October 31, 2015 Walking in Daniel Boone’s Footsteps

We woke this morning to cloudy skies and headed to the trailhead to walk thru the Cumberland Gap.

We were the first ones here:

First a little history on the Gap:

“The Appalachian Mountains have long been an obstacle in animal migration, and American westward expansion. It is reported that there are only three natural pathways through the treacherous valleys and ridges, one being the Cumberland Gap. During the last ice age, herds of animals in search of food and warmth used this passage to migrate south.

The trail became an asset to Native American groups as well, assisting them during times of war and westward migration. With time and European influence, this rustic footpath became a refined road.

During the 1600s, European hunters spread word about a notch cutting through the mountains. In 1750, physician and explorer Thomas Walker encountered this Appalachian wonder. After exploring a nearby cavern, he referred to it as “Cave Gap”. He came upon a river just north of the gap and named it “Cumberland” after the Duke of Cumberland, son of King George II. The Cumberland Gap passage was named after Walker’s Cumberland River.

In 1775, Daniel Boone and a party of woodsmen were the first to mark the Cumberland Gap trail, as they traveled from Virginia to Kentucky. After the passage gained a steady stream of settlers, the state of Kentucky was admitted into the Union. Up until 1810, the Cumberland Gap was known as “the way West”. Between the 18th and 19th centuries it served as a travel corridor for over 200,000 migrants. The Cumberland Gap remained a major route for travel and trade during the 20th century.”

The post at the start of the trailhead had this neat carving:

Since the skies looked very threatening, we decided to take the Object Lesson Road to the top (it was shorter):

This “Indian Rock” is at the intersection of the Object Lesson Road and the Wilderness Trail:

Now we are on the Wilderness Road – this was a highway until 1996:

Looking down the trail:

We are at the top of the Gap – standing where Daniel Boone once stood!:

Looking westward:

Looking eastward – Gap Cave is less than 1/2 mile from here:

Right off the top is this monument marked by D.A.R of four states – each state has a side:

We saw a sign that pointed to the “Tri-State Peak” and decided to take it.  (I had lost the trail map and was not sure how far it was so it became an adventure.)  It started out nice and easy:

We came upon this interesting site:

And then we went up and up:

To the top:

And stood at the intersection of three states – Cool!:

After hanging out for a while, we made our way down the trail:

Past this interesting tree:

Not sure what was growing up the side of them but it seemed like it was only in this area.

Pinnacle Overlook – where we were yesterday:

Instead of going down Object Lesson Road, we decided to take the Wilderness Road back to the parking lot:

Isn’t this beautiful:

Wilderness Road was blocked right after this area and a trail went off to the right.  A short walk later the trail came thru here:

Then it got narrower and narrower – we wondered if we were on a trail or an animal path:

We stopped at one point and saw a couple coming up behind us.  They thought we knew where we were going so they followed us – we had a good laugh!  We continued on the trail and eventually came back to the parking lot – what an adventure!

What a great hike!

The Cumberland Gap played a part in the Civil War so our next stop was to see one of the battery units.

Another great day!

We made our way back to the campground before the rain started – !    No campfire tonight-

Enjoy today!

 

October 20–22, 2015–Shenandoah National Park

The National Park Service has a campaign for their 2016 centennial celebration called “Find Your Park”".  Whenever I see that sign I think of Shenandoah National Park - We just LOVE this park.  It is almost like coming home – .

October 20th

We finished setting up this morning and then walked down to the Visitor Center via the Story of the Forest trail.  We talked with the rangers, picked up information, saw a movie, shopped a little and then made our way back to the campground via the paved trail.

Pictures from the trail:

There are so many deer in the park and they just stop and visit.

The bridge to the visitor center:

Interesting:

Isn’t he cute!:

In this park, we are able to get firewood in certain areas as long as the trees are down and dead. So with a map in hand, we found a great place and came home with quite a few logs.

The rest of the day we enjoyed the beautiful weather and the campfire. Our campsite:

 

October 21st

This morning we decided to go on the ranger led “Meadow Walk”.  The Big Meadows area is very unique in that it is a high mountain meadow wetlands – not found anywhere else in the world.  They have found evidence of people using the meadow for farming and hunting as far back as 8000 years ago.

When the Park was formed this meadows was over 1000 acres.  Today it is just over 100 acres.  The forest has taken over much of the land and the park service manages the meadows by doing cutting and burning.  It is divided into three areas and the area we went thru today was burned almost 5 years ago.  The bushes and trees and slowly taking over.

We started our walk at the Visitor Center:

The view of part of the meadow:

Away we go:

These exposed rocks (basalt) are over 1 million years old. 

The meadow is home to many birds, insects, and plants.  This is the reason they want to preserve this meadow instead of letting nature take its course.

Some information from the internet:

“The Big Meadows area has the highest concentration of rare plants in Shenandoah National Park. Big Meadows is also the most visible and studied wetland at SNP. Two Mafic Fens (types of wetlands) contain globally rare plant communities believed to be endemic to the Park and support eight state rare plant species. The Meadow also supports an abundance of mammals, birds, amphibians, reptiles, and insects, some of which are not found elsewhere in the Park. A state listed snake, a rare insect, and several salamander and bird species are among the animals that occupy the Big Meadows wetland areas.

One such high-value area, the Big Meadows Swamp (BMS, or Swamp), is a 20 acre wetland located between the Big Meadows Campground and Skyline drive. Officially termed a "fen", the Big Meadows Swamp (BMS) is a wetland fed by groundwater rich in calcium and iron. The nutrient rich waters of the BMS combine with other site characteristics such as the geology, elevation, and environmental conditions to form an environment that supports the extremely rare Northern Blue Ridge Mafic Fen plant community. This vegetation community contains the highest concentration of rare plants per unit area within the entire park, and is found nowhere else in the world besides Big Meadows. “

We left the meadows and walked to the Weakly Homestead where we learned all about the Weaklys and their lifestyle.

Our last stop on the walk was the area of Camp #2 of the CCC where 150 boys helped build this part of Shenandoah National Park. Overall there were six CCC camps in the park with about 150 boys each.

As we made our way back to the Visitor Center, a talk on the deer in the park was just starting.  We found ourselves a seat and learned all about the cycle of life for the deer in the park.  Very interesting. Currently there is no management program as they let nature take its course but the concern now is that the wasting disease that has hurt the deer population is closing in on the park deer.  The disease has been found 12 miles from the park so they are now tracking the range of the deer. Scary..

We had a great lunch at the Wayside near the Visitor Center then made our way back home.  I spent the rest of the afternoon trying to get caught up on the blog – I am getting really lax – sorry.  

Our Bella enjoying the outdoors:

We enjoyed another evening cooking supper over the fire and watching the flames die down as the darkness came.

October 22, 2015

I am currently at the Big Meadows Lodge getting caught up on the blog and emails and checking out our next stop while Andy is filling our water tank.  We will be here until Monday and then ????

So stay tuned and enjoy today.