Hiking the Oscar Blevins trail

This week I'm off on Sunday-Monday because we have training starting on Tuesday. I finally went on another hike! I waited a while to leave this morning, because it looked like it might rain again, but the gray sky got brighter, even though it was still cloudy. Which meant it stayed fairly cool, even though it was quite humid.

I hiked the Oscar Blevins Farm Loop Trail, which is about 3.7 miles around. It starts at the Bandy Creek Campground trailhead, so it didn’t take long to get there! I went around it clockwise, as recommended in the hiking book we keep at the VC, and it worked out really well.

One of the first things I saw after I started out was a box turtle, trundling his way along the trail ahead of me! I’m afraid I disrupted his travel – I stopped, he stopped… I got a little closer to take  a picture, he ducked partway inside his shell… I went on past him, and looked back to see him booking it for the side of the trail. "So much for the easy route!" he seemed to say!

The accusing stare

They're really a lot more alert these days!

Getting crowded!

Over the moon

I finally saw my first luna moth here! People kept saying they'd be around, but this one was on the ground just outside the visitor center door, so I got a good look.

I didn't want it to get stepped on, so I got a piece of paper and sort of nudged it underneath the moth. Then I went and set the paper on the railing. It was just clinging to the paper and quivering. Since the wings looked a little banged up, I wasn't sure if it was going to be able to fly.

I did not realize at the time that I was capturing the shadow of those feathery antennae. Amazing!

I went to use the restroom since I was out there, and when I got back the moth had flown.

They're getting big! Fully feathered, and for once their eyes were open!

Checking out the Chimney Rocks

Yesterday I was bummed because it was supposed to rain, so I skipped my hike. Then it was sunny most of the day.

Today I needed to go back to town for a few things I forgot, and I went for a drive first. I'd been meaning to check out Station Camp Road, which is along the way to town. It goes north and ends at the river, at Station Camp Crossing. It's a horse camp, where people can camp with their horses when they come to ride on the trails in the park.

I figured it would be a scenic drive, and useful to know what the road was like... And I had happened to see online somewhere that there were some interesting rock formations near the end of the road.

Station Camp road is even more twisty and winding than any of the roads I’ve been on so far – a real roller coaster road, where driving 30 miles per hour feels recklessly dangerous! It’s not actually that long, but it took a while because I had to take it slow. It was a fun ride. About halfway along, it entered the park and turned to gravel, and I was even more careful. Once I passed the horse camp I started looking for the rock formations that were supposed to be near the road. I was afraid I would miss it, but there it was, right by the road! There was even a little parking area, with a sign that said "Chimney Rocks."

Offering unsolicited assistance

I had been planning to go for a hike today, but it was supposed to rain so I decided not to. I did want to do something, so before I went to town I drove over to the East Rim Overlook. Before I got there, I had to stop for a big old turtle that was by the side of the road!

New neighbors!

A few days ago I noticed there was a nest built on the front porch of the dorm! We've been seeing a little gray bird fly in and out - I am pretty sure it is an Eastern Phoebe, which according to the bird book is a sparrow look-alike (check!) that often builds in porches and under eaves (double check!)

I snapped a quick picture of mama bird when I was leaving this morning - she flew off when she saw the flash, but hung around in the tree nearby so that I was able to get a good look to identify later.

After work I brought a chair out onto the porch so I could get a close-up of the nest.

A colorful visitor

Today we were a little late in closing the visitor center, because we had to stop and get a good look at the most amazing moth! It's bright pink and yellow, and fluffy, and looks like cotton candy or something. I spotted it on the window and had to get a picture from the inside first, then go around and get one from outside - jostling for position with Miriam, who was ready with her camera as well. She had seen one of these a week or two ago and a visitor had identified it for us - Rosy Maple Moth.

I'm going to keep thinking of it as the Candy Moth.

Best of the Mountain Laurel

When I went to the East Rim Overlook to check on the mountain laurel, I found it was nearly all blooming! There were some bushes that still had a ways to go, and even some of those that were blooming had a few buds left on each cluster - but there were also a few that were just starting to go brown around the edge of the petals. I suspect this is going to be the peak of this year's bloom at the East Rim. Gorgeous!

Blue Heron Station

The last two days were set aside for training. Yesterday we drove to the Blue Heron area, which was a bit of a drive. The station was down by the river. It’s an old coal mining community that’s been partly restored/reconstructed for displays, and visitors can either drive there or ride a train. We just sat at some picnic tables outside until it was time for the train to come.

There were about nine or ten of us there for training. We were going over some of the basics of interpretation, which I’m familiar with but it’s always good to have another perspective. Then the train arrived, with a few people on it – including some families. There was a program on the mining that had been done in the area from the 1930s-1950s, which we all attended – the audience had more park employees than visitors!

After the train left again, we had lunch, then headed up a trail. It was part of the Blue Heron loop, which is several miles round trip, but our destination was the Crack in the Rocks, only about half a mile away. This wasn’t just a walk for fun, though – we were supposed to put together an interpretive guided walk! Each of us would pick a spot and have five minutes to talk about their topic of choice. I decided on the rotting log, which I’ve used in programs before.

It was a really amazing rock structure at the top of the hill! I had my camera with me but didn’t take any pictures, since I knew we’d be back on the same trail today. Of course, there was a cute little toad on the rock, and I had to get his picture since he probably wouldn’t stick around until the next day!

Today we had a lot of time to work on our program. We decided to walk out on the trail again and figure out where everyone wanted to do their talk at. There were several right before the log I had chosen, so I decided to move mine further along, so there wouldn’t be a long section of the hike without a talking point. I found a snag (standing dead tree) that we had looked at the day before. I could work with that – especially since I realized there were logs on the ground all around!

At this point I decided to head back down to the station. I didn’t really have my program figured out – I knew what I was going to talk about, but not what I was going to say!

I sat for a while working out a sort of script – writing out what I might say, just to figure out the flow of it. I was getting near the end when the train arrived, and I had a hard time concentrating after that. I did get all the basic talking points worked out, and I knew the material, so I wasn’t that worried – although a little worry is involuntary in this kind of situation.

After lunch, before the train left, we got to go climb up in the engine! The whistle was really loud from inside the car!

Best-laid plans (again...)

After all that hiking, it was nice to have a couple of days off! I took it easy yesterday – went to the movies, did my grocery shopping, etc. Today I was planning to go for a bike ride, on the Duncan Hollow road near the campground. It was nice and cool out after having rained all night. I went over there, started riding through the campground, and found I had taken the wrong loop. As I was going up a hill on the way out, I went to shift from middle gear into low “granny” gear – and nothing happened, just clicking. I got to the top and tried again, in case it would work on flat ground. Still nothing – and then the rear brake was sticking, and the wheel wouldn’t move!

I left the bike there and walked back to the car. When I got back, I fiddled with the brake a bit and got it unstuck (I’m not sure what I did, though…) The gear still wouldn’t work. I was so mad! I was all psyched up for this ride! I headed back to the house, but I stopped at the East Rim overlook. I wanted to at least do something. I suppose I could have ridden just using middle gear, but I didn’t want it to stop working and leave me stranded several miles down the road. Phooey!

The mountain laurel are starting to get very pretty!

It rained a lot last night, and some of the flowers were drooping a bit.

This strange alien creature is actually a single laurel blossom that had fallen and landed upside-down!

Hiking on the job, part 2

Today was another hiking excursion. I thought that might be the case, so I brought clothes to change into, which saved some time. This time it was me, Ben and Miriam, who was here last year.

We headed east this time, then north to Yahoo falls (pronounced yay-who) where we hiked the shorter trail to the falls. The pace was a little easier, and I was able to take a few more photos along the way. The waterfall was very pretty – it’s the highest one in Kentucky, at 113 feet, so even without a lot of water going over it’s very impressive. It’s got a huge overhang – like a whole amphitheater behind the waterfall. Of course, there are tons of rocks to walk around that have fallen at one time or another… It was a very pretty hike. Afterward we walked to the overlook, which was also very pretty – and spotted a little lizard on the rocks there!

Hiking on the job

Today I went on an unexpected excursion! I arrived at the Visitor Center and found out that Ben and Natasha (the two other new seasonal interpreters) and I were to take a park vehicle and drive out and hike some of the trails that we’re going to be telling people about, so we know what we’re talking about! We went back to the dorm first, because I was wearing my uniform and shoes not suited for hiking. I changed, and then we headed out.

Our first stop was the Twin Arches trailhead, on the western side of the park. (There are a lot of natural stone arches in this area – the rock of the plateau just happens to weather away in that manner.) This took a while to get to, especially because we very carefully drove past the rode we needed to turn down… I started to wonder when we reached the state line, and then Ben, who had the map, realized what we had done. Once we turned around it was easy to spot – it still took a while, because it is a long and winding gravel road.

There are several options for hiking at Twin Arches. We opted to take the shorter loop, since we were supposed to check out several other spots, and it was already 11:00!

It was really amazing – the trail goes across the top of one of the two arches, and then we went a bit further and climbed up to a high point that gave a spectacular view of the wooded hills all around. It did get pretty hot, out on that sandstone under the sun… it’s been unseasonably hot these last few days.

Wildflowers, Take 2

Today I went to Leatherwood Ford and walked along the Angel Falls Rapids trail, the same one Dad and I walked near the river a few days ago. I would have gone there again eventually, but I figured out that my camera batteries had been really low when I was there before, and a lot of my flower photos didn’t turn out very clear. I was hoping to retake a few of them while the flowers were still there.

A lot of them were still there, but quite a few weren’t – and some were just in the middle of wilting away. It was a lovely walk, with that late-day sunlight – and it went more quickly than it did before, because I sort of knew where to look for the flowers. (Also, there were a few mosquitoes out, which is always an incentive to keep moving… they find you when you stop!) I went a bit further than we did before, and even thought of walking to the end – but that’s a full two miles each way, and I didn’t want to run out of energy halfway back. Then I wasn’t sure if the sun went behind a cloud, or had started dropping behind the wall of the gorge – but it was definitely less bright out, and I wasn’t prepared for a night hike!

Coreopsis! This wasn't there before! Also, notice the spider that's totally photobombing this shot, hanging underneath on the right side... I did NOT know that was there at the time!

Mountain laurel

I’ve been working in the Bandy Creek Visitor Center, learning the ropes and figuring out what the usual questions are that I need to know how to answer. Today on the way home I stopped at the East Rim overlook to check on the mountain laurel. It looked about the same – mostly buds, just a couple of blossoms starting to open. The light was different, though, since it was early morning when I was there before – and the view of the gorge was, of course, spectacular!

Wildflowers

This was my day off – my “weekends” will be Monday-Tuesday usually. It was also Dad’s last day – he's planning to head back toward home, stopping at various places along the way. We had agreed to meet for a hike and a picnic before he left.

We met first at the East Rim Overlook, which is actually right near my house! A little side road takes you to a parking lot with a very short paved path to the edge of the gorge of the Big South Fork River. Dad had walked there once already, and had noticed that the woods there were full of bushes that he realized were mountain laurel, about to bloom! I was very excited about this – I’ve only seen mountain laurel one time, on a trip to North Carolina by way of the Blue Ridge Parkway when I was little.

The bushes here are only in bud – there were a few clusters of buds that were just starting to open, but most of them were only just turning pink. So that is something to look forward to – and since it’s so close to my house, on the way home in fact, it will be easy to keep checking and watch the progress of the flowers!

The view of the gorge was lovely as well! It’s amazing to see how rounded the hills are around this steep-cut gorge. It’s all a giant plateau that’s had channels worn down through the sandstone, so all the hills are the same height as you look out.

There were some bluets blooming right next to the overlook platform, mixed with a few little yellow stargrass flowers. And blueberries – green for now, but they’ll be ripe before you know it! And probably won’t last long in that area, either..

The dogwood trees are beginning to fade.

First Day

Today was my first day. I met two other seasonals who will be working at other visitor centers; this is the first time for both of them. Bill drove us to park HQ, where we had to fill out more paperwork, find out about uniforms, etc. When we got back to the visitor center, Dad was just driving by, so we pulled out in front of him and said hi. He ended up joining me for lunch, on the porch opposite the VC – there are several buildings there, a complex left over from when the Corps of Engineers was preparing to build a dam and flood the area. When it ended up being set aside as a national park instead, the buildings got transferred to the National Park Service as well.

It was really nice sitting out there – there are rocking chairs all along the porch, and it was nice and cool whenever a cloud went across the sun. As soon as the sun came out it warmed up noticeably, even in the shade! The others had gone inside to eat but came back out and joined us after a while. Before they did, we had a wildlife sighting – a little lizard ran across the top step and away along the edge of the porch!

We went back inside and spent the afternoon going over a lot of the basic general information about the park. Before I left for the day, I asked Bill to borrow a couple of flower books. I am planning to hike down at Leatherwood Ford tomorrow morning, because he had said that was a good place for flowers. I have recognized some of the flowers I’ve seen, but I know there will be some I don’t know!

Starting a new chapter in the South

I just started my new job at Big South Fork National River & Recreation Area! This will be my third summer working in the national parks as a seasonal ranger, although I did several internships in the parks a few years earlier which involved the same type of work. This is going to be a long season for me, running from the beginning of May through the end of October – a full six months! I only got here today, but I can already tell I’m going to love it.