A MOUNTAIN DRIVE

I stuck my head out the front door at 5 AM this morning and promptly pulled it back inside.  Brrrrrr!  The temps were to stay in the thirties today and I didn't particularly feel like being in a boat today.  Had to do something.  I'm on the second day off of three in a row and I wasted yesterday and  didn't want to toss today away too.  I decided to drive on over to Pigeon Forge and get in the traffic sewer pipe that would take me to Townsend where I could get to Cade's Cove.  I figured if I could get to Pigeon Forge early enough I'd not see any traffic and when the handle was flushed on the Sevierville toilet - I'd simply slide down the sewer pipe that carries traffic through Pigeon Forge without any restrictions at all.  It worked out pretty well.

There were a few cars already on the motor road that goes through Cade's Cove but, not many.  The only problem I have with driving through this magnificent place is the constant reminder that it isn't really wild.  Endless cars in front and to the rear coupled with people dotting the fields on both sides of the road are a constant reminder that this was created for tourists.  It's hard to ignore that view.

I swear - if I had Warren Buffet's money I'd offer the Great Smoky National Park 3 billion dollars free if they'd tear this road out of Cade's Cove and restrict entrance to foot traffic.

Above is a rule that is widely ignored, especially by tourists.  They can't seem to resist stopping their cars in the center of the road, jumping out both sides - leaving their doors hang open and, massing down through fields with cameras in hand, practically running, bent at the waste (whatever that's supposed to accomplish) to get as close as possible to the critter, who by now is on alert and deciding whether to run or charge.  If it's charge - the critter gets rewarded by later being shot to death.  The tourist says "wow" and returns to his car looking for more wildlife to pester.  In reality, tourists are responsible for killing more bears than cars.  Even elk are taking the bullet for stupid tourists who should stay in the cities, where they belong.  OK, I'll stop.

Cade's Cove does indeed hold a lot of history about the pioneer days .  There are many charming cabins and even a couple old rustic Baptist churches that maintain the flavor of that early era.  There's quite a bit of interesting history residing in the cove and maybe someday I'll do a piece on it.  Not today though.  Did you know that Cade's Cove was originally Kate's Cove?  Huh?  Do ya care?  Google it.

I thought I might see an elk, bear or some hawks if I got here early enough but alas, there was none of that.  I suspect there are too many cars here this morning for critters of that ilk to stand around in pastures and tolerate it all.

It looks like the hoar frost is on the mountain tops this morning.  It soon will be replaced with snow.  The mountains are gorgeous early in the mornings.  Colors range clear across the color spectrum.  No way can a camera capture more than the simple essence of the reality.

I truly feel that Cade's Cove is the most important, spectacular section of the national park.  As I eluded to earlier, the only downfall is this stupid motor road that allows tourists to drive through this grandeur inserting their colored, motorized baggage into the wilderness setting.  Even with the addition of tourist's motorized litter - the mountains and meadows over shadow the human intrusion in a grand fashion.

I saw a movement to my left and checked the rear mirror to see if anyone was behind.  I was free for a moment of being pushed along by some irate tourist.  I stared at the spot and found myself looking directly at the biggest turkey I have ever seen.  His camouflage was perfect.  All the cars ahead of me drove right on past without seeing him.  They aren't looking.  They don't know how.  The big bird was in the shadows and a tough shot with the camera.

In the shot above, he has his neck twisted around and his beak is preening shoulder feathers.

 Wow, I can't tell you how large he is.  He's beach ball size.

The crop of mast has been really good here in Tennessee this year and there's a lot of food for turkeys and other birds.  And, this is a national park and these turkeys can live out their lives and pass on of old age.

 I saw over 50 white tail deer this morning and have not photographed any until now.  I thought I better at least get a shot or two just for the sake of doing it.

 These deer are very used to cars as can be seen by their demeanor.  They move casually along ignoring the cavalcade moving on the blacktop pathway.

I had forgotten how small mountain whitetails are compared to the deer that live in the valleys and along the rivers.  These deer rely on mast, grasses, berries and the like for their sustenance whereas the valley deer grow hugh feeding on corn, barley and other farm crops that are so prevalent down there.  These animals resemble large dogs more-so than deer.  If the mast crop is poor up here, then their lives are in jeopardy.  Down below, if the mast crop is poor, they move into the farmers fields.  Life is very different between mountain and valley deer.

Oh well - my obligation to present photographs of deer has been fulfilled.  I can relax now.

Below is what happens when ya yell -"HEY THERE. YA, YOU."

 Gets their attention every time.

So, there you have it.  A little ride through Cade's Cove.  Now for the ridiculous ride back through the Pigeon Forge sewer pipe and points East.  I think Pigeon Forge should expand.  That way more tourists would fit and stay in there and out of the forests.  Cynical, you say?   You bet!

THE MINK

This morning was very overcast with drizzle that would start and stop continuously.  I love it.  There's a special clean, fresh smell to the outdoors when conditions are like this.  
I just had to throw a couple shots of this guy up here.

 He's a sweetie!

I cruised past the spot where I saw the mink yesterday and allowed the boat to slowly drift past the beaver lodge with the current.  This is the lodge where the little mink dove into and hid from me.  He wasn't there.  I initially thought this lodge was old and uninhabited by beavers.  I was wrong.  There are fresh cut branches piled up on the sides of the lodge in preparation for winter.  Look at the ends of the sticks and you can see where they have been chewed upon by the beavers.

 A shot of the lodge is below.  It's located right on the river bank.

I continued on across the river and up the other side.  The boat was moving along at 8 miles per hour and I saw no fishing boats on the water at all.  Of course, it's very early.  I was looking up on the mountain side where I saw a red fox the other day and my peripheral vision caught a quick dark movement on the top of the bank just above the water.  At first I thought it was a stick falling off a tree.  I scanned the weeds and brush and there it went again - very quickly.  It had legs and was black.  It was a mink.  Engine off, run to the front of the boat and lower the electric motor, with camera in hand and turn the bow around.  This is a lot of coordinated work here for one person.  Yikes - there's no light.  I'd have to make this work shooting at 1/40th of a second.  That's definitely tripod speed.  Oh well---   He was a black streak..

I felt that every picture would be blurred and I was willing to accept that because it's a rare thing to even find a mink let alone photograph one and I wanted pictures so bad!  I was willing to accept the blurs.  Mink do nothing slow, it seems.  They do not seem to linger in any one spot for longer than mere seconds.  I had to stop this guy somehow or I'd lose him.

He was doing a great job of keeping wood and brush between himself and me.  I looked ahead to see if I could see where he was heading so I could focus the camera on that spot and wait until he entered the field of view at that point.  I saw a beaver lodge in the water.  Could he be heading there?  I focused on a stick in that small open area and waited for him to get there.  He passed across my lens before I could react on the shutter button.  I was about to lose him.  It was then that I switched on the ignition and bumped the horn button briefly.  And, he stopped and stared directly at me.

I clicked away.  As I shot pictures, I wedged my shoulder against the console to gain support to steady the camera.

 I noticed my hands quivering a little.  I was excited.  This is an opportunity that many outdoor photographers spend years to acquire and, some still do not realize success.  These critters are very secretive.

I was making minor adjustments to the camera in hopes that a few of the shots would be acceptable.  I adjusted lighter and then darker, all the while trying to find an adjustment that would allow a little more shutter speed.

 There are a lot of shots here but, his head may be tilted slightly differently or, his foot may be placed slightly back or forward.  I want this guy documented in a very solid fashion so I printed all the acceptable shots here on the blog.  What a piece of luck to get this guy to stop.  

 These pictures were all taken in about thirty seconds.  So you can imagine how busy my hands were making adjustments to the camera, focusing, trying to remain steady and slowly moving my body to keep alignment with this critter while compensating for the movement of the boat.

 I knew my time with him was about to end and I felt so privileged to have this time with him one on one.

He was ready to head for cover.  I could sense it and there wasn't anything I could do.  

 Then - he was gone - like smoke in the wind.  This mink was one of the toughest shoots I've ever done.  As I stated previously - these telephotos need a lot of light and today was probably the worse day ever to use a telephoto.  I tried everything I knew to get these shots.  Yes, they lack clarity but, I got him.

He disappeared into the beaver lodge.  The mink on the lower end of the river also disappeared into a beaver lodge.  This tells me that mink and beaver coexist together.  I wonder how many observers realize this.  Minks are creatures of opportunity and a beaver lodge is perfect habitat for them.  Beaver lodges would be a prime area to seek out mink it would seem.  The pictures are not National Geographic quality but they're special to me.  Long lenses require lots of light and lots of light didn't exist today.  Gotta make do with what's at hand.  I'm happy though.  I slowly pulled away from the shoreline to the center of the river and kept moving upstream.  

 The resident turkey herd was out and I grabbed a couple photos just to do it.  They can be seen in this field each and every day.

Well, what a morning!  I'm off for three days in a row now so I don't know if I'll be in the wilds or not.  The weather is to take a turn for the worse, cold, and I don't know if I want to deal with it or not.  We'll see.  Hope you liked the mink.  See ya.