The Thundering HerdHiking | The Thundering Herd

Humid Hiking

D.K. Wall — Mon, 11 Jul 2011 05:00:57 +0000

What is a little water running on our trail?

As our faithful readers know, only really extreme weather interferes with our hikes. So a recent rainstorm and high humidity did not prevent us from ascending Waterrock Knob on Saturday. The Knob, at 6292 feet (1918 meters), is one of 40 peaks in North Carolina that are greater than 6,000 feet.

Maggie Valley as seen from near the peak of Waterrock Knob.

We really like this hike because there is a view over our town, Maggie Valley. If you look carefully in the next picture, just to the right of the second hemlock tree (click on the picture to enlarge it), you will see a straight cut up a mountain. That is the chairlift at Ghost Town in the Sky. We live just a little further up and to the left of Ghost Town (basically, behind that hemlock).

Another view of Maggie Valley with two dead hemlock trees near the peak of Waterrock Knob.

We get asked all of the time about the dead or dying hemlock trees that can be seen all over our mountains. They are under attack from the Hemlock Woolly Adelgid. You can read a great article about them from the National Park Service here.

Natasha cools off by roaching in some wet grass.

And then we marched shoulder to shoulder back down the mountain to the parking lot.

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We posted the link to this story on our Facebook Page yesterday, but wanted to make sure everyone saw it. Happy Retirement to Rusty Bradley, the Park Superintendent of Mount Mitchell State Park. Mount Mitchell is the tallest mountain east of the Mississippi River and is known for its “fun” winter weather – some of which is detailed in the article.

Rainy Sunday

D.K. Wall — Sun, 19 Jun 2011 05:00:24 +0000

The hu-dad took one of those personality profiles at his busyness several years ago. When the administrator was reviewing the scores, he commented that the hu-dad’s outdoor score was very high. But, the hu-dad wondered, how come his score was so much higher than another worker who enjoyed many outdoor sports. The administrator paused and asked, so if you are hiking down a trail and it starts raining, what happens? The hu-dad, without pause, said, “You get wet.” The administrator grinned and said, “Most people say you seek shelter. Thus, your high outdoor score.”

So why do we tell this story? Well, we were out hiking last Sunday. And it started raining. What do you think happened?

The puddles say it might be raining just a slight bit more than a "little."

The Red Team is slogging through, though Rusty insists on taking the scenic route as always.

Qannik and Natasha, however, just used the Fur Wheel Drive.

Hot Already?

D.K. Wall — Sun, 22 May 2011 05:00:43 +0000

Wooooo - hot.

We don’t know about the rest of you, but it suddenly seemed hot. We were all complaining about the heat of the trail Saturday and had to take several breaks during our hiking. Can we have our snow back?

Happy Trails

D.K. Wall — Sat, 14 May 2011 05:00:47 +0000

May your Saturday be filled with your favorite activities!

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This is blog post 981. Really? Ok, we are clearly going to have to create something special for blog post 1,000. We will announce soon a 1,000th post contest, so watch for it.

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Walking and Roaching Wednesday

D.K. Wall — Wed, 27 Apr 2011 05:00:21 +0000

It has been a long time since we have posted a video, so we thought we would show you a simple Sunday afternoon walk – followed by a little Queen Natasha the Evil roaching. What could be more fun in under 2 minutes?

Foggy Morning

D.K. Wall — Mon, 28 Mar 2011 05:00:08 +0000

We could barely see our tree.

But nothing slows down our Sunday morning walks.

Enjoying the Views

D.K. Wall — Fri, 25 Mar 2011 05:00:25 +0000

We are enjoying the Blue Ridge Parkway now that most of it has re-opened from the winter. We are able to access our high altitude trails along the Parkway and, sometimes, just relax and enjoy the views. Here are pictures from our recent venture to Craggy Pinnacle (and the link is one of our old posts showing you why this is a great area to visit in June when the Catawba Rhododendron are in bloom).

Natasha and Kiska are enjoying the long range views.

Natasha even gets up on the rock wall for a better view of Craggy Dome.

Or a better view of whatever just crashed through the brush beside us.

Qannik needs to sit to take in the scenery.

Kodiak also gets a rock wall lean to take in the views.

Rusty has to strike a pose.

Admit it - you want to reach through and pluck that blowing coat.

Qannik and Kiska see some movement below us.

Nothing like smiles from our wooly coated girl.

Cheoah has found her perch.

Ok, hu-dad, where is the next hike?

Over and Under

D.K. Wall — Thu, 24 Mar 2011 05:00:26 +0000

Kiska here. I just need to tell a little story on my siblings.

Yep, these two right here - Natasha and Qannik.

Most of the Blue Ridge Parkway finally opened from the winter so we could get to one of our favorite high altitude trails.

The hike to the top was fairly uneventful.

But coming back down the backside of the mountain, we came up on a tree across the trail.

Hardly unusual, and something we cross many times each year.

See how I gracefully leap over the log while they - er - don't.

This is not going to work.

I couldn't help laughing at them.

So as we crossed another tree further down the trail.

I worried if they were going to remember the over - not the under.

Perfect style.

Natasha - You really had to tell that story, huh?

River Walking

D.K. Wall — Sun, 27 Feb 2011 06:00:25 +0000

Kiska here - Let me tell you about our walk yesterday.

We decided to do a different hike than originally planned since it was a beautiful spring-like day.

We even walked across trippy-trapp bridges.

Our trail took us along the banks of the French Broad River.

We loved watching the water splash by.

Whoa - Kodiak is sure he heard a fish splash.

Hope you enjoyed coming along on our hike. We sure enjoyed it.

Sunday Morning Routine

D.K. Wall — Mon, 20 Dec 2010 06:00:51 +0000

We might be falling into a rut because every Sunday morning starts the same way. But, frankly, we do not really want to change this particular routine.

The morning starts with a walk down our road.

At the end of the road, we enter the field which is centered by our favorite tree. We love how the mist was still hanging over the field this week.

At the end of the field, we watch the skiers and snowboarders for a while.

Well, the humans watch the skiers and snowboarders. We wrestle and play.

What is your favorite routine you do?