Jeff Barganier's Only God Can Make a Tree, Joyce Kilmer

Travel Experiences with Jeff Barganier Only God Can Make a Tree

Hiking the Joyce Kilmer Memorial Forest

Ever since I read naturalist William Bartram’s book describing his travels in the American South 1773 - 1777, I have longed to experience a Southern old-growth forest like those he wrote about. There’s a ginormous tree in the Sipsey Wilderness of Northwest Alabama that I’ve never been able to find. But Joyce Kilmer Memorial Forest near Robbinsville in Western North Carolina, offers easy access to some giant trees. Joyce Kilmer wrote the poem “Trees” before being killed in action during World War I. He was 32. I had to see his memorial and the trees in his forest. This is how it happened: I always take the scenic route, so Cindy and I are cruising the backroads through Rockford, Sylacauga, Oxford, Jacksonville, Piedmont and Centre—inching our way toward North Georgia and, eventually, Western North Carolina. I’m negotiating curves behind the wheel of my new Accord Sport Limited Edition. Cindy whines and clutches her seat. If only in my imagination—and I have an active imagination—this car performs like an authentic sports car. The driver’s side window of my former ‘01 Accord malfunctioned on a recent writing assignment to Guntersville. I had to Gorilla-tape it shut and crawl in and out of the back door. Embarrassing. So, I bit the bullet and bought another, sportier Accord. FYI, it’s not red. Details. Cindy wants to know where we’re staying. She laughs when I tell her I booked a great deal—$45 at the Gremlin Inn. “When you see an old man with tobacco juice dripping down his chin, you’ll know we’re getting close,” I say. I told her something like that on a previous writing assignment to Black Berry Farm in Eastern Tennessee. If you wish to read that story, visit www.cindybarganier.com and scroll down to the picture of the guy swinging a tennis racket. It’s one of my better stories. We stop in Anniston for lunch at Classic on Noble—crystal chandeliers, white tablecloths, antique buffets filled with heirloom silver—old-fashioned Southern charm, excellent shrimp and grits. Cindy’s never seen Little River Canyon. So, after lunch, we take a detour farther north and test my new wheels on the twisting perimeter of “Alabama’s Grand Canyon” near Fort Payne. Departing the canyon, we stop by True Adventure

Sports where owner Tyler Daniel tells us about the nearby lost village of Congo, named in remembrance of famous Christian missionary and abolitionist, Dr. David Livingstone. Daniel says there may even be a movement afoot by locals to bring Congo back. Between Rome and Ellijay, Georgia, there aren’t many opportunities for food or gas; but GPS soon zips us through Murphy and Robbinsville, NC to the trailhead of the Joyce Kilmer Forest. Once there, we head straight for the latrine and get in line behind fellow tree enthusiasts Ken and Beth of Knoxville. Discovering we have much in common, Joyce Kilmer Memorial Plaque Ken, Beth, Cindy and I set out together absorbed in conversation, searching for tall timber. Not far up the trail, we make a mistake and fork right. Despite a sign on a tree warning us we’re not on the right trail, we continue for a mile or so, meeting people who tell us, “There aren’t any big trees along this trail.” The girls decide to turn back but Ken and I stubbornly press on. After a long slog along a fern-covered path through briars and poison ivy, Ken and I turn back, too. On the way back, we encounter hikers who tell us the trail goes six miles to an overlook. We’re beat and still haven’t seen an old-growth tree. But Ken and I are determined to return in the morning and take the right trail. Meanwhile, turns out, we’re all staying at the Historic Tapoco Lodge not far from

Jeff Between 2 Old-Growth Trees

Jeff at Little River Canyon

Tapoco Lodge Resort, Lodge Guests List, In Room Welcome Note

Joyce Kilmer Memorial Forest. The girls precede Ken and me to the lodge and make dinner reservations for six. Cindy and I have been invited to share a table with Ken, Beth and some other Knoxville folks, Doug and Polly—Knoxville’s only an hour and a half away.

Tapoco Lodge is easy to love. It’s the kind of place where a personal greeting is left in your room by staff to make clear you’re welcome. Guests are surrounded by mountains, blooming rhododendron, numerous fire-pits, grassy knolls, Adirondack chairs by the river. This getaway stimulates one to relax and enjoy, and its management aptly describes Tapoco Lodge as an “Adventuary”—where adventure and sanctuary meet. We and our newfound friends enjoy outside dining overlooking the scenic Cheoah River. The menu includes Carolina trout, hand-tossed pizza, steaks, pasta and great burgers. There’s a full bar. We sample our waitress’s favorite local craft beer called Dirty Blonde Girl—or is it Blonde Dirty Girl? Whatever—it’s delicious. We talk, laugh and get acquainted as real sports cars and motor cycles roar by on Highway 129 on their way to and from the tortuous stretch of road known as Tail of the Dragon.

Next morning, Ken’s vintage ’01 Porsche speeds us back to the forest. The proper trail turns out to be an easy loop hike. We find halfdozen or so 400-hundred-year-old trees and snap photos to document our success. So, this adventure ends just as it began: in joyous serendipity … impossible to plan. And now …

I think that I shall never see a poem as lovely as a tree. A tree whose hungry mouth is prest … against the earth’s sweet flowing breast. A tree that looks at God all day, and lifts her leafy arms to pray. A tree that may in summer wear a nest of robins in her hair. Upon whose bosom snow has lain. Who intimately lives with rain. Poems are made by fools like me. But only God can make a tree. –Joyce Kilmer

For more info: www.classiconnoble.com I www.tapoco.com I www.fs.usda.gov/recarea/nfsnc/recreation/ recarea/?recid=48920&actid=50

Jeff S. Barganier is a novelist, travel writer and manager of Cindy Barganier Interiors LLC. He travels far and wide upon the slightest excuse for something interesting to write about. Contact: Jeffbarganier@knology.net. Instagram: @jeffbarganier. Visit: www.jeffbarganier.com.