Update on I 40 Rock Slide

Last week I reported on a massive rockslide blocking I 40 a major travel route through the mountains of North Carolina. What was initially thought would take crews 2 months to clear now is estimated to be a 4 month project.

The rock slide more than a week ago will keep the interstate closed for at least four months. N.C. Transportation officials say the cleanup could cost $10 million, and Gov. Bev Perdue has declared the slide an emergency.

WRAL
Anyone planning travel through the mountains along I 40 corridor in and out of Tennessee should review travel routes to get around the slide.

Massive Rock Slide Blocks I 40 In North Carolina Mountains

A massive rock slide has blocked all four lanes of I 40 on the North Carolina Tennessee border at mile marker 2.6. The slide happened overnight being reported around 2am Sunday. Unknown is if there were any vehicles in the area when the slide happened and if they are buried under the massive amounts of rocks.
North Carolina Department of Transportation report that it could be a couple of months before the highway is cleared and reopened to traffic.
This is an important travel route for western NC and important to the local economy that depends on tourism. The detour around this slide is one hundred and forty miles!!! While there is never a good time for something like this to happen during the fall when people are traveling to see the fall colors and not to mention that Thanksgiving travel will be upon us soon.

UPDATE
A few new videos shot from the scene has been added that give you a pretty good idea how massive a slide this is. It would appear that the remoteness and the early morning hours kept anyone to be passing by at the time the slide took place.

Go West Young Man

Bryce Canyon National Park

My wife and I just returned from a 10 day trip out west to celebrate our 15th wedding anniversary. Certainly a milestone for anyone to live with me for 15 years I guess once I learned to not butcher critters in the kitchen it got easy (Ha Ha).
We flew to Vegas and supplied up and headed for Utah. We put 2000 plus miles on the rental car and visited 6 national parks, 1 state park, and 3 national monuments plus I got sick. That was certainly the downer of the trip I got a nasty cold that about wiped me out. I’m sure the fact that we were at a much higher elevation contributed to my fatigue as well. One day we drove to two stores (25 miles apart) looking for NyQuil but couldn’t find any but the next day I found some in a small camping store on the North Rim of the Grand Canyon.
Between my feeling under the weather as well as the remoteness of the places we were I certainly did not get to update my blog as much as I wanted to. No need to fret I’ve got a number of posts that should have been made last week that I’ll make the next couple of days so it will be a feast of information for a while out here. Not to mention the number of photos I took of critters and landscapes along the way. Utah is a beautiful state and I can’t wait to share some of the photos and the stories with you.

African Hunt

Photo courtesy of From the Stand

Don’t know who has been following Chesson’s trip to Africa over on his blog but he has some great stories and photos posted. As an outdoor cameraman for a number of the hunting shows we love to watch, he certainly gets to go some great places. Many dream of having a job like his but not me. There is no way I want to go all these places and never get a chance to shoot some myself.

Well I heard from Chesson and they have completed filming and the hunters are flying back home today. Chesson doesn’t have a flight out till Friday so he is going to get a crack at getting behind the gun and get a trophy. Congratulations buddy I look forward to the story of your hunt. Good Luck I hope you get something good if it was me I’d go after the Sable.

Story by Dan McLaughlin AKA Moose

Blue Ridge Parkway’s New Destination Center is Open

One of the most scenic rides in the country is the Blue Ridge Parkway through the mountains of North Carolina from Georgia to Virginia. No matter what the season the views are breathtaking all along the Parkway.
A new center has opened in the Asheville area of the Parkway called the Destination Center. One of the purposes of the new center is to link travelers with additional activities in the area so they increase the time they spend in the area.

The center is beautiful and environmentally friendly with many green features. This past weekend when I was visiting they had a Scottish Dance group performing in the auditorium.

There is some wonderful informative displays about the nature in the area A very good display that explains the Chestnut Blight and the devastation of that disease on a very important mast crop for much of the Appalachian Mountain Range. There have been some blight resistant chestnut trees discovered across the range including the Blue Ridge Parkway that are currently being studied with the hope to one day restore this important tree.

Over the past few years like many of the National Park managed properties the Blue Ridge is in need of much of funding for upkeep and maintenance. Groups like the “Friends of the Blue Ridge Parkway” are working to preserve the park through volunteer projects and fund raising.

The Blue Ridge Parkway is one of my favorite places to visit and I’m sure the winding mountain road with the beautiful vistas it can be one of yours as well.

Story & Photos by Dan McLaughlin (AKA Moose)

The Magic of the Tundra Swan Migration

This time of year the tundra swan returns to the wintering grounds here in North Carolina along the coast and it is a sight to behold. The whole concept of how a creature can fly from Canada and Alaska every year and back is a pretty amazing feat when you think about it. I had heard from some folks in that part of the state that the swans were beginning to return with some numbers this past week and so I felt an urge this past Sunday to take a ride that direction to have a look. I think part of my fascination with the swan is the haunting call it makes and the similarities of the call with that of the loon we listened to often on summer nights in New England.

We rode down to Lake Mattamuskeet National Wildlife Refuge on Sunday and I got some great photographs and took in the sights and sounds of the birds returning to their wintering grounds. I’m running a lot of the photos I took on Mooses Wild America this week so be sure to check them out as well.

There is an opportunity for schools in the area of the wintering grounds to get involved in research on the Tundra Swan that is being conducted by Sylvan Heights Waterfowl Park. They are looking for assistance with banding and tracking tundra swan along their migration route.

Sylvan Heights Director of Education Dan Louk is excited about the opportunity the project presents to Valley youngsters. “This is a real-world research project they can not only observe, but also become involved in,” said Louk. He added there is still time and room for more schools to participate, but the window of opportunity is closing fast.

In addition to participating as a group at Sylvan Heights, Louk said the students will also keep in touch with other groups of students all along the migratory track from North Carolina to Alaska. “The students will actually exchange data that all can benefit and learn from. Since the birds winter almost exclusively in North Carolina, the students here will study the wintering behavior patterns which are very different from the behavior in the breeding grounds in Alaska, which will be studied and reported on by students there,” said Louk.

Roanoke Daily Herald

This sounds like a great opportunity for people interested in helping with research to get involved. The North Carolina Wildlife Commission has been participating in researching the tundra swan for some time and has a fascinating website where you can learn about some of the research they have conducted. They have some migration studies they did back a few years ago and although it is no longer being up dated you can see the travel routes of many of the swans they banded and attached tracking devices to during that time. It’s certainly a site worth checking out if your like me and just a little bit fascinated by the distances these creatures fly each year.

I’ll be doing my part to help with the research on these birds when I participate in the hunting aspect. As one of the limited 5,000 permits drawn this year I’ll complete a survey after my hunt reporting what type of bird I took and answer a few other questions. In addition to that should I or any other hunter take a banded bird there is a reporting mechanism for that to help get the information to researchers so they are aware that a banded bird has been taken.

Within the waterfowl hunting community there is an honor in taking a banded bird and often you’ll see hunters with bands attached to their duck calls. As hunters we realize the important role we play in the conservation of the specie as well as the protection of the habitat that allows these birds to flourish.

The tundra swan is a magnificent creature and if you get the chance you should make a point of visiting Mattamuskeet Wildlife Refuge this winter and see them.

New England Trip

The opportunity came up for me to travel up to New England for this past week so I’ve been on the road. I got to visit with some family and old friends as well as make some new ones along the way. As I often do I let a sample of some of my photos tell you about my trip.

Humpback Whale

Nuble Light Maine

Moonlight

Black Bear White Mountains National Forest

Cow Moose feeding in pond

Hope you enjoy them.

Not Your Typical Salad Bar

I posted up some photos earlier about our most recent trip to Gatlinburg Tennessee. A Day In GSMNP , The Fight , More of a Great Day
I was working on organizing them tonight when I came across a few that I had forgotten about that I took on our last evening in Gatlinburg.
Staying right in Gatlinburg we decided that we would leave the jeep behind and take in some of the lights and sights of a town all decked out for the Christmas Season.

The Park Grill had caught our eye earlier in the day as we drove by especially their sign about call a head seating.
As soon as we walked through the door and saw the impressive display on top of the salad bar I knew we were in for an experience. By calling ahead our wait was not long and to be honest I was so interested in the various animal mounts spread throughout the restaurant I didn’t notice the wait.

A really great idea that I wish more places would do was our waiter sent us up to the salad bar to get our salads prior to ordering. This way we had ample time to enjoy our salads and conversation before our main courses arrived.

I guess seeing all those fly fisherman in the streams all day programmed our minds to both order the grilled rainbow trout. The food was wonderful, the service was top notch and the atmosphere was spectacular.
The Park Grill would be a great place for a group of friends to gather after exploring the Great Smokey National Park or for a romantic dinner to end a perfect day. You find yourself traveling to Gatlinburg you should check out The Park Grill.

Cancel that Trip to the Post Office

Yesterday I brought you the story about how a passport may be needed for your next off shore fishing trip but now it seems that’s not the case.

Offshore anglers need not worry, as such is not the case. The story apparently was misreported by the Associated Press and is no longer being circulated on the wire.

The ESPN Outdoors News Hound has gotten to the bottom of this issue.

Aigen stressed that as the Act relates to offshore travel by anglers and boaters, passports will be required — beginning in January 2008 — by U.S. citizens only when their craft has docked at a foreign port after departing from domestic waters.
The department spokesman also said the Associated Press was notified of its reporting error and was asked to print a correction.

You May Need More Then A Tackle Box for that Next Fishing Trip

Starting in January anytime you go 60 or more miles out into the ocean fishing you’ll need a passport to reenter the United States. Of course swimming the Rio Grand will still not require any documentation. I’m all for tightening up the borders but this rule seems to be a bit ridiculous when I bet I drive by more illegals’ in a morning on my way to work that crossed a river then all of those who snuck in on a local fishing boat.

Passport to be required for offshore fishing

LAKE CHARLES, La. — Air and water travelers from abroad aren’t the only people who will need passports next year _ deep-sea anglers who go more than 60 miles from shore will, too.
That’s increased business significantly at the Moss Street post office in Lake Charles.
Postal Service employee James Coleman said he issued about 40 passports a day last month, compared to a total of 40 in September. Nationally, more than 1.4 million passports were issued in October.

KATC TV 3

It will be interesting to see how this is enforced and I bet it will catch a lot of folks off guard.

How big a boy r you?

Photo courtesy of NC Wildlife

From the days of market hunting this Punt Flintlock is on display at the Outer Banks Center for Wildlife Education.

The N.C. Museum of Natural Sciences has temporarily loaned a flintlock punt gun – used in the earliest days of market hunting – to the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission for a month-long special exhibit at its Outer Banks Center for Wildlife Education. The display will be unveiled on Oct. 1 as part of Excursion Day, an annual celebration at Currituck Heritage Park.

 

Think you are man enough to shoulder this gun?

 

Standing nine and a half feet tall and weighing more than 100 pounds, the punt gun began its northeast North Carolina career in 1853, blasting dozens of waterfowl from the sky with a single shot. That was very much the gun’s purpose, to effectively kill as many birds as possible, which then were shipped to be sold in distant cities.

 

 

I guess I’ll stick with my 50 caliber in-line. If you want to read more about this here is the press release.

 

Written by Daniel "Moose" McLaughlin · Filed Under Antis & Wackos, Hunting, North Carolina, travel 

Moose on the Loose In California

July 31, 2006

Well posts have been a bit of sporadic out here but my wife and I were on the road in California.   In 9 days we covered just shy of 2000 miles around the great state of California.  I was a bit surprised how much I enjoyed my time out there. We toured Joshua Tree National Park, Sequoia NP, Kings Canyon NP and Yosemite NP.   

I broke in a new Canon Rebel Digital SLR and I’m very pleased with how my photos turned out.  I shot about 1000 photos so here are a few samples.

 

 

I have many more to catalog and upload so there will be additional photos in the future.  Wildlife is one of my favorite things to shoot; we

saw some Mule Deer Bucks but they were quicker then me so I got no photos of them.  A search for Big Horns was not successful but I did stumble across some elk but once again the big bulls were not to be found. 

   Our National Parks are a treasure and everyone should get out and see them.  The conditions of the facilities at some parks are a pure shame.  The budgets of the Parks appear to be cut to the bone.  In my view additional fees should be collected at the parks to let users cover these parks.  Some Parks are over run with excessive animals that allowing hunters to buy tags for these animals rather then hiring sharpshooters would seem to me to put more money in the coffers for these parks. The beauty of these places are unbelievable and I hope this is not the generation that squanders away what has been entrusted to us. 

Written by Daniel "Moose" McLaughlin · Filed Under National Park, Photography, travel 

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