covered with bright red berries every year (many pictures end up in the journal), has hardly any on it so far - perhaps they will come on later.
Another odd thing that is going on here is that something is playing with one of our pumpkins. Pam and Amber set out a pair of pumpkins at the front gate a couple of weeks ago. Lately one of the pumpkins is knocked over just about ever day, and ends up in the middle of the road. Pam was careful the other day to set the pumpkin firmly in the ground, surrounded by rocks, just in case the wind had been knocking it over. But that did not stop the wind or creature from knocking it over and back out into the middle of the road this morning. Plus there was one suspicious claw mark on it. Hum, I wonder if there is a Halloween bear wandering around near the gate? But if that were the case, why wouldn't he go ahead and eat it? Very strange.
As I sit here and write this there is quite a show going on outside. There have been many clouds chasing each other around down in the wilderness below. I have been waiting for just the right time to take a picture to post here in the journal. I am sort of a perfectionist though (obviously - I married Pam didn't I?), and have not found the perfect shot. So now I look out and most of the clouds have moved out now, and me without a picture! I will step out and shoot something though, just to give you an idea of the progress of color. That color changes dramatically depending on the lighting conditions - many of the duller colors will come to life when hit from behind with brilliant sunshine.
Roy and Norma and Pam and I went to a fund-raising dinner for the Newton County Library at the Beckham Creek Cave near Parthenon (well, actually is isn't near anything). We had a delightful time in this most unique place. I was surprised to see one of the guys running for congress there - Mike Hawthorn (sp?). While he certainly has an uphill battle doing battle with the republican machine, and while I really don't know a thing about any of the candidates, I was impressed to see him at this tiny little gathering way out in the hills just a few days before the runoff election - he really wasn't going to pick up many votes there because it was a small gathering of folks.
Norma had the map and decided to take us on a scenic (and very much unknown) route back to the cabin. We drove and drove for many miles as the dirt road got smaller and rougher. We saw some incredible country, including one spectacular valley - both the terrain, green fields and colorful trees were very nice.
10/15/01 I sat in the steaming bubbles and gazed up at a million stars overhead, including Orion, which was high in the sky. The tiniest of all slivers of a moon rose in the eastern sky - the last little bit before the new moon. The temp was not too cold - 51 degrees - but it dropped a LOT as I made my way down into Boxley Valley, back to the spring to fill up with water.
The spring was still just a bit dingy, but I had no choice but to fill up the tank. Just as I put the hoses into the top of the tank, I looked around and saw one incredible scene happening at the opposite side of the valley. There was a layer of fog hanging low in the valley, yet it has risen up just a little bit. The rising sun was lighting up a band of trees just above the river - and the trees were in full peak fall color and quite spectacular! This was a very special scene indeed.
But I knew the scene over at the river would really be incredible, so without giving it much thought, I grabbed my 42 pounds of camera gear and raced over towards the river, crawling over a tall wood fence and sprinting across two hay fields (Aspen was bounding way ahead of me). I never ran track, or even liked to run at all, but this was different - I was on a mission because I knew that special light would only last for a short time.
Out of breath and soaked from running through the tall, wet grass, I finally arrived at the river. But I was too late - the warming rays of the sun had already begun to break up the fog bank and the incredible scene had disappeared. I could only stand there and enjoy what was left of it. This happens quite often to nature photographers - seeing a beautifully lit scene disappear in moments before you can get everything into position and set up. But that is just part of the job. Some things are meant to be enjoyed in the moment and never recorded on film, and that is fine with me.
As I made my way back across the hay fields, I realized that my toes were nearly frozen. I was wearing slippers from the cabin, and my socks and skin were soaked from all of the dew. And the temp down in this valley was 38 degrees!
Just before I left the highway and started back up the steep hill towards the cabin, I passed two monster bull elk in the field near the river. We have some really trophy elk in Boxley Valley for sure. These guys were at opposite ends of a small hay field, and not paying a bit of attention to each other. They were still in heavy shadow so I didn't bother to stop and take any pictures.
We had bright sunshine and a great deal of wind all day long. Heavy wind in fact. The metal roof on the office was pelted all day with hickory nuts. Just before sunset a batch of clouds moved in and things calmed down a bit. Come to think of it some of those clouds were nearly black, with just a hint of green - GREEN means hail! And while the wind howled and even produced a few little dust devils, those dark green clouds moved on without dumping so much as a single drop of rain.
Amber helped me split some firewood, then we all sat in front of the fireplace and feasted on some of the world's best chili and Pam cooked up. Amber and I later roasted a few marshmallows in the coals. The temp outside quickly dropped into the upper 30's, but the wind remained calm.
10/16/01 I was sitting in the steaming bubbles once again long before daylight, beneath a sky filled with bright stars. In fact many of those stars fell and put on quite a show - the most falling stars I had seen in a long time. And nearly all of them had long dust trails. No moon, but a bright planet or two were visible. The temp is 38.
It is still before sunrise, and three things are going on outside. First, the temp is dropping - it is 34 degrees now. There is a bank of clouds hugging the valley floor for several miles up the Buffalo River - and this cloud bank is GROWING by the minute! And the glow from the approaching sunrise is turning the tops of the ridges orange, and that color is slowly creeping down the hillsides towards that cloud bank. I have trouble dealing with a scene like this on a day like today. I absolutely must leave the cabin and head up to the office to get to work, yet I REALLY need to stay here and watch this incredible scene unfold. What is a guy to do! I wonder if the boss would mind if I stuck around the cabin for just a few more minutes? Hey, I AM THE BOSS! Such torment in the wilderness.
10/17/01 Another very dark sky above, filled with many more stars than any man could ever count in a lifetime. And once again falling stars were more than one a minute (sometimes three or four), leaving behind glorious stardust trails. There was absolutely no wind, nor any critters stirring in the mid-30's temperature. Then all of a sudden, THAT sound broke the silent stillness of predawn - a flock of geese flying south for the winter. There are hickory nuts and brilliant colors and that nip in the air, but nothing announces the arrival of the fall season more so than geese. Try and try as I might, I was unable to see any shape of geese up there in the heavens - it was just too dark. They flew directly overhead, perhaps even looked down upon our little wilderness world, then continued on their journey to warmer temps.
It is late at night now, there is a big fire in the fireplace. Amber and I and Pam have danced around the living room and sipped hot chocolate in front of the fire. Pam has toiled away here at the computer, being forced to write by her husband who wants to see her words fill these pages. And I have been up to the office in the darkness, and nearly got knocked out by a shower of hickory nuts. The wind is blowing gale force, and all of those nuts are playing a might tune on the office roof. But we are all warm and snug inside and looking forward to yet another incredible fall day in the Ozarks tomorrow.
(from Pam)
I walked along admiring the
leaves this morning, trying to get some fresh air before “the cold front”
hit, according to the weather man. It was a beautiful morning despite the
clouds and the threat of rain. As usual, Aspen and Lucy were enjoying themselves
to the fullest.
In the distance I heard something very strange. Not knowing what it was I stopped and listened with every ounce of me. It sounded like a wave crashing on the shore from some far off ocean. The sound grew closer and closer. The wave was soon upon me. I looked up and saw it coming. It was the wind. The powerful breeze was indeed a wave, filled with leaves and debris. I protected my eyes and let the wave engulf me. It was over, just like that. How strange. I continued on my way but soon heard another wave approaching. This one, I had a chance to duck behind a mighty oak tree for protection. The oak sheltered me from the wind but I could feel the blast of cold air fully. And again, the wind was gone, just like that. I continued on my way but changed my direction, heading back to the cabin. I could hear the waves off in the distance a slow rumble and I began to cross my fingers that they would wait till I was closer to home. They didn’t. With each blast came dropping temperatures and thoughts of “boy, I should have brought my jacket.”
I arrived at the cabin and fixed a cup of hot chocolate and stood by the window looking out over the wilderness. You could see each wave of wind as it swept through the forest, looking like a violent sea of swirling colored leaves. Simply beautiful - that is, now that I was safe and warm in my little log cabin in the woods.
10/18/01 Lots of nice color today, especially in the maples. Some are pure yellow, while others are red or orange, often all three colors in the same tree. A lot of the overall scene in the forest is dull - especially in the flat light of mid day, but there are still tons of brilliantly-colored trees in the Buffalo River area. And still lots of green, which means much more color to come! Looks like all of the rain did do a number on the color, especially in places like Boxley Valley, where much of the forest is dull now, some of it even going back to green.
There was one heck of a light show at dusk tonight. We could see it developing on the eastern horizon - pink and orange and blue. Then it swept across the southern sky out there in front of us, heading to the west. The sun had already set. These clouds in the sky were changing colors quickly, and the color was getting very intense.
And one very odd thing happened right in the middle of all this. Pam, Amber and I were sitting on the swing on the back deck admiring the view, when we all noticed a black object just sort of hanging in the sky. "Is it a plane? Bird? Helicopter?" It was a very strange shape, and not moving very fast at all. I grabbed the binocs and was kind of stunned to see that it was a B-52 bomber, and it was making a sharp turn to the right and towards us, and appeared to be moving very slowly. I quickly set up the telescope and got a closer look. A B-52 alright - no mistaking that wingspan! And then it did something even more odd - it made anther sharp turn to the left. All of this right up there in front of us.
Those intense colors disappeared as quickly as they had arrived, and darkness set in in a hurry. Oh yea, I forgot to tell ya. Amber and I crawled up into the big hammock in the side yard, and had just settled back and were admiring the bright color overhead, when all of a sudden, CRASH!!! We went right to the ground. One of the trees that it was attached to had been struck by lightning or something, and part of it had been blown off a year ago. The rest of the tree finally died, and the big lag screw that was holding that end of the hammock up just pulled right out, sending Amber and I to the ground. We looked at each other for a moment or two, not really knowing if we were hurt or not, then both of us burst out laughing! We were indeed each hurting a little bit, but the situation was funnier than the pain.
10/19/01 We all got up very early this morning. Pam and Amber headed out in the dark to spend the day up north. I was down at Hawksbill Crag at first light, hoping to get one dramatic photo as the sun filled the valley with new light, and set the forest on fire. I guess I had been getting up so early and off to work that I had not noticed that the sun had moved far to the south, and it rose today way off to the right of where I had expected it to. There were some great colors, but nothing that I wanted to photograph. I spent about an hour wandering along the top of the bluffline near the Crag, looking at one wonderful scene after another, but never took a single picture.
It was warm, still in the upper 50's when the sun rose, and I broke a sweat climbing out to the trailhead. The large stand of maple trees that I love so much along the way had not begun to turn yet, although many other maples are at their peak this week. I guess this one stand is going to hold out until the very last, making one glorious display while the rest of the forest has already faded away.
I made a quick trip into town to do a live noon talk show (KFSM TV 5 with Kelly Kemp), then returned to the cabin in the late afternoon. I arrived to find the cabin under siege - the annual fall swarm of wasps had begun! There were thousands of them crowded around the outside of the cabin, trying to find a tiny crack to burrow into. Not wanting to fight them inside all winter, I went on a rampage to lay down a carpet of spray along the upper edge of the logs - where they meet the roofline - all the way around the cabin. Some of it was easy - I simply got a tall ladder and climbed up there and sprayed. But other locations were a bit more tricky, and required me to crawl out a window and hand on to whatever I could find to get close enough for my spray gun. All the while I was spraying there were angry wasps falling on top of me (having just been hit with wasp spray). By the time I got the cabin surrounded, the wasp population seemed to have diminished a great deal.
There is usually a batch of lady bugs that come along with the wasps, but I did not see too many of them this year. I hoped that they were off doing other business, as I hate killing them. Sometimes when we bomb the inside of the cabin in the winter there will be hundreds of dead wasps on the floor, along with thousands of lady bugs. Lady bugs are good guys, and we need to keep them around.
Once I finished with the wasps, I turned my attention to the incredible light show going on. The lower the sun got, the brighter and more intense the color out there in the wilderness was. We still have a lot of green in the trees here, but when the sun is at the right angle, all of the orange and red and yellow of the trees really comes pouring out. And since it was partly cloudy, there were bursts of sunshine, and brilliant color.
During one such burst of color, ran and got my camera gear, then quickly set up a great shot looking up into Whitaker Creek. Beams of sunshine were coming down through the clouds and haze and lighting up the trees, with dark ridges behind. It was quite a dramatic scene. I rushed around, throwing things here and there and slapping attachments onto my camera - this sort of light only sticks around for a minute or two, or even less, so I had to act quickly to get a picture.
As it turned out, the light changed and I did not get a picture. It was then I decided to heck with taking pictures. I had been working pretty hard these past few months and deserved (and needed) a bit of a break, and decided to simply try to enjoy what was left of the afternoon and NOT worry about getting just the perfect light and color and composition. I put my camera bag away and headed out into the woods.
It was one super lovely afternoon out there, with more color that you could ever ask for. Tons of yellow, and orange, and red, and every color in between. A breeze was blowing the trees around, and so all of this color was in motion. A number of dark red maple leaves had blown off, sprinkling all over the forest floor. There were a lot of yellow hickory and other maple leaves on the ground too. And here and there a batch of bright green moss would show through - a great deal of intense color all over the ground.
I could hear the river singing way down below, and that slight breeze through the trees, along with a hushed crunch-crunch as I moved through the forest - some of those leaves were already beginning to stiffen up after having fallen from their summer perches.
Eventually I wandered on back to Fox meadow and spent nearly an hour there going from plant to plant. My goal was to pick every dead flower head that I could find, then toss the seeds up into the air, spreading the promise of even more color next year (this is called "deadheading"). The flowers in this meadow CONTINUE to thrive and BLOOM - there were still many more live blooms than dead ones. I don't know, but it gave me one terrific feeling to be out there in the sunshine, tossing tens of thousands of seeds up into the air, and letting the breezes carry and plant them were they may. I suspect we will have a great deal of color in the meadow next summer.
As if all of that wasn't wonderful enough, I began to see orange jewels coming down from the sky - monarch butterflies. They would slowly make their way down to "flower" level, then float around from one plant to another. I stood there mesmerized while all around me the butterflies landed on yellow flowers, white flowers, red flowers, pink flowers, orange flowers, yellow and black flowers, and on and on and on. And all around the edges of the meadow were maples and oaks and dogwoods in full bloom too - it was nearly too much color for one guy to take.
It is late in the evening now, and the temp outside is still in the mid-60's. A pair of barred owls are carrying on a conversation over on Beagle Point. I can see a campfire down along the river - and with the telescope I can even count how many sticks are in it. Aspen, who has been curled up in the over-stuffed leather chair right next to the computer, has just rolled over onto his back with all four paws sticking up in the air - that is a sign that he is ready for some deep sleep. But I am not, and I think I will wander out into the night and see what I can find, or at least see what I can find to scramble my mind a bit.
10-21-01 We had our 20th anniversary hike-in of the Ozark Highlands Trail Association this past weekend up at Hare Mountain on the trail. In years past we have experienced some of the worst weather of the year on this particular hike, but this year everything was just wonderful - mild temps, clear skies, and terrific colors. I never did get to count all of the hikers who showed up, but we did have folks from many different states attend, and 40 of them stick around for the group picture this morning.
Pam and Amber went on the hike with me, and Amber did a great job carrying her own pack. This is the first backpack trip that Pam has been on since she injured her back. She isn't able to carry a full load yet, but she did manage to carry a pack as well. And Aspen's pack was filled with dog food and water, although it didn't slow him down a bit.
The drive back from Hare Mountain to the cabin was simply gorgeous - the Ozarks are PEAKING right now with some of the most incredible colors that I have ever seen. And it is an unusual year because we sill have early foliage around that should have peaked and dropped their leaves a month ago - like dogwoods, sumac and black gums - as well as the regular trees like maples, oaks, hickories, and many other species. Seemed like most of the country was out driving or hiking around enjoying all of the color as well - the back roads and trailhead were all very crowded.
It was rather crowded at the cabin all afternoon too. Seemed like there was a steady stream of friends, family and tourists dropping by - five, six, seven groups or something like that. One bunch had 15 or more people in it.
After all of that slowed down, I headed up to Aspen's meadow to get to work on digging a 40' long trench, 24" deep, to connect the new well with the storage tank. The well pump guy is going to begin the process of hooking up the new well later this week. I have been unable to find anyone to come up with a backhoe to dig this short trench, so it is up to me to do the work by hand. I did spend a bit of time on the tractor getting all of the well driller's mess scraped away (piles of yuk all over the place from the 900 foot deep well!), then managed to get some of the trench dug out. I will probably take me all day tomorrow to get it finished, if I hold out that long.
The color are simply spectacular everywhere you look. Although sometimes the same hillside that awes you one hour will look absolutely dull the next - it all depends on how the light is. Overcast skies are best, or backlit trees. There is a ton of color everywhere for sure.
It is getting late, and the moon is dropping low in the western sky just outside my window. I love the moon from now for the next week and a half - it is getting larger every day, and just LOOKS like the moon is supposed. Once it get full and begins to get smaller, it appears unnatural to me - it faces the wrong direction when it is getting smaller. No particular reason why I think this way - probably was some image of the moon that I saw as a child or something like that. It is not very quiet outside - there are bugs screaming like crazy, and I guess many tree frogs too. I heard a great horned owl nearby yesterday morning - we don't get to see or hear them much out here, most of the owls are barred owls, which I enjoy listening to a lot. The great horned owl carried on a solo conversation for nearly 30 minutes.
10/22/01 The brightest stars disappeared, then came back again, then went away. I was in the hot tub a couple of hours before first light this morning, and there were many dark clouds passing overhead. It was warm, and the wind was blowing pretty good. The hike up to the office was sort of noisy - all that wind combined with several inches of drying leaves underfoot made quite a racket.
When I made my way back down to the cabin it was getting light. I walked through a wonderland of color. All of the trees along the way were in peak color, and even in the dim of predawn the rich yellows and reds leaped from the trees. I got hit in the head by a number of falling maple leaves too - that is good luck you know.
It was difficult for me to leave all of that color behind but I had to make a quick trip into town. My jaw was in the locked-open position all the way out to pavement - absolutely the BEST and most complete color I have ever seen here!!! It was quite breathtaking. I stopped a number of times and jumped out to frame a potential scene for my camera, but the wind was blowing so hard there was no use in even trying. But man the COLOR was amazing!
The trip back out to the cabin was a slow one - I stopped again and again to look at one incredible scene after another, but the relentless wind kept me from taking a single picture. There is one hillside in particular that I recall noting as still mostly green on Saturday - this afternoon it was 100% in peak color - every single tree was ablaze! Things have progressed very fast in the past couple of days here.
Pam and Amber and I went out for a quick hike this afternoon, up towards the East meadow. We stopped at Pam's bench to admire a maple forest all around us that was solid YELLOW. Amber and I laid down in the leaves and waited and wished for a falling leaf to land on us. Pam and Aspen hung out on the bench. It was a delightful bit of time just being there in the woods, with not a care in the world, other than waiting for a leaf to come down and land on us. It was one of the simple pleasures in life that I can never get enough of.
The wind continues to howl and thrash the trees around tonight. Any leaves that were about to fall off are doing so in this wind. There often is one day in the fall when a lot of the leaves in the forest reach that point of falling off at nearly the same time. Then they all just decide to let go, and you have one amazing display of colorful leaves filling the air as they drift on down to earth. I call this "leaf fall." It doesn't happen every year, and some years it is a lot better than others. Since we have had all of this wind, I'm not sure if we are going to get it this year. Although there were several times today when it appeared that was exactly what was happening - and the air was filled with leaves. But they quit falling as soon as the wind stopped. A true "leaf fall" happens when the wind is not blowing. Have you ever sat and watched a single leaf float to the ground - how it changes direction so many times, even lifting up into the air a time or two? Now, just imagine that times a thousand and you get some sense of what a genuine leaf fall is all about.
Late at night now, and the old moon is just outside my window once again. Tonight it is just a little bit larger that it was last night, but still shaped the correct way. Right now there is a small dark cloud moving slowly across in front of it, cutting the moon in half. Hum, I wonder if there could ever be a big leaf fall during the night, and when the moon was bright - my goodness, wouldn't that be something!!! Think I'll go slip into the steaming bubbles and converse with Mr. Moon and see if I can work out a deal with him to make that happen.
10/23/01 Something very strange happened early this morning. There were three bright stars in the sky - all from Orion - and they formed a perfect triangle. No other stars were visible, as they were covered up with clouds. A pair of cicadas began to sing, and then the wind took off on a rampage. There were flashes from distant lightning. And then a really bright shooting star streaked right through the middle of the triangle, burning right through the cloud layer! At first the cicadas sang a great deal louder, then they just stopped altogether. Just another moment in the steaming bubbles of pre-dawn.
Most of my day was spent up in Aspen's meadow at the end of a pick mattox. I had to dig a 40 foot long trench between the new well and the waterline that feeds the storage tank. The backhoe guy that was supposed to be here today to dig it cancelled out on me, so I had to do it by hand - not a pretty sight, nor an easy job. Once I got the main hole at one end dug out down to the waterline, the digging was actually pretty easy. Digging in the dirt that is. But most of this route was mostly rocks - some of them large, flat rocks. I spent a great deal of time hammering on down with that pick. Pam was at the other end of the trench digging out the wellhead itself to get deep enough for the guys to attach the water pipe to through the steel casing there.
All the while we were digging, indeed all day long, the wind howled. This was actually a very good thing for me because the color all around was absolutely STUNNING! And with the wind blowing, I was not upset at not being able to get out and take pictures. Another good thing about that wind - it was very warm all day, so it help keep me from getting heat exhaustion.
Bad news about the well. After spending many hours attaching pipe after pipe and lowering it down into the well (with a VERY expensive stainless steel submersible pump at the bottom end), the well pump guys got to a point where they could not lower the rig anymore. The well is 895 feet deep, and they wanted to set the pump at 840 feet (standing water up to 625 feet, according to the well driller). But the pipe stopped at 650 feet. Not good news at all. They had no idea what was going on, and of course, no way to have a look at it. So they backed out some of the pipe, then packed up and left. The well might have caved in at that depth. Or no telling what else might have gone wrong. The only thing that I know is that our now $11,000 well is going to get a lot more expensive, and there may never be a single drop come out of it. We probably won't know anything for many more day, perhaps next week. In meantime, I guess I will head on back down to the spring at Boxley.
The wind continued its relentless pace even into the late evening. Pam and I sat out on the back deck swing and watched an incredible color display some cloud formations - they weren't blowing around at all up there, but we nearly were blown off of the deck!
And mark this date down - we saw a tiny part of the tall sandstone bluff just across the way on Beagle Mountain today for the first time since last spring. In a few more days when the leaves all come off of the trees, we will be able to see several miles of that bluff, and it will be one of the main features that we will study all winter and into the spring. It is sort of like a good friend, in that it is always over there, even when the leaves are on the trees and we cannot see it, but then it stands up and takes center stage and helps us get through a long, cold winter (actually, I look forward to cold winters!).
And we got news that THE SEARCH FOR HALEY book has arrived via truck in St. Louis, and it should be here later this week. One of the reasons why I was in such a big hurry to get it finished and off to the printers late last summer was so that it would be out when the DATELINE NBC program about Haley aired (we all expect another groundswell of interest in the Haley story when the TV show airs). We just got word from the producer today again that the show has not even been edited yet, so it may be another month or two or three before we ever see it. No matter - it will be great to finally get my hands on that book! Once it arrives here and is available for sale, I will let you know.
The wind is still pounding outside, and tree frogs, cicadas, and crickets are all singing at the top of their lungs (don't they know is it almost WINTER!). The moon is nearly half full now, but I only saw a short glimpse of it tonight as the cloud cover is still heavy. It is one of those "Hound of the Baskervilles" nights outside. Perhaps a stroll through the moors is in order...
10/24/01 The wind kept me up most of the night - sometimes it was difficult to tell if it was the wind or thunder that was doing the pounding. At the rate this is going it is a wonder that there are any leaves left on the trees at all.
First light found me down at the spring in Boxley filling up the 500 gallon water tank. While it was filling up, I wandered over into this giant green field nearby. It was just me and Aspen and Lucy, and a giant bull elk. The elk was grazing at the far end of the field.
A little while later some friends showed up and were looking for elk. This was a perfect example of how the power of suggestion actually works. I told them about this one elk in the big field, so we all walked on over to take a look. Just as we were approaching the edge of the field, one of the folks said "there are several elk over on the far side of the pasture." We all immediately nodded our heads in agreement as we strained to get a good look at the 3 or 4 elk that had been spotted. These particular elk turned out to be nothing more than bushes, but since someone first said "elk" and pointed at them we all began to see ELK. The one bull that was real had grazed on over into the next field and we never did get a good look at him (the people had a pair of binoculars).
The fall color down in Boxley Valley had been wiped out in the past couple of days. There were some individual trees still quite colorful, but overall the peak is long gone. But the hillsides overlooking Boxley Valley remained ablaze today - some very dramatic color.
The wind continued to HOWL all morning, and I mean up in the 40mph range with gusts higher. It just blew and blew and blew and blew. Those poor colorful leaves were all hanging on for dear life. That was up on top of the mountain. Down in Boxley Valley everything was calm and serene. But there was a constant hum of the strong winds up on the hillsides that you could hear from below.
All of this time that I had been filling up our water tank at the spring I had no idea that a really neat miniature hanging valley was just a couple of hundred yards away. I found it today, and was quite impressed. It is not big deal when compared with Lost Valley, but I thought it was very nice. The little valley is guarded by what looks like a 30 foot tall wave, frozen in place and turned to limestone. Behind the wall were a couple of waterfalls, although they both were dry today. Nice lush ferns and other plants all around. If our new well doesn't work out and I have to spend more time down at this spring filling the tank, I will certainly return to this little area and get to know it better.
At one point today I left Pam at the main dirt road to wait for the mailman while I drove a ways down the lane and got out to set up my camera to try to wait out the wind. There is one stretch of this little road that goes through a large stand of maple trees, and they absolutely are the finest color that can be found anywhere. This year has been no exception, and they have been just spectacular for the past week. But today they were at their best - bright reds, oranges, yellows, and still just a hint of green. A solid wall of maple trees at their peak, and it was overcast, which is PERFECT lighting for this type of shot. That was simply too much for me to pass up, so I found a good spot, rigged up my camera and tripod, and sat down to wait for the wind to stop.
I was still waiting when Pam came walking up from her visit with the mailman. And not a minute after she arrived the forest began to settle down and get quiet - the blast of heavy air came to a halt, and for about 30 seconds there was no wind at all. I jumped up and fired off as many shots as I could before the breeze started again. Whew, I got a good picture of these maples blazing and NO WIND! I moved my position and set up for another shot, but never did get the wind to calm down again. It was still a delight to sit there in the middle of all this incredible color.
By the way, I took a few pictures with the digital camera, and it did not reproduce the vivid colors very good at all, so you will just have to wait until the new picture book comes out to see what this shot looked like! (By new picture book I am talking about my next picture book project - it will be 100 of my best/favorite images from Arkansas of all time. There will be many old favorites included, but also new ones like perhaps the one that I shot today. It will be produced next year and ready for sale next fall. And one of the best things about this particular book project is that we are going to try to bring the price down! It will be a large-format paperback, with no individual box, and a few less images then normal for me. But the printing quality will still be the best in the world. More news on this later.)
Later in the afternoon I had Pam drop me off along that same road and I disappeared into the woods to go hunting for more pictures. The sky had cleared and the sun was shining brightly - not very good for pictures, but I just had to get out. The wind was still howling at the top of its lungs.
I bushwhacked easily down the steep slope that led into the upper reaches of the Whitaker Creek drainage. Before too long I was standing at the base of this tall waterfall. Only problem was that the WATER in the WATERFALL was not home today - it was nearly dry. That was no surprise. I really came to this spot for the ferns - dozens of lush ferns grow at the base of this waterfall. There are also several maple trees nearby, and I was hoping that some of the leaves had been sprinkled among the ferns. The ferns were there, and there were even a few red and yellow maple leaves on the ground, but the wind was blowing so hard that even down in this protected area, it was blowing so strong that the ferns were being tossed about. I did set up my camera and snapped a few images, but don't really expect for them to be very good.
Next I headed for a stretch of trail that follows along the top of a bluffline - there is always something neat there to photograph. And there no doubt was a lot of images today, but the bright sunshine beating down and all that wind kept me from finding anything to shoot. I was reduced to being a simple hiker, and I got to walk along and admire the view and enjoy the refreshing wind in my face, all the while heading back towards the cabin.
At one point I passed a couple of folks who were taking pictures of each other. They saw my big tripod and heavy camera pack and asked what I was going to shoot. "Oh nothing" I told them. "I am just hiking home." I got a strange look.
Sometime after sunset the wind FINALLY died down. I could actually hear the crunch, crunch, crunch of the dried leaves under foot as I hiked up to the office and back down again in the dark. What a delightful sound that is when you stop to look up at the stars - NOTHING! As predicted, all of that wind blew in a cold front and the warm temps of the day began to drop quickly. AAAAhhhhhhhhh yes, it must be FALL in the Ozarks!
The half moon is especially bright tonight, and the sky is clear. There are a few crickets out making noise, but no other sounds. It is crisp, and very nice. Just about time to stoke up that old fireplace once again.
Speaking of crickets, I have been seeing a lot of them lately. They seem to be a lot BLACKER to me than normal. I mean absolute black! Maybe I am just really taking the time to look close at them for the first time, but boy they sure are black.
BOOK UPDATE: Several of you have asked about delivery times for the Haley book. We found out today that the shipment arrived at a truck terminal in St. Louis yesterday and is still sitting there tonight. The guy at the truck terminal in Springdale where the books are being shipped to told me that "we can't get the books from St. Louis - they will have to go somewhere else first!" This trucking business sure is odd. So the books may be here on Friday, or Monday, or who knows when. I suspect that one way or another we will have them ready to ship out by the middle of next week.
10/26/01 Today is my wife's birthday - Pam is 32, and it is her first birthday out in the wilderness. Naturally I worship the ground that she walks on. She teases me about being a perfectionist when it comes to photography - like, for instance, I've been back to the exact same spot five times this week shooting the very same picture, only it isn't the same picture, but rather I am seeking perfection. I do believe that I have found that in her - the ideal mate for me. Of course she is one of the most remarkable people that I have ever known, is my best friend, and my soulmate for life. But on the grand scale of the world she is also a very good egg - someone that you would want your daughter to grow up to be like. She is a very good and descent person, who normally will think of others long before she ever thinks of herself. She is conservative, unassuming, and independent. Many people want to know what she "does" out here. Well heck, she is writing four children's books, is in charge of selling the waterfall calendar, helps me out with the book business every day, has begun a kids wing of our hiking club, is in charge of landscaping Cloudland, CLEANS up my messes at Cloudland constantly, and does so many other things that I can't even list them all. And oh yea, she is also a full-time mom, and doing a wonderful job of it too. I have told her that I would like for her to take an entire year "off" from an official job, and to take that time to decide what she wants to do - go back to school, write books, began a consulting business, or any number of other things. I suspect she will have done many things before that year is up. Anyway, I just wanted you all to know that I am married to the very best person in the world. (feel free to E-mail birthday wishes to Pam) My life here has soared since I met her - I sleep better, food tastes great, the air fills my lungs to capacity with each breath, and I know that my life will be filled with adventure and fun just trying to keep up with her in the years to come. I guess all of those nights out there in the darkness searching for falling stars and seeing many hundreds streak across the sky have brought me the best luck a guy could ever ask for. Happy birthday my darling. And thanks for putting up with me and the Superdog!
WEEKEND ROUNDUP. I have been out of pocket these last few days and not too much to report, but I will fill you in on what was going on. Pam had a wonderful birthday - THANKS to the TONS of you who sent her e-mails and cards! Two of her best friends came down and spent the weekend at the cabin (Sara and Carrie). Boy, I sure did pick a bad time to be away - there were three barely-clothed wild women running around the cabin! On Saturday Bob Chester had his annual big Bluegrass Bash, and there was a really big crowd there - more than 100 people. Great food and music.
I had a photo workshop to teach over the weekend, and it went well. We started out on Saturday morning in a field of frozen hay and assorted weeds that were quite spectacular against the rising sun and blue sky. Some of the participants got into the mood in a hurry, and laid down on their belly in the thick frost to get just the right angle for a good shot. Later we found some really nice fall color. I heard one of the photographers say "this is the shot that I have been looking for all of my life!."
The colors were very nice in many parts of the Ozarks, and past peak and brown or even dropped off entirely in other places. Seemed like most of the color was up on the ridges, while the valleys were rather dull. That is something that you would expect when there has been a lot of frost in those low-lying areas, but we have not had much yet this year (Saturday is the first that I have seen).
On Sunday the ladies and I went on a quick hike to Alum Cove - it has always been one of my favorite places for a short hike.
From Pam:
10-28-01
What a simply amazing birthday!
It wasn’t just on Friday, but the entire weekend. So many wonderful e-mails
that I will never be able to reply to all of them. I read and reread each
and every one of them thanking my lucky stars that I have stumbled into
such a fantastic place in my life and accepted into Tim’s journal family
as if I had always been there. I can never thank everyone enough but it
means so much to me and I only hope that everyone can sense this.
My friends Sara and Carrie came down for a “girls” weekend, and what a weekend it was. I don’t know which was more sore, our ribs from giggling or our legs from hiking. We spent our entire weekend outdoors and they were simply amazed and astounded at the beauty of Arkansas. Sara was attacked by a swarm of wasps and Carrie was attacked by a swarm of bubbles in the hot tub. I think they both hated to leave. The weather was perfect and the colors in the trees were warm and inviting. Not a cloud in the sky and nothing was heard except the swoosh of the leaves under our boots.
Tim had a photo workshop this weekend and a sweet lady named Mary Beth gave Amber and I both a special treat. Amber opened her little can with anticipation. Out popped a little bear and some candy. The bear was instantly named Snap (after the “snap” that the camera makes when you take a picture). He now has his own bed and is tucked safely in for the night.
10-29-01
Amber made a new friend tonight.
We were on our way to Girl Scouts and as she was reading her Junior Gardening
Book she discovered a Ladybug crawling on the window of the car. I continued
to drive acting like I wasn’t listening to her, letting her develop her
new friendship. She spoke to the ladybug so caring and lovingly. Telling
her that it was okay, she was just going for a car ride and that we would
deliver her home safe and sound a little later in the evening. Amber
asked her how her day was, if she was doing okay in the recent cold weather
that we had been having. She told her how pretty she was and that she was
glad to have met the little Ladybug. It was the sweetest thing to see this
little eight year old care so much about a little critter.
Amber turned to me and asked me if I thought the ladybug would like to sit on her garden book. Even though the flowers were just pictures and not the real thing, she thought that it might remind her new friend of her home. I said sure. Amber invited the little bug to come sit on the book that was on her lap. I swear the little spotted thing understood because she flapped her little wings and landed on the bright red flower. She seemed to only like the red ones, waddling back and forth between the pictures. Amber giggled with delight. Sometimes things just happen that will tear a friendship apart, and what happened next seemed to have that affect. The precious bug waddled right over to a picture of a bright yellow flower and proceeded to relieve herself. “MOMMY, SHE PEED ON MY BOOK!” Amber was not to pleased with the situation. Needless to say, we pulled to the side of the road and let her new friend fly away to enjoy the rest of the day and to find her own flower to pee on.
10/29/01 Today was my mom's 84th birthday. I went into town to see her, to hold her hand, and to sing Happy Birthday to her. This most likely will be her last one, and it is always difficult to leave her room knowing that I might not ever see her again. I have received a great deal of support from many of you, and thank you immensely.
Later in the day I picked up a shipment of books from the truck terminal in Springdale - THE SEARCH FOR HALEY finally arrived. I knew the cover of the book would look good, but I did not expect for the photos inside to turn out so well. Most of them were just black and white snapshots taken with my little digital camera, but they look just great. And the historical photos that of Haley when she was rescued that I had scanned turned out very good too. This book is the same size as my trail guidebooks, but it is nearly twice as thick. I will continue to hold my breath to see how the book is received by those who I wrote about, and by others who read it. It is the first "real" book that I have ever written (although I have eight others in print right now). I hope that they do well not only to help get the story out there, but also because a portion of the proceeds will go directly to the Morgan Nick Foundation, which is a terrific group that helps in many ways to find missing children. To find out more details, go to this link www.cloudland.net/haleybook.html - and be sure to order a copy for everyone on your Christmas list!
10/30/01 Today was just a perfect day in the wilderness. Heck, to be alive anywhere for that matter. This time change puts me up and out in the hot tub right at first light instead of in the dark. That is great to witness the beginning of the new day, but not so good for stargazing - guess I will just have to do that at night!
The eastern sky was filled with reds, pinks and oranges this morning, and then a brilliant yellow ball. That sunshine lit up a forest of blazing yellows and oranges. The stand of maple trees all around the cabin is still in full fall dress, and that rising sun backlighting it all is quite spectacular.
Pam and I worked together much of the day, first in the office processing book and calendar orders. Then outside cutting and hauling firewood. It was GREAT to be working outdoors in the fall! The temp was warm, with a slight breeze, and all of that COLOR everywhere.
In the afternoon a TV crew from Fayetteville's Arkansas NBC station came out and did a short interview out on the back deck about the Haley book. The sun was getting pretty low, but it was still very bright and shining directly into my eyes. Since we don't get any local channels out here, I may never see the spot, but I hope it was a good one.
Just before dinner Pam and Amber and I went out for a tractor ride and hike. We went on up to Aspen's meadow - Amber at the wheel. The sun was setting and lighting up the sky with all sorts of colors, and when we turned around, the near-full moon was also rising - it was quite a wonderful sight, and in stereo too! Then we all hiked on through the woods back down to the cabin.
It is amazing to be able to look up ahead and tell that you are walking right into a maple forest - the normal forest is covered with brown leaves from the oaks/hickories. Then the floor changes to orange (and red and yellow), and is covered with maple leaves. Pam says that she would prefer to make a bed out of oak leaves rather than maple ones though - the oak leaves seem to be thicker.
Later in the evening I decided to take a moonlit stroll through the woods. There was a little chill in the air and a slight breeze, so I put on a sweatshirt. This would be the first nighttime hike that I had taken in the open woods without a flashlight since before the rattlesnakes took over. It was very bright out, and that big moon cast a lot of shadows.
I started out hiking up the road, which was mostly covered with leaves. Aspen bounded out in front and from side to side as usual. It just felt great to be out there in the moonlight walking around. The air just seems to be easier to breathe in moonlight for some reason.
When we reached Faddis meadow I felt like I was walking across one of those expensive mattresses that you see advertised on TV - the ones where your hand goes down deep into it and the shape stays there when you pull your hand out. The meadow carpet was thick and soft, yet firm and held my footsteps. It was a pleasure to walk across. And that moon was blinding! Not too many stars out because the sky was so bright - just a few dozen of the brightest ones.
It got a lot darker when I entered the deep woods once again, but it didn't take long for my night vision to return. Funny how things look out there in the moonlight - I passed several large boulders that seemed to have faces on them - I swear one of them was smiling. But there was no color though - everything had been reduced to shades of grey, with the tree trunks being pure black. I felt like I was walking right into an Ansel Adams photograph.
I hiked through a stretch of open forest that beckoned me to stop and lay down. Hey, it is not a good idea to argue with trees at night, so I stopped and laid down in the bed of crunchy leaves. Man, what a soft nest that was! I had no idea if they were oak or maple, but they provided a fine resting place. Then the wind began to blow pretty good, and really stirred the leaves up. When it stopped blowing, I realized that the shower of leaves falling on me was coming from up above - all of those trees that were looking down on me were sending their leaves on down to cover me up. A leaf falling from the sky hitting you is good luck? Heck, I had HUNDREDS of leaves coming down and falling on top of me! In fact, as I laid there trying to FEEL each and every leaf land on me, I soon realized that I was nearly completely covered up with leaves! They sure did provide a great deal of warmth, and also a feeling of protection - it was good old momma nature taking care of me. I was indeed one of the luckiest people on the planet.
I eventually left my little nest behind and continued on my hike. The dry leaves were quite thick on the trail, and I was making more noise than Aspen was as I made my way along the top of a bench, trying to do a bit of trail maintenance as I went (kicking fallen branches off the trail).
Before long there was a flash out there in the woods. What the heck could that be? As I hiked along it happened again. It wasn't up in the sky, but rather down closer to ground level. Hum. The third time that I saw it I realized that it was simply a light from the cabin shining through the trees as I walked by. It was great to see that light beaming out into the night, and a great comfort to me knowing that my dear wife and daughter were within the logs where the light was coming from.
I dropped on down below the cabin and wandered through Fox meadow a little bit. It was strange looking at all of those flowers but not being able to see any color - they were all DARK GREY! I climbed up into the swing in the gazebo and listened for the river's music below. It had been a delightful hike, indeed a wonderful day. On the way up to the cabin I picked a grey flower for my bride - it turned out to be quite colorful, and in fact her favorite color. I'm am one lucky dog.
10/31/01 Amber was running around the cabin yelling "the woods are on fire!" Of course, she knew it was only the sunrise. I found her in the bathroom with the lights turned off and the window open, standing up on the bench staring out the window at the incredible glow in the eastern sky. Seems like there was more color this morning than usual, and it stretched from north to south. As Pam and Amber drove off to meet the bus, they passed a ghostly figure out there in the woods who was wearing only a bathrobe and tripod. My normal camera was up at the office, but I did get a couple of shots with the little digital camera.
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