Training Fire

Today the RCFD burned down a hundred year old farmhouse that is on land that will be turned into a housing development. The house was used as a training burn, which means that fires are lit in the house, then extinguished and re-lit. Each time the fire is re-lit, a team goes into the house, finds the fire, and puts it out with a minimum amount of water so it can be lit again. The object is to get as many fires lit and extinguished as possible before the structure becomes unsafe. In this picture, the first fire has just been lit off and is already spreading into the attic where it wasn't supposed to go.

2 minutes later, heavy smoke was pushing out the whole length of the attic and it seemed like we might lose the house on the first fire. The 100-year old wood was very dry and really wanted to burn. Fortunately, the first fire was brought under control and the firefighters were able to re-light it 33 times after that.
This picture was taken from a different side, where the fire fighters would make their entrance into the house. Most of the cloud coming out of the house at this point is not smoke, but is steam from the water that had been put on the fire
In this picture, a team is entered the house to find their way up the stairs in the dark to get water on the fire burning on the second floor.
After 34 fires (and 3 hours later), it was determined that the structure was no longer safe so the house was set ablaze for the final time.
The water being put on the fire at this point is just to try to control the amount of flaming embers that were being carried around the neighborhood. The spray coming from the top of the fire truck on the right is just being used to cool the firetruck itself, which was being exposed to a lot of radiant heat.
By lunchtime, there wasn't much left.

Little Snowball Mountain Trail Hike

With beautiful weather (sunny and mid 70s) and the leaves still looking good, Cheryl and Norris decided to head up to the Craggy Gardens to hike the Little Snowball Mountain trail. This trail was the scene of a search that Norris participated in a few weeks ago and Norris wanted to go explore the trail in the daylight this time. Additionally, Little Snowball Mountain was the original site of the fire tower we went to visit a few weeks ago in its new home in the historic village down the mountain in Big Ivy. But while we were still en route to the parkway, the RCFD was dispatched to the Craggy Gardens Visitor Center for an injured person, so we headed that way to see if any extra assistance was needed. As it turned out, the ambulance and rescue truck had it covered, so we started our hike at the trail head, which is not far from the visitors center.

The Little Snowball trail is one of the lesser known trails near Craggy Gardens. Although the main tourist trails and the visitors center were likely well used today because of the nice weather, the LS trail was virtually empty and we had the whole hike to ourselves. Here are some photos along the trail.

Some of the trees (especially on the north slopes) have lost their leaves already and have exposed the lichens that grow on the trees up at this altitude. The elevation here is more than a mile high and the lichens seem to like this cold climate.


A great shot of the fall colors on the slope across from the trail.


One of the landmarks along the trail is Hawkbill Rock, which is about a 50 ft rock scramble to the top. Here Cheryl had already made it to the top and caught this glimpse of Norris climbing over the top edge. The rock face is nearly vertical with few good footholds.

Although the photo is deceptive about how steep the rock face is, this picture of Cheryl on a nearly-vertical face (taken on the way down) shows why this is not an amateur grade trail. This climb would have been impossible (without ropes) if the rockface was wet at all.

Once we made it to the top of Hawkbill Rock, we could look backwards along the ridge line we had just traveled. The picture shows how the trees on the south side of the ridge (the right side of the picture) still have their fall colors, but most of the trees on the north side (the left of the picture) have already lost their leaves at this altitude.


Norris and Cheryl enjoyed their lunch on top of the rock and decided to it was time to head back to the car, even though they hadn't made it all the way to Little Snowball. They didn't want to be like the hikers who don't make it back before dark, then get lost or fall off the trail somewhere.

Predictions

Every year, the Fall Color Predictions come out in September.

Every year it seems like they are wrong.


This year, they said that due to the extreme heat, our fall would be beautiful, but short.
So far, it's been beautiful - they got that right. But since each species is changing to its fall glory on a different time table, it seems like the color is lasting a long time, allowing us to appreciate each tree.

This little oak in our front yard is just fine with the cooler nights.

Meanwhile, our Wildflower Meadow/Weed Patch is trying to impress us with a late season show, hoping we won't give up on it.

Above pictures taken yesterday, October 23rd.

Dawn comes late to us now in the western part of the Eastern Daylight Savings Time Zone. This picture was taken about 8:30 this morning.
But because the sun appears more to the south than in the summer, light hits the house earlier now, but still not for a couple of hours, allowing us to enjoy this glowing view of the other side of the cove.

Fire Prevention Month Road Show

This morning, Norris and 6 other firefighters went to a church pre-school for their annual fire prevention show. The group consisted of about thirty 3- and 4-year olds (and about 15 parents and teachers). Here is the 4-yr class getting their group photo in front of a fire truck while wearing their official junior fire helmets. In general, the 4-yr olds were quite inquisitive and wanted to climb all over the fire truck, whereas the 3-yr olds were afraid of the firemen and the fire trucks, didn't want to climb inside, and had no questions to ask. One exception was a 3-yr old girl who was full of questions, which seemed more like she was checking to see if the firemen knew the right answers. Turns out she is the daughter of a fire chief in a neighboring town.

Part of the show consisted of a class conducted in the mobile house simulator. Its a scaled-down child-size 2-story house broken down into a kitchen, bedroom, and living room. The children were given a talk on the various kinds of fire hazards in each room and how to escape in case of fire. Then we would pump some non-toxic smoke into the house, set off the smoke detector, and see how well they could execute their escape plan. The 4-yr olds thought it was great and kept asking us to pump more smoke into the house. The 3-yr olds, on the other hand, didn't really enjoy the smoke much and really made a beeline out of the house.
Here the 4-yr olds are getting a demonstration of what a fireman looks like when he is fully suited up so they won't be afraid if they see a fireman coming to rescue them. The 19-yr old fireman who gave the talk later admitted to being terrified of giving a speech to 4-yr olds, so I guess fear is a relative thing.

And of course all the 4-yr old boys wanted to "drive" the firetruck, although most of them couldn't see over the dash.

Fall Color Update

These pictures were taken yesterday - just three days after the last batch. This is North Knob, with our house just visible in the middle ground, lower left.


We've don't nothing to enhance the photograph to make the blue of the sky this intense - it's just that way when you look opposite where the sun is.

The pretty dogwood in front of our house is now just about bare (in the middle of this photo)

The trees we call Poplars around here (known as Tulip Trees in most places) are just taking on their golden cast -

And this is the knob we thought was "Chestnut", now glowing with a few maples in the distance. The maple we have in front of our house is still green.

Take a walk with us

Cheryl walks our neighborhood almost daily. The last few days have been crystal-clear with sparkling sunlight, and the trees are starting to show their fall color. Today she brought the camera along so we can share some of the sights she's been enjoying.

Here we are just starting out from the front door down the driveway -


We turn left to head toward the dead end and back as our "warm up" before tackling the steep downward slope. This is a view of the cul de sac from beyond our mailbox as we head back past the house.


These next two photos show the texture and color of the roadside growth along the steep slope down to the Big Branch of the Reems Creek. That's the little creek that runs through the development and created the cove that protects us from the really big winds.




Now on the main development road, we get different scenes as we follow the curves. We can hear the little creek meandering alongside as we head toward the state road -


Although all is not as level as in that last picture, the views in both directions will make the climb back up worth the trip - and provide for some good cardio-vascular training.
The brilliantly colored tree on the right is probably a sourwood.


Looking up through the foliage of a small tree -

We've been calling the peak shown in the next shot Chestnut Knob because that's how it is labeled on the USGS maps. However, Norris has learned that the locals call a different peak Chestnut Knob. He'll have to ask what they call this one.
The photo shows that the peak - like our own North Knob behind our house - is mostly still green. We'll watch for changing color on our walks in the days to come.



Back in front of our house, the sunlight highlights the tall native dogwood in the cluster of trees between the house and road. We'll walk this last bit of road a second time to catch our breath before heading back up the driveway.

Big Ivy and Little Snowball

Norris and Cheryl attended the Big Ivy Mountain Harvest Day on Saturday, held annually at the community Historical Park. Big Ivy community is part of the town of Barnardsville, just a bit north and east of us, but not easily accessed from our valley.

The festival is the one day a year people are allowed to climb the Little Snowball fire tower, visible in the photo above.

The Little Snowball tower has an interesting history. It was built in the nearby Great Craggy Mountains by the Big Ivy CCC camp in 1934. Two operators stood watch and lived in the tower, working alternating two-week shifts. In 1980, when it was no longer used for fire detection, the tower was slated to be removed and destroyed. A local resident of Big Ivy had fond childhood memories of the tower so he bought it for $300, dismantled it, and put it in storage where it remained for over 25 years. The tower was re-erected and restored in the Big Ivy park in 2006. The Big Ivy CCC camp was located on the same ground as the historic park.


The interior appears larger in these photos than it actually is.


Below, Norris examines some of the documentation and artifacts.

View over the park from the 21-foot tower.


This was a fun day for the community - wagon rides and the making of molasses were features everyone could enjoy.


Also located at the park is the pre-Civil War Carson cabin. These pictures were chosen from the several we took of the cabin specifically for my friend Diane who is a spinner and weaver.



Back to those costumed community members, here is a young man - not too much older than the ones in his audience, explaining the weapons he has in front of them.

The adult reenactors used a larger weapon - Norris thought the fun part was how, after the loud boom, the sound echoed around the valley several times.


We also toured a recreated One Room School house that served as a museum of the Civilian Conservation Corps camp at the site.

Saturday at the N. Asheville Tailgate Market

Almost every Saturday during the nice weather months, we go to the North Asheville tailgate market to get our fresh produce for the week. The market will close for the season at the end of October, so we are enjoying the last Saturdays of the fresh fruit and vegetables from local farmers.

Lots of different types of winter squash are available. Today we got a Buttercup and a Sunshine squash, varieties you don't see at grocery stores.

The produce tables are always colorful.

The vendors aren't just selling healthy produce !