8.5 mile hike from Pisgah Inn to Cradle of Forestry in America

 Tuesday June 19th a group of 8 Volunteers and Interns hiked from the Pisgah Inn on the Blue Ridge Parkway to the Cradle of Forestry in America. Starting out at 5,000 feet elevation at the Inn to about 3,200 feet at the Cradle. A wonderful 8.5 mile hike through the mountians. Here are some of the pictures that go along with the hike.

The View from Pisgah Inn

Starting out. (Bob, Jim, Lydia, Rachel, Jessica, Deanna, Dr. Charles, and myself)

There goes Deanna, Jessica, Lydia, and Jim

Hello, Mr, Snail

The Largest dandilion I have ever seen it was the size of a cantaloupe!

Photos Say a Thousand Words

Great Smoky Mountains

Next stop Maine!

Who needs a backpack I have Flip Flops!

Awesome florescent worm.

Pictures of Trail Work in the Smokey Mountains National Park

Lunch Time!

The Drive to Cherrokee NC, follow the Green Machine

First Day on the trail, lots of group time

Look at him dig he is like a super human









Our tent city!



How many people does it take to make cribbing? a lot!





Measuring for the cut!



Adding the 6 foot locust tree

My Meandering Thoughts About Volunteers

As this week comes to a close I look back on the ten weeks I have spent in North Carolina, the things I have seen and listened to and I know that this is truly preparing me for the future. I have seen a great volunteer program that could be excellent with a little work, I have seen what it takes to hold a public meeting, I have listened to what the forest should do, and I have seen what the forest is doing.

While participating in the Trails Strategy I have learned that the volunteers are the ones out there doing the work, it’s sad to say but the forests have no money for trail work or maintenance. The forest relies heavily on the work of volunteers. This past week I have had the honor to hand out 40th anniversary of the volunteer act pins. Meeting with volunteers, many who have been volunteering their whole lives, was inspirational. It made me want to look at today’s youth and figure out how to give them the volunteering bug, or even the protecting our lands bug. During this internship I hope to help the volunteer program grow in region 8. I would like to see more time spent on volunteer training and forest service face time with volunteers, as well as, the little things like uniforms and recruitment. Some areas like the Pisgah have more volunteers then they can manage, others have too few volunteers. I would like to look at these and compare them to find out what’s working, how is it working and why.

Alright on to what I sent the last week doing. Not a very exciting week but I got some things accomplished which is always good. I scheduled then rescheduled a meeting, which is fun when you are dealing with district rangers who are super busy. If you have never had the opportunity to use doodle calendars. I highly recommend it. Its doodle.com and it is used to find out when people are available. and the creator you can select different dates and times  then you send out the email and people respond, putting their name and time they are available. Then you have an organized way to see the best dates. It’s wonderful and super easy. The rest of the week I worked on adding the corrections the collaborators sent me.

Sunday was National Get Outdoors Day. We had tons of stuff at the Cradle, like rock climbing and archery, horseback riding and fly fishing. It was awesome. Had a wonderful turn out, the kids really enjoyed it. Smokey the Bear even made a few appearances, but then he got tired and had to go back to the forest to spend time with his family and help prevent wildfires. All and all it was a great time. :)

Three Weeks into Six Short Paragraphs.

Alrighty, so it has officially been 3 weeks since I have last posted. So much has happened. I finished up the map, sent out the emails, then had a nice break in which I got to go exploring. I got to put what I had seen on paper into a reality. 

 

 I got my fishing license which was awesome, then I set out in the Nantahala National Forest armed with my fishing pole and a lot of ridiculous bait. (Red worms, wax worms, salmon eggs, and power bait) I scouted out some awesome locations, pulled out my lawn chair and got to work catching me some fish... And you know what? Nothing happened. Not a bite, not a nibble, not nothing. Sad week for me, ahh well such is life.  

On Thursday the 24th I decided to drive through the Smokies to visit that area. It was very pretty. I was one of those annoying people that stopped at every overlook. I also did something super exciting: I became a "Section Hiker" on the Appalachian Trail. My two roommates, Ryan and Stephen, are both "Section Hikers". Granted, my section was 1.7 miles, and theirs was 500 miles, but we are kinda the same. Hahah! On Friday I tried fishing again, but again no luck. On Saturday 25th and Sunday 26th, I went camping and saw a bunch of waterfalls; it was nice to be out in the forest again, I got some great shots. 

On Tuesday the 29th I was at SAWS, (Southern Appalachian Wilderness Society). It’s a conference to learn about the wilderness. There were different classes like cross-cut saw training and trail construction. I was in trail construction, the first day we were in a classroom learning the do's and don'ts about how to lay out a trail. On Wednesday we got to go into the field, which was really really cool. We went to the Smokey Mountain National Park to construct a trail. Who knew so much went into laying out a trail? We spent the first full day just laying out the trail location. It was really amazing to learn all the questions you have to ask yourself: "If I do this, what will happen to that?" Then on Thursday we got to do actual work. I was doing cribbing, which is basically building a log cabin in the ground using 10-foot locust trees. It was awesome to get dirty again. I remember I love dirt, I guess it’s easy to forget something we don’t get to play with everyday. So to all you folks out there reading this in your place of business or on your home computer or on your cellphone: put down the technology and go do something you truly love. It may not be getting waist deep in a hole full of mud or hauling 200 lbs logs up an 80 degree incline, but if you love what you decide to do, it will rejuvenate you. I feel happier and lighter. That’s my advice to you. (Now I will get off my soapbox). SAWS was an amazing week. I meet amazing people dedicated to the land, dedicated to the forest and doing what they love. I only hope I can be that lucky. 

Saturday June 2 was KIDS FISH DAY, definitely one of the most memorable days of my internship, and not because the kids caught a lot of fish or because they learned something useful, but because my two roommates, Rachel and Jessica, learned so much about life. I took them fishing after the kids left. It was the first time either one had been fishing. Not only did they catch a bunch of trout, I taught them how to kill and gut them. By the end of the day they had caught, killed, and gutted two trout apiece, which if you count the ones I caught and gutted brought the total to 9. We brought them home and had a wonderful meal of fresh caught trout, baked potatoes, steamed asparagus, roasted almonds, and caramelized onions. It was wonderful! What a great way to finish off two amazing weeks. 

Sunday we went to Skinny Dip Falls, (and no we didn’t skinny dip, get your minds out of the gutter.) It was another fall to cross off my list. I’m doing pretty well. 

And Monday was back to the office, a little tanner and a lot happier.  Staring out the window, day dreaming about the next time I will get to play outside. So if you could all do me a huge favor: go outside and do something fun, then send me a picture with a short description of what you are doing and whom you are with. I will compile them and post them on here. And we can live vicariously through each other. :)