Just returned from the 11 mile trip to Wytheville and a visit to MacDonald's to steal their free WiFi.  Purchased 4 Duraflame logs and a large folding camp chair.  Sky is completely crystal clear and blue, which suggests a very cold night.  Typically, cloudy nights are warmer.  Picked up a cheap thermometer for inside the tent.  I hate second-guessing the temperature.  Called sister Debra from town and sent friend Nancy a text that all was okay.  It is strangely warmer now than it was earlier, although the wind has died down quite a lot.  Just gathered tonight's firewood and broke a sweat!  Popped a Carona and set up my big chair.  Listening to the last bird calls.  The barred owl I heard last evening never came any closer.  6:30 p.m. - Sun has totally disappeared below the horizon and the new thermometer says 54 degrees.  Holding off on lighting fire.  Very quiet - except for falling acorns.

Bliss

Cold and overcast.  Slept very nicely last night under the addition of the two $5 camo mover's blankets I picked up at Harbor Freight.  Awakened around dawn by some commotion in camp - deer passing through.  I realized then how cold it was at 6:30 a.m. and burrowed in for a few more hours. Dreamed I was on a big ship working.  Was being sent to Barcelona to pick up a cruise.  Grieg on radio this morning...coffee on fire.  May drive the 11 miles to Wytheville today...or not...a little stiff today.  Not used to strenuous physical activity like cutting wood or getting up and down from the ground all day and night.  By the way, the little mattress I picked up for the cot made a huge difference.  No cold air up through the cot fabric at all.  I put on thermal underwear this morning.  Cold!  My favorite mushroom so far is called "The Barometer Earthstar - astress hydrometricus."  Forestry truck cruised through but didn't stop.  12:30 p.m. and the sun has finally broken through the clouds.

66 is the high today....

Feeling good.  Just heard on NPR there are possible showers tonight - 80%.  Wow! It's amazing how much better I feel this time around sans bronchitis.  12:45 p.m. strolled through the forest and around campsite taking pix of wildflowers.  Forgot to mention that something sailed through camp last night, low and silent.  Probably an owl.  In the hall of the mountain king.  Looking for an evergreen suitable to Bonsai for Debra.  Stopped to examine a tiny white pine and just then some kind of juvenile or small hawk silently landed on a branch near my head.  It was small and had white plumage on its wings.  Not a kestrel.  The acorns fall incessantly, keeping me alert.  Also, the woodpeckers never shut up - all day long pecking and laughing.  Collected some downed limbs for my fire later.  Re-aligned the rocks around the pit and when I placed the first new twigs it began to smoke from last night's fire.  Strange.  It is 4:45 p.m. and a black and blue swallowtail butterfly just landed at my feet.  Several cars and trucks have gone down the fire road toward Hale Lake.  Two riders on motorcycles circled around and waved.  Sign at picnic table says "Bears have been known to tear off doors and break windshields in search of food."  Now I feel better.  Barred owl hooting before dark from the SW.  Black vultures circled so low I could hear the wind on its wings.  6:15 p.m. Twilight has definitely settled in now.  The sun is just barely peeking through the trees.  Crows and woodpeckers still chatting and some screechy thing I can't identify.  Crickets waking up.   Holding off on starting fire until it is a little darker.  Chilly, but the wind has died down.  Overnight low tonight in the low to mid-50s.  10:00 p.m.  In spite of my earlier commitment, I'm listening to the miserable Vice Presidential debate on NPR.  Great fire tonight.  Time to crash.  Hope those gremlins don't return tonight - once is enough.  Lantern in hand.  Heading in for the night....

I heard on the radio that you can tell the temperature by counting the number of times a cricket chirps per minute.  Built campfire at 7:20 p.m.  Frogs and peepers just waking up.  Slept au natural.  The forest was extremely noisy last night!  Sat by the fire and looked at the stars a long time.  Spectacular sky!  The Milky Way was nearly perfectly North/South.  Acorns fell all night long making quite a racket.  Before I turned in I asked the universe - any elves, fairies, angels, ghosts, aliens, etc., to make themselves known to me.  Well, I had one of the worst nightmares I've every had.  I dreamed I was awake and that's what made it really strange.  I imagined something had gotten into the tent and I felt it put its paws on the cover and climb up on top of me - I thought it was a bobcat or raccoon.  I yelled and thrashed and jumped up and turned on the lantern.  


Of course, nothing there - but no more invocations before I go to bed.  Once I went back to sleep I actually dreamed 
there was a bobcat outside the tent.  I slept fitfully throughout the remainder of the night.  At one point I thought I heard a strange conversation in the distance.  I thought it might be people up  at the lookout, but voices wouldn't carry that far.  It sounded almost insect-like.

[Image:  Indian Pipe (aka Ghost Plant and Corpse Plant) (Monotropa uniflora) is a herbaceous plant that occurs across most of North America and even in Asia.  Although widespread, it is generally scarce or rare in occurrence.  It belongs to its own family, Monotropaceae.  The scientific name translates to “once-turned single flower." Growing beside my camp] Feeling happy and hopeful.  Monday, October 3, 2016.  Left Kingsport about 2:15 p.m. under bright, but cloudy skies.  Quick trip the 70 or so miles to Wytheville, Virginia.  Gorgeous drive, as usual.  Stopped on edge of Wythe/Smyth County line and got gas for $2.05 per gallon.  Took a few pictures out windshield.  Stopped in Wytheville and picked up some groceries and bottled water.  Arrived at campsite a little after 5:00 p.m. and found place totally deserted - as usual.  Bonus!  Previous campers had left some wood.  Bonus 2! NPR radio loud and clear on the little battery-powered radio I took.  Tent up very quickly, thanks in large part to the new tent stakes I picked up at Harbor Freight the other day.  The little hatchet is excellent, too.  Two quilted mover's blankets (camo, of course,) and new wildlife guide books - all excellent.  Attached little mattress to cot.  6:15 p.m. - wow, the forest is so noisey!  I hear a woodpecker laughing and lots of creaks and cracks.  Chickadees chatting.  Mimicking a crow, who's talking back to me.  The air is wonderful, but a little cool.  This will be an early night, as it seems twilight has settled in and it is just a moment past 7:00 p.m. [Image: Near Roanoke]

Graffiti on a barn on Unaka Trail, Grayson County, VA

The Seat of the Elfen King - Jefferson National Forest, Virginia