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I've had a pleasant week of hiking in the Smokies with backcountry camping even
though the views have been somewhat ordinary as the trees lose the last of their leaves. My destination
this trip was in the eastern portion of the park (North Carolina side) in an area known as Cataloochee and The Balsams.
My
most interesting (afterwards, afterwards!) "encounter" of the hiking trip was a night when a bear decided the best acorn cache
in the entire forest was located about 12 inches from the edge of my tent. This particular event occurred about 2 am
and after the bear crunched on a few mouthfuls of acorns I decided to make a little racket of my own and the bear graciously
elected to wander down the slope for quieter surroundings. I didn't realize how close the bear was until the morning
dawned and as I was breaking camp I found three or four spots cleared in the leaves complete with partially eaten acorns--literally
about 12" from where my head was laying in the tent! I'm confident I wasn't the object of the bear's browsing but let
me tell you that you've not had the hair come up on the back of your neck until you experience the sound of a bear crushing
a mouthful of acorns about one foot from your ear!
I saw 20 or 30 wild turkey.
No elk were sighted although
I was in the area where they were released last winter and I had fully expected to sight them. Shucks.
The
dry weather here is worrisome--wildfires are starting to become a problem. I'm somewhat reluctant to do any serious
(remote/off-trail) backcountry hiking because of the risk of wildfires.
More migratory birds were sighted this
week too: Ruby-crowned and Golden-crowned Kinglets treated me to a fine show during my hiking. They are so gullible
when it comes to responding to "shushing" sounds (along with chickadees, titmouse, juncos and nuthatches!). The Kinglets
are so tiny--you realize how small they are when you see one beside a chickadee and the chickadee looks about 3 times bigger.
I'm in the final stages of planning my cold weather excursions (escapes) and will let you in on the details
as they develop. So far I've had a hard time getting in the mood for any travel away from home--the warm weather keeps
me happy. Probably about mid-January during an ice storm I'll decide I should have planned to be somewhere warmer
and will find all my favorites destinations are booked. I have yet to make an inquiry (in warmer climes) for December
lodging that has returned as booked--it seems everyplace has lots of open space. All of America seems to be sticking
close to home.
Al
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