tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-63256062026-08-12T07:51:46.920-04:00Thoughts to share from White's Creek gorge.Whites Creekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07272181564543086371noreply@blogger.comBlogger1680125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6325606.post-72131731737511493082026-08-12T07:51:46.920-04:002026-08-12T07:51:46.920-04:00

 This is the first overlook on the Rim trail. It is roughly a 2.5 hour loop with lots of vertical hiking., up and down.

Whites Creekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07272181564543086371noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6325606.post-56568074375288694842024-12-15T12:34:00.000-05:002024-12-15T12:34:04.980-05:00

 Clematis cumberlandensis got its scientific name a few seasons back. It has been identified in Daddy's Creek and Whites Creek gorges. The process for naming a new solidago has regained steam. Originally identified by Dr. Larry Pounds, it has been somewhat mired in bureaucratic mud for a couple of decades. DNA studies are in the works and it looks promising. 

Whites Creekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07272181564543086371noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6325606.post-31067114108571623102024-01-20T11:21:00.003-05:002024-01-20T11:21:47.883-05:00

 Life is a bit cooler this winter. I'm loving this but the hiking is treacherous.

Whites Creekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07272181564543086371noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6325606.post-79991636302388418872022-10-21T11:19:00.005-04:002022-10-21T11:21:12.582-04:00

Sorry to have been otherwise occupied for a time and haven't been posting. Here's a photo from a couple of days ago of Whites Creek just below where the narrow gauge railroad bridge was back before the civil war. 

Whites Creekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07272181564543086371noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6325606.post-25273583028909291632021-04-23T08:16:00.002-04:002021-04-23T08:16:43.361-04:00

 We now have over 800 acres along Whites Creek and its tributaries in conservation easement. A huge thank you to Tenn Green Land Conservancy and the Open Spaces Institute who made it all possible. 

Whites Creekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07272181564543086371noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6325606.post-58676729283509211002019-07-26T09:56:00.001-04:002019-07-26T09:56:10.090-04:00

Whites Creekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07272181564543086371noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6325606.post-15364244583793614142019-06-18T17:29:00.001-04:002019-06-18T17:29:14.804-04:00

The Austin Peay Arboretum seems to be very interested in the plant life in Whites Creek Gorge. We have a leather flower that grows on cobble bars that has their attention. Cobble bar prairies are riparian stream side areas that get flooded often enough that it takes special abilities for a plant to survive. We have a solidago that is still being argued about and now this beauty: I flagged it

Whites Creekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07272181564543086371noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6325606.post-63511249171792607122019-01-22T17:13:00.000-05:002019-01-22T17:13:02.808-05:00

And other things we saw on our walk today. It was one of the more strenuous 2.5 mile hikes I've done lately. From the creek up to the rim of Whites Creek Gorge and back. Over 800 feet of vertical and most of it a bushwhack. Lost a glove but well worth it. What do you like?

Whites Creekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07272181564543086371noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6325606.post-42224934139115938262018-12-29T18:27:00.000-05:002018-12-30T08:46:06.889-05:00

We released beetles at three locations today. Water was still high but not what it was yesterday (First two pics)

Whites Creekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07272181564543086371noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6325606.post-69056341968493404912018-12-22T09:58:00.002-05:002018-12-22T09:58:55.833-05:00

Lots of things are happening this time of year. One thing we are keeping a close eye on are the Hemlock Woolly Adelgids, HWAs for short. Left to their own devices they will exterminate Hemlocks in the eastern United States. The only long term solution is to develop populations of the predatory insects that keep the adelgids under control in other parts of America. In the Pacific Northwest they

Whites Creekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07272181564543086371noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6325606.post-68433978973296805532018-10-11T16:51:00.002-04:002018-10-13T14:05:01.248-04:00

There is a great degree of misunderstanding where streams are concerned. I post this Signed Judge's Order regarding Whites Creek hoping that sensible people will understand the nature of private property. The short version:   Private property is private property even if water is flowing over it.    The effect of this Tennessee state law is to protect property owners, even as

Whites Creekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07272181564543086371noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6325606.post-87049565584719319862018-03-26T19:15:00.004-04:002018-03-26T19:15:54.830-04:00

http://www.tnaqua.org/blog/entry/march-of-the-salamanders-tennessee-aquarium-collaborating-on-study-of-springtime-salamander-mass-migrations

Whites Creekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07272181564543086371noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6325606.post-7584865679198700312018-02-17T16:06:00.000-05:002018-02-17T16:06:01.739-05:00

Saw this little guy Saturday morning. We've had a lot of rain and continued drizzle so the puddles are full. This one is spring fed and will continue to have water well into the summer. So far we can see chorus frogs and spotted salamander eggs.  I have no idea what the solitary eggs are. 

Whites Creekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07272181564543086371noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6325606.post-64088336371663511962018-01-02T08:59:00.002-05:002018-01-02T08:59:56.567-05:00

More photos as I get to them. Check out the drooping and curling rhododendron hanging out over the left side of the falls. They droop at 25 degrees F and curl tightly by 20 degrees F. The technical name for this movement is thermonasty. There is a whole study of "nastic" movement in plants. It's complicated.

Whites Creekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07272181564543086371noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6325606.post-63530996051171435382017-12-28T09:47:00.001-05:002017-12-28T09:47:12.837-05:00

We took a tortuous route along the bottom of the highest wall above Whites Creek Gorge. I had wanted to take a photo of this little rock house that may have been used by coal miners, moonshiners or both. We have located several of these primitive dwellings but this one is unusual in that the hearth is against the cliff instead of the colder exposed side. Smoke darkening can be seen above on the

Whites Creekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07272181564543086371noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6325606.post-67742421063384354712017-12-27T08:46:00.001-05:002018-03-23T15:24:35.954-04:00

Merry Christmas Gerry! See if these small files tell you enough. I can send the full size file if you need them. They were washed onto the cobble bar about 100 yards above our pavilion site on Whites Creek. They were very fresh with remnants of flesh still attached. I suspect some lucky bird found his dinner right before we go there.  Cheers, Steve Hey Steve: Those

Whites Creekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07272181564543086371noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6325606.post-51930278237997270502017-11-07T12:51:00.002-05:002017-11-07T12:51:18.103-05:00

The water level has dropped enough to see the posted sign again. Glad it survived.

Whites Creekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07272181564543086371noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6325606.post-77818663027433017552017-11-03T19:18:00.001-04:002017-11-04T08:44:56.282-04:00

Whites Creek The grand old hemlock hugging tree... Roan County on the right and Rhea County on the left at Piney Creek...

Whites Creekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07272181564543086371noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6325606.post-75048612694472557362017-08-21T19:25:00.000-04:002017-08-21T19:25:20.834-04:00

We were at our friend Elizabeth's Home with a few friends for this epic bucket list event. She had her Air BNB guests well taken care of and the rest of us had a spectacular time on Walden Ridge, high above Rockwood, TN. WOW! Lucky you if you get to stay here. Yeah...We posed it but everybody had an awesome time. Totality was totally awesome! The moon shadow moves over the Tennessee

Whites Creekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07272181564543086371noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6325606.post-35693226465079120802017-08-12T09:15:00.001-04:002017-08-12T09:15:36.401-04:00

Someone sprayed a very potent herbicide along the bank of Whites Creek in Roane County. It hurts my soul to think someone has such little regard for the creek that they would do something like this. Here it is from last evening: Here is the creek from just a few feet away from the destruction; Herbicides have long term devastating effects in a wetland.

Whites Creekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07272181564543086371noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6325606.post-78766265406563745922017-08-11T20:53:00.004-04:002017-08-11T20:53:57.423-04:00

What they will  do to this beautiful resource if we don't work together to protect it...

Whites Creekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07272181564543086371noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6325606.post-41977360919715868162017-08-10T09:13:00.000-04:002017-08-10T09:13:29.201-04:00

These were taken by Pat Rakes, co-executive director at Conservation Fisheries, Inc. It's really exceptional to have a renowned fisheries biologist on hand to show you the fish and tell you all about them. 

Whites Creekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07272181564543086371noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6325606.post-64067019662012967352017-06-11T10:36:00.002-04:002017-06-11T10:36:44.029-04:00

Adults $30 (Kids negotiable) Buy tickets or just donate to the cause at the CFI web site. Email stevescarb@aol.com for reservations and pay at the door. Swim and snorkel with the world famous fisheries biologists of Conservation Fisheries, Inc.  Barbecue supper from the Flying Pig in Crossville. Live auction of really cool art and trips. Music from the most awesomest Jennifer Danniels

Whites Creekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07272181564543086371noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6325606.post-7595692936074154262017-05-10T06:50:00.002-04:002017-05-10T06:50:25.305-04:00

Sorry, no photos, but we had a good view down into the Whites Creek Gorge eagles' nest today. We were surveying a line from the top of the gorge and I located a good overlook from which to put the binoculars onto the nest.  Twins!  And they look full grown, so fledgling day is nearly upon us. I missed it last year but I'll be watching...and listening... It's a feast for the ears, with

Whites Creekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07272181564543086371noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6325606.post-16374709540618737132017-05-01T19:37:00.002-04:002017-05-01T19:37:22.693-04:00

I really wish I had had the other telephoto lens ready for this, but that's life in Whites Creek Gorge. The eagle flew right by the moon before I could get in to grab my camera. I should know to always have it ready. Damned good evening, regardless.  Also, you would not believe the pollen blowing around due to the high winds after the front that brought us another 1.75 inches of rain. "

Whites Creekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07272181564543086371noreply@blogger.com0