Because of Hurricane Ike not only are gas prices still climbing throughout the TN and NC Smoky Mountains, According to AAA the prices might to go down for at least the balance of the month.
If hurricane Ike creates significant damage to refineries and gas pipelines expect things to get worse for quite a while. Fortunately Hurricane Ike is making landfall as a category 2 with maximum sustained winds at 105 miles per hour.
Hurricane Ike may be almost 1,000 miles away but drivers in the Smokies are getting pounded by the storm as well with price gouging and gas shortages throughout Tennessee and North Carolina.
Reports started coming in yesterday of gas shortages and price increases in the Asheville area, but these reports of drivers finding it hard to find gas or complaining about increases of 50 cents or more a gallon within minutes.
The highest price we have heard of so far in Pigeon Forge was $4.69 a gallon - astonishing considering it as $3.42 gallon a week ago.
There will be a huge influx of drivers coming into Pigeon Forge, Sevierville and Gatlinburg to take park of the Rod Run. Lets' hope they are all gassed up before they get here.
Anyone planning on driving in the Great Smoky Mountains national park on Newfound Gap Road (US 441), Laurel Creek Road, Little River Road and the section of the Foothills Parkway known as the Spur need to watch their speed especially this weekend as with the increased traffic from the Rod Run being held in Pigeon Forge traffic will be heavier and more than likely so will enforcement.
Traffic fatalities by far are the top danger to visitors in the Great Smoky Mountains national park. There are many hazards when driving in the National park, steep winding roads with blind curves with little or no guard rails, fallen trees branches and leaves after a storm, rock slides and beautiful scenery and wild animals that can distract a driver.
While these factors that can present a danger to drivers in the Great Smoky Mountains national park are unavoidable, driving and an excessive speed, passing cars in no passing zone (only small limited areas in the park are passing zones) and stopping in the roadway to observe and photograph deer, bear, coyote, fox or wild turkey and driving under the influence are all causes of serious and fatal accidents that can be completely avoided.
Another insanely dangerous activity visitors in the park partake in is riding bicycles on GSMNP roads that and have no shoulder and numerous blind curves where a car traveling at a safe rate of speed can come up behind a biker and when turning on the curve either hit a bicyclist, get hit from behind and they are slowing down to avoid a rider or swerving into oncoming traffic also rounding a blind curve or driving of the edge of the road.
Bicyclist should not under any circumstance ride on Little River Road between Metcalf Bottoms and the Townsend Wye. Honestly based upon the width of the roads and other dangers to drivers and riders, cyclists should be banned from all major roads in the park other than the Cades Cove Loop, Greenbriers roads, Elkmont's roads, and campground areas until bike lanes are put in.
Winter driving conditions with snow and ice in the Great Smoky Mountains national park are also particularly dangerous especially in the afternoon as previously safe roads can freeze up rapidly before the park service has a chance to close the road. Fog is also a concern especially higher up in elevation above the Chimneys on the Tennessee side and the Kephart Prong Trailhead on the North Carolina side.
Last but not least. Please do not beep your horn in the tunnels along Laurel Creek Road, the Spur and Newfound Gap Road. The sound can carry for miles - just ask any hikers along the AT.
Beeping your horn in a tunnel serves no purpose but to disturb others, the parks wildlife and engineers have told me the noise from a horn which is vibrations actually weakens structures over time.
So please for your own safety and others visiting the Great Smoky Mountains national park, drive safely and slow down!
The 2008 Elk Rut season is already starting in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park and the best place to see the the elk in the national park is still the Cataloochie Valley near Maggie Valley North Carlina.
While elks make their distinctive calls called bugling throughout the year, now is when it picks up in intensity as well as the male bull elk forming harems of as many females cows as possible.
The bugling sound the elk make can be heard from quite a distance echoing in the Cataloochee Valley and fields. The bugling sound is very distinctive as its call raises in pitch and volume until the almost grunt turns into screech followed by a short series of grunts.
Watching elk grunt and bugling as dawn is breaking and they come out of the fog as it lifts from the Cataloochee Valley. You can see the moisture vapor coming out of the elks mouth as they bugle breaking the morning silence. Moments or minutes later far in the distance you start to hear the other elks bugle as they each call out their territory.
Elk during rut experience ranging hormones and have already shed their velvet from their antlers which from into huge racks. Their mating habit included urinating on the ground and scratching up the ground with their antlers and then rolling in the urine soaked ground to absorb the scent. Standing far from them you can smell their unbelievable pungent odor.
Male bull elk at this time are working on forming a harem of cows herding and gathering them to hopefully mate. Unfortunately for the bull elk at this time the cows are not ready or willing to mate adding to the elk's frustrations and further increasing its aggressiveness as it spars with other male elks for wives and territory.
Watching the elk battle and the individual elk gain and lose members from their harem is fascinating and is like watching members of a professional sport team play and since all of the large elk are tagged with numbers so it's easy to keep score. I can assure you if you watch them for 3 days straight you will be amazed at the conquests and loses - reversals and fumbles - all in the beauty of the Cataloochee valley.
Elk at this time of the year are particularly aggressive and can present far more of a threat to the human visitors of the Great Smoky Mountains national park which should keep their distance - especially when the elk are sparring with each other. Park volunteers called the Bugle Corps patrol up and down the road educating park visitors and trying to have visitors stay the recommended distance away from the elk.
The elk are best viewed early in the day and starting an hour or so before sunset. They can be often seen right from the roadside. It gets packed on weekends with visitors and locals alike so during the week is the best time to come to Cataloochee.
I implore anyone who comes to observe the spectacle to pull to the side of the road and shut off your engines! Not only will you save gas, you will allow other to hear or record the wonderful sound of the elks bugle instead of your car idling.
Since the elk population has doubled since the elk introduction back into the Great Smoky Mountains national park their amazing behavior will soon be able to be observed in other areas of the GSMNP that elk gather, namely in the small fields along Newfound Gap Road just north of the Oconaluftee visitors center and south of Smokemont.
While some see this population and range expansion as a good thing, I see this as a management nightmare brewing. As I have stated before numerous times it would have been best of the elk population was confined to the Cataloochee and Balsam Mountain areas and if the park service let the local black bear help thin the herd rather than capturing and moving black bear in the spring when the elk give birth.
Enjoy the elk in the Great Smoky Mountains national park - but please - from a safe distance!
The Smoky Mountains are getting much needed rain which may help prolong the 2008 peak leaf season but want be enough to turn dry wells and springs around.
2 years of heavy drought have the entire Smoky Mountains region worried about water with western North Carolina in the deepest trouble.
Hopefully the next few days rain in the Smoky Mountains will give us a deep enough soaking to revive some of the local crops such as corn which is experiencing drought related stress and the local deciduous trees can show off their fall colors when the foliage changes color for more than a quick flame out lasting a few days per tree.
The lack of moisture can actually improve the fall colors which have a very long season the Smoky Mountains given the various elevations, exposure to sunlight and as the fact that all of the more than 110 species of local hardwood and softwood deciduous trees all have a different peak period, color pallet and duration of staying on the trees.
Color has already stared mostly in higher elevations on the North Carolina side especially in the shaded hollows. Temperature, light and moisture are all catalysts which will change speed timing and duration of the color of the trees in the fall season.
The best time to catch the fall season depends on where you are planning to look for the fall foliage. For high country in North Carolina you will start winding down the 3rd and 4th week of October and low elevations in Tennessee the 3rd to 4th week in November the show of colors made by the hardwood leaves mostly flame reds are finishing.
Anytime in October you will find great colors in the Smoky Mountains, you may just have to drive up or down in elevation to find the best spot.
As for the thunderstorms with lightning we will be having in the Smoky Mountains for the next few days, in order to not become a statistic you should follow simple hiking safety guidelines for lightning:
Lighting is dangerous and should be respected. About 350 people a year are seriously injured by lightning in the United and 60 people lose their lives. Falling trees from strong winds associated with storms also claim lives and being in the woods where there are dead and weakened trees further increases your risk.
The best place to be when a thunderstorm rolls in would be indoors but being inside a car is usually safe as well.
Places you want to avoid during a thunderstorm would be:
What you should do during a lightning storm:
Lighting can strike without warning - often striking on the edges of a storm before there are any raindrops to be felt or when the rain has stopped.
You can tell how far a storm is away by counting the time from the flash to the sound of thunder since sound travels slower than light. For the speed that most people count, there is a 5 count per mile. Lightning safety experts say that you should take precautions and cover when lightning is within 30 seconds of you.
Be prepared as storms can come in fast and unexpectedly. I keep a dry bag normally used for canoeing in my backpack for cameras and electronics as well as Zip loc bags and 2 garbage bags just in case.
Even waterproof backpacks can get so soaked in minutes that everything inside still gets wet. When camping in the colder months all of my clothes are also packed in dry bags as being wet and cold could cause hypothermia. Even in the summer and especially at higher elevations there is always the danger of hypothermia in the Great Smoky Mountains national park.
Aggressive black bear encounters have been on the rise in the Great Smoky Mountains national park and backcountry hikers and people camping in the national park need to be even more cautious in order to avoid any problems. As much as I am cautious when hiking and camping, I almost wasn't cautious enough which could have been a disaster.
I know and have lived the black bear safety rules for years camping and hiking deep into the most remote areas of this and other national parks using caution and awareness as my key methods of self defense. Letting my guard down at any time in bear country could end up being a fatal mistake and I do not want to get maimed or killed by a bear.
Besides one instance of a black bear stalking me on a hiking trail in the Great Smoky Mountains national park and 3 years ago when I turned into an inside switchback on the Trillium Gap Trail on the way back from Grotto Falls where I startled a Momma bear with a cub who started swatting the ground at me, my black bear encounters have all been a pleasant experience. This could have all changed yesterday.
Yesterday I had a rather extreme 28 mile hike planned so I left from the Clingmans Dome Trail just as the sun was rising. On my way up the bypass trail I took advantage of the ripe raspberries along the way up to the Appalachian Trail (AT) which I took until the Welsh Ridge Trailhead where I was going to make a almost 20 mile loop down Welsh Ridge Trail and Cold Spring Gap Trail and back up on Hazel Creek Trail.
The day was beyond description; cool, breezy and touches of autumn were creeping their way into the green summer canopy and forest floor. Did I mention how incredible the blackberry crop was?
Other than a handful of people on the AT and a group of 3 campers on horseback, the hiking trails I was on were completely deserted - common for the deep backcountry of the Great Smoky Mountains national park during the week.
By the time I reached Hazel Creek Hiking Trail I was already feeling quite tired after more than 6 hours of non stop hiking with a heavy pack. At this point I had already seen my fill of black bear. My first black bear sighting was a young bear crossing the road in the dark just above at mile marker 8 on newfound gap road (US 441). While there was tons of bear scat on the trail, mostly riddled with remnants of blackberries I spotted my 2nd and 3rd and then 4th black bear along the Cold Spring Trail.
The hike I was on was very much a race against time. While I had 2 headlamps and a flashlight with me, I do not want to have to hike along the AT in the dark. The footing is mostly rocky with areas that you have to step high up to not trip and in the dark it is not a safe place to hike.
At campsite 82 on Hazel Creek I found some garbage left by some hikers while I was treating more water for the hike so I loaded up my trash bag and packed it in the outer pocket of my backpack. Upon leaving the campsite and passing the horse stalls I could hear yet another bear crashing through the rhododendron to get away from me.
By the time I almost hit the switchbacks I was exhausted and my watch confirmed I had about an extra hour of light if I could keep the current pace I was at but I think that I needed to take it down a notch.
Watch the trail for rocks that I can trip on or lounging copperheads or timber rattlers, scan the ground cover for poison ivy, and stinging nettles growing alongside the trail, watch for ground signs of bear fesh scat or small freshly broken branches with acorn caps and no nuts, scan the tree line to the left the right and above me and while all this is going on take in the stunning beauty of the park.
Since it is that time of the year when the acorns are starting to fall and it was real windy, there were plenty of random noise in the woods and the gurgles of Hazel Creek with it numerous small waterfalls and cascades everywhere were not helping me hear what I wanted to.
As I was walking into the start of the switchbacks with Hazel Creek to the left I noticed that an area that was overgrown with dog hobble and trees that I had already scanned had movement. I stopped and listened but the sound of Hazel Creek below me drowned out everything.
10 yards above where I saw the movement across from hazel creek where my switch back was headed I saw a glimpse of an adorable cub which worked its way down to what I could now see was an adult bear behind the brush.
Since I did not want to scare the black bear away from where I was to up the ravine to where I needed to go so I figured lets wait and see what happens.
I checked my watch anxiously and could see movement as momma bear was rummaging in the leaves and the cub would run up and down away from her but stayed in the brush.
After more than 10 minutes I was getting frustrated as between the poor light and heavy growth I could not get a good clear shot to take a picture of either bear and my cushion is getting shorter and shorter meaning I might not have the luxury of pushing with 90% effort back up the mountains but have to give it my all which I just didn't want to do.
24 minutes after I originally stopped a second cub was now visible running down the hill crossing the trail I was going to walk on and a roll of emotion came over me. Had I hiked on the trail I would have been between momma bear and a cub a great way for me to get attacked by a black bear.
I just didn't know what to think. Then I started thinking about the stink coming from me I had already done about 20 hard sweaty miles at this point and the garbage I picked up packed in my backpack must have reeked too.
No rocks or sticks around me but I do have my hiking poles and a super loud ear damaging storm whistle in my mouth for almost a 1/2 hour by now.
I decided 6 more minutes was all I would wait. For sure both cubs are still by her and hopefully she would run to the left when I make noise, not at me, or directly away from me onto the section of trail I had eventually hike on or to right of me taking her into the inside of the switchback.
6 minutes came and passed, then another 15. How could I get this bear to do what I wanted it to do and not what I didn't? I could never go back and even now I might have to hike in the dark.
Then it happened. A 3rd cub ran down right where the second came out above the trail and joined its mother. This cub was alone for at least 47 minutes. 1 cub or 2 cubs very common, 3 cubs are less common and a bear with 4 cubs far more uncommon.
It was time to take a stand. I banged my sticks together and started to walk right into the switchback. A load exhaling sound by momma and all 4 were up the ravine right to where I was going to have to be so I started whacking the brush on the side of the trail while I still plowed forward and it worked! She ran out of the switchback and I had a clear shot down the trail.
Even more exhausted than I wanted to be I knew I had to make time. As the switchback doubled back and over the area where the black bear cubs were I found what those little monsters were after - blackberries and tons of them. I ate a few handfuls and pressed on as hard as I could and even then the last 4/10 of a mile I needed my flashlight to make it to the parking lot.
Lesson learned? For sure! The patience and then the indecision I had could have saved me from a very deadly bear encounter. The stinky garbage I was carrying in my backpack may have also put me at a greater risk.
If I was in fact attacked by this black bear protecting her young it surely would have been my fault and not hers but surly she would have lost her life and the cubs would have as well.
In the past few months my attitude about the black bears in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park has definitely shifted. Since I see black bear virtually every time I hike other then deep winter in the Great Smoky Mountains national park it would be unreasonable to wait close to an hour every time I see one.
While this experience taught me even more about patience, it has also made it clear to me that I need to carry a large can of bear deterrent spray on some of my deep country quests where turning around is just not an option.
I have fought this for years but in the past month I have been approached by a Georgia forestry official, a bear photographer and 2 park employees who have all told me that they no longer feel safe without having bear deterrent spray when out in deep backcountry or in close proximity to the back bear in the Great Smoky Mountains national park.
Related Bear Spray and Black Bear News
The body of a 27 year kayaker Isaac Ludwig was found this morning in the Great Smoky Mountains national park about 1,000 feet downstream from the confluence of the Road Prong and the West Prong of the Little Pigeon River.
Isaac Ludwig of Hartford, Tennessee and 2 other kayakers 23 year old Jared Seiler of Gladwyne, Pennsylvania and 24 year old James Donahue of Nashville Tennessee entered the Road Prong River near the Chimney Tops Trailhead and planed to kayak the rain swollen body of water and rapids on the lower section of the Road Prong and take their kayaks out of the water before they reached the West Prong.
Once in the water Jared and James very rapidly assessed that the water was running too swift and pulled their kayaks out but Isaac tragically pushed on downstream.
Isaac Ludwig was an experienced kayaker who worked for Rafting in the Smokies and did in fact have the appropriate safety gear of a life vest and helmet on while he was in his yellow Liquid Logic whitewater kayak.
Amazingly another kayaker who was unrelated to this accident lost a similar boat of the same color which was found wrapped around a tree near the Chimney Tops Picnic Area.
Smoky Mountains National Park Rangers and Gatlinburg Fire Department's Swift Water Rescue Team were involved in a search effort but the body of Isaac was found above the water line entangled in vegetation by 2 other kayakers who were running on the river which had dropped about 2 feet since yesterday.
The recovery of Isaacs body in now ongoing and is quite difficult given the surrounding terrain and the fact that there are no hiking trails near where the body is located.
While working at scout camp Isaac was taught to roll a kayak by his father at age 16 and had a driving passion for the sport. He owned at least 5 boats and by his own admission was not a stranger to having to repair damage to his boats from smashing into rocks.
Isaac had an interest in clean water environmental issues and in his free time wrote for a magazine called Sidetracked which promotes adventure sports. He was also involved in environmentally friendly kayaking products.
After car accidents, accidental drowning is one of the most common causes of serious injury or death to visitors of the Great Smoky Mountains national park.
Commonly after large rainfall many kayakers take on the streams and rivers of the Great Smoky Mountains national park. While many put in along the roadside of Little River, some will hike deep into areas to put in. For examples some as much as 5 miles or more in Deep Creek NC to brave the rapids where a swift rescue is virtually impossible.
For the second year in a row the Great Smoky Mountains has been experiencing drought conditions not seen for more than 100 years, but finally the Smokies are getting much needed rain.
Hiking around the Smokies one can see how low water levels are and how much dryer and browner the plant life is even in higher elevation of the Great Smoky Mountains national park which can see as much as 85 inches of rain a year qualifying it as a temperate rain forest.
Rhododendron plants leaves curl when stressed due to extreme cold or lack of water and the photo here was taken last week which clearly shows a drought stressed bush that is along the Noland Divide Trail at an elevation of more than 3,500 feet.
2 years of back to back droughts in 2007 and 2008 is taking its toll on weakened plants and may further hasten the demise of our beloved hemlocks which are waging what appears to be a losing war against the Hemlock Woolly Adelgid infestation plaguing the park and surrounding areas.
Businesses have been hit hard by 2 years worth of droughts and locals are having to deal with an unprecedented 20% hike in electric power costs from the TVA of which a large portion of is due to the lack of enough cheaper and environmentally friendly hydroelectric power.
The last thing we need to do in the Smokies is have to buy more dirty power produced by coal which is already acidifying our creeks, streams and rivers seriously effecting the higher altitude aquatic environments and choking our air with life and plant damaging ozone. Global Warming? Oh yea that too!
Add to all of this the pressure of municipalities and homeowners to maintain enough drinking and household water and you can see why were are all singing in the rain these past few days even though our beloved tourists may not be so happy as to spend more time indoors as they wanted.
A week or so of rain is not going to get us out of the woods with our drought but it sure will help.
The plus side is now with a nice cool snap we can have some stunning fall colors and since we are getting some much needed moisture the colors may last a little longer rather than a quick flame out. We are hoping that the 2008 fall leaf season peak will run from mid October to mid November and we are already starting to get sporadic changes in mid elevations of around 2,000 feet.
Another nice bonus to the rain is our waterfalls will be at their best instead of the measly trickles we have seen the last few weeks. Rainbow Falls in North Carolina was almost dry and even Mouse Falls in Big Creek pictured on the right was running lighter than normal when this photo was taken last week.
The Cades Cove 11 mile Loop Road that circles the valley floor of Cades Cove in the Great Smoky Mountains national park sees more than a million drivers a year who get to enjoy beautiful vistas, numerous wildlife and historic buildings with peak traffic occurring in the months of September, October and November.
The 11 mile Cades Cove Loop Road is a single lane paved road which only allows 1 way traffic, but has 2 gravel roads bisecting the loop: Sparks Lane and Hyatt Lane one of which Spark Lane which will be closed on September 2nd and if all goes well reopened on October 8th. During the time the road is closed to construction, hikers and bikers are prohibited from entering the road.
The road is being closed to allowed replacement of existing concrete enclosed steel culverts to larger capacity concrete box culverts to carry the flow of both Rowans Branch and Cooper Branch underneath Sparks Lane.
The larger capacity culverts being installed in Spark Lanes will reduce washouts from large rainstorms and runoffs as well as allowing fish in both the Cooper Branch and Rowans Branch to more easily move up and down the creeks.
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has given a $50,000 grant toward the $194,400 project since this construction project in the Great Smoky Mountains national park will benefit the habit of the fish located in Cades Cove.
Sparks Lane commonly sees only a few dozen cars an hour during peak times using to road to either cut their trip around the Cades Cove Loop shorter or to double back to do the back end of the Cades Cove Loop again.
Although 3 separate hikers claimed that they were told by a ranger that an aggressive black bear was shot and killed near Great Smoky Mountains national park backcountry campsite 10, officials from the national park service deny the hikers accounts.
According to the park service they are still looking for a bear that caused damage to the Mt. Collins shelter but as of yet have been unsuccessful in their quest to find the problem black bear.
Backcountry campsite 10 is on the Russell Field Trail has been closed for extended time due to aggressive bear behavior. The Russell Field Trails major trailhead Anthony Creek Trail starts less than 1-1/2 miles downhill in the back end of the Cades Cove Picnic Area near the Cades Cove Campgrounds.
Unconfirmed reports came in of a black bear that was shot and killed by a national park service ranger after it acted aggressively near backcountry campsite 10 on Russell Field Trail.
3 separate hikers along the Appalachian Trail made identical claims that a National Park Service Ranger told them that a black bear started acting aggressively toward the ranger who shot and killed the bear near the backcountry campsite which has been closed for a few weeks.
If correct, this occurrence of yet another aggressive black bear in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park took place less than 2 miles from where I was personally stalked by a medium sized black bear.
While the wild boars have been more brazen than ever before in the Great Smoky Mountains national park, it unfortunately seems as though the black bear might be as well.
Even with the latest incidents people planning on coming to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park must understand that is and extremely safe place to recreate and most serious injuries or deaths are a result of car accidents and drowning.
Tick bites and yellow jacket stings should be for more of a concern for backcountry hikers and campers than an attack by a wild animal. By following basic camping and hiking safety rules you will protect the environment, the wildlife that inhabits the park and everyone in your group.
Further information and confirmation to follow.
National Park rangers shot and killed a black bear that was suspected of attacking a small child in the Roaring Fork section of the Great Smoky Mountains national park outside Gatlinburg Tennessee which was in fact the right bear based upon the necropsy performed at the University Of Tennessee College Of Veterinary Medicine.
Inside the bears stomach content part of the kids' sneaker who was attacked was found conforming the identity of the black bear. Before park officials shot the bear they had a description of the black bear by size and when they observed the bear, it exhibited unusually aggressive behavior towards them.
Black bear attacks are rare in the Great Smoky Mountains national park and are normally related to food incidents or when instigated intentionally or not by park visitors. In this case the black bear was unprovoked and there was no food present.
It's fantastic here in the Great Smoky Mountains, everything is green and lush, the days are long and warm, and the nights are cool and filled with the sounds of critters of all types and amazing as it may seem, the crowds are not here. What a great time to take a vacation in the Great Smoky Mountains!
Dropping gas prices have helped the tourism industry pick up a little here in the North Carolina and Tennessee Smoky Mountains but there are still many places you can take a break from the crowds and breath in peace and quiet and just feel the world slow down a little and life get just a little bit better.
I am fortunate that I get to spend so much time in the backcountry of the Great Smoky Mountains national park - on average 7 days a week. With all that time checking the peaks and valleys of the national park section by section I know the park well and from what I see, it has never been a better time to pack your bags and spend sometime in my favorite biosphere.
Frontcountry campgrounds in Smoky Mountains and backcountry sites in the Great Smoky Mountains national park are virtually empty, even shelters have plenty of room. The only issues with camping right now is the difficulty in finding water at some campsites and shelters because of this years drought and some bear activity has closed some backcountry campsites.
Hiking trails in some sections of the park are deserted and even in the more popular areas in the GSM national park where people hike such as along the Appalachian Trails (AT) I can go for 5 or more hours without seeing a single person.
Because it is so quiet here, I am seeing more wildlife than ever before in the same places as I have been hiking for years. Wild blueberries and blackberries are ripe and a ready for picking and even along trails you just need to reach on out for a quick snack while taking in the beauty of the park.
Drive down the parkway in Pigeon Forge Tennesseeor in the heart of Asheville NC and you will see the crowds and line are small and the parking is easy. If any summer was the time to come to the Smoky Mountains, this is the summer!
While this year's drought is causing real hardship for locals in the Smokies especially in Western North Carolina and there doesn't appear to be a break in sight, it does mean great weather in the Smokies for those looking to enjoy the great outdoors.
A further bonus of this year's wet spring and now dry cool summer is that the fall colors in the Smoky Mountains which start in September and run through October and end around late November are predicted by experts to be better than normal. A quick cool snap in the next few weeks will push them over the top.
Local businesses are looking to make up for a slow start to the tourist season - so can you say "bargain"?
What are you waiting for? What aren't you here? If you see me on the trails be sure to say hi!
Being attacked by a black bear while hiking or camping in the Great Smoky Mountains national park has never been a fear that I have had even though I spend on an average day more than 8 hours deep in the Backcountry of the GSMNP with no one else around.
Monday's black bear attack on a small child in the Great Smoky Mountains national park did have me thinking while I was hiking from Lead Cove near Cades Cove up to the Appalachian Trail and down Eagle Creek Trail and back a 20 plus mile hiking trip. Besides a group of 5 teenagers near the AT I saw only one other person in the whole 10-1/2 hours I was in the woods.
Blackberries and blueberries are ripe for picking in the higher altitudes and made for an excellent snack after lunch and late in the afternoon. Blackberries and blueberries are both sought out and eaten by black bear so I was alert to their potential presence as well as the potential for snakes in the higher brush. I did in fact find a snake hiding in the brush near the Spence Field Shelter but there were no black bear to be seen.
On the final stretch back to my car on the last quarter of the Lead Cove Trail a little adventure was thrown my way. Being tired form hiking so long and working my way down hill with the aid of my walking sticks as dusk was setting in I had no interest in photographing an more birds, flowers and insects, I just wanted to get home.
While I normally am very quiet when walking in the woods I must have sounded like a herd of buffalo. I was paying more attention to the trail so I would not trip over any rocks than what was high in the trees - a mistake.
While rounding a blind curve I could see that the trail was clear but missed the fact that less than 40 feet from me a mother and her 2 cubs were up in a tree to my right. A loud grunt and the sight and sound of the 2 of them scrambling down the tree and into the ravine startled me and woke me up to the fact I had better pay more attention.
2 turns on the trail later I saw and heard a black bear in the distance to the right of me. He looked large but not full grown and ran further down the trail ahead and crossed in front of me and went up a hill to the left of me.
As I continued downhill his movement matched mine about 200 feet away from me. When I stopped he (or she) did as well and when I turned to walk back up the trail the was a black bear on the trail 50 or 60 feet away from me who got startled and ran into the brush. I turned around and headed back down the trail even though the bear to my left keep following me crashing through the brush.
Another 200 yards down the trail the bar decided to come towards me crossing the stream and towards the trail. At this point I put my emergency whistle in my mouth had pulled my tripod out of my large pack which I decided to leave on and extended it to be a defensive weapon and picked up some large rocks and started banging them together as he came up the creek bed onto the trail. The bear turned to me look startled and fled to my right climbing the hill and watching me behind brush. As I continued downhill I keep looking behind myself to watch the bear which finally lost interest and stayed up in the brush.
While I was not scared, I was concerned and followed the black bear safety rules understanding I could not outrun or outclimb and attacking black bear. If the other bear was not behind me, I would have not gone downhill towards the bear that was tracking me but would have exited the trail taking the Finely Cane Trail back to my car.
A black bear attacked and injured a child in the Roaring Fork area of the Great Smoky Mountains national park just outside the city of Gatlinburg Tennessee yesterday evening.
Evan Pala the 8 year old child who was attacked by the black bear is from Boca Raton Florida was about 1,000 feet north of playing along Le Conte Creek where it has been reported the child was attacked twice by what was probably a 55 pound yearling male black bear.
Evan Pala sustained puncture wounds along with non-life-threatening cuts and scratches and the boys father John Pala also sustained some minor injuries himself while he was driving the Black bear away from his child with sticks and rocks.
The injured child and his father were both transported to Fort Sanders Sevier Medical Center in Sevierville TN by a Gatlinburg Ambulance for treatment.
Great Smoky Mountain national park rangers found a bear that matched the father's description that was acting aggressively toward them so they shot and killed the black bear which has been transported to the University of Tennessee Veterinary Medical Center where it can be determined if this is the bear that attacked the child.
Black bear attacks in the Great Smoky Mountain National park are extremely rare although black bear encounters happen every day on the park. Though I travel extensively on the front country and backcountry of the park, other than on the Cades Cove Loop I seem to have the most bear encounters on average in the Roaring Fork Area.
To reduce your chance for an unpleasant bear encounter or attack by a black bear in the Great Smoky Mountains national park it is a good idea to follow black bear safety rules.
Ready for some exciting and educational summer fun in the Great Smoky Mountains national park? Well this Friday and Saturday August 1st and 2nd you can be wading on a stream in the Great Smoky Mountains national park alongside a biologist from the University of Arkansas Dr. Andrea Radwell to discover the glory of the biodiversity of the Smokies.
This exciting chance for you to explore the Smoky Mountains will take place from 10 am to 3 pm at the Twin Creeks Science and Education Center in the Roaring Fork section of the Great Smoky Mountains national park next to Gatlinburg Tennessee.
Bring some waders, boots or an old pair of sneakers and prepare to get down and dirty and a little wet while you learn about stream sampling while you search for water mites, other invertebrates including gooey and interesting things in the streams which you will get the chance to study up close for yourself.
Can't wait like me to do this? IF so RSVP Heather MacCulloch at Discover Life in America if you'd like to participate in the Water Mite Workshop by calling (865) 430-4756 or emailing: Heather MacCulloch at Discover Life in America.
A small child from Coweta county Georgia was injured in the Great Smoky Mountains national park early this evening with injures serious enough to require that the child be transferred from a Gatlinburg Tennessee ambulance in the Sugarlands Visitor Center to a UT Lifestar helicopter for air transport to the hospital.
An unconfirmed source told us that the injuries occurred in or around a camp fire causing the child to be burned in the Elkmont Campgrounds.
Fortunately from what we saw the child was breathing on its own seemed quite calm when being transferred from the Ambulance to the waiting helicopter.
Due to last nights storm you can expect that there can be downed trees in the Great Smoky Mountains national park and the surrounding area. There may be possible closures of some of the hiking trails and roads in and around the GSMNP so drive carefully and hike or ride horses with the understanding that a trail may be impassable and you may have to return the way you hiked in.
The past week air quality issues caused health warnings in the Great Smoky Mountains region and the Great Smoky Mountains National Park due to elevated ozone levels.
The air pollution levels were so high in the Smokies, that it I was concerned for my own health and was unable to hike my normal 10 -15 miles a day in the GSMNP for 2 days in the past week. Even though I am extremely healthy, I did not want to exert myself and excessively expose my lungs to the irritating and damaging effect of the ozone.
The cart below shows actual readings taken from within the Great Smoky Mountains national park near the Cades Cove, Townsend and Maryville area at the Look Rock weather observatory.
Click on the chart above to see a full size image.
The photo below was taken on Sunday at the Hemphill Bald in the Cataloochee section of the Great Smoky Mountains national park near Maggie Valley North Carolina. You can see the excessive unhealthy haze created by the air pollution that not only causes poor visibility, but is a health risk especially to the young, old or unhealthy.
Not only is the ozone level in the Great Smoky Mountains increased due to the coal burning power plants, the sulfur dioxide pouring into the atmosphere is also acidifying the Great Smoky Mountains. The acid rain is affecting the plants and animals that inhabit the Great Smoky Mountains national park and it slowing killing the fish and other amphibians in the higher elevations and working it way down to the valleys.
As we will come to depend more and more on electricity for power, the level of dangerous pollutants in the air will increase further damaging the delicate balance in one the world's most important biosphere: The Great Smoky Mountains National Park unless drastic measures are taken.
The summer days are long and the weather is awesome here in the Smoky Mountains and right now throughput the Great Smoky Mountains national park ripe blueberries and blackberries can be found in the lower elevations and they are working their way up.
Visitors to the Great Smoky Mountains national park are allowed to pick fruits and berries for their own personal consumption. You are not allowed to pick plants, or harvest Smoky Mountains delicacies such as ramps or Ginseng as picking these plants is not only illegal it reduces its already precarious population within the park.
Black berries should be picked when all dark and slightly soft for the best flavor. Blackberries has varying degrees of thorns so be careful picking berries and please only take what you will immediately consume and don't damage or cut the plant.
Since the berries are ripening, be careful that bear who also loves these summer treats are not close by and that if you are walking into tall grass or weeds you don't steep on either a copperhead or rattlesnake which can be hiding in the undergrowth.
If you did go into brush make sure that you check yourself for ticks as ticks are in season on the Smoky Mountains.
A ride in the field at the Oconaluftee Outdoor Farm Museum by the Oconaluftee Visitor's center at the Cherokee entrance of the Great Smoky Mountains national park went horribly wrong when the driver somehow ended up in a drainage canal.
An occupant on the back seat of the car had injuries serious enough to require being airlifted by helicopter to a nearby hospital while another occupant of the car was taken by ambulance to a hospital.
Luckily no other cars or bystanders were injured in this completely avoidable accident and traffic flowed smoothly on Newfound Gap road even though there were almost a dozen park, rescue and police vehicles and flat bed tow trucks at the scene which gave officers a change to use brand new forensic Nikon equipment to investigate and document the accident.
The driving of cars or any other motor vehicles off of designated roads and in fields is prohibited in the Great Smoky Mountains national park and presumably the driver of the vehicle has been issued a citation for at least this offense.
A code orange air quality alert for increased ground level ozone has been issues for the following counties/areas in Tennessee Smoky Mountains:
This warning is mostly directed persons who are extra sensitive and they may experience health effects from the high ozone levels. The general public should not be effected by may wish to restrict heavy exertion outdoors and limit exposure.
The Great Smoky Mountains national park is predicted to have moderate air quality today but is expected to deteriorate to "unhealthy for sensitive groups" tomorrow in both North Carolina and Tennessee.
The Unto These Hills drama will honor fallen heroes in special presentation this July 4th with some of the proceeds of the ticket helping the family of NC State Trooper Shawn Blanton who was tragically killed in the line of duty this year.
The salute to veterans will start at 7:00 pm and will include a special presentation recognizing our nation's veterans and local warriors by Lewis Harding, retired United States Air Force and Chairman of the Cherokee Historical Association Board of Trustees. After the presentation the "Unto These Hills" show choir will perform a musical tribute.
The Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians fought bravely in both world wars, the Korean War and the Vietnam War. Since the First World War more than 47,000 Cherokee have served their country in times of war. Cherokee Civilians have helped as well during times of war by manufacturing war supplies and the purchase of war bonds.
Young and old will love the Unto These Hills drama about the history of Cherokee people which then starts a 7:00 pm. This outdoor drama has been seen and loved by the millions who have seen this spectacular outdoor drama that has been running continuously for 59 years!
The Unto These Hills drama runs only during the summer months Monday through Saturday starting this year in June and ending on August 30th. There is always a preshow at 7pm and the main even begins at 7:30 pm.
Reserved seating is only $20 for adults and $10 for youth. For General Admission adults tickets are $18 and for children from 6 -13 the price is $8. Children under 5 admitted free with a paying adult.
Special discounts for Unto These Hills are available for groups and you can get a 20% discount of you purchase ticket packages to two or more events and attractions. Call (800)438-1601 for further discount information.
The Native American Pow Wow in Cherokee North Carolina will entrain visitors with pounding drums, traditional Native American chants, Native American costumes and plenty of fancy footwork.
Visitors to the Cherokee Pow Wow this July 4th, 5th and 6th both young and old will have a great time watching the best native American Indian dancers from tribes near and far competing for cash prizes and bragging rights to be the best dancer or drummer in each category.
Visitors to the Cherokee Indian Pow Wow will also find native American Crafts and products and booths selling various food.
The Pow Wow will be held in the Cherokee fairgrounds and the gates open Friday July 4th at 5 pm, Saturday July 5th at 10 am and Sunday July 6th at 10 am.
The dancers and drummers will make the grand entrances on Friday at 7 pm, Saturday at 1pm and 7 pm and Sunday the final grand entrance will be at 1 pm.
The following are the dancing and drumming categories and the corresponding prizes:
Women Indian Dancers ages 18-49Elk have been extinct in the Tennessee and North Carolina Smoky Mountains for more than 100 years, but thanks to private funding Elk have been reintroduced in the Great Smoky Mountain national park in 2001.
These majestic animals were reintroduced into the Cataloochee section of the Great Smoky Mountain national park in North Carolina near Maggie Valley, but since Elk don't understand park boundaries they have wandered out of the safety of Cataloochee's valleys and fields and have spread into other areas of North Carolina and Tennessee.
Elk can commonly be seen along the roadside near the construction area on Big Cove Road in Cherokee North Carolina and north of the Blue Ridge Parkway along the side of the road on 441 Newfound Gap Road by the Oconaluftee visitor center in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.
I have been told that the elk have now been spotted as far away as the Greenbrier section of the Great Smoky Mountains national park a short walking distance from the city limits of Gatlinburg Tennessee.
Elk are very large unpredictable wild animals that can easily seriously injure or kill someone without warning. Elk have no concept of park borders nor do they understand that foolish people walking up close to them with young children are offering no real threat to these wild animals, they just want to take a picture of them.
This picture above shows 2 adults walking within 50 feet of an elk lying down in the grass off Newfound Gap Road yesterday. This is the time of year when young elk calves have been just been born and are commonly hidden in grass away from predators. If there is an elk calf in the grass near this bull elk, anyone approaching the young calve could have been killed.
Since this Elk is a male and the calves are generally in the Cataloochee valleys and hills chances are there are no calves in the grass near Newfound Gap Road but these visitors had no idea of the elks habit.
The wife of the man on the left was excusing her husbands illegal and extremely foolish behavior claiming there are no posted warnings. When she was advised by me of the danger her children and her husband are in and the fact that her husband can be fined, she never asked her husband or children to back away from the Elk. She also told me what he was doing was ok because the park rangers who just arrived did not tell her husband what he was doing was wrong.
There were in fact no park rangers there but a male and female park volunteer than just got off work at the Oconaluftee Visitor Center. They just stood there at the roadside and watched as people walked down off the roadside and went into the field to approach the wild animal.
When showing this and other photographs which clearly showed how close these park visitors were to the Elk to the volunteer he seemed disinterested.
As the traffic situation for the elk jam was getting worse I asked the park volunteer to radio or call in order to get an enforcement officer to the scene to protect the park visitors from their foolish behavior and work on keeping traffic flowing. He begrudgingly complied.
The Great Smoky Mountains national park Elk population has more than doubled since their reintroduction and unless better management practice are put in place and people behave responsibly - people with get injured if not die as a result of a man versus elk encounter.
It is time that the public and the park service wake up. The elk do belong in the park - this was their territory, and we as guests of the national park must behave in a personally responsible manor to protect ourselves for our own and the elks safety.
As for Elk outside of the park, this will become a more serious issue as time goes on and there will be elk versus traffic and elk versus human encounters increase along with the elk population expansion.
The area that the elk were to be introduced in needed to be set up as to safely contain the elk via physical barriers and the lack of such barriers will bite the National Park Service in the butt when the wrongful death and wrongful injury lawsuits start to occur.
I hike a lot in the Great Smoky Mountains national park - on average at least 10 -15 miles a day 7 days a week - year round so I am used to dealing with wildlife big and small. I have noticed that this year there seems to be more ticks in the backcountry of the Great Smoky Mountains than I have ever had to deal with before.
Though I have not found one on myself in more than a week I have removed 9 ticks from my skin and clothing this year after hiking in the Great Smoky Mountains national park. My previous record year was 6 where 3 of which were on the same pants leg in one day so obviously there is a higher concentration of ticks this year in the Smokies - or I must taste much better to them!
The ticks I picked up while hiking this year were from all over the place: Beard Cane Trail in Abrams Creek, Newton Bald Trail near Deep Creek, Grape ridge trail in Greenbrier, Hen Wallow Falls in Cosby, the field by Hyatt Lane in Cades Cove, Little Greenbrier Trail near Wears Valley, 20 mile loop trail in Twenty Mile, Hyatt Ridge in Straight Fork and one from my trunk where I keep my hiking shoes.
Every night when I get home I am sure to check myself for ticks, however all of the ticks I found on myself I found either in the field or in one case in my car while driving. While it is suggested to always wear long pants tucked into boots (some people even duct tape the pants legs), I usually wear light colored khaki shorts and long socks and look down at my legs often while hiking or check myself after going through high grass or brush.
Ticks - not black bears scare me. I moved from the northeast almost 20 years ago as Lyme's disease ran rampant up there. Lyme's disease which is spread by deer ticks kept me from camping and enjoying the great outdoors after watching fellow camper and hikers get deathly ill or disabled from the disease.
Unfortunately here in the Smokies we have a high instance of Rocky Mountain spotted fever which is spread by ticks. The key to reduce your risk is avoid areas that may contain ticks, use insect repellent, wear light colored clothing - long sleeves and long pants do help, and find and remove ticks as quickly as possible.
While there are old wives tales about tick removal, the only sure way is with the help of good tweezers. With the tweezers you can grab the head and remove the whole tick so the head does not break off and stay embedded in the skin.
You should wash the skin around the tick with an antiseptic and save the tick by placing it into a Zip loc bag and if possible freezing it with a date on the bag. If you get ill, bring the tick to the doctor or hospital so they can determine if the illness came from the tick by culturing the tick and what illness it was carrying.
The good news is that most people hiking or camping in the Great Smoky Mountains national park will never see a tick. Ticks are usually only very active in warmer weather.
Though the trolleys from the Sugarlands Visitor Center to the Elkmont firefly show are no longer running, visitors to the Great Smoky Mountains park can sill enjoy the synchronized firefly show on their own.
Natures light show will begin as soon as it get dark and the sooner you came to enjoy the show the better as it may go on for another week or.
Related Smokies Fireflies News Stories
Today and tomorrow are the last 2 days you can catch and keep as many Rainbow Trout no matter the size in the Tremont section of the Great Smoky Mountains national park.
In order for the national park service along with the help of funding by Friends of the Smokies to restore the native Brook Trout species back into the Tremont Tennessee section of the Great Smoky Mountains national park, the Rainbow Trout must be removed. What Rainbow Trout that don't get removed will be poisoned in September.
The first day of the fish out anglers brought home more than 110 fish. As of last count mid afternoon yesterday, less than 460 fish in total have been caught during the whole fish out. This number could have been considerably higher if more fisherman showed up to take advantage of the fish out rather than fishing in other sections of the Great Smoky Mountains national park.
Here are the complete details for the Great Smoky Mountains national park Rainbow Trout removal in Tremont.
Expect longer delays during weekdays on the Spur - the road connecting Gatlinburg with Pigeon Forge with a shortcut that takes you into the Great Smoky Mountains national park.
Now that the construction has moved into the milling and paving phase so the road may be resurfaced during weekdays 1 lane will be closed in each direction which will cause some significant delays.
These next few weeks will be trying especially for those in a rush. Driving above the posted speed with the road surfaces being uneven is not only risking an accident with other car and construction workers, except some enhanced speed limit enforcement and hefty fines for speeders on the Spur.
Going to see the fireflies in the Elkmont area of the Great Smoky Mountains national park along with more than 1,050 other people waiting to watch the lighting bugs in the woods and fields all flash at the same time was a huge disappointment.
The shuttle service where you ride in a trolley for $1 round trip that picks you up in the Sugarlands visitor center parking lot starting at 6:00 pm and takes you right to the area in Elkmont where the firefly beetles perform nature's finest light show ran smoothly.
The area in Elkmont along the Little River in the GSMNP where the lightning bugs flash their lights to attract mates is one of the nicest areas of the park - large trees, heavy growth, huge moss covered boulders and a roaring river with many little waterfalls and pools as the river meanders along the hiking path.
The people who came to watch the fireflies - even the kids - were all courteous and well behaved and everyone seemed to be having a great time sitting in folding chairs, hiking on the trail, picnicking and playing with their kids.
When the firefly bugs really starting kicking in their light show at around 9:30 pm even people who saw it before were dazzled by the display of synchronized lights, random flashes and short periods of darkness.
Here is the huge disappointment: digital pictures and movies can not capture this awesome display! I tried everything and second time I came to see the fireflies I just tried to find the words to describe the beauty of the firefly show and it just can't be done! What a huge disappointment.
Besides this major disappointment I had to suffer, I had a great time both nights and will be sure to come out again this season to see the synchronized firefly beetles in Elkmont.
Related Smokies News Stories
Related Smokies Fireflies News Stories
