Mountains to Sea Trail Connection
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…
MerleFest 2014
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,…
Grandfather Mountain Weather Reality Check
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…
Turtle Island Preserve Gun Maintenance Lesson
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…