Category Archives: Family Nature Summits

New Year’s Resolutions – 2015

Family Nature Summits, Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Mountains-to-Sea Trail, National Parks,

After I wrote about my 2014 outdoor world, I felt an obligation to write about my New Year’s resolution.

Now you know that the most popular resolution now is to lose weight. It’s outstripped to quit smoking. I guess that’s an improvement. To success, all the experts say that you need measurable goals. Not “try harder” but lose XX pounds.

Cypress Knees
Cypress Knees at Barataria

*  By this time next year, my Parks book will be in the publishing works.  I don’t know how it’s going to be published at this point. Heck, I don’t even have a title but I’m working on both. So, expect some blogs about my progress on both.

*  I will introduce at least five (5) people to the pleasures of hiking Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

Each time I lead a hike for Friends of the Smokies, there’s a person who’s never been on Smokies trail. It’s very satisfying to show them my park.

Anna Lee crossing Caldwell Fork - no. 5
Anna Lee crossing Caldwell Fork – no. 5

But this is going to be such an easy goal for next year. Family Nature Summits is coming to the area in 2015. There will be dozens of new Smokies hikers, especially since I’m leading hikes for them next June.

*  I will let at least five (5) people know that they’re hiking on the Mountains-to-Sea Trail and that it does indeed go to the sea. Does that sound ridiculous?

From the MST off Waterrock Knob
From the MST off Waterrock Knob

In the Western North Carolina mountains, the challenge is not to get hikers on the MST; it’s for them to know where they are.

*  Each trip down Merriman Ave. in Asheville, I will stop and let at least one person make a pesky left turn.

With six food stores within two miles on Merriman Ave, the traffic has escalated to where drivers have to take matters in their own hands. The only way to keep traffic moving is to cooperate and let drivers turn. Now the real challenge is to cooperate without getting rear ended by some impatient jerk. If I do get hit, you’ll read about it here.

What are your New Year’s resolutions?

Happy New Year. May 2015 be your best year so far.

My Outdoor World – 2014

Family Nature Summits, Hiking, National Parks, ,

A lot happened in the 2014 outdoor world. In no particular order, here are the important highlights:

*  We celebrated the 50th anniversary of the Wilderness Act. As part of the celebration, Carolina Mountain Club led several hikes in wilderness areas, including Cold Mountain.

*  We mourned the 100th anniversary of the passing of the passenger pigeon.

Cassius Cash
Cassius Cash

*  In Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Superintendent Dale Ditmanson retired. After 13 months and three acting superintendents, Cassius Cash will arrive in February, 2015.

*  Friends of the MST is putting together a quality, official guidebook of the whole trail. I wrote the Smokies section.

* Carolina Mountain Club finished a major section of the MST east of Waterrock Knob. Speaking of CMC and MST, both were named number one in the Mountain Xpress, Best of readers survey. CMC was the number one hiking club and the MST was the number one hiking trail.

Museum in Bryson City
Museum in Bryson City

*  Great Smoky Mountains Association opened a new Smokies store in Bryson City in the old Courthouse. It’s beautiful.

* Family Nature Summits announced that they’re coming to the Smokies in 2015. Yippee! Lenny and I will be hike leaders for the week. Check them out.

Personally, I visited 25 national park units on a six-week road trip from Asheville to San Francisco. But my major project is to visit all the national parks in the Southeast. This past year’s highlights include:

Camp on Selma March
Camp on Selma March

** Selma to Montgomery – Little did I know that a movie about the march would be made. It hasn’t come to Asheville yet, but I’ll be there the first week it does.

**  Horseshoe Bend National Military Park in Alabama where I couldn’t find any reference to Junaluska.

** Jean Lafitte National Historical Park and Preserve in and around New Orleans.

In 1814 we took a little trip  - Oh no, the song is going to stick in my brain again.

** and the three parks in St. Croix, the US Virgin Islands.

So what about 2015?

 

 

 

Family Nature Summits 2014 – The end for this year

Family Nature Summits

Yesterday was the last day at Family Nature Summits in Pacific Grove, California.

Some were winding down a little. Even the Blank brothers found time to play a little chess on their phone. See the picture below.

And like any good camp, the last evening was skit night.

Every group performed a song, a skit, or a little of satire. Of course, since Hannah is in the Naturalist group, the oldest group before the teens, I took a lot of pictures of her group. They wrote a song “At the Summit” using the tune from “In Summer” from Frozen.

After every one had performed, they showed a slide show of people and activities from the week. If you recognized the person, you clapped. There was lots of clapping for Hannah.

One more picture: me on a horizontal redwood tree. This was taken on the photo hike.

But all good things must come to an end. This morning, after breakfast, we all said good bye for the last time and packed our car.

We stopped at Moss Landing for one more look at sea otters and sea lions. We heard about Santa Cruz as a haven for aging hippies and headed there. What we didn’t remember is that it was July 4th and we were going to hit crowds.

We parked about a mile from the beach and walked to the boardwalk. It was an old-fashioned boardwalk with amusement rides and junk food.

Happy 4th of July everyone.

Tomorrow we fly home. My big trip is over.

—–

Family Nature Summits – Winding down??

Family Nature Summits

Is Family Nature Summits winding down? It’s the fifth day, the last day of activities but everyone is going along strongly. You can keep going from 6 am till 10:30pm and still only do a percentage of the activities.

Yesterday, I went on a hike in Big Basin State Park. We started on the beach and climbed up to the top — about 10.5 miles and 1,750 feet. We hiked through giant redwoods and even saw a waterfall, my first since I left Tennessee on this trip. In general we’re in a desert with succulents and little running water.

Trails in California state parks are well maintained. You can find a bench every now and then.

The trails are all hard-packed. Not a stone out of place. This is probably because it doesn’t rain that much and they don’t have to contend with a lot of slippery slopes. At least, that’s the impression I get, based on a few hikes.

Every evening, Lenny, Hannah and I share what we’ve done that day. Hannah’s group went tide pooling yesterday. They looked at crabs, sponges, snails and more.  Hannah comes back every day more excited about her activities. The kids had to do a little research on an beach animal. And even a Vann diagram?? Great program!

Most summitteers didn’t spend all that much time on the trails. They birded, looked at tide pools, biked and even painted. Lenny and I went to the famous Monterey aquarium.

The jelly fish were mersmerizing as they floated down the exhibit glass. It looked like a movie or a lava lamp but they were real.

Big skit night this evening. And then they announce where and when the next summit will be. After all this is summer camp.

 

 

 

 

—–