The Close Call

During the first year we had our Casita travel trailer (2005-2006), Carole and I took it on a lot of winter camping trips. We were so anxious to enjoy the trailer that we didn't let something like cold weather dissuade us from heading to a state park or National Forest campground. (If you buy a Casita, make sure you get it with a furnace!)

So, one January afternoon after I got off work we hooked up the Casita and headed to the Davidson River Campground, a very popular Pisgah National Forest facility. In fact, it's probably the single most popular campground in the Pisgah National Forest. But, being that it was January, we pretty much had the pick of the campground.

Since we arrived just as it got dark, we figured the best course of action was not to try to back into our campsite but to park in the paved drive where we wouldn't bump into any trees trying to fit the trailer into its proper slot. Thus, we just parked on the driveway and figured that was that.

When we arrived the weather was overcast and the temperatures mild. But that changed very early in the morning when a very powerful cold front moved through. In quick order the winds began to pick up and began howling through the campground. Although we were safe and toasty in our travel trailer, we were alarmed at the savagery of the winds raking through the area. We later learned that the storm was packing sustained winds of seventy miles per hour with gusts up to 100 miles per hour. Hurricane force.

We got up and peeked out the windows and could see the trees whipping in the wind. In a little while I put on a percolator to make coffee and we fixed cold cereal for breakfast. As we were eating we heard a tremendous crash and thud. The ground quite actually shook. I opened the door to see what had happened and to make sure the truck was okay (we had parked it behind the trailer).

And where we should have parked--if we'd had more light when we arrived--a sizable white pine had snapped off at the base and fallen to the earth. If we had been there, it would have halved our travel trailer with us inside. Luckily, the failing light had saved us from having our Casita totaled and, perhaps, ourselves injured (or worse).

I've often wondered if the Casita would have protected us from the falling tree, or if the mass of it would have sheared right through the trailer.

Fortunately, because of the failing light when we arrived, I had parked in the drive instead of the campsite.

Better Late

This photograph is striking for the simple reason that a late start saved our asses.

On one of our trips we had decided to head to Davidson River Recreation Area in the Pisgah National Forest. The drive is a relatively short couple of hours for us, so it's a great place to pick when we want to get away to North Carolina's high country. As I recall, this was a hastily organized excursion and we headed up to the campground.

However, life being what it is, we got a late start. Subsequently, we arrived much later than we had intended. In fact, we didn't get there until after the sun had set. I took a look at the campsite and decided that it was just way too dark for me to safely maneuver the trailer into the spot. Instead, we just parked on the drive and we figured we'd do it right when the sun came up.

Early in the morning, a powerful cold front roared through the mountains. Temperatures plunged. That was okay, because we have a furnace in the Casita, and plenty of blankets. We all slept warm and well.

However, beginning at around six in the morning, the winds hit. And I'm not talking about a few gusts. These ended up being hurricane-force winds that exceeded 75 mph. It was pretty hairy. After a while, we got up and fixed breakfast--cold cereal. While we were eating, we heard a tremendous crash and the solid vibration of the ground shaking. I opened the door of the trailer:

As you can see, if we had put the trailer where we were supposed to have parked it, that white pine would have carved it in half. With us inside. This was the first time that I ended up being happy that we had actually been late in arriving at a destination.

November at Davidson River

November 2006

In November I hitched up the trailer and took my nephew Mark, his son Harris, and my son Andy to the Davidson River Campground in the Pisgah National Forest. I wanted to take them to Panthertown Valley and do some hiking.

I love the trails here in the southern highlands. It's just a great experience to hike through a rhododendron tunnel.

When photographing waterfalls, sunlight is generally your enemy. It's just too hard to capture the water when the sun is blazing down on the scene. We caught this one, The Falls of Greenland Creek, before the sun could rise fully above the gorge and brighten it out.

The crew is not happy with me. I got them lost on the wrong trail. Later, I found out that we were on the right trail, but the distance was greater than I had thought. We turned around and headed back to camp.

Just before dark, we drove to Sliding Rock and watched it, wondering what it would be like to go swimming there. Too bad it was below freezing.

The next day, the weather warmed up and we hiked up to the top of Sam Knob. Always a great hike!

Nothing like making it look as if an infant is in peril.

Can you believe it? Bob didn't get us lost today!

Tomorrow, the last trips of 2006...