WNCOutdoors.info Blog

Join the Southern Appalachian Forest Coalition’s Hemlock survey team for a field trip to Curtis Creek, where we will have the opportunity to learn a simple technique for assessing the condition of hemlock trees.  Although many hemlocks in our National Forests have already died from the invasive Hemlock Wooly Adelgid, surveys are being done in hemlock stands in order to find remaining healthy trees and determine which areas would still benefit from treatment.  This field trip will provide participants an opportunity to compare Hemlock stands that have been chemically treated to other stands that are in various stages of  die back due to the Adelgid infestation. Other topics of discussion will include methods the Forest Service is using to save the hemlocks. The field trip includes a 2-mile roundtrip hike to a scenic waterfall. Bring a bag lunch.

Date: Sat. April 2, 2011
Meeting Time:  9:30AM
Meeting Place:  Ingles Market, Swannanoa.  Located off I-40 at exit 59 on Rt 70.  Meet by the gas station in the Ingles parking lot to carpool or meet at 10:30AM at the Curtis Creek campground outside of Old Fort.
Contact: Ed Mayer  e-mail:  ednsue74@earthlink.net, phone: 828-505-1080

Please  call  by Thursday, March 31  to let us know if you plan to attend

Directions to Curtis Creek: From Old Fort, NC, take Hwy 70 East 2 miles to campground sign (Curtis Creek Rd./SR 1227) Turn left onto Curtis Creek Rd. and go 4.7 miles to the campground.

Edit: here is a link to the event on SAFC’s web site!

You don’t have to be a great appreciator of the arts, poetry, or even Carl Sandburg to enjoy a visit to Connemara – the poet’s historic homestead at Carl Sandburg Home National Historic Site. From the moment you start down the path to Front Lake, it’s hard not to feel the peacefulness that pervades the land that the Sandburg’s called home.

A View of the Home from Front Lake

To the right of Front Lake, there’s a wonderful picnic area where you can enjoy a meal with family or friends before beginning a tour of the vast grounds. Kids are welcome to feed the fish in the lake, as they travel over an idyllic white bridge and up an easy trail to the main house. In early spring, there’s bold yellow forsythia to stroke along the way, and lusty pink and white magnolia blossoms beckon you close to the house like a spell.

The bridge over the dam at Front Lake

It’s likely that young children won’t yet have much interest in taking a tour of the home itself. That’s okay, because there is a simple, circular pond directly out front that is full of music making toads. You can also take the kids down to Lilian Sandburg’s famous goat dairy (they breed the same varieties that she once did).

One of the biggest surprises at Connemara is the intricate network of trails that start at the main entrance and end at the top of Glassy Mountain. Both the Memminger (named after the 1st Confederate States Secretary of the Treasury, Charles Memminger) and the Glassy Trail climb gently and smoothly and are in good condition. There are several signed detours along the Glassy Trail that lead back to the main house if you don’t want to climb to the top of the mountain. There’s even one sign that simply reads, “home”.

The Trail Home

It’s easy to spend the entire day at Connemara. I recommend reading some of Sandburg’s poems to your kids in the car, so that they arrive with their imaginations full. It really is a magical place that you’ll want to visit over and over again.

We’ll be adding the trails at Carl Sandburg Home National Historic Site as a new Trailhead to hikewnc.info, so look for more details there before you plan your very own trip to the Carl Sandburg Home! Here are a few more pictures from around the area to get you started.

Article by guest blogger Tasha Mitchell

Trails at Carl Sandburg Home are great for kids!

The View from Glassy Mountain

The Memminger Trailhead

S. Trailhead for Little Glassy Mountain

Pisgah SORBA, Trips for Kids WNC, and IMBA present  Take a Kid Mountain Biking Day on Sunday, April 3. Bring the little ones out for guided rides, a Pump Track clinic, Time Trials, Skills clinics, and more! Please RSVP! For more information, see Pisgah Area SORBA’s information page.

Pisgah Area SORBA will be hosting a trail workday at Dupont State Forest tomorrow, Sunday, March 6. Meeting place is at the old Buck Forest parking area (now called High/Triple Falls parking area) at 9am. Work will be clearing for a new trail corridor, which will result in about 1 mile of new trail when completed! You can get more information on Pisgah Area SORBA’s website.