Introduction
On Wednesday, October 9, 2024, I hiked
House
Mountain for the 192nd time. Yesterday, part
one of this two-part series focused on birthday greetings to our
beloved and “adopted” great niece, Addy. It includes my
audiovisual birthday wishes to her from the upper-middle bluff on her
15th birthday.
This part two, the 68th entry in the
hiking
topic section, concentrates on the fallen trees along the trails,
caused by the remnants of Hurricane Helene. Twenty photographs are
included. I counted at least 19 freshly fallen trees that were
blocking three trails.
The weather was clear and sunny. The
sky was brilliant blue. The morning low of 46 degrees Fahrenheit
quickly warmed to about 78 degrees. I sweated enough. From 12:19 PM
to 4:04 PM, three hours and forty-five minutes in the woods was
better than not having been there, despite negotiating over, under,
and around fallen trees!
Remnants of Hurricane
Helene's Effects on House Mountain
Hurricane Helene struck the western
coast of Florida on Thursday, September 26. Turning inland, remnants
of the tropical cyclone ravaged swaths of Georgia, South Carolina,
western North Carolina, northeastern Tennessee, and southwestern
Virginia. Closest nearby, Newport in Cocke County, Tennessee, was
devastated. Farther east, Asheville, North Carolina, was hit hard.
Small towns and rural communities were destroyed or isolated.
Sections of Interstate 40 and 26 were destroyed. Flood water swept
away homes, businesses, roads, train tracks, and bridges. Livestock
drowned. People perished.
Volumes of online resources chronicle
the historic devastation. For this article, I selected two. The first
is “ETSU
experts explain Helene’s impact on Appalachia,” East Tennessee
State University (ETSU), by O.J. Early, 10/8/2024. The other is
“Rising
with Hope: Appalachia After Hurricane Helene: On September 27, 2024,
Hurricane Helene brought devastation to the Appalachian Mountains.”
ETSU, by Dr. Andrew Joyner. The latter is an ongoing series of
audiovisual episodes about the devastation of and recovery from
Hurricane Helene in southern Appalachia. These are good sources;
however, I disagree with their implicit allegations that so-called
man-made global climate change caused the calamity. That humans are
behind the so-named global climate change chicanery is scientifically
false and politically propagandized.
Join me on a virtual hike, as we
explore the fallen trees along the trails.
House Mountain is only one area that was damaged by the
remnants of Hurricane Helene.
Up the West Trail
At 12:19 PM, I started hiking the west
trail to the west bluff. Touching the marker near the covered picnic
area marked the time.
The first photograph below, taken at
12:31 PM, shows the first fallen tree or trees that blocked
the trail leading to the third lower switchback. The view looks
northwest. The wooden fence posts were still standing, but the wooden
rails were down. I could see one fallen tree. There could have been
more.
A minute later, standing at the same
spot, I turned east to take the second photograph below. It shows the
fourth and final lower switchback still above me. On hands and feet,
I climbed up a few yards to reach the trail again. I didn't see any
damage at the fourth lower switchback.
Still hiking up and west at the
southern base of House Mountain, I photographed the following at
12:37 PM:
The marker shows 0.25 of a mile hiked
so far. The trail up to the west bluff or overlook is claimed to be
0.8 of a mile. Years ago, an old sign showed 1.0 miles exactly. The
mountain did not shrink! Two trees looked to be freshly fallen
across the trail.
Four minutes later, not much farther up
the west trail, I took the fourth photograph. Leaning forward, I
could walk under this fourth fallen tree.
Once I reached the first of the six
upper switchbacks, I didn't see any trees down across the trail,
until I arrived at the fourth upper switchback. Just below that
switchback, I took the fifth photograph at 12:47 PM.
Two trees were down and blocking the
trail. Another tree was down off the trail. The smaller tree was
easy to step over. The once majestic tree had stood proudly and
marked the switchback. I will miss that tree. Three minutes later,
now above the huge fallen tree, I took the sixth photograph.
This is a better view, looking east, of
the once mighty tree that had fallen. A young man and his mother were
coming up the trail. I happened to catch him in the image.
At 12:53 PM, I took the following
seventh photograph. The view looks southwest toward the fifth, or
next to last, upper switchback.
Four trees were down. Two
fell across the trail. Two others were suspended above
the trail.
I took the eighth photograph below at
12:58 PM. The final or sixth upper switchback is above me. The view
looks northwest. The one fallen tree was easy to step over.
At 1:04 PM, hiking the trail just below
the ridge toward the west bluff, I photographed the one fallen
tree below. I hunkered
down to pass underneath it.
The rest of the trail under the ridge
to the west bluff appeared undamaged. Hiking up the west trail, I saw
several other freshly fallen trees, but they were off the trail.
The West Bluff
I reached the west bluff at 1:20 PM,
slowed by photographing the fallen trees and navigating over, under,
or around them. I met and conversed briefly with a couple of groups
of hikers as well.
At 1:23 PM, at the west bluff, I took
the tenth photograph below. The view looks southwest. No tree was
down. The top of the tree trunk to the left in the image had snapped
off years ago. New branches are still growing from the tree trunk
near the center of the image.
Hiking East across the
Ridge
From the west bluff, I continued hiking
east along the ridge trail, heading to the upper-middle bluff. I
found two fallen trees across the ridge trail. I took the
eleventh and twelfth photographs below at 1:48 PM and 2:01 PM.
I stooped a little low to walk under
this tree.
I stepped onto and over this tree.
Upper-Middle Bluff
Arriving at the upper-middle bluff, I
enjoyed the magnificent views! No newly fallen trees were in the
area. I took the following three photographs, numbers thirteen to
fifteen, within five minutes from 2:12 to 2:17 PM. In the first, I
was sitting on a rock in between the two large rock formations. The
view looks northwest. Notice the recently placed American flag.
Climbing down to the flag, I took the
next close-up photograph of the flag. Hand-painted on the big rock
below the flag are the words, “Thank you. You're welcome.”
I wonder who placed that flag and wrote on the rocks.
Turning around at the same spot, I
photographed up to where I had sat to take the first photograph from
this bluff.
Down and Out the East
Trail
At 2:20 PM, leaving the upper-middle
bluff, I started hiking back to and down the east trail. My descent
was unhindered by fallen trees, as I continued down the seven
switchbacks. On the lower and meandering trail, however, I saw the
following five trees that were newly fallen. These are
photographs sixteen through nineteen. I took them within four
minutes, from 3:39 to 3:43 PM.
I had to bend low, moving on hands and
feet, to cross under this tree.
The view is southwest.
This once
majestic tree will be missed. The view looks north. I had
passed the tree and turned around to take the photograph.
I walked only a few yards farther,
before stopping to photograph the above fallen
tree. The image looks southwest.
Two
trees were newly fallen at this location, only a few yards
from the last image. I could bend under the first tree and step onto
and over the second tree.
Conclusion
House Mountain is owned by the State of
Tennessee and managed jointly by the state and the Knox County Parks
and Recreation Department, under a lease agreement with the state.
Both entities may already know about the fallen trees that need to be
cleared along the trails. I may contact Knox County to see if they
could use my help. I did clear several fallen tree branches during
this hike. The photographs in this article may help the county
understand where trees need to be cleared.
Where was my 2006 Nissan Frontier? He
was parked in the shade. With 192,454.5 miles on the odometer, my
truck runs as good as new, and he likes to take me hiking! Ending the
hike, I touched the marker near the sheltered picnic area at 4:04 PM.
The photograph below was taken three minutes later.
A future article will be about my 193rd
hike on House Mountain on Columbus Day, which happened to be another
dear family member's fifteenth birthday. I enjoyed hiking twice this
month, as birthday gifts to two fine young Christian ladies, each of
whom turned fifteen on the days that I hiked!
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