Sat 23 Jul 2011

Was John Muir Wrong Too?

Posted by Bob under Hiking/Sauntering, Nature, Rants
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As a longtime Sierra Club member, I was both dumbfounded and appalled by the cover story of the July/August issue: “Thoreau Was Wrong: On The Trail It’s Speed That Inspires.”  The article, it turned out, never mentioned Thoreau and was not nearly as bad as the cover suggested, even if I fail to share the author’s enthusiasm for running barefoot on mountain trails.

But the sheer pretentiousness, stupidity and outrageousness of the magazine cover was highlighted by the fact that about the same time I came across the following quote by none other than the founder and first President of the Sierra Club, John Muir: “‘Hiking’ is a vile word.  You should saunter through the Sierra.”  So did the Sierra magazine editors consider Thoreau a safe stand-in for John Muir?

Muir notwithstanding, I do use the term “hiking,” but I’m increasingly shifting to “sauntering,” both as a literary choice and as an outdoor practice.  Here in the Blue Ridge we do have extraordinary vistas, but so much of the beauty and fascination of this place is found at the micro level, often right at foot level.  “Sauntering” captures a mode of this type of discovery.

So saunterers of the world: Unite and throw off the chains of speed and faddishness!

Note: The Muir quote is from Stephen Fox, John Muir and His Legacy: The American Conservation Movement (Little Brown, 1981), p. 120.

 

Fri 15 Jul 2011

Hiking the AT in Nelson County: Part 3

Posted by Bob under Appalachian Trail, Hiking/Sauntering, Nature
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I hiked the last twenty or so miles of the Appalachian Trail in Nelson County, along with a couple extra miles to McCormick Gap in  Shenandoah National Park, in two day hikes on June 30 and July 14.  At some points, the AT weaves itself around the border of Nelson and Augusta counties, but remains mostly in Nelson.

The first 10 miles or so is mostly in the woods, but offers nice views, mainly of the Shenandoah Valley, at periodic rocky outcroppings.  The one mountain along the way, Humpback Mountain (3600 feet) is wooded at the summit, but offers striking views of the Wintergreen resort from the south side, and a nice  overlook  and interesting rock formations on its north side.  The most spectacular place in this section, Humpback Rocks, is .3 miles off the AT on a side trail.  The jagged rocks themselves vie with the view for the top attraction.

The next ten miles offer pleasant hiking through a predominantly  Oak-Hickory forest.  Here one’s focus is drawn more to the immediate environment: the woodland flowers and their pollinators, remnants from the hardscrabble life of early mountain settlers, the almost-constant “tea” call of the Eastern Towhee and (if you’re lucky like I was) the sight of the strikingly large and colorful Pileated Woodpecker.

The final mile is jarring: suddenly one is crossing Interstate 64 on an overpass, with its roar of traffic, which remains audible for the last mile or so as the AT follows along the Augusta-Nelson border as its heads towards McCormick Gap.

After Monika (my trusty transportation team) picked me up, we repaired to the local brewery, Devils Backbone, where Three Ridges Mountain dominates the view from the outdoor veranda.

click here for more pictures

 

Mon 27 Jun 2011

Garlic Harvest is In!

Posted by Bob under Vegetable Garden
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After having become accustomed to home-grown garlic from last year’s harvest, it was traumatic to run out around March and have to resort to the anemic stuff in the supermarkets.  So this year I planted more cloves and more varieties, and this past week harvested and began the curing process for 120 bulbs, including some of the largest I’ve ever seen.  This year’s varieties include four from last year (Music, Brown Tempest, Inchellium Red, S&H Silverstein) and two new ones I picked up at the Montecello Harvest Festival last fall: Appalachian Red and Romanian Red.  It also proved to be the time to start harvesting onions and to complete harvesting the spring turnip and kohlrabi crop.

As the picture above shows, even a larger-than-usual storebought garlic doesn’t come close in size to most of our homegrown ones–and the taste difference is even greater!

some more pictures here

 

Wed 15 Jun 2011

Hiking the AT in Nelson County: Part 2

Posted by Bob under Appalachian Trail, Hiking/Sauntering, Nature
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I hiked the next 10.7 mile section of the Appalachian Trail in Nelson County as a day hike on June 14th.  Starting from the trailhead on Route 56 by the suspension bridge over the Tye River (where Nic, Cally and Felix went swimming at the end of the first hike), I began the 3000 foot ascent of Three Ridges Mountain, which dominates this section of the AT.  The trail is graded nicely, and at the higher elevations, mountain laurel and rhododendron were still fully in bloom, along with numerous wildflowers.  While the  three summits of Three Ridges and  Bee Mountain are wooded, there are a series of fine rocky outlooks along the way.  Part of the Three Ridges Wilderness Area, this is a lovely and wild part of the AT.  This section ends at Reid’s Gap, where the AT intersects the Blue Ridge Parkway, where Monika had helped me leave a car early in the morning.

click here for more pictures

 

Tue 31 May 2011

Hiking the AT in Nelson County: Part 1

Posted by Bob under Appalachian Trail, Family and Friends, Hiking/Sauntering, Nature
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About 45 miles of the Appalachian Trail lie within or around the border of Nelson County,  and I’ve resolved to hike them this summer.

My son Nic, grand-daughter Cally, nephew from Germany Felix, and I  did the first stretch of the AT in Nelson County, starting at Salt Log Gap in the George Washington National Forest (about 3 miles south of the Nelson border) and ending at Route 56 (Crabtree Falls Highway) about 18 miles to the north.  It is a relatively easy stretch that goes through varied woodlands, passing interesting rock formations, including Spy Rock, which offers a 360 degree panorama view which is one of the most spectacular along the Virginia Blue Ridge.  We camped at its base and then continued on the next day over Maintop Mountain and then The Priest, the highest mountain in the region.  While wooded at the top, The Priest has fine rocky viewpoints below the summit on both sides.  Depending on elevation, the forests were abloom in Flaming Azalea, Mountain Laurel, and Rhododendron, and many wildflowers (including two of my favorites, Fire Pink and Yellow Lady Slippers) graced the sides of the trail.    At the end of the overnight hike, across Route 56, Nic, Cally and Felix  cooled off in the Tye River by the AT suspension bridge which marks the beginning of the climb up Three Ridges Mountain, the next trip.

click here for more pictures

 

Sun 29 May 2011

The Chicken Hilton is Fully Occupied!

Posted by Bob under Chickens
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Our fourteen chicks, which arrived on April 27th, will be five weeks old tomorrow.  Starting out in a plastic tub, they grew so fast that they soon had to be transferred to a 4×4 foot brooder which we constructed.  Three days ago they moved into the chicken coop we’ve been constructing with a friend for the past several months–first into the hen house for three nights and today into the roofed run as well.  Monika’s nephew from Germany, Felix, grand-daughter Cally, and my son Nic helped move the chicks into their new home.  Today we opened the door to the run and, gingerly, out they came.

Eggs aren’t expected until September or October, but they’re providing a fascinating show in the meantime, and they appear to love their new digs.

click here for more pictures

 

Sun 29 May 2011

Veggie Garden in May

Posted by Bob under Vegetable Garden
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Today I pulled our spinach and kale plants, which were bolting in the heat, and this seems representative of the shift from the spring to the summer garden.  We’ve been harvesting lettuce, spinach, collards, kale, swiss chard, turnips, kohlrabi, radish, and snap and snow peas, but now the potato (6 varieties) and tomato plants (14 varieties) are flowering, and squash, pepper, eggplant, beans, and edamame are planted and on their way, in addition to longer-maturing spring plantings like beets, fennel, and parsnips.  Starting a number of plants from seed under grow lights indoors gave us a head start. Onions and garlic, planted last fall, will probably be harvested in late June.  So far it’s been a good spring for growing–regular rains and temperatures not too high.  The eating has been good!

click here for more pictures

 

Wed 27 Apr 2011

Our Chicks Arrived Today!

Posted by Bob under Chickens
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Our chicks from Meyer Hatchery in Ohio hatched early Monday morning and shipped a few hours later.  They arrived at our post office this (Wednesday) morning around 8:30 a.m., and were being settled in their new home by 9:00.  One died in transit, but the others all look healthy at this stage: six Rhode Island Reds, three Barred Rocks, three Silver Laced Wyandottes, and two Black Australorps.  They seem to be taking to the three main chick functions (drinking, eating, pooping) with gusto!  It’s fascinating to watch them.  Pictures above show them in the box they arrived in and then in our makeshift brooder for the first week or so.

 

Sat 2 Apr 2011

Spring in Bloom

Posted by Bob under Nature, Our New Home
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Early spring pictures from our five-acre piece of paradise

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Tue 15 Mar 2011

Stepping on Nature

Posted by Bob under Nature, Rants
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Recently I stepped on a metal rake I had stupidly left lying pointing up on the ground, and the laws of physics produced an egg-sized protrusion on my forehead, which thankfully went down with icing and is only barely noticeable now.  Our friend Phil Welker (a former English teacher) then sent me the following Robert Frost poem, made doubly meaningful by the fact that my family spent many summers in Ripton, Vermont, only a short distance down the road from Homer Noble Farm, Frost’s summer residence.

The Objection to Being Stepped Upon

At the end of the row
I stepped upon the toe
Of an unemployed hoe.
It rose in offense
And struck me a blow
In the seat of my sense.
It wasn’t to blame
But I called it a name.
And I must say it dealt
Me a blow that I felt
Like Malice prepense.
You may call me a fool,
But was there a rule
The weapon should be
Turned into a tool?
And what do we see?
The first tool I stepped
Turned into a weapon.

Given the tragic and scary news coming out of Japan these days, I can’t help wondering about a similar irony and possible lesson.

 

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