Introduction
Sunday, 11/8/2020, was warm enough for me to wear only a T-shirt for the hike. I changed into another T-shirt, which stayed in my ol' truck, after the hike. I smelled my sweaty stink as I came down the mountain. It’s no wonder that the deer, which I heard but couldn’t see, to the west of me, stayed away.
Soapbox Sidetrack
The man-made global climate change folks, with their not very well hidden agenda, must have enjoyed making hay in the heat. But wait! The “guvrmint” (on National Weather Service: Knoxville normals and records for November) tells me that the hottest days on a four-day record were as follows:
11/09/2005 81F
11/10/1879 78F
11/11/1879 80F (Veterans Day, 141 years ago.)
The Industrial Revolution started in or around the year 1880 (the year Papaw Ferrell was born). By logical reasoning -- without taking the time to breakdown each step here, since I assume that my readers can do so -- global climate change happens, based on various natural weather and solar patterns. The logical leap, which is not verified, is the man-made part.
We humans do need to take care of (i.e., conserve) the world where God placed us, as He told us to do. The Creator arranged the placement of fossil fuels, etc., for us to learn to use. We must use them in a clean manner, as we appear to be trying to do well enough. We need to keep clean our air, lands, and waters (above ground and below ground, as Dad was a water-well driller).
That doesn’t mean, unless you want to do so, that we stop driving vehicles, using electricity, using central heat and air, etc. Of course, if we all decided to go back to living like folks did around 1880, without the modern trappings of life, then we might keep the world cleaner. I would be glad to live as they did in the 1880’s or even 1780’s. How about y’all joining me?
Okay, that’s enough of my soapbox sidetrack. Let’s hike on!
Hike #173 (#37 with “Bionic” Joints)
My ability to gauge the approximate time -- within 15 to 30 minutes of actual, by checking the sun’s position in the sky, without looking at my watch first -- did not have the factor of “guvrmint” time!
I started hiking at 1:33 PM. I took the east trail up. (I take the harder west trail usually.) The above photograph is looking south, down the trail, up which I’d already hiked. This is the final switchback, before the ridgeline. I hunkered down to take the photograph, at about knee level. It looks as if the trail disappears. It doesn’t. The erosion, by too many hikers having cut the switchback over the years, drops the trail about 45 degrees, sharply. I hope that the switchback is restored eventually. I’d be glad to help.
The above photograph is at the middle bluff. I’m standing to the east of the rock bluff, part of which is above me, in the left of the image. The tree gave my trusty cell phone camera shade to photograph, to the west of the mountain. The leaves were in fairly good color.
The above photograph is about opposite of the one before it. You see more of the tree that gave my phone camera shade. The look is east, northeast. My ol’ cell phone camera still takes a good photo, in my opinion. Feel free to make it your own!
By the way, two or three groups of other folks were on the bluff. They were good folks. One couple spoke English as their second language. They spoke with me in English and with each other in their native language. It was another international experience on “My Mountain!”
Leaving the middle bluff, I hiked west, along the ridgeline, to the east bluff. I spent a bit of time there.
Profound Sidetrack
My total time in the woods was from 1:33 to 4:28 PM, almost three hours. I met a few folks hiking or on the middle bluff, but not too many. I had plenty of solitude. I talked to the Good Lord a bit. (He didn’t talk back.) The trappings of modern life unburdened themselves from my back. No work (at home or at office) insanity. No “polyticks.” No “new cold virus.” (I did see a group of three, each wearing a mask, in the heat and sun. I don’t know how they could breath.) No computer technical or software aggravations. No worries (as if I ever have any).
Every day that you spend in the woods adds at least a day or more to your life. That’s my saying. You may cite me, if you wish. Instead, however, I suggest that you take my advice. Let’s hike!
Okay, that’s my profound sidetrack. Let’s hike out now.
Conclusion
I didn’t take any photographs at the west bluff or while hiking down the west trail (which I usually hike up). I was too busy hiking, sipping water from my trusty canteen, and wiping sweat (taking my cap off, wiping my forehead with my left T-shirt sleeve, putting my cap back on, and repeating the process). I wasn’t bothered. I’ve done it often, when I’ve hiked in too warm weather. Give me temperatures in the 20’s or 30’s, for hiking!
The above photograph, taken at 4:28 PM, is the end (or beginning) of the trail. The signboard in the foreground is what I touch, check my time, and start hiking up. The opposite (not visible) side of the information board, to the left, includes one of my winter photographs, with my name on it -- along with other photographs (of Boy Scouts, etc.) Do you see my new ol' truck? He was waiting, in hope that I’d change into my fresh T-shirt, which he’d been guarding, before I got in!
Well, let’s see, on this Veterans Day, if I can write another article or two, before supper!
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