TGAW

• Suspect in AT shootings reported dead - Roanoke.com
  He died Saturday night around 6 PM alone in the jail’s medical ward.
  (tags: hiking appalachiantrail randallleesmith)

• AT hikers return to normal pace - Newrivervalley.com
  I hope to be one of those hikers returning to normal this weekend…if I can get rid of this dang sickness.
  (tags: appalachiantrail hiking)

• 1981 AT killer linked to new shootings - Newrivervalley.com
  Two fisherman were shot by a gunman just two miles from the Wapiti Shelter (where two hikers were murdered in 1981).
  (tags: appalachiantrail hiking dismalfalls)
• Man faces charges of assault on AT hiker - Roanoke.com
  This happened near Troutville. “The woman said the man sexually assaulted her and then told her it was to teach her a lesson not to accept rides from strangers” How… thoughtful… of him.
  (tags: hiking appalachiantrail)

I was sick all last weekend and didn’t get to venture far from home. But, thanks to six years of limited yardwork, I have plenty of vegetation to see in my backyard.

Inspired by the No Child Left Inside Coalition video that said “young people could identify 1000 corporate logos but fewer than 10 plants or animals native to their backyards”, I went outside and took pictures of things in my yard. So here are 10 Things in my Yard:

	Flowering Dogwood State tree AND flower of Virginia, State tree of Missouri, State flower of North Carolina Dogwood I learned at a pretty early age. One day, my siblings and I decided we would build a tree house. There were very few obtainable trees to our short statures. We selected the only one we could reach and nailed no more than three boards into the branches when we were reprimanded by our mother. Apparently, it is against the law to damage the state tree. And that was that. It was going to be a pretty sucky treehouse anyway.
	Gray Birch I don’t have a good story about birch trees. But I will say every time the Direct TV goes out in the summer, this tree is one of my first scapegoats. It has grown so high, I keep waiting for it to block the satellite dish. I’m still waiting.
	Mayapple I was officially introduced to Mayapples last year by Jere Bidwell on our Cornelius Creek hike. Mayapples sport a single bloom which hides under their umbrella-like canopy, so you can’t see the flower from above, you have to look for it!
	Silver Maple This tree never stuck out to me as extraordinary until Sean’s Dad came to visit the house. He is a fan of this tree and actually mentions it pretty regularly.
	Sugar Maple State Tree of New York, Vermont, West Virginia and Wisconsin. This is another tree Sean’s Dad taught me. When I first moved into my house I was told that this particular tree wouldn’t last because it was growing into itself. After all the trees I have seen survive under sketchy conditions, growing on rocks, merging back into themselves, eating fences and blazes and even combining with other trees, I decided this one is a big pansy if it can’t figure the matter out on its own. So far it is still going strong.
	Tulip Poplar State tree of Tennesse, Indiana and Kentucky. This is the favorite tree of my Great Uncle Chuck and my sister. Great Uncle Chuck likes it for practical reasons, “It grows fast and the wood is strong.” Carolyn likes it for a different purpose, “Because it’s easy to identify.” Since two of my favorite people like this tree, the species will always have a place in my heart.
	Sycamore Sycamores I learned at a very early age as well. My grandmother used to point them out when we went to visit Mount Vernon. I also remember Sycamores from the Bible story of Zacchaeus. He was the short tax collector, who couldn’t see Jesus through the crowd. So he climbed a Sycamore tree to get a better view. The more I see Sycamore trees, the more I wonder about that story. The branches are so far off the ground. How did short Zacchaeus ever get up there?
	Crabapple This is a new tree to me. I chose to highlight it in this list of ten because I like the pretty blooms. It seemed flashier than “Dandelion” or “Wild Strawberry”
	Poison Ivy Even though I learned this one at a pretty young age, I managed to have negative encounters with this plant well into adulthood. Most notably, I once got poison ivy on my face trying to rescue a goat from the wood pile.
	Virginia Creeper Virginia Creeper is commonly mistaken for poison ivy. But it is waaaay cooler. It is featured in the state seal of Virginia! My relationship with Virginia Creeper began with Tony Airaghi. Since then I have become very fond of the plant, especially in the fall.

And there you go, 10 Things in my Yard, which is only about 1/3 of an acre. I certainly don’t want to put you on the spot, but I wouldn’t mind seeing 10 things from *your* yards.

Especially since I’m *cough* *cough* still sick and I can’t get to the AT.

• What’s Blooming in Montgomery County [Virginia]
  This is a neat section of the Virginia Tech Dendrology site. You can click on this page and see what plants are in full bloom and which blooms are currently fading in the county.
  (tags: montgomerycounty wildflowers trees virginia virginiatech)

• The National D-Day Memorial Foundation Virginia License Plate
  Well, if you aren’t interested in an Appalachian Trail Virginia License Plate and you are a WWII buff, perhaps you’ll be interested in the National D-Day Memorial’s License Plate. Proceeds help support the memorial in Bedford, VA
  (tags: dday wwii bedford licenseplate)

In 1948, Earl Shaffer became the first documented person to hike the entire Appalachain Trail. He was our first thru-hiker, traveling from Mt. Oglethorpe, Georgia to Mt. Katahdin, Maine in 124 days. In 1965, he completed the trail again, this time going from Maine to Georgia, making him the very first person to complete the trail in both directions.

Ten years ago today (and fifty years after his first historic hike), Earl Shaffer started his THIRD thru-hike. He finished in 174 days. He was seventy-nine years old. No wonder he was known as “The Crazy One”

Earl passed away in 2002, but his writings and a foundation in his name are alive and well.

A number of years ago, I was hiking alone when I kept hearing familiar sounds. It sounded like cars passing by, but I was no where near any road crossings. It turned out it the wind rustling the trees. I smiled at how my mind worked. Here, wind has been around well before mankind, not to mention automobiles. It is by far the incumbent in this world. Yet, because of the modern life I’m accustomed to, my simile was “the wind sounds like passing cars” and not the other way around. I described something that had been around forever with something that had barely been around for 100 years.

Today, Phifer and I took our dogs for a short hike on the Appalachian Trail. We passed by a number of fern fronds that were just starting to unroll. You’ll be surprised, I’m sure, but I took a few pictures:

Fern fonds unwinding

More fern fronds unroll

Do you know what those cute little fern coils are called? They have a couple of names. First, they are referred to as fiddleheads after the scroll at the top of stringed instruments like violins. They are also called croziers after the curved-top staffs carried by bishops and popes and other people of religious authority. Looking at the three, it is easy to see the visual similarities.

Circinate vernation of a fern, a fiddle head, and a crozier.

But get this– Ferns are one of our oldest plants. They first appeared in the fossil record over 300 million years ago. “Modern” violins became popular in the mid-1500s. According to the Online Etymology Dictionary, the word crozier didn’t come around until 1290.

That means, we’ve named fern parts after things that did not appear until 299,999,552 and 299,999,282 years later.

What does nature have to do to get a little respect?

P.S. More pictures from today’s fern-filled hike at the base of Sinking Creek Mountain can by found on my Flickr site.

P.S.S. Did this post make you hungry? The University of Maine Cooperative Extension has a collection of fiddlehead recipes.

• IEEE Spectrum: Plugging Away in a Prius
  Of particularly interest to Sheer– In October, my uncle brought a brand new Prius and immediately wrote a check for $32,000 to convert it to a plug-in hybrid electric vehicle.
  (tags: electriccar jonathansawyer prius)
• 130-million-year-old poop sells for $960 - CNN.com
  The owner of OurPets bought the poop in part to motivate his employees. Hat tip Carolyn!
  (tags: poop)

McAfee’s Knob was featured in my very first Season Compare post, so I wasn’t planning on doing another when I hiked there Sunday. But half way through the hike, PassionPhish said (paraphrased), “Do you know what my favorite part of your blog is? Those before and after shots you do.”

That inspired me enough to look through my March 2003 trip and I did find some similar shots. Here is McAfee’s Knob over 5 years apart:

McAfee’s Knob - March 22, 2003

McAfee’s Knob - April 27, 2008

This next set is a little weak, but I like looking at the trees in the bottom right corner:

McAfee’s Knob - March 22, 2003

McAfee’s Knob - April 27, 2008

With this next set, the tree underneath the famous ledge is visibly taller. I also like how the puddle is still around:

McAfee’s Knob - March 22, 2008

McAfee’s Knob - April 27, 2008

This side of the mountain looks just as bare on April 27, 2008 as it did on March 22, 2003:

McAfee’s Knob - March 22, 2003

McAfee’s Knob - April 27, 2008

More pictures of McAfee’s Knob in 2003 and McAfee’s Knob in 2008 can by found on my Flickr site.