Dream Time

Two prolific mushrooms in the Mount Rogers preserve. Eat them young, sauteed with garlic and greens and they are heave.  Leave the older ones alone as they get tought and taste very earthy. There are a lot of edible mushrooms and lichen around here - but be abolutely certain of what you are collecting.  Some mushrooms and toadstools are fatal on contact.  Get a good guide book and hesitate before consuming any wild food source until you are sure it won't kill you. Most guide books have a large X by the poisonous plants and good picture.

Looking north from Lost Mountain towards Fodderstack and Chimney Top Mountains in Greene County, Tennessee just before heavy rains rolled in and cooled things down.

Mount Rogers National Forest, Virginia.  Fragrant Chanterelle, craterellus odoratus.  One of the most fragrant mushrooms.  Edible when young.  As it ages, the taste and odor change to unpleasant.

I'm heading back out to the trail and camp and I'm trying to decide which way to go.  I prefer to camp in a National Forest because the base line for safety and security (as well as general upkeep and cleanliness) can't be beat.  Now that I qualify as a senior for the America the Beautiful Pass, I can camp or visit all national parks, forests, etc., for a very minimum or no fee.  The fee at Comer's Rock on the Wythe Grayson line (Ewing Mountain) is $5.  With my pass it is half that, so I can stay longer than usual.  Also, there is fresh spring water pumped into the camp area (6 semi-primitive sites.)  No electricity, but the battery-operated radio picks up a zillion stations from up here.....still need to pick up black bear spray, some food items and some wood for the pit.......may go a new direction altogether.......

Picked up a few things and got rid of some others for the next leg of the journey.  Super sharp pocket knife, a couple of guide books, some better tent stakes and a thin inflatable mattress for my cot.  Only a couple more things to gather up and then I'm back out the door.  Bronchitis/pneumonia gone, although I still have a small productive cough and some soreness in my chest.  However, the temps are moderating down and I'm anxious to get on the trail. 

                   The Nepali word "Yeti" means "mountain man."  I'm a Yeti.

Comers Rock, Grayson County, VA.  22 August 2016.

3:15 a.m. - Noises in camp.  Something is sniffing around.  Don't want to startle it in case it's a skunk.  I've smelled the scent of a skunk every night, but never very close.  I was dead asleep when I heard the soft noise.  Mostly sort of a sniffle with very quiet movements, but enough to wake me up.  I sleep with my machete on the ground beside me.  I turned the lantern on low and took the machete and struck the leg of the folding chair and said, "get out of here!"  And promptly turned off the light and went back to sleep.  By the way, I leave the driver side of the Jeep unlocked in case I have to retreat there for any reason.  I keep absolutely no food in the camp and when I eat, I immediately place meal scraps in bear-proof bins in the center of the campground.

Somewhat variable morning.  Cooler and breezy.  Adjusted some things in the car. Two park rangers cautiously approached my campsite about 11 a.m.  Had a nice talk with the heavier of the two.  He had a beard and was probably about 30 years old.  The other was about 20 years old, skinny as a rail and never said a word.  We talked about everything, but mostly he wanted to know if I'd deposited my payment for the space in the little lock box.  I had.  And because of my lifetime pass to all national parks and forests, I was able to stay a week at that gorgeous (totally deserted) campground for $12.  I feel very calm and rested today.  And the sun feels amazing.  I just want to sit and let it warm me from top to bottom.  However, I smell to high heaven!

Actually drove into Wythe County, VA this afternoon and went to Walmart.  Bought a one-burner camp stove since the entire forest is still sopping wet.  Cost $14 - a deal.  Got to talking with young man working in camping supplies (Peyton) and one thing led to another and he asked me my name and I told him.  He said, "my mother's mom was a Bralley and so was my father's mom!" Small world.  Went to the Wytheville Museum and Visitor's Center and said hello to Michael Gilman.


The drive back up mountain was completely glorious.  Put on pot and enjoyed a large cup of Ginseng Tea.  Visited by a pretty blue and black butterfly.  Angel?  Somewhere up the ridge east of here a Grouse is pitching a fit.

Wearing long-sleeve t-shirt with cotton sweater all day and night.  Slept in boots last night to keep feet warm.  It worked.

Been going to bed about 9 p.m.  The strange thing is that there is vehicular traffic on the fire trail after dark every night.  For two or three hours.  Drugs?  Sex? I can't figure why anybody would drive 18 miles out of Wytheville, turn off on a very rough fire trail and drive over 5 miles just to get high.  Plus the road is very tricky to navigate.  Who knows?

Sleep calls.  And the hundred billion frogs are getting cranked up again.  I am very, very thankful.

      Olive Branch Methodist Church, Wythe County, Virginia.  Constructed on land

       donated by James and Hannah Smyth Bralley in 1822.  Contains the graves

        of most of the family members from the neighborhood who died from 1798-2016.