When a hiker asks me what trails they should start with in Western North Carolina, I always suggest climbing Mt. Pisgah. Not only is it a classic, but it allows you to orient yourself to the area. Mt. Pisgah is a classic and a basic hike.

From the top of Mt. Pisgah, you’ll see Cold Mountain, Looking Glass Rock, and the Frying Pan Mountain tower.

Sunday, I went on the Carolina Mountain Club half-day hike, led by Bobbi Powers. Since the climb is just 2.6 miles and 750 feet of elevation gain, Bobbi needed a couple more miles to make it a decent half-day hike. So we started and ended at Pisgah Inn. The mile from Pisgah Inn to the bottom of Mt. Pisgah must be the most manicured mile on the Mountains-to-Sea Trail in the mountains.

We went past the Buckspring Lodge site and peeked into the Spring house, just off the trail.

Some hikers call it a secret. It’s not a secret, folks. Read Walt Weber’s book Trail Profiles and maps from the Great Smokies to Mount Mitchell and Beyond and my two hiking guides.

Then we started climbing Mt. Pisgah. I had forgotten how steep and rocky the trail is.

I’ve been hiking in the Smokies for so long that I sometimes forget that most WNC trails in Pisgah National Forest and the Blue Ridge Parkway are full of rocks and roots. I have become so spoiled.

I had to stop a couple of times to take a drink and catch my breath. Since this was an afternoon hike, we were walking in the hottest part of the July day. It wasn’t easy.

Look at the picture to the left.

Now look at the quality of the Chimney Tops Trail. It’s longer and steeper but the trail quality is so good.

Of course, Chimney Tops has been completely rehabilitated with money from Trails Forever, donated by Friends of the Smokies. I wrote about this a few weeks ago.

What does it all means?

*  Mt. Pisgah is actually on Blue Ridge Parkway land. But the Parkway puts fewer resources into quality trails than the Smokies.

* When deciding on a trail, look at distance, altitude gain and terrain. The latter is the hardest information to get, but it’s important.

* Hike up to Mt. Pisgah. It’s worth the effort.

So Lenny and I went to Dupont State Forest between Brevard and Hendersonville.  The trails are wide and easy, perfect for a winter day. We didn’t leave until 10 am, so that any ice on the roads would have a chance to melt. But when we got to the Visitor Center entrance, the trail was just a sheet of ice.

The few people we saw were inching on the trail. This wasn’t good. But to my amazement, the Dupont visitor center was open. Two NC Forest Service volunteers were staffing the desk and we inched ourselves toward the building, trying not to slide down.

The Aleen Steinberg Visitor Center is small but beautiful. The exhibits are well done and so much better than the ones in most NC State Parks. The information panels are national park quality. Right now, the visitor center is only open on weekends but  it will expand its hours in the spring. It was a great 15 minutes or so, talking to the volunteers, but this wasn’t curing my cabin fever.

We drove back and went to Hard Times Road in Bent Creek. By then, it was past noon and the parking area was almost full. We hiked the “loop”, as we call it – about six miles up to the Blue Ridge Parkway, plus the distance to go up to the Arboretum visitor center.

Yes, the trails had snow but with all the runners, dog walkers and even bikers, they weren’t icy. Slush and mud were almost welcome. We climbed up the Carolina Mountain Trail –  the photo on the right – and followed a lot of footsteps.

This was a luxurious hike, since we had our lunch on the porch of the visitor center at the NC arboretum. Then we climbed up to the Mountains-to-Sea Trail and the Blue Ridge Parkway.

The MST climbed straight up from the Parkway. It was icy. I don’t think too many people are hiking the MST seriously, right now. But it’s here, waiting for hikers.

Hang in there. Spring is coming.

So what did you do today?

Every once in while, it’s good to remember that our Senators and Congressional representatives work for us. That’s why we have elections.

I got an email from the American Hiking Society, an organization that speaks for hikers and trails all over the country. They are asking you, the outdoor and trail loving public, to contact your senators and  Congressperson about the Land & Water Conservation Fund (LWCF),  now 50 years old.

Technically this shouldn’t even be an issue – LWCF dollars are derived from royalties paid by companies drilling in the Outer Continental Shelf, not from tax dollars. Unfortunately, LWCF is caught up in all the back-and-forth that goes on when working out a final budget.

As a naive voter, I ask, “How can they do that? If the money is from a specific source for a particular purpose, it should be given to land and water conservation. No argument.” It should stay out of the Congressional budget.

But obviously this isn’t how it works. Right now Congress is trying to put some final touches on the fiscal year 2015 budget. Among the many items being discussed for increases/decreases in funding is the Land and Water Conservation Fund.

So the American Hiking Society asks that you contact your Senators and your Representative. Ask them to help protect funding for some of America’s favorite trails:

1. Urge your Senators to encourage Senators Barbara Mikulski, Jack Reed, Richard Shelby, and Lisa Murkowski to hold the funding level for LWCF in the fiscal year 2015 Appropriations to $350 million in their discussions with their counterparts in the House. Let your senators know too why this is important to you – what trails you enjoy hiking, how you enjoy family time spent outdoors, etc. They need to know that real people enjoy the lands the LWCF helps protect.

2. Urge your Representative to ask Reps. Harold Rogers, Ken Calvert, Nita Lowey, and Jim Moran to accept the $350 million funding proposed for the LWCF by the Senate. Again, let them know why this is important to you personally.

If live in North Carolina, your senators are:

Kay Hagan (yes, she’s still our senator) at [email protected]

Richard Burr is at http://www.burr.senate.gov/public

If you want to know who your Congressional representative is, go to http://www.house.gov/representatives/find/

The Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) is the federal program to conserve irreplaceable lands and improve outdoor recreation opportunities throughout the nation. The program works in partnership with state and local efforts to acquire and protect inholdings and expansions in our national parks, national wildlife refuges, national forests, national trails, and BLM areas. LWCF grants to states support the acquisition and development of state and local parks and recreational facilities.

It is the purpose of the Government to protect the game on the preserve in order that here it may have a refuge and breeding ground from which to replenish the adjacent mountain regions. It is expected also to establish elk and buffalo on the game preserve in fenced enclosures announced Verne Rhoades, the first Forest Supervisor in Pisgah.

This is only one of the fascinating pieces of history that I learned after reading Pisgah National Forest: A History by Marci Spencer, just published by The History Press. Spencer starts her book before George Vanderbilt came to Asheville to build Biltmore Estate. Vanderbilt bought land from several locals, including Thomas Clingman, of Clingmans Dome fame.

From this beginning, the book elaborates on first forester Gifford Pinchot and, my favorite character, Dr. Carl A. Schenck who came from Germany to manage Vanderbilt’s forests. Schenck later started America’s first school of forestry.

No discussion of Vanderbilt’s influence is complete without talking about Bucksprings Lodge, his hunting lodge just below Mt. Pisgah. Spencer enlisted Walt Weber, an expert on Bucksprings Lodge and an active member of Carolina Mountain Club, to give her an in-depth tour of the lodge site.

But enough of the Pisgah district. Spencer writes with the same authority about the Appalachian District –Max Patch and Roan Mountains — and Grandfather District — Linville Gorge and Wilson Creek. The author walks through the human, political and natural history of Pisgah National Forest. She enlisted the help of dozens of expert historians and naturalists to make sure that her story is based on solid research.

If I have one quibble about the book, it’s that it only mentions the Mountains-to-Sea Across North Carolina twice just in passing. With over 250 miles of the MST through Pisgah, the trail might have gotten a bigger billing.

The History Press puts out beautifully illustrated books. The center of the Pisgah book displays 16 pages of color inserts. Many historic black and white pictures pepper the text. The bibliography and index are impeccable, another indication of a quality piece of work.

After retiring as a nurse practitioner, Marci earned her certificate as a North Carolina environmental educator and a Blue Ridge naturalist. She is the author of Clingmans Dome: Highest Mountain in the Great Smokies, and a soon-to-be released children’s book based on a true story, called Potluck Message Delivered: The Great Smoky Mountains are Saved! Marcia Spencer is a volunteer for the Great Smoky Mountains National Park at Clingmans Dome.

PS – What happened to those buffaloes? The experiment failed and the buffalo didn’t survive.

Book Launch
Marci Spencer will launch her book on Sunday November 16 at 3 pm at the historic Buckspring Cabin at The Ramble Biltmore Forest. The Main Entrance is on US-25/Hendersonville Road, Asheville, NC 28803 139 Valley Spring Road.

A book signing will follow the author’s discussion. George Cecil, the last George Vanderbilt descendant to own Buckspring Cabin, will speak on his grandfather’s Buckspring Lodge in Pisgah Forest and his own personal memories there.

Last week, several stories came out that the US Forest Service wasn’t going to allow anyone to take pictures in wilderness areas.

Since I hike in Shining Rock and Middle Prong Wilderness Area in Pisgah National Forest and so much of the Mountains-to-Sea Trail goes through wilderness area, I paid attention to this development. The ruling didn’t pass the smell test but I read the Facebook rants.

How could they deny you the right to take photographs and videos of your family?

Some comments didn’t understand what a Wilderness Area was. Others couldn’t tell the difference between a national forest and a national park. But they all screamed about their first amendment rights.

I looked up the rules on the US Forest Service website. It goes on and on–see the bottom of this blog post– but here’s the gist.

The Forest Service would require a permit for commercial filming, like making a movie. Still photography, even the commercial kind, wouldn’t require a permit on land where the general public can access freely. I don’t know about you but I can only go where the public can go.

Look at it another way.

What if the movie Cold Mountain had been filmed on Cold Mountain in Shining Rock Wilderness? The picture above is of the view from the top of Cold Mountain. There would have been trucks, vans, RVs, and even food trucks accessing the mountain. No one involved with the movie would have walked.

I would have let it go as Facebook hubris but yesterday (Friday September 26), NPR had a piece on this issue. It was obvious that no one had actually read the proposed ruling. Here’s a bit that I’ve lifted (yes, out of context)

Chuck Brown is an Idaho attorney who’s represented news outlets in several Western states over his 37-year career.

BROWN: All they are doing is sending out alarming language that isn’t streamlined to their goal whatsoever.

Chuck Brown sounded so self-important. I wished I could have found a picture of him on the web.

So, read the rule and go out in the wilderness to hike and photograph. After all, you have to enter the MST photo contest.

Send your comments to the US Forest Service.

Here’s the heart of the proposed rules from the Forest Service.

(a) Commercial Filming Fee.–The Secretary of the Interior and the Secretary of Agriculture (hereafter individually referred to as the “Secretary” with respect to lands under their respective jurisdiction) shall require a permit and shall establish a reasonable fee for commercial filming activities or similar projects on Federal lands administered by the Secretary. Such fee shall provide a fair return to the United States and shall be based upon the following criteria:
(1) The number of days the filming activity or similar project takes place on Federal land under the Secretary’s jurisdiction.
(2) The size of the film crew present on Federal land under the Secretary’s jurisdiction.
(3) The amount and type of equipment present.

The Secretary may include other factors in determining an appropriate fee as the Secretary deems necessary.
(b) Recovery of Costs.–The Secretary shall also collect any costs incurred as a result of filming activities or similar project, including but not limited to administrative and personnel costs. All costs recovered shall be in addition to the fee assessed in subsection (a).
(c) Still Photography.–(1) Except as provided in paragraph (2), the Secretary shall not require a permit nor assess a fee for still photography on lands administered by the Secretary if such photography takes place where members of the public are generally allowed. The Secretary may require a permit, fee, or both, if such photography takes place at other locations where members of the public are generally not allowed, or where additional administrative costs are likely.
(2) The Secretary shall require and shall establish a reasonable fee for still photography that uses models or props which are not a part of the site’s natural or cultural resources or administrative facilities.
(d) Protection of Resources.–The Secretary shall not permit any filming, still photography or other related activity if the Secretary determines–
(1) there is a likelihood of resource damage;
(2) there would be an unreasonable disruption of the public’s use and enjoyment of the site; or
(3) that the activity poses health or safety risks to the public.