Walking to the Smoky Mountains, Day 4
Walking to the Smoky Mountains, Day 4, June 1 Garland Gap to Blue Ridge 15.4 miles (plus hitch into town) In the last 4 or 5 miles of a long bicycle ride, my friend Greg would note our increase in speed and say “smelling the barn.” Like Greg’s proverbial horse, I was smelling the barn […]
Walking to the Smoky Mountains, Day 3
Walking to the Smoky Mountain, Day 3, May 31 Wallalah Mountain to Garland Gap 13.8 miles I’m walking this trail with the Guthook app on my phone. Guthook (Atlas Guides) has emerged as the premier navigation app for long-distance trails. All the data is downloaded prior to hiking so the phone can be in airplane […]
Walking to the Smoky Mountains, Day 2
Walking to the Smoky Mountains, Day 2, May 30 Three Forks to Wallalah Mountain 14.3 miles Even though Three Forks was full of Memorial Day campers, I found a tent site at some distance from the crowd, and, after sleeping in— enjoying my trusty old ZPacks tent (it has been pitched on every continent except […]
Walking to the Smoky Mountains, Day 1
Walking to the Smoky Mountains Day 1, May 29 Day 1 Amicalola Visitors Center to Three Forks 15.1 miles (Approach Trail, then 6.1 on BMT) Walt Whitman opens his “Song of the Open Road” with enthusiasm that is hard to match: Afoot and light-hearted I take to the open road, Healthy, free, the world before […]
A Conspiracy of Trees
A Conspiracy of Trees I want to revisit a forest walk— maybe this one near Lake St. Clair in Tasmania (the trek that prompts this essay) or ridge-top nothofagus in New Zealand’s Tararuas, or the old, twisted orchards that surrounded my boyhood home— to think about empiricism, specifically “radical empiricism,” and the problem of representation […]
The Lee Shore
The Lee Shore Once hiking up the Tongariro Crossing from the north just after I cleared the tree (and lahar) line, I stepped headfirst into a gale. The storm had been threatening as I ascended the lower section, but it unleashed on gaining the open ground. No visibility and winds that literally blew me off […]
Rectify
Rectify A healthy eucalyptus/nothofagus rainforest swallows you completely. Old growth eucalyptus trees easily measure 6’ diameters and tower out of sight with the beech serving as understory. Most striking though are the downed trunks of giants matted with moss, ferns, and other epiphytes building new soil and providing habitat for countless organisms. The air is […]
In Tasmania Day 23
In Tasmania Day 23 Lake St Clair to Launceston Woke early and on stepping out of my bunkhouse room I encountered a wombat— he just stared at me for a bit, then shuffled off. On my last day in the bush I finally see the animal responsible for all that scat I’ve been dodging on […]
In Tasmania Day 22
In Tasmania Day 22 Narcissus Hut to Lake St Clair 17.5 km Early up as a fellow trekker was banging about the hut cooking area. Pulled all my stuff together and took off before 7. It was a quant day— 17.5 km and wanted to arrive in time for lunch before (hoping to) catch the […]