Rainbow Falls

Rainbow Falls NC

“The man who goes alone can start today; but he who travels with another must wait till that other is ready, and it may be a long time before they get off.” Thoreau

This is typically my motto for nearly everything I do.

When it comes to hiking, I’m very slow because I like to look at all the plants and fungi along the trail. I don’t hike to reach the top of a mountain or to achieve some personal goal. I hike to enjoy the walk itself and to see what I can see. I tend to be easily distracted, so it would probably annoy most people to hike with me. To save everyone the trouble of following me on the road less traveled, I tend to hike alone. For my most recent hike, I made an exception to my rule and had a great time.   

A few weeks ago, a friend invited me to attend a native flower identification workshop. It was given by one of the most well-known botanists in western NC so I couldn’t pass up the opportunity. After the workshop, Josh and I went to Gorges State Park in Transylvania County to look at a few waterfalls. We wound up hiking a short trail to Rainbow Falls. I haven’t been hiking much this summer because I was sick, working and taking an Organic Chemistry class. It felt great to finally stretch my legs on the 1.5mi hike to the falls. The trail was marked strenuous and it took us about 1hr30min for the whole 3mi. We stopped and looked at any plants which were interesting. It was wonderful to hike with someone who knew enough about plants to be able to carry on a conversation. There are not many people who are interested in learning just for the sake of learning.

I have read conflicting data on how high Rainbow Falls actually is, so I used the boy on the left as a reference and came up with 150ft from where the highest point of the falls to the pool. The boy didn’t jump in, even though he was being egged on by a couple of other boys. I think he was the smart one of the three because the water was very powerful that day due to a recent storm. Josh and I didn’t take the trail to the top of the falls, but apparently there is a pool at the top beneath another waterfall. Several people have gotten caught up in the current and have lost their lives by being swept over Rainbow Falls.

I found out that the name, Rainbow Falls, comes from the fact that during certain times of the day the falls have a rainbow. The river is called Horsepasture and has many other falls, such as the small one in the picture below which is named Hidden Falls.

Hidden Falls NC

     

Overgrown Garden

Neglected Garden

Here are some pictures of the overgrown and slightly neglected garden. The weeds have gotten a little bit out of control, but I still managed to harvest a lot of food today. I dug up half a row of potatoes, picked one-quarter bushel of beans, unearthed several carrots, shucked a couple ears of corn and collected two cups of raspberries.

Neglected Corn

My goal is to plant cold-hardy plants where the bush beans were, so I will probably plant spinach, swiss chard and broccoli. So far, the cucumbers and sunflowers are not doing well. The yellow-squash and zucchini have taken over much of the garden. Some of the tomatoes are showing blight, but I try to take care of it by cutting off any part of the plant which appears diseased. The raspberries have been the most impressive because they are the earliest to fruit and will be the last to die off. I ate the first ripe grape today and it tasted terrible because it was so sour. The carrot crop has been the best vegetable this year and has not fallen prey to insects or disease. I have also had a lot of luck with the potatoes. The cabbage didn't fair too well this year, but I don't like cabbage anyway.

July Food List

Sorry, I haven't been very successful this month in keeping up with my challenge. I didn't record several days and I think I missed writing down absolutely every single morsel of food. My eating was not out of control on the days without an entry, though. I also didn't have a single day off from both work and school for the entire month of July. I took an Organic Chemistry class and lab this summer. I attended my class reunion where I ate factory farmed meat and on some days I chose to eat at work because I had very little time to prepare my food. The main addition has been adding corn meal/flour to my food list. Since I have only used a couple tablespoons of vinegar for the past seven months, it is a food which should be taken off my list. I use corn meal/flour to fry fish and squash. It is also used to make hushpuppies, which appears frequently on this month's list :)

You will notice that I ate ice cream and shakes. The reason for that was more of an issue with having such a bad sore throat from mono and nothing else helped. I have never been in so much pain from an ear ache and sore throat in my entire life. I had to take Tylenol daily for a couple of weeks to alleviate some of the pain. It was very frustrating for me because normally I never take any medication. A lot of people gave me advice about what to do, but they were not in my situation.

1st - 1/2c strawberries, 1c potatoes, 1 scallion, 3 eggsr, 1/2 spritz, 1tsp honey
2nd - 1/4c blueberry syrup, 1c peanut beans, 1sm carrot, 3 eggfrtst, 1/4 bread, 1/4 spritz, 1/2tbs butter, 1tsp honey, 1 pot coffee
3rd - 1c raspberries, 3 eggscr, 1/4 bread, 3tbs butter, 1tsp honey, 1 pot coffee
5th- 2c peanut beans, 3 eggscr, 1/3c rice, 1/4 bread, 1tbs butter, 1tsp honey, 1 pot coffee
6th - 2c potatoes, 1c sugar snap peas, 3eggscr, 1/4 bread, 2tbs butter
7th - 1/2c raspberries, 1c potatoes, 1/8c green peppers, 1 scallion, 1/3c tomato, 3 eggomlt, 1tbs gccheese, 1/4 bread, 1tbs butter, 2tsp honey, 1 pot coffee
8th - 1/2c blackberries, 1/8c green peppers, 3eggscr, 1/3c rice, 1/4 bread, 1tbs butter, 2tsp honey
9th - pizza, oreos, milk
10th - 1c sugar snap peas, 1c carrots, 1/8c green peppers, 1 scallion, 2 cherry tomatoes, 3 eggomlt, 1/4c ground goat meat, 1tbs gc cheese, 1/3c rice, 1/4 pound cake, 1/2tbs butter, 2tbs sugar, 2 pot coffee
11th - (sm bowl leftover goat-rice stew) 3 eggscr, 1 med tortilla, 1/4 pound cake (sonic: oreo blast)
12th - 1/2c blueberries, 2 strawberries, 1-1/2c potatoes, 3 eggscr, 1 med tortilla, 1/4 pound cake, 1/2tbs butter
14th - 1/4c blueberry syrup, 1c carrots, 1c potatoes, 1tbs onions, 2 eggfrtst, 1(dbl yolk) eggscr, 1/4 bread, 1-1/2tbs butter, 1tbs sugar, 1 pot coffee
15th - 1/4c blueberry syrup, 1c applesauce, 1c peanut beans, 3 eggfrtst, 1/4 bread, 1/4 spritz, 1/2tbs butter
17th- 1-1/2c peanut beans, 1/8c green peppers, 2 eggscr, 1/3c rice, 1/4 bread, 1/4 spritz, 1 tbs butter, at work: (grill trout, 1c mashed potatoes, vegetarian gravy, 1c apples, 2 hush puppies)
18th - 1/8c green peppers, 2 cherry tomatoes, 1tbs onion, 3 eggomlt, 1tbs gccheese, 1/3 bread, 1tbs butter, 1tbs sugar, 1 pot coffee, (mini sonic oreo blast for sore throat)
19th - 1/8c green peppers, 2 cherry tomatoes, 1tbs onion, 3 eggomlt, 1tbs gccheese, 1/4 bread, 1tbs sugar, 1 pot coffee work: (grill trout, 1c green beans, potatoes, hushpuppies)
20th - 1/2c strawberries, 1-1/2c potatoes, 1/8c green peppers, 1 cherry tomatoes, 1tbs onion, 1tbs garlic, lemon balm tea, 3 eggomlt, 1tbs gccheese, 1/4 bread, 2tbs butter
21st - 1/2c raspberries, 1-1/2c bush beans, 1-1/2c potatoes, 1tbs onion, lemon balm tea, 3 eggscr, 1/4 spritz, 1tbs butter, 1/2c honey (mine- 1 frame extraction somewhat minty flavor)
22nd - 1-1/2c bush beans, 2sm carrots, 1/4c tomatoes, 1tbs green peppers, carrot top, 3 eggomlt, 1tbs gc cheese, 1/3c goat meat, 1/3c rice, 1/4 bread, 1/4 spritz, 2tbs butter, 1tbs sugar, 1tsp honey, 2 pot coffee, work: (sm choc birthday cake piece, chair lift: 1dr pepper)
24th - (bad ear ache and sore throat difficult to swallow) 1/4c blueberry syrup, 3 eggfrtst, 1/4 bread, 1/2tbs butter
25th - 1c cucumber,3/4c zucchini, 1/4c tomato, 1tbs green pepper, 3 eggomlt, 1tbs gc cheese, 1/4 bread, 1/2tbs butter, 1tsp honey, 1 pot coffee, (sonic: ice cream for sore throat)
26th - 1sm zucchini (1-1/2c slices fried canola, egg, corn meal) 1/4c tomato, 1tbs green pepper, 3 eggomlt, 1tbs gc cheese, 1/4 bread, 1tbs butter, 1tbs sugar, 1 pot coffee,  (work: grill trout, mashed potatoes, hushpuppies)
27th - 1 tomato (1/3c) 1sm zucchini saute (3/4c), 1-1/2c potato, 2 eggscr, 1/4 bread, 2tbs butter, 1tsp honey, 1 pot coffee (dairy queen: choc shake for sore throat)
28th - HS reunion ate a lot of various meats
29th - 2c potatoes, 1/8c onion, 1med zucchini (fried w/ corn meal), 3 eggscr, 1/4 bread, 2tbs butter, 2tsp honey, 2 pot coffee
30th-31st- didn't keep track

Colored Pencil Sketch

Since this is my blog and I can write whatever I want to, all of you will be subject to my new found discovery of photoshop. Look at how I made the photo from Ghost Town into a black and white colored pencil sketch :)