Hired for the season as a Park Ranger by the National Park Service (officially, my title was "Visitor Use Assistant"), the job was a challenge for me.
My duties included leasing camping spaces to visitors of the park, along with assisting the law enforcement rangers with "carry outs," when someone got hurt and stranded in the mountains.
I had trouble getting enough to eat during those six months. I was not a very good cook to begin with, and the nearest convenience store or restaurant or anything was about 10 miles away in a very small Tennessee town called Townsend. There was no grocery store in Townsend as I recall. That was in Maryville, an approximate 45 minute drive one way from Cades Cove. This may not sound far, but the road up and down the mountain was very winding and slow going, especially after I had a long day at work. I remember boiling a lot of noodles and microwaving whole potatoes for my meals, but it was not enough to keep the weight on or my energy up. To my embarrassment and the irritation of my coworkers, I completely gave out on one trip into the mountains where we had to carry out a rather heavy woman with a broken her ankle.
Truthfully, I was relieved when November came and my job ended.
The location was absolutely incredible, though.
In May, the pollen was so thick in the air at times that it looked like yellow rain in a downpour.
Until I finally learned to carry a flash light with me, night was so dark when I got off work that I had to drag my feet to know that I was still walking on the paved road from the campground office hut back to the cabin where I lived. On one of those night time walks, I got charged by a grunting deer. The buck stopped just a few feet in front of me. We stared at each other for a moment before it went galloping off into the woods.
I also came across several black bears during my bike rides and hikes through the park during those six months, and I saw a flying squirrel one night.
When the leaves changed in October, the mountains were beautiful shades of orange, red and yellow. The leaves took on a silvery tint as well that I had never seen before and which only lasted a couple of days.
In June, I remember being given a full day to go on a hike while on the clock with the Park Service. I chose to make this a 12 mile hike to Gregory Bald (called a bald because hardly any trees grew at the top of the mountain), six miles up in elevation, and six miles back down. My colleagues had told me that Gregory Bald was covered with flaming azalea bushes, which were in full bloom at that time.
The only catch was that I had to wear my Park Service uniform and carry a radio with me, which I put in a holster on my belt.
For most of the hike up into the mountains, I was alone. I came across a black bear that paid me no mind. It was eating blueberries, I think. Toward the top, I caught up to a husband and wife who I assumed to both be in their 40s. The husband was agitated that his wife could not keep up with him, and in his frustration at how quickly I was able to pass them, he mocked my walking style and said something sarcastic to me.
During the hike up to the top, I noticed increasing pain in my hip on the side where the radio was holstered. When I got to the the actual mountain top, I had to sit down and give my hip a rest (The next day it would be even more painful, and I realized that it was the weight of the radio on one side during the 12 mile hike that had caused it).
It was too bad that I was in discomfort, as I am sure that I did not represent the Park Service very well. People who were already on the mountain top saw me in my uniform and came up to have a conversation, but I really wanted to be left alone to rest my hip and enjoy the tranquility of the moment. I remember the look of disappointment on one woman's face in particular when I was probably a bit abrupt with her.
But the sights at the top were worth the trip. The azalea bushes were some of the most incredible things that I have ever seen in nature. To my surprise, in the wild these bushes grow much taller than me. The various colors also amazed me. They weren't just orange and red, but white and pink and purple as well. Each bush had its own color. To have seen these bushes from the air would also have been impressive.
Photographs that I have looked at on the internet do not do Gregory Bald justice, because they fail to give you the panoramic sweep of the scene and the many, many bushes and colors of the flowers that you can take in at the same time.
Still, here is a link to a good description of the hike:
http://www.hikinginthesmokys.com/gregory.htm
My hike up to see the flaming azaleas on Gregory Bald is one of my favorite experiences in the Great Smoky Mountains.
No comments:
Post a Comment