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More Explorations - December 2018 Shoal Branch Vicinity Southern Nantahala Wilderness Area |
All Text & Images: Copyright (2018) |
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More Explorations - December 2018 Shoal Branch Vicinity Southern Nantahala Wilderness Area |
All Text & Images: Copyright (2018) |
| Recovering from some surgery, I was ready for my exploring season (i.e. the cooler months after the leaves have fallen) to begin. I had done several easy-moderate treks to work back into shape, and was primed for more strenuous climbs. (1) Early December Back in the mid '90s, a friend and I had visited the old Garrett Mine on the south side of the Wilderness Area. I wanted to revisit the mine and look for a Native American site reputed to be nearby. The area had grown up tremendously since my visit 20+ years earlier, and I was unable to locate the mine. But the day wasn't wasted, as I came across a pair of fallen logs with an interesting selection of colorful fungi growing on them. |
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| Oyster Mushroom (Pleurotus ostreatus) - top |
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| Oyster Mushroom - bottom |
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| Ascocoryne sarcoides |
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| Possibly another Ascocoryne species |
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| Phlebia radiata |
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| Phlebia radiata - close-up |
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| Bisporella species |
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| Old Trichaptum biforme - top |
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| Very old Trichaptum biforme - bottom |
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| Trametes betulina, formerly Lenzites betulina - top |
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| Trametes betulina - bottom |
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| Possibly Fuligo septica(?) |
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| (2) Five days later, after examining an old marked-up paper topo map from my '90s visit, I returned to the Shoal Branch area for another look: |
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| Near the grown-over trail, I passed a pair of old rock piles of unknown origin |
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| Rockpile 2, with a huge tree rising from the middle |
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| Nearby, I noticed a group of aging Puffballs. |
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| Site of the Garrett Mine... I finally refound the old amethyst mine. I never would have recognized it from my visit almost 25 years earlier. At that time, there was a ~20x20 inch shaft cut into the pit, descending at a 45 degree angle. Dirt walls, no rock, no shoring = extremely unsafe! Either the shaft collapsed or was covered by the USFS, but I saw no sign of it. |
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| One of the Garrett Mine pits, from the opposite side |
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| I wasn't far from the logs with the unusual fungi pictured at the top of this page, so I walked up to see if I'd missed anything before. Looking very closely, I found this small, unusual fungi: Metatrichium vesparium |
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| Further up, I came across an old camp site, with fireplace & a collapsed lean-to. |
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| Camp fireplace |
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| Climbing a little further, I came across another huge boulder, that favored an animal head... |
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| Moving to the next drainage basin, I encountered a line of old rock piles along the creek branch. |
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| Rock pile 2 - I photographed seven in this row before moving on. |
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| These beg the usual question asked of N. Georgia rock piles/mounds - historic or prehistoric? |
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| Rock pile 4 |
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| Rock pile 5 |
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| Rock pile 6 |
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| Rock pile 7 |
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| Not long afterwards, I came across two more, larger, rock piles in a draw near a seasonal branch. |
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| Rock pile 2 |