George got up
early this morning to start the stew for a small dinner party later tonight. He
told Roxanne (thus, forming a verbal contract) that he and I would return to
camp from our planned hike by around 3:00PM.
We drove up
to the Blue Ridge Parkway to a trailhead near Balsam Gap. Our destination was
Rainbow Gap. The trail follows part of the Mountains to Sea Trail along a
ridge line through a beautiful stretch of lush forest just to the southwest of
Mount Mitchell State Park. George told me that we’d possibly see wild
blueberries and an old airplane wreck on the way.
After a steep
climb up to the ridge, we were in an area of dense ferns and moss. You know you’re
in a damp environment when you see mushrooms climbing up a tree.
About three
miles into the hike, and having seen no sign of wild blueberries, George made a
discovery that likely explained part of the reason for this. In the middle of
the trail was a huge purple pile of poop. It seemed clear to us that the local
bears had made it to the berries before us. Several subsequent piles along the
trail confirmed this theory.
When we
reached four miles, the trail started to descend sharply and we wondered if we’d
passed Rainbow Gap. George consulted his topographic map and said we needed to
keep going a little further. By this time, our 3:00PM return time was in real
jeopardy. George made a quick phone call (we had some cell reception up on the
ridge) to Roxanne to explain. Luckily, our dinner guests had called to say they’d
be delayed, and this got us (George) off the hook.
Shortly
thereafter, we came upon a small clearing and found the remains of a very old
single passenger airplane. I asked George if he knew anything about how it got
there. He said he’d spoken with park rangers and others, none of whom knew
anything of the story behind it. I later did a search on the internet and could
find nothing about it. It remains a mystery.
We hiked back
to the car and made it back to camp by 4:30PM. Then, we had a wonderful dinner with
some of George and Roxanne’s friends.
Next: Logging
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