In the fall of 2004 Jim Smoak graciously invited several men from St. Paul's Church to join him for a week's vacation in August, 2005, at his cabin on the Snake River near Jackson Hole, WY. In addition to eating, sleeping, beer drinking and tall-tale swapping, we hope to get in some fishing and trail hiking in the adjacent, dramatic, magnificent Grand Teton National Park. Toward mid-July, 2005, most of us desk jockeys became aware of the sedentary nature of our life styles. Compared to the lung busting, feet pounding hikes around 10,000 feet coming up in the near future, we felt ' how can I say this? ' inadequate.
Some where near the middle of our fair state, just north of Asheboro, is an old rock quarry converted to a scuba diving resort called Blue Stone. On a cloudy Saturday in late July, 2005, the Wilkes County 2004 Hurricane Dive team trekked there. This is the crew whose first open water training dive, to get our scuba licenses, was planned for Key Largo, FL, in August, 2004. That trip was postponed four times (count 'em - 4) by serial hurricanes.
Date: Friday, July 15, 2005, 3 p.m.
Subject: Bonaire DVD Press Release
By: Paul 'Hollywood' Anderson, videographer, producer and director
The much anticipated DVD of Paul Anderson's production of Bonaire, An Adventure on Land and Sea will soon be available. According to inside sources, problems encountered in production, attributed primarily to user error (the nut behind the wheel) are being resolved'finally! The studio is now projecting a release date of July 22, 2005.
The cold was penetrating when I entered the woods. The temperature had been down in the teens the night before. There was ice in the creek. After hiking up the ridge awhile, my body temperature became effusive. Soon the heat over came the cold, and I shed several layers of clothes. I continued up the trail in bright sunshine under blue bird skies.
On Saturday February 1, 2014, the weather was cold and clear. I returned to the Widows Creek Trail in Stone Mountain State Park. My goal today was to take the north fork of the trail that is the Mountains to Sea Trail. This fork of the trail runs from Widows Creek almost straight north to the Devils Garden Overlook on the Blue Ridge Parkway.
On Sunday, February 2, 2014, in the mountains, the weather was still cold and clear. I went to the Blue Ridge Parkway to attempt to reach the Devils Garden Overlook. I was trying to hike the upper portion of the Mountains to Sea Trail and connect with the lower portion of the same trail that I had hiked from the bottom just the day before. Unfortunately, parts of the Parkway were covered with ice and the Rangers had closed some of the barricades. I could not get to Devils Garden Overlook, so I stopped at Doughton Park and hiked the Bluff Mountain Trail, starting at Alligator Back Cliff.
Eustace Conway's Turtle Island Preserve is staffed by interns, who enter a contract and work for 14 months in return for teachings and experiences in the natural ways of doing things. One of TIP's current interns is Brian from Connecticut. Besides being adept at nearly everything mechanical, he is a gunsmith.
The location was Grandfather Mountain. The date was April 19, 2014, just a week before MerleFest when Wilkes Community College will be full of people running around in short pants and tank tops. The weather report was for intermittent rain and temperatures in the 50's. When I got to Calloway Peak, the trail was covered with ice, the wind was spitting snow and I was suffering from mild hypothermia.
Every year Wilkes Community College hosts MerleFest, one of the biggest and reputedly the best bluegrass music festival in the USA. There are several dozen stages playing for four days. The show was founded 27 years ago in honor of the legendary flat picking guitarist and mellow vocalist Doc Watson, and his recently deceased son and band mate Merle. I have been supervising the Kiwanis food booth, selling Philly cheese steak sandwiches and apple desserts, for 17 years. I love the energy and excitement and am happy to do the work in exchange for a four day pass to the show.
This past February 1, 2014, I hiked the Mountains to Sea Trail in Stone Mountain Park, attempting to link the Widows Creek Trail with the Blue Ridge Parkway. Due to short daylight hours, a long steep trail and icy conditions, I did not make it to the top. I turned around about the northern Stone Mountain Park boundary. Today, May 3, 2014, I started hiking at Devils Garden Overlook on the Parkway and followed the Mountains to Sea Trail into Stone Mountain Park. Success! I linked up the trails about 3 miles from the Parkway.