Thanks a Lot, Google.

It’s 8:52 PM EST and just now I’m finding out it is the National Observance of Arbor Day?!?

I blame you, Google.  I have become so accustomed to you keeping me abreast of significant days.  Just this year, you’ve changed your logo for New Year’s, Martin Lurther King Day, Lego’s 50 Year Birthday, Chinese New Year, Valentine’s Day, February 29th, St. Patrick’s Day, First Day of Spring and Earth Day.  I count on you, now!

But, guess what!  Not even knowing it was Arbor Day, I did invest in some trees!!! I’m redoing the landscaping of the front yard.  I’m going with an Appalachian Trail inspired theme.  So today I got:

• Two azalea bushes
• Mountain laurel
• And…drumroll, please…Rhododendron catawbiense!

Even though I recently joined the American Rhododendron Society, I’m not exactly a fan of most rhododendrons you see in yards.  But Rhododendron catawbiense is a species native to the Appalachian Mountains and therefore vastly superior to all its relatives.  🙂

I did look for Mountain Fetterbush, but the closest I could find was a Japanese version (Pieris japonica).  The nursery told me it is pretty hard to find Pieris floribunda. 

But that is okay– I am extremely satisfied with the current shrub combination.  It’s like a mini-Biltmore Estates!

Cherry Blossoms vs. Rhododendrons

This weekend, I went up to Washington, DC to check out the National Cherry Blossom Festival. As you can expect, the cherry trees were gorgeous. It’s a close call, but if I had to chose a favorite explosion of pink and white blooms– I would go with rhododendrons (particularly the concentrated ones found at Mount Rogers National Recreation Area). It’s the rocky mountainsides covered in pink and green that tip the scale for me. Plus, there are less crowds. 🙂

But you are welcome to form your own opinion. And to assist you on that quest, here are some side by shots.

Cherry Blossoms	Rhododendrons

Need additional data to consider? There are more pictures of the DC Cherry Blossom Festival AND the blooms of Rhododendron Gap on my Flickr account.

links for 2008-04-02

• The American Chestnut Foundation Hikes the AT
  This summer, volunteers will be hiking the Appalachian Trail and collecting data on American Chestnuts on the trail. In 1999, they found 40,701 American Chestnuts visible from the trail. They are hoping to cover all 2,174 miles. I so want to help!
  (tags: appalachiantrail americanchestnut hiking)

False Advertising: Maneater

Bah! Today I got roped into watching a bad movie. I knew it was going to be bad. I’m not an idiot. It stars Gary Busey and it was on the Sci-Fi Channel on a Sunday afternoon. But look at the Tivo description!

A wild animal goes on a bloodthirsty rampage on the Appalachian Trail

Amazon’s description of the DVD elaborates:

The hunter becomes the hunted when the forested shadows of the Appalachian Trail are stalked by a wild animal out of its element hungry and born to ravage. After Sheriff Grady (Gary Busey The Firm) finds a dismembered body in the area he quickly discovers a print near the scene that identifies the predator as a Bengal tiger. Six hundred pounds twelve feet from nose to tail it s one of the most powerful cats on Earth. Now it s loose and there[‘]s no man on the Appalachian Trail with the skill or the courage to take it down.

Well, heck! The Appalachian Trail in a movie? I’m in!

I watched the whole thing. I’ll overlook the fact that it was filmed in Winnipeg and the terrain* didn’t look right. But here’s an oddity. In a movie supposedly taking place on the AT, there was no mention of the trail. The tiger managed to keep a hiker-free diet…and there wasn’t even a single white blaze.

I know my conclusion may be controversial. And I know! It’s risky to take on the corporate giants like Amazon and Tivo. Tivo is especially scary since we are in the middle of a new season of Lost. But…I have to stay true to myself and my beliefs, right? So… here we go:

This movie had nothing to do with the Appalachian Trail.

That’s right, Tivo, YOU’RE WRONG. Now please, if you don’t mind, still record that new episode of Jon and Kate Plus Eight tomorrow night. Please?

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*If you are saying to yourself, “Oh darn. I was really hoping to see a movie with terrain similar to the Southwest Virginia section of the Appalachian Trail”, then I know of two movies to refer right off the bat. Last of the Mohicans (filmed in North Carolina) is filled with familiar scenery and I couldn’t help but notice last time I watched Ned Betty‘s famous scene, that Deliverance (filmed in South Carolina and Georgia) features rhododendrons. –
–
Heterosexual men– you now have an excuse to not look at Ned Betty’s ass. “Huh? What anal rape? Oooh! Sorry, I was too busy looking at the rhododendrons!”

The Beauty of Imperfection (Revisited)

Each year Americans spend billions of dollars to ensure our faces stay young and clean and acne-free.  I, myself, am a regular contributer to that industry purchasing cleansers, toners, exfoliating scrubs, and pretty much anything that is enhanced with SPF protection.  I do this in an often futile pursuit of a blemish-free face.

My standards for trees are vastly different than what I hope to see in the mirror each day.  With trees, if I passed by one that had the clean complexion I covet, I wouldn’t even give it a second glance. It’s the trees with the flaws– the tumors, the growths, the cracks, the peeling bark and deformed postures– that interest me the most.

Here’s one such tree from Dragon’s Tooth.  It was completely covered with tumors from top to bottom.  Even the tiniest of branches are riddled with growths.  This is not the Heidi Klum or Elle McPherson of trees.  This tree is suffering some kind of ailment on the caliber of J.J. Redick’s much discussed “bacne”.  But to me, it’s beautiful.

The tree’s ailment spans its entire height

Just some of the tree’s many tumors

Even the tiniest twigs sport growths

Moving Old Glory

On this day 14 years ago, the world record for the largest transplanted tree was set by an Oak Tree from Pico Canyon, California known as “Old Glory”. On January 20 1994, the Senna Tree Company moved the tree about a 1/4 of a mile to save it from a development project. At the time of its move, Old Glory was 58 feet tall, had a 104 foot wide branch span and weighed over 415 tons.

I stumbled upon a YouTube video highlighting the transport effort:

And here is a Creative Commons Flickr picture taken on May 12, 2008 by tkksummers. Fourteen years after its move, the tree is still full of leaves.

Old Glory – May 2008 (Photo by tkksummers)

Henry and Keffer Oak

Over a year ago, I heard about the Remarkable Trees of Virginia Project.  I didn’t have to think twice about what tree to nominate— the Appalachian Trail’s Keffer Oak! 

On Sunday I got a call from the project and they told me Keffer Oak made their top 100 which will be included in a book that will be published in 2008.  Good News!

Then they said they wanted someone to pose as an Appalachian Trail hiker in the photo.  They asked if I would be interested.  Great News!!

Then a little later they called and asked, “Do you still have that dog?”

That dog would be Henry!  When I nominated the tree, I submitted a picture with Henry to provide some perspective on the tree’s size.  They asked me to bring Henry to the photoshoot.  Spectacular News!!!

And so this morning, little Henry and I got up at 5 AM.  I still had my pack in tact from last weekend’s backpacking trip (which will get a series of blog posts once I have more time), so I grabbed it and my trusty hiking boots and met up with the writer and photographer.

We hiked the shortest route to the tree (0.6 miles from VA-630) and the photographing began. 

The photographer working his magic with Keffer Oak

I’m not sure how either Henry or I did (I didn’t feel very natural) or if we will ultimately make it into the book, but it was a fun time.  I very much enjoyed chatting to both of my companions and getting an opportunity to talk highly of our local mountains.   I’m a little envious of their occupation!  Driving around, taking pictures of and talking about cool trees— that sounds awesome!

On top of all the fun, the trip was educational for me.  I learned a little lesson about myself today:

I will sacrifice my own comfort for art

Despite keeping him leashed, early on Henry found an opportunity to roll in cow manure.  And so, as is often the case, Henry was covered in poo.  At one point, Henry and I were “resting” under the tree and I could hear the writer yell a direction to me from above.

“PET HENRY!!!!” she said.

And so I did.  🙂

Hiking News from Roanoke Times

The Roanoke Times had two articles that were of interest to my hiking hobby.  Thought I would pass them on.

Timing is Everything
http://www.roanoke.com/extra/wb/123509
This article is about catching the rhododendron blooms on the local mountains.  The article is aptly named.  There had been a couple of occassions where I’ve climbed a mountain to see rhododendrons and I’ve been too early or too late.  This year, Bill and I had it perfectly timed for the blooms at Rhododendron Gap.   Of course, there is an easy solution– just hike every weekend in June.  You’ll be bound to see something!  😉

Crews Attempt to Contain Forest Fire
http://www.roanoke.com/news/roanoke/wb/123873
Last Monday a forest fire started off the Blue Ridge Parkway.  They had to close a number of trails, including ten miles of the Appalachian Trail starting at Petite’s Gap (I hiked there just last May).   According to WhiteBlaze.net, the Forest Service did a shuttle service for the thru-hikers. 

That news of the shuttle kinda ruined the picture I had in my head.  I could see a thru-hiker finally passing the 800 mile mark to find the trail closed.  The disappointment of this ficticious hiker was very much like that of the Griswolds when they drove across the country to find Walley World closed.  I’m sure there are some purists who’ll regret missing 10 miles of trail, but I suspect the experience was no where near as interesting as the blatent rip-off of National Lampoon’s Vacation I was playing in my head.

P.S. The trail is back open now

Mount Rogers Pictures Up

Bill C, Jimmie and I had a great time with our backpacking trip.  The rhododendrons were in full bloom and we had perfect weather!  I hope to write more later, but for now Mount Rogers Hiking pictures can be found on my Flickr site.  Some of my favorites:

Off of Crest Trail

A pony greets salty Bill

Rhodo buds off of AT at Wilburn Ridge

Rhodo bush with rhodo-covered hillside in the background

Herd of ponies at Massie Gap

View from a rock at Rhododendron Gap.  It looks like trees standing in a pink stream.

Looking northbound on the AT at Massie Gap

Jimmie on a rock.  A rhododendron covered hillside in the background

Biltmore Estates

Saturday afternoon, while the dogs were disturbance-free in the hotel room, Sean and I visited Biltmore Estates.  Biltmore was built in 1895 by the Vanderbilt family and believe it or not, with its mere 250 rooms it still remains America’s largest home. 

Let me put the Biltmore’s scale in a hiking perspective.  Last weekend, I hiked 12.2 miles with great enthusiasm and no physical side effects.  This weekend, I had only walked through only 1/10 of the Biltmore rooms (about halfway through the tour) and my feet already hurt and my interest was wanning.  Of course, that was before I reached the basement and discovered this home also had an indoor pool and a bowling alley.  My interest did perk up again at that point.  Some other impressions from our visit follow.

The Triumph of Charity
This place was extremely extravagant.  Extremely.  Italian leather lined the walls of one room.  Another room featured Napolean’s chess set.  Thousands of expensive first edition books lined the hallways.  One room’s walls were dusted with 14 carat gold.  Room after room after room featured frivilous items.  And then we come into the Tapestry room.  In the Tapestry room hangs three giant, very old (I think 15th century) tapestries.   One depicts the “Triumph of Faith”, another “The Triumph of Prudence” and finally the third one, “The Triumph of Charity.”

The Triumph of Charity?  You’ve got to be kidding me. 

I think the creators of the audio tour (well worth the extra four dollars by the way) may have anticipated my skeptical thoughts.  Two floors later, when we were looking at the servants’ modest quarters a woman curator pointed out that the Vanderbilts gave back to the community and that they (possibly paraphrased) “took every opportunity to share their wealth.”

This home had 31 guest rooms, 43 bathrooms, 125,000 acres of land and held 70,000 gallons of water in their indoor pool.  Yeah, I think they may have missed some of those opportunities to share their wealth.  And with Sean and I having to pay over 90 dollars to get into the estate, it seems to me, there are some modern opportunities available to share the wealth as well.  🙂

The Triumph of Rhododendron and Mountain Laurel
The house may have made me feel awkward, but I fell completely in love with the grounds.  There is a deliberate three mile approach to the house.  You wind through what appears to be a very indigenous area.  Blooming mountain laurels and rhododendrons lined the way. 

“I like that they kept all this instead of bringing other stuff in,” I told Sean.

Blooming Mountain Laurel

Later on the tour I found that vegetation was just as deliberate as everything in the house.  Frederick Law Olmstead planned the landscaping and used area plants so that it would appear natural to future generations.  Kudos to him.  He did his job well.  On a side note, Olmstead has quite an impressive resume of landscaping accomplishments… including New York City’s Central Park.

My Second Favorite Portrait
I don’t think portraits are a favorite medium of mine.  Off the top of my head, I do like that one of JFK reflecting.  My favorite portrait would be one that was done of my mother when she was a high school student.  I’ll always remember Jeremy Turner looking up at the portrait and declaring my mom hot.  Now, I have a second favorite!  Hanging in the Biltmore, a portrait of a man caught my eye.  He was surrounded by mountain laurel and rhododendron.  The fact that he chose to be depicted in that setting capitivated me.  It turns out it is Frederick Law Olmstead– the very man whose landscape work I had been admiring outside! 

 
My third and second favorite portraits – JFK and Frederick Law Olmstead

The Gardens
After the tour, Sean and I walked through the gardens and took a stroll to the Bass Pond.  Here are some of my favorite shots:

A cool tree helps cover a terrace

Brick bridge over the bass pond

This red holly leaf makes the plant more fitting for Christmas

Canadian Goose looking back at me

I may have balked at the price, but Sean and I had a great time and did end up getting our money’s worth.  More pictures from our Biltmore visit are available on my Flickr site.