tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-63256062024-03-14T03:40:35.183-04:00WhitesCreek JournalThoughts to share from White's Creek gorge.Whites Creekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07272181564543086371noreply@blogger.comBlogger1678125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6325606.post-31067114108571623102024-01-20T11:21:00.003-05:002024-01-20T11:21:47.883-05:00Winter at the Big Rocks 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-79991636302388418872022-10-21T11:19:00.005-04:002022-10-21T11:21:12.582-04:00Fall 2022Sorry 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-25273583028909291632021-04-23T08:16:00.002-04:002021-04-23T08:16:43.361-04:00Where we are Earth Day 2021 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-58676729283509211002019-07-26T09:56:00.001-04:002019-07-26T09:56:10.090-04:00Granddaughter found a young Softshell Whites Creekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07272181564543086371noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6325606.post-15364244583793614142019-06-18T17:29:00.001-04:002019-06-18T17:29:14.804-04:00Cobble Bar Leather FlowerThe 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-63511249171792607122019-01-22T17:13:00.000-05:002019-01-22T17:13:02.808-05:00260 million Year Old Sand PaintingAnd 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-42224934139115938262018-12-29T18:27:00.000-05:002018-12-30T08:46:06.889-05:00I don't know why it is called Whites "Creek" either
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-69056341968493404912018-12-22T09:58:00.002-05:002018-12-22T09:58:55.833-05:00Season's Greetings from Whites Creek Gorge with BeetlesLots 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-68433978973296805532018-10-11T16:51:00.002-04:002018-10-13T14:05:01.248-04:00Judge's Ruling That Land Under Non-Navigable Waterway Belongs to Property Owner
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 asWhites Creekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07272181564543086371noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6325606.post-87049565584719319862018-03-26T19:15:00.004-04:002018-03-26T19:15:54.830-04:00March of the Salamanders
http://www.tnaqua.org/blog/entry/march-of-the-salamanders-tennessee-aquarium-collaborating-on-study-of-springtime-salamander-mass-migrationsWhites Creekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07272181564543086371noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6325606.post-7584865679198700312018-02-17T16:06:00.000-05:002018-02-17T16:06:01.739-05:00Perfect Weather for...Spotted Salamander Love
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-64088336371663511962018-01-02T08:59:00.002-05:002018-01-02T08:59:56.567-05:001-1-2018
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-63530996051171435382017-12-28T09:47:00.001-05:002017-12-28T09:47:12.837-05:00Walk Around the Yard
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-67742421063384354712017-12-27T08:46:00.001-05:002018-03-23T15:24:35.954-04:00Why We Must Protect Whites CreekMerry 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-51930278237997270502017-11-07T12:51:00.002-05:002017-11-07T12:51:18.103-05:00Today at the CreekThe 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-77818663027433017552017-11-03T19:18:00.001-04:002017-11-04T08:44:56.282-04:00From Today's WalkWhites 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-75048612694472557362017-08-21T19:25:00.000-04:002017-08-21T19:25:20.834-04:00Eclipse 8-21-2017We 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-35693226465079120802017-08-12T09:15:00.001-04:002017-08-12T09:15:36.401-04:00Vandalism at Whites CreekSomeone 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-78766265406563745922017-08-11T20:53:00.004-04:002017-08-11T20:53:57.423-04:00What We are Trying to Save....
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-41977360919715868162017-08-10T09:13:00.000-04:002017-08-10T09:13:29.201-04:00Fish From the Tennessee Parks and Greenways Foundation Snorkel Day at Whites Creek
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-64067019662012967352017-06-11T10:36:00.002-04:002017-06-11T10:36:44.029-04:00Whites Creek Palooza 2017 Sat. June 24 1 PM til 9 ishAdults $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 DannielsWhites Creekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07272181564543086371noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6325606.post-7595692936074154262017-05-10T06:50:00.002-04:002017-05-10T06:50:25.305-04:00Eagle ChildrenSorry, 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, withWhites Creekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07272181564543086371noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6325606.post-16374709540618737132017-05-01T19:37:00.002-04:002017-05-01T19:37:22.693-04:00Just Now..
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.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6325606.post-44917390235837478532017-01-12T16:29:00.001-05:002017-01-12T16:29:32.217-05:00Whites Creek Eagles at the Nest
There are two adults in this shot. Sorry but I only had my little walk around camera and it is a grey day. There is a bird in the nest. The head is just barely sticking up to the right of the trunk. I actually didn't see it until they decided to fly around and play aerial games. There were two juvenile birds sitting side by side in a dead tree just about 50 yards to the left (downstream) of the Whites Creekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07272181564543086371noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6325606.post-80749893971304530622017-01-09T17:04:00.000-05:002017-01-09T17:04:09.681-05:00The difference one month makes
Droughts end suddenly around here...
Whites Creekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07272181564543086371noreply@blogger.com1