Our hike to Catawba Falls was supposed to be short and simple. Catawba Falls, near Old Fort, is the headwaters of the Catawba River which offers water to many cities in North Carolina.

The first falls is easy to get to; the second one is difficult - you have to use a rope to get up there and then it's steep from there on.

Today's mission was to find an easier way to get up to the second falls. If any one could find it, it would be super bushwhacker, Dave Wetmore. Catawba Falls is now fully part of the Pisgah National Forest, Grandfather District.

When we parked at the end of the road, Margaret, the woman who lives in the last house, came out with a beautiful black lab. She told us that Spot - that was his name - leads hikers to the falls. Now if you've been following my hiking adventures, you know that I don't like dogs on trails. Most dogs are out of control, jump on strangers and bark without cause.

But Spot, now that was a hiker's dream dog. He is going to redeem me and turn me into a dog lover.

Dave accepted some snacks for Spot from Margaret and off we went on the trail. Spot just walked ahead, scampered back and forth and enjoyed the water. No barking, no jumping on me with wet paws.

The first falls are very easy to get to - about one flat mile. See the picture to the right of the first falls.

The second falls are another matter. First you have to climb up a steep incline, so steep that someone has put up a serious rope to get up there.

Then we climbed up hand over hand up a sidehill. We missed a left turn somehow and went way higher than the falls. I went up on my hands and knees and came down on my butt and ate a lot of dirt. But we didn't give up.

On the way down, we found the proper turn and got to the upper falls where we had lunch. Spot looked at us with a sad expression - give me some of your lunch, it said. That's when I took his picture. This was the only time he stopped moving. Finally I convinced Dave to give Spot some of his snacks. 

We used the rope to climb down. See Dave coming down.

When we arrived back to the car, we found two U.S. Forest Service trucks and four employees getting out. They were surveying how they were going to build a larger visitor parking area. Margaret told them that on nice summer weekends, over 40 visitors try to park across from her house. She knew that the new parking lot was going to save her grass from being trampled on but she was wistful about losing all those visitors. Now she knows when hikers comes by and she invites them to take Spot. Once the new parking lot is built, she'll lose all contact. Maybe we ought to give her a volunteer uniform and have her rove the trail.

And for the easier way up to the second falls? No way. This is a very rocky, spot area and there's no other obvious path up there.   

Thanksgiving weekend seems to be trail maintenance time. Yesterday Lenny and I worked on our Appalachian Trail section from Devils Fork Gap to Rice Gap. Today, I helped him on his section of the Mountains-to-Sea Trail - Big Ridge Overlook MP 403.6. to Beaverdam parking area MP 401.7. Both days were cold, especially since we were over 4,000 ft.

Lenny's section is only two miles; it should be easy, peasy. Usually it is.

But right now, the Blue Ridge Parkway is closed from MP 405 NC 151 to MP 399. There was a rock slide over a year ago and this section has been closed on and off since then. So what is a maintainer to do? Walk the road, of course.

We parked to Elk Pen Gap (MP 405) and walked on the road Parkway south until the start of Lenny's MST section. We were carrying clippers, lopper, a hand saw and a shovel -  the latter to clean out waterbars.

Walking in the middle of the road with no traffic is eery. We had the overlooks and the yellow lines all to ourselves. I took pictures of each overlook but the trees all looked bare out there.

We walked through the tunnels with no fear of getting hit. Ordinarily, walking through a tunnel is very dangerous because cars don't expect pedestrians. And it's dark.

But today, we waltzed through. I sang with my echo. I also noticed lights on the ceiling of the tunnel. Maybe they were motion sensors but I've never had the opportunity to study a Parkway tunnel up close.

Coming back on the Parkway, we were stopped by a U.S. government car. He wanted to make sure that we were not  in trouble. After we told him about maintaining the MST, we asked him for a ride but his truck was full of equipment. He confessed that he wanted to also ensure that we weren't picking ginseng with that shovel. No, just cleaning out waterbars.

It's good to have those trail maintenance chores behind us until March. Now if we could just rake our yard as efficiently.

Becoming Odyssa by Jennifer Pharr Davis, Beaufort Books, 2010 $24.95

In western North Carolina, Jennifer Davis is like a movie star.

She holds the women's record for the fastest completion of the Appalachian Trail - 57 days which means an average more than 38 miles a day. Let's think about this - that's running more than a marathon day after day. She was supported by her husband (bless him).

But her book is about her first hike in 2005 which she did in a conventional manner. She carried all her gear but still hiked quickly enough to finish in four months.

After finishing Stanford University as a Classics major, she was independent for the first time  and hiking the A.T. was her job. It was not a way to run away from anything.

Davis does not sweeten the A.T. experience. Her shoulders ache, her calves burn after a long climb, her stomach growls She is in great shape but her feet are her nemesis - after a while they bleed and ooze pus. She gets hit by lightning and she discovers something shocking on the trail - I don't want to spoil it for the reader. But her answer is always to keep walking. Her mantra is Every step I take is closer to Maine.

She writes well - you can tell that she had a good liberal arts education - but she only writes about what she sees and thinks. So don't expect any history or larger cultural context of the A.T. A recommended read. 

The Transylvania County Commissioners will hold a public hearing today (Nov. 22) at 7 p.m. to consider submitting a letter to the NC Wildlife Resources Commission expressing County support for saving an 8,000 acre tract of the Headwaters of the East Fork of the French Broad River.

The hearing will be held at the Transylvania County Courthouse on 7 East Main St. in Brevard.

The Conservation Fund is considering purchasing the tract to add to the North Carolina Game Lands. But it depends on it being managed by the Wildlife Resources Commission. The NC Wildlife Resource Commission passed a resolution on Nov. 4 expressing support for managing the East Fork Headwaters as NC Gamelands. However, the funding is still a problem.

There will be presentations by staff from Carolina Mountain Land Conservancy and Wildlife Resources Commission - and us, the public.

For more details, see the Headwaters website.

Starting with 495.8 miles, 82,150 ft. ascent

Blowing Rock to Bamboo Gap

6.5 miles, 600 ft. ascent

What are we still doing in Blowing Rock?

Sharon and I need to finish 6.5 miles of the Mountains-to-Sea Trail from Blowing Rock to Bamboo Gap. This is the section that we should have done on Tuesday but not in the fog and rain. This is the section we should have done last month but we needed to hike around Doughton Park before the Blue Ridge Parkway closed in that area. So here we are, trying to fill in a puzzle.

We drop my car at Bamboo Gap, drive back to the US 321/221 entrance of the Parkway and start walking on the road. In less than 15 minutes, we see a dead deer on the road. Another deer just looks plaintively on the side of the Parkway. Maybe that's its mother. We're in hunting season and also mating season and deer cross the road without looking both ways.

The deer must have been hit very recently since we didn't see it on the way down. We're very close to Blowing Rock and people use this section of the Parkway to commute to work.

A few minutes later, a park ranger comes down, grabs all four legs and drops it on the side of the road. That's when I run over to photograph it.  What did you expect, a funeral?

We cross the Parkway numerous times to make sure that cars can see us. You're supposed to walk against traffic but that rule doesn't always make sense. We want to be on the outside of a curve, not inside where a vehicle can't see us.

We stop at every overlook and take picture after picture of the mountain scenery.

Walking the road is not dull. You get to see things close up that you never see when you're speeding down in a vehicle, like a mowing tractor left by the Parkway crew. How could I resist climbing it?

Now that we finished this small section, we are done with the Blue Ridge Parkway - a major milestone worth celebrating.

I go down to Kojays Cafe and have a cappucino. Then I go into Tucker's on Main, the bookstore and introduce myself to the new owners. They buy three copies of Hiking North Carolina's Blue Ridge Heritage.

A good day all around and a great way to celebrate a milestone.

Cumulative after Day 43, 502.3 miles, 82,750 ft. ascent

Starting with Day 41, 481.1 miles, 79,750 ft. ascent

Jeffress Park to NC 16

14.7 miles, 2,400 ft. ascent

What a difference from yesterday!

We wake up to dry, clear, and windy weather. "B" can't hike with us because he has several functions that he needs to attend starting at 11 A.M. So he takes us back to the Parkway, but not before showing us Wilkes Community College where he spent 36 years, retiring as VP of Development.

He also takes us to the W. Kerr Scott Dam and Reservoir. The Corps of Engineer dammed the Yadkin River in 1960. Now it's also used for fishing, camping, and swimming. A trail has been built as part of the Overmountain Victory Trail. When I write up the Victory Trail for National Parks Traveler, I'll walk this section.

This is the beauty of doing the trail in pieces. I've learned so much about the area around the trail. The OVT pops up every place but usually in short sections. This section is the longest piece of trail I know of in the area.

"B" puts us on the MST at about 8:30. We have no instructions or map. I had taken a picture of a sign board that Jim Hallsey put up at the dedication last month which showed rough mileages to several attractions.

We depend on white circular blazes and wooden signs going into the woods called bollard. The trail does not disappoint us - it's perfect. Jim Hallsey and his crew did a great job of building the South Ashe section of trail.

In less than two miles, we pass Jesse Brown's cabin and a second tiny cabin which was a weather shelter for the Cool Spring Baptist Church. The preaching was mostly done under a shade tree by a circuit rider.

The Guide to the Blue Ridge Parkway by Victoria Logue et al explains that  the cabin itself was built by Brown prior to 1840. Originally located about 0.5 mile up the hollow from its present position, the cabin was later moved to Tompkins Knob Overlook, then once again to its present position in 1905 to bring it closer to its water source.

Our first stop is the Cascades Picnic area at Jeffress Park. "B" had told us not to miss the Cascades just past the bathrooms in the picnic area. Well, not quite a few hundred feet. In Walking the Blue Ridge, Leonard Atkins writes that the Cascade Loop is 0.9 mile, which agrees with my GPS. We walk down first to an upper viewing platform, then a lower one. It's a lovely cascade, worth the extra walking.

We're cold when the trail comes out into an open pasture and warm in the woods. The trail comes close to private land and a fancy deer stand. Yes, it's hunting season and we're wearing our orange vests. Bullets and deer don't know the difference between the Parkway and private land.

We walk on a back road past Blue Ridge Baptist Church and its cemetery which always reminds me of walking in England. The whole day with its open pastures, churches, small roads and even a motel is just like England. OK - so the Park Vista Motel and restaurant looked closed permanently.

Close to MP 264.4, the MST is on the left side of the Parkway and we're in danger of walking right past The Lump. We find a rock tied up with ribbon with a note wedged under the rock. The note says "Danny and Sharon" and on the inside, it says to bushwhack down to the Parkway, cross the road and not to miss The Lump and signed by "B". How sweet of him. We dub it "the lump note". But where did he get all that ribbon?

We do exactly as he says. The Lump Overlook has the story of Tom Dula, made famous by the Kingston Trio.

"Poor boy you're going to die".

But it's a true story which happened right here in Wilkes County. You can go to Wilkesboro and see the jail where Dula stayed.

At the overlook, there's a break in the fence and a trail to an open pasture, a small Max Patch. We climb to the top and a great view. Sharon learns that I was a big Sound of Music fan and makes me twirl around like Julie Andrews. I don't have the long peasant dress but I turn with the wind. I see Pilot Mountain and Stone Mountain - they're very distinctive. Hanging Rock is not as distinctive but the panorama is amazing.

Coming down, we meet an older couple and encourage them to climb. They have the A.T. and MST mixed up but we straighten them out. I give them one of my cards which explains what we're doing.

At the overlook, there was no sign that said that you could climb up to the top. The break in the fence was not obvious. The trail could have been a social herd path. We're supposed to encourage the public to get out of their cars and walk, yet we don't give them the information.

After The Lump, it's only supposed to be about three miles but the trail seems to go on forever. We cross the Parkway, up and down and this trail will not end. But of course, it does and we head back down toward Wilkesboro.

"B" had asked us to give him a call when we were finished. He wanted to take us up to a viewpoint at Camp Harrison, a YMCA camp close to his home. He was instrumental in starting up this camp and it's his pride and joy.

We've already walked almost 15 miles. Sharon decides that she is wiped out and the shower beckons her. But I persevere. I meet "B" at the camp and we climb to the viewpoint - another mile roundtrip.

It's getting dark and "B" runs up to somehow hold off the sunset. I run after him and reach the viewing platform only a couple of minutes after him. This is the Ruth and Billy Graham Overlook, where we look down on the camp lake and chapel. Grandfather Mountain is partly hidden by clouds but the panorama is awesome.

When we got back to the Townes' home, Sharon is in the kitchen enjoying her glass of wine after a shower.

Who is this woman and what resort is she staying in? 

Cumulative after Day 42, 495.8 miles, 82,150 ft. ascent

Starting with 469.1 miles, 77,350 ft. ascent

Bamboo Gap to Jeffress Park

12 miles, 2,400 ft. ascent

Section hiking requires a lot of planning. For a few days of hiking on the Mountains-to-Sea Trail, I have to clear my calendar, coordinate with Sharon, my hiking partner, pack, decide where to stay and then actually go. There's no legal camping on the Blue Ridge Parkway, so we either car camp, stay with friends or a motel.

The bottom line is that we can't worry about the weather.

On this stretch, we were lucky to be able to stay with "B" Townes, a Friends of the MST board member. He wanted to hike with us this past Tuesday. So the three of us met on  the US 321/221 entrance of the Parkway.

We were going to walk about 6.5 miles on the road but the fog was so thick that it was dangerous. Walking on the road is not that safe to start with but with the fog and rain, it would have been fool hardy.

So we started from Bamboo Gap at the western end of the 25-mile section that was just dedicated. It was wet and windy but not that cold in the woods. We hoped that the blazes were good because we didn't have Scot Ward's instructions. He wrote his book before this section was dedicated.

Someone had written an informal narrative of the Watauga County section of trail and I got a copy at the MST dedication. but it was difficult to follow. With the rain, the sheets of paper were turning to mush.

The trail kept returning to the Parkway and crossing it numerous times. At one point, the instructions has us passing Grandview Overlook. It sounded grand, but with the fog, we barely saw the pull-off to the Overlook, never mind the view. We only saw one group, two brothers on recumbent bikes.

In the woods, we didn't stop much because we were uncomfortable.

We noticed the spittlebug foam. It looks just like it sounds - spit on tree bark. "B" is a hunter so he showed us the deer scraping. I guess we didn't see the section at its best.

We had the luxury of three cars. "B" had left his car at US 421 just in case we needed to bail out but we ended up at the entrance of Jeffress Park - two miles into the South Ashe County section - cold, wet but feeling good.

Cumulative after Day 41, 481.1 miles, 79,750 ft. ascent

From Fort Matanzas south of St. Augustine, we went to St. Augustine and its national monument.

Castillo de San Marcos is a child's dream come true. The castle has a moat, thick walls, courtyard and lots of rooms to explore. And firing cannons.

The Castillo (the castle of St. Marcos) was built by the Spanish to protect their interest in Florida. This fort was built of coquina, limestone of shells and sand. It was their tenth fort; the others were built out of wood and didn't survive. But with this material, the enemies' cannonballs just bounced off the walls. They started building this fort in 1672 and didn't finish until 1695. It is star shaped which is difficult to see from the ground but that means there are no blind spots when sentries patrolled on the roof.

The Fort was never conquered. It withstood all attacks. Still, it went from the Spanish to the British in 1763 at the end of the French and Indian Wars. Another treaty returned Florida and therefore the fort back to Spain in 1783. But by now, Spain couldn't really control its territory and in 1821 ceded Florida to the U.S. Lots more history occurs there - see the website for details - until it becomes a National Monument in 1924.

Castillo de San Marcos is in the center of St. Augustine, just outside the walled part of the city. You can check out the rooms, see a movie, go to a ranger talk. And you can watch volunteers dressed as Spanish military fire a cannon.

Because I was a volunteer in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, I noted that the park volunteer who roved at Castillo de San Marcos didn't have to wear the heavy buttoned-down shirts like I have to. She had a polo shirt and a sun hat with a wide brim instead of a ball cap - much cooler.

Quite by accident, Garrison Keillor and his Prairie Home Companion show were in St. Augustine on Saturday evening. We listened to some of the program driving home today (Sunday). He didn't focus on the historic significance of the city, just the condos around the town. He was funny!

European settlement of the United State did not start with Jamestown (1607) or Plymouth Rock (1620). The Spanish created the oldest continuously occupied city of St. Augustine in 1565.

But of course, the Spanish were not the only ones who wanted this garden spot. The French had established a fort further north at Fort Caroline. They attacked the Spanish in St. Augustine and were wiped out in a few weeks. The word Mantazas means slaughter in Spanish.

The Spanish realized how vulnerable they were and built Fort Matanzas on the Matanzas River in 1740-1742 to protect St. Augustine. The fort became a national monument in 1924.

Lenny and I visited Fort Matanzas National Monument located 15 miles south of St. Augustine. We took a ferry (all of five minutes) to explore the fort. You could go up to the top with a well-secured ladder. Here I am going down.

The Fort is intimately connected with Castillo de San Marcos, a major fort in the center of St. Augustine. More about this national monument in my next post. 

Lenny and I are in Miami to visit his mother. But we took a day off to see another national park - Biscayne National Park.

Only an hour south of crowded, noisy Miami is this underwater park. Biscayne NP is blue - blue water and blue skies. And even in November, it is hot. We arrived at the visitor center just as it opened. We had made reservations weeks ago to take a boat ride to Boca Chica Key but now it seemed like our trip was in jeopardy. The concession that runs the boat trip wants a minimum of eight people and so far only had four. Not a good start.

I stifled a desire to ask "What is there to do around here?". Instead we saw the movie promising us birds, turtles, manatees and more. But it was just a movie; I wanted to see the real thing.

They were able to get eight people so we were off - 15 minutes late. If the National Park Service ran it, things would start on time. But here in tropical Miami, things are casual. Why doesn't the Park Service run these boats? The answer is that private enterprise can run it cheaper but it's not the same experience. The first mate charged with giving us a talk did a superficial job.

The ride to Boca Chica took almost an hour. We saw herons, egrets, cormorants and brown pelicans on the way.

The island is very small. We walked the one 0.5 mile trail through the mangrove and saw plenty of black vultures close up. If we had rented a canoe and paddled ourselves, we could have gone through the mangrove swamp and gotten a more up close and personal look at the vegetation.

We climbed the lighthouse to see blue waters as far as the eye could see. The Miami and Miami Beach skylines were also visible. So were the beginning of the Florida Keys - Boca Chita being one of them.

I realize that without water skills we were at a disadvantage at Biscayne National Park. It's like coming to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park and saying "I don't hike". But I'm glad we came. It certainly was a different park. 

Cumberland Island National Seashore, in southeast Georgia, is one of many National Park Service units that I've been wanting to see for a long time. And today I finally made it.

You can't just decide to go to Cumberland on the fly. It's an island so you need reservations on a ferry. The ferry goes out of St. Mary, a small town almost on the Georgia/Florida border.

We took the ferry and were greeted by a ranger, Ginger, who gave a tour of the southern end of the island from Dungeness Dock.

The island is managed as a wilderness, though there are still 23 families that live on it. On the rest of the island are the remains of a lavish style of the Carnegies during the Guilded Age. Thomas Carnegie, younger brother of the more famous Andrew, and his wife built a "cottage", a large home on the Southern tip of the island. The building burned in 1916 but the ruins remain.

And then there are the horses, also remains of all the inhabitants. The horses are not managed but run free and mostly graze quietly. We also saw an armadillo. I've never seen one except in a zoo.

So what is there to do on Cumberland? You can hike on very flat trails, rent a bike to go to the northern part of the island, beach comb, and camp.

Whatever you do, it will be very different from the mountains.