Elk in North Carolina, Sunflowers, Pumpkins and COLD Front

 

Blairsville, Ga  (high 86, low 62)

 

It’s been a particularly warm summer this year and the north Georgia mountains are no exception. At least it’s not as miserable and sticky as it is in Florida. 

It looks like a cold front is coming this week with lows predicted to be in the upper 40’s.  Burrr.   I’m not looking forward to that.  We don’t have a heat pump or dual pane windows on the Cameo like we do on the motorhome, so it will be harder to stay warm.    The highs are predicted to be low 70’s, so we will enjoy that.

We finally decided to take a couple trips and see some sights.  What started out as a trip to get a 48v bulb for the golf cart tail light, ended up with us up in Cherokee, North Carolina at the Oconaluftee Visitor Center.   It’s one of the four visitor centers in the Great Smokey Mountains National Park.

We wanted to go see the herd of wild elk.  Yes, there are elk in this area but it wasn’t always so.

“ Elk once roamed the southern Appalachian mountains and elsewhere in the eastern United States. They were eliminated from the region by over-hunting and loss of habitat. The last elk in North Carolina was believed to have been killed in the late 1700s. In Tennessee, the last elk was killed in the mid-1800s. By 1900, the population of elk in North America dropped to the point that hunting groups and other conservation organizations became concerned the species was headed for extinction.

Reintroduction of elk into Great Smoky Mountains National Park began in 2001 when 25 elk were brought from the Land Between the Lakes National Recreation Area along the Tennessee-Kentucky border. In 2002, the park imported another 27 animals.”

We arrived there during the hot part of the day and not the best time to see them.  When we drove up, there was a ranger vehicle parked along side of the road, with warning signs so we thought for sure the herd was in the field.

 

We were disappointed to find nothing but a few wood chucks.

 

There is a trail and Mountain Farm Museum which winds around the field where the elk graze. 

 

 

 

 

The river winds alongside the village.

 

We took a walk in the shade along the river and came across a young bull elk on the other side of the river.

 

Apparently, he wanted to cross the river and come over to where we were standing.  We backed up to allow him to cross and soon we saw another young elk.

He wasn’t the most handsome fellow, was he?

 

I don’t know if he lost his antlers in a fight, or if he is starting to shed them.  They shed their antlers every winter, so maybe that was it.

 

 

I liked this next picture that the reflection on the water showed his face better than the actual photo of his face.

 

We stayed around awhile until it became apparent we were keeping them from going where they wanted to go.  We were a little hesitant to go back down the trail because we didn’t want them following behind us with those big pointy antlers.   They didn’t.

 

We never saw the main herd. The head guy in charge has a much larger rack and he seems to keep the other males away from his herd.  When we were there last year, we saw him chasing the young male back into the woods.  I’m assuming nothing has changed there.

We took a drive around the area looking for the big turkey.  Baxter loves turkey feathers and he is in need of a replacement.   Other feathers just don’t do the job like a big tail feather from a turkey. We found turkey, but no feathers. I think I’m going to have to go on Amazon in search of a turkey feather.   

 

 

Yesterday, we took a drive over to Dawsonville, GA for the opening of the sunflower fields and the Pumpkin patch.

 

First stop was Fausett Farms and Horse Trails.  They have 13+ acres of sunflowers planted and it’s a lovely way to spend an afternoon. We should have waited until later in the week when the cold front came because it was HOT there yesterday.

 

 

There were sunflowers everywhere.

 

Rows and rows of sunflowers.

 

 

 

For $5 a person you could take what turned out to be a very short mule train ride. I’m glad we passed on that since it didn’t take you anywhere you couldn’t easily have walked on your own.

 

 

 

Al was hiding in the sunflowers.

 

 

This sunflower field is near Amicalola Falls State Park, which is where the southern portion of the Appalachian Trail starts.  There are some lovely waterfalls there with some great hikes (one all the way to Maine) but it was too hot so we didn’t stop.

Instead, we went to Burts Pumpkin Farm.  It’s always kind of fun to see all the pumpkins and gourds.

 

 

 

 

There are some big pumpkins there.  I saw one with an $84 price tag.  

 

They have a gift shop and sell home made goodies, mostly of the pumpkin variety.  It sure smelled good walking around the grounds.

 

We love this area because everywhere we go anywhere, there is beautiful scenery.  The drive home was no exception. I rarely leave my camera at home.

 

 

We had a friend waiting for us when we got home. 

 

Sure wish I could find these kittens a home.

Sunflowers, Pumpkins, Amicalola Falls

 

Blairsville, Georgia (high 75, low 62)

Although the weather here in the mountains is much, much cooler than the Florida, or even the rest of Georgia, the last few weeks have been a little warmer than we like.  We have been anxious for fall, and it appears our wait is over.  Temps this week are predicted to be in the mid to low 70’s.

Yesterday was a long and busy day.  We started out at the Mountain Art Festival at nearby Vogel State Park.  They had a craft show early, and different music groups starting at 11am.  We left before the music started, but did enjoy looking at some of the crafts.  One of the vendors told us about a place where there were acres of planted sunflowers, so we decided to check it out.

We headed west to Dawsonville, Georgia and easily found the sunflower field.  They charged $5 a to go in and drive through the fields.  There were 30+ acres of blooming sunflowers.

From this distance the sunflowers look small, but they weren’t.

Al was taking a close up picture of all the bees on the flowers.

It was so nice being surrounded by all this beauty.  It kind of reminded me of scuba diving on a reef.

We must have stayed in the field a good hour, and I took way too many photos, but I couldn’t help myself. 

The next few pictures show how large the field was.

Notice Al is walking next to the field.

still walking

 

 

We hated to leave, but we found out that the farmer also had a field of pumpkins nearby, and we thought that might be kind of pretty too,  so we headed up the road to Burts pumpkin Farm.

No charge to get in, but they had some baked goods and a lot of knick-knacks for sale.

They had every kind pumpkin you could imagine.

Many different colors

and amazing squash and gourds of all shapes and colors

Since it was a Saturday, there were a lot of kids.

For $5 a person, you could go on a hay ride through the pumpkin field.  We had visions of being in the middle of  big fields full of pumpkins, but that wasn’t quite what we got.

A huge tractor pulled us in a hay filled cart.  It was mostly a kids ride, and I think we were the only adults on the cart without children!   :)

We started in a field of flowers.

We saw a few pumpkins growing in the field.

A few displays

Evidently this is the farmers big new house on the top of the hill.   The pumpkin business must be pretty profitable.  The pumpkin farm is only open 2 months a year.

Since we were fairly close to Amicalola  Falls State park, we decided to go there.  We have an annual Georgia States Park pass, so it doesn’t cost us anything to get in.  One of the highest waterfalls in the east is there.

Amicalola Falls State Park is also known as the entrance point to the southernmost portion of the Appalachian Trail on Springer Mountain.

The trail to the AT at Springer mountain is 8.5 miles, which includes some 600 steps to the stop of the falls, and that is AFTER you walk up some pretty steep grades.   It’s not for the faint of heart.   :)

Imagine doing that hike with a 40-50 pound back pack carrying all the supplies you will need for your nearly 2200 mile trek to Maine!

If you come here in April and May, you will have a  good chance of seeing some of the 2000+ thru-hikers that start their 2200 mile journey here on the Appalachian Trail.

 

We decided to take a short hike to the base of the falls.  It starts out on paved trail that went up, up, up. 

There were lots of big rocks and small waterfalls.

The trail map the park furnished wasn’t too clear, so I have no idea how long of a hike we did.   My phone was dead so I didn’t have access to my “Tracker” app.

We followed Nancy’s advice for strenuous hikes, which is rest a lot.   The trail was very steep, so I needed quite a few rest stops!

We weren’t really sure what to expect, but after walking up the trail for quite a while, we ended up at the base of 175 steps.

At this point, we still hadn’t gotten a view of the main waterfall.

We walked up and up until we could finally see a little of the big waterfall.   UP, up, rest, up, rest, up….

We made it to the lower viewing area, where you could get a nice view of the waterfall.

It was loud and the rushing water gave off a nice cool breeze.

There was a sign at the beginning of the steps saying there were 175 steps.   What the pathetic trail map didn’t tell you was that, after you got to the top of these steps, there were 475 more  stairs to the very top of the falls.

In the next photo, at the very top, is where the 475 steps led, but we didn’t know that until I got home and looked into my waterfall hiking book.

We would have asked questions at the visitor center, but the place was jam packed with people and a bunch of rambunctious kids.

We wouldn’t have gone any further anyway, because by the time we got up the trail, and 175 stairs, we were tired.

Going down was a breeze in my new size huge hiking shoes.  No toes jamming into the front of the shoe!

We saw two dogs being drug up their with their owners.  The steps were metal grates and the poor dogs had a hard time navigating them with their claws.  One poor dog was overweight, furry and breathing so hard.  I felt bad for both dogs.  The black lab we saw apparently  had some hip issues.  He was limping when he got to the bottom.   Damn people.

After we finished this trail, we got into the truck and drove to the top.  There is a 25% grade  to the campground and lodge!

Once we got out and did a little more exploring, we discovered the very top of the water fall with the 475 steps going down to meet up with the area we had just been.

The view looking down wasn’t nearly as spectacular, but probably if you took the steps, you would see some nicer views.   We’ll go back and do that another day,  and not on a week-end.

This is the southernmost access to the Appalachian Trail.

It was a long day, we were tired and we headed home after stopping for a quick dinner.

Once we got home, we rested a few minutes, then went our for our evening golf cart bear “hunt.”  No bear sightings yet, but we keep trying.

After we got home, we decided it would be a good idea to soak in the hot tub, and it sure did feel good.

I think we’ll stay home today.  Al has football to watch and I’m going to sit outside and read my book about through-hiking the Appalachian Trail.