Blue Ridge Outdoors August 2018

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2018

THE BEST NATIONAL RECREATION AREAS

GORGE-OUS Colorful Canyons for Leaf Peeping

CHASING MITCHELL

ORPHANED BEAR RESCUE

A DEATH SENTENCE

FOR THE LAST RED WOLVES

AU G U S T 2 0 1 8

2018

D E PA R T M E N T S 8

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Free-range parenting • Orphaned bear rescue • Handstands in every state • Blind veterans hike the A.T. • No-pipeline summer camp • Indoor vs. outdoor exercise • The Southeast’s first river snorkeling outfitter • Big Rec is bigger than coal, oil, and gas combined 32

THE GOODS

Adventure mapmaker Pete Kennedy’s favorite gear for exploring new territory.

Making weekend plans?

Think about a yurt.

F E AT U R E S 2018 PARKS GUIDE: THE BEST NATIONAL RECREATION AREAS

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National Recreation Areas are public lands focused on a variety of outdoor opportunities. Our five favorite national recreation areas in the Southeast include a remote rock climbing mecca, an urban river corridor, elk and bison prairies, and one of the wildest whitewater rivers in the East.

GORGE-OUS: FALL FOLIAGE PREVIEW

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A palette of autumn colors will be spilling down the walls of these 13 regional gorges and river-carved canyons.

“A DEATH SENTENCE FOR RED WOLVES”

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TRAIL MIX

The agency responsible for protecting the red wolf—the most endangered animal in the U.S.—just cut 90 percent of its habitat and will allow private landowners to shoot them.

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LAST WORD

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New releases from string bands messing with tradition.

The death and life of a trail in Appalachia, Va., reveals another path forward for the coalfields.

CHASING MITCHELL

Who was Elisha Mitchell—the man who first summited the highest mountain in the East— beyond the short, terrible span of his final moments?

800-933-PARK (7275) | www.virginiastateparks.gov

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BACKTALK PRESIDENT

BLAKE DEMASO

E D I TO R I N C H I E F W I L L H A R L A N will@blueridgeoutdoors.com P U B L I S H E R L E A H W O O DY leah@blueridgeoutdoors.com A R T D I R E C TO R M E G A N J O R DA N megan@blueridgeoutdoors.com E D I TO R I A L & P R O D U C T I O N S E N I O R E D I TO R J E D D F E R R I S jedd@blueridgeoutdoors.com S E N I O R D E S I G N E R L AU R E N W O R T H lauren@blueridgeoutdoors.com C O N T R I B U TO R S

Sustainable apparel & accessories made with 100% recycled materials.

M A S O N A DA M S G R A H A M AV E R I L L DA N I E L D E W I T T J E S S DA D D I O KIM DINAN

G R E G PA R L I E R R AC H E L H I C K S WA L LY S M I T H CRAIG SNODGRASS DAV E S TA L L A R D

C O P Y E D I TO R S JULIA GREEN, ROBERT MCGEE A DV E R T I S I N G & B U S I N E S S

A.T. SPEED RECORD CHASE Guess the A.T. is a race track now.

I see very mentally damaged people, obese people, wounded warriors, elderly people all doing something far more profound than trying to break a speed record. —Steve Toots OUTING CLUB TOO RISKY? Penn State’s administration is shortsighted in valuing risk management ahead of students’ learning in areas other than books and indoor labs.

—Catherine Tucker

I was a member of the Virginia Tech Outing and Caving Club, and I will always be grateful for the skills I learned, friendships I made, and experiences that opened my eyes to the natural world that I would later work hard to preserve. Why is nature becoming so scary? —Dustin Eshelman

S E N I O R AC C O U N T E X E C U T I V E

M A R T H A E VA N S

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DUSTY ALLISON

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Custom branded designs and prints.

Rethink with Recover.

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SUMMIT

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License Plate Application The Appalachian Trail Conservancy (ATC) now has a specialty license tag in the state of North Carolina.

By getting your tag today, you’ll help the ATC protect and maintain America’s Facts Favorite Long Distance Trail!

The ATC will receive $20 annually for each AT plate purchased or renewed.

How Much Does It Cost?  $30 Regular Appalachian Trail plate*  $60 Personalized Appalachian Trail plate* You are allowed four (4) spaces for a personalized message. __ __ __ __ 2nd Choice __ __ __ __ 3rd Choice __ __ __ __ 1st Choice Name (as shown on certificate of title): MIDDLE

LAST

ADDRESS CITY

STATE

ZIP CODE

HOME PHONE

OFFICE PHONE

Current North Carolina Vehicle _______________________ ____________________________________ PLATE NUMBER

VEHICLE IDENTIFICATION NUMBER

______________________ ____________________________________ DRIVER’S LICENSE #

YEAR

MODEL

MAKE

BODY STYLE

It goes both ways. A horse kicked a mountain biker recently while he gave space. The rider just rode off quickly.

—Bz Johnson

—Andy Washburn

www.appalachiantrail.org

FULL NAME OF INSURANCE COMPANY AUTHORIZED IN NC – NOT AGENCY OR GROUP

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POLICY NUMBER – IF POLICY NOT ISSUED, NAME OF AGENCY BINDING COVERAGE

______________________________________ _________________________________________ SIGNATURE OF OWNER

95% of mountain bikers are very considerate. A few riders are making everyone else look bad. —Karen Carssow

West Virginia continues to get pillaged and plundered by big energy companies who destroy the land, air and water, while the people who do the actual work live short lives in poor health in exchange for a few bucks.

 You must already have the vehicle registered in North Carolina.  You receive a FREE ATC Membership with the purchase of your NC AT Tag.  *The $30 or $60 annual fee is in addition to regular annual license fees you have already paid.  Personalized tags may be relinquished to someone else, but once a numerical tag expires without renewal, that number can never again be reissued.  If you change your mind, you can go back to a regular license plate at any time. There will not be a refund of unused portion of special fees.  Additional applications can be found online at

Owner’s Certification of Liability Insurance I certify for the motor vehicle described above that I have financial responsibility as required by law.

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HIKERS, BIKERS, AND HORSES Earbuds are just a bad idea on the trail, whether on foot, horse, or bike.

Mountain bikers need to do better, but hikers and horse riders aren’t announcing their presence most of the time either. —Brian Haile

APPALACHIA’S $84 BILLION SECRET This [petrochemical hub] is a great opportunity for one of the poorest areas of the country. —Josh Oliver

North Carolina Appalachian Trail

FIRST

A PRIVATE RIVER RUNS THROUGH IT We’ve been losing river access for several years in the Blue Ridge south of D.C. Wealthy people are buying up farmland and building weekend homes bordering rivers and streams, putting up as many “No Trespassing” signs as trees they cut down for their paved driveway. —Tyler Dodson

DATE OF CERTIFICATION

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QUICK HITS

BY JEDD FERRIS + RACHEL HICKS

“I did my first one in my 60s, and I think maybe I’m done now.”

THE COSTS OF COAL

The Trump administration’s plan to keep money-losing power plants open would save coal mining jobs but at the same time unleash more pollution that would cost lives, according to a new analysis.

For every 4.5 coal mining jobs supported by the drafted policy, one American would die from the surge in air pollution tied to generating electricity from the fossil fuel, according to modeling by the independent, nonprofit research group Resources for the Future.

—Anne Bruinooge, 71, to the Ketchikan Daily News. On May 24 Bruinooge did a headstand outside the Alaska newspaper’s office, completing a goal of doing a headstand in all 50 states.

Virginia Cycling Assailant Caught

By Navigation App

MORE ANIMALS SEEKING NIGHT LIFE

Large mammals—even those who are active during the day—are foraging and hunting more at night to avoid contact with humans, according to a new study from UC Berkeley.

Researchers found that animals all over the world were significantly more active at night in areas with a large human presence. Even lowprofile human activities such as hiking are causing animals to alter their feeding schedules. These animals may struggle to find enough food at night or may fall prey to naturally nocturnal creatures. The study suggests that protecting natural areas for wildlife is more important than ever in our increasingly humandominated landscape.

MUST SEE

Trophy T R O P H Y. F I L M

Trophy—a nature documentary by Shaul Schwarz and Christina Clusiau— explores the tensions between the lucrative big-game hunting business and wildlife conservation from a variety of perspectives.

Impoverished Africans are not permitted to kill lions and rhinos, but wealthy American hunters can. Meet the trophy hunters and the poachers competing for the dwindling populations of wildlife.

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NAME THAT SUMMIT

The steel fire tower atop this mountain summit along the Blue Ridge Parkway offers sizzling views of Looking Glass Rock and Cold Mountain.

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

submit@blueridgeoutdoors.com F O R A C H A N C E TO W I N F R E E B R O S WAG !

Number of miles run

by Harold Allen, Jr. of Bainbridge, Ga., in the month of May. Pushing through stifling late-spring heat and humidity, Allen ran a marathon (26.2 miles) every day in May, a challenge undertaken to raise awareness for mental health issues. Allen often ran full marathons after working his day job at Memorial Hospital and Manor in his hometown. On May 31, though, his employer gave him the day off, so he could finish running before the evening to celebrate with family.

Blind Veterans Hike the A.T. in Georgia

In early June, a group of blind and visually impaired veterans hiked nearly the entire section of the Appalachian Trail in Georgia.

Led by fellow veterans and local volunteers, the group hiked as part of the BAT (Blind Appalachian Trail) program. The blind veterans hiked 74 miles of the A.T. from Hiawassee to the U.S. Army’s Camp Frank D. Merrill in Dahlonega, finishing on June 6 to memorialize D-Day.

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NOPIPELINE SUMMER HUNDREDS CAMP IN THE PATH OF THE ATLANTIC COAST PIPELINE

Massive 300-year-old trees and an old-growth forest in Bath County are slated to be cut down to make way for the Atlantic Coast Pipeline.

The old-growth forest, located on private lands owned by Bill and Lynn Limpert, are being opened to the public for anyone who wants to join the Limperts' summer camp protest against the pipeline.

Director of the Chesapeake Climate Action Network Mike Tidwell arrived at the camp in June. “We anticipate this will be an ongoing encampment,” he said.

Pipeline construction has been halted due to inadequate analysis of endangered species in the area.

Limpert, a former environmental regulator, said he’s not only concerned about the elimination of trees, but also landslides, water quality, and climate change. Says Bill Limpert, "We’re not going to go quietly.”

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

A Virginia cyclist suspected of assaulting another biker on the W&OD Trail in Ashburn was arrested in May, after police tracked him down with help from the cyclist’s own fitness app. Edward Shortnacy was charged with malicious wounding after allegedly hitting another bike rider who was coming towards him from the opposite direction.

Shortnacy was linked to the area on April 22, when the incident occurred, by his use of the app, Strava, and was eventually charged after witness interviews.

Transforming Mining Sites into Wildlife Refuges

Most mountaintop removal mines end up as toxic moonscapes, but wildlife biologist David Ledford wants to use the abandoned land in Bell County, Ky. to protect wildlife and stimulate the local economy. He hopes to transform a mountaintop removal site into a refuge for grassland species like elk and quail. Ledford thinks he can attract more tourists to the area by hosting more game animals, birds, and other wildlife. So far, the project has raised $35 million from donors and the U.S. Office of Surface Mining and Reclamation Enforcement. Construction for the wildlife center began last month. One thing Ledford hasn’t fully addressed—water quality. Contamination from the mining still lingers.

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QUICK HITS

Swimmers Fight Cancer

Take the plunge: Join the Atlanta Open Water Swim event at Lake Lanier on September 22. Everyone from kids to elite swimmers can participate in short or long distances. There’s even a relay option, too.

Olympians Missy Franklin and Steve Lundquist, along with several others, will either swim with participants or serve as cheerleaders.

The event is organized by Swim Across America, an organization that hosts races to fundraise for cancer research. Event director—and former swimmer for the U.S. National Team—Megan Melgaard says she tries to embrace the challenge of open water by reminding people to roll over on their backs during their time in the water and remember why they are swimming.

Among the swimmers will be Julie Granger, who swam for Duke University and is now a physical therapist. “It wasn’t until I was about six years into being a physical therapist that I was diagnosed with cancer,” she said. “I’m all in [to SAA] now because I not only want to help kids that I serve, but also want to give back for cancer treatment.”

Granger said she made it a goal for herself to swim in last year’s SAA event in Atlanta at Lake Lanier, and raised $5,000.

“With cancer it doesn’t have to be a life or death matter,” said Granger. “It doesn’t have to be a death sentence—you can absolutely live life to the fullest.”

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OUTDOOR VS INDOOR EXERCISE

Granger is one to talk. She completed a one-mile open water race at Lake Lanier just five months after having surgery to remove a type of rare cancer, a sarcoma inflammatory myofibroblastic tumor in her chest.

“But you don’t have to have cancer to learn how to live [life to the fullest],” she said.

With a swipe of your membership card and a v-line to your favorite treadmill, your efficient, controlled gym routine is in session. But what if your predictable gym routine is holding you back from your best workout?

Studies show that outdoor workouts burn more calories and build more muscle than indoor ones.

When you’re outside running or walking, your foot hits the ground differently than when it strikes a flat treadmill’s belt. With all the loose stones, rocks and roots, ankle and leg muscles are worked and strenghtened more. Unlike treadmills, outdoor runs also include downhills, which also works different leg muscles. And because of wind resistance and changes in terrain, outdoor runners burn more calories than those on a treadmill. So do cyclists. Those who cycled outside expended more energy due to wind drag than those who rode a stationary bike.

The outdoors is also better for your brain.

According to a recent study, people who exercise outdoors spend more time on their workout than those who stayed inside, and they also chose to work out more often—an average of thirty minutes more per week. Another study asked test subjects to go on two walks, both the same time and distance, only one on a treadmill and the other in nature. The results found that the vast majority of subjects scored significantly higher on psychological tests measuring self-esteem, delight, enthusiasm, and liveliness after their outdoor walk.

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WE BEAT THE HEAT

BIG REC OUTDOOR RECREATION GENERATES

This summer is one we’ll never forget. We’re entering our final month here in Colorado, and we have spent glorious days on adventures with friends new and old. But it’s almost time to head back east for the fall portion of our tour. Whether you came to a festival, a meetup or just hung out and enjoyed the outdoors with us, we want to say thank you. We will see you soon, Blue Ridge Mountains!

AUGUST 2018

MORE JOBS AND REVENUE THAN OIL, COAL, FRACKING, AND NATURAL GAS. BUT THE OUTDOOR INDUSTRY IS JUST BEGINNING TO FLEX ITS POLITICAL MUSCLE.

BY DAN DEWITT

THERE’S A POWERFUL NEW POLITICAL PLAYER:

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approving sprawling growth is that real estate development equals economic development, and the OIA report determined that the construction industry does indeed support a vast pool of 6.4 million workers. But it found that outdoor recreation supports even more—employing over 7.6 million.

In West Virginia, coal mining has the power to move, or at least remove, mountains. But the Outdoor Industry report suggests the state would be better off leaving them be. Nearly twice as many jobs there depend on outdoor recreation as coal.

It’s not just this industry group that has tracked the economic benefits of outdoor recreation. A 2017 Park Service report found that visitors spent $18.2 billion in its lands’ “gateway regions,” including $1 billion in Virginia and $1.3 billion in North Carolina.

And earlier this year, the federal Bureau of Economic Analysis released initial findings that placed the economic impact of the outdoor recreation industry at $373 billion.

Says Ratcliffe, “Outdoor recreation is two percent of the GDP and is bigger than all mining, including coal, oil, and gas.”

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NITE IZE HUCK AND TUCK GLOWSTREAK COLLAPSIBLE THROWER + LED BALL This collapsible ball thrower quickly became our dog’s favorite toy on pit stops and in camp. The awardwinning, color-changing LED ball will ensure that you and your best friend have fun long after the sun sets. $30

SEA TO SUMMIT ALPHA COOKSET 2.2 We pair this handy cookset with Sea To Summit’s Alpha Pans to complete our mobile kitchen in the small space of our van. We love the Pivot-Lock handle and the ability to customize it all to carry along as a convenient backcountry setup. $90

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the outdoor adventurer. The economic impact of the outdoor recreation industry surpasses all others in the South. It generates 500 times more revenue than timber, and it has also surpassed some of the nation’s largest and most influential industries.

Outdoor recreation is bigger than oil, bigger than coal, bigger than fracking and natural gas. According to one report, it’s even bigger than cars.

And Washington is slowly, unevenly responding to the mounting evidence of the industry’s heft. The financial power of outdoor recreation has long been underappreciated because the industry is spread across so many companies in so many economic sectors, explains Bob Ratcliffe, chief of the National Park Service’s division of conservation and outdoor recreation.

“It’s an inch deep and a mile wide,” he says.

But the combined impact, revealed in a 2017 report by the Outdoor Industry Association, is big enough that it shocked even the economists who prepared the study, said Jessica Wahl, the group’s government affairs manager.

More important, it’s big enough to send a clear message to politicians and bureaucrats: Preserving natural lands for the enjoyment of visitors is not just good for the environment but vital for the economy.

“With economic data, we were able to show that all these small industries around the country add up to this very big and important economic driver,” Wahl said.

Consumers spend huge sums, $304 billion annually, on gasoline and other fuel, some of which is pumped from leased federal land. But the total of outdoor recreation purchases— which include RVs, ski lift tickets, hotel rooms, and gear purchased at independently owned outfitters—was nearly three times that amount, $887 billion, the study found.

The standard argument for

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CHASING CHALLENGER AMERICA’S MOST CELEBRATED EAGLE CALLS TENNESSEE HOME B Y A N N A K AT H E R I N E C L E M M O N S

IF YOU’VE ATTENDED A LIVE PROFESSIONAL

sporting event in the last 23 years, you may have been lucky enough to watch Challenger the bald eagle take flight.

He’s been a fixture at events across the country, having enjoyed hundreds of plane flights out of his home base near Nashville, via Southwest Airlines, and thousands of hours riding in a specially equipped van, en route to perform his aerial magic.

Now 29, Challenger is the first bald eagle in U.S. history trained to free fly into major sports stadiums, arenas, and ballrooms during the national anthem. His first flight took place in 1995, during the Bassmaster Classic in Greensboro, N.C. Since then, he’s been an inspiring performer at more than 350 events, including five World Series, the NCAA Final Four, Celebrity Fight Nights, numerous NFL matchups (particularly home games of the Philadelphia Eagles), and even the White House.

Challenger has appeared on national talk shows, in commercials and in educational films. Even his arrival to airport gates is greeted with an excitement and enthusiasm that rivals most celebrities. Tennesseans may also recognize his image from specialty license plates, and he boasts the unique title as the only animal to ever have a specialty coin with his image printed by the U.S. Mint.

P H O T O S B Y S C O T T K E L L E Y ( L E F T ) A N D J U L I A C E C E R E ( R I G H T ) . C O U R T E S Y A M E R I C A N E A G L E F O U N D AT I O N .

Challenger was also in attendance for a historic milestone for his species, when bald eagles were removed from the endangered species list in 2007.

Perhaps his most important role is that of ambassador for the American Eagle Foundation, a non-profit organization established in 1985 to protect and preserve bald eagles and other birds of prey.

Located in Pigeon Forge, the AEF has served as Challenger’s home for almost three decades. He was first discovered in Louisiana at only a few weeks of age, having been blown out of his mother’s nest. For several months, Challenger was hand-raised by humans who released him back into the wild that same year, but who unknowingly kept him too long for Challenger to develop his natural survival instincts. After several unsuccessful attempts at re-introduction into the wild, he was brought to Al Cecere, the founder, president and CEO of AEF. When Challenger, who was named for the fallen space shuttle, arrived uninjured in 1989, Cecere had an idea: why not train Challenger to free fly during the national anthem, as a way to raise awareness about the thenendangered species while also paying patriotic tribute? He and his staff began to train Challenger in falconry style, which is based on food-based rewards and positive reinforcement.

After a few years, the six-pound

eagle had learned the routine. Now, he performs across the country almost every week of the year except during the summer, when he is molting.

Once an event is lined up by AEF and individual teams/organizations (which cover travel costs for Challenger and his team while also donating to AEF), five AEF staff members accompany him on the road.

Challenger’s special carrier, handled by two staff members, is dark inside, to keep him calm. The interior also has a perch as well as a sliding window.

Challenger’s team books the front two bulkhead coach seats for his carrier, with a staff member sitting beside him and additional team members in the rows behind and adjacent. Often, Southwest flight crews will let Cecere take the microphone to give a brief talk about Challenger once the plane is airborne.

Cecere, who is 70, always travels with Challenger; Cecere’s daughter, Laura Sterbens, typically travels with him as well. “It’s amazing how many millions of people he’s inspired, not just sports fans, but military members and everyday people,” Cecere says.

Wherever he is performing on a given day, Challenger typically takes flight from a higher location than ground level. It’s a path he’s familiar with, as he’s already been through several rounds of rehearsals the previous day as well as the morning of the event. The idea is for Challenger

to know all of the elements, so if a singer will be standing on the field, or if fireworks will be going off, he’ll be prepared as he spreads his six-foot wingspan and takes flight.

Challenger is outfitted with two GPS trackers, clipped to his tail feathers in case he decides to fly beyond the stadium, but Cecere says they have never needed them.

At a baseball game, Cecere will typically stand on the pitcher’s mound, with Laura next to him, holding a lure, which is swung in a circular motion to attract Challenger’s attention. When Challenger sees the lure, he knows a treat is not far behind (he is also trained to specific whistles as well as hand motions).

Once he’s released, Challenger flies either directly to Cecere or he takes one or two circles around the arena, whichever path he chooses.

When he successfully lands on Cecere’s glove, Challenger earns his favorite snack: Atlantic wild-caught salmon (purchased at Whole Foods, along with bottled Fiji water). Three other handlers are positioned on the field, all wearing headsets, so if Challenger is confused about where to go, they can assist him. Because birds have to gradually descend from heights, sometimes Challenger overshoots his landing, in which case he’ll make one more loop before settling on to the trainer’s outstretched glove.

After the event is over, Challenger will often pose for photos, fluffing his feathers for the camera. Then, it’s back to the hotel to rest before another flight and performance in a new city.

Bald eagles can live up to 50 years or more in captivity, and Challenger shows no signs of slowing down. At the AEF, which has released over 450 eaglets into the wild through their rehabilitation and breeding programs, Challenger is flown every day for exercise and to build his stamina for when he takes the stage.

“Remember what the eagle stands for—independence—and yet the eagle was almost lost because of our negligence,” Cecere says.

“We came together as a country and brought it back from the brink, and now it’s flourishing across the country again. Challenger is our ambassador for what it is that we do.”

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THE FREEDOM TO ROAM IS FREE-RANGE PARENTING RISKY OR NECESSARY?

ABOUT A MONTH AGO MY TODDLER WAS DIGGING

for worms in our fenced-in backyard while I pulled weeds behind a row of hedges. My neighbor drove past and, seeing my daughter alone, put her car in park and rolled down the window. “What are you doing out here all alone?” I heard her ask. “Where’s your mommy?” Sensing the neighbor’s disapproval, I popped up from my spot 50 feet away and waved hello.

My neighbor met my eye, nodded solemnly, and shifted into drive. It was a brief interaction, barely a blip on the social radar, but it made me pause.

Was it irresponsible of me to let my two-year-old play out of arm's reach?

“The basic problem is that we have this view today that our children are our products and we are in charge of deciding what they should and should not be doing,” says Dr. Peter Gray. Gray is the author of Free to Learn and a research professor of psychology at Boston College who has been studying play for nearly 30 years. “Throughout human history, children were always in charge of their own activities,” says Gray.

The idea that children should be in charge of their own activities is a basic tenant of Free-Range Parenting, a parenting philosophy that encourages children to play independently without constant parental supervision. Freerange parents may let their kids walk to school alone, ride bikes through the neighborhood or play in the park without a parent. For those of us raised in the 80’s or earlier, that might just sound like parenting. But times

BY KIM DINAN

have changed, and that change is having an impact on families.

Several high-profile cases have brought national attention to instances in which parents were investigated and even arrested for allowing their children to play freely. In one instance, a mother in La Porte, Texas was arrested for letting her 6- and 9-yearolds ride motorized scooters in their cul-de-sac as she supervised from her front porch. In another, a Florida mother was arrested and faced up to five years in prison for letting her 7-year-old son walk to the park alone.

And in 2015 a Maryland couple was investigated by child welfare services for allowing their 6- and 10-year-old children to walk home alone from a park.

Reade Harbitter is a mother of a 7, 4, and 1-year-old from McHenry, Maryland who considers herself a free-range parent. “We live in a rural area so I definitely let my kids play in the yard unsupervised,” she says.

“But we are far enough away from neighbors that I don’t have to worry about services being called for letting my children play in the yard.”

“Even parents that want to let their kids out feel that next door neighbor is going to call child protective services on them,” says Gray. “That is now a serious consideration for many parents who would otherwise love to send their children out.”

decline in free play Implications While parents may have to legitimately worry about being arrested for

allowing their children to play unsupervised, it’s children who suffer the most when they are not allowed to play freely out from under the eye of an adult.

“One of the things we know about parenting is that kids that have the best outcomes have parents who are both warm and engaged but also encourage autonomy,” says Robin Howse, a developmental psychologist in human development and family studies at A-B Tech Community College in Asheville, North Carolina.

“You can be available to a child without being overly involved or overly supervising,” she says.

“Children know better than any adult of what they are and are not capable of,” adds Gray. “The child that decides to climb a tree knows how high she can go. She knows both physically and emotionally what she is ready for. She naturally wants to challenge herself on her own terms, preferably with no adult watching and judging her,” says Gray.

In fact, Gray says that all mammals play in risky ways. It's how we develop courage and the ability to confront real emergencies without falling apart. “It’s a way of preparing for future possible emergencies where your life might depend upon you not being afraid of your own fear. If you have already experienced fear you know how to handle fear and you feel confident dealing with the emotional and physical problems of responding to an emergency,” he says. “Children are practicing that when they play in risky ways, and if we prevent them, it is much more dangerous to their life than the slight danger of falling from that tree.”

But playing without a parent hovering above is not just about learning to manage danger. One of the most serious implications of oversupervised children is what happens to them psychologically when they don’t learn to fend for themselves.

Gray says that mental disorders in children have risen over the same period of time that children’s freedom to go out and play has declined. Over a 60-year period, Gray says that the rate of major depressive disorder among teenagers has increased eightfold, suicide among schoolaged children has increased sixfold, and clinically significant generalized anxiety disorder is about seven times higher than it was in the 1950s.

Tests also indicate that today's kids feel that they are controlled by external factors such as other people or fate. That’s called having an external locus of control. This is significant because clinical research shows those with an external locus of control are far more likely to suffer from depression and anxiety, says Gray. “To me this sets up a perfect cause-effect chain. Where do children learn that they do have control over their own lives if not through play?

If there are always adults around telling them what to do how can they possibly develop a sense that they can solve their own problems?”

Is the future free-range?

In May, Utah became the first state to pass a free-range parenting law. The law redefines the state’s definition of neglect, stating that properly-caredfor children can walk to school, play at the park, or remain in the car alone if they are developmentally ready to handle it. While there’s no indication that states in the Blue Ridge are considering a similar law, Texas and New York are.

And Gray says that he is seeing some evidence that communities and school districts are interested in changing attitudes about freerange kids. “There is more and more recognition [about the dangers of overprotection],” says Gray. “The term helicopter parenting has become a well-known term and most people think of it as negative. What we need now are more practical programs that allow for the problems to be solved.”

Solutions include educating parents about the low probability that anything will happen to their child while they play outside alone, allowing kids more time to play and explore outside of school and changing attitudes about scheduling activities and competitive sports for kids, says Gray.

For her part, Harbitter says that she’s seen the difference her free-range parenting style makes in her kids’ lives. “They have selfconfidence,” she says. They trust themselves, and their willingness to try new things continually grows.

“Parenting is about long-term goals,” adds Harbitter. “Sometimes the short-term rewards of having your kid do exactly what you say as soon as you say it doesn’t fit with the longterm goals of raising a self-confident, adventurous, independent human.”

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QUICK HITS

A SECOND CHANCE APPALACHIAN BEAR RESCUE HAS

HELPED HUNDREDS OF ORPHANED CUBS RETURN TO THE WILD

BY RACHEL HICKS

AN ORPHANED BEAR CUB FROM KENTUCKY—

rescued by wildlife officials—recently joined Appalachian Bear Rescue, where she will recover until she’s ready to join the wild again. She is one of over 250 bears that the center has rescued.

Dana Dodd, president of the bear rehabilitation center, said each bear gets a visit to the University of Tennessee College of Veterinary Medicine before settling into his or her new habitat.

The other two cubs in the center’s care include one that’s more than 20 pounds underweight, and another that was hit by a car.

Although each cub has a dedicated team of professionals rooting for their recovery, the three orphans will never know the people who help them.

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“We provide good care with as “It’s unusual to have Learn more about Appalachian Bear Rescue at little human contact as possible so something like ABR because the A P PA L AC H I A N B E A R R E S C U E . O R G that they don’t get used to humans animals in our care are being and can get back to the wild,” she managed as individuals,” she go about their daily lives. said. said. “When we release them “Throughout the summer, when it’s The cub that was hit by a car into the wild, they’re just part of the really hot, most bears spend all day had five broken ribs and a chipped wild again…they’re not individuals in the trees,” she said. “In the evening humerus, so it needed to stay still as anymore.” they come down to forage.” much as possible, Dodd said. The But thanks to social media, there’s There are also pools of water for facility has adjustable ceilings in the been a push to save individual cubs the bears to play and cool off in and cubs’ enclosures specifically to keep in distress—no one wants to see a drink from. bears from climbing. That specific cub baby bear put down in a video.

“We keep things as natural as we has a lowered ceiling so it can’t stand “Before Appalachian Bear Rescue can,” Dodd said. up on its hind legs. existed in Tennessee, about the only Come August, she said the bears If the center receives a cub early in thing you could do is to euthanize leave the trees to start “chubbifying.” the year, it has to be bottle fed, but at [sick or hurt bears],” Dodd said. “And “Their bodies know that they have 10 weeks of age, the bear must start now we’ve taken bears from eight to start eating a lot to get ready for a lapping from a bowl. different states and the National Park winter in a den,” she said. “About 85 “They may not want to [self feed], Service for a temporary time.” percent of their diet is vegetation in but they have to,” Dodd said.

Coy Blair, the rehab center’s lead nature—berries, nuts, acorns, hickory, And when they’re bottle fed, the curator, did a GPS collar study of pecans...the other 15 percent in their staff doesn’t cuddle the cubs.

42 former bear residents released diet is meat.”

Once the bears are healthy between 2015 and 2017, Dodd said.

A bear’s meat source tends to be enough to live in the center’s bigger, His finding showed that the hornet, bee, or ant larvae, which is grassy enclosures, their contact with survival rate one year after release high in protein, she said. humans is almost non-existent. for bears is 88.5 percent, which Wildlife officials are trained to care “They [the staffers] throw food over means bears can thrive in the wild for an entire population of black bears, those enclosures so [the bears] forage after individual care. not just one individual cub. That’s why on the ground, so they don’t see them “The survival rate is really high,” officials are often skeptical of what feeding,” Dodd said. says Dodd, “which suggests that Appalachian Bear Rescue does, Dodd She said they rely on a 21-camera what we're doing seems to be said. system to monitor the bears as they working.”

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THE SNORKELER KEVIN MERRILL IS CHANGING THE WAY WE SEE RIVERS

BY PHIL MORGAN

KEVIN MERRILL IS HAPPIEST IN A CLEAR, flowing stream, poking around an eddy with a diver’s mask sucked tight against his face. He’ll lie perfectly still, sometimes for over an hour, until the fish get comfortable and swim right up to him.

Merrill is founder of Oxbow, Western North Carolina’s only river snorkeling outfitter, and has made it a mission to get more kids and adults exploring Southern Appalachia’s creeks and rivers.

Merrill particularly loves the West Fork of The French Broad River, where a diversity of fascinating critters abound, like the hellbender, North America’s largest salamander. At other times, he and his teenage daughters hike into the mountains and bodysurf down gushing tributaries.

As a child growing up in

Transylvania County, Merrill spent most of his time with his grandfather fishing, hunting, and exploring the outdoors. “He’d wake us up at eleven p.m. to go coon hunting,” Merrill says.

“I’d sit in the back of the pickup truck on top of the box. He’d sell those hides for $5 a piece. Mountain folk had to do whatever was necessary to survive.” Merrill remembers a time his grandpa returned home from market with 10 beagles, four coonhounds, a shotgun, and a banjo.

It was his childhood in the wild that

inspired Merrill to pursue a degree in freshwater biology. Eventually Merrill became the curatorial assistant at a zoological museum and was headed for a career with the Fish and Wildlife Service when his grandfather fell ill. He returned to the Southern Appalachians to care for him and to embark on a new adventure in teaching.

As a teacher, Merrill asked himself, “How do I get folks outside and interested? I had all these good ol’ boys that like to go outside and

shoot things.”

So Merrill brought his students on fish surveys. They found 21 species of fish in Nichols Creek on the edge of Brevard. He soon after founded a hiking club which morphed into a naturalist club once he showed up with microscopes and cameras.

“That’s how Oxbow evolved,” Merrill says. Today the thrill of rolling down a river on your stomach is attracting more customers. Merrill plans to expand his business and educate a new generation of conservationists.

The rivers in the southern Appalachians are still relatively healthy. The proliferation of sediment-sensitive bivalves, particularly the elktoe, is an indicator of water quality, he says.

“We’ve got to make connections between water and land,” Merrill warns. “I was exposed as a kid.

That’s how I made the connection.

Education is number one: expose people to the world and what is taking place below the surface.”

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HIKELITE

W e k n o w w h a t y o u ’r e i n t o . Yo u l i k e your trails unmanicured, uneven and d e f i n i t e l y u n p a v e d . Yo u p r e f e r h o t springs over hot tubs, rope bridges o v e r s t e e l . Yo u p r e f e r p a t h s w h e r e t h e o n l y t h i n g y o u ’r e c e r t a i n o f i s that you aren’t really cer tain of a n y t h i n g , b u t y o u k n o w i t ’s g o i n g t o b e f u n . T h a t ’s h o w t h e g o o d d a y s a r e m a d e . L e t ’s g o .

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NATIONAL

RECREATION AREAS What they are and where to experience them

BY DAN DEWITT

mountain bike loop that plunges into one of the wildest corners of the Southeast. Trails to stunning natural bridges that welcome rather than forbid horseback riders.

A backpacking route that takes trekkers across a prime stretch of the Cumberland Plateau without worries that it will be scarred by clearcut logging.

These are all features of National Recreation Areas in the Southeast. It’s a varied group. Most are remote but one cuts through the region’s biggest metro area. They include some of the East’s biggest—and clearest—lakes, as well as its most ferocious rapids.

Allowed uses range from hiking to riding all-terrain vehicles.

Variety, in fact, is one of the few common qualities of National Recreation Areas. Each is created by its own federal law—a law that determines the government agency that supervises its operation and lists the activities that are and are not allowed. This can make forming new Recreation Areas a tough political process; witness the stalled plans to create the Pisgah and Grandfather national recreation areas. The upside: It puts power to determine uses of public land where it should be—with nearby residents, environmental groups and businesses interests, says Sam Evans, a lawyer with the Southern Environmental Law Center.

“That’s the important thing about Recreation Areas. The designation is flexible enough to allow the people who use and protect these lands to decide what is special about them in the long run.”

The other common thread of National Recreation Areas is right in the name; they encourage residents to go out and enjoy natural tracts such as these, some of the Southeast’s best destinations for mountain biking, paddling and hiking:

Spruce Knob-Seneca Rocks National Recreation Area

VIEW FROM SENECA ROCKS, M O N O N G A H E L A N AT I O N A L F O R E S T, W E S T V I R G I N I A .

Bring food, water and at least one friend when mountain biking the Huckleberry Trail in the Spruce KnobSeneca Rocks National Recreation Area, said Travis Olson.

“When you go down the Huckleberry, you’re really getting into the deep woods. You need to be self-sufficient,” said Olson, an avid mountain biker and the organizer of the annual Gravel Race Up Spruce

Mountain (GRUSK).

He usually does the Huckleberry as part of a 50-mile loop that includes one of two routes in the recreation area designated as Epic by the International Mountain Bicycling Association. It includes a bombing descent from 4,862-foot Spruce Knob, the highest point in West Virginia.

This brings riders into “these really lush zones, which are almost like rain forests,” Olson said, followed by the Falls of Seneca “which are really remote and incredibly beautiful.”

It may be his favorite ride in Spruce Knob-Seneca Rocks—unless it’s the other Epic, the North Fork Mountain Trail, which “follows a really narrow ridge for 24 miles, so you get these incredibly vast views,” he says.

The rides are far from the only attraction at Spruce Knob-Seneca Rocks, established in 1965 as the first National Recreation Area supervised by the U.S. Forest Service, but they are typical. The Recreation Area covers about 100,000 of the more than 900,000-acre Monongahela National Forest in eastern West Virginia. Its main draws are wilderness and adventure.

Ask people about it and you’ll hear words such as “remote,” “backcountry” and “rugged.”

That last description especially fits Seneca Rocks, a 40-minute drive north of Spruce Knob and one of the most famous rock-climbing destinations in the East—a bastion of “trad” climbers who carry their own gear and remove it once they complete the pitch.

“Seneca Rocks is a freak of nature in the climbing world,” said Tom Cecil, 57, the owner of Seneca Rocks Mountain Guides and North Fork Adventures, who has been climbing here since 1973. The fin-shaped ridge juts 1,100 feet up from the valley floor and is topped with “300 feet of vertical rock,” he said. “Seneca has cracks and corners and overhangs and every type of architecture.” Of the roughly 300 established routes, he said, about 110 are “super-high quality, the greatest hits that people come here to do.”

Not that you need to be super skilled or super fit to enjoy the area.

The mountain bike trails that Olson raved about are also open to hikers.

One of the area’s most acclaimed trails, the Spruce Knob/Seneca Creek loop, is just the right length, 16.5 miles, for either a monster day hike or more leisurely overnight backpacking trip.

Visitors who have the desire to climb but not the skills or equipment, can spend a day at NROCKS, which not only offers caving trips, ziplines

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Visit noc.com/river-to-ridge for more details.

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and canopy tours, but also one of the nation’s first “via ferrata” courses.

Italian for “way of iron,” this feature provides harnessed climbers with stainless steel rungs to ascend dramatic outcroppings on private land south of Seneca Rocks.

P L AY

Attend Treasure Mountain Festival (treasuremountainfestival.com) held in September in Franklin, W.Va. The festival has celebrated mountain culture for 50 years and includes quilting displays, musical performances, and beard-growing and turkey-calling contests.

S TAY

At Canaan Valley Resort State Park (canaanresort.com), a half-hour north of Seneca Rocks. It offers 160 rooms as well as cabins and campsites, golfing and mountain-bike rentals.

Many of its 18 miles of trails connect to longer routes in the Monongahela National Forest.

A SCENIC SUMMER SUNSET ALONG ONE OF THE MANY ROCKY OUTCROPPINGS IN T H E B I G S O U T H F O R K N AT I O N A L R I V E R A N D R E C R E AT I O N A R E A I N T E N N E S S E E .

E AT

Visit the Front Porch Restaurant (harpersoldcountrystore.com), Seneca Rocks. Situated above Harper’s Olde General Store, its namesake porch features stunning views of town’s namesake rocks. “I love the pizza at the Front Porch,” Olson said.

Land Between the Lakes National Recreation Area

This recreation area (landbetweenthelakes.us) has less to do with seeking adventure than with soaking up scenery and heritage.

The most treasured views are not of mountains, but of calm, clear Kentucky and Barkley lakes—two of the largest such bodies of water in the East.

“It’s just a peaceful place to be,” says Cindy Sholar, administrative assistant with the nearby CadizTrigg County Tourist & Convention Commission.

Covering 170,000 acres, it extends north to within a few miles of the Ohio River and south to beyond the Tennessee state line. It contains 500 miles of trails, many of them open to both mountain bikers and hikers, as well as 200 miles of forest roads. The prime backpacking route is the 56-mile North/South Trail, the northern portion of which passes seven seasonal springs, offers frequent views of Kentucky Lake, and skirts several of the estimated 240

cemeteries in the Recreation Area.

Land Between the Lakes is one of the few places in the East to spot bison and elk, which were reintroduced in 1996. The recreation areas contains about 50 bison and 50 elk. Controlled burns and grazing keep sections of the land open and offer clear views for visitors who access the prairie’s 3.5-mile driving loop for a charge of $5 per car. At least the views are usually clear, Fowler said. “You can sometimes have four or five big old elk laying in that tall grass and nobody can see them.”

The region’s 19th century history is celebrated at The Homeplace, which is run as an 1850s-era working farm, with staffers and volunteers engaged in such activities as shearing sheep, spinning yarn, raising heritage chickens and pigs, and growing heirloom vegetables. “It’s a great place for folks to see how things used to be done,” said Emily Cleaver, a spokeswoman for the Forest Service.

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Detour north to visit Paducah, KY (paducah.travel), formerly a gritty river town transformed into a regional arts mecca designated as one of UNESCO’s Creative Cities.

Attractions include the National Quilt Museum, and its transformative Artist Relocation Program has served as a model for cities across the country.

S TAY

In a houseboat, the ideal way to soak up views of the lakes and access the wooded shoreline of Land Between the Lakes. Rentals are available at several marinas, including the Kenlake Marina at Kenlake State Park.

E AT

At Cap’n Jim’s Grill, on a peninsula on the eastern shore of Lake Barkley.

“One of my favorite things to do is go to Cap’n Jim’s on a Saturday night when the water is just like glass,” Sholar said.

Big South Fork National RIver & Recreation Area

It’s one thing to read that Big South Fork contains the highest concentration of natural arches in the East, another to see it on the ground, said Scott Phillips, owner of Backwoods Adventures guiding service. “In a lot of places, you can hike up to an arch and go around to the other side of the hill,” he said, “and right there you’ll see another arch.”

The most famous of these formations is Twin Arches, a pair of natural bridges that top out at more than 100 feet high. Combined, this formation is the largest of its kind east of the Mississippi River.

These arches are far from the only appeal of Big South Fork, said Phillips.

“Big South Fork caters to pretty much any outdoor activity. It’s sort of a onestop wilderness destination.”

Big South Fork, which in 1974 became the first National Recreation Area formed under the supervision of the National Park Service, covers 125,000 acres of the Cumberland Plateau in eastern Kentucky and Tennessee. It is adjacent to the 700,000-acre Daniel Boone National Forest and near several smaller state parks. And though its visitors pump about $10 million into the local economy, according to the National Park Service website, it attracts fewer than 700,000 annual visitors. That number has dropped since the early 2000s, and is a tiny fraction of the count at popular destinations such as Great Smoky Mountain National Park, which draws more than 11 million tourists per year.

Among the many attractions available to the park’s relatively few visitors, according to the Park Service: 141 miles of hiking trails, 182 miles of horse trails, 24 miles of mountain bike trails, and 244 miles of streams. That includes the north-flowing Big South Fork of the Cumberland which the American Whitewater website calls “one of the hidden crown jewels of the Cumberland Plateau.” The 6.2-mile

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MORE NATIONAL RECREATION AREAS? National Recreation Areas are relatively sparse in the Southeast and Mid-Atlantic, but several groups are working to change that. National Recreation Areas remain one of the best tools to deliver balanced, sustained outdoor recreation.

Though National Recreation Areas can be managed by a variety of federal agencies, all but two of the nation’s 44 areas are under the supervision of either the National Park Service or the U.S. Forest Service.

Because each National Recreation Area is created by a separate federal law, recreational and non-recreational uses can be tailored to the local economy and demands of visitors. But the main mission of this designation— recreation—is right in its name.

National Recreation Areas typically offer a wider variety of outdoor activities and more intensive participation of these activities than other properties managed by the same agencies.

Only two short trails at Great Smoky Mountain National Park, for example, are open to cyclists. But at Park Service-managed Spruce Knob-Seneca Rocks National Recreation Area, mountain bikers are free to explore some of the most remote back country in the East. The website for the Big South Fork National River & Recreation Area, meanwhile, touts it as “one of only a few National Park Service units legislated to allow hunting.”

Logging can even be allowed in these areas if this use is specified by the laws that create them. Many National Recreation Areas also contain Wilderness Areas, where recreational use is strictly limited.

This versatility is one of the great benefits of National Recreation Area designation, says Sam Evans, a lawyer with the Southern Environmental Law Center. “The designation is flexible enough to allow the people who use and protect these lands to decide what is special about them in the long run.”

The proposed Pisgah and Grandfather National Recreation Areas hope to include 172,000 acres of Forest Service land in Western North Carolina. A diverse coalition that includes dozens of businesses and organizations support the 24

proposal, which is a prime example of the flexibility of the National Recreation Area designation. All of the lands will remain open to hunting.

However, National Recreation Areas have stirred opposition from groups that may not necessarily want more recreation. The Fish and Wildlife Conservation Council has fought the National Recreation Area designation because it sees recreation areas as a move away from traditional National Forest uses such as logging and hunting.

“Nothing against hiking and mountain biking, says David Whitmire, the council’s chairperson, “but we don’t want people to forget that hunting is recreation, too.”

Council members also worry that the National Recreation Area designation would brand Pisgah as a destination for more of the visitors who already threaten to overwhelm forest infrastructure.

Char Miller, author of several books about public lands, says it’s been especially difficult to convince Republican lawmakers to support national recreation areas since they might be seen as impeding mining, logging, and oil drilling on federal lands. These factors, he said, help account for the slowing pace of creating new National Recreation Areas since the glory days of proenvironment, pro-parks legislation in the 1960s and ‘70s. Of the 22 National Recreation Areas managed by the Park Service, for example, only three have been approved since 2000.

But a bill proposed earlier this year called the Recreation Not Red-Tape Act may be a sign that conservative lawmakers are finally coming around to support outdoor recreation, and for same basic reason they long opposed them: The emerging might of the outdoor industry makes backing it a pro-business stance, says Jessica Wahl, policy manager for the Outdoor Industry Association.

The act would, among other measures, require managers of federal land to identify potential recreational opportunities, and earlier this year the bill breezed through the U.S. House of Representatives’ Natural Resources Committee.

“One of the committee members said it was the most bipartisan issue in years,” Wahl says.

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T H E W H I T E WA T E R O F T H E U P P E R G A U L E Y R I V E R R E C R E AT I O N A R E A I S SOME OF THE MOST CHALLENGING A N D T H R I L L I N G I N T H E E A S T.

stretch between confluence of streams that form the river and Leatherwood Ford includes several Class III and Class IV rapids, the site said, though the roughness of these runs varies with water flow, said Keila Egedi, of the Sheltowee Trace Adventure Resort in Corbin, Ky. “This is not dam-release rafting,” she said. “We are totally dependent on Mother Nature and on how she feels.”

The company offers guided rafting trips of the upstream section of the river on weekends from mid-April to mid-May, when water level are usually highest. It rents canoes and kayaks on downriver sections, which, though tamer, include rapids rough enough that the company requires them to be portaged by rental clients. No matter the route, she said, the views of the clear, cliff-lined river are spectacular.

“The Big South Fork is just plain gorgeous,” she said.

Backpackers can choose between B LU E R I D G E O U T D O O R S

two routes suitable for multi-day treks, the 44-mile John Muir Trail, and the 319-mile Sheltowee Trace, which extends north deep into Daniel Boone. Premier day hikes include the 6-mile Twin Arches Trail Loop and the 5.6-mile out-and-back hike to the Angel Falls Overlook, which offers what Park Service literature calls an “awe-inspiring view” of the Big South Fork.

Hikers will see not only natural bridges, but another of the Plateau’s trademark formations— rock overhangs. And the park’s dense hardwood forests and clear, rhododendron-lined streams are sparsely populated versions of sights common at more popular destinations.

“It’s not like the Smokies where you run into somebody every 15 minutes,” Phillips said. “You can go for days here without seeing another living soul.”

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Attend one of the series of events, including storytelling sessions and an annual planting festival, at the park’s Brandy Creek Visitor Center and the Blue Heron Interpretive Center.

S TAY

At Charit Creek Lodge (Ccl-bsf. com), which like the Smokies’ famous LeConte Lodge, offers comfortable lodging and dining in a wilderness setting. Charit is accessible only to hikers, mountain bikers, and horse riders.

E AT

At Simply Fresh, in Jamestown.

Selections include steaks, dinner salads and shrimp tacos. “Their food is amazing,” Phillips said.

Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area

Sally Bethea lives within the city limits of Atlanta and less than two miles from the Georgia State Capitol building. It’s about as urban as the Southeast gets.

And yet, she said, “I can get to the

lower end of the Recreation Area in probably 20 minutes.”

Which sums up the appeal of Chattahoochee River NRA, a series of 15 park units called “the string of pearls,” scattered along 48 miles of the river from the northern fringe of Atlanta’s metropolitan area to its downtown. Signed into existence

by President (and former Georgia Governor) Jimmy Carter in 1978 and managed by the National Park Service, the park is the city cousin in a generally backwoods clan of National Recreation Areas.

Because of its proximity to the nearly 6 million residents of greater Atlanta, the park’s visitor totals and economic impact dwarf those of most other Recreation Areas; a recent Park Service study found the Chattahoochee drew more than 2.7 million visitors in 2016, supported 1,841 jobs and created a total economic benefit of $166 million.

To encourage even more tourism and preservation, this stretch of the Chattahoochee was named the nation’s first National River Trail in 2012.

But the Chattahoochee wouldn’t be so popular if it looked like it ran through a big city, said Bethea,

who retired from her longtime role as Chattahoochee Riverkeeper in 2014 and now serves as board president of the Chattahoochee Parks Conservancy Inc. (chattahoocheeparks.org).

“There’s this wonderful section of the river flowing through what’s called the Palisades,” she said.

“Depending on water levels, you might see a little bit of white water, the Devil’s Race Course, where you may be dodging some rocks, and then around the corner you come to Diving Rock. The whole area is just beautiful on both sides of the river, with the vegetation you would find in North Georgia . . . rhododendron and mountain laurel.”

One of the kayak rental landings run by Nantahala Outdoor Center is just off Interstate 285. But once you “get around the first bend you would never know you were near a city. It’s a great escape from the hustle and bustle,” said concession manager George Virgo.

The other outpost is at Johnson’s Ferry North, where southbound paddlers encounter flatter water flowing through upscale residential neighborhoods before reaching Park units that contain some of the

Recreation Area’s 80-plus miles of trails. Among the most popular spots is Cochran Shoals, a hub for afterwork trail runs and weekend hiking and mountain biking excursions. It can get crowded, Virgo said, and so can the river. But the shallow water discourages motor boats and paddlers can easily avoid the rowdier floating parties, which tend to form late in the afternoon on Saturdays and Sundays.

“If you come from Monday to Friday you’ll usually have the place to yourself,” he said. “And if you get out early in the morning, it’s beautiful.

Absolutely gorgeous.”

The upriver basin contains little agriculture or industry, Bethea said, and the water quality is good enough to support a thriving fish population. When the water warms in the summer, striped bass, or “stripers,” are the main prey, Virgo said. The cold water released from Lake Lanier at the northern end of the National Recreation Area supports trout in nearby sections of the river throughout the year, and in the winter trout can be found in good numbers even on the lower, warmer stretches, Bethea says. “A half hour from downtown Atlanta, you can be fishing for trout.”

S e e t h e l i g h t.

STAY AT THE LODGE.

P a r t i c u l a r ly a t s u n s e t .

It’s easy to see what matters most from these heights. Ancient peaks. Breathtaking views.And memoriesto last a lifetime.

Peaks of Otter Lodge guests will find it all, from the majestic Sharp Top Mountain, to scenic Abbott Lake and the Blue Ridge Parkway – America’s favorite drive.

Book your reservation at PeaksOfOtter.com or call 888-454-7711.

WVtourism.com Hospitality by Delaware North, Inc. ©2018.

DNC Parks & Resorts at Peaks of Otter Lodge.

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P L AY

To the Back to the Chatt River Race and Festival (chattahoochee.org/ btc), hosted by the Chattahoochee Riverkeeper. Held annually for 16 years, it features races of different lengths, a beer barge, and a boat decoration contest.

S TAY

Camping is not permitted in the park and riverside lodging is scarce, but airbnb.com lists several options with river access, from single rooms to whole houses.

E AT

At Heirloom Market BBQ (heirloommarketbbq.com), a few blocks from Cochran Shoals, it’s a mecca of Korean-style barbecue in the Deep South. “It’s phenomenal,” Virgo said.

Gauley River National Recreation Area

The whitewater at the Gauley, in southern West Virginia, is far more challenging than the Chattahoochee’s tame riffles or, for that matter, just about any whitewater in the East.

Even the normally subdued website of

the National Park Service practically bursts its buttons raving about the river’s rapids: “Dropping more than 668 feet through 25 miles of rugged terrain, the Gauley . . . features more than 100 rapids with a steep gradient, technical runs, an incredible volume of water and huge waves. Its vigorous rapids, scenic quality and inaccessibility combine to make Gauley River one of the premier whitewater runs in the world.”

The Recreation Area, which was established in 1988 and is operated by the Park Service, protects the gorges along 25 miles of the Gauley and nearly six miles of the Meadow River. The height of the rafting season, which annually attracts about 60,000 visitors, lasts only a few weekends after Labor Day, when the Summersville Dam begins releasing huge volumes of water.

“It’s like Christmas,” says PJ Stevenson, a marketing director and longtime guide for Adventures on the Gorge, a company formed by four of the oldest rafting services on the river.

“People come here from all over the world, guides and clients alike.”

The first set of Class V rapids is called Insignificant, partly because it

“doesn’t look like much going in,” and partly out of “total irony.”

“In the middle section you come to this huge hydraulic. You have to get on one side or the other or it’s not going to be pretty,” Stevenson said.

The name of another famous run is also misleading, she says. There is nothing comfortable about Pillow Rock, she said. “There is just a lot of volume of water pushing right into this giant rock,” she said. Pillow is followed by two hydraulics waiting to trap fallen paddlers, the Toilet Bowl and the Room of Doom, and a car-sized boulder called Volkswagen Rock.

In lower water, companies lead tours of inflatable kayaks called duckies. And in warm weather, tourists flock to Summersville Lake, above the dam, the largest lake in West Virginia. Its clear, deep water is ideal for scuba diving and all forms of flatwater boating, “including stand-up paddle boarding, which has become immensely popular,” said Marianne Taylor, executive director of the Summersville Convention and Visitors’ Bureau.

And paddlers should not become so absorbed with running rapids

that they ignore the animal and plant life that thrive in a distinctive habitat created by the rapidly flowing water and dramatic elevation changes.

Federally protected species in the park include the Allegheny woodrat, cerulean warbler, Eastern hellbender, and finescale saddled darter. Among its rare plants are the Appalachian blue Violet, balsam squaw-weed and Virginia spirea.

P L AY

Attend the Gauley Fest, an annual celebration of the Summersville Dam release featuring a whitewater marketplace and live entertainment.

S TAY

At Summersville Lake Retreat (summersvillelakeretreat.com), which offers cabins and campgrounds on the shore of the lake just north of the Recreation Area.

E AT

At Maloney’s Pub in Summerville, which serves stir-fries and wraps along with standard bar food, and is packed with sports memorabilia and television screens. “It’s just a nice laidback place to go after a day on the water,” Taylor says.

Savor The Adventure

™

www.MountainHouse.com

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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

CIDER

should be

â„¢

granny smith cider

BOLD

Gorge-Ous

FALL FOLIAGE

An insider's guide to the gorges that provide the most colorful leaf-peeping adventures.

I’ve been away from the Blue Ridge mountains for a while. This autumn, I’m moving back, trading in the yellow aspens of Colorado for the color-filled palette of home. I’m looking forward to fall here, this season of change.

There is perhaps no place more dramatic for viewing the foliage of autumn than from a gorge, as waterfalls slip over banks and rivers rush between mountainsides brushed in orange, yellow, and red.

The juxtaposition of change, fast and slow, is appreciated in the gorge.

Rocks and rivers that have run over eons, shaping one another, in harmony with the leaves that have lived a year, have changed, just for the season.

More than a fall drive, these regional gorges, all of which are also national or state parks, national rivers, nature conservancy preserve, and federally designated wilderness areas, also offer an array of recreation options. From ziplining and horseback riding to hiking and canoeing, opportunities abound.

Pack a picnic, raft, bike, running shoes, selfie stick, paddles, and head out! Peak foliage change is weather dependent, so check online or call parks directly.

New River Gorge National River, W.Va.

“There will be a breeze. Because you’re so high up in the mountains here, there’s always a wind blowing,” says Mandy Wriston, Bridge Day Coordinator. “You’ll chill a little bit, wait for the sunshine, take a fresh breath of air when the wind comes 28

through, smell on it the leaves that are starting to decay. That smell-you know it's fall.”

On Bridge Day, held annually on the third Saturday of October, over 80,000 people descend upon New River Gorge, the bridge bouncing slightly under their weight. BASE jumpers in halloween-like costumes take flight, torpedoing through the gorge towards the New River, rushing 800+ feet below.

Spectators lean over to snap shots.

“It’s all this color—the vendors, the BASE jumpers’ crazy outfits, and amid all of that, the foliage. The fall leaves frame the whole picture,” says Wriston.

Not into crowds? Most other fall days, seekers of solitude can find that here, too.

“It does not feel like a crowded park in most areas. I’ve worked in lots of parks, like Yellowstone and Grand Tetons, that get lots of people and you don’t get the access you do here. It’s a big enough park, people can spread themselves out,” says Public Affairs Officer for the park, Julena Campbell.

Fall is one of her favorite times of the year.

I N S I D E R T I P : The day after Bridge Day is the most visited day for the park.

If you’re looking for a mix of fanfare and quiet, plan your trip a couple days leading up to and into Bridge Day.

The park spans 70,000 acres. The Gorge is the deepest and longest river gorge in the Appalachian Mountains. The New River, one of the oldest rivers on the continent, continues to carve the gorge among the largest remaining area of MidAtlantic forest in the world.

TO P O G R A P H Y:

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Typically the 3rd and 4th weeks of October.

PEAK VIEWING:

R E C R E AT I O N O P P O R T U N I T I E S : Biking, hiking, whitewater rafting, climbing, picnicking, camping, fishing, birding, canoeing.

Gauley River National Recreation Area, W.Va.

High waters and class V+ rapids are a thrill that many whitewater adventurers seek. They find both at the Gauley.

The Gauley River runs 25 miles, through a series of breathtaking gorges and valleys. Many like to soak in the views from the water, especially in autumn, when water is high and the trees are at peak.

“Fall is known as Gauley season.

The Dam on Summersville Lake is opened in the fall by the U.S. Army Corps and water comes tumbling out,” says Public Affairs Officer, Julena Campbell.

With the waters come the people.

“Tens of thousands flock for the release of the dam the first couple of weeks of September,” says Campbell.

The Gauley Festival ensues, 4 days of vendor booths and food.

It’s also a great location for fishing or passing a day, sitting on the riverbank.

“All of the typical eastern woodlands leaves are changing.

The cooler temperatures are nice for hiking, picnicking and watching fall migration of birds,” says Campbell.

PEAK VIEWING:

Third and fourth weeks

of October.

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

BY JULIE HAGY

The Gauley River, used

by Native Americans for 10,000 years, runs 105 miles through the mountains of West Virginia, before merging with the New River. Together, they form the Kanawha River, a tributary of the Ohio River.

TO P O G R A P H Y:

R E C R E AT I O N O P P O R T U N I T I E S : Fishing, camping, whitewater paddling.

Linville Gorge Wilderness Area, N.C.

Hiking Linville takes grit. Trails are primitive and strenuous.

“People come to Linville to get away from it all. That’s the beauty of the wilderness area. It’s totally different from our everyday lives now.

We can get away from cell phones.

We can sit by a river, can sit on a mountaintop, can clear our minds,” says Lisa Jennings, Recreation Program Manager, with Grandfather Ranger District, Pisgah National Forest.

Elevation changes over 2,800 feet, from floor to highest point. This makes for a long viewing season. “You can see fall color creep from the top to the bottom, starting early October at the higher elevations on north end, and towards the beginning of November, in the lower elevations. It peaks at different times.”

One of Jennings’ favorite autumn hikes is Bable Tower trail. “It’s one of the less popular hikes. You go inside the gorge. Halfway down the gorge, you still have these really cool midrange views, and an up close view of fall foliage.”

G O O U TA N D P L AY

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L E F T T O R I G H T: A U T U M N V I E W O F THE LINVILLE GORGE WILDERNESS FROM WISEMANS OVERLOOK / THE I C O N I C N E W R I V E R B R I D G E S PA N S T H E N E W R I V E R G O R G E , W. VA . / THE RUSSELL FORK WINDS THROUGH B R E A K S I N T E R S TAT E PA R K O N T H E VIRGINIA-KENTUCKY BORDER.

If you’re not up for a strenuous hike, Wiseman Overlook, located right outside the park (one exit south of Linville Falls entrance), provides views of the gorge, and also of Brown Mountain. Observations of strange lights, origin unknown, above Brown Mountain date back to Cherokee records. During the day, folks flock to the overlook for fall photos, and at night, to try to catch a glimpse of the lights.

The gorge is formed by the Linville River bisecting Jonas Ridge and Linville Mountain. The river drops 2,000 feet, spilling into the valleys below. View rugged terrain, with rock formations and waterfalls.

TO P O G R A P H Y:

PEAK VIEWING:

Early October to early

November.

R E C R E AT I O N O P P O R T U N I T I E S : Hiking, rock climbing, fishing, hunting, backpacking, camping, rock climbing, night sky photography, highlining.

The Breaks/Russell Fork Gorge, VA & Ky.

I’m working on this article, asking my 2.5 year old if she wants to go to the Breaks with me this Fall.

She’s enthustaitic about going, but also concerned.

“What’s broken?” she wants to know.

I explain.

She listens. Thinks. Starts moving.

She’s got a plastic hammer in her hand, is looking for a wrench.

“I’m gonna take my toolbelt to fix the mountain,” she says.

Pine Mountain is the mountain she’s referring to, a mountain almost completely unbroken along its length until the Russell Fork River “breaks” through it by flowing through the gorge.

In the fall, visitors like to stand at State Line Overlook and take pictures of the two states-Kentucky and Virginia, side by side. The drive to the overlook provides some of the best fall foliage viewing in the park.

Elk, deer and black bears become more active around the park during this season.

One of the best ways to experience the park is by staying the night.

“Screech owls call out into the evening.

You might not see them, but you’ll hear them at night. Or, a lone coyote,” says Shay Wilson, Marketing and Interpretive Programs Coordinator. The park has over 100 campsites, primitive to full hook up, as well as yurts.

Another way to experience the colors is the Canyon Rim Zipline.

Installed in 2017, the 2,000-foot long line whizzes visitors through the gorge, in a Fall blur of red, orange, and yellow.

“In October, many guests go whitewater rafting or kayaking on the Russell Fork River. From two of our overlooks, you can actually see the bright colors of the kayaks and whitewater rafts going down the river,” says Wilson.

The Breaks is the deepest gorge east of the Mississippi.

Pine Mountain forms a 125-mile long border between Kentucky and Virginia.

TO P O G R A P H Y:

Weather dependent, but typically the 2nd and 3rd weeks of October

PEAK VIEWING:

R E C R E AT I O N O P P O R T U N I T I E S : Twentyfive miles of hiking trails, whitewater rafting, ziplining, rock climbing, mountain biking, pedal boating and canoes, horseback riding, geocaching, birding, fishing.

Big South Fork National River and Recreation Area, Tenn., Ky. Big South Fork contains the second largest number of natural sandstone arches in the National Park Service (only Arches National Park in Utah has more).

“There are 156 of them. They’re beautiful. If you're in the Tennessee side of the park, and you want to check something out, go on the hike to see Twin Arches. It’s a beautiful walk, right under arches,” says Christopher Derman, Chief of Interpretation and Education for Big South Fork and Obed Wild and Scenic River. “(Visitation) kicks up around the fall. People come because of the wide variety of foliage, the trees you can find here, in a wide kaleidoscope of colors, bright red of dogwood trees, yellows from maples and poplars, evergreen that stays green. There’s a wide variety of colors that makes it appealing to leaf peepers,” says Derman, using a name he fondly ascribes to fall visitors.

The park was established in 1974 to provide community access to recreation activities. “If you can name it, you pretty much can do it, hiking mountain biking, hunting, birdwatching,” Derman says, “to name a few.”

“Another great thing about Great South Fork is our visitation. We don’t get a lot of visitors like other parks, and that's a big deal to visitors, who don’t want to go to a park and be bumping into people all the time.

Here, you can be on trail and not see anyone else the whole time,” says Derman, who jokes that rangers from the Smokies come here for vacation.

Big South Fork comprises 125,000 acres of the Cumberland Plateau. The Big South Fork of the Cumberland River has, over eons, carved sandstone into cliffs, arches and chimneys, features visitors can observe throughout the park.

TO P O G R A P H Y:

PEAK VIEWING:

Early to mid-October.

R E C R E AT I O N O P P O R T U N I T I E S : Camping, fishing, horseback riding, hiking, hunting, mountain biking, paddling, picnicking, ranger-led Night Sky and Astronomy programs, annual Haunting in the Hills Storytelling Festival.

Little River Canyon, Ala.

Little River runs most of its length atop Lookout Mountain. Reaching depths of over 600 feet at sections, it flows through waterfalls, rushing past changing trees.

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Cloudland Canyon, Ga.

TA L L U L A H F A L L S I S T H E C E N T E R P I E C E O F TA L L U L A H G O R G E S TAT E PA R K , G A .

Fall is beautiful here. “Oak, hickory maple and poplar are some of the dominant species. Depending on the weather, we get oranges, reds, some yellows, and if we have a good year, if we have a lot of moisture, the leaves hang on and they all get together,” says park ranger Larry Beane.

“Lots of years, there are two peaks. One, mid-October. Then if there’s a rain, it knocks off the first round, and the second week of November, there might be another peak,” says Beane.

The park boasts over 100 rare plants and animals, including several species of caddisflies that have only been located here.

“There are all kinds of beautiful flowers, and they bring the butterflies, and you can smell both the flowers and the leaves that are on the ground,” says Beane. Late summer/ fall flowers include blazing star and coreopsis. “I like it when they’re all blooming—it’s a yellow and purple garden at some of the rock outcrops,” says Beane.

The canyon itself starts with a 45 foot waterfall, Little River Falls. The flow varies seasonally, from 3 feet to 150 feet across. Within a mile of the fall, the river is 100 feet deep. Little River runs through a series of bluffs, cliffs, and rapids.

Three waterfalls are located within the preserve: DeSoto Falls, Little River Falls, and the seasonally flowing Grace’s High Falls, Alabama’s highest waterfall, at 133 feet.

“It’s beautiful but it’s unforgiving.

I encourage safety, every chance I 30

get,” says Beane.

TO P O G R A P H Y: waterfalls, canyon rims, sandstone cliffs.

P E A K V I E W I N G : Mid-October, and again, mid-November.

R E C R E AT I O N O P P O R T U N I T I E S : Hiking, fishing, playing in the river, picnic tables at most overlooks, hunting season in backcountry, horseback riding, educational programs at Canyon Center.

Tallulah Gorge State Park, Ga

Go early. Early risers can obtain permits to hike the gorge floor. It’s a tough but rewarding hike.

“You have to cross the river. It’s about knee deep moving water, with boulders that help you cross. You get wet on this hike. After that, you’re hiking downstream in the gorge. It’s all unmarked and primitive, flowing water, scrambling over boulders and fallen logs. After you hike ¾ of a mile, you get to Bridal Veil Falls, the only waterfall you can’t see from above,” says Interpretive Ranger for the park, Joell Zalatan.

The Interpretive Center issues 100 permits each day, except during water releases.

Even if you’re not an early bird, you can still get a bird’s eye view of the gorge. Hike a rim trail, or walk the park’s suspension bridge that sways 80 feet over the gorge, providing the sensation you’re walking across air (it’s been done; tightrope walkers

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have twice tiptoed across lines crossing the gorge).

Fall brings color to the gorge.

“Poplars give us bright yellow, there are lots of maples, with those brighter red colors, sumac gives that deeper red, oaks gives us orange and yellows,” says Zalatan.

It is a place steeped in mystery and lore. “There are many stories and legends about Tallulah Gorge” says Zalatan.

She tells a story about the Nunnehi people. “This wild country was inhabited by a race of little men and women living in the crevices of the rocks and under the waterfalls.

These little people lured the Cherokee into a cave in the side of Tallulah Gorge. The entrance to this cave was called the Happy Hunting Ground because those who entered were not heard from again.”

Tallulah Gorge, almost 1,000 feet deep, stretches for two miles, across the 2,689-acre park.

Tallulah Falls is a one-mile series of waterfalls.

TO P O G R A P H Y:

Mid-October through mid-November. Insider Tip: Visitors can follow the GA State Parks Leaf Watch on Facebook to see how the colors are progressing and when the expected peak is.

PEAK VIEWING:

R E C R E AT I O N O P P O R T U N I T I E S : Hike, kayak, picnic, ranger-led hikes, mountain bike, rock climbing.

Check website for fall water release dates.

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

Stay late. Sunset hikes are a must. Park staff leads weekly hikes from the West Rim lot. “You walk up a service road, not a road people normally drive, you are sitting on a rock, at the top of the mountain, with an unobstructed view looking at the sun going down at the other side of Sand Mountain,” says Assistant Park Manager Woody Hughes.

Morning is beautiful, too.

“In the morning, especially in the fall, you are in the clouds here. You are able to stand in them, feel the cool air from the cloud, the moisture. The name fits. You can watch them roll out of the canyon. In the evening, they roll right back in. For the majority of the cooler months, you’re actually above them, you can see the clouds below you.”

Start the next day with a drive along West Rim road. Stop at Main Overlook for a pic and picnic. Then, hike a trail into the canyon via Waterfalls Trail, a 600+ stair trail, leading to Cherokee Falls and Hemlock Falls.

“In the fall, the leaves are changing as you’re going down into the canyon.

Walking amongst them, you immerse yourself in the colors of the leaves on either side. As you’re going further down the stairs, more changes are apparent; it takes a little longer for those leaves at the bottom to change,” says Hughes, “You get to witness it from the top down. One day everything is green, the next everything's changing color.”

Part of the Cumberland Plateau, Cloudland Canyon State Park is located on the western edge of Lookout Mountain. The gorge’s deep, sandstone and shale canyon walls are cut by Sitton Gulch Creek.

TO P O G R A P H Y:

Between October 1st and the second week of November.

PEAK VIEWING:

R E C R E AT I O N O P P O R T U N I T I E S : Hiking, caving, disc golf, mountain biking, and horseback riding trails. Campsites, cabins.

Also, fall brings some unique recreation opportunities to the park, including a Catfish Rodeo and hayrides.

Jack’s Narrows, Pa.

Float through fall. Two new communityowned river access projects on the Juniata River have opened up a section of the waterway to inner tubes, kayaks, canoes and rafts. The two launches, located at Mapleton and Mt. Union, bookend Jack's Narrows, the deepest gorge in Pennsylvania.

This gentle stretch of the river flows for 3.3 miles, through the fall foliage growing up the steep banks of the gorge.

G O O U TA N D P L AY

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“Fall (and winter) are great times to visit to find peace and quiet. It’s never crowded,” says Ed Stoddard, Marketing Director for the Huntingdon County Visitors Bureau. He suggests a float and hike combo. “Our trails are always open."

Thousand Steps (actually 1,200 stairs) is the most popular fall hike. In the 1930s, workers placed boulders up the mountainside to aid their commute to and from nearby rock quarries. Today, hikers and runners take to the stairs for a heart-pounding ascent to the top of Jacks Mountain.

“When you’ve done the hard work to get up there, climbed Thousand Steps, you get to the top, and you see the whole valley laid out before you, the fall color around you, you feel the crisp air, it’s just a special place on earth,” says Stoddard.

Deep gorge and water gap, cutting through sandstone.

TO P O G R A P H Y:

Late September into early October.

PEAK VIEWING:

R E C R E AT I O N O P P O R T U N I T I E S : bike, hike, run, paddle, float, fish, hunt.

Pine Creek Gorge, PA

WA T E R F A L L S T U M B L E THROUGH CLOUDLAND C A N Y O N S T A T E PA R K , G A .

Pine Creek Gorge, viewed from lookouts within Tioga State Forest, is a rainbow of color in the Fall.

Autumn leaves tremble in the breeze, against a backdrop of canyon walls, themselves layers of gray, red, brown and green.

“I’ve been there on days, stopped at the lookouts, and the fog is so thick, it looks like you could walk out across it,” says Tom Oliver, Recreation Forester for the park.

“I would suggest checking out as many of the views as possible.

Maybe even getting down into the canyon, by bike or from a hike from Leonard Harrison.”

Oliver suggests the Turkey Path. “It goes all the way from the top to the bottom, pretty much at the heart of the gorge. Once you’re down in there, and you can actually see just how high up the surrounding hillsides are, and the surrounding cliffs, it’s pretty remarkable.”

Historically, Native Americans used trails all around, but did not enter the gorge itself. There was superstition around the darkness of

MORE GORGE-OUS VIEWS Mather Gorge, Maryland, is cut by the Potomac River. Hike Section A of the Billy Goat Trail; it follows the gorge from bellow Great Falls to Anglers Inn. Bottom Creek Gorge, Virginia, a preserve maintained by the Nature Conservancy, has 5 miles of moderate trails, a lake, and the second highest waterfall in the VA. Also known for rare aquatic species.

Bald River Gorge Wilderness, Tennessee, comprises 3,791 acres of Cherokee National Forest. Bald River is a small, wild trout stream. It’s a great location for fishing, hiking, picnicking. it. Now, between 30,000-40,000 visitors a year make their way to the canyon bottom to access Pine Creek Rail Trail.

Pine Creek Rail Trail is a converted railroad bed that weaves along the floor of the canyon for 62 miles, from Wellsboro Junction, to Jersey Shore, Pennsylvania. This highly popular, scenic trail is the perfect way to view fall colors.

“We almost have two fall foliage peaks,” says Oliver. “The northern hardwoods, maples, beech, birch, ash and cherries, those types of species change first. Mid-October to late October is the peak. Then, all the oak species after that will change. That’s usually the first or second week of November. “ Along the way, you’re likely to see beavers, white-tailed deer, turkeys, river otters, and bald eagles.

I N S I D E R T I P : Two state parks, located on the northern end of the gorge, also provide great foliage viewing: Colton Point State Park to the west and Leonard Harrison State Park to the east.

Forty-seven-milelong gorge, with walls composed of sandstone, siltstone, mudstone, and shale.

TO P O G R A P H Y:

PEAK VIEWING:

Mid-October to mid-

November.

R E C R E AT I O N O P P O R T U N I T I E S : hiking, biking, mountain biking, horse riding, picnicking, kayaking, fishing, hunting.

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THE GOODS

MAPS STILL MATTER ADVENTURE MAPMAKER PETE KENNEDY’S FAVORITE GEAR FOR EXPLORING B Y G R A H A M AV E R I L L

P

ete Kennedy doesn’t want you to get lost. The Asheville-based adventurer and mapmaker is the founder of Pisgah Map Company (pisgahmapcompany.com), putting 30 years of his own experience exploring the mountains of North Carolina into comprehensive trail guides. In an increasingly digital age, Kennedy’s maps offer a refreshingly analog perspective on some of the region’s most popular destinations, like Pisgah Ranger District and The Blue Wall along the border of South Carolina and North Carolina.

“People’s spatial awareness is so bad now because we’re so busy following our GPS,” Kennedy says. “The small screen on the phone doesn’t allow you to have that big picture view and make a good plan for your trip. Being able to have that big overview and see how things relate to each other is important.”

Pisgah Map Company has eight different maps on the market now, with a new one set to cover the Hot Springs area along the Tennessee border.

Kennedy is an avid mountain biker, trail runner and paddler who spends weeks in the field exploring the areas he maps.

We asked him to detail the gear he relies on during his exploratory trips.

NRS OUTLAW $1,995

We actually use the Osprey, but it’s been replaced by this version. With a family of four that includes two young kids, this raft allows us to get out on the water. And it’s really light; I can push it on top of the car and get it strapped down myself.

My wife and I R2 it with the kids all over the place.

ROCKGEIST HONEYPOT $50

This is a little food container you put on the handlebars of your bike. I use this for when I go a little further and might need some extra food, or when I pull the kids and need to get to snacks quick. The company is out of Asheville too, and specializes in custom bikepacking gear.

SPECIALIZED ENDURO $3,200

This is what I take for super fun days on the trail. It’s an all-mountain bike, so it’s not really designed for ultra long distances. But honestly, these bikes are made so well now, and the geometry is so dialed in, that they climb as well as anything else on the trails.

AVENZA MAP APP FREE

I always carry a paper map with me, even if it’s not mine.

But this map app is great.

You can get all of our maps through the app and store them offline so you can have them on your phone at all times. Same cartography, just on the screen, which a lot of people like.

PATAGONIA HOUDINI $99

I love this lightweight jacket. It packs really well, and it’s good for when the weather is just a little bit iffy. It won’t keep you totally dry in a two-hour downpour, but it’s good for early morning mist, the occasional shower or if the temperature drops.

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2018 RACE & EVENT GUIDE 2018 MAY BE REACHING THE FINISH LINE, BUT THERE ARE STILL PLENTY OF OPPORTUNITIES ACROSS THE REGION TO SIGN UP FOR A RACE OR ATTEND A FESTIVAL THIS FALL AND WINTER. CHECK OUT SOME OF OUR TOP PICKS HERE AND ONLINE AT BLUERIDGEOUTDOORS.COM August 11-12, 2018 41st Annual Sourwood Festival Black Mountain, NC A fun family and pet friendly street festival that includes 200 booths with arts and crafts, carnival rides, a kids’ fun park, music and clogging under the big tent, festival foods of all kinds, and of course, sourwood honey and special bee demonstrations.

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Teams will race on the Great Allegheny Passage, trying to beat the train’s time on the adjacent tracks from Cumberland to Frostburg, Maryland.

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Active.com/cumberland-md/cycling/ races/3m-ride-man-vs-machine-vsmountain-2018 September 15, 2018 22nd Annual Brewgrass Festival Asheville, NC Founded in 1996, Brewgrass Festival is Western NC’s original craft beer festival. North Carolina is now home to over 200 breweries and brewpubs, and since those early days, Asheville has formed a burgeoning beer scene— even reigning as “Beer City USA” four years in a row. Brewgrass Festival’s

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annual event has always showcased some of the most in-demand and exciting brewers in the region.

BrewGrassFestival.com September 15, 2018 Bath County Fair Millboro, VA Join us for the Bath County Fair in Millboro, Virginia on Saturday, September 15, 2018. Guests can enjoy exciting carnival rides, music, local craft and food vendors, and raffle prizes. Don’t miss out on the dog show and various contests including a sportsmen’s show. Fun for the entire family with the feel of a traditional county fair.

DiscoverBath.com September 15-16, 2018 IronKids Alpharetta Triathlon Wills Park, Alpharetta, GA One of the largest youth triathlons returns to Alpharetta! IronKids allows children ages 6 to 15 an opportunity to test their strength with a swim, bike, and run competition. Register the kids and bring the whole family to Alpharetta for a family-friendly weekend getaway.

AwesomeAlpharetta.com/ironkidstriathlon September 15-16, 2018 Rock ’n’ Roll Philadelphia Half Marathon Philadelphia, PA Philly’s perfect fall race! Rock the half marathon, 10K or 5K and enjoy super fast, flat courses through beautiful Fairmount Park. Savor picturesque river views and an epic finish in front of the Philadelphia Museum of Art’s famous “Rocky Steps.” Don’t miss out!

RunRocknRoll.com/philadelphia September 23, 2018 Asheville Outdoor Show Asheville, NC The Asheville Outdoor Show celebrates all things outdoors with interactive demos from regional gear makers and international industry leaders, educational workshops, and informative speakers. The free festival is held on the banks of the French Broad River and includes music and a family adventure zone. This year’s show will end with a presentation and discussion with Teresa Baker, Founder of the African American Nature & Parks Experience.

DiamondBrandOutdoors.com/ashevilleoutdoor-show September 28-29, 2018 Reebok Ragnar Washington D.C. Cumberland, MD, to Washington D.C.

Reebok Ragnar Washington D.C. is a running adventure through Maryland’s picturesque countryside that’ll have your team of 12 coming back year after year! Your 200-ish mile adventure takes you past thick forest trails, scenic pathways, and charming historic towns over two days and one star-filled night.

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BourbonCountryBurn.com September 29, 2018 Run For It Davis, WV Run For It is a 2k walk and USATFcertified 5k race around the scenic mountain town of Davis, West Virginia. during the Leaf Peepers Festival. Run For It raises funds and awareness for community non-profits, projects, civic organizations, and other charity causes located in the Tucker Community Foundation’s service area.

To register or for information email kelly@tuckerfoundation.net or visit our website.

TuckerFoundation.net/run October 4-7, 2018 Shakori Hills GrassRoots Festival of Music & Dance Pittsboro, NC Known as a music lovers’ paradise with a family-friendly atmosphere, the festival features four stages of music and a mind-boggling selection of programs and workshops in the fields of sustainability, music and dance, and healing arts. Children under 12 are free.

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October 5-7, 2018 The 9th Annual Festy Experience Nelson County, VA A three-day, family-friendly music festival, featuring Greensky Bluegrass, Gillian Welch, Railroad Earth, Sam Bush Band, and Della Mae. Celebrating Virginia craft food and beer, and the outdoor lifestyle of the Blue Ridge Mountains. It’s one weekend of raging good time for the whole family.

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October 12-13, 2018 The Great Allegheny Passage Trail Relay from P3R Events Cumberland, MD, to Pittsburgh, PA Over the course of two days – October 12 & 13, 2018 – you and your team of eight runners will tackle 150 miles of the Great Allegheny Passage. Starting in Cumberland, Maryland, you’ll celebrate your accomplishment at a post-race party in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

P3R.org October 13, 2018 Tour de Midnight Rockville, VA A bike ride with 100km, 50km, and 30km routes originating from Midnight Brewery. All proceeds support the Epilepsy Foundation of Virginia’s research for a cure.

Take in Lake Anna vistas and experience the majesty through the rolling hills of Virginia’s agriculture heartland. Legendary after party for riders and volunteers at Midnight Brewery! Sign up now! tourdemidnight.com October 14 2018 Virginia’s Blue Ridge Gran Fondo Botetourt County, VA North of Roanoke, Virginia, this “big ride” features three incredible routes—30, 50, and 80 miles through Botetourt County. Routes showcase beautiful rolling terrain, farmland, mountains, and the James River. With memorable aid stations, charming small towns, and the start/finish at Ballast Point Brewing Company you won’t want to miss this!

MuddySquirrel.com October 20, 2018 Bridge Day New River Gorge, WV The New River Gorge Bridge is an iconic landmark—and every third weekend in October, it’s home to West Virginia’s largest one-day festival.

Serious BASE jumpers get their chance to fly 876 feet off the bridge into the Gorge below, and rappellers will ascend and descend from the catwalk. This is Bridge Day—and it’s unlike anything you’ve ever experienced.

OfficialBridgeDay.com October 20, 2018 Deep Hollow Half Marathon and 5k Lynchburg, VA This annual half marathon and 5k continues to be one of the premier trail races in Virginia. The unique event started as a grassroots trail run and has turned into a community staple. The half marathon course features a blend of single-track trails and mountain roads meandering through the beautiful 5,000 acre trail system right outside of Lynchburg, Virginia.

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October 26-27, 2018 Anthem Wicked 10K and Old Point National Bank Monster Mile presented by Bon Secours InMotion Virginia Beach, VA Run for your life! The Anthem Wicked 10K and Old Point National Bank Monster Mile presented by Bon Secours In Motion is Hampton Roads’ largest Halloween race and party. Celebrating 10 years running, this legendary event encourages participants to dress up in their Halloween best. Looking for a little extra? Register for the Pumpkin Smash Challenge if you dare!

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Challenge yourself with a 3, 8, or 14mile loop while supporting the youth of Blue Sky Fund, which connects urban youth with nature.

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November 3, 2018 Townsend Grains and Grits Festival Townsend, TN A Celebration of Southern Spirits and Gourmet Grub. Join The Peaceful Side of the Smokies for the foodie/whiskey experience of a lifetime. Meet head distillers like Jeff Arnett from Jack Daniels and taste incredible food from head chefs like Chef Shelley from Dancing Bear Appalachian Bistro.

GrainsandGritsFest.com November 3-4, 2018 Humana Rock ’n’ Roll Savannah Marathon & 1/2 Marathon Savannah, GA More than the Southern belle of the Series, a fall race in Savannah begins in the heart of downtown before winding its way through one of America’s oldest cities. Experience the charm of manicured public squares and courses lined by shady mossy oak canopies and more.

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November 4, 2018 Alpharetta Women’s Half Marathon and 5K Avalon, Alpharetta, GA Alpharetta will host the inaugural Alpharetta Women’s Half Marathon and 5K, finishing in the familyfriendly atmosphere of Avalon. This women’s only half marathon and 5K will showcase a $1,000.00 prize purse for the top female finishers in the half marathon. Register now and plan a weekend getaway with the gal pals.

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November 17-18, 2018 Chartway Norfolk Harbor Half Marathon and We Promise Foundation 5K presented by Bon Secours In Motion Norfolk, VA Chart your course at the Chartway Norfolk Harbor Half Marathon Weekend! This exciting two-day event offers flat, fast, and scenic courses through downtown Norfolk. And if you are a fan of mermaids, then you won’t want to miss the custom mermaid medals! The weekend also includes the Grand Illumination Parade, kicking off the holiday season in style!

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November 10, 2018 Bright Leaf Brew Fest Danville, VA The 11th annual Bright Leaf Brew Fest is just around the corner. Join us for a day of fun with a thousand of your closest friends on November 10, 2018 at Community Market located in Danville’s River District. Sample from over 100 different beers, enjoy live music, and eat some delicious food. (3-8:30pm; 21 and over) BrightLeafBrewFest.com

December 15, 2018 Great Outdoor Surf-N-Santa 5 Miler presented by Bon Secours In Motion Virginia Beach, VA Come be part of the most festive running event of the holiday season!

Currently holding the Guinness Book of World Records title for Largest Santa Run, there is no doubt that this is where Santa wants you to be in December! The event is held at twilight along the Virginia Beach Boardwalk so runners can enjoy running through the holiday lights.

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“This Is a Death Sentence for Red Wolves.”

The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service guts protections for the last red wolves in the wild

BY DAN DEWITT

Ron Sutherland drove for hours through the Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge, alternately inching forward and braking to scan swaths of cropland as long as jetliner runways. He was determined to make a good stab at seeing a red wolf, but carried on a casual conversation, aware that his pursuit was an extreme long shot.

He then stopped talking mid-sentence and focused his binoculars at a couple of distant specks. “Two wolves. Score!” he says, rushing from behind the wheel for a better view. His lenses revealed a pair of German shepherdsized animals, dark along the spine, coppercolored at the flanks and shoulders, with white patches under their jaws that were visible even from 200 yards away, even in the fading light of evening. Sutherland, a conservation scientist with the non-profit Wildlands Network, watched and photographed until nightfall as the wolves rooted for mice and then lay down to rest. Back in the car, he tried to put this sighting into perspective.

“If you think of this in the grand scheme of endangered species spotting, there’s probably 5,000 snow leopards and 2,000 Bengal tigers,” says Sutherland. “There are fewer than 30 red wolves. Maybe a species of rhino is the only thing as bad off as these guys.”

Just how bad off was documented in a 2016 study on the viability of red wolves commissioned by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. In the previous nine years, the world’s only wild population, which lives in and around the refuge in eastern North Carolina, had dwindled from 148 animals to fewer than 60, and the most recent estimates put this number as low as 29. Without bold intervention, the study said, a species that once roamed most of the Southeast is doomed to extinction in the wild, probably within the next decade.

But instead of scrambling to save the wild population, state and federal wildlife agencies have steadily rolled back protections, culminating in late June with U.S. Fish and Wildlife announcing plans to slash the wolves’ reintroduction zone by 90 percent, leaving it far too small to sustain a wild population, and allowing unrestricted hunting of wolves on private property outside of that zone.

“This is a death sentence for red wolves in the wild,” says Ben Prater, Southeast program director for Defenders of Wildlife.

Several factors have contributed to the population’s decline, including hostility from influential landowners, the spread of the coyote population into the recovery zone, and questions about both Fish and Wildlife’s management practices and the genetic provenance of red wolves.

But by far the main reason that wild wolves now appear doomed, according to environmentalists, is that government bodies have turned their backs on a population they AU G U S T 2 0 1 8 / B LU E R I D G E O U T D O O R S . C O M

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“You have an agency [the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service] that is charged with the recovery of the species.

Instead, it seems intent on overseeing the elimination of the species.”

RED WOLF MYTHS + FACTS “The red wolf is nothing but a gray wolf or coyote hybrid.”

FAC T: Since 2000, genetic tests have been able to distinguish red wolves from coyotes. The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, the agency responsible for managing all endangered species, reaffirmed that red wolves are a separate species last year.

MYTH:

—Sierra Weaver, Southern Environmental Law Center attorney

“The red wolf is a hopeless case now that the coyote has taken over its former range.”

FAC T: The red wolf recovery program flourished for 30 years and effectively reduced coyotes within the red wolf’s range. When 150 red wolves roamed the landscape, coyote hybridization rarely occurred. Hybridization with coyotes only began occurring when red wolf populations were drastically diminished by gunshot mortality and fewer wolves were available for reproduction.

MYTH:

“Red wolves have inflicted great damage to deer and other game species.”

FAC T: The red wolf recovery area is home to plentiful populations of deer, turkey, and other wildlife, and the region offers some of the foremost wildlife viewing opportunities in the eastern U.S. Deer populations have remained steady in the red wolf recovery area, and both the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service and even the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commissions have acknowledged that deer populations have not been negatively affected by red wolves.

R O N S U T H E R L A N D S C A N S T H E A L L I G AT O R RIVER WILDLIFE REFUGE SEARCHING FOR THE LAST RED WOLVES IN THE WILD

MYTH:

“We can pull the wild red wolves from North Carolina and keep the species safe in zoos.”

FAC T: Living and breeding in encaged environments for too many generations will lead to genetic erosion. The longterm health and viability of red wolves will be jeopardized without a wild population on the landscape. The goal of the Endangered Species Act is to recover species in the wild.

MYTH:

M Y T H : “People don’t support red wolf recovery, particularly people who live in the red wolf recovery area in eastern North Carolina.”

FAC T: Over 99.8% of the 55,000 comments received by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service supported the red wolf recovery program. Only 10 comments opposed the program. A vast majority of North Carolinians support red wolf recovery according to a 2016 survey.

are mandated to protect.

“You have an agency that is charged with the recovery of the species,” says Sierra Weaver, a lawyer with the Southern Environmental Law Center, about U.S. Fish and Wildlife. “Instead, it seems intent on overseeing the elimination of the species.”

The Comeback

This is especially disappointing to activists because for decades the service touted red wolf reintroduction as a groundbreaking victory.

After the passage of the 1973 Endangered Species Act and before the species was declared extinct in the wild in 1980, Fish and Wildlife captured 400 of the last remaining red wolves from coastal Louisiana and Texas. Fourteen wolves, meticulously scrutinized and selected as the most representative of their kind, were chosen as the founders of an ongoing captive breeding program that now holds about 200 wolves at zoos and other facilities across the country.

The first of these cage-raised animals were released in 1987 at Alligator River, selected for its remote location and the absence of the wolf’s close relative and

competitor, the coyote. According to the Fish and Wildlife website, it was “the first time in this nation’s history that a federally listed species was reintroduced to the historic range from which it had been extirpated.”

The program pioneered techniques that helped build the population from the original eight wolves to its peak in 2007. These included the introduction into wild litters of weeks-old, captive-born pups, which were often adopted and raised to adulthood by breeding pairs. And, after coyotes began to spread onto the 1.7 million-acre, five-county wolf reintroduction zone in the 1990s, the program started capturing and sterilizing the smaller animals to serve as “placeholders.”

This proved to limit breeding between coyotes and wolves and discourage intrusion by fertile coyotes, a species hard-wired to detect and advance into unoccupied territory.

“There were multiple scientific reviews of the placeholder theory, and they found it to be extraordinarily successful,” Weaver says.

“It was all learning as you go, but we developed a blueprint that was applied to a lot of other programs,” says David Rabon, a former federal wildlife biologist who started helping

with the program in 1999 and served as recovery coordinator from 2009 to 2014.

A faded sign outside the temporarily shuttered Red Wolf Education Center in Columbia, just west of Alligator River, proclaims the program “A Howling Success,” and lists its many benefits: controlling the exotic nutria that destroy crops and the raccoons that kill groundbreeding birds; promoting the health of the deer herd by preying on weak and sick animals; and drawing tourists eager to see endangered wolves.

“Why are we not proud of that?” asks Kim Wheeler, executive director of the Red Wolf Coalition. “I don’t know why the state of North Carolina is not saying, ‘Come see the only population of red wolves in the world!’ Why is the state not shouting from the rooftops?”

The Opposition

Far from bragging about the wolves, activists say, the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission further exposed them to the same threat that wiped them out in the first place, what scientists call “gunshot mortality.”

A 2007 spike in the number of wolves shot and killed by hunters

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was blamed partly on abundance; there were just more of them to kill. But these deaths remained high through 2013, when hunters killed nine wolves, even as the wolf population declined. These killings drove the decline far beyond the direct loss of animals felled by bullets.

Because many were breeding adults, their deaths left unattached mates unable to produce young and more likely to breed with coyotes.

“If you had 12 to 15 packs on the ground, you were losing a third to a half of the breeding pairs per year,” Rabon says. “It was just unsustainable.”

Grim as the findings were, the scientists who wrote the study said it pointed to a clear solution. “USFWS should enhance recovery by providing information and education about red wolves to hunters and the general public.”

North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission, however, was sending a different message.

In 2012, the agency allowed night hunting of coyotes throughout the state, saying it needed to provide landowners “more tools” to manage the animals on their property—even though science has shown hunting

fails to control the species’ advance.

Because most wolves are killed by hunters who mistake them for coyotes, or at least claim to, the Southern Environmental Law Center sued N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission on behalf of three environmental groups, arguing that hunting would result in more deaths of a federally endangered animal. The N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission lawyers have argued that wolves were already adequately protected by the captive breeding program and that this “experimental and non-essential” wild population didn’t deserve the full protection of the Endangered Species Act. After the federal judge sided with the wolf advocates in 2014, issuing an injunction to temporarily stop coyote hunting in the reintroduction zone and the two sides reached a settlement banning night hunting there, N.C. Wildlife Commission ramped up its opposition.

In 2015, it issued resolutions asking U.S. Fish and Wildlife to remove the wolves from the wild, declare the species extinct and “terminate the Red Wolf Reintroduction Program for free-ranging red wolves in North Carolina.”

It’s not hard to trace the forces behind this stance, Sutherland said.

As Republicans gained power in the state, including taking control of both the governor’s office and the legislature in 2012, politicians appointed commissioners who were more conservative and more likely to listen to activist hunters such as developer Jett Ferebee, who owns a large farm in the recovery zone.

Ferebee, who didn’t respond to interview requests, has relentlessly pushed the idea that wolves are a menace to wildlife, writing in a 2014 guest column on an eastern North Carolina news website, The County Compass, that wolves had wiped out deer on his farm, where they were once so numerous his children called it “the Zoo.” The $30 million program, he continued, is a prime example of government intrusion and waste, and the species, never pure to begin with, had become a hopelessly hybridized “coywolf.”

In an interview with Blue Ridge Outdoors, N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission Executive Director Gordon Myers denied political influence and said the resolutions were “absolutely based on science.”

And neither he nor the resolutions

repeat Ferebee’s claim about declining deer populations—the main complaint of landowners—which was discounted by a 2013 Fish and Wildlife analysis of state deer hunting statistics. These numbers, the report concluded, “suggest either a flat rate of harvest or an increase from the time of the first wolf releases…through 2013.”

Federal documents, meanwhile, support the commission’s claim that Fish and Wildlife expanded the program beyond its original scope.

Opponents of reintroduction convinced the Department of Interior to look into this question in 2015.

Investigators with the department’s Auditor General’s Office noted that the agency had been careful to obtain permission from the owners of farms where the agency introduced pups and performed coyote sterilizations.

But it also concluded the program “released more wolves than it originally proposed.”

There is less support, however, for another of Myers’ claims, that “hybridization is really the existential threat to red wolves in the wild.”

A 2015 report on the genetic analysis of scat in the recovery zone estimated hybrids account for only 4

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percent of red wolf population. And in 2014, a review of birth records found “over four times as many red wolf litters as hybrid litters over a 13-year time period.”

The findings are really no surprise, Sutherland says: “Wolves prefer to mate with other wolves.”

The Genetics

Are they really wolves?

It’s a question that has undermined public support from the start, and an especially damning, headlinegrabbing report was released in 2016 by a team led by a Princeton University researcher. It determined that all North American wolves are more closely related to coyotes than previously believed, traceable to a common ancestor as recently as 50,000 years ago. The red wolf, these scientists found, was an even more recent “admixture” of the two species, and really mostly coyote.

Because this issue has been the subject of dueling scientific inquiries for decades, wolf advocates had plenty of other studies to point to.

Some researchers have found that bones of current wolves compare closely to fossilized wolf remains

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RON SUTHERLAND

from the region, while others have determined that, despite the animals’ similarities, wolves and coyotes look to be, and function as, different species. Red wolves, which top out at about 80 pounds, are nearly twice as big as coyotes, and are far more likely to hunt big animals, especially deer. Based partly on this information, a group of scientists convened by Fish and Wildlife in 2016 unanimously

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agreed the red wolf was distinctive enough to retain endangered species status.

How much support this debate has bled from the program is another murky matter, partly because the two sides also can’t agree whether lack of support is a problem.

In a 2016 poll, a solid majority of respondents statewide and in the reintroduction zone approved of the

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recovery program. And when the Fish and Wildlife put out a call for public input about the program last summer, 99.8% of all respondents favored the species’ preservation in the wild. Of the 55,000 comments received, only 10 opposed the program.

But in Columbia, N.C., residents tend to be all for hunting and suspicious of the federal government, said Tim Nielsen, owner of Maggie Duke Antiques on the town’s sleepy, historic Main Street.

He supports the program, saying it provides a much-needed tourist draw, but adds that “everybody hates it.

People are pissed off that tax money is involved and they think it’s a foolish endeavor. I kind of agree with that because…from what I understand, the red wolf is genetically identical to the coyote.”

Mike Johnson, who cooperated with FWS scientists on the 10,000 acres of private hunting land managed by his company, Coastal Wildlife Consultants, said he is “neither a friend nor a foe of red wolves.”

But because of their uncertain origin, he gets no thrill from seeing them in the wild, he says. “A pure-bred red wolf is a good-looking animal, but so is a zebra.”

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STILL A FIGHTING CHANCE Sign the petition to stop the U.S. Fish & Wildlife’s proposal to reduce red wolf habitat by 90 percent and allow red wolves to be shot by private landowners.

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RON SUTHERLAND

Fish and Wildlife still asserts the red wolf is a distinct species, but as opposition mounted, it steadily retreated from protecting wild wolves.

It has cut the program’s staff and, in 2014, reassigned Rabon, who later left the agency in discouragement. In 2015, it issued a permit that resulted in the killing of a lactating mother wolf and put an end to the pup-fostering and coyote-sterilization initiatives.

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And in 2016, it announced plans to consider a drastic downsizing, limiting wild wolves to the 160,000acre Alligator River Refuge and the adjacent Dare County Bombing Range—historically home to only one pack of about 15 animals.

The reason Fish and Wildlife cited for the downsizing—that it needed to focus on propping up the imperiled captive wolf population—

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was immediately discredited by authors of the scientific study on which it relied. Fish and Wildlife, the scientists said, had based this announcement on several “alarming misinterpretations” of their work.

Fish and Wildlife’s latest announcement in June could finalize the downsizing of territory and also declares open season on young wolves who naturally seek new territory as they mature.

“I don’t think any of us imagined that they would lift restrictions on killing wolves outside of the area,” says Ben Prater, Defenders of Wildlife’s Southeast program director.

“This is a stunning and very cruel fate to propose for these red wolves that North Carolinians have expressed overwhelming support for.”

The Irony

Environmentalists point to a central irony in such anti-wolf actions: they are likely to bring about exactly the results that opponents of the restoration program have railed against.

Ferebee and his allies claim to be anti-coyote, but shrinking the range of the wolves and ending the

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placeholder program gives coyotes free rein, Rabon says. “We have seen, on several occasions, red wolves kill coyotes…The red wolves kept the coyotes at bay.”

Reintroduction opponents also decry the waste of tax money, but the real waste would be abandoning a program built on an unusually efficient investment of government funds.

The $800,000 to $1.2 million spent annually on the recovery program leveraged as much as 20 times that amount in commitments from conservation groups and the “40-plus sites” that breed the captive wolves, Rabon said, adding that these sites may be less likely to cooperate if they don’t see this work as supporting a wild population.

About the only aim the critics seem to be accomplishing, wolf advocates say, is ridding a region of its landmark predator and ending an opportunity to restore the natural order that existed before the arrival of European settlers.

Hearing and seeing wolves, Sutherland says, “makes you feel like there’s a place of wild America that we have maintained or, in this case a piece of wild America that we have recreated, and I just don’t want to lose that.”

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Who was Elisha Mitchell—the man who first summited the highest mountain in the East— beyond the short, terrible span of his final moments?

BY TOM FLYNN

In April, I walked up the

ramp from the parking lot at North Carolina’s Mount Mitchell State Park to the mountain’s summit, as have countless visitors before me. I wanted to find out more about the mountain's namesake—Elisha Mitchell, the 19th century professor who died attempting to prove this mountain was the highest in the East.

At the summit of Mount Mitchell is a tower with a plaque that reads: Elisha Mitchell (1793 – 1857) Scientist and professor. Died in attempt to prove this mountain highest in eastern U.S. Grave is at summit. 285 yds. S. When you arrive at the observation deck at the mountain’s top, there’s another marker for Mitchell, this one set into the side of the stone tomb where his body now rests:

CHASING

MITCHELL

Here lies in the hope of a blessed resurrection the body of the Rev. Elisha Mitchell D.D. who after being for thirty-nine years a professor in the University of North Carolina lost his life in the scientific exploration of this mountain, in the sixty-fourth year of his age.

June 27, 1857 As I looked at the tomb, I thought about the professor, two months shy of his 64th birthday, wandering these mountains over 150 years ago.

Mitchell was trying to prove that he’d found, measured, and climbed the highest peak in the East—

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despite rancorous counterclaims by Congressman Thomas Clingman, a former student of Mitchell’s, who maintained that he hadn’t.

The debate between the two public figures played out for more than two years, and Mitchell set forth to lay to rest any questions about the legitimacy of his assertion. He died in the effort.

When he fell to his death on June 27—and that day is an estimate—he was heading to the cabin of Big Tom Wilson, a famed mountaineer, hunter, and expert guide who lived near what prominent 19th century geologist and geographer Arnold Guyot called “Black Dome” when referring to the mountain.

The name Guyot chose is telling of the debate. He labeled it such in an effort to avoid referring to the peak with Clingman or Mitchell’s name attached to it—a mid-19th century form of political correctness. It’s likely that locals rarely referred to the mountain by name at all—the seven tallest peaks in the Black Mountain Range, of which Mount Mitchell is one, vary in height by only 140 feet.

The professor was seeking Wilson’s assistance in exploring the area and securing his claim, having grown weary of a long debate with political overtures. Ultimately, Wilson assisted in locating the professor’s lifeless body, found floating in a pool of water at the base of what is now known as Mitchell Falls.

Wilson deduced that the professor was crossing a creek above the 25-foot-high falls, and that night had fallen. The conclusion drawn by Wilson was that the professor struck his head as he tumbled down the falls and that he then drowned in the pool below. There is also a mention by an eyewitness to the recovery of Mitchell’s body of “a slight wound on the head, caused, I think, by falling against the log…that leans against the torrent’s channel.”

Wilson discovered Mitchell eleven days after he died, and did so with his own small group after larger, formal searches had been called off.

The pocket watch that Mitchell bore is stopped at 8:19, with an assumption

by Wilson that this marked the time of the professor’s death. Saturday, June 27, was the assumed to be the date of Mitchell’s death based on a diary found on his body that includes an entry from earlier that evening.

Both the time and day strike me as estimates made concise to imbue a dark, unseen tragedy with some

C O U R T E S Y T H E W I L S O N L I B R A R Y, U N I V E R S I T Y O F N O R T H C A R O L I N A AT C H A P E L H I L L

measurement, and in turn, the small comfort that comes with knowledge and understanding.

Who was Mitchell beyond the short, terrible span of his final moments?

The park museum largely conveys the story above, but despite its recounting, Mitchell remained to me thoroughly two-dimensional, and his life only defined by it abrupt ending.

The drawings that exist of him are variations on a theme: a balding man, with wisps of hair curled around his temples, a formal collar and tie, and a look away from the portraitist that obscures insight into his eyes and in turn the person.

On this visit, a thick bank of fog cloaked the mountain and rolled up its sides as if blown skyward by an unseen fan from below. As I descended the ramp, I headed off onto a trail tucked beneath the summit. It was clear treading on the path, but quickly thickened into a riot of fallen dead trees, rock outcroppings, and underbrush once I veered from it. If nothing else, the detour afforded me a glimpse into how limited Mitchell’s views must have been, even at these heights, and how slow his progress.

Coming out of the woods, I walked the length of the parking lot to my

small pickup. A young couple pulled up into the lot—the only other car there that day—and sprang out with a cellphone held aloft, pointed down at them. They ran in circles waving and sharing to their audience the splendor of this lofty, mist-shrouded, asphalt parking lot. They then hopped in their car and speed back down the mountain. I smiled and thought that— ironically—his eponymous mountain may not be the best place to better come to know Mitchell the man. It began to hail.

I later do some reading to fill out the dimensions of the professor. He was born in Connecticut in 1793, and graduated Yale in 1813. He began teaching at Chapel Hill in late January, 1818, and was joined on his journey southward by fellow classmate Denison Olmsted. Both took up professorships at UNC, then called North Carolina University, with Mitchell teaching mathematics and “natural philosophy,” a precursor to today’s physics.

Mitchell’s wife, Maria North, arrived in Chapel Hill a year later in 1819. At the time, the town was an outpost in an endless wilderness of oaks and loblolly pines, a cluster of some halfdozen university buildings and 40

houses comprising the village. It was a small, steadfast clearing in a sea of trees with its purpose the schooling of roughly 100 young men. The hope for their education, and one held by Mitchell, was to strike back the dark uncivility that in mid-19th century academic minds often accompanied untamed wilderness.

With that backstory in place, in May I drove east 220 miles from Asheville to Chapel Hill to help picture Mitchell’s time there. At the Wilson Library at UNC, I quickly find the pocket watch that has only grown in its fascination for me since I first heard of it. It’s under a glass case, and now festooned with a faded black ribbon marking its dark place in Mitchell’s history.

From there, I head to the reading room and pore over handwritten accounts of the professor and his peers, some dating back to the 18th century. It is as thrilling as it is often indecipherable, the ink and quill of the age forcing a slanted cursive that readily lends itself to misinterpretation.

I learned that Mitchell was no religious firebrand, though he would bend the ear of a student on theological matters when the opportunity arose. But his tranquil demeanor and infinite patience were

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celebrated by many students and colleagues.

In 1835, Mitchell had used barometric observations to measure the heights of the Black Mountains, and he determined that one peak was the highest mountain in the East. Nine years later, in 1844, Mitchell decided to confirm his findings on foot as part of his general ongoing work of surveying the western part of the state. It was on this trip that Mitchell summited what is today’s Mount Mitchell.

But then in the early 1850s, one of Mitchell’s former students, Thomas Clingman, claimed that another peak was highest, and that he had summited it first. Clingman was a prominent attorney and a member of the U.S. House of Representatives. His counterclaims were wide and varied, and delivered with the oratory and written skills of a congressman and attorney.

The debates between Mitchell and Clingman were often vitriolic, which ultimately prompted Mitchell to return to the mountain to prove the accuracy of his measurements in his last fateful journey.

In the year following Mitchell’s death, a host of supporters

corroborated his 1844 trip to the summit and confirmed his mountain was the highest. Part of this was proven when Big Tom Wilson—by the late 1850s a national celebrity for his mountain acumen—re-created the 1844 journey of Mitchell and brought experts to the point that is now the summit of Mount Mitchell, and known to be 6,684 feet.

I'm most struck by the letters that poured into David Lowry Swain notifying him of Mitchell’s death. Swain was the former North Carolina governor who was by then president of UNC. The notes uniformly convey a despondency about the professor’s death that does help me better understand him, if only through the depth of their conveyed grief.

One, dated July 6, 1857, is addressed to “Governor Swain,” although Swain was by then more than twenty years removed from the office.

Gov. Swain, My Dear Sir, I have a most melancholy and unfortunate piece of information to communicate, and think it best to do it at once before rumor renders it more unpleasant, if that were possible, than the sad reality.

Our dear old friend Dr. Mitchell

is no more. He is lost among the mountains and the utmost search we have been able to make has yet proved unavailing.

After navigating folders of papers conveying to me the life of Mitchell, I’m contented that I’ve come to know the outdoor adventurer as well as I can in the quiet spaces of a library.

I spend the rest of the afternoon walking the campus, in the knowledge that at times I’m walking where the professor once trod.

Within a week of the trip to Chapel Hill, I’m back at Mount Mitchell, and I’m informed for the fourth time after inquiries to four different parties that Mitchell Falls is strictly off limits. I do ascertain from a park ranger the region of the falls, and an agreement that several thousand yards taken in its general direction does not constitute trespassing, especially if the ranger is not looking.

I walked out from the from the visitor center and down a gravel road, until I was quickly warned off the task by signage and the reluctance to land my helpful accomplice in serious trouble.

I then walked back to my car

and after looking at maps, decided to head to Roan Mountain on the North Carolina—Tennessee border, where Mitchell visited in the 1830s, and a place of which he was especially fond for its ability to be reached by horseback.

En route I drove past a roadside marker to Andre Michaux, the French botanist who surveyed western North Carolina and its flora in the late 1790s.

Through Michaux’s account of his findings, which Mitchell later read, he influenced the professor perhaps more than any other single factor to one day explore the region.

Finally, I arrived at Carver’s Gap, parked my truck, and meandered to the top of Round Bald, elevation 5,826 feet. Its stunning beauty caught me off guard, a 360-degree vista of blue mountains, calf-high wind-blown grasses, and blossoming patches of rhododendron. A light breeze and a fading sun perfected the setting with the life and color so absent from the black and white renderings of the stoic Mitchell I first encountered.

Perhaps now, and only now, I have gained some glimpse into Mitchell: a brilliant, flawed, persistent man who—at his core—fell in love with the mountains.

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DESTINATION ADVENTURE 2018

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Allegan y Cou n ty is an a uthe ntic mounta in de stina tion fille d with sma ll town cha r m y e t big time a dv e ntur e. The ga te wa y to the Alle ghe ny Mounta ins, 25 pe r ce nt of its la nd is publicly owne d. Outdoor r e cr e a tion is a bunda nt, a nd the r e gion is a lso pa cke d with a r ts a nd cultur e, including D e lFe st, one of the na tion’s la r ge st blue gr a ss fe stiv a ls. The r e a r e ple nty of possibilitie s for good time s, so indulge y our se lf a nd ge t a wa y fr om the hustle a nd bustle a nd e njoy a be -goodto-y our se lf mounta in e sca pe.

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TRAIL MIX

NOT YOUR GRANDPA’S BLUEGRASS

STRING BANDS MESSING WITH TRADITION

BY JEDD FERRIS

IF YOU’RE AN OPEN-MINDED ACOUSTIC MUSIC FAN, check out these new releases from top pickers taking unconventional routes.

Love Canon

Cover Story

Cover bands are easy to initially dismiss, but Love Canon is definitely an outfit that deserves your ears.

The Virginia-based quintet consists of first-class pickers that play inventive acoustic takes on popular (mostly) 80s tunes. Resonator guitar player Jay Starling is the son of the Seldom Scene's John Starling, and a couple of the other members, including soulful lead vocalist Jesse Harper, were part of unfortunately defunct Old School Freight Train, a band that temporarily backed and recorded with David Grisman.

The group’s latest album, Cover Story, is a guest-filled ride through familiar old favorites, interpreted not as party reboots but as thoughtful reimaginations. Songs from an era known for indulgent electric sheen get broken down and rebuilt with serious bluegrass chops.

There are obscure, once-popular FM radio gems that are instantly recognizable: Howard Jones’ “Things Can Only Get Better” and Mr. Mister’s “Kyrie Eleison.” In Love Canon’s hands, the latter, once a synth-heavy anthem, becomes a pastoral country cruiser, enhanced by an appearance from Grammywinning dobro master Jerry Douglas.

The greater transformations are even more interesting. A take on Billy Joel’s “Prelude (Angry Young Man)” turns a frantic piano jam into a jazz-grass workout, and Depeche Mode’s “Enjoy the Silence” becomes a gentle chamber ballad with dramatically arranged classical strings.

Throughout the record, the band dips into its deep rolodex of musical friends, tapping quirky troubadour Keller Williams to

sing lead on R.E.M.’s “Driver 8,” which features blazing solos and an extended reggae breakdown.

Ace fiddler Michael Cleveland and singer Aoife O’Donovan also show up for one of the album’s best tracks, a mountain-hop version of Paul Simon’s “Graceland.” Bluegrass has always been about passing songs down the line and sharing them with friends; Love Canon is toying with that tradition in a good way.

Performing at Soulshine Farm Music Festival in Green Mountain, N.C. (August 10), the Lime Kiln Theater in Lexington, Va. (September 22), and Devils Backbone Hoopla in Roseland, Va. (September 30).

Trampled by Turtles

Life is Good on the Open Road Coming out of its shell after a recent extended hiatus, Trampled by Turtles is back with its first studio album in four years. While armed with acoustic instruments, the six members of this crew are more about string pounding than picking, eschewing flashy solos for a hard-charging collectiveness that blends a front-porch aesthetic with punk fury. This rowdy edge, a favored element of the sextet’s energetic live shows, is alive and well on Life is Good on the Open Road.

“Blood in the Water,” a backwoods head-banger, finds the cross section between Bill Monroe and Black Flag.

Another chugging foot-stomper, the lively, fiddle-led “Kelly’s Bar,” offers cautionary advice about blurry youthful nights.

The full-force fist-pumpers are fun,

but the band also has a reflective folk side. When navigating more gentle country terrain, primary singer and songwriter Dave Simonett exhibits a knack for crafting catchy hooks and sings with an earnest ache about solitude (“We All Get Lonely”) and taking disappointment in stride (“I Went to Hollywood”).

On the title track he shares, “The light inside you comes and goes, but it never really goes out.”

After 15 years on the highway together, this band has more miles to cover.

Performing at UnionBank Pavilion in Portsmouth, Va. (August 17), the Hot August Music Festival in Cockeysville, Md. (August 18), and the Buckhead Theatre in Atlanta (September 20).

Town Mountain

New Freedom Blues

A new set of songs is also on the horizon from Town Mountain, the International Bluegrass Music Association Award-winning band from Asheville, N.C. In years past the band has been a steadfast practitioner of the high lonesome sound, and purists shouldn’t fret, because on New Freedom Blues, which will be released on October 5, much of that reverence is still intact. The band confidently delivers

hard-driving straightforward bluegrass tunes, like “Tar Heal,” a fleet-fingered instrumental, and “Underdog,” which would sound right at home in a Del McCoury set. But the group has also decided to extend its roots-music reach. A swinging drum beat paces the honky-tonk shuffle “One Drop in the Bottle,” and on album closer “Down Low” special guest Tyler Childers shows up to trade verses with banjo player Jesse Langlais on a dark outlaw anthem about overindulgence that includes dirty electric guitar runs to set the mood.

Performing at Soulshine Farm Music Festival in Green Mountain, N.C. (August 11), Headliners Music Hall in Louisville, Ky. (August 16-17), Cataloochee Ranch in Maggie Valley, N.C. (August 19), and the Capital Ale House in Richmond, Va. (August 31).

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LAST WORD

THE DEATH AND LIFE OF A TRAIL APPALACHIA, VA. REBUILDS A FOOTPATH AND AN IDENTITY B Y WA L L Y S M I T H

SKIP SKINNER STILL REMEMBERS HIKING UP TO Lost Camp as a kid. The "camp" was Skinner's name for a spot nestled up a hiking trail above the town of Appalachia, Va., where a hand-built log shelter had been erected against the base of a cliff. The steep terrain of the Cumberland Mountains lends itself to isolation, and the spot was one of those places where you could find the wilderness fast.

“It felt like we were the first ones to discover it,” he says.

The trail Skinner remembers has its roots at least as far back as the 1950s, and throughout the years, it's gone by any number of names—Lost Camp, the Appalachia Loop Trail, and the Dark Hollow Trail, to name a few. But until recently, it had been nearly forgotten, lost to a lack of maintenance and the economic collapse of the nearby town that hosts its trailhead.

Just like the region that gave it its name, the town of Appalachia has a long and storied history, one inextricably linked to the boom-andbust nature of the coalfields. Once a thriving hub for several coal camps along the Louisville and Nashville Railroad, Appalachia at its heyday was one of the larger towns in the mountainous region where Virginia, Tennessee, and Kentucky intersect. A melting pot of ethnicities and cultures settled there to work in the mines, and for decades the town was a bustling commercial center.

But that all changed with the collapse of the coal industry. Today, Appalachia is a shadow of its former self, with census tracts surrounding the town hosting poverty rates that approach double the national average. And as the town declined, so did the trail up to Skip Skinner's Lost Camp. No one seems to know exactly when, why, or how the trail became abandoned, but by the time Appalachia found itself deep in the grips of economic distress in the early 2000s, the trail up Dark Hollow had been all but forgotten.

The story of Dark Hollow illustrates a hard truth about any trail in the southern mountains: trails need 58

caretakers, and without them, a footpath can disappear. Government agencies' budgets change, shifting priorities away from recreation.

Maintenance groups dissolve.

Dedicated volunteers die or move away.

Almost every part of the southern Appalachians has trails that have been lost to time. Many of the Smokies' rugged, lesser-known "manways" are in reality former trails that have all but faded into obscurity. Even North Carolina's popular Fires Creek Rim Trail—one of the few singular, long loop trails in the Blue Ridge—was on the verge of being lost as recently as 15 years ago, when a volunteer group saved it from the brink.

For Brian Falin, that need for a caretaker has turned into a calling.

Falin is a member of the Appalachia Historical and Trailheads Committee, a special interest group formed within the last year and officially recognized by the town’s government.

The Committee, he says, set out with the idea that there was more to Appalachia than its economic hard times.

“The town has been dependent on the coal industry for decades,” Falin explains, “and now that those situations have declined, we have to look for ways to bring renewed interest and energy to our town. We’re looking to rebuild and rebrand what our town is.”

In just a few short months, the Committee has played an instrumental role in developing the Powell River Trail, a 1.7-mile, multi-use path along a former railbed on the outskirts of town. The trail traverses jaw-dropping scenery above Class IV whitewater and passes through two historic railroad tunnels. Group members have also been working to connect existing trails and develop historical designations for Appalachia’s downtown.

Part of that work, Falin says, has focused on the trail—Skip Skinner's Lost Camp is now officially called Dark Hollow—that had long since faded back into the woods. “The bottom

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KEVIN HOWDESHELL

section of that trail is just gorgeous,” he says, adding that the group found the route in better shape than expected when they recently set out to assess it.

Over this past spring, the Committee worked to clear and reblaze the trail through a partnership with the U.S. Forest Service. Now, a 1.4-mile path climbs from the edge of Appalachia's downtown district up the rugged backside of Cumberland Mountain, ending at a massive sandstone outcrop overlooking the gorge below.

A less than two-mile trail might seem laughable at first as a revitalization tool, but there's more to Dark Hollow than just a trail—it’s also about restoring local pride. “We just need to take the right steps to make sure that the citizens that are here are proud of the place where they live,” Falin says. “If the town’s going to be better, it’s the people that are here that have to make it happen.”

Beth and Neil Walker are some of those people. Residents of nearby Norton, the Walkers recently seized on the idea of reconnecting residents to the outdoors. This spring, the couple opened Stone Mountain Adventures, a rental and guide service focused on exposing residents to the assets that towns like Appalachia have been building.

Starting the business was a leap B LU E R I D G E O U T D O O R S

of faith, but Beth Walker says that she saw a gap to fill in terms of helping residents take their first steps into the woods. “A lot of people don’t even know where to get started,” she says. “I want to show people home.”

While Appalachia still has a long way to go to solve its economic woes, the town's work at Dark Hollow has been one spark needed to ignite that momentum towards new economic growth. Appalachia, Va., may be shedding its historic role as an example of struggling coalfield communities and becoming a model for how the outdoors can bring those communities back to their roots.

This spring, for example, Skip Skinner went back to Lost Camp, nearly four decades after he'd first visited as a kid. Things had changed in all that time, of course. The forest was noticeably older, and Skinner was retired following a successful career leading the regional planning district. He wasn't able to find the old shelter along the trail that he had visited when he was younger, but one familiar thing did stand out to him.

“The water flowing across the rocks brought back lots of memories,” he says. “I remembered catching a lot of crayfish in that creek as a kid.”

Before leaving, Skinner says he took a moment to record the sound of that water with his smartphone. After all, some places are just too special to lose.

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

AUGUST 23-26, 2018 FRI, AUG 24 WIDESPREAD PANIC

SAT, AUG 25

SUN, AUG 26

10:00PM

THU, AUG 23

GEORGE CLINTON & P-FUNK 8:45PM

UMPHREY’S MCGEE

UMPHREY’S MCGEE

9:45PM

LETTUCE 8:45PM

UMPHREY’S MCGEE 7:30PM

LETTUCE

JASON BONHAM

W/SPECIAL GUEST

7:15PM

5:00PM

4:00PM

& PROMISE OF THE REAL 3:00PM

5:30PM

BAND OF CHANGES

FIRECRACKER JAM

GHOST LIGHT

3:30PM

RELIX STAGE

JOE RUSSO’S ALMOST DEAD 11:00PM

6:15PM

MOON TAXI

LUKAS NELSON

JERRY DANCE PARTY

KELLER & THE KEELS

FOUNDATION OF FUNK

6:00PM

BUTCHER BROWN

4:30PM

7:15PM

PIGEONS PLAYING PING PONG

TURKUAZ

ERIN & THE WILDFIRE

TEDESCHI TRUCKS BAND

TOOTS & THE MAYTALS

6:30PM

6:00PM

2 SETS • 9:15PM

2:15PM

1:30PM

CAITLYN SMITH 12:45PM

THE FUZZ BAND

5:15PM

4:15PM

BIG SOMETHING 3:15PM

AGENTS OF GOOD ROOTS 2:30PM

THE SUFFERS 1:45PM

SOUTHERN AVENUE

BRANFORD MARSALIS 2 SETS • 8:45PM

TEDESCHI TRUCKS BAND 6:45PM

SHERYL CROW 5:30PM

BLUES TRAVELER 4:15PM

MATISYAHU 3:15PM

SPAFFORD 2:15PM

THE JUDY CHOPS 1:45PM

KELLER WILLIAMS’ GRATEFUL GOSPEL 12:15PM

1:15PM

PEOPLE’S BLUES OF RICHMOND 12:45PM

12:15PM RELIX STAGE

DISCO RISQUE

JOE RUSSO’S ALMOST DEAD

CELEBRATES JGB

MIDNIGHT

W/SPECIAL GUEST

12:15PM RELIX STAGE

LETTUCE MIDNIGHT

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