May 2, 2020 Hike Report: Trying out the View

This was just an ordinary coronavirus hike in which we explored both the close-up views and the long-range views from the local cemetery. Not the vets cemetery but the other one up the hill.

Gathering at the garden parking lot were ten of us, and all but one were wearing masks.

The weather was perfect for hiking on our mountain trails, but during the coronavirus lockdown we are not gathering in our cars and are confining our hiking to the adjacent areas.

We walked up through the Farm and then up the sidewalk to nowhere and then into the cemetery.

We scattered out way beyond the six foot distance and gave the cemetery a pretty good inspection and decided the views were nicer for us than for the permanent residents. For us, for now, just a tryout will be sufficient, thank you.

So, as our photos will affirm, it was an enjoyable and safe hike for us all: Buzz, Carol, Mary Kay, Ellen, David K, Atossa, Betsy, Mary Leonard, Sidney, and Tom.

By the way, we had a splendid variety of masks. Betsy's solid gold mask won the prize for most valuable and most regal.

April 25, 2020 Hike Report: Gravelengths

Yes, you guessed it, we did stay gravelengths apart, in the vets cemetery and all throughout our hike today.

In fact, we were so far apart that the caboose almost lost all connection with the locomotive and almost went off on the wrong track..

We had a rather surprising turnout: Allan, Buzz, David, Tom, Ellen, Mary Leonard, Mary Kay, Sydney, Liz, and Atossa.

One might think we violated the rule against groups of ten, but actually we stayed so far apart that we could hardly be called a group. We were more like a cosmological scattering, whatever that is!

As for the hike, it was a stroll past the rehab center, then into the woods coming out in back of the neurological center, then into the cemetery, and then back to the farm. A pretty easy hike.

At the end of this hike we orbited fairly close to the GHF post office, and it was obvious that we all just felt good being within gravelengths of each other for that little while.

By the way, we did pretty much keep our masks on in spite of our distancizing.

We saw several other hikers on this jaunt.

April 18, 2020 Hike Report: Are the Four Dogs Slipping?

We did not really have a group of hikers today. Just four: Ellen, Betsy, Carol, and Tom.

So we were legal.

We headed over to the new road on the northeast side of our lake, and proceeded to Gatchell Street and then Taylor Street, where the four dogs greeted us exuberantly. And the house next to them had one fairly noisy dog, and the house around the corner with all the cookout stuff had just one little completely silent dog.

We made our way on Blue Ridge Road to Cragmont and then Locust Street, where we turned right, went down the hill and up the hill with several new houses on our left. We took the little path at the end of Locust which took us to more of Locust Street and then took Central Avenue, down and up its hills, to West College Street, where we soon rested on the church steps. Then we went on down the hill to new 70 for a bit and then slanted up to old 70 and through Blue Ridge Apartments and back to the four dogs.

And lo and behold, the four dogs are slipping. Only two of them got up to greet us along the fence. The other two just lay in the sun and barked at us a bit. We returned to the Farm after an enjoyable hike of 3.4 miles.

On this hike we saw a variety of interesting new houses, two kids bicycling up and down the hill on Central Avenue, and a fair number of doggies defending their properties.

We also encountered two newly and delightedly committed Farmers, out for a stroll with a neighbor. Good going, Buzz and Sydney!!

April 11, 2020 Hike Report: Coronicuss and the Four Institutions

Because of the cussed coronicuss, we were confined today to local safe-distancing hiking, and we managed to cover four institutions:

Givens Highland Farms, Alcohol & Drug Abuse Treatment Center, Black Mountain Neuro Medical Treatment Center, and Western Carolina State Veterans Cemetery.

And we did them in that order, more or less, and it was a very nice hike on a perfect sunny hiking day.

Keeping at quite respectable distances from one another were Atossa, Allan, Stan, David K, Buzz, Sydney, Mary Leonard, Betsy, Mary Kay, and Tom.

On this hike we saw no other hikers unless you want to count Ernie Jahnke and John Brown, whom we encountered over near the vets cemetery.

And you might also want to count Ellen Farrior, who hiked pretty much the same route as the other ten hikers, but she never quite caught up to us. Ellen, you are far too gregarious to hike all by yourself. And you can get a lot closer to us than you did today, without risking an encounter with the cussed coronicuss pathogen.

April 4, 2020 Hike Report: Circle West

Stay away from your cars. Stay six feet away from your fellow hikers. But Circle West out of the Garden Parking Lot for a nice hike!

Head up through the Farm parking lots, up to the Meadowmount entrance. Cut across Tabernacle road and the field on the other side, then circle down to the bridge taking you into vets cemetery.

Hang a right on the paved road up along the new columbariums. When it turns into a dirt road, just keep on going, and you will soon come to an old roadway going off to the left.

That roadway will take you through a woods and to the back end of the neuro medical treatment center.

If you angle off across the green field to your right you will come to a dead end.

Instead, angle down to the big parking lot and come out to the back road that heads toward North Fork Road.

You will soon come to a little road that is a back entrance to the Lions Club McCune retirement center. Take a right and come out at the McCune center. Then take a left and go down their entrance road and come out on North Fork Road.

Now you gotta go single file along the narrow shoulder for about a quarter mile, past Bed and Biscuit and past the pretty farm scenery, but you won't be alone. You will be in the company of not only your fellow hikers strung out along the roadside, but also the cars and pickups and one big cement truck buzzing along on North Fork Road.

Then it will quiet down for the remainder of your hike, up Hutchins Road, through the cemetery, down the nice new “path to nowhere” that takes you back to the corner of the farm.

Enjoying the variety of scenery on this hike, including great views of the mountains on both sides of the Swannanoa Valley, were Atossa, Allan, Carol, Mary Leonard, Sydney, Buzz, Ellen, Stan, and Tom.

On this hike we saw no other hikers and no dogs, just cows, some of whom were lying down chewing their cud, looking very contented, just as our hikers will be contented later this afternoon.

And now for some Atossa Artistry

March 28, 2020 Hike Report: Thomas Church Turnaround

 A warm and sunny morning greeted ten hikers at the Garden Parking Lot. No, there were eleven, but one hiker, Mary Leonard, just came to cheer us on and then went on to another activity.

The ten who actually hiked were Atossa, Nancy the gardener who gave us priority over her snap pea planting, Allan, Carol, Buzz, Ellen (who delightfully is back after a little ambulation snag), Mary Kay, Sandy, Sidney, and Tom.

 With Buzz in the lead, we walked in the direction of Tomahawk, cutting through on that new gravel road that emanates not far from the Martin house (the bird apartment).

 This got us onto Gatchell Street and then past the four-dog house and onto Blue Ridge Road and to the Carver Center and the Thomas Church, where hikers peered in windows and zigzagged through the graveyard.

 If there was enthusiasm for continuing down Cragmont Road toward Tomahawk Park (which is covid-closed), it was quite well hidden, and we soon found ourselves backtracking to the farm, where we just seemed to evaporate, with each hiker finding the way back to his or her isolation chamber.

 We did well at keeping our anti-covid-19 distance apart on this hike, but we still enjoyed each other’s company and felt properly socially nourished.

 By the way, the four dogs were nowhere to be seen on our outbound trip, but they were out in full force on our way back home.

And now through Buzz’s lens:

March 22, 2020 Hike Report: Viral Distance

Oh, my, no joke, we just cannot make light of the coronavirus, and that certainly is not our intent with the title of this report.

Rather, that title is a veridical portrayal of our hifarmhiker situation today, as most of our hikers kept their distance by absenting themselves from the Givens Highland Farms Garden Parking Lot at 9 this morning.

Those who did venture out, Carol, Amy, Atossa, Betsy, and Tom, stayed more than an arm's length apart throughout the hike. We just went carless over to the vets cemetery and around the chapel.

Even without the customary affiliative behavior, it was good to see and talk with one another and to enjoy the view from up by the chapel.

We are thankful for all hiker friends and look forward to good times ahead.

Thank you, Atossa, for all of the following great photos.

March 14, 2020 Hike Report: Mitigation Masterpiece

The expert on TV said that we should all act as if we have the coronavirus and keep a good distance apart from one another so as to mitigate the virus’ effects.

Western North Carolina seems to be taking this advice quite seriously, even though we have no confirmed cases. And we hifarmhikers decided that maybe we should fall in line by hiking locally rather than crowding into autos to get to the scheduled hike up in Montreat.

So, we strolled out of the Garden Parking Lot, up through the Givens Highland Farms parking areas, and then on the new “sidewalk to nowhere” which actually does go somewhere, up to the entrance to the Tabernacle cemetery (properly known as Mountain View Memorial Park). Then we went through the cemetery and down Hutchins Road to North Fork Road.

The original intent was to go to Camp Dorothy Walls and back, but apparently most if not all hikers actually never made it to the Camp, but fanned out in various roads and fields in the general vicinity.

As far as we know, there were no coronavirus transactions on this hike and we are all more or less okay.

Hiking today were Carol, Betsy, Mary Leonard, Stan, Buzz, Sydney, Sydney’s daughter Amy Stupka, Atossa, and Allan. Biking today was your scribe, who cannot honestly describe the level of mitigatory behavior on today’s adventure.

And here are Sydney Wilson’s contributions:

And now, treat yourself to a special addendum by Atossa Kramer:

Thanks - I'll just add a little about one group who fanned out a little more across the field while another group headed back to the cemetery. This group included Allan, Atossa, Betsy, Buzz, Sydney, Liz and Amy.

In more or less chronological order.

  1)  whole group heading over the field to avoid having to walk at all on North Fork Rd. Like a group looking for "the Rapture"? 

2)  Felt some eyes looking down on us!

  3) Approaching the brow of the hill 

 4) Two beautiful horses in a corral

 5) Pictures and petting

 6)They loved to pose 

 7) The man of the house came out to see who these ancient hikers were.  His name is Jason, and he's the track and field coach at Montreat College.  His specialty is pole vaulting!  We had a very interesting conversation about the challenges and dangers of that sport.  Jason said he had considered putting a sign on his window  when he first saw us heaving over the hill.  "We have no toilet paper"!  It was a lovely visit.  You might see someone riding a blue bike pulling a little trailer with with two young boys around our roadways.  That's  Jason.

8-9) We spied some black cows with one tiny little baby on our way back, but we couldn't get close.  

Uneventful walk home where we parted with bows and elbow bumps and gratitude for having friends who are always up for an adventure. The unexpected is often the most fun!

March 7, 2020 Hike Report: Five and Four Split on Jones

 The five were Atossa, Mary Kay, Stan, Allan, and Sydney.

The four were Carol, Mary Leonard, Margaret K, and Tom.

All nine of us went on a  steady uphill pull on Davidson Road to the viewpoint by the nice cabin. We enjoyed very good hiking weather in the high thirties and into the forties, with bright sunshine and hardly any breeze. And with the trees still bare, the views were outstanding, all the way to snow-dusted Craggy  to the northeast and far distant slate grey Mt. Pisgah to the southwest.

On the return, the five stayed on Davidson and the four took the Kalmia connector and Rhododendron Road and  Ruins Trail.

Davidson Road is getting quite eroded in spots but is easy hiking. Kalmia had just a couple of short somewhat steep spots but is quite easily navigable, even without poles. Rhododendron Road and Ruins Trail are mostly flat and pleasant walking.

 We may have  met a hiker or two and maybe a dog or two on the trails today.

Now for some nice photos by Sydney.

February 29, 2020 Hike Report: Igloo in the Oaks

Fierce, howling wind. Snow on the ground and on the roads and trails.

Perfect day for hiking?

That is what a horde of Hifarmhikers thought!!!

The horde consisted of Allan, Mary Leonard, and Tom.

That's it!

We took a vote and decided to go where there was some shelter from the wind, so we headed for Vets Park and the woodsy Oaks.

To our surprise, the greenway paralleling I-40 was melting and safe, so we hiked it and then the road and around through a couple of gravel roads that took us back to the end of the greenway.

We were concerned about the cold wind, so we built a little igloo and enjoyed a respite complete with hot toddies.

We did miss all you other hikers, but there really wasn't room for you all in our igloo.

Allan pointed out that spring is just around the corner, and we took a picture to prove it!

February 22, 2020 Hike Report: Great Hike Commemorating Ken Wiig

Mother nature smiled upon 22 hikers at the Garden Parking Lot this morning. She gave us crisp, sunny weather for our bakery hike in commemoration of our friend and fellow hiker Ken Wiig.

Let’s see if we can account for the 22 hikers:

Atossa, David K, Mia Topple (first time with us, Stan’s wife; welcome Mia); Stan, Ann, Allan, Nancy, Sandy, Bob, Margaret K, Sharon, Sydney, Buzz, Suzanne, Elllen, Ruth Rydgren (Ellen’s daughter), Chuck Lampley (a friend of Ellen and Ruth), Carol, Amy (Carol’s daughter),Sue, Ernie, and Tom.

This commemorative hike started out at the parking lot with a brief commemoration by Ernie, who  presented roses to  the lady hikers among us. Thank you, Ernie.

We motored to the Veterans Park and then set out through the wooded single-file path in The Oaks. All went well through the woods with this large group of hikers.

As we sauntered into town, we began to wonder what coffee place might accommodate us.

We looked into Louise’s, but they were far too busy.

Our next stop was Foothills Butcher Bar, where we were able to commandeer enough tables to accommodate all of us.

And where would we go from there?

Some of us hiked back to the farm.

Others were taken home by drivers who had been ferried to their cars by Marian, who met us at Foothills.

Hopefully we are now all present, though not accounted for, back here at the farm.

It was a great hike that Ken would have enjoyed, for sure.

And now some photos by Ernie.

And Atossa’s great photos:

February 15, 2020 Hike Report: Kitsuma Kaboodle in the Hoarfrost

 On a morning with the temperature down in the twenties, a good kaboodle of hikers turned up at the Garden Parking Lot: Carol, Atossa, Margaret K, Suzanne, Buzz, Bob, Sydney, Ursulla, Tom, and new hiker Stan Topple, who moved into a GHF condo in September. Stan lived in Montreat for many years, so he is already friendly with our Swannanoa mountain trails, and it will not take long for him to have many friends here on the farm.

This was a good day to do Kitsuma because the steady uphill pull over about twelve switchbacks enabled, nay required, us to generate a good bit of body heat which warded off the cold air.

The impressive feature today was the hoarfrost along the trail. Samples were captured by Buzz, Margaret K, and Suzanne and are on display in this report.

We had a nice pause at the overlook near the top, with the usual guessing as to what we were seeing scattered along I-40 beyond Ridgecrest. Was that Owen High way off in the distance? We always look for Givens Highland Farms but it seems to be pretty well hidden by the trees.

Up at the top, we found the bare-trees view to be much better than in other seasons when the trees are leafed out.

On this hike we saw two mountain bikers on the trail, one with a loose dog, and two more bikers getting ready to start out, and a small group of hikers just starting out down near the parking lot.

All went well on this hike and we were back at the farm well before noon.

Two photos by Margaret Kleiber:

Remaining great photos by Suzanne, using Atossa’s phone:

February 8, 2020 Hike Report: Three to MLK

When Bob, Buzz, and Tom started out from the farm post office at 8:30, it was freezing cold but sunny, and we had a nice walk up the Tabernacle sidewalk and through the cemetery and on North Fork Road and to the Dorothy Walls Center, arriving in plenty of time for the MLK breakfast.

When we came out from the breakfast, we were confronted by a peaceful snowfall. Bob disappeared with friends, but Buzz and Tom enjoyed a pleasant walk back to the farm in the light snow.

That’s it, folks, unless someone informs us that another group of hifarmhikers enjoyed a nine-o’clock hike out of the garden parking lot.

No photos!!!

February 1, 2020 Hike Report: Arrested on Rainbow’s Bend

Notice that title: Rainbow’s Bend, not Rainbow’s End. Here is why:

If you have hiked up to Montreat’s Lookout mountain on the circuitous Rainbow Road trail, you may remember that a little over half way up, the trail takes a sharp left and for about ten yards is quite steep with rocky ledges, a good place to rest.

Today it became more than a resting spot. It became an arresting spot. Just above the ledges, after about forty-five minutes of steady hiking, we had a little group discussion and decided to cease the upward climb and head back down so as to arrive at our cars in order to get back home by around 11:30. Perhaps our main instigation for this decision was the need for some of our hikers to get back a bit early, but it is also true that others of us felt that abbreviating the hike at that point still provided us with a good workout, about equal to most of our hikes.

We had ten hikers today: Margaret K, Margaret F, Buzz, Spence, Craig, Ellen, Suzanne, Nancy, Ursula, and Tom.

The morning was quite grey and chilly, but we were still happy to be out and to be together. There were a few small remnants of snow here and there alongside the trail.

We encountered a few new downed tree logs, all of which were quite easy to climb over. We encountered a few joggers, and when we got back to the parking area there was quite a jam-up of cars.

Most other hikers choose to go up on the short route involving those railroad tie steps. But we enlightened hifarmhikers like to take a more gradual route with space and time for the full blooming of our astounding affability and brilliant conversation.

January 25, 2020 Hike Report: A Dam Mystery

Three of Saturday's hikers could not explain to your scribe how you all did the Bull Creek Dam hike without seeing the dam. Perhaps it will forever remain a mystery.

Rather than dealing with all the possible solutions to this mystery, perhaps you will appreciate Craig's brief hike report.

Hello Tom, 13 of us parked at the Berea Church and walked the Bull Creek trail. We didn't get to the dam but enjoyed the creek very much.

And another from Margaret Kleiber.

Hi, Tom, We had a lovely hike in the woods on Warren Wilson property—explored several trails, but, alas, never found the dam.

Hiking today were Allan, Pat, Ellen, Margaret K, Buzz, Margaret F, Suzanne, Harper Day, Anne, David K, Mary Leonard, Sydney, and Craig.

January 18, 2020 Hike Report: Stealing into the Steel Grey Oaks

The following hike report is by Suzanne Sutherland. Thank you for this nice report, Suzanne.

HiFarm Hikers Jan 18, 2020

On this steel gray morning, seven intrepid hikers gathered in the parking lot in hopes of having a reasonably normal hike in the face of the unfriendly weather predictions of rain and sleet. Rejecting the chance to explore new ground, the relatively safe option of heading to Veteran’s Park was chosen. Margaret and Craig from Black Mountain and Buzz, Atossa, Suzanne, Margaret K and brave new hiker, Pat Thompson safely completed the 3-mile trek without any mishaps.

Buzz initially served as our guide, giving us a tour of the community gardens and then leading us into the woods. Buzz, lagging behind with fellow photographer Atossa, was replaced by the more reliable leadership of Craig. After counting bridges and navigating patches of muck, stopping for views of the fast-flowing streams and occasionally meeting another hiker with dog, we emerged from the woods, still miraculously dry. We stopped for a look at the Montreat College Manor House, a 24,400 square foot mansion which is on the National Register of Historic Places, where Craig provided us with some interesting history. Most of us then returned home, while some continued on to the Women’s March in Black Mountain to hear from our future leaders, amazing girls ranging in age from about 10 to 16. The women’s marchers would like to report that we believe our community’s future is in good hands.

Photos by Margaret Kleiber. Thank you, Margaret.

January 11, 2020 Hike Report: Nobody? Rained Out?

We have not heard that anyone hiked on this rainy Saturday. Anyone reporting that they did hike will be forever memorialized here.

January 4, 2020 Hike Report: In the Loop

Congratulations to a baker's dozen of our hikers who were in the loop to start the New Year.

Yep, they did the Campus Loop, starting at Owen Park and going along the river a bit and then looping up the long wooded hill and around to the Warren Wilson Campus and back.

We do not have all the gory details about bears and snakes and poison ivy and lost hikers, but the wonderful photos supplied by Ran and Buzz and Margaret K will tell the story pretty well.

Our hikers were Mary Leonard, Sam, Sidney, Suzanne, Spence, Margaret K, Margaret S, Liz, Ellen, Carol, Buzz, Allan, and Ran.

All photos by Ran unless otherwise noted.

Margret K photos of cows and duck:

And here are four more photographic gems from Buzz Yoder.

December 28 Hike Report: Visiting Visitors with a Visitor

On a lovely cool morning niue hikers set out to visit the Blue Ridge Parkway Visitors Center.

There we hiked the 1.5 mile loop trail, a good trail, easy up and down, that begins and ends at the far end of the parkiing lot.

W encountered a dozen or two hikers today, some of them running and some of them being taken for a walk by their dogs.

Some of our group went to the Visitors Center after the hike. No doubt they are now experts on the Blue Ridge Parkway.

Hiking today were new hipster Buzz, Sidney, Allan, Bill and Paulette, Margaret K, Tom and his daughter-in-law Evie visiting from Dallas, and new hiker Jean Fenton, who lives in apartment K229. Welcome, Jean.

The next series of photos are by Evie’s camera

December 21, 2019 Hike Report: Stroll in the Oaks

Only five hikers gathered on this frosty morn at the Garden Parking Lot: Carol, Atossa, Sydney, David, and Tom.

The schedule called for Shopes Creek, but we quickly decided to save that for another day and do something a little less ambitious.

What would that be? A bakery hike? Quickly ruled out!!! A stroll in The Oaks? Quickly ruled in!!!

So, off we went, all in David's car, for a nice stroll through the woods up to the Terry Mansion and then back on the trails over toward the railroad tracks.

On this hike we encountered a single gentleman hiker and a single lady hiker. It was a nice, easy, convivial outing, helping us to feel ready for the Christmas week ahead and for the gradual lengthening of the daylight hours.

All remaining photos are by Atossa Kramer.