Mike on July 3rd, 2009

sorghum furnace great smoky mountains national park

Juice from the sorghum mill was boiled over the furnace until it turned into dark, stringy molasses. Ten gallons of juice yielded about on gallon of molasses.

Mountain Farm Museum near Cherokee, North Carolina
Great Smoky Mountains National Park, May 6, 2009

From the Great Smoky Mountains National Park photo gallery.

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Mike on July 2nd, 2009

footbridge devils den state park
Devil’s Den State Park, Arkansas
March 1, 2008

New bridge to replace one washed out by flooding

From the Devil’s Den State Park photo gallery.

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arches national park

north window arch, arches national park

mike on the slick rock trail to delicate arch

We visited Arches National Park in 2007 and had hoped to do the same this year. However, with the contract job terms, it now looks like I will be working part of the time that we had planned for traveling.

This new photo gallery is from our 2007 travels. We were on our way home and had planned three nights and two days visiting the national parks in the Moab, Utah area. One of the two days was spent at Arches National Park.

It was our second visit to Arches. The first one was even briefer — just an afternoon, I think, on our way home from one of our vacations in the early 90s.

The day started out a bit windy and chilly. It was Karen’s birthday, September 24, 2007.

We took a couple of short trails. One of them went to — and around — Balanced Rock. The other trail was in the Windows Section and went to North Window and South Window Arches, as well as Turret Arch.

After lunch, we went to the Delicate Arch trail head parking lot at Wolfe Ranch. The trail is 3.0 (4.8 km) miles round trip. A short side trail leads to some petroglyphs.

There is no shade on the Delicate Arch trail and much of it is over open sandstone called “slick rock.” The National Park Service recommends at least a quart of water per person.

The trail is marked with rock cairns. At the end of the trail is the most famous arch in the park, Delicate Arch, which is used as a background for Utah license plates.

Even though the day started cool, by the time we were done, it was plenty warm and neither of us had any water left, though I had nursed mine until the very end. If it had been a warmer day, we would have needed more water.

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Mike on June 30th, 2009

leaves on the lake at petit jean state park

Petit Jean State Park, Arkansas
November 17, 2007

From the Petit Jean State Park and Petit Jean Mountain photo gallery.

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Mike on June 29th, 2009

Tip: Defacing anything in the nation’s national parks is against the law and carry penalties if caught.

Beyond that, it’s just wrong and irresponsible.

graffiti mammoth cave national park

Mammoth Cave National Park, Kentucky
May 25, 2009

From the Mammoth Cave National Park photo gallery.

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Mike on June 28th, 2009

autumn grasds lake fort smith state park

Lake Fort Smith State Park, Arkansas
October 8, 2008

From the Lake Fort Smith State Park photo gallery.

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Mike on June 27th, 2009

thermal feature

Artists’ Paintpots trail

From the Yellowstone National Park photo gallery:
Around the Upper Loop, September 13, 2007

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Mike on June 26th, 2009

mammoth cave formations

Mammoth Cave National Park, Kentucky

New Entrance tour
May 24, 2009

From the Mammoth Cave National Parl photo gallery.

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crowley1

(Crowley’s Ridge State Park photo gallery.)

For the last night of our May 2009 trip, we stopped in northeast Arkansas at Crowley’s Ridge State Park.

Crowley’s Ridge rises 100 to 200 feet above the river plains of eastern Arkansas. A narrow arc of rolling hills, it extends from Cape Girardeau, Missouri, down to the Mississippi River in southeast Arkansas at Helena.

The ridge was named for a War of 1812 soldier, Benjamin F. Crowley, whose war land grant was the first settlement in the area.

crowley2The park is located near Paragould in Green County at Benjamin Crowley’s original homesite and is one of the original six Arkansas state parks. Construction by the Civilian Conservation Corps began in 1933.

While our stay was just for one night, we did have the opportunity for a couple of good walks and a few pictures in the evening and the next morning before we left. However, as a result of heavy rain, our evening plans for cooking outside didn’t pan out.

In February 2009, Crowley’s Ridge, along with a wide section of Arkansas, Missouri, and Kentucky, experienced a damaging ice storm. Evidence of the storm can still be seen in the ragged appearance from broken and missing branches of many trees in the park and along hundreds of miles of the route we traveled on May 26 and 27.

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Mike on June 24th, 2009

lake yellowstone hotel dining

Dining Room at Lake Yellowstone Hotel

Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming

From the Yellowstone National Park photo gallery:
Around the Lower Loop, September 15, 2007

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