July 19: Camp & Train Ride

We were in camp just one day and a motorcyclist cruising thru our camp area stopped and yelled at us to come see a bear. We never saw her but she had been just at the entrance to the camping area munching on the same type of berry tree that is hanging over our picnic table. One of our neighbors says it's a wild cherry tree and not too edible for us. Then Larry went for a bike ride and saw a doe and fawn in the road past our camping area. This area has a .6 mile road leading back here from the county highway into the actual camp ground. Apparently, the wildlife abounds on that road. We've ridden this road on bike and walked it yesterday - the day of the sighting - but saw nothing, until Larry took that bike ride and saw the deer. While setting up camp Thursday, Larry saw a couple of hummingbirds so I quickly made up a solution to put into my feeder. Didn't take long and we had visitors. Haven't seen a male at my feeder yet but did see one at the camp host's camper. The guy on the motorcycle told us to let the camp host know about the bear and her cub being in the area. Apparently they count the bear sightings in the area. Also saw a turkey tonight on our bike ride.

This morning, I decided to take pictures of the forest at our back window. It's kind of hard to get a grasp of the side of the mountain we're sitting on with a one dimensional picture, but we are literally on the top of this hill with it sloping away from us right at the back of the camper. I took the picture out the back window and then was stepping outside to take another photo (the one on the right that has the edge of the camper in it) when I saw this gorgeous black snake. Didn't get quite all of him because I wanted to get a piece of the fire ring so you would have something to compare him to for sizing. He was probably a good 3' long maybe 3 1/2'. He stopped when I opened the door - I guess he was posing for the photo op. Then as I stepped further down the steps, he took off into the woods. He sure were purdy.




So far, I guess we're not too disappointed in the wildlife in the area. We've still got 4 more days to get a bear photo. The next camp has the same bear alerts so maybe I have a couple of weeks to get one. It's my goal while I'm here. Hope I don't have to track off across the woods to find one.

Today we drove to Stearns, KY to take the Big South Fork Scenic Railway. It was a 16 miles round trip that dropped 600 feet down into the Big South Fork gorge. This railroad used to be used by the K & T (Kentucky & Tennessee) Railway. The company built this town to serve as a hub for the lumber and coal mining in the area. Supplies and workers were also transported on it. The engine is diesel/electric. By 1976 the company sold out to Blue Diamond Coal Company who later transfered the land over to the National Forest. Today, the area tries to preserve the heritage of this old system that was very big in its day.







We went thru one old mining town, Barthell. We're going back there by truck tomorrow for lunch. It's only about 2 miles from our camp ground. In fact, the mine that the train stops at is called the Blue Heron Mine or Mine #18. There's suppose to be an antique car museum here in Barthell, too.





At the end of the track was (heat & humidity) an open museum (on the right) showing photos from the past as well as a model of what the town looked like in its hayday. We walked to the concession stand first and had some hot dogs and sweet tea. Then walked to the top of the coal tipple (on the left). The coal cars from the mine ran along that high bridge and dumped into the tipple to be sorted by size. Larger hunks were ground for more sizing. Then they were dumped into several different coal cars by what ever size came out that chute. You can see 5 cars under the tipple in this photo. The concession stand was the other side of the tipple. Quite a walk for a hot dog and tea. The photo of the museum and the train was taken from the rail way at the edge of the tipple.