Blue Ridge Outdoors March 2018 by Summit Publishing

BONDING

Nothing brings families closer than a crackling fire and cozy cabin. Find true repose in West Virginia. Explore more at GoToWV.com.

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3RD ANNUAL SOUTH RIVER FLY FISHING EXPO

APRIL 21-22, 2018

CONSTITUTION PARK | DOWNTOWN WAYNESBORO, VA Fly Fishing, Fly Casting, And Fly Tying Presentation By Regional And Nationally Known Fly Fishing Professionals | Habitat And Conservation Presentations | Free Beginner Fly Casting Introductory Lessons Numerous Fly Fishing Gear Raffle Packages | Regional Fly Fishing Retailers, Fly Fishing Guides, And Fly Fishing Destinations/Lodges | Fly Fishing For Trophy Brown And Rainbow Trout On The South River Catch and Release Area | Local Craft Brews on Tap and Local Food Trucks | Much More!

Special Guest

Pat Cohen - RUSuperfly Pat Cohen will be discussing warmwater fly fishing tactics and demonstrating his deer hair creations all day both days in the Main Exhibitor area!

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MARCH 2018

F E AT U R E S COURTESY BROOKINGS ANGLERS

D E PA R T M E N T S 8

BACKTALK

Readers respond to sexism, spirituality, and saving red wolves. 11

QUICK HITS

Winter A.T. thru-hiker aims for Triple Crown in a single year • Dupont State Recreation Area grows • New boulder park coming to W.Va. • High heel marathon record 14

FLASHPOINT

User fees can provide more political clout for hiking and biking groups, but the Forest Service is still far more focused on logging and firefighting. 50

TRAIL MIX

North Carolina songwriter Caleb Caudle widens his sound on his new album.

TROUT TOWNS

DOWN BY THE SEA

ARTIST-ATHLETES

A MURDER IN THE WOODS

These 8 favorite fly fishing meccas are beloved by beginners and experts alike. Since the beginning of time, humans have gone to the water’s edge. Meet sailors, surfboard makers, artists, and anglers exploring the Atlantic coast. These ten regional painters, potters, photographers, and woodworkers are also world-class athletes. For each, adventure nurtures the muse within. It’s been 20 years since a double homicide in Shenandoah National Park. Two suspects were never charged, and one is still at large today.

C OVER PHOTO : SA M DEA N / SAMDEANPHOTOGRAPHY.COM T R O U T A B O U N D O N T H E WAT A U G A R I V E R N E A R B O O N E , N . C . , ONE OF EIGHT TOP TROUT TOWNS HIGHLIGHTED THIS MONTH.

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THE RED WOLVES' LAST STAND Less than 25. That's how many red wolves are left in the wild. They are possibly the most endangered species on the planet, and they live only in an area of eastern North Carolina. The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, which manages all federally endangered species, will make a decision soon about the future of red wolves. A small but vocal number of hunters and landowners want the red wolf recovery program ended. The pro-hunting leadership of the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission is also lobbying to remove the last red wolves from the wild. But the overwhelming majority of North Carolinians want red wolves protected. In the past year, the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service has received over 55,000 comments in support of the red wolf recovery program—and only 10 against it. We've saved red wolves once before. After nearly being hunted to extinction in the twentieth century, a few pairs of red wolves bred in captivity were released in eastern North Carolina in 1987. Red wolves flourished for nearly three decades in the wild, and their population swelled to over 200. The red wolf recovery program was heralded as one of the most successful reintroductions of an endangered species into the wild. Then, in the last few years, a small group of hunters and landowners took aim at the red wolves. The recovery program has been suspended, and their numbers have quickly plummeted. Can we save the red wolves again? Only if we make more noise than the politically influential folks targeting the wolves. We stand to lose more than an endangered species. An irreplaceable wildness will also vanish. The woods and wilds will be eerily and tragically silent without the red wolf's howl. —Will Harlan, Editor-in-Chief

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BACKTALK H AV E S O M E T H I N G TO S AY ? S H O U T B AC K AT U S AT

GENTS: LISTEN UP

Having a wife who is an avid hiker, who occasionally hikes alone, I think it's time we start discussing how to make women feel safer on the trail. As a man, I have very little concern about my safety when I hike alone. Unfortunately, many women don't feel the same way. It seems we're at a major turning point in our culture in regard to gender equality—a turn that is long overdue— and since we outdoor adventurers like to consider ourselves environmentally and socially conscious, this issue should have been addressed a long time ago.

Thanks for highlighting these beautiful wonderful women and their relationship to the natural world. —Maggie Everett, Asheville, N.C

Such an inspiring video of these women in the outdoor industry! I love their messages and celebration of what nature has given them. My outdoor pursuits, especially whitewater kayaking, and having a community of strong women to share it with, have been some of my greatest gifts in life. I can't wait to see what 2018 has in store for us!

—Mike Chewning, Chapel Hill, N.C.

—Erin Smith, Columbia, S.C.

Your point is a good one. I’m a fly angler and could share many stories— most good, a few not so good. We need more gals to be comfortable in the woods and understand more from firsthand experience." —Catharine W. Tucker

SAVE THE RED WOLVES—KEEP THEM IN NORTH CAROLINA

FORCES OF NATURE

Great article and awesome to see University of Maryland-Baltimore County represented by Kathleen Cusick. She seems like a badass. —Accidental Fire

It is critical that we push back against the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service's proposal to shrink the red wolf recovery for the world’s most endangered canine. The public has been outspoken in support of red wolves. During a recent comment period, of over 55,000 comments supporting red wolf recovery in Eastern North Carolina, only 10 were

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submitted that opposed the program. One of those 10 came from the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission, and the rest were duplicate comments submitted by a few vocal opponents who want to put an end to the red wolves in North Carolina. A recent op-ed proposed culling coyotes to help red wolves. While it may sound logical that fewer coyotes mean more wolves, nature is far more complicated than that. The most effective way to control coyotes on the landscape is to establish a robust population of red wolves that eliminate coyotes in the area. Demand that federal and state agencies serve the public and guide management through science, not politics. Together we can turn things around. The wolves will do just fine in a world changed by man and coyotes—if we can just give them a little room to roam. —Ben Prater, Asheville, N.C.

What if the coyotes are just winning the survival of the fittest/natural selection game? —Jon Bennett, Fairfax, Va.

B LU E R I D G E O U T D O O R S

O R AT B LU E R I D G E O U T D O O R S . C O M

Bring back the wolves, who will naturally reduce the coyote population. People screwed it all up when they eliminated the big predators to protect their non-native livestock, and turned too many forests into pastures. —Dianne Keel Davis, Forest, Va.

CUT THE SPIRITUAL CRAP

All I know is, if I read another article on ‘my spiritual experience in the outdoors,’ I'll puke rocks. —Jay Young

COAL: THE BOTTOM LINE

Outdoor recreation and tourism are great opportunities for coal country. No, they don’t pay as well as mining, but 28 rangers were never killed in an explosion because their boss was trying to skimp on safety. —Ronin

IS THE BIG CAT BACK?

Three years ago, while hiking near Amicalola Falls, a tan cat with a long tail walked across the path. Later, we told other hikers about the mountain lion, but they laughed at us and then asked if we saw Bigfoot too. We know what we saw— and it was beautiful. —Jenny Filush-Glaze

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G O O U TA N D P L AY

B LU E R I D G E O U T D O O R S

QUICK HITS BY JEDD FERRIS + EMILY SHEA

NEW BOULDER PARK COMING TO WEST VIRGINIA

The New River Gorge area of West Virginia is already a beloved East Coast climbing mecca, and soon there will be even more routes to be accessed at the Oak Hill Needleseye Boulder Park. The new climbing park will be located on a 283-acre tract of land full of rock formations, located in the Minden section of Oak Hill. The park, named after a wellknown narrow craggy gap between two cliffs, will feature a range of bouldering problems, many found on a rock wall that spans nearly two miles. While no opening date has been set, plans for the park also include a trail network for both hikers and mountain bikers.

— Number of attendees watching minor league hockey’s Charlotte Checkers beat the Bridgeport Sound Tigers on January 17. Due to inclement weather, the Checkers were unable to host any fans for their game at Bojangles Coliseum. To avoid scheduling conflicts, though, the game took place anyway, in an empty arena.

“Instead of working hard, I committed misconduct as an athlete and, further, as a member of society.”

—Japan’s Yasuhiro Suzuki, an Olympic hopeful, who admitted to spiking the drink of one of his main competitors, Seiji Komatsu, with an anabolic steroid during last year’s national championships. Suzuki is potentially facing a lifetime competition ban by the Japan Canoe Federation.

HIGH HEELS MARATHON SPEED RECORD SET IN 'NOOGA

Irene Sewell set a bizarre world record at the Seven Bridges Marathon in Chattanooga, Tenn., last fall by completing the 26.2-mile race wearing a pair of three-inch stiletto hills. Sewell, a native of Blacksburg, Va., credits her experience as a former professional ballroom dancer with helping get her painful feet across the finish line in 7:28.

NAME THAT SUMMIT Just shy of 6,000 feet, this iconic summit on the Blue Ridge Parkway overlooks Big Ivy, a beloved section of old-growth forests and waterfalls. P H O T O B Y B R I T TA N Y S C A L E S

E M A I L YO U R R E S P O N S E TO

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RIGHT ON THE EDGE NAVY TRAINING RANGE ADJACENT TO CALVING GROUNDS SPELLS TROUBLE FOR ENDANGERED RIGHT WHALES THE WATERS OFF THE ATLANTIC COAST ARE AS much a highway as I-95, with leisure, commercial, and marine life traffic in constant motion up and down the Gulf Stream. Countless animals call this area home, including the extremely endangered North Atlantic right whale. Driven to near extinction before whale hunting was banned in 1935, the whale population slowly fought its way back to roughly 500 around 2010, but increases in ship strikes and entanglements in fishing equipment have started to reverse that trend. To make matters worse, a new threat has emerged in the form of the Navy’s new Undersea Warfare Training Range. For years, litigation swirled around the 500-square-mile area off the coast of Jacksonville, Florida, selected in 2009 as the site for the range. In 2010, the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) led a suit against the Navy to halt construction, arguing that it was too close to the only known calving and nursing grounds for right whales and did not include adequate safeguards for them as an endangered species. Ultimately, the courts decided the Navy was taking sufficient protective measures, and construction began in October 2014.

The NRDC, however, is not convinced. Ship strikes are already a major concern, with four whales dying in U.S. waters this past summer, and sonar could pose an even greater danger. While the range doesn’t directly overlap the critical habitat designated by the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), studies of sonar and comparable sounds “have shown whales fleeing [up to] 150 miles away,” says Taryn Kiekow Heimer, Senior Policy Analyst with the NRDC. The latest research estimates that whales entangled in fishing equipment may burn as much as 25,000 extra calories per day engaging in normal activities. That alone is often enough to starve a whale to death, without adding the stress and physical exertion of disorientation or fleeing. Sonar is turned off if whales are spotted in the blast range, but unfortunately, “any marine mammal observer—not just Navy—only spots [right whales] about 5% of the time,” says Heimer. They are dark, stay very close to the surface, and have no dorsal fin, she explains, making them “a sitting target for unintentional ship strikes.” Furthermore, the Navy has not adopted the only mitigation measure that Heimer believes would be effective at this point, which is to

refrain from running exercises during the critical calving and nursing period, from November to April. Construction of the range isn’t taking place during these months, but training exercises will. The Navy expects the range to be operational in the Fall of 2019, with full-scale training operations beginning Summer 2023. If training exercises led to any strandings or trauma, the Navy would certainly investigate the incident thoroughly, but with the population already so low, Heimer and others worry that even one incident could put the species over the edge.

DuPont Grows

DuPont State Recreation Area—a popular 11,000-acre forest near Brevard—will expand by 753 acres this year. In January, the late Charles Pickelsimer’s estate donated to the state property near Cascade Lake (though it will not include the actual lake, which is still owned privately).

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QUICK HITS

FOLLOW ALONG Crash’s Instagram @thehikingstory has over 13,000 followers.

A REALLY, REALLY LONG WALK IN THE WOODS ANDREW “CRASH” SHERRY ATTEMPTS A WINTER THRU-HIKE OF THE A.T. IN PURSUIT OF A TRIPLE CROWN YEAR. BY JESS DADDIO

ASIDE FROM THE TATTERED HEM ON HIS SHIRT AND the quintessential hiker beard, you might never suspect that Andrew “Crash” Sherry has spent the better part of the past 18 months hiking. Originally from just outside of Melbourne, Australia, Crash is 29 and an engineer by trade. After thru-hiking the PCT in 99 days, Crash moved to London where he worked as a contractor for the local government. Then Brexit happened. The government laid off its contract employees, including Crash. He took to the mountains to wait out the turmoil. That summer of 2016, he hiked over 1,000 miles through the Alps of Switzerland, Italy, and France. During the winter that same year, he traversed some 380 miles of the Scottish Highlands, during which time he only saw the sun twice. Somewhere in between the glaciers of Switzerland and the knife-edge ridgelines of Scotland, Crash resolved to keep hiking so far as his savings could support him. Over the course of the past 10 months, he’s thru-hiked the PCT, the Wonderland Trail, the Sierra High Route, the Hayduke Trail, and the 12

Arizona Trail. He’s now attempting the Triple Crown in a year, starting with a winter thru-hike of the Appalachian Trail. I caught up with him outside of Damascus, Va., just three weeks into his hike to see how he was faring in the record cold temperatures (and to deliver some much-needed gloves). D I S C OV E R I N G T H E T R I P L E C R OW N

Probably a decade ago, I literally stumbled upon the Triple Crown Wikipedia page and I was like, what dumbasses would do this? Now I’m doing it. MY FIRST PCT THRU-HIKE

There was definitely a learning curve. I was a good walker, but not a good hiker. I remember there was a 40-oddmile waterless stretch, and I was hiking with the minimum amount of water. I ended up hiding out in a cave all day to not sweat. I learned a helluva lot. One of the biggest things was just learning to do it day after day after day. When I finished the PCT, I didn’t think I would ever do another thru-hike again. I was so tired.

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TO U G H E S T M O M E N T

Five people died on the PCT last year. It went from being one of the highest snow years to being 110 degrees in the valley. The heat wave coincided with peak snowmelt, and there are three rivers that you have to ford. I had to walk upriver from about 6,000 feet in elevation to over 10,000 feet to find places to pass. It took me 12 hours to do six trail miles that day. I didn’t have enough food. So I turned around, which was the hardest decision of my life. I knew it was the right decision, because there were three bigger rivers coming up which I didn’t want to get trapped between. I took about two weeks off, and when I went back, it wasn’t a problem at all to cross the rivers. But then in Oregon, fires erupted everywhere. I was in constant smoke. THE HARDEST HIKING OF MY LIFE

The Hayduke Trail (an 812-mile trail in southern Utah and northern Arizona) is off-route scrambling down into canyons and up and out of gullies. Water is scarce. But it’s so beautiful. It could go from a fairly boring dirt road to these huge canyons with some of the best sandstone walls I’ve ever seen in my life. Then the next minute I’d be along the Escalante River pushing through brush so thick it would slow me to a half-mile an hour. I would walk in the river and wade through it until my feet got too numb, then back in the brush till my feet warmed up. B LU E R I D G E O U T D O O R S

T H E A .T. I N W I N T E R

I started within a week of Christmas, just after a massive storm dropped off 10-12 inches, so there was a fair amount of snow and ice up on Springer Mountain. In the first three weeks I’ve gone through three storms, including one of the coldest arctic fronts the country has had in a long time. CHRISTMAS PRESENT

I was on Clingmans Dome in the Smokies on Christmas Day. It was -10 degrees. I had a frozen beard. An inch of snow had fallen the night before, all of the water sources had frozen up, but it was like a little magic wonderland that I had to myself. I didn’t see anyone up there that day. I couldn’t have asked for anything better really. T H E WO R S T I S Y E T TO C O M E

Knowing that more cold and snow await farther north, I got downtrodden for a couple of days mentally. I can’t snowshoe for 1,200 miles. That’s just unfeasible for me at least. I started questioning why I was out here, until I just realized like, who cares? Just hike a day at a time and if you’re not enjoying it, get off. So yeah, I’ve started enjoying it more since then. G O P R O?

Would I hike professionally if the opportunity presented itself? Bloody oath I would! I could not think of anything better than being reimbursed financially for following my passion. G O O U TA N D P L AY

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FLASHPOINT

PAY TO PLAY? USER FEES CAN PROVIDE MORE POLITICAL

CLOUT FOR OUTDOOR GROUPS, BUT THE FOREST SERVICE IS STILL FAR MORE FOCUSED ON FIREFIGHTING AND LOGGING. BY DAN DEWITT

IT TOOK BARRETT DODDS—STRADDLING A MOUNTAIN bike at the trailhead of some of Pisgah National Forest’s most iconic tracks— just a few minutes to come around to the conventional view. He wasn’t crazy about the idea of paying to ride in Pisgah, he says at first. It’s a forest, not a bike park. He doesn’t like trails groomed like Disney rides, and raw, rugged terrain is “what makes Pisgah such a gem.” But then Dodds’ riding buddies pointed out that even natural trails can become too rocky and rutted for good riding, that such conditions promote the erosion blamed for clouding mountain creeks and rivers, and that the rangers’ tiny maintenance budget must accommodate a flood of users like them: out-of-town mountain bikers who have come to think of Pisgah almost like the holy ground it’s named after. “I guess I wouldn’t be highly against it,” concludes Dodds, 24, a registered nurse who drives from Greenville, S.C. at least once a week to ride in Pisgah. “With destination status comes a lot of wear and tear on the trails.” The idea of levying fees for mountain bikers and equestrians in Pisgah Ranger District slipped out at a meeting in November. It landed less as a bombshell than as a plea from a favorite charity. The forest needs us, the users say. Of course we’ll give. But they should also be aware of the broader view, say 14

environmentalists. They see the growing dependence on user fees— Pisgah Ranger District is one of 35 sites of possible new or increased fees in National Forests in North Carolina alone—as cover for decades of misguided spending priorities by federal lawmakers and Forest Service managers. Too much goes to promote logging, which is ultimately a loser for taxpayers, and to fighting fires, some of which should just be allowed to burn, they say. Too little goes to creating sustainable, inviting forests for hikers, climbers, paddlers, hunters, anglers, cyclists and horse riders— the recreational users who not only make up the bulk of forest visitors, but who, by far, create the most jobs and pump the most cash into surrounding communities. “Recreation needs are going to continue to be shortchanged by fire funding and road maintenance that supports logging, unless and until Congress does its job,” says Sam Evans, a lawyer with the Southern Environmental Law Center. “I don’t think that fees are inevitable, and I don’t even see that they are necessarily desirable.” EVANS IS AT LEAST PARTLY RIGHT, SAYS DAVID CASEY, the head ranger of the Pisgah Ranger District, the popular 171,000-acre block of forest west of Asheville. The fee program he’s considering is far from

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inevitable—not even a formal proposal at this point, he wrote in an emailed response to questions, but a “concept.” It faces an exhaustive review process, including public comment. And if the district does start charging users, the collection and spending of this revenue is strictly limited by federal law, especially the 2004 Federal Lands Recreation Enhancement Act. Entry fees for national forests, unlike for national parks, are forbidden, so nobody needs to worry that Pisgah’s famous stone gateway will suddenly sprout a toll booth. The decades-long practice of charging for campgrounds, however, is allowed under the act. So is levying fees for day-use sites such as the Sliding Rock swimming area. And though the Forest Service cannot collect fees from hikers in general, the same provision enables the Forest Service to impose fees at popular hiking trailheads, such as Whiteside Mountain in the Nantahala National Forest. The possible fees for mountain bikers and equestrians would be allowed by the same provision that enables the agency to charge $5 daily or $30 annually for ATV riders at the Brown Mountain OHV (off-highway vehicle) Area; all are considered “specialized uses,” which include activities that require specific trail designs, Casey wrote. The act also requires that money

collected goes not to the federal Forest Service budget but to local improvements: habitat restoration, shoring up trails and access roads, building information kiosks, paying law enforcement officers. And though nobody has set a fee amount, it should certainly be within the budgets of its targets, says Rick Calvert, an officer with the Backcountry Horsemen of North Carolina. “I think if you can afford a mountain bike or a horse, you can afford a $30-a-year fee,” he says. IT’S ESPECIALLY REASONABLE, A WIDE VARIETY OF users say, considering the clear need. A comparison of two recent nationwide Forest Service user surveys in 2011 and 2015 shows a 42 percent increase in park visitors who called mountain biking their primary activity. Closer to home, mountain bikers visit Nantahala and Pisgah forests 435,000 times per year, according to a 2017 report by the Outdoor Alliance. And though Forest Service surveys show modest growth in horse riding, it’s booming in Mills River, where the overflow of horse trailers in parking lots regularly spills out onto a popular access point, Turkey Pen Road, Calvert said. Meanwhile, the peak-season jam of trucks and cars—many of them carrying mountain bikes—sometimes extends more than a mile back from the park exit on U.S. 276 near Brevard, says veteran mountain biker Wes

“Recreation needs are going to continue to be shortchanged by fire funding and road maintenance that supports logging, unless and until Congress does its job. —Sam Evans, attorney, Southern Environmental Law Center

Dickson. “Five years ago, you could drive right out of the forest on a Saturday. Now it’s backed up to the Ranger Station,” says Dickson, 41, owner of two Sycamore Cycles bike shops near Pisgah. “We’re seeing increased traffic in the shops. We’re seeing increased traffic on the trails.” JUST AS OBVIOUS IS THE RANGERS’ STRUGGLE TO manage the impact of all users—too few bathrooms and too few clean ones, law enforcement stretched too thin to stop illegal, trash-dumping roadside campers or to make Dickson feel at ease when he sees his wife set off for a trail run—and the impact specific to mountain bikers and equestrians. The condition of Turkey Pen is “horrible … it’s in need of major repair,” says Tom Thomas, the Backcountry Horsemen’s statewide president, who added that some nearby, washed-out stretches of trail have been reduced to little more than webs of exposed roots. Pisgah’s trails are prone to such erosion because many of them were built by loggers for direct access and without switchbacks to divert water flow. The silt and sand carried by such degraded trails and other sources “is probably the number one pollutant of mountain streams,” says Andrea Leslie, a biologist with the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission. “A healthy mountain stream has clean gravel and clean boulders,”

which are needed to support healthy populations of salamanders, trout and the insects they feed on, she says. “Sediment can bury habitat.” Jeff Furman, a guide with Davidson River Outfitters in Brevard, watches it happen after every heavy rain. “Even 10 years ago, the Davidson River would get a little dingy for four to eight hours at the most,” he says. “Now it’s like one or two days, and it gets so dirty you can’t see the bottom of the river. I mean, it looks like chocolate milk.” Anglers, through license fees and equipment taxes, pay for restoration work in the forests, he says. So should cyclists. “They’re able to do whatever they want out there, without having to contribute any money to save the forest.” MOUNTAIN BIKERS AND HORSE RIDERS DO PAY, they say. The Backcountry Horsemen and Pisgah Area Southern Off-Road Bicycle Association (SORBA) contribute thousands of volunteer hours and a vast majority of the trail work in Pisgah. Since 2013 SORBA has raised $423,000 in grant money for trail improvements, including the recent, highly praised reconstruction of Pisgah’s Lower Black Mountain Trail. Mountain bikers also drop about $30 million per year into the local economy during visits to Nantahala and Pisgah, according to the Outdoor Alliance

report, and combined with paddlers and rock climbers create a total annual economic impact of $115 million. Figure in the impact of other outdoor enthusiasts, and the contributions are even more dominant. Of the 4,950 jobs created or supported by national forests in North Carolina, according to a 2014 Forest Service report, nearly 4,000 could be tied to recreational opportunities. The idea of adding user fees to recreationists’ current contributions of cash, labor and economic impact might give them another reason to get on board with the fee program: political clout. “If you want to have a seat at the table,” says Andy Stahl, executive director of the non-profit Forest Service Employees for Environmental Ethics, “it helps to say we pay the freight.” Too often, the Forest Service, or at least the lawmakers that help determine its funding, seem stuck in the days when forest town were built around timber and paper mills while they now serve primarily as “recreation gateways,” Evans says. “Is the overall budget mix disproportionally skewed to the timber industry? The answer is an absolute yes.” HARNESSING THE POLITICAL POWER OF RECREATIONAL users and agreeing how to direct it is notoriously tricky. Different users favor different management policies. National forests contain

greatly divergent ecosystems and are surrounded by a wide variety of development patterns. And even full-time naturalists emphasize varying approaches to two of the Forest Service’s main traditional operations, selling timber and fighting fires. But Chad Hanson, co-founder of the John Muir Project, speaks for many environmentalists when he argues for more fire and less fire fighting. In the early 20th century, he said, fire consumed as much as 30 million acres of the nation’s woodlands, which means that the 10.1 million acres that burned in 2015 was not, as is frequently claimed, a record. “It wasn’t even close,” Hanson says. Fires, even ones that destroy mature trees, are a natural reboot for aging, fuel-clogged forests, he said. And hunters, who are often allied with logging interests because of their preference for open, clear-cut landscape, he said, would find that fire leaves similar “early successional” landscape, except that it’s far richer in wildlife. Unlike logging, fire doesn’t leave debris—essentially “kindling,” Hanson says—that renders forests more vulnerable to future fires. And it doesn’t require the roads that are hard to justify by modest timber harvests— down from more than 12 billion board feet per year in the late 1980s, to less than 3 billion annually now—and leave forests with heavy economic and environmental burdens. Though the poster children for wasteful road building are the largest, wildest forests, especially Tongass National Forest in Alaska, and though roads in Pisgah provide undeniable recreation benefits, the gravel paths built for logging there often end up gated and neglected, blocking natural water flow and therefore impeding the

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FLASHPOINT path of aquatic wildlife, Evans says. According to a 2012 agency report, the cost of maintaining them comes to more than $3 million annually while the annual allocation for this work is only a small fraction of that amount, leading to a large and growing backlog. “Deferred maintenance continually accrues on the road system, but more importantly, it is not possible to maintain practices required to adequately protect water quality and associated aquatic life,” explains Evans. THE FOREST SERVICE REVEALED JUST HOW MUCH IT spends on fires, and how much this expense drains other operations, in a widely publicized 2015 report. Because of encroaching development and fire seasons extended by climate change, the share of Forest Service funds devoted to fire operations nationally ballooned from 16 percent to more than 50 percent of the agency’s budget in the previous 20 years and was forecast to consume as much as two-thirds of the budget by 2015. Funding for the agency’s Recreation, Heritage, and Wilderness programs, meanwhile, has shrunk

by 15 percent, the report says. “The decrease in funding resulting from increased fire costs has limited the agency’s ability to provide vital recreational opportunities on Forest Service lands, which jeopardizes the thousands of jobs that are part of a growing recreational economy.” Logan Free, recreation program manager for national forests in North Carolina, says that the local funding impact of fires isn’t quite that simple. The costs of fighting big fires, including the estimated $35 million to battle the 2016 blazes in North Carolina, comes out of a different fund than operational budgets. And in the state’s national forests, the amount devoted to Recreation, Heritage and Wilderness—the main source of recreational funding—has remained mostly stable in recent years. Even so, it accounts for less than 20 percent of a roughly $20 million annual budget for the state’s national forests. And the amount earmarked for trail maintenance and upgrades has remained consistently miniscule. In 2017 it came to $431,000 statewide, leaving a mere $52,000 for the job of

B LU E R I D G E O U T D O O R S / M A R C H 2 0 1 8

maintaining 380 miles of trails in the Pisgah Ranger District. “That’s beyond impossible,” says Jeff Keener, president of Pisgah Area SORBA. “It’s absolutely absurd.” EVEN IF ALL USER GROUPS JOIN FORCES, THEY MUST buck powerful forces both inside and out of the Forest Service, Stahl says. Images of raging fires terrify residents, especially in the rural West, he says, and the Forest Service has found the surest way to secure funding is by framing its work as a “war on fire.” “Wars are great,” he says. “Wars get blank checks. Trail maintenance, on the other hand—it’s tough to make that sound like a war. Nobody got elected to Congress by campaigning on the basis of well-maintained trails.” A look at current proposals in Washington seem to bear this out. Of two major forest-management bills before Congress, one is the so-called Resilient Forest Act, which opponents say is a misleadingly named effort to open vast areas of pristine forest to lightly regulated and costly logging while limiting public input. And President Trump has proposed

B LU E R I D G E O U T D O O R S

reducing the previously mentioned, entirely inadequate federal trail maintenance budget from $78 million per year to less than $13 million. But there’s also a sign of hope—a bill that would insulate environment restoration and recreation funds from the expense of fighting major fires by designating them as specially funded emergencies. It has received support not only from fire suppression advocates but environmentalists, many of whom also agree that the logging and restoration of certain previously disturbed forests, especially those that don’t require the building of miles of new roads, can be profitable and environmentally beneficial. Shawn Jenkins, an avid mountain biker who until recently served as a regional director for the National Wild Turkey Federation believes that with better communication, users could probably find more such common ground. “If interest groups really knew what the others were trying to accomplish,” he says, “they might find that they can be partners rather than seeing each other as enemies or threats.”

G O O U TA N D P L AY

B LU E R I D G E O U T D O O R S

B Y T R AV I S H A L L

What makes a trout town? Does it hinge solely on an areaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s proximity to coveted rivers, lakes, and streams? Or is it the confluence of topnotch anglers and a vibrant fishing culture?

BLUE RIDGE, GEORGIA D AV I D C A N N O N

M A R C H 2 0 1 8 / B LU E R I D G E O U T D O O R S . C O M

LEVIT Y | LUMINA

Yo u k n o w w h a t i s n ’ t c o o l ? S u f f e r i n g for the wrong reasons. Suf fering t h r o u g h p h y s i c a l c h a l l e n g e s ? T h a t ’s cool. Suf fering because your pack h u r t s ? N o t c o o l . S o w h e t h e r y o u ’r e p l a n n i n g o n d o i n g t h e L o s t C o a s t Tr a i l in a weekend or set ting a blistering p a c e o n t h e Tr i p l e C r o w n , w h y n o t take an ultralight pack that feels good on your back? Af ter all, nothing weighs more than pain.

there’s the gin clear Davidson River, which flows past the entrance to Pisgah National Forest and parallels Highway 276 for several miles. This river was famously named one of America’s best 100 trout streams by Trout Unlimited, but it’s only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to fly fishing in Brevard and the surrounding terrain of Transylvania County. Dig a little deeper and you’ll find that such go-to trout waters as the East, North, and West Forks of the French Broad River along with Avery and Looking Glass Creeks are all within striking distance of this Blue Ridge mountain town. In addition to quick fishing access, Brevard beckons anglers with great local fly shops and guides such as Davidson River and Headwaters Outfitters, and it’s home to the Flymen Fishing Company, purveyor of high quality fly tying materials. On the libation front, Brevard is covering all its bases and then some with nationally renowned Oskar Blues Brewing and smaller local favorites like Brevard and Ecusta Brewing Companies.

S Y LVA , N O R T H C A R O L I N A COURTESY BROOKINGS ANGLERS

PERSONALLY, I TEND TO SEEK OUT

the latter when searching for the next best destination for a multi-day fly fishing excursion. For me, true fly fishing culture requires more than a blueribbon stream on the edge of town. It needs fly shops and businesses on Main Street, wayward trout bums wandering the streets at questionable hours, and the obligatory craft brewery (or five). While the scene I’ve just described may sound like something out of a short story by John Gierach set somewhere in the Intermountain West, these places actually exist right here in our Blue Ridge backyard. Appalachia is teeming with world class trout fisheries and vibrant mountain communities whose economies are driven by fishing. They span the entire region, dotting the landscape like spots on a native brookie. They’re in places like Southwest Virginia, Western Pennsylvania, North Georgia and the mountains of Western North Carolina—the last of which could easily be called the epicenter of the East Coast fly fishing scene. Here are a few favorite Blue Ridge trout towns.

Sylva,

North Carolina With three in-town fly shops and more nearby honey holes than you can shake a four-piece 5 weight at, Sylva, North Carolina is a bonafide fly fishing paradise. It is the county seat of Jackson County, North Carolina, which boasts the famed Western North Carolina Fly Fishing Trail and an annual trout stocking rate somewhere in the neighborhood of 92,000. That’s roughly thirty five times more stocked trout every year than people living in the town of Sylva, so your chances of netting a fish are pretty good in Jackson County. When your day on the water is done, Sylva offers numerous restaurants and boasts one of Western North Carolina’s best craft breweries in Innovation Brewing. F I S H H E R E : Without a doubt, the most popular trout waters near Sylva flow through the Tuckasegee River—more commonly referred to by locals as the “The Tuck." This wide flowing river, suitable for both wade fishing and float trips, rises in the Panthertown Valley before eventually finding its way into

Lake Fontana. One of the most fishable, delayed harvest stretches of the Tuck lies between the Highway 107 bridge and Dillsboro park. Access to this amazing stretch of trout laden free stone can be gained via numerous pull offs and parking areas along North River Road. For more information about fly fishing near Sylva and in the Jackson County area, check out flyfishingtrail.com/fishingspots. S TO C K U P O N G E A R / B E TA H E R E :

F I S H H E R E : Ditch the throngs of anglers often found along the banks of the more popular and notoriously tough-to-fish Davidson and head for the smaller but equally productive Avery Creek. This tributary of the Davidson serves as critical spawning habitat for both brown and rainbow trout and is open to fly fishing year round. From Highway 276, it’s accessible via Pisgah Stables Road and then on foot by way of the 2.3-mile Avery Creek Trail. When the Davidson is flowing high and muddy, this small trib is a proven go-to. S TO C K U P O N G E A R / B E TA H E R E :

H O O K E R S F LY S H O P 530 W MAIN ST S Y LVA , N . C .

DAV I D S O N R I V E R O U T F I T T E R S 49 PISGAH HWY #6 P I S G A H F O R E S T, N . C .

B L AC K R O C K O U T D O O R C O M PA N Y 5 7 0 -A W M A I N S T S Y LVA , N . C .

H E A D WAT E R S O U T F I T T E R S 2 5 PA R K WAY R D ROSMAN, N.C.

BROOKINGS ANGLERS 49 PILLAR DR CASHIERS, N.C.

T H E H U B A N D P I S G A H TAV E R N 1 1 M A M A' S P L AC E P I S G A H F O R E S T, N . C .

Brevard,

BrYSON CITY,

Brevard, North Carolina is a heralded hot spot for all manner of outdoor adventure, but fly fishing is undoubtedly one of its biggest draws. One look at a map of Brevard and its immediate surroundings and it’s easy to see why. For starters,

In all of my wanderings throughout Western North Carolina, I’ve yet to find a community that more genuinely deserves the moniker of “Trout Town” than Bryson City. Nestled in the North Carolina portion of the Great Smoky

North Carolina North Carolina

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A BEAUTIFUL VIRGINIA BROWN TROUT SAM DEAN

Mountains not far from the cold, trout-rearing waters of Fontana Lake, Bryson City sits perched on the edge of the aforementioned Tuckasegee River. Anglers looking for delayed harvest fishing on the Tuck don’t even have to leave the downtown area, but venturing beyond the city limits is well worth the effort. Other nearby options include the Nantahala River, the Little Tennessee, and the Oconaluftee, not to mention the miles of blue lines hiding in more remote sections of nearby Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Once you decide that it’s time to hang up the waders and hit the town, head for the Nantahala Brewing Company. This downtown Bryson City staple has been putting out stellar craft concoctions since 2009. They’re known throughout the region for such flagship staples as the Noonday IPA, the Dirty Girl Blonde, and the App Trail Extra Pale Ale, and they recently opened a brew pub just a few blocks down from the original tap room on Depot Street. F I S H H E R E : For wild trout, leave the comforts of town and head for Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Deep, Hazel, and Eagle Creeks are all great backcountry honey holes, but they only scratch the surface of what this park can offer intrepid anglers who are willing to venture off the beaten path. S TO C K U P O N G E A R / B E TA : T U C K A S E E G E E F LY S H O P 3 D E P OT S T B R Y S O N C I T Y, N . C . (828) 488-3333 ENDLESS RIVER ADVENTURES 14157 W HWY 19 B R Y S O N C I T Y, N . C . (828) 488-6199

BLUE RIDGE,

GEORGIA

The North Georgia mountains have long served as a respite for nerveshaken and overcivilzed urbanites from nearby Atlanta and other population centers throughout the Southeast. While the entire northern region of Georgia is a fly fishing destination in its own right, 20

B LU E R I D G E O U T D O O R S / M A R C H 2 0 1 8

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the tiny town of Blue Ridge, located in Fannin County, is its undisputed trout capital. One stroll along this tiny mountain town’s Main Street and you’ll encounter two high end fly shops, a fishing inspired inn, and the workshop of worldrenowned bamboo rod maker Bill Oyster. Beyond fly fishingrelated businesses, downtown Blue Ridge boasts a small, locally-owned outdoor shop called Blue Ridge Mountain Outfitter and three craft breweries, Fannin Brewing Co., Grumpy Old Men Brewing, and Blue Ridge Brewery. F I S H H E R E : The Toccoa River is home to some of Fannin County’s biggest trout, and it’s widely known for offering some of the Peach State’s best fly fishing opportunities. You can access the upstream section via the U.S. Forest Service’s Deep Hole Recreation Area or hop on the downstream portion from Blue Ridge Dam to where the lower Toccoa crosses into Tennessee. S TO C K U P O N G E A R / B E TA : B LU E R I D G E F LY F I S H I N G 490 E MAIN ST B LU E R I D G E , G A . (423) 803-2733

ABINGDON,

VIRGINIA

When it comes to the outdoors, Abingdon, Virginia may be best known as the home of the popular Virginia Creeper Trail, which runs through the heart of town and continues on to nearby Damascus, or for its proximity to Grayson Highlands State Park, Mount Rogers National Recreation Area and the Appalachian Trail. But in recent years this tiny trail town has been flying under the radar as the hub of Southwest Virginia’s robust fly fishing scene. One look at a map of nearby rivers and it’s easy to see why. Closest to town is Whitetop Laurel Creek. This trout-laden freestone, which parallels both the Virginia

G O O U TA N D P L AY

B LU E R I D G E O U T D O O R S

Creeper and the Appalachian Trail for long stretches, is widely regarded as one of Virginia’s best trout fisheries because it’s known to harbor 20-inch brown trout and a thriving population of wild rainbows. Beyond Whitetop you’ll find such fisheries as the South Fork Holston River, Big Wilson Creek in the Mount Rogers Recreation Area, and the New River of nearby Grayson County. F I S H H E R E : Whitetop Laurel Creek is up there with some of the best wild trout rivers in the entire Southeast. For anglers, the place to begin on Whitetop is the 6 miles of stream that flows below Konnarock, Virginia, beginning at Creek Junction, near the confluence of Whitetop and Green Cove Creek. This marks the beginning of a 6-mile artificial only stretch where all trout smaller than 12 inches must be released. This stretch can be accessed by way of Creek Junction Road, about 25 miles southeast of Abingdon. Those in the know say that prime time on Whitetop is during the spring months when feeding trout will rise for just about any kind of dry fly you can throw at them.

S TO C K U P O N G E A R / B E TA H E R E : V I R G I N I A C R E E P E R F LY F I S H I N G 1 6 5 0 1 J E B S T UA R T H W Y. A B I N G D O N , VA . (276) 628-3826

BOONE,

North Carolina Boone, North Carolina is a bonafide adventure hub, boasting some of the best mountain biking, hiking and rock climbing you’ll find anywhere east of the Rockies, and the High Country surrounding Boone is veined with some of Western North Carolina’s most productive trout waters. In terms of tailwaters, the Boone area offers both the Watauga and the South Holston Rivers. Anglers looking for smaller creeks and streams should consider Beech Creek, Boone’s Fork Creek, Laurel Creek, Dutch Creek, and the Middle Fork of the New River, just to name a few. Don’t despair when your day on the trout waters of the Western North Carolina High Country is done because non-fishing related fun abounds in Boone. I’d suggest starting your tour of Boone’s food and drink scene with a

visit to Appalachian Mountain Brewing whose Long Leaf IPA is one of the best in the business. F I S H H E R E : The width of the Watauga River and the openness of its banks as it flows through Valle Crucis separate this river from its Southern Appalachian counterparts. More reminiscent of the type of rivers found out west than those typically located in the Blue Ridge Mountains, the conditions found on this stretch of water are a welcome respite for the rhododendron-weary fly fishers. In Valle Crucis you’ll find ample public fishing access leading to rainbows, browns and the occasional brookie. From October 1 to June 5, this portion of the Watauga becomes a designated Delayed Harvest stream, which means all netted trout must be released to fight another day. S TO C K U P O N G E A R / B E TA H E R E : DUE SOUTH OUTFITTERS 2575 NC-105 SUITE 60 BOONE, N.C. (828) 355-9109 F O S C O E F I S H I N G C O M PA N Y & OUTFITTERS 8857 NC-105 BOONE, N.C. (828) 963-6556

hARRISONBURG,

VIRGINIA

Harrisonburg, Virginia is a town of just over 50,000 nestled in the heart of the Shenandoah Valley between the George Washington and Jefferson National Forest and Shenandoah National Park. It’s location alone makes it a desirable destination for anglers from all over the East Coast, and the recent relocation of venerable guiding service and outfitter Mossy Creek Outfitters has infused this bike-crazy town with a healthy dose of fly fishing culture. When the fishing is done, head over to Pale Fire Brewing or Brothers Craft Brewing for some of the Shenandoah Valley’s best hand-crafted beer. F I S H H E R E : First opened to the public in 1978, Mossy Creek, the namesake stream of Mossy Creek Outfitters, is one of Virginia’s best spring creeks. This limestone creek carves a path through a picturesque pastoral setting and harbors undulating masses of aquatic vegetation, swift

Photo Devon Balet

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M A R C H 2 0 1 8 / B LU E R I D G E O U T D O O R S . C O M

runs, and steep drop-offs. It is a challenging waterway that some anglers dedicate a lifetime to, but those who crack the code are often rewarded with 25-inch brown trout hook-ups.

FLY GEAR

S TO C K U P O N G E A R / B E TA H E R E : MOSSY CREEK OUTFITTERS 480 E MARKET ST H A R R I S O N B U R G , VA . (540) 434-2444

LEWISBURG,

WEST VIRGINIA Situated in the heart of the Greenbrier Valley near the banks of the Greenbrier River, Lewisburg, West Virginia is a great place to start when seeking out Mountain State trout. The valley where this trout town lies offers easy access to long stretches of the Greenbrier and Meadow Rivers along with their cool-water, trout friendly tributaries. One such tributary is Anthony Creek, located just north of town in the Monongahela National Forest. Here you’ll find clear water featuring long runs and deep holes that harbor healthy populations of brown, brook, and rainbow trout thanks to steady stocking schedules. Reasons to visit Lewisburg don't begin and end with fly fishing. This town is offering up options for foodies, outdoors enthusiasts, and shoppers alike. For a taste of the Mountain State's brewing scene, head to Greenbrier Valley Brewing Company. If you're looking for a place to stay, consider pitching a tent at the Greenbrier Valley Campground just 15 minutes from downtown Lewisburg. F I S H H E R E : A stocked stream known for its large brown trout, the gravelbottomed and spring-fed Second Creek is designated by the state for fly fishing only. To access this stream, head to the tiny town of Ronceverte, just ten minutes from downtown Lewisburg, and head south on State Road 219 to County Road 65. Continue on until you reach County Road 62 and hang a right. This will eventually lead you to the low-water bridge and the beginning of the special regulations area of Second Creek. S TO C K U P O N G E A R / B E TA H E R E : S E R E N I T Y N OW O U T F I T T E R S 8 2 9 WA S H I N G TO N W E S T L E W I S B U R G , W.VA . (304) 647-9779

B LU E R I D G E O U T D O O R S / M A R C H 2 0 1 8

HERE ARE SIX ANGLER ESSENTIALS FOR E X P LO R I N G B LU E R I D G E TROUT STREAMS.

PATAGONIA RIO GALLEGOS ZIP FRONT WADERS

COSTA MONTAUK POLARIZED GLASSES $260

$599

The Montauk is a new core fishing frame that features ventilation openings to create better airflow for sweat management. The frame lies as close to the lens as possible, meaning that sweat will not pool in the groove of the frame but roll off instead. There are also small holes in the temple tips so that when sweat rolls back on the temple, it can then rush out and leave your view fog-free.

Equipped for the gnarliest of cold weather conditions but just as comfortable in cool early spring waters, Patagonia’s Rio Gallegos Zip Front Waders are the company’s top-of-the-line offering. Notable features include the TIZIP waterproof front zipper and trimmer upper-body fit that still allows easy layering.

SAGE SPECTRUM LT REEL $349

Sage’s Spectrum LT reel is the perfect compliment to the Mod, bringing lightweight toughness with its sealed carbon drag system. The one revolution drag knob offers quick and precise drag settings and provides the kind of power and smoothness you’d expect from a large traditional drag system, only without the bulk or weight.

FISHPOND FULLY SUBMERSIBLE THUNDERHEAD BACKPACK $300

This is one of the toughest and most attractive fishing specific backpacks on the market today. It has a fully waterproof TIZIP zipper, making the bag completely airtight and submersible. Store your camera, flies, extra layers, and snacks knowing they will be safe after a long day on the water.

SAGE MOD 4 WEIGHT ROD $850

REDINGTON WOMEN’S SIREN WADING BOOTS $150

Specifically designed for female anglers, the Siren wading boots offer exceptional performance, durability, and comfort neatly packed into a style that looks as good as it performs. These boots are tough enough to stand up to years of abuse and provide comfortable protection with rubber rands and soles. They also dry quickly as a result of quick-drying and quick-draining synthetic materials, and with an approximate weight of just 2.6 lbs they allow for swift movement even in the face of slippery rocks and strong currents. B LU E R I D G E O U T D O O R S

If there’s a better trout specific fly rod on the market, I’ve yet to find it. Sage designed the Mod specifically with trout fishing in mind, and the 4 weight version is ideal for Southern Appalachian angling. Sage calls this moderate action rod the seven iron of their lineup because it’s ideal for shorter, tighter casts that require delicate presentation and pinpoint accuracy—two skills critical for success when searching out trout on the narrow, rhododendron-choked waterways G O O U TA N D P L AY

B LU E R I D G E O U T D O O R S

TIGHT LINES 2018 FISHING GUIDE PRESENTED BY

WARM IN G TE M P E R AT UR E S, L E N GTHEN IN G DAYL IGHT, A N D R ETURNING S H A DE S O F G R EEN O N THE L A N D SIGN A L TH AT SPR I NG IS IN T HE A IR H E RE IN TH E B LUE RIDG E .

THE U LT IM AT E A N G LER G I VEAWAY 1. K-PAK BOAT K-PAK folding boat from The Folding Boat Company ($875 value)

2. ULTIMATE ANGLER PADDLE From Accent Fishing ($199 value)

4. RIVAL SUNGLASSES

3. ORVIS HELIOS 3F OUTFIT

Unisex fit with the most coverage from Unsinkable Polarized ($99 value)

8’6” 5 wt. 4pc Helios 3F Outfit. Includes a Mirage II reel & Hydros WF 5 Trout line ($1,300 value)

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SPECIAL ADVERTISING SECTION

VIRGINIA IS FOR FISHING LOVERS C

WHY DAN RIVER?

CATCH OF THE DAY

If you are an outdoor enthusiast traveling through Southern Virginia or the Blue Ridge Highlands, the Dan River provides plenty of opportunities for fishing, canoeing, kayaking, and tubing.

The upper portion of the river is popular for wild trout, with native brook trout as the main species. Between Talbott Dam and Townes Reservoir, fly fishermen find a plentiful spot for brook, rainbow, and streambred brown trout.

GET ON THE WATER Virginia’s portion of the Dan River starts near Meadows of Dan, traveling south through Patrick County in the Blue Ridge Highlands before crisscrossing the border between Virginia and North Carolina. The Dan River finally empties into the Kerr Reservoir, also known as Buggs Island Lake, a 50,000-acre lake with more than 800 miles of gorgeous shoreline. There are several notable communities along the Dan River— including Meadows of Dan, Berry Hill, Danville and South Boston—that allow you to take a break during your fishing trip for a bite to eat or for a delicious Virginia beverage. GO-TO RESOURCES Rent fishing boats, kayaks, and canoes at one of the local outfitters, including Three Rivers Outfitters in Ridgeway, River Traders in Scottsburg or the Danville Parks & Recreation department.

CMY

APRÈS FISH In addition to outdoor activities, you won’t want to miss the opportunity to sample local flavors at nearby restaurants, breweries and wineries. Popular restaurants along the Dan River like Chateau Morrisette Restaurant in Floyd, Mabry Mill Restaurant in Meadows of Dan, Golden Leaf Bistro in Danville, and Bistro 1888 in South Boston provide the opportunity for a culinary respite. If you’re interested in sampling some adult beverages during your visit to the area, consider a stop at Chateau Morrisette Winery in Floyd, Dry Fork Fruit Distillery in Meadows of Dan, Greenwood Vineyards in Vernon Hill, Ballad Brewing in Danville, or Hunting Creek Vineyards in Clover. To add a hint of luxury your trip, stay at Primland Resort in Meadows of Dan, where you can also enjoy horseback riding, golf, and fly-fishing on their 12,000acre property.

OUTDOOR RECREATION The river also boasts several parks along its banks with hiking and biking trails, such as Rocky Knob Recreation Area, Danville’s Riverwalk Trail, Staunton River State Park and a 7.5mile paved greenway that connects to historic downtown Danville. PLAN YOUR TRIP Plan a fishing trip along Virginia’s Dan River this summer for an action-filled outdoor getaway. Visit the website to get started!

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VIRGINIA.ORG/OUTDOORS

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Botetourt County, Virginia

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LEXINGTON, BUENA VISTA, AND ROCKBRIDGE V I RGI N I A

WHY FISH OUR REGION? With over 58,000 acres of National Forest and over 20,000 acres of state-managed land, Lexington, Buena Vista, and Rockbridge County offer river, stream, and lake fishing opportunities for advanced and beginner anglers alike. THE MAURY RIVER The 42-mile Maury River—stocked nine times between October and May—is a fisherman’s paradise. Stocked with brown and rainbow trout near Goshen Pass Natural Area Preserve and home to native brookies, the Maury's wild headwaters are a popular—and challenging—spot for fly anglers. GLEN MAURY PARK Downriver, Ben Salem Wayside provides easy wading access to productive waters for bass, panfish, and carp. Glenn Maury Park in Buena Vista offers shoreline and wading access opportunities for largemouth bass as well as trophy size smallmouth bass. The 315-acre park is the perfect spot for kids and families to fish, swim, hike, and camp or to have a side adventure on the Blue Ridge Parkway or Appalachian Trail. LAKE ROBERTSON Lake Robertson, a 30-acre impoundment, has yielded largemouths over 10 pounds. And Cave Mountain Lake Recreation Area

supports youth fishing with an annual event every April. THE JAMES RIVER As the Maury joins the mighty James River in Glasgow, anglers and paddlers alike will find unspoiled beauty in the foothills of the Allegheny and Blue Ridge Mountains. Designated a Virginia Scenic River, the 64 miles of the Upper James River Water Trail is a trophy fishery for small-mouth bass. Other plentiful species include channel catfish, flathead catfish, and various sunfish species (redbreast, bluegill, and rock bass). Recently introduced, muskies have thrived in the James and are catching attention from regional fishing guides. Fishermen wanting to take their time fishing each rapid or for a family group with younger kids that want to take it easy on their first trip can make arrangements with Wilderness Canoe Company for watercraft rentals and camping. BUFFALO STREAM Buffalo is a trophy trout stream within 10 minutes of Lexington. For a more remote experience, hike 2.3 miles through game-abundant National Forest to a brook trout lake. Rainbow trout predominate in North Creek, and Jennings Creek is a Heritage Trout Day stocked stream. John Roberts Fly Fishing Adventures can set you up with guided trips and equipment year round.

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HARRISONBURG V I RGI N I A

WHY HARRISONBURG?

MOSSY CREEK FLY FISHING

Harrisonburg, Virginia is conveniently located in the epicenter of the Shenandoah Valley’s vast playground of hiking, biking, hunting, fishing, and sporting activities of all types and all skill levels. In addition to its bikeable, walkable urban landscape, the city offers a wide range of services geared just for visitors wanting to engage in all the outdoor amenities that are available. You have access to 1,000 miles of public trout water, and endless warm water opportunities in the Shenandoah Valley!

Make a stop at Mossy Creek Fly Fishing (owned by the Trow Brothers)—a Virginia fly shop, Orvis endorsed guide service, and fly fishing school. The shop is just minutes away from spring creek brown trout on the famous Mossy Creek and wild brook trout in the freestone mountain streams of The George Washington National Forest and Shenandoah National Park. Fish for smallmouth bass, musky, and carp on the nearby Shenandoah and James Rivers. Mossy Creek Fly Fishing manages many stretches of private trophy trout water on local spring creeks and rivers. Whether you are looking for big browns, rainbows, brook trout, smallmouth bass, musky, or carp, their expert staff and guides will help you plan a trip to remember.

PLAN YOUR TRIP Come experience the best fly fishing that Virginia has to offer. Even better, make it a long weekend and book your stay with Hotel Madison and enjoy a relaxing fishing weekend getaway in Harrisonburg, Virginia. We are Adventurous By Nature!

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OUTSIDE and reconnect by our soothing mountain waters. Scenic mountain towns built on southern hospitality, history and culture.

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James River

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PATRICK COUNTY V I RGI N I A

FISH THE BLUE RIDGE V I RGI N I A

WHY PATRICK COUNTY? Five rivers rise out from Patrick County, Virginia, flowing into two major watersheds. Every river or stream in the county originates from within its borders. This dynamic creates wading opportunities for anglers that can’t be found everywhere. The Dan River begins northeast of the Meadows of Dan community on the crest of the Blue Ridge Mountains. Native brook trout can be found in the river north of Talbott Dam. First-class rainbow, brook, and brown trout fishing can be found in the six-mile section between Talbott Dam, locally called the “Upper Dam,” and Townes Reservoir. The river flows from Townes Dam, locally called the “Lower Dam,” around the Pinnacles of Dan, three mountain peaks that rise up from the Dan River Gorge, to the Pinnacles Powerhouse. This section is a catch-and-release trout area and the section from the Powerhouse through Kibler Valley is a Category A put-and-take trout stream. The North and South Mayo River are frequently stocked with brown and rainbow trout. The Smith River’s headwaters also start in Patrick County and can be accessed at Iron Bridge Road. Near Woolwine

you'll find Rock Castle Creek, which contains pickerel and sunfish. The Ararat River rises up near the Ararat community and contains native and rainbow trout. LAKE FISHING There are four lakes in Patrick County with great fishing. The 168-acre Fairy Stone Lake, home of Fairy Stone State Park, offers largemouth bass, crappie, sunfish, and bluegill. Outboard motor use is prohibited on this lake. Philpott Lake is in Patrick, Henry, and Franklin counties. Philpott offers excellent bass, walleye, crappie, and catfish opportunities. Talbott Dam and Townes Reservoir offer many angling possibilities from shore, as well as from hand-carried boats and canoes. WHILE YOU'RE THERE Immerse yourself in local history, whether related to the early American republic, the Civil War, or NASCAR’s early roots. You can flatfoot to fiddle music or wind down at a winery. From the rugged outdoors to 5-star luxury, there is so much to discover in Patrick County.

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ALBEMARLE ANGLER V I RGI N I A

FISH THE BLUE RIDGE Weekends alone aren’t enough time on the river, so why not “CRUSH Friday” with three days on the waters of Southwest Virginia. Smallmouth, largemouth, walleye, musky, channel catfish, and sunfish are just some of the fish you will find in the premier fishing waters of the Wythe/ Smyth County area. Float Wythe County on the New River at Foster Falls, home to a strain of walleye found nowhere else in the world. Cast for catfish at Rural Retreat Lake or the stocked trout pond. Hungry Mother Lake in neighboring Marion offers a crop of hybrid striped bass not easily found elsewhere. Smyth County’s South Fork Holston River is rich in wild rainbow and brown trout. To fish like the locals, try a guided trip by Appalachian Outdoor Adventures, Matt Reilly Fly Fishing or Greasy Creek Outfitters, all found online. With a third day, you’ll really see why “Virginia is for Outdoor Lovers”.

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TRUST THE ALBEMARLE ANGLER Located in Central Virginia, The Albemarle Angler offers great fishing trips all year long. Fish for bass in the warm months and trout in the cooler months. They are also now offering trips for the elusive musky! Like to travel? Explore their long list of destination fishing spots at an unbeatable price. No matter the season, The Albemarle Angler can outfit you from head to toe with the top brands in the business. Simms® and Filson® layering systems will keep you both warm, dry, and protected from the sun in the harshest of weather. They have flies, rods, reel, and tackle to meet any budget and nearly the whole store has some form of lifetime warranty. If you are just starting out, take advantage of the intimacy of our their small business where learning opportunities take place daily. Remember beginners, fly fishing is not as hard as folks often make it out to be.

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ALBEMARLEANGLER.COM

Come for the fishing, but stay for so much more Come explore Patrick County, Virginia. Picnics at a covered bridge or along the Blue Ridge Parkway, canoe rides, traditional mountain music, artisan studios, local wineries, bed and breakfasts, camping, hiking, mountain biking, and fishing are just a few of the attractions awaiting you. From the rugged outdoors to 5-star luxury, there is so much to discover in Patrick County. www.visitpatrickcounty.org

Smyth, Wythe Information Videos • Online Guide • Fishing Regs • Bodies of Water • Boating Regs • Camping and Grayson Coun

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Smyth, Wythe and Grayson Counties of Southwestern Virginia To Order your FREE Great Fly Fishing in Southwest Virginia’s Blue Ridge Highlands fishing guide, contact:

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Unplug.

FRONT ROYAL OUTDOORS V I RGI N I A GET OUTDOORS WITH FRONT ROYAL Nestled between Shenandoah National Park and George Washington National Forest, Front Royal Outdoors offers self-guided fishing trips in canoes, fishing kayaks, rafts, or stand-up paddleboards. FRO is located right on the beautiful South Fork of the Shenandoah River, which is home to some of the best smallmouth bass fishing in the Mid-Atlantic. With trip options that

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include half-day, full-day, or multiday excursions, FRO has everything you need for the perfect getaway, whatever it may be. Once you arrive at the office, all details, equipment, and shuttle service are provided. Lodging is also available in one of our cabins or in our new platform wall tents. FRO is also an authorized Jackson and Bonafide kayak dealer, so drop on by a take a test paddle of the best fishing kayaks on the market.

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HEART OF APPALACHIA V I RGI N I A

VISIT THE HEART OF APPALACHIA

GO OUTSIDE AND PLAY!

Among the pristine waters of the Appalachian Mountains, you’ll find an impressive variety of bountiful fish and stunning scenic backdrops for your angling adventure. Enhance your visit with great kayaking, hiking, ATVing, scenic byways, traditional music and crafts. Come visit our wineries and breweries while enjoying our comfortable lodging and camping.

The Heart of Appalachia region is teeming with great fishing spots which the locals have managed to keep a secret... until now. The pristine waters boast: five State Record catches, an unmatched variety of fish, numerous special regulation streams, and lastly, the World-Famous Clinch River.

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HEARTOFAPPALACHIA.COM

• Clinch River Adventures • Spearhead Trails Mountain View ATV Trails* • Sugar Hill Trails • Blue Bell Island & Clinch Trails • Oxbow Lake • Wetlands Estonoa • Cllinch River Days Fessval • Sugar Hill Brewing Co.

• Mountain View Lodge • St. Paul Suites & Cooages • Western Front Hotel • Maggie Way RV Park • Ridge Runner Campground *Trails open to ATV/OHV, Mountain Biking & Hiking

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3028 4th Avenue Market Sq. St. Paul, VA

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a Virginia State Park. James River, New River Trail and Shenandoah River state parks provide car-top launching and wading access.

WHY VIRGINIA STATE PARKS? Virginia State Parks provide access to the best fishing around. And with 37 state parks within an hour's drive of wherever you are in the state, there are tons of options. No matter the type—trout, big lake, small lake, downriver, tidal river, even Chesapeake Bay and ocean fishing— you’ll find what suits your fishing fancy at a Virginia State Park.

TIDAL RIVER FISHING The tides run all the way to the fall-line in Virginia so you can find freshwater and saltwater tidal rivers. Mason Neck and Leesylvania state parks are your stop if you’re searching for freshwater on the Potomac River where you’ll find some of the best largemouth bass fishing in the area. Caledon is on the brackish portion of the Potomac while Westmoreland, Belle Isle and York River are along the saltwater portions.

VIRGINIA STATE PARKS

TROUT FISHING Find native brookies and stocked fish in the creeks of Grayson Highlands, rainbow and brown trout in the Indian Creek at Wilderness Road, or how about trying your hand at the streams in the national forest lands around Douthat, Natural Tunnel, Hungry Mother or Shenandoah River state parks? Douthat even has a special section just for kids.

panfish. Fish for the day then stay the night in a campsite or cabin.

BIG LAKE FISHING

SMALL LAKE FISHING

There’s at least one state park on each of Virginia’s four major impoundments—Claytor Lake, Lake Anna, Buggs Island (home of Staunton River and Occoneechee state parks) and Smith Mountain Lake—all famous for bass fishing, and

Small doesn’t mean less. Some small lakes stretch 150-acres. And big fish do swim in small ponds. Northern pike and chain pickerel can be found in state park lakes. But you’ll have the most fun enjoying a relaxing day with the family fishing on the bank

CHESAPEAKE BAY & ATLANTIC OCEAN dunking worms for pan-sized bluegills and crappie. Small lakes? They’ve got ‘em. Check out Bear Creek Lake, Fairy Stone, Hungry Mother, Holliday Lake, Twin Lakes, Douthat and York River state parks. DOWNRIVER FISHING Virginia has some of the best smallmouth bass fishing rivers in the U.S. with access to many of them from

Boaters love Kiptopeke and First Landing state parks because they offer direct access to the Chesapeake Bay and Atlantic Ocean. These are homes to striped bass, flounder, spadefish, cobia, and more. But land-bound fishermen will also love these parks. Cabins, camping and lodges are also available. For more information on fishing at Virginia State Parks, visit the website.

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VIRGINIASTATEPARKS.GOV

GRANT COUNTY W E ST V I RGI N I A

Our Luxury Log Cabins are located on the banks of a private access trophy trout stream in Hopeville Canyon. Within the Monongahela National Forest, our cabins are located in the West Virginia Mountains near Seneca Rocks and Smoke Hole Caverns in the heart of the Spruce Knob - Seneca Rocks National Recreation Area. Nestled in the foothills of the Dolly Sods Wilderness this lodging location offers access to outdoor activities such as trout fishing, hiking, horseback riding, mountain biking, canoeing, rock climbing, whitewater rafting, skiing, golfing, hunting and wildlife viewing.

wvlogcabins.com

WHY GRANT COUNTY?

HARMAN'S LOG CABINS

Grant County offers some of the best trout fishing in West Virginia. Countless miles of state-stocked water on the North Fork and the South Branch Rivers are just a few of the highlights Grant County has to offer. Wild trout abound in several of Grant County's streams, like Spring Run and Seneca Creek, and private trophy fishing can be enjoyed at The Smoke Hole Resort.

Stay at Harman's Log Cabins, located on the banks of a private access trophy trout stream where you can arrange a guide to show you a few of Grant County's secrets. Grant County is not just a place to see some of West Virginia's most beautiful landscapes, it is a fisherman's paradise.

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Townsend, Tennessee - The Peaceful Side of the Smokies is the ideal

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base for any fly fisher who wants to sample the abundant trout fishing inside Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Many who have yet to be initiated into Smoky Mountain angling may look at the rocky, turbulent waters and wonder where a trout could even live but it’s ideal wild trout habitat and the most popular streams here boast populations of more than 2,500 trout per mile.

Quick Facts About Fishing Great Smoky Mountains National Park There are approximately 1,000 miles of wild trout streams Over 900 miles of hiking trails Open to fishing year round but is usually best March thru November

The national park is managed as a wild trout fishery so all the trout are born here and reproduce naturally. Rainbow and brown trout are found in many streams while native brook trout that found their way here during the last Ice Age still reside in the most remote streams in the Smokies.

The key to success is not to focus too much on your fly imitation, since the Smoky Mountains boasts a wide variety of aquatic insects, but to be sure not to let fish know you’re there. They are usually opportunistic feeders and very skittish about danger. Don’t stay too long in any one spot. Cover more water and you’ll cover more trout that might take your fly.

TOWNSEND, TENNESSEE THE PEACEFUL SIDE OF THE SMOKIES

TN or NC fishing license is valid for fishing anywhere inside the The Peaceful Side of the Smokies is National Park the ideal base for any fly fisherman WHY TOWNSEND?

who wants to sample the abundant trout fishing Great Smoky All trout areinside wild and naturally Mountains National Park. Many reproducing populations - none of who have yet to be initiated into the rivers are stocked Smoky Mountain angling may look at the rocky, turbulent waters and wonder where a trout could even Single artificial onlyhabitat lures or live, but hook, its ideal wild trout and here fliesthearemost legal.popular Bait andstreams treble hooks boast populations of more than are NOT allowed 2,500 trout per mile. The national park is managed as a wild trout fishery so all the trout are born Approximately 2000 trout per here mile and reproduce naturally. Rainbow (no kidding!) Some have more, and brown trout are found in many some have lessnative basedbrook on thetrout size of streams while that found their way here during the the streams last Ice Age still reside in the most remote streams in the Smokies.

Developed campgrounds and

TOWNSEND TIPS primitive backcountry sites are A available small investment of time and effort will lead to great success on the water. Trout in the Smokies subsist on a variety of delicate aquatic insects like mayflies and caddis flies. The best way to imitate these foods to fool a trout is with an artificial fly tied with feathers and animal hair. Trout flies weigh almost nothing so a fly rod is the best way to fish them and fool a trout. Once an angler’s fly has lit upon the water the fly must behave

A small investment of time and effort will lead Hiring a guide can make a big difference in your to great success on the water. Trout in the Smokies learning curve to successfully hooking and landing subsist on a variety of delicate aquatic insects like trout in the Smokies. A guide can give you instruction photos by R&RFlyFishing.com mayflies and caddis flies. The best way to imitate these on how to read the water, present your fly, show foods to fool a trout is with an artificial fly tied with you easily accessable areas, or lead you into some feathers and animal hair. Trout flies weigh almost backcountry fishing, as well as help familiarize you with nothingfor so a trout fly rod the best them and fool properly to is believe it’s way an to fishFAST FACTS the area. It’s always better when you catch a few trout, insect. All aquatic insects have a dual a trout. lifecyle where the immature form but anyone fishing in the Smokies will be surrounded by There are approximately 1,000 lives under water on the bottom of tranquil woodlands filled with wildlife. Don’t just bring Once an angler’s fly has lit upon the water thewild flytrout streams. miles of the stream. When the insect hatches a camera for the fish you catch but the many animals must behave properly for a trout to believe it’s an it drifts in the current, breaks through You'll find over 900you miles of great may catch a glimpse of at the water’s edge. insect. Alltoaquatic have a dual lifecyle where the surface sprout insects wings and hiking trails. eventually fl ies away. Most aspiring the immature form lives under water on the bottom fly fishermen think the challenge of Photos and copy provided by R&R Fly Fishing & Media. Open to fishing year round, but the of the stream. When but thethe insect the sport is fly casting, truehatches it drifts in the Ian March and Charity Rutter are the guides at R&R Fly Fishing best time to fish is usually current, breaks through the surface challenge is to achieve a perfect drift to sprout wings and through November. and have been guiding in the Smokies since 1995. They have with your fly flies so it away. movesMost with the eventually aspiring fly fishers think written five books about fly fishing the Smokies and are well currents and does not “drag” across the challenge of the sport is fly casting, butTennessee the true or North Carolina fishing the current. Trout aren’t known for known guides, speakers and instructors on the topic. challenge is to achieve a perfect drift withlicenses your flyaresovalid for fishing anywhere their intellect, but on some primitive Ian and Charity Rutter* inside the Great Smoky Mountains You won’t find Ian & Charity in a fly shop,photo instead theyBennett are by Hollis level they with understand that mayfl it moves the currents andiesdoes not National “drag” across Park. R&R FLY FISHING on the river daily, providing fly fishing experiences in don’t water ski! theA current. Trout aren’t known for their intellect, but 9-10” trout in the Smokies is often Great Smoky Mountains All mayflies trout are wild and are inthe naturally Hiring a guide National can makePark. a big primitive understand that fion ve some years old or olderlevel andthey dodged For more information on R&R Fly Fishing, visit to reproducing populations—none of the difference in your learning curve many from predators, floods, don’tdangers water ski! rivers are stocked. successfully hooking and landing www.RandRFlyFishing.com droughts, and even some fishermen trout in the Smokies. A guide can in itsAtime. here are is often five years old or 9-10”While troutthe introut the Smokies Single hook, artificial only lures, or give you instruction on how to read far from impossible to catch, they are ofyour theflSmokies older and dodged many dangers from predators, floods,Bait andDiscover flies are legal. treble hooksThe Peaceful the water,Side present y, show often difficult for lifelong fly fishermen are NOT allowed. you easily accessible areas, www.SmokyMountains.org or lead droughts, and even sometrout fishermen from other regions where streams in its time. While you into some backcountry fishing, have a much diffare erent at you with the trout here farcharacter. from impossible to catch, Therethey are are approximately 2,000 or call Blount as well Partnership as help familiarize The key to success is not to focus often difficult for lifelong fly fishers fromtrout other regions per mile (no kidding!) Some have the area. It’s always better when you too much on your fly imitation, since 1-800-525-6834 more, and some have less based on catch a few trout, but anyone fishing where trout streams have a much different character. the Smoky Mountains boasts a wide variety of aquatic insects, but to be sure not to let fish know you’re there. They are usually opportunistic feeders and very skittish about danger. Don’t stay too long in any one spot. Cover more water and you’ll cover more trout that might take your fly. SMOKYMOUNTAINS.ORG RANDRFLYFISHING.COM

the size of the streams. Either way, it's hard to beat.

There are developed campgrounds and primitive backcountry sites available for visitors.

in the Smokies will be surrounded by tranquil woodlands filled with wildlife. Don’t just bring a camera for the fish you catch but also for the many animals you may catch a glimpse of at the water’s edge.

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*Ian and Charity Rutter are the guides at R&R Fly Fishing and have been guiding in the Smokies since 1995. They have written five books about fly fishing the Smokies and are well known guides, speakers and instructors on the topic. You won’t find Ian & Charity in a fly shop, instead they are on the river daily, providing fly fishing experiences in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

TENN

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1-800-525-6834

CATCH YAâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; LATER!

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HUNTER BANKS FLY FISHING from here, everywhere NORT H CA ROL I NA

WHY ASHEVILLE? What starts on the water has the potential to go anywhere... The rivers around Asheville, North Carolina hold some of the finest fly fishing opportunities in the country. The diversity of fish species is matched by the variety of anglers, creating a dynamic community that makes Western North Carolina an unforgettable destination. You can wet a line for native brook trout in high mountain streams, search for trophy brown trout in world-class tailwater rivers like the Watauga and South Holston and chase the everelusive musky on the French Broad River. This variety fuels a fishing community as unique and diverse as the waters they fish. The energy of this group coupled with the diversity of fishing opportunities is driving the region’s emergence as a premier fly fishing destination. A LEARNING EXPERIENCE Hunter Banks Fly Fishing has been serving the Southeast fly fishing community since 1985. During this time, they've helped countless beginners move beyond the misconception that learning to fly fish is too difficult.

Once a rod is in hand, their friendly and skilled fly fishing instructors have clients casting like professionals in no time. They also provide top-notch instruction on fly selection, knot tying and water reading. They teach on the water with the beautiful Blue Ridge Mountains as a backdrop. If fly fishing has always been on your bucket list, try one of the monthly Introduction to Fly Fishing Classes to get a true sense of the sport’s beauty. They also understand that fly fishing doesn't have to replace your other hobbies. In fact, it can enhance your enjoyment of your other outdoor pursuits. Are you a stand up paddle boarder? Try one of their guided paddle board fly fishing trips this summer. Like to spend time mountain biking the trails crisscrossing the Blue Ridge Mountains? Strap a lightweight fly fishing setup to your pack and they’ll show you the perfect trail to paddle your way to the best water. Covering hundreds of miles a summer in your trusty hiking boots? They’ll teach you about Tenkara—a compact Japanese style of fly fishing that requires only a rod and line. This style of fishing is perfect accompaniment to the trails paralleling many of the high mountain streams throughout the region.

LET THEM BE THE GUIDE Thousands of miles of river are within a quick morning drive of our shops. With a familiarity of area water that only locals could have, their guides will select the perfect stretch of river to ensure all of your trip expectations are met. If you’re looking for a high quality, immersive fly fishing experience, consider the full day wade or float trips. These trips include all necessary equipment, lunch and if desired, instruction on fly casting, gear and tackle selection, essential knot tying, fly selection, reading water, and sustainable fishing practices. If you’re pressed for time, their half day guided trip option includes all necessary equipment and gives you four full hours of enjoyment on the water. HUNTERBANKS.COM

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DOWN BY THE SEA BY JESS DADDIO

EVER SINCE THE BEGINNING OF TIME, HUMANS HAVE BEEN DRAWN TO THE WATER'S EDGE. THIS MONTH WE HEAD TO THE COAST TO MEET SAILORS AND SURFERS WHO CALL THE ATLANTIC HOME. T H E S A I LO R

SEAN MOFFITT CHAPEL HILL, N.C.

an you pinpoint your earliest experience at the beach? Sean Moffitt can, and though later in life he would go on to develop an allconsuming passion for sailing the open seas, that first memory wasn’t exactly awe-inspiring. “I got a shrimp caught in my shirt. I was terrified. I cried and cried and cried. I was just a kid. In my memory it was huge.” Whatever that run-in with the shrimp did in the short term, it hardly daunted Moffitt. He became curious, just like his father. Mr. Moffitt is what you might call a tinkerer—he’s done just about everything from raising bonsai plants to engineering robotics— but one summer, about the time Sean was 12, he started building sailboats. “Our boats are not necessarily pretty,” says Moffitt. “They are meant to be used, not sitting in the harbor. The physical structure is all built out of plywood, the sails we make are made from poly tarps, all of which you can get at Lowe’s.” At age 13, Moffitt and his cousin built their first sailboat. For its maiden 36

voyage, they sailed it on the Gulf of Mexico. Then just a teenager whose world was mostly confined to the booming city of Atlanta, Moffitt remembers the thrill of open water and the simultaneous pressure of handling a vessel of his own creation. “It was a little nerve-wracking to be sailing on your own as a 13-yearold in the Gulf of Mexico,” he says. “It was almost like a forced meditation. You had to be in tune with everything. It was a very calming and humbling experience for me.” Initially, the trips were short, just a few hours or so. But with every summer, the sailing became longer until eventually, Moffitt and his family were overnighting off of their sailboats, sailing by day and camping on the beaches of the Outer Banks by night. Inspired by Florida’s WaterTribe Everglades Challenge, a 300-mile unsupported sailing race, Moffitt’s brother Paul started the OBX 130 sailing raid in 2008. Right from the beginning, the Moffitts wanted to make the event less of a race and more of an adventure. The 130-mile, selfsupported group sail takes place every other year off the coast of the Outer Banks. That first year, at age 21, Moffitt solo captained a new boat he had built in college, this one 12 feet in length. “Compared to the weather that year, that was a tiny boat,” Moffitt remembers. “I remember waves crashing over the front of the boat. The weather was crazy. I learned how to rest my sail in the middle of the storm. It was one of those pushing-to-mylimits kind of experience, but I did it. I sailed 130 miles in this tiny boat. It was the most proud I’ve ever been.”

B LU E R I D G E O U T D O O R S / M A R C H 2 0 1 8

To date, Moffitt himself has built three boats, his father four, and his brother Paul three. The boats range anywhere from eight feet long to more than double that in size. They’re monohulls, made for navigating the shallow waters and sandbars of the Outer Banks. A couple of years after that first solo captain success, Moffitt set out from the North Carolina shore to retrace the OBX 130 route, this time completely alone and without an armada of other sailors to keep him company at camp. His goal was to spend the entire three-month summer aboard his sailboat, which he retrofitted so he could sleep onboard, but after two weeks, he was done. “That first night alone was the beginning of a storm with insane 25 knot winds. I couldn’t even leave the shore for two or three days. I was just camped underneath the lighthouse at Cape Lookout, waiting. It was a pretty rough start. It was really hard for me. All of my peers seemed to have lives and apartments and significant others and jobs and I didn’t. I was on this boat. I had every beach to myself and went wherever I wanted. I had an amazing experience, but a younger me had a much harder time with it.” Recently, Moffitt has taken his love of the natural world inland as a Field Coordinator for the North Carolina Youth Conservation Corps. He’s currently in graduate school studying to become a licensed social worker and therapist, so that he can integrate wilderness therapy into his conservation work. The sea has never left him, nor those memories of sailing free, and he says his hope is to bring B LU E R I D G E O U T D O O R S

his conservation and youth work to the waters that have so defined his life. “She’s the mother ocean. Every time I go I feel like I’m returning to the womb. I’ve probably spent as much time in the mountains as I have in the ocean, but the ocean is much more special to me.” THE ANGLER

ART WEBB

V I R G I N I A B E AC H , VA .

t’s hard to imagine that someone who grew up fishing bass in the landlocked state of Missouri could ever learn to love fishing the Atlantic waters, but that’s exactly what happened to Art Webb. “To this day I still don’t consider myself a ‘beach person,’” Webb says, chuckling. “I’m a water person, no doubt, but to be honest, beaches attract way too much humanity for me.” He would know. He’s lived at the edge of Virginia Beach’s busy boardwalk for two decades. And while his first experiences fishing saltwater were in the shallow coastal flats, it wasn’t long before he was venturing off-shore with a fly rod in hand, searching for billfish. “The first fish I hooked and brought boatside probably eclipsed the sum of all other fish I had caught up to that point,” he says. “I can’t even put into words how berserk they go and what it feels like to have them on the end of the fly rod. It’s like nothing I’ve ever done, save for tarpin.” Early on, people weren’t sure what to make of the charming fellow on board who was attempting to catch

G O O U TA N D P L AY

B LU E R I D G E O U T D O O R S

F R O M L E F T : S E A N M O F F I T T ' S H O M E M A D E B O AT A N C H O R E D O F F THE COAST OF THE OUTER BANKS; FROM BASS TO BONEFISH, ART W E B B H A S B E E N A N G L I N G A L L O V E R T H E W O R L D ; K AT E B A R A T T I N I S U R F I N G O F F T H E C O A S T O F F O L L Y B E A C H ; C A P TA I N P H I L L A N G L E Y S H O W I N G T H E N E X T G E N E R AT I O N T H E WAY S O F T H E WAT E R M A N .

billfish on fly. It just wasn’t something that was done, especially in those parts. Webb hardly seemed to mind the skepticism, and after a number of successful outings, he convinced fellow fly fishermen Brian and Colby Trow of Mossy Creek Fly Fishing to come see for themselves. The result of their exploits can be experienced firsthand in the film Tidewater, produced by TwoFisted Heart Productions and released in 2016. With unpredictable weather, fickle fish, and a time-crunched video shoot, the adventure was for Webb, an advertising tycoon by trade, pure bliss. He says of all the blue marlin and billfish they did end up catching, none stands out so clearly in his mind as the one that got away, or simply never was. It was a blue marlin, some 12 feet long and 700 pounds in size. The fish was close, within casting range for Webb, who was at the rod. Pulsing with adrenaline, Webb cast his line out into the water, not sure if he was fully ready for the fight that lay ahead. “It was a pink fly, I will remember that as long as I live. That fish hovered underneath that pink fly deciding whether or not to eat it and I didn’t know whether I wanted more than anything for that fish to eat it or not, because 700 pounds of fish on the end of a fly rod would have either been the battle of all time that would have lasted for days, or I would have lost the fly line and 200 yards of backing. There was going to be nothing in between.” The marlin spared Webb that day, but even now, years after the filming of Tidewater, he still marvels at the energy he felt from that fish gliding beneath the surface of the water. It’s

that and the many other experiences he’s had around the world that inspired him to create his very own fly fishing travel agency called World Wide Webb Adventures. When he’s not working on his new business endeavor, he’s usually fishing with his two kids, Olivia and Harrison, or building awareness for his passion project Able Women, a women’s fly fishing team. He says being the father of a daughter has impressed upon him the importance of reminding girls that identity and sense of self-worth go well beyond physical beauty. He believes sports like fly fishing have a powerful ability to build confidence and empower women to see themselves as capable and competent, on and off the water. THE ARTIST

KATE BARATTINI F O L LY B E AC H , S . C .

ere you to ask 28-year-old Kate Barattini how she ended up on Folly Beach, she’d tell you it was because she was a clown in high school, that she was rejected from her dream school Clemson University, where she wanted to study parks and recreation, and admitted to the College of Charleston instead. In reality, the answer is much simpler: the ocean came to her. “I grew up living close to the mountains and I was really into whitewater kayaking,” she says. “That’s all I did throughout my junior and senior years of high school. My freshman year of college I worked on the Pigeon River. I just loved

JUSTIN MORRIS

the mountains and the rivers and everything that went with that.” In college, she joined the crew team in hopes that she would find some other river-loving souls. To her initial dismay, she did not. She tried taking her kayak to the ocean to get her paddling fix, but it wasn’t the same. “I didn’t understand the waves. It was hard and I was young and stubborn. I decided I would start surfing and I told myself by the end of college, I was going to be good at surfing.” So she did just that. She moved to Folly Beach, bought the first board she could find, and forced herself to begin a new relationship with water. It wasn’t easy. That first day on her new board, she could hardly make it past the break. “It was a head high day, nasty conditions, and I couldn’t even get out there. After awhile I just got out of the water and sat on my board thinking, What am I doing with my life? I had bought a board, a wetsuit, because of course it was February, but I told myself I was going to do it.” Barattini finally took a lesson from Jenny Brown, an All-Star Team Surfer in the Eastern Surfing Association and an instructor with Shaka Surf School. Now, 10 years later, Barattini is a seasoned surfer. She has lived and surfed in Nicaragua, competed in the classic longboarding event Mexi Log Fest in Saladita, Mexico, and won her hometown Folly Beach Wahine Classic three years in a row. For Barattini, surfing is first and foremost an expression of self. She’s an artist and filmmaker, too, and she says her time in the water

directly influences her work. Her most recent series, Animal Shred, depicts paintings of real-life surfers with animal characteristics: the head of a lion, the wing of a butterfly. Just like surfing, Barattini says that creating art provides her with constant lessons in patience and humility. “You have times when you’re really really good at it and then you have times where, for whatever reason, things are just not clicking, and because of that, it’s always fulfilling. You’re always trying to perfect yourself, but at the same time, you have to be happy with where you are.” She is currently working on a continuation of the Animal Shred series, which she will release at a show later this year, as well as another Folly-themed surf film. She works as a bartender two nights a week to supplement her income, because, as she says, “if you want to be a surfer on the East Coast, south of the Outer Banks and north of Florida, you kinda need a job that allows you to have a lot of free time to surf as much as you can. Otherwise you’ll just be grumpy.” T H E WAT E R M A N

PHIL LANGLEY DA M E R O N , M D.

aptain Phil Langley was born and raised on the Chesapeake Bay. He’s lived in St. Mary’s County his whole life. As a child, he worked the tobacco fields and oyster beds of southern Maryland. He comes from a long line of hardworking men—his paternal grandfather was a farmer and his maternal grandfather a waterman

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who ran skipjacks up and down the Bay. “Even before I had a good memory, I can remember going crabbing and fishing with my dad,” Langley says. “We grew up with a pretty modest lifestyle, so that was the recreation around here.” Langley’s deep-set eyes are clear and blue, like the waters that surround him. Were it not for the slightest of creases at the edge of his temples, you might never know that the 57-yearold has spent the better part of three decades working the water crabbing, oystering, and fishing. It’s a hard line of work—Langley will be the first to admit that. During the 1990s, when the oyster population was at its lowest and the state of Maryland had issued a five-year moratorium on striped bass fishing, Langley was forced to pick up work with a heating and air conditioning company to support his family. But he never stopped getting out on the water, and he never will. “I was born with saltwater in my veins. There’s a lot of other things I could have done with my life, but you can’t drag me off the water with a team of mules.”

Over all of these years, for better and for worse, Langley has witnessed his beloved Bay ebb and flow. Fortunately, the oysters seem to be making a comeback. Langley has a small oyster bed on his property, something he would have never dreamed of investing in 20 years ago. He’s hoping to harvest between 600 and 800 bushels this year. Long ago, he realized that it wasn’t realistic to sustain his family entirely on crabbing and oystering, so he started offering waterman heritage cruises, charter fishing, and ecotours through his company Fish the Bay Charters. In a way, his passion for the Chesapeake has come full circle. As a kid he crabbed and oystered for fun, as an adult he harvested crabs and oysters for a living, and now he gets to take visitors on their own crabbing and fishing adventures while teaching them about the resource and the threats it faces. “My number one passion is nature, but I would say it’s the people that keep me enthusiastic in what I do,” says Langley. “On a fishing boat, I’ll take out people that have done very well in life and people who are bluecollared workers that work very hard

for modest wages. The thing of it is, when they’re on my boat, everyone is a fisherman.” The world of commercial watermen is quieter these days. When Langley first got into the business, there were at least 50 other charter holders in the county; today, he’s one of just a handful who make a living chartering full-time. His 30-year-old son also has a captain’s license and helps work the weekends and holidays on one of Langley’s two boats, the Chesapeake Charm and the Lisa S. Though Langley admits it’s sad to see his way of life fading into history, he feels hopeful for the future of watermen and proud that he could be a part of that community. “If you want to be rich, it’s probably not your profession, but if success measured is living a life doing something that you want to do, then I consider myself a very rich person.” T H E S U R F B OA R D M A K E R

MIKE ROWE

SOUTHERN SHORES, N.C.

n the night of Mike Rowe’s high school graduation, the then 18-year-old starry-eyed surfer

left his hometown of Virginia Beach and headed south, bound for the Outer Banks. It was a decision that totally altered the course of his life, and one he wouldn’t have changed for anything in the world. Having been a sponsored surfer in high school, riding for brands like the Australian-based wetsuit company

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SHAKORI HILLSGRASSROOTS.ORG 72 Rolling Acres in Chatham County, NC B LU E R I D G E O U T D O O R S

G O O U TA N D P L AY

B LU E R I D G E O U T D O O R S

FROM LEFT: MIKE ROWE SHREDDING ONE OF HIS VERY OWN HOOKED S U R F B O A R D S C R E AT I O N S ; A N D R E W W U N D E R L E Y ' S L O V E O F S U R F I N G L E D H I M T O W O R K I N C O N S E R VAT I O N A S T H E C H A R L E S T O N WA T E R K E E P E R .

Wavelength, Rowe was committed to the lifestyle. By some amount of dumb luck and serendipity, Rowe crossed paths with Outer Banks surfing icon and surfboard maker Mickey McCarthy. He started sanding boards and learning the trade, never imagining where the journey would lead him. “I was just a kid living on the Outer Banks,” he says. “It was a piecework job. You didn’t get paid by the hour. You got paid by the piece and if you were good at it, you could make $40 an hour. $40 an hour as an 18-year-old kid during the ‘90s was a fortune.” For years, Rowe worked making surfboards on the Outer Banks in the summer and on the slopes of Breckenridge in the winter. From snowboards to skateboards and surfboards, Rowe was and still is a boarder through and through. When he finally settled for good on the Outer Banks and built a house, he made sure to put a pool in the back so he could skate, not swim. In 2001, Rowe split from New Sun Surfboards and set out to make surfboards on his own. He put a shaving room under his house, called it Hooked Surfboards, and set to work. That first year, he cranked out over 80 boards. Having traveled and surfed all over the world, from Hawaii to Indonesia, Rowe had a number of top-level surfing friends who agreed to ride his boards and give him feedback. While Rowe admits he’s “definitely made some dogs in my life as far as boards are concerned,” he felt really fortunate that he not only had the knowledge of what a good surfboard was supposed to look like but also a wealth of experience surfing waves of all types all

around the world. On a trip to Indonesia later that year, Rowe tested a few of his earliest designs. While the number 13 often gets a bad rap as being unlucky if not downright traitorous, it was Rowe’s 13th board— dubbed “Lucky 13”—that gave him the confidence he needed to keep chasing his dream. “Growth has been totally word of mouth. I have the most rinky dink website, an okay Instagram following, I don’t post on Facebook. I don’t think I’ll ever be a rich person building boards, but that’s only monetarily wise. Every time I think I’m getting down to my last order, I get five more. It’s been a very homegrown thing and I’m fortunate that I live in this small community that supports me.” This past December, Rowe gave up working carpentry on the side to pursue surfboard making and art full-time. The two go hand in hand—whenever Rowe glasses a surfboard, he shapes the leftover resin into incredible pieces ranging in size from larger-than-life fishbone wall art to ashtrays, “which is the worst use for it, but they come out incredible,” he says. Rowe has no aspirations of growing his business; he doesn’t want to lose that one-on-one connection with his customers, a relationship that often spans decades as first-timers turn into lifelong surfers and friends. Plus, if he went bigger, when would there be time to surf? “I know it sounds corny, but our lives are so busy. There’s a lot of chatter and texting and email and all of that just disappears for a few hours out on the water. Golfers probably get that, too, but your phone can still ring on the golf course.”

water for long. Again, destiny intervened. Wunderley knew Charleston Waterkeeper founder Cyrus Buffman, who was just starting the organization at the time. After a few conversations, Wunderley took the leap and came on board as Program Director and Staff Attorney in 2012. “It was the epitome of a classic startup situation. We barely had an office, we had just put together a Board of Directors, I was using a borrowed desk, all that sort of stuff,” he says, “but I felt PAT R I C K W I L L E Y like it was something I had to do. I don’t think I T H E WAT E R K E E P E R would have been happy with myself if I hadn’t taken a chance on it.” Three years later in 2015, Wunderley took over Buffman’s position as Director and Waterkeeper. JA M E S I S L A N D, S . C . He says the work that Charleston Waterkeeper does for the community aw school was the last thing and surrounding waterways is on Andrew Wunderley’s mind paramount in this day and age. As of when he entered graduate last year, Charleston became South school in 2003. A lifelong swimmer Carolina’s largest city after years of and surfer who had found his way explosive population growth. What to Charleston, S.C., in 1997 to coach that means for Charleston’s rivers and the city’s swim team, Wunderley’s creeks, which together form one of primary interest was the environment the largest undeveloped estuaries on and the policies behind coastal zone the East Coast, is immense amounts management. of stormwater runoff from thoughtless “I remember this pretty distinctly development. because I went back to school the “This place has a wealth of same year my daughter was born water-based recreation, from fishing and, long story short, I was looking to surfing, paddling, sailing. All of to get out of grad school as soon as that is just steps away from where possible. The only course the school people live and work. You can surf was offering in the summer was land dawn patrol and still be into work by use law. Initially I just wanted to get 9 o’clock. It’s really unique in that the credits and the grade and move regard, but what I worry about is all of on but I really, really enjoyed it. It was those people moving to Charleston kind of a big surprise.” every day who don’t have that By then Wunderley was already connection to the rivers and creeks in his late 20s with a growing family. and beaches like we do,” he says. “If Law school, he knew, would require you look at everything on the surface, even more of a commitment than Charleston looks pretty nice and graduate school had, both of his time healthy, but we need to help folks and resources. When the Charleston build that connection and understand School of Law opened in 2007, he why this place is so special. You took it as a sign. protect what you love. That’s the way For a few years after law school, it works.” he strayed from the environmental Charleston Waterkeeper offers and conservation work that had countless opportunities for volunteers inspired him to go to graduate to get involved and help give back to school in the first place. He worked the area’s watershed. Learn more by as a staff attorney for a couple of visiting charlestonwaterkeeper.org/ years and later as a law clerk, but get-involved. he couldn’t ignore the call of the

ANDREW WUNDERLEY

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with them since their inception in 1989. Now I make everybody pizza at Dirt Rag’s events. A lot of the work I do are pieces that have mountain bikes in them. I’ve done backsplashes with bikes in them and signs for places like Over the Bar (OTB) Bicycle Cafe in Pittsburgh, a bicycle-themed bar. I’m working on a trail map mosaic now. I ride about five or six days a week. I could just ride my bike all day, and that’s the tricky part of being selfemployed. You get distracted easily. But, you gotta make sure you ride your bike. It’s therapy. If I don’t ride my bike I’m not a nice person.

BY JESS DADDIO

Have you ever felt inspired from a postcard-perfect sunset or the final steps to a summit you never thought you’d reach? These 10 regional artist-athletes have. We sat down with them to talk about how adventure nurtures the muse within, and what makes pursuing a creative life the hardest, most rewarding way to live.

ELIZABETH KLEVENS

JOSH PATTON DESIGNER – RIDER C A M P B E L L S V I L L E , KY.

JONATHAN IBACH

PAT TO N J O S H . C O M

PA I N T E R – R U N N E R O N B E I N G A F U L L-T I M E F R E E L A N C E C R E AT I V E

Digital, print, social media. You have to know a little about all of it. In college, I double majored in media studies, with an emphasis in graphic arts, and business management. The program I was in emphasized learning the basics of video and graphic design and HTML and all of that stuff. Coming out of school, it’s important to be well rounded, so you can tackle a position at a newspaper heavy on online publishing or a company that needs communication management and social media. It’s not cut and dry anymore. You gotta blend the lines to be a more dynamic creative. F O R T H E LOV E O F T H E R I D E , F R O M B M X TO B I K E PAC K I N G

When I was eight I started racing BMX on a national circuit pretty much until I went to college and started racing mountain bikes. I loved it and did really well. From 2010 until 2014 I rode professionally. In 2013 I was the Division 1 Full Slalom National Champion. I raced pro just a couple of years outside of college, but I got burned on racing. It was a lot of stress and a lot of time just to go ride down a mountain for a few minutes and call it a weekend. Bikepacking helped me get back to the roots of why I love mountain biking so much. In March 2017 I bikepacked the Sheltowee Trace Trail in seven days and I plan to do more of those adventure-driven rides in the future. 40

ASHEVILLE, N.C. I N S TAG R A M . C O M / I B AC H D E S I G N

KINDLED AN INTEREST IN RUNNING

T H E K E Y TO A S U C C E S S F U L C A R E E R AS A FREELANCE ARTIST

My network. Hands down, that’s what makes or breaks my career and my ability to do this for a living. Keeping contact with people all across the world, country, state, town, just checking in and posting your work and letting the world know what you’re doing really helps connect the dots. Networking, as hard as it may seem, is everything for a freelancer.

ELIZABETH KLEVENS GLASS MOSAIC ARTIST – M O U N TA I N B I K E R PITTSBURGH, PENN. ELIZABETHKLEVENS.COM

TRANSITIONING FROM COSMETIC C A R R E PA I R S TO M O S A I C R E S TO R AT I O N

I didn’t study music or art in school. I studied physical therapy. I found mosaics later in life. I painted for years, made jewelry, but lots of people paint. Not a lot of people do mosaic work. A friend of mine is a graphic designer who used to illustrate for Dirt Rag. He told me I should do mosaics for a living. From anybody else I wouldn’t have taken that seriously, but coming from

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him I was like, okay, you’re not just being nice to me. So in 2008 I started doing mosaics full-time. In 2013 I started working on the restoration of a 100-year-old mosaic in the Union Trust Building in Pittsburgh. Those types of jobs are really cool. I’m still working on it. W H E N YO U M A K E A R T F O R A L I V I N G

You should probably have the ability to not be invested in your art personally. I know a lot of artists have a hard time with that, but in my mind, if you want butterflies on your wall, that might not be what I would put on my wall, but I’ll make them for you. I’ve put pineapples on people’s kitchens and they loved it. Paying the bills is great. R I D I N G B I K E S S I N C E T H E DAW N O F M O U N TA I N B I K I N G

I think I bought my first real mountain bike in 1986. I raced a handful of times. I was never into being the fastest person out there. I used to go down to West Virginia and do the trails in Canaan Valley. The first issue of Dirt Rag was put together in my living room, and I was one of the first subscribers to it. I’ve been involved B LU E R I D G E O U T D O O R S

During track in middle and high school, I was really good at pole-vaulting, ironically, which doesn’t involve a whole lot of running. When I went to college at Appalachian State University I almost walked on to the pole-vaulting team but was burnt out on the practice. Then I read Born to Run. I did some of my first runs out in Wyoming and South Dakota during a six-week field camp for my geology degree. That was June or July of 2012. In December of that year I signed up for the Table Rock 50-Miler around the Linville Gorge. It was such a cool experience and the community was so different from that of a road race. I did some 50Ks and last November did my first 100-miler, the Pinhoti 100 in Alabama. I ended up in 12th out of a starting field of 250. What a crazy long experience. I basically started crying when I saw the finish line. Just finally seeing it and realizing I made it, it was such a whirlwind feeling. The day after you’re like, why would I ever do that again, but I’ve already signed up for the Hellbender 100-miler. PA I N T I N G A N D R U N N I N G , J U S T W H AT T H E D O C TO R P R E S C R I B E D

They both allow me to block out stress. When I’m on the trails, I can be gone for two or three hours or more and there’s no need to worry about other G O O U TA N D P L AY

B LU E R I D G E O U T D O O R S

You can see the striations of clay on the riverbanks and the different types of CHECK OUT MORE hardwoods, which I use to of these artist-athletes fuel the kiln, in the forests. in their element at It’s all interrelated. It’s not BLUERIDGEOUTDOORS.COM like I’m making mugs with kayakers on them. It’s more intuitive than that. TA K E AWAY S F R O M A 4 0 -Y E A R L A B O R O F LO V E

J O N AT H A N I B A C H

stuff, or if I do, my head is in a clear space to do it. The same happens with my art. They’re kinda opposites. One is so active and strenuous at times and the other is so calm, but I’ll do the same when I paint, just lock into my art and only focus on that. THE HUNT FOR SUBJECTS

The most recent piece I did was a painting of a picture I took during a run up in the Black Mountains. It’s easy to draw inspiration from my runs because that’s what I enjoy the most. To be painting something that’s a pretty landscape, that’s a no brainer.

JOHN PETRETICH WO O DW O R K E R – PA D D L E R FAY E T T E V I L L E , W.VA .

different things in life, but finding the river and the camaraderie around it put a 90-degree kink in my life and I’m not looking back. I’ve been to Costa Rica, Colorado, Idaho. I’ve done self-support overnight trips on the South Fork of the Salmon and the Grand Canyon. Kayaking teaches you to be in the moment and that’s something I try to do a lot of. ON REINVENTING THE OLD

One of the things that’s rewarding about woodworking is that I’m creating things that will long outlive me. With web design work, you know, it almost feels like it’s disposable. By the time you’re done making it, it feels almost obsolete. I like making things that will last. I feel like I’m bringing second life to this stuff. I’ve started looking at

V I R G I N T I M B E R LU M B E R . C O M

S T U M B L E D I N TO W O R K I N G W I T H VIRGIN TIMBER

When I married in 2006 and started nesting, or whatever. Before that I was just a nomadic kayaker, ya know? But then I moved in with my wife and we bought a little house in Fayetteville. It was a repo home and it needed a lot of work. In the process of renovating this house, I was looking for materials and I found a guy selling all of this wood from a house he tore down in Mullins, W.Va. Coal country. I ended up buying the wood and started working with it. It was just incredible, and noticeably different than wood you buy at the store. The wood itself came from virgin trees that were maybe 500 years old. That’s what got me excited about working with this wood. I used to do web design and video boat, but at the end of 2016 I switched over and now do mostly custom furniture.

CHUCK STUMP P OT T E R – PA D D L E R F R O S T B U R G , M D.

THE PURSUIT OF SELF-EXPRESSION

I started surfing when I was 11 during our summers at the beach. I’ve always had a relationship with water. When my wife and I moved to western Maryland, I got into whitewater. Here in Frostburg, we’re 15 miles from 50 world-class rivers. I’ve always been the kind of person who’s wanted to find a way to express myself, whether that’s in a kayak or on a surfboard or in working with silver and clay. I think there’s a lot of similarity between your experiences on the river and being a potter. I’ve paddled the Upper Yough so many times, but every day you go down, it’s a different experience. Even if I make something like a dinnerware set, it’s not intended to look storebought, where everything is exactly the same size. Each piece is one-of-akind because that is the individualized expression of each piece of clay. F U E L I N G PA S S I O N S

B E I N G P R E S E N T O N T H E WAT E R A N D IN LIFE

I graduated with an engineering degree. I thought I was destined to do

properties differently here in southern West Virginia. You see all of these dilapidated buildings falling in, but they’re all built out of this special wood, this lost resource. Someday those houses will all be gone but there can be cool furniture pieces that tell their stories and show what virgin timber looks like long into the future.

JOHN PETRETICH

It’s a nice schedule. I get up in the morning, work in the studio for a few hours, then when it’s hot in the summer and I’m about ready for a break, I can drive 20 minutes to the Upper Yough and paddle that three or four days a week. Now looking back, I can see the colors and the shapes and the textures of the stoneware pottery really reflect the natural environment around me.

If you want to be a potter, you better get busy. It’s a lot of work being a potter. It’s a lot of physical work, too. I’m 67 now, and it’s been a footrace, 31 years of teaching art in public schools, to get to this point of building my pottery studio up here on Savage Mountain while I still have the physical strength and stamina to do it. The most important thing I have to remember to do is to take what these things give me rather than having an idea of what it should be and then being disappointed by the results. If you get too hard and fast about the imagery of what you want in your mind, you open yourself up to some disappointment, because the kiln has some ideas about what it wants to happen. It’s the same way with the river. If you have an idea about how every drop, every rapid, is going to feel, then I feel like that takes away a lot of the good parts of paddling.

ANNIE SIMCOE PA P E R M A K E R – M O U N TA I N B I K E R AC C I D E N T, M D. A B P H A R T. C O M

M A D E T H E S W I TC H F R O M G E O LO G Y TO A R T I S T R Y

In 2009. I went to school for geology. Got my master’s degree, worked as a geologist in consulting at the West Virginia Geological Survey and as a researcher at West Virginia University before I went to selling and making paper full-time. One of the first pieces I made was my thesis draft. The papers were layered and stitched together like a crazy quilt. I called it my security blanket. Now I mostly use cornhusks or rye grass, which is my favorite. I grow that as a cover crop in my garden. E M B R AC I N G V U L N E R A B I L I T Y

Making paper and making a living as an artist has taught me how to be vulnerable and that it’s okay to do things that are scary and out of your comfort zone. With mountain biking, I’ve recently stepped way out of my comfort zone to be an advocate for women in the sport which is weird for

M A R C H 2 0 1 8 / B LU E R I D G E O U T D O O R S . C O M

ANNIE SIMCOE

me because I rode bikes for 15 years before I ever signed up for a race. You gotta put yourself out there and be true to yourself. It’ll be the biggest reward you’ve ever had. WHEN ART AND ADVENTURE COLLIDE

I did my first art festival in 2003. I have been mountain biking since the late ‘90s. Until very recently, other than making little bike art pieces here and there, I’ve kept the two worlds completely separate. But these last couple of years, they are now very intermingled. I don’t think my paper making is influencing my mountain biking, but I do more and more bike pieces and I see those worlds overlapping a lot more. I’ve done the awards for races at Big Bear Lake Trail Center and was asked to do the poster for the Canaan Mountain Bike Festival. My artist life and my athletic life have become one and the same.

T H E I M P O R TA N C E O F B E I N G G R O U N D E D

I think with both running and pottery there’s a really intense connection to the earth for me. I think they definitely feed off of each other. They are both such centering activities. Obviously with pottery you’re right there working with this local clay that comes right out of these mountains, but with running, running is something that makes me feel connected to these mountains and this area in a really powerful way. It’s been so much fun just exploring this whole area that I grew up in by foot and seeing so many more nooks and crannies and different vantage points. It’s hard to grow up in this area and not be drawn out into the mountains.

LIFE IN WESTERN NORTH CAROLINA

The trails and the Forest Service roads and the game paths that go all through these mountains have always had a really strong draw for me. I can see the Appalachian Trail from my mailbox. A little over a year ago, Forest and I went out for a pre-dawn run and just happened across a couple of other haggard looking runners and they asked if we wanted to join them for a little while. Turns out it was Scott Jurek and Karl Meltzer on the last days of Karl breaking Scott’s record. Those are the kind of chance encounters

C A N Y O N W O O D WA R D

CANYON WOODWARD P OT T E R – R U N N E R FRANKLIN, N.C.

W I L L C H O P W O O D F O R P OT T E R Y LESSONS

I first dug my hands into clay in middle school. We had a real good family friend, Doug Hubbs, who is a master potter and who lives nearby. I would help him chop wood in exchange for pottery lessons. My aunt had an old potter’s wheel that she gave me. There’s such a history of pottery in the area, of good clay and master artists. It’s a rich environment in terms of the incredible artists that I’m surrounded by and grew up with as neighbors and friends. 42

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that just happen around here. And that experience was very indicative of the trail running community, with Scott, about to have his record broken, out there on the trail to help pace Karl to do it. I found that community and support for one another really inspiring.

FOREST WOODWARD P H OTO G R A P H E R – DA B B L E R FRANKLIN, N.C. I N S TAG R A M . C O M / F O R E S T WO O D WA R D

SCORED HIS FIRST PUBLISHED P H OTO

It was a calendar for Conservation Trust. It was a shot of the Little Tennessee, taken on my second or third roll of film. I was maybe 11 at the time and over the moon to have my first published photo. That’s something it seems I’ve come full circle to in coming back to this area and using cameras to tell stories and help protect the natural beauty of wild areas that are still intact around here. This part of the Southeast is really unique. I think I’ve been to almost 50 countries now, and there’s just something about where you grow up. No matter how far I’ve traveled, I’ve always gravitated back here. H AV E C A M E R A , W I L L C L I M B , S U R F, H I K E , PA D D L E , R I D E , B U T N OT R U N .

Running has been a departure from having a camera always present. In these other sports I photograph, I was always lugging a camera along and it was somewhat manageable, but with running, there’s not much room to have a camera bouncing around. It’s the only sport I do that I haven’t tried to bring the camera in on. T R Y A LWAY S , FA I L O F T E N

We should all strive to fail more often B LU E R I D G E O U T D O O R S

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ROBERT RIFFE

you have to keep it playful.

JULIE WINGARD P OT T E R – PA D D L E R FAY E T T E V I L L E , W.VA .

T H E B E AU T Y O F B OAT I N G

I started paddling in Pennsylvania on the Youghiogheny River. Then I trained on the Cheat River in West Virginia, paddled the Tygart, the Big Sandy, the New and Gauley. I’ve worked in Colorado on the Arkansas, in California on the Yuba, in Mexico on the Santa Maria and that central region of Mexico in general. I’ve also kayaked in Ecuador and down south here on the Green River and Russell Fork. Paddling really immerses you in that connection to nature, and when you’re paddling hard whitewater, there’s the adrenaline going of course, but then there are the bonds you develop with your fellow kayakers. I haven’t really experienced that depth of a bond in any other sport. When you’re out there paddling hard whitewater, you have a lot of trust in your partners that they’ve got your back and I’m thankful that I’ve had the opportunity to develop such deep friendships.

F O R E S T W O O D WA R D JUSTIN COSTNER

because failing typically means you are pushing yourself out of your comfort zone and trying. If you don’t try then your successes will pale in comparison to what they could be. I remember my first assignment for Climbing Magazine was down in Argentina. Just weeks before I had broken my hand, but my doctor gave me a soft cast so I could climb anyway. I remember I roped in with my broken hand and very minimal knowledge of what I was shooting. The light was wrong, I was on the wrong side of the climber, my shadow was falling on the subject. Looking back there was so much that I just didn’t know. Then I had some luck. A cloud came over and I got the shot that both National Geographic and Patagonia used and that opened the door to relationships with them that are ongoing. That trip ended up being the genesis of a lot of things — my interest in climbing, my first big editorial article, my first trip published with Patagonia. There’s not a road map for being an artist, or if there is, I haven’t found it. What I have found is that my time out in the mountains—climbing, running, paddling—positively influence my creative work both because I’m

creating photos while I’m out there but also just being inspired by the places I’m able to get to.

ROBERT RIFFE JEWELER – BALANCER

line, you can travel with it and just stop and set it up wherever you are. That in turn creates a community of playing with people along the way and teaching and improving. I find it can really help my mental focus when I’m feeling scattered.

B R U C E TO N M I L L S , W.VA . M YS T I C A LC R YS TA L J E W E L R Y. C O M

B E C A M E A S T U D E N T O F S TO N E S A N D S I LV E R S M I T H I N G

20 years ago while I was living in Arizona. I always had an interest in rocks and minerals. I started learning about the metaphysical properties of the stone and that naturally led to learning to cut stones. Two years later I ended up apprenticing with a jeweler, Sean O’Kelly, in Boulder, Colo., and the rest is history. C O N N E C T S W I T H T H E N AT U R A L WORLD THROUGH

Climbing, slacklining, and snowboarding. Coopers Rock State Forest is the first place I climbed and it’s still right down the road from me. Slacklining is what has held the most interest for me over the past couple of years and it’s been great crosstraining for all of the sports I enjoy doing. It’s helped me find balance and focus, and there’s ease to it. The

E N J OYS P R O C E S S OV E R P R O D U C T I N A R T A N D A DV E N T U R E

There’s definitely a crossover between the worlds, and it’s hard to say exactly what that is. With slacklining, snowboarding, and climbing, there’s that flow state you get into where it’s pure movement and I think that feeling is the part that really brings me satisfaction. I enjoy the process of working with metal and stone and starting with raw materials and bringing those into a refined thing, something people can wear and treasure and find some significance and beauty in. The process of creating and movement, sometimes I enjoy that as much as the finished piece. Often I start something with one idea and by the time I finish it, it turns into something else. It’s the evolution of the creative process, and I think that’s what’s similar with outdoor activities. After 20 years of being a working artist,

O N L E A R N I N G P OT T E R Y L AT E R I N L I F E

I discovered pottery when I moved to Fayetteville back in 2001. There was a resident potter at the Court Street Gallery, which is no longer here, and I sat down at the wheel and took a lesson. I realized this is just something I have to do. I’m also a huge mountain biker so just being connected to dirt and mud was real for me. I still feel like a hobby potter. I’m a videographer for a Summersville television station, and I teach yoga at studios in Beckley and Fayetteville. My pottery just provides supplemental income at this point, and I have a lot of selfdoubt about my abilities. It’s been my plight. Pottery has been my biggest teacher in learning to accept compliments from people or accept knowing that I am producing good quality work. I know I want things to be better, which is not a bad trait, but on the flip side of that, I just need to not criticize my work so much so that I can keep going. My own opinions have held me back a little bit, but once I started getting feedback from people outside my community, that somehow validated the fact that I am producing work that people like. H O M E TO W N P R I D E

I live in a town of athletes that are some of the best kayakers in the world. Paddling with them every day on the river and seeing them perform tricks and style the river, it’s so cool. They are my heroes.

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A MURDER IN THE WOODS

THE MYSTERY BEHIND SHENANDOAH NATIONAL PARK’S LAST HOMICIDE BY KIM DINAN

In May of 1996, Julianne “Julie” Williams and Laura “Lollie” Winans walked into the woods and never came out alive. Their double-murder sparked shock and fear within Shenandoah National Park, where they were murdered at their backcountry campsite, and far beyond, prompting a nation-wide search for their killer. I was in high school when Julie and Lollie were murdered. If I heard the news as it unfolded, I don’t remember. But a year after their death Bill Bryson’s A Walk in the Woods was published and opened a previously unknown chamber inside of me. At the time, I was just a kid in Ohio who took solace in nature. But in

Bryson’s kooky memoir about walking the Appalachian Trail, I found an obsession, enthralled by the idea that one could walk over 2,000 miles without ever leaving the forest. It was in one of the years that followed, as my curiosity about the Appalachian Trail deepened, that I first learned of Julie and Lollie. Julie and Lollie weren’t hiking the Appalachian Trail when they were murdered, but their bodies were discovered not far from the popular footpath. As I learned more about their lives, I began to see myself reflected in their stories—Julie’s love of travel, Lollie’s belief in the transformative powers of testing oneself in the outdoors. Reading between the lines, I could sense their yearning to find themselves, to build a simple and meaningful life. It was the same desire that drove me to eventually make my home in Western North Carolina, so many years after first feeling the pull of the Appalachian Mountains.

T H E M U R D E R O F J U L I E W I L L I A M S ( L E F T ) A N D L O L L I E W I N A N S ( R I G H T ) A L S O M AY H AV E B E E N A H A T E C R I M E . T H E M A I N S U S P E C T S A I D T H E W O M E N D E S E R V E D T O D I E B E C A U S E T H E Y W E R E G AY.

A double-murder in Shenandoah

On Sunday May 19, 1996, Julie Williams and Lollie Winans embarked on a backpacking trip in Shenandoah National Park with their golden retriever, Taj. Julie, 24, of St. Cloud, Minnesota and Lollie, 26, of Unity, Maine, pitched their tent off of one of Shenandoah National Park’s horse trails. They chose a peaceful spot next to a mountain stream, which, investigators later

noted, may have drowned out the sound of approaching footsteps. The women had met nearly two years before at Woodswomen, a now-defunct nonprofit organization in Minnesota focusing on education and adventure travel for women. It was there in the isolated lakes of the Boundary Waters and the towering pine forests of northern Minnesota that they connected—two people from very different backgrounds bound by their love of the outdoors. According to journalist Barry

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Yeoman in a story for Out, Lollie was a “microbrew-drinking, Phish-following, cigarette-smoking, good-time girl.” She was from a well-to-do family in Michigan but rejected the privilege of her birth. She left home after high school and enrolled in college in Vermont, though she eventually dropped out. A few years later, in 1994, she enrolled in Unity College near Waterville, Maine and began studying to become a wilderness guide. By all accounts Lollie loved the outdoors and wanted to give others the experience of finding themselves in the wilderness, as she had. Julie was a geologist in the making, a high-achiever and sports enthusiast who won the Minnesota state double tennis championship in high school and traveled to Europe in college to study the extinction of dinosaurs. She graduated summa cum laude, spoke Spanish, and worked with the disenfranchised, including migrants and people suffering abuse. After college she struck out for Richmond, Vermont and took a job at a bookstore in Burlington. Her future was bright and flourishing. The trip she planned with Lollie in Shenendoah was, in fact, a celebration of a new job that she was set to start in Lake Champlain, Vermont on June 1, 1996. Instead, that was the day that park rangers found her body. On May 31, 1996, Thomas Williams, Julie’s father, reported his daughter missing. Park Rangers started a search and located Julie and Lollie’s car just north of Skyland Lodge. “We started doing hasty searches to cover all of those trail corridors in that general area to see if we could locate them,” explains Bridget Bohnet, Deputy Chief Ranger at Shenandoah National Park. “At some point during those hasty searches we did locate the dog.” Taj, the golden retriever, was wandering through the park unleashed. The next evening, on June 1, 1996, rangers found the bodies of Julie and Lollie at their campsite on Bridal Trail, a part of the horse trail system that runs from Big Meadows to Skyland. Their wooded campsite was only a quarter mile down the trail from Skyline Drive and a half-mile from Skyland Lodge, a popular gathering place with a bar, restaurant and cabins. It was the weekend after Memorial Day, and the lodge must have been jam-packed with hikers and tourists itching to get a jumpstart on the summer. I’ve stood on the balcony of the lodge myself, sipping a beer and staring out over the Shenandoah Valley as color slowly

leaked from the evening sky. It’s unfathomable to think that within a tenminute hike from this popular location, two women could be bound and gagged and have their throats slashed, and their killer could disappear without a trace. But sometime after May 24, 1996, the date that Julie and Lollie were last seen, that’s exactly what happened. It also seems nearly impossible that two bodies could lay undiscovered in such a popular part of the park on a busy holiday weekend but, as Bohnet explains, one of the backcountry regulations at the time was that backpackers had to camp away from designated trails, fire roads, and developed areas. “It wasn’t a heavily used or heavily traveled trail,” says Bohnet. “They were following the backcountry regulations at the time which required them to be out of sight.” Photos left behind in their camera give a glimpse of the last few days of Julie and Lollie’s lives. The women arrived in Shenandoah National Park on May 19, 1996 and launched off into the woods on the Whiteoak Canyon Trail, emerging again a few days later due to rain. According to Yeoman, they hitched a ride with a park ranger and renewed their camping permit before setting out again. They climbed Hawksbill, the highest mountain in Shenandoah, before making camp that night in an idyllic spot next to a stream near the Appalachian Trail. At some point shortly thereafter, Julie and Lollie’s lives violently ended.

The challenges of solving crimes in National Parks

Scroll through the National Park Service’s list of cold cases and you’ll find that it’s easy to disappear in the woods. There are a number of reasons that people go missing, most of which are attributed to accidental falls or wrong turns. Statistically, when it comes to crime, public lands are incredibly safe. In fact, Julie and Lollie’s murders were the last to happen in Shenandoah National Park. “We don’t have a lot of crime in the park,” says Sally Hurlbert, Management Specialist at Shenandoah National Park. Hurlbert had just started working at Shenandoah when Julie and Lollie were murdered. “It was very intense,” she remembers. “We were all very scared and worried about it.” But when a crime does occur in a

National Park, the investigation that follows is often more complex than if the crime had occurred off of public land. “The first step in conducting an investigation in a national park is identifying what the jurisdiction of the land is where the incident occurred,” says Christopher Smith, Special Agent in Charge of Operations for the National Park Service Investigative Services Branch (ISB). The ISB acts as the investigative arm of the National Park Service. They are responsible for investigating crimes that occur in, or affect, the National Parks. Shenandoah National Park is exclusive federal jurisdiction, which means that only the Federal government has law enforcement authority. “Our law enforcement staff was involved in the initial crime scene security,” explains Bohnet. “We had special agents that are part of the National Park Service handling the investigation in conjunction with the FBI. We also worked with the Virginia State Police’s crime scene unit to have them come and process the crime scene along with the FBI, because at the time we did not have the equipment.” Aside from the complications that can come from a multi-jurisdictional investigation, investigations can also become problematic due to the nature of crimes on public lands, which often occur outside. “Several factors make conducting investigations in National Park Service sites challenging,” explains Smith. The first factor is that so many people are coming and going from the park each day. The year that Julie and Lollie were murdered, 1.57 million people visited the park. That kind of transient environment allows the perpetrator to easily slip through park gates unnoticed. Locating, accessing, collecting and preserving evidence outdoors also make solving crimes on public lands more challenging. “Any type of crime that occurs in an outdoor environment, your crime scene is probably ten times larger than it would be in a residence,” explains Bohnet. “You have the initial crime scene where something happened and then you have the outer crime scene because you don’t know which way the person came in or went. So the crime scene in and of itself tends to be larger and harder to contain and process.” Another factor is that the discovery of the crime may be delayed because of the remoteness or solitude of its

location. “We had that problem with Lollie and Julie’s case,” says Bohnet. “We had to find them first. It’s like finding a needle in a haystack.” In the years that followed the discovery of the women’s bodies, the National Park Service and the FBI joined forces to conduct a nationwide search for their killer, including following up on an estimated 15,000 leads. For over a year, nothing happened. Until one day in July 1997 when the tranquility of Shenandoah National Park was shattered once again.

A suspect emerges

Shenandoah’s Skyline Drive is a popular place for a bike ride and in July 1997, that’s what Yvonne Malbasha, a tourist from Canada, had come to do. As she pedaled the mountainous road, admiring the Blue Ridge views, Malbasha was forced off the road and off her bike by a man driving a truck. He screamed sexual profanities at her as he stepped from his vehicle, enraged, and tried to force her inside. Malbasha was able to fight him off and took cover behind a tree as the man reentered his truck and tried numerous times to run her over. He eventually gave up and sped away, and rangers apprehended him as he was attempting to leave the park. Later, when investigators searched his vehicle they found hand and leg restraints hidden inside. Not much is known about the attacker, Darrell David Rice. At the time of Malbasha’s attack he was in his late twenties and living in Columbia, Maryland, a single guy with no kids. Although he had no previous criminal record, reporting done by The Hook, a now-shuttered weekly newspaper out of Charlottesville, Virginia, states that Rice was fired from his job at Maryland’s MCI Systemhouse in June 1997 because he was extremely hostile at work. Rice’s former co-workers told investigators that he yelled sexual and other profanities at them, punched a hole in the wall of the men’s bathroom, stole their lunches, bumped into them so that they’d spill their coffee and took down one woman’s picture and threw it in the trash. In 1998, Darrell David Rice pled guilty to the attempted abduction of Malbasha. He was sentenced to 135 months in a Petersburg, Virginia federal penitentiary. Interviews after his arrest led prosecutors to believe Rice may have been involved with

M A R C H 2 0 1 8 / B LU E R I D G E O U T D O O R S . C O M

Julie and Lollie’s murders. The Hook reports that prosecution documents stated: “Rice became a possible suspect for a variety of reasons, including the obvious parallels in geographic location, the predatory behavior exhibited, and the exclusive selection of female victims.” The Hook also claims that Rice “was videotaped entering the park at Front Royal at 8:05pm on May 25, and again at Rockfish Gap at 4:57pm on May 26. He returned with his friends Caryl and Robert Ruckert on June 1.” Rice denied that he was in the park on May 25 and May 26 but did admit that he was there on June 1. With circumstantial evidence in hand, on April 10, 2001, nearly five years after their deaths, Attorney General John Ashcroft announced the indictment of Darrell David Rice in the murder of Julie Williams and Lollie Winans. Julie and Lollie were lovers, a fact that threatened to steal headlines in 1996. In a news conference announcing Rice’s indictment, prosecutors alleged that, “Rice has stated on several occasions that he enjoys assaulting women because they are, in his words, quote, ‘more vulnerable,’ close quote, than men.”

Additionally, prosecutors stated that Rice said the women deserved to die because they were gay. Rice was charged with four counts of capital murder, two of which alleged he selected his victims because of their sexual orientation. Because Rice was charged with a hate crime, his indictment invoked a federal sentencing enhancement. If convicted, Rice could receive the death penalty. But he was never sentenced. Though prosecutors spent years building the case against Rice, they lacked forensic evidence. Then, in 2003, a hair found at the crime scene was tested. DNA results indicated that it did not match Rice or the victims. After that, the case fell apart. In 2004 the charges against Darrell David Rice were dismissed “without prejudice,” meaning he could still be charged at a later date. Because the murder of Julie and Lollie is still an active investigation, the FBI will not discuss persons of interest. No one has been convicted of the murders, and Rice was released from prison in 2011. The last reported sighting of Rice was in 2014 when police in Durango, Colorado began receiving calls from frightened residents saying they’d

seen him in the area. Durango Police Chief Jim Spratlen said people were overreacting, adding, “all I know is he’s not wanted, and we ain’t looking for him.”

Still waiting for answers

Last year, around the twentieth anniversary of Julie and Lollie’s murders, the FBI circulated a press release and updated posters. “The case remains an open and active investigation,” says Dee Rybiski of the FBI. “It’s our hope that any continued coverage of the girls' murders will one day generate that one crucial piece of information that may bring someone to justice and peace for their families.” Today, Julie and Lollie would be 45 and 47 years old. And while time marches on, the women are still remembered by their loved ones, the FBI, and the old timers at Shenandoah who were working in the park all those years ago. “When I found out that they were geologists, that hit me because I’m a geologist,” remembers Hurlbert. “I felt bad knowing that they were out having a good time, looking at the rocks, enjoying themselves and then

something horrible like that happened.” “I was a very young ranger at the time and it affected my career. Before that, I may not have taken the law enforcement part of my job as seriously as I do now. I was a backcountry seasonal, you know? I was having a blast,” says Bohnet. “I didn’t think about people getting murdered in the park. I changed the way I thought about things after that. I changed the way I trained for things. I changed a lot of stuff about how I did my job. It had a profound effect on me and I know it did on the people who worked that case.” Over two decades have passed since Julie and Lollie were killed in Shenandoah National Park. The shock of their murders is now just a shadow on an otherwise peaceful recreational paradise that I, like many others, will return to again and again. But the next time I climb Old Rag, or stargaze at Big Meadows, I will remember Julie and Lollie, two lives cut short while enjoying a place that so many of us love. If you have any information concerning the murder of Julianne “Julie” Williams or Laura “Lollie” Winans, please contact the FBIRichmond Division at (804) 261-1044.

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EXPANDING A COUNTRY HEART NORTH CAROLINA SINGERSONGWRITER CALEB CAUDLE WIDENS SOUND ON NEW ALBUM BY JEDD FERRIS

CALEB CAUDLE MIGHT SEEM LIKE A NEWER FACE ON the Americana scene, but the North Carolina-based singer-songwriter, who’s now gaining some well-deserved widespread recognition, already has a deep discography. Caudle, who cut his teeth playing punk rock before becoming a hard-traveling solo troubadour, has seven albums to his credit, but noticeable critical fawning didn’t come until 2016’s Carolina Ghost. That record was an overtly country effort with vintage imagery and some well-worn heartbreak themes coloring Caudle’s honest, biographical lyrics. The follow-up, Crushed Coins, which was released in late February on the independent Cornelius Chapel Records, showcases broader ambitions. Sonically, Caudle, who recently moved back home to Winston-Salem after a stint in New Orleans, still fits comfortably in the alt-twang camp. The swinging “Madelyn” is full of fiddledriven highway reflection, and in the earnest “Love That’s Wild,” Caudle’s Southern drawl is accented by emotive pedal steel, as he sings about romantic salvation: “I was a wreck til’ you came along/Stumbling home at the break of dawn/Now we fall asleep with all the lights on.” But while writing his new record he went on a jazz bender, particularly investing his ears in Miles Davis’s In a Silent Way. He also enlisted a tight cast of backing musicians and producer Jon Ashley, who’s worked with Band of Horses, Hiss Golden Messenger, and the War on Drugs, and as a result, the record finds Caudle taking tasteful steps into indie experimentation. Opener “Lost Without You,” another tune sincerely praising the love of a 50

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good woman, drifts patiently through a dreamy folk landscape with cosmic guitar fills and ethereal backing vocals that hover above the song’s acoustic base. “Empty Arms” is more energetic—a pulsing dose of gospelrock laced with Mellotron accents and necessarily scuffed with a fuzzy, freewheeling electric solo from ace guitarist Megan McCormick, who impressively works her fretboard throughout the album. Whether he’s sticking to the roots playbook or finding ways to branch out, Caudle’s voice always remains sturdy and clear (think Lyle Lovett or Jackson Browne). It’s his best asset when he’s tackling tear-jerking subjects. In the dusty dirge “Six Feet from the Flowers,” the main character poignantly laments the loss of a spouse. Barely in his 30s, Caudle may be feeling musically restless, but his lyrics have a classic heart, filled with wisdom well beyond his years. Caleb Caudle will perform at the Evening Muse in Charlotte, N.C. (March 8) and at Eddie’s Attic in Decatur, Ga. (March 10). G O O U TA N D P L AY

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