goin down where the people say ''y'all''

3/2/2011

Low 26, High 46.

Bonjour! All the snow's gone! You have to look around for small patches of it now. Time off was very good, Got to see some good live music, Taste new beers, Eat ethnic foods, Backpack, go on some long runs, and watch a thunderstorm. I had a nice time in the Pisgah with great weather, We were near the Shining Rock Area. A few of these pictures are from there, Can you tell which ones?

I hiked up Trillium from the Rainbow Falls parking lot yesterday. The first time i've hiked in shorts and was able to take a nap on trail in the sun in quiet some time, even got a little burnt :). I'll save pictures from trillium for tomorrow.

I've got only 7 more nights up here, it's gone by very quickly.
I believe y'all have kept the blog going with advice while I was gone haha, 50 comments! This week I'll be cleaning up my space, packing up, and trying not to make too big of a mess for the crew to clean up when I take off.

The trails seem pretty much back to normal, except that there are still plenty of trees fallen on trails, and some icy spots in the shade. I counted 10 downed trees and 2 rocks slides on Trillium.

There is rain in the forecast all this upcoming weekend.

I'll be figuring out this week how I will be updating you all about my trip starting in a few weeks, any suggestions?

Galen

3/2/2011 12:35:12 am

Welcome back Alex. Glad to hear you had an enjoyable time off. Maybe the easiest way for you to keep us all up to date with your travels would be to just send a comment to this website. I have enjoyed your pics and all the comments from others this winter. But since i prefer the warm weather i'm looking forward to Allyson's pics as the mountain comes alive this spring.
I'll be coming up in May for an overnight stay but hope to do a day hike sooner. Enjoy your last week up top and hope to see you back again soon.

Kathy

3/2/2011 12:58:34 am

Glad to see you back Alex. Hard to believe you're almost done with the "winter watch". Have fun on your trip this summer. Thank you for all the pictures and updates over the winter. This is the first place I go every morning.

Cola

3/2/2011 01:08:02 am

I believe the third photo shows Sam's Knob on the left horizon with I guess Big Butt to it's right and on down the line would have Reinhardt and then Richland Balsam. Maybe taken from Shining Rock? You can look back from those ridges and peaks towards the area you are in taking this photo and see Shining Rock doing just that (shining!) clearly in the distance which is always for me a little surprising but comforting too in a way... like there's my old friend Shining Rock wayyyyy over there.

3/2/2011 01:16:21 am

Did you hike the Art Lobe trail? It's been a great winter, wishing you the best in the furture!

Tony

3/2/2011 01:37:27 am

Maybe a facebook account? You could post comments, pics and receive comments there.
50 comments...can you tell you were missed?

Wanda

3/2/2011 02:32:14 am

Welcome back Alex. Sad to see you go but I know you will enjoy your new adventures.
Please keep in touch with the "LeConteites" and however you decide to blog just let us know.
We will be glad to hear from Allyson again, but March 9th will come too soon. This blog has been a great mental boost this year with all the bad weather we've had!
You cannot be replaced, and I hope you can come back next year.
Wanda

larry

3/2/2011 03:51:13 am

It's been a real pleasure sharing your Winter! Thank you and keep us posted!

VAL

3/2/2011 04:26:33 am

I REALLY HAVE ENJOYED THE BLOG THIS PAST WINTER AND ALEX, PLEASE KEEP US POSTED ON YOUR NEXT ADVENTURE

Rachel

3/2/2011 04:43:05 am

Yes, Alex, you will be missed. But, looking on the bright side, Allyson is like looking forward to the next season up top!

Facebook is an excellent idea!

Juanita

3/2/2011 04:57:59 am

Oh goody Alex is back! I recognize those pictures from Shining Rock. I will be walking there soon enough when we leave Coral Gables to spend the summer in Asheville. I go to Shining Rock a few times each summer (not bad for a 72 year old woman with a new hip and two knee replacements). I can't wait to make my first trip to LeConte this summer. I was wondering though, if I may encounter a bear? We have them get into our birdfeeder all the time in Asheville, but they are not tame. I hope the bears in the Smokies might be more tame so I can get close enough for a picture or even share some of my lunch. I've heard they like candy! Can someone with experience let me know how tame they are?

t hutton

3/2/2011 05:10:33 am

Bears love pic-a-nic baskets

Kathy F

3/2/2011 05:25:00 am

I enjoy seeing the bears at dusk when my husband and I drive Roaring Fork Motor Trail. Of course I like seeing them from my car. I don't get out to get closer! I'm happy just seeing them from a distance or seeing them cross the road on the way to Alum Cave Trail in the morning of a hike to Mt. LeConte. We have had to stop our car to let bears cross the road on NFG Road.

3/2/2011 05:28:21 am

Juanita,
The bears are wild animals. View any bears from a distance and don't approach them. Never feed them anything. The safest thing for a bear is to keep it wild and not to have it rely on humans.
I have only hiked up to LeConte eleven times. Ten of those by way of Alum Cave. I have never seen a bear on the trail but have talked to others that have. Have a safe hike.

3/2/2011 05:30:01 am

Welcome back Alex!!! You and this blog have been my "happy place" all winter here in KY. I have had a great time reading everybody's post and seeing all your great pics!! I have learned alot about hiking to Leconte from this blog.
I have spent alot of time at the hospital with my mother-in-law this past winter (RIP Maw Pickel) and I couldn't wait to get home every day to look at this blog and dream about being in the Smoky's!!!
Thank's to everyone who made this blog happen this winter!!! I am looking forward to Allyson's pics and updates!

Pat N.

3/2/2011 05:43:45 am

Sounds like you had a great time while off the mountain. Enjoy your last week just as we have enjoyed your posts.

3/2/2011 05:51:51 am

Oh dear. Galen are you sure? We throw slices of bread off of the deck into the backyard whenever the bears are there and they seem to enjoy it so. Sometimes we will rub bacon fat on beer cans and throw them into the backyard too! You should see those beers biting those cans and drinking beer! it surely is entertaining, but I don't want to do anything wrong or that might hurt the bears.

Rod

3/2/2011 05:59:49 am

Wow Alex, I can't believe how quick the time has come for you to leave already. It feels like you just came on recently.

I highly suggest setting up a blogspot.com account over a Facebook account, since not everyone has (nor wants) a Facebook account to view your entries.

3/2/2011 06:06:19 am

I agree with Rod. I use a blogspot.com account and its pretty good. Not sure how many photos you can upload in a day, however.

Yogi

3/2/2011 06:19:43 am

Juanita, can you give directions to your deck? Me and Boob would like to try some of that bacon flavored beer.

3/2/2011 06:28:56 am

Oh Yogi you are funny. Ever since my third husband had his second heart attack, we don't eat very much bacon and we both quit smoking cigarettes. Ah, the old lifestyle was very nice, but we are healthier since then. My cardiologist says there is no reason I should not go for LeConte!

James workman

3/2/2011 06:35:06 am

Great pics as usual, booking a trip forOctober now!!!!!!! and will do a dayhike within the next month if i have to do it alone!!! see you guys up there!! when is the helicopter drop!!

Roger

3/2/2011 06:35:33 am

Alex, you have aquired quite a following. You embark on cool adventure, have interesting hobbies, take great photos and communicate well. Why not start your own blog? I for one would be a regular.

rebecca

3/2/2011 07:02:04 am

Alex....is back in the building....great! We will all enjoy a few more days of his high altitude banter.

James

3/2/2011 08:44:39 am

From the National Park website regarding the bears: The laws protecting park wildlife are contained in the Code of Federal Regulations. It states that “Willfully approaching within 50 yards (150 feet), or any distance that disturbs or displaces bear or elk is prohibited." In addition, feeding, touching, teasing, frightening, or intentionally disturbing wildlife is prohibited.

May want to keep that in mind. They are wild animals, and making them dependant on humans only places them and others in danger.

sandee link

3/2/2011 08:53:26 am

Juanti....please don't feed the bears!

Alex....I don't know what to reccommend but whatever you end up doing I hope to get the link for it. I can't wait to see what pictures and adventures you have in Europe!

Dana P

3/2/2011 08:58:13 am

Juanita,
PLEASE don't feed the bears and you risk receiving a federal fine if you are caught feeding or harassing the bears within the Park boundaries. And I will warn you, if you do this in Cades Cove and my sister catches you...all I could do is pray for you!!! This type of behavior on humans causes bears to become "panhandlers" or nuisance bears often resulting in the bear loosing it's natural fear of humans. If the bear becomes a PROBLEM in a certain area it will be captured and released somewhere else. Because of their strong homing instinct it is not unusual for the bear to return to it's original area...this can lead to the bear being "destroyed"...all because people want to get close to one. Get between a mother and her cubs...and GOD help you!
PLEASE ENJOY THEM AT A DISTANCE!!! They are NOT Yogi and BooBoo!

3/2/2011 09:05:09 am

Juanita,
I pray that you are just pulling all our legs with the questions/comments about the bears!

Phil

3/2/2011 09:48:11 am

I have greatly enjoyed spending my Indiana winter reading this blog. I hike to LeConte every fall as a day trip, but am planning on staying in the shelter this year. Alex, thank you and the following is a pretty good site to blog about your adventure this summer. Happy trails.

http://trailjournals.com/

3/2/2011 10:25:56 am

Dear me, I had no idea this was such a serious proposition. I will definitely stay well clear of bears in the Smokies. Thank you all for your helpful advise. I do not have any experience or knowledge in these matters (we don't have any wild bears in Florida) and I am grateful for your direction. Thank you once again.

kelly

3/2/2011 10:27:34 am

Just also wanted to take a moment, agree with Dana P., and remind everyone about the incident on the Laurel Falls Trail last year. A hiker approached a bear, was injured, and the bear put down as a result of the hiker's wish for a photograph. I have camped and hiked in the Smokies for the better part of 50 years, I learned very early to enjoy the bears at a great distance. Please don't endanger your life or the bear's.

Marilyn

3/2/2011 11:17:27 am

I agree with everyone about the bears...give them their territory and keep them alive and yourself safe! Also agree on having blog on something other than Facebook. I don't have acct nor do I want one but would love being able to read about your European travels, Alex, on one of the other two sites mentioned. Wish you safe, adventurous and exciting days as you travel overseas. Have enjoyed immensely your pics and words of wisdom this winter. Would be helpful for all of us in the States if when you decide what site to use for a blog, you post it on this site so we can follow your footsteps overseas. Bon Voyage!

Allyson, look forward to your return and view from the top again! Looking forward to personally meeting you come September.

Ernest Lancaster

3/2/2011 03:20:33 pm

Juanita,
When you feed a wild bear in the Smokies, you sign its death warrant. They lose their fear of humans and seek them out.
There are plenty of yahoos in this area who love to eat bear meat. If they don’t poach them out of the national park (and a lot of bears are lost to poaching), then in the autumn when bear season opens in the adjacent Nantahala and Cherokee National Forests, the habituated bears are the first to die (a bear’s range can be up to 60 miles in a day).
Last Labor Day weekend, three buddies and I canoed from the Cable Cove boat ramp just east of Fontana Dam to the Proctor backcountry campsite #86. We camped a couple of nights, and a black bear that looked to be about two-years-old hung around the campsite and even followed us on the bank when we went fishing in Fontana Lake. Obviously, someone had fed him. He was a cute little bugger, and we named him Boo-Boo.
We never fed him, and we could run him off by clapping our hands or yelling at him. But he always returned peeking from behind some boulder.
At the end of October, I camped at the Cable Cove campground in the same area to hike to Shuckstack tower. One morning I awoke to gunfire. A couple of the aforementioned yahoos were firing at evidently what they thought was a bear too close to my campsite for comfort. They finally went on.
It was about a week into bear season, and I realized then, that Boo-Boo was probably already in someone’s freezer.
And for the safety of the likes of me, that’s probably a good thing. A few years ago I hiked alone in October on the Turkey Pen Ridge Trail. There was a good mast that year, and lots of big acorns littered the trail. As I approached a rise, I heard shuffling. I thought it was a deer. But was I ever surprised to find a bear I like to describe as maybe a little bigger than my pickup truck. He did what bears are supposed to do and ran away. However, he ran to a ledge where he had no place to go. They say don’t run from a bear because you’ll trigger his hunting instincts. So all I could do was hike past him as he stood staring about ten yards downhill from me. I’m glad he wasn’t a full-grown Boo-Boo expecting a meal. Had he chosen me for the menu, all I could have done was offered him salt and pepper. Fortunately, after I passed him, he came back onto the trail and went the other direction.
Let me add another anecdote: A very few years back, a hunter bagged a huge bear around the Top o’ World community which is below the Foothills Parkway. The bear was so big that the Daily Times featured an article on his kill. Turns out it was a neighborhood pet that people had fattened up for the hunter just like your peanut butter beer bear.
The regulations for bear hunting aren’t very sporting. Hunters set loose hound dogs with collars with radio transmitters to sniff out bears and chase them up trees. Then they follow the radio signals and shoot the bears out of the trees, like shooting fish in a barrel.
I jokingly call the local hunters yahoos, but they call bears food. I’ll have to admit, MANY years ago I was treated to a black bear sandwich. And it was delicious.
So I’m not passing judgment on people who have hunted bears for food for generations. I’m simply saying if you feed a wild bear in this neck of the woods, do so with your eyes wide open to the fact that you are dramatically shortening the bear’s life. And you are also endangering the lives of hikers.

3/2/2011 09:49:57 pm

Thank you for your advise Ernest. I feel like such a foolish old woman. I had not considered the seriousness of feeding bears.

Denise

3/2/2011 11:53:20 pm

Great post Ernest.

Anne

3/3/2011 12:32:11 am

Juanita, I do live in Fl and we do have wild bears. Because of new construction throughout the state, bears are losing their natural habitat and starting to become a nuisance because of people feeding them. These bears are just like Smokey Mt bears. They are wild!

3/3/2011 08:03:47 am

Juanita, beer is not considered "food" so are we still shakin' for that bacon?

Janice

3/3/2011 11:40:41 am

Please blog but give us you blog site so we can follow your next adventure. I am still following last years winter caretaker and love his blog.

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goin down where the people say ''y'all''

LeConte Lodge

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