New Shoes, Air Pollution.

Carole and I drove up to Asheville on Sunday so that I could find a pair of new hiking shoes. My old reliable Merrell shoes finally gave up the ghost. The treads were worn down to the point where I had begun to feel the stab of rock edges as I hiked. They were a great pair of shoes, but they had to go.

I had done a bit of shopping online to find a new pair of boots and did a lot of reading for some good shoes that would give me what I need in that type of footwear. I ended up settling--at least in theory--on the Oboz Firebrand2. I could have ordered them online, but I opted to go shopping and find a place where I could try them on to see what the fit was like and get the feel of them before committing to a purchase. The only place I know of that carries that brand is the Mast General Store.

Since we generally enjoy trips to Asheville we decided on the Mast store there rather than going to one of the other branches. As usual, we arrived in Asheville to massive crowds. There is always one sort of festival or march or demonstration going on there, and Sunday was no exception. I think the heavy burst of population was due to some kind of gay rights push, but we weren't sure. It made parking a tad more difficult (but not by much) and didn't have any effect at all on our shopping, nor any kind of wait at our favorite pizza restaurant there.

After we made some purchases, got lunch, and returned to Carole's car, we decided to head over to the Black Mountain Campground (National Forest facility) by way of the Blue Ridge Parkway. The views from the Parkway and nearby peaks were hampered considerably by resurgent air pollution--courtesy of our current Mother Nature-raping administration. The weather was warm, but not nearly as hellish as in Huntersville. Still, the high country was a good 10-15 degrees above normal for this time of year.

My intention was to catch the South Toe River Road (Forest Service) down to the campground. But it is still closed due to flooding damage from well over a year ago. Our government can find money to piss down the Pentagon rathole, but not for repairing our parks and National Forests. Instead I went over to the intersection of the Blue Ridge Parkway and NC 80 and took that down to the campground. After checking it out we then headed over to Old Fort NC and to the Curtis Creek Campground which is also a National Forest facility, but which is not blocked by gates due to road damage. We want to plan camping trips to both of these places so we needed to look at them to decide roughly where we'd want to park our Casita travel trailer when we go.

After that we called it a day and went back to the Interstate to drive home. All in all, we accomplished most of what we wanted to do, but the diminishing air quality that we witnessed was yet another reminder that global warming and mass extinction loom over everything. If you like our wild places, my suggestion is to do as we do and see as much of it as possible before it's all dead.

At the hiking shoe department in the big Mast General Store in Asheville.

What I bought there. Not the most attractive hiking shoe, but functionally what I need.

 

The Mellow Mushroom. Our favorite pizza joint in Asheville.

The Blue Ridge Parkway at a point where I pulled off to get a few photos.

Colors starting to change for Autumn. I was able to mitigate the hazy air pollution via editing software.

A small tributary of Curtis Creek.

This little one was in the creek at my feet. Very tiny.

 

Cheese and Clothes

The two Golden Age comics by Jack Kirby that I bought online haven't arrived. Still in transit, apparently. Hope they come on Monday.

In the meantime, Carole and I drove up to the mountains to visit West Jefferson and Boone to do some shopping. We wanted to buy some fresh cheese and butter from the Ashe County Dairy in downtown West Jefferson. Unfortunately, they are retooling the churns and so they had no butter for sale. That stuff is fantastically good, so we were really disappointed. We made up for it by purchasing some extra cheese varieties.

Then we drove over to Boone to shop on King Street. One of our favorite shops is the Mast General Store. We don't have one of those here in Charlotte, so we have to drive a fair distance to find one. The one on King Street in Boone is a really nice store.

I was hunting for a pair of Smartwool long underwear to replace my old set. They keep me warm when I go backpacking in the winter. But the prices have really gone up on those since the last time I bought a set! It's now almost $100 for bottoms, almost that much for long-sleeve shirt! I don't think we can fit those into the budget. Last time I bought a set the price was a little more than half that much. And it hasn't been that many years ago. Oh, well.

We finished up by taking a short excursion on the Blue Ridge Parkway before heading home. One reason we did this trip is because the weather was so horrible that I decided not to go backpacking in Linville Gorge. As things turned out, I made the right decision. It rained heavily all day in that area.

Arriving in downtown West Jefferson in the rain.

Carole makes a purchase in one of the nice crafts stores there.

Ashe County Cheese store! The best!

Part of their wine selection. We didn't buy any wine, but probably should have.

The old man in front of the dairy, across the street from the cheese shop.

Alas, it was rainy and cloudy and dreary even on the Blue Ridge Parkway!

Random Shots

Below are some things I've seen over the past few years without having to travel very far. Mainly stuff within a couple of hundred miles of home. We live here in the Piedmont so a relatively short drive east takes us to the coastal plains, and about the same distance west will find us in the Carolina high country. So we've been able to vacation in some really neat spots without having to travel a great distance. Whatever shortcomings the South has, at least it does contain a variety of geography.

Here's something I never would have guess I'd someday witness. The return of the elk to the Appalachian Mountains. This is part of the herd that now makes its home in Cataloochee, in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Now several hundred strong, and growing.

One part of South Carolina that I absolutely loathe is Myrtle Beach. I've never been able to understand its appeal to so many. I hate the place. However, some miles south of that hideous town is Huntington Beach State Park. It's a gorgeous spot and relatively unspoiled. Here's a view in one of the picnic areas on the land side of the dunes, complete with shady cedar tree.

This is one half of the twin summit of Sam's Knob. Sam's Knob is one of my favorite mountains. It's one of our sixers and stands in at 6,040 feet above sea level. It's also one of the most easily accessible sixers and offers unimpeded views from its treeless summit. It's one of the few places in the North Carolina highlands that I keep visiting every year. I really like it there.

I love hiking around on exposed rock. We really don't have much of that type of territory here in the south, so what we do have seems unique. I took this self-portrait a few years ago on Stone Mountain...not the one in Georgia, but the one here in North Carolina. I can get there in about one and three-quarters hours of moderate driving.

I took this one on a kayak trip Carole and I made on the Blackwater River in South Carolina. This is the trip we took when we realized that we enjoyed kayaking more than canoeing. We have yet to buy kayaks, though, and still paddle around in our canoe.

I took this one several Christmases ago in one of the Mast General Stores. I forget which one this is--but I think it's the one near Boone. I like those stores and I've bought several items there for my hiking lifestyle. I've purchased a number of pairs of boots there.

Sometimes I like to go bushwhacking. I don't do that as often as I once did because Carole is deathly afraid I'll get killt way off trail never be located and my body will just lie lost there and rot and my bones will be chew toys for coyotes and mice and such. But I still do some off trail hiking from time to time. This was a self-portrait a few years ago on a mountain called Stony Knob. Despite its name, it was very un-stony looking. But it was a great place to nap in the leaves and take it easy after a long hike.


The writing went well today. I produced over 2100 words on the new novel. I'm once more slightly ahead of schedule.



Call it what it is: MURDER.