Fine weather for the first backpack of 2007. We got a late start in hardcore backpacker terms, we left at a relaxed 10:30 am. A three-hour drive from Knoxville and a stop at Taco John's put us at Carver's Gap around 2:00 pm. From Carver's Gap (elevation 5512') we had a short 3-mile hike but we had to go up and over two bald (Round Mountain and Jane Bald) before we reached our destination, Grassy Ridge (elevation 6189'). Saturday's weather was perfect for January backpacking...40 something and sunny, but oh the winter winds blew so hard and cold across the balds.Duane, Bill and John stop close to the top of Jane's Bald

Endless mountains visible on the horizon

John, Duane and Bill coming down the rutted Appalachian Trail on the backside of Jane Bald

Sunset at our campsite low in the saddle off the backside of Grassy Ridge

Evening fell around 5:30 on Grassy Ridge. Our tents were up and we donned our warmest winter clothing for the anticipated falling temperatures. Everyone gathered around the fire ring and we were quite pleased to discover that others before us had left wood. Since we carried up a number of small fire logs for a " just in case" situation, we burned them so we would not have to carry them down.

Aside from the commotion caused the a grass fire set by Will's Seva stove, dinner was uneventful. John and I had our usual pizza with an after dinner hot chocolate. The temperature dropped quickly and the wind became very gusty as the sun disappeared.

Fire set by Will's stove, fast foot work by Will and John averted a possible disaster in the wind

We woke to a winter wonderland ("Yes, it's cold out here," says John)

The wind gusts were tolerable as we stood by the fire after dinner and watched the twinkling lights from Beech Mountain ski resort (several ranges away). Finally the bitter wind found its way into the layers of our clothes and we headed to the tent around 8:00 pm. I couldn't wait to get out of the icy atmosphere and into my very comfy down sleeping bag.

The night was interesting. High winds put our 3-season Mountain Hardware tent to the test as gusts slammed into the side countless times during the night. I woke from a restless sleep on numerous occasions with the fabric of the tent blown against my face. Sometime around 3:00 am, we heard ice hitting the tent. Getting up and out in the morning would be a challenge.

Oh so cold breaking camp

Cold and windy as we broke camp on Sunday morning. The clouds swirled low on the bald as we hurried to pack and get on the trail. With the temp no higher than 20-degrees and the winds gusting at 30 mph, we figured the temperature around 0. Br-r-r-r-r!

The hike to the car went quickly as we skirted icy patches on the trail. Somewhere on Round Mountain, the icy wind turned to a blowing snow. Ah, the car heater never felt so good!

Yours truly, very cold on Grassy Ridge!!

Spent part of the afternoon with Daddy. I really enjoyed sitting around his studio, talking and looking at some of his projects. Currently he is working on a collage-painting concept. This project is in the experimental stage and below are some pictures I took as he worked on his practice board.

In my kitchen window today...

Blogger finally introduced a new method of uploading photos and closed down it's old "Hello" site. I liked the Hello method and am sorry to see it go. Anyway, the above is my first upload with the next generation, a little small, don't you think?

Yesterday I participated in the annual SC planning meeting at David and Willa's lovely home in the country. With a smaller than usual group, we blew through our agenda by 3:30 pm...several hours ahead of our scheduled dinner hour. While several people were willing to stay for a short hike or come back at a later hour, most were anxious to get home and get on with other obligations. As a result, we missed one of the finer aspects of the annual meeting, the potluck dinner. Guess some people are eating warmed up casseroles today!

Around the table after lunch: David, Axel and Will

John and Allan listening

Axel, Will and Cheryl

We don't have a lot of great kit flying days in east Tennessee but today was perfect...warm temperatures and 20 mph wind gusts! We headed to Lakeshore Park, staked out an open field (yes, I realize the photos show power lines and trees), laid down our blanket and unfurled our kite. A strong breeze caught the kite immediately, lifting it high as we let out line. The kite took enough free falls to keep things interesting, but everytime we pulled it in toward us, the wind would grab it and take the kite up, up and away! It never did touch ground.

"Let's go fly a kite, up to the highest height"

"Lets go fly a kite and send it soaring..."

Hang on tight!

Reeling in the kite.

Home after a roadtrip to Mayberry...err, Mt. Airy, NC to visit the corporate offices of the company that acquired ours in November. I rode shotgun with my office mate in her "El" (Element), which was not a bad way to travel. The car is a bit of a rough ride but carries a bicycle upright in the back with wheels, seat and handlebars firmly attached...a very reasonable trade off according to my office mate.

Our route took us through Kingsport-Bristol, to Wytheville, VA where we took a right and dropped into North Carolina. Along the way we discovered that global warming has not affected Virginia just yet. The 10 minute snow storm that blew through Tennessee on Tuesday morning left a fine ground cover of several inches on the hillsides in western Virginia. (Oh course, pre-global warming, this could have been a foot)

Snow in the countryside somewhere past Damascus, VA

Snow covered hills as we turned right and dropped steeply into NC. Lots of salt used to keep the roads clear resulting in a very grimy, salty El.

We arrived in Mt. Airy around 12:30 pm and considering the fact that Terri arrived to pick me up 30 minutes early, I was relieved to discover that I had my work, samples and clothes in tow...everything but my computer plug. We spent the afternoon working with our counterparts and getting to know more about our new company, a very nice afternoon. At 5:00 pm, everyone left the office, so we did too.

After struggling to decide whether to walk on a dark greenway (a foolish idea to be sure) or walk in downtown Mt. Airy, the lightbulb finally went on and we headed downtown under the street lights. It was cold, we were not really dressed for the weather but we walked briskly pausing on occasion to look in a shop window or browse through the bookstore-soda shop. We stopped in a restaurant on Main Street, Pandowdy's, to get warm and consume a delicious dinner of grilled red trout. We watched the locals who were probably watching us and I even talked a little TN football and basketball with the owner when he noted that we were not familiar faces.

I pause here to tell you about Mt. Airy. Through a Google search, I learned that the population is about 8,500, 85% white, 54% female. Through my own experience I learned that smoking is welcome, nay encouraged, and everyone does. Mt. Airy is also the hometown of Andy Griffith and the model town for the TV series Mayberry RFD. Mt. Airy has built a business around their Mayberry image, autographed photos and life size cutouts of the cast can be found in most every establishment. "Down the street" from Mt. Airy, about 30 miles, is Pilot Mountain, aka Mt. Pilot in the TV series. Unfortunately, we were not here to explore the trails on and around the mountain, but to work.

I return to the story with two directionally challenged females lost on the roads in Mt. Airy calling the hotel for the 3rd time in the same day to figure out where we were in relation to where we wanted to be. Remember, I said the population of Mt. Airy is 8,500 people, this is not a big town. By 9:00 pm we were safely tucked in for the night with the realization that a map would be a very good idea. (Map-#1 on the ten essentials list for car tripping as well as backpacking)

We departed today about an hour past our target. Terri was tied up, then I was tied up and we couldn't break away. Of course there was our 4th tour of the city (in daylight this time), while we struggled to figure out where we were and where we wanted to be. Finally we were on the road for what turned out to be a long, tiring drive home. All in all, the town is lovely, the people are nice and we had a fine visit.

Floyd's Barber Shop. I understand you can have your picture made with Floyd and hung on his wall of fame. Guess we were lucky the shop was closed when we walked by, I might have been tempted.

Main Street, Mayberry RFD

Tiny green things are pushing out of the ground everywhere, crocus, daffodils and unfortunately tulips, day lilies, Siberian iris and hosta leaves. Yesterday, another in a series of above average temperature days, I decided to rake my neighbor's leaves off my lawn and out of my front gardens. This particular waste of a good afternoon was compliments of my neighbor's oak that drops leaves all winter and my neighbor who utilizes wind energy wind to clear them away.

The process of removing the leaves led to uncovering the hapless tender sprouts, which resulted in the dirty task of adding another layer of mulch. But the effort also uncovered one of winter's great beauties, Lenten Rose bushes laden with buds. Below are photographs of the first of many blooms to come.

Morning shadows along the Will Skelton Greenway

Reflections on a very calm river

We almost brought the New Year in with friends. Will and Kim had a grand New Year's Eve party but 12:00 am is way past our bedtime and we were tired so we said our good-nights a little early. We turned out the lights just as Time Square erupted with shrieks and confetti. Getting up this morning was tough!

Cold weather finally arrived today in the form of mostly overcast skies and a cold wind. We celebrated the new year by taking an early morning walk on the greenway and later, a movie. It was a silly movie, "Night in the Museum" with Ben Stiller, but we laughed a lot and enjoyed getting out and doing something we don't do enough of. A nice warm fire and sleeping through some really bad football finished off a pleasant beginning to 2007!