Bees Knees

While we were at the Farmers' Market on Saturday, we saw a honey vendor who'd brought part of the hive along. Mary needed a refill, so she bought a small jar, while I studied the bees.

There are a number of folks doing honey products in the Luray area, I know of at least three operations. One is about 2 miles from us, and I met the guy last year. When we talked about his enterprise, he told me, "My bees probably get into your neighborhood gathering pollen, but that is at the far end of their range."

It's a little known fact, but bees fly 50,000 miles to produce a pound of honey.

These farmers have their operation a few miles north of Luray, near Pass Run. That means they may actually visit the fields of Valley Star Farm, which I wrote about last week.

At the Page County Heritage Festival, coming up next month in Luray, there will likely be several of these bee hive displays...there will be other things, like apple butter making demonstrations and so on, some things to look forward to...

The queen is in the second shot of this hive - she has a little red dot on her back. But the phone cam quality is not great, but if you click on the photo she is near the center of the shot.

North Mountain Vineyard - a Sunday outing

On Sunday, for a treat, we decided to head over to North Mountain Vineyard in Mauertown. I guess that would be a 30 mile drive from Stanley; we decided to cut through the GW National Forest to Edinburgh, and then follow US 11 north to the town. It had been a few years since we’d been here, and we knew that the ownership had changed in the meantime.

Here is an example of the reviews I found on-line about North Mountain…
“Follow romantic and historic country roads into the Northern Shenandoah Valley to discover an enchanting winery nestled in a beautiful vineyard! North Mountain vineyard and winery welcomes the visitor to the heartwarming experience of award winning Virginia wines: Chardonnay, Chambourcin, Riesling, Vidal Blanc, Claret, Mountain Sunset, and Sweet Caroline's Blush.”



My recollection was of a wonderful setting, with an approach through farms and orchards into the vineyard itself. Another fond thought was of bringing Gracie, the border collie, here when she was only a year old. After our tasting, she got to play ball out by the picnic grounds, shown in one of the pictures here.

During our Sunday visit, we enjoyed making our way through the day’s wine list, and I decided to go for a tasting of one of the reserve wines, a cabernet franc. We liked the vidal and the cabernet franc, and I would be inclined to agree with the reviewer above about the Chardonay – even though I am not a fan of that variety – and say that North Mountain's is a good wine.


After we had a vineyard snack of brie and jam, we bought a mixed case that included some specialties, including an Octoberfest vintage and a blush wine, which I plan to serve with some grilled pork very soon. At the vineyard, they have a variety of locally made cheeses to offer, which were very tempting. On another day we’ll try them.

Another memory from a past visit was an apple wine called Pippin that the previous owner made. It was an eclectic choice, but we used it during the Fall (warmed with a cinnamon stick) for Thanksgiving, and then in the winter for mulling. The new owner continued the tradition of using the apple wine, only with an innovation, blending it with grape wine. So it is still a treat – and for him, I hope it is more commercially viable than apple wine alone.



Speaking of the wine maker, John, we had some time to chat with him, as we were late visitors. We told him of past visits and he told us about some of the changes the place has gone through as it has grown over the years. Everything has come along very well, Mary and I agreed, and North Mountain is everything you might expect from a vineyard visit – I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend a visit.

And there is one last treat to mention – an annual Oktoberfest Wein Festival that is coming up on October 4! Here is the blurb from the NorthMountainVineyard.com site:

“Annual Oktober Wein Fest and German Heritage Day!
Featuring the grand German Band The Continentals of Washington, D.C., for your listening and dancing pleasure!
Sample authentic German food, potato salad according to Oma's recipe, sausages, and red cabbage! Sit in the wine tent and sing along with the German band, dance, and enjoy! Our German heritage interpretor is ready to explore with you the German heritage of the Shenandoah Valley. Local artisans display unique crafts and foods. Festival admission fee includes souvenir wine glass, wine tasting, and entertainment. Rain or shine, 11am - 5pm.”

Scarecrow and a yellow moon

Scarecrow and a yellow moon,
And pretty soon a carnival on the edge of town,
King harvest has surely come.

-King Harvest, The Band *

The county fairs have begun, and all of the fresh local produce is showing up in the Luray Farmers' Market, which we visited on Saturday. Mary's been going for most of the season, but with the weather turning cool and my pool opening chores curtailed, I tagged along this time.

The Luray market is really a nice time - you see the local wares there, not just food, and there is usually live entertainment. Those excellent mini donuts they had the last time I was in weren't available this time, but we've begun to recognize some of the folks that are regulars, and they are starting to recognize us as well.







This week we went right to the farm stand to pick up fresh vegetables. We were delighted that there was still sweet corn and we picked up six ears. At this little stand, there was a variety of other foods as well, and they are part of the foodroutes.org system, that seeks to revitalize the local food system. I will spend some time on a future post about this concept, which talks about family farms, sustainability, and other issues - all pretty much current topics.

So the photos today are of the items for sale at the market - corn, squash, and green beans among them. Finally, a shot of some of the goodies we took home with us - peppers, squash, and tomatoes.

*

Ivy Creek - an Easy Day Hike

During my vacation a few weeks ago, I did three day hikes in the Shenandoah National Park. Today I will write about the second one, Ivy Creek, which begins from the Ivy Creek Overlook in the southern district of the Park. This sign about the AT greets you at the trailhead as you begin the 2.8 mile hike, which is also reviewed in the Easy Day Hikes book.

Here's a review from the ajheatwole.com (a good, comprehensive, on-line guide to the Park, by the way) site: "Take the A.T. at the south end of the overlook. You will reach the crest of a knob about half a mile from the overlook, then descends for 0.6 mile. There, with the Drive less than 100 yards uphill on the right, the trail swings left, descends, then swings right and crosses Ivy Creek—1.4 miles from the start. It follows the bank of the stream, climbing easily for nearly 0.3 mile before it swings away to the left. I find this miniature canyon delightful. The A.T. is mostly a ridgetop trail; this is the only place in the Park where it follows a stream. "

On the day I did this, the weather was hot and sunny - well into the 90's, and it was a little humid. So I had plenty of water with me. The destination here is a little pool on the creek in the canyon, I knew I could expect a refreshing cool breeze there and was looking forward to it. As the hike traces the AT its entire length, this was fairly easy going on a well maintained trail, and there was interesting scenery along the way, as in these two photos.

Here's a view of the pool that is the hike's destination. This is an out-and-back hike, so you get here, and you turn around. For that reason, and one other, I'm not sure I would recommend this hike for anyone but the most desparate for exercise.

A big negative is that you are never more than a quarter mile from Skyline Drive, and even on a Thursday when school is in, the sound of motorcycles invades the forest. Because of the proximity to big East Coast cities, the Park and Skyline Drive is practically over run by riders who come out for a relatively safe, scenic drive.

They are entitled to their recreation too, but the bikes are loud, and you pretty much hear them throughout the Park on any stretch of the AT.

As I walked back, as often happens on these hikes, a new viewpoint presented itself. The viewing angle inbound completely obscured this break in the trees and the overlook; but here it was opening up to the horizon coming back in the other direction. This view is to the Southwest, and it is a reminder of all that makes SNP a great recreation area - mountains and woods, and a view from the heights.

Pool Chores

The chores that I do during the pool open season extend beyond managing Dude, our 'bot. We maintain this blue "solar blanket" in the pool during the week, which passively transfers heat to the water but also retains some of it over night. It also helps keep out some of the leaf litter - but not all of it.

That's the first step on Saturdays, to take this thing off of the pool, working carefully not to dump any extra dirt in while you are doing it.

I should mention that there are other solar methods to heating the pool, but all of them are passive, and may not be effective for our application because of the trees and partial shade. Not to mention how much space they take up - the pool area isn't very large in the first place.

The next step for me is clean these filter baskets in the returns.
This step actually takes place after the robot is already at work. I wear rubber gloves for this, as shown - there is usually a host of dead bugs in the basket, sometimes live ones. I recently wrote about rescuing a toad, and I have seen ring-necked snakes around the pool. So the gloves are a little precaution in case I run into something very much alive and angry.

Just a note about the baskets. I learned early on to hold on to them carefully when emptying them. The slope of the hill is not clear in this picture - it's pretty steep, and a dropped basket will run all the way down to the road.

There are a couple of other elements of the chores that I haven't mentioned - mostly dealing with another filter nearer the pump, and the flushing process for after we've had a lot of rain. All totaled, the activities take about an hour. I usually take care of them while Mary heads off to the Luray Farmers' Market.

The Dude at Work

Thanks to everyone who voted in our Pool ‘bot Naming Poll – in the primary voting as well as the just completed finalist poll. Looks official – “Dude” is our ‘bot’s new name!

In honor of Dude, today’s entry will unfold the process I go through on most weekends when the pool is open (generally May through September), focused today on the robot-oriented activities. In a second post I will talk about some of the other aspects of weekly pool maintenance – at least what I have learned so far.

We didn’t buy this ‘bot, by the way, he came with the deal. He has spent most of the last two years in hibernation, but seems none the worse for wear and tear. Uncle D saw him and told us that we had a good model, then put the Dude right to work. He said, “You’ll enjoy watching him, and eventually, you will name him.” Uncle D is wise.

Dude is a straightforward, functional machine. He’s mostly plastic, with a few metal items in his internal organs and for structural support. There is a blue power cord, connected in such a way that you can actually lift the ‘bot with it. This connects to a transformer that plugs into the power source, while we keep this unit away from the pool, it can withstand rain and is for the most part waterproof.

There is a hatch where the Dude’s filter bag is installed, accessible as shown in the photo here. Fortunately, the Dude is not sensitive to strangers viewing these parts, and if he knew I was publishing this photo, I know he would say, “Get a good look, city boy!”

All kinds of stuff ends up in the bag, mostly leaf litter and the like, some dirt – but sometimes there are insect carcasses, and last weekend there were two or three dead night crawlers in there. I simply remove the bag and dump it out in the yard.

Next step is to reinstall the bag, close up the ‘bot, plug him in, and lower him into the pool, as seen in the step-by-step photos here. Then we turn on the machine and it’s off to the races.

The ‘bot’s vacuum generates enough suction that he evens climbs the walls of the pool, and I must admit it is very pleasant when he comes up to greet me this way. I generally let him work on the pool for two hours in the morning before we put Dude away.

A final note on footwear during these chores. A lot of your outdoor recreational activities require special gear and pool chores are no exception. I’ve got my Foot Joys for golf and my Vasques for hiking. For the pool action I chose some Croc knock-offs that I picked up in the Outer Banks last year. Ankle-high white socks are optional.

German Fast Food

When I was in Berlin in the ‘80’s, we used to love a couple of German fast food items that you could find in little street side stands called imbisses. Now there is a little stand in Leesburg at the old Mighty Midget kitchen where you can find this food - we stopped in after the cabin work day Sunday.







One item was called currywurst – a beef sausage cut into slices, topped with a curry-ketchup sauce, and served with fries. This was served hot, so it was great to find an open imbiss after a night-time bar hopping expedition – even better if it was cold out, and you were near the bus stop back to base.

As second item was called doner kebaps (this is often spelled in many different ways). The origin of this item is Turkish – overseas, the stands were mostly in the style of a storefront diner rather than a little food stand. This is because they used a rotisserie as part of the preparation and I guess there wasn’t room in a little imbiss stand for it.

Whenever some of us get together from the old days, these delicacies are sure to be one of the topics of conversation. I often associate the food with an event for some reason – the currywurst from the little stand near the train station where we caught overnights down to Frankfurt, or at the one that was exactly halfway between the Irish Harp and Nada’s – two nightspots we went to.




Or the doners from the little joint up the street from Tempelhof, walking distance from base, where you might head late night after a swing shift. Or the one at the Alt Mariendorf metro station, where we would call for carry out – surprising a helpless one-person kitchen with an order for 50 sandwiches! When Mary and I visited in 2001, we grabbed a doner in the Potsdam train station before heading out to Sansoucci.

The doner stand in Leesburg is near the train station and they have a website at “doener-usa.com”. Here are some photos - of bratwurst, currywurst, and the style of doner they prepare. Seating is beer garden style (their pamphlet hospitably and correctly spells it "biergarten") and they have Warsteiner on tap. Take this as a recommendation!

Valley Star Farm

We had a work day at the cabin Sunday…very likely the hottest day of the year for it. Honestly couldn’t get much done in the heat and humidity – it reminded me of the old days in the south, waiting for a hurricane. I know so many of my friends across the country were dealing with a storm this weekend, and our thoughts are with you.

More on the chores we were taking on later this week. On the way home, we made two stops I want to write about today and tomorrow – one, about a farm in Luray that has a pumpkin patch, and two, about a doner kebap stand in Leesburg – doners are a fast food that originated in Turkey, that is very popular in the large German cities such as Berlin. My friends from those days will regale any willing listener with stories about our adventures looking for a good doner.

The Valley Star Farm in Luray opens a “pumpkin patch” every year at this time – starting September 5 and running through the beginning of November. It’s a couple of miles north of Luray on US 240, you can’t miss the pumpkin patch signs up that way. As shown in the photos, they have a ton of varieties to choose from, and many decorative and edible squashes as well. Sometimes there is other produce, although the sweet corn is over by the time they open. Yesterday they had McIntosh and Fuji apples.

There is also honey, fruit trees – potted or fresh-dug, mums, corn stalks, and straw. For family fun, they set up a corn maze, and they have four or five goats with a shed and some climbing rails, which is a lot of fun to take a look at - seen in the background of the photo with the big pumpkins. The farm sells Christmas trees later in the year, and these fields are the main thing you’ll see as you drive up. They have a URL at valleystarfarm.com – there is a photo gallery along with a Google Map.

Here are some highlights from our stop yesterday. It’s a beautiful place, reminds me of the beauty of the Shenandoah Valley. The mountains in the background of these photos are Shenandoah National Park.

For Sue and Nancy, this is the same farm we stopped at last year during your visit.

OSU @ USC

In case there is any question about who I am cheering for tonight - the game is on at 8pm!

These photos are of the Tommy Trojan statue on the USC campus, and the Marching Trojans at an event in July '08.

Fight on 'SC!

Summer Flowers - miscellany

Well, we're getting our money's worth out of this title...I am posting about trees and fruit more than flowers under this category. And here we go again.

Two highlight photos this week - these acorns I found on the Stoneyman hike last week - set on a lichen covered piece of greenstone there in the Park. Leave no trace principles mean I've left these behind, hopefully a bear or deer has found them by now and had a little snack.

Also, I've mentioned the apple tree and how it attracts so many deer. Here is a photo of a couple of fallen apples gathered in front of our frog. This is about two hours' worth - it's a pretty constant racket out there, hearing them fall out of the tree!

Stony Man Summit - an easy day hike

Stony Man was the first hike I set off on during my vacation last week. It was a toss up, deciding between a waterfall destination of a summit, but I decided I might like to be around the Skyline area afterwards and Stony Man won. Besides, having driven past it so many times, and with it being visible from our part of the valley, seemed like I had to do it. This first photo is of the mountain as you approach it from Skyline Drive.

Stony Man is the second highest peak in SNP, but you wouldn't know it from this hike: the route is less than 2 miles, there is only 350 feet of elevation gain, and it starts from a large parking lot in the Skyland complex. I think it would be very crowded on weekends, but it would be a good hike for families - there is a nature trail quality to the path, with numbered stops. This is the first time I encountered two blazes on the trail - the blue for SNP trails and the white for the AT.

After a fairly quick climb you soon reach the summit. Here are three photos (views to center, left and right, respectively) in various directions from the main rock terrace up there. Incidentally, there is a hitching rail right at the top, as there is a riding trail from the stables that traces the ridge here. The small barely visible lake in the lefthand photo is Lake Arrowhead, a reservoir in Luray that has nice recreational facilities...on any given summer day you might encounter a family reunion or even a wedding reception going on there, recently, the swim event in a triathlon was held there.

I met and chatted with some folks visiting from Leesburg at the top, doing my impromptu ranger guide speech about the view to the valley. They were retired and had a good story to tell about a hornets' nest they'd encountered earlier in the week - there were plenty of buzzing insects around (no hornets though) that reminded them of the story.

One other highlight of the climb - at one point, marked by this sign, this trail is the highest point on the AT within the Park. Soon afterwards, the AT splits off northward.

After summiting, I followed the horse trail for a few dozen feet, and found myself at another vista point - this one with no other people present. I took some time to enjoy the views...funny, I also got a work cell phone call up there. It was a refreshing place for the conversation we had - dealing with some final technicalities on publishing a deliverable.

It was so hot last week during the golf round and the hikes that I looked forward to getting back to the cabin for a dip in the pool. A great reward after the exercise!

Day Hikes

During my vacation last week, I did three day hikes...all of these from the "Best Easy Day Hikes, Shenandoah National Park" book, written by Bert and Jane Gildhart. I picked up my current copy from Evergreen Outfitters, but we have an earlier addition that we bought at the Big Meadows visitor center in SNP.

This book has 26 hikes in it, spread between the North, Central, and Southern District of the Park. Almost all of them have trail heads on Skyline Drive. According to their rankings, from easiest to most difficult, they are:

• Limberlost
• Story of the Forest
• Fox Hollow Trail
• Snead Farm
• Traces Trail
• Loft Mountain Loop
• Betty's/Crescent Rock
• Blackrock Summit
• Calvary/Chimney Rocks
• Calf Mountain
• Pocosin Trail
• Miller's Head
• Lands Run Falls
• Stoney Man
• Byrd's Nest 4 Loop
• Corbin Cabin/Nicholson Hollow
• Mary's Rock
• Hawksbill Summit
• Bearfence Mountian
• Rapidan Camp
• Lewis Spring Falls
• South River Falls
• Powell Gap
• Dark Hollow Falls
• Ivy Creek
• Whiteoak Canyon

Scanning the list, I've done ten of these so far - and covered most of those in the blog. I'm making it a goal to do the rest by December 2009...I'll be sure to report on these as we check them off the list.

Tomorrow, I will begin the write-ups for Stoney Man, Ivy Creek, and Whiteoak, the three I did last week.

The tech-watch geek returns

Last month I mentioned the Casio Pathfinder line of altimeter watches, which includes multiple features besides altimeters, such as barometers, compasses, and even phases of the moon. As part of my vacation reading I picked up “National Geographic Adventure” (from the cover story, “Where to Live and Play Now,” I thought I might fit into the demo for this, but I found it to be exceptionally consumerist, what with all this adventure tourism and the like…not much info about sustainability or conservation...jees, who pulled up this soapbox for me to stand on?) which happened to include the Casio Pathfinder ad but also had a review of a Tissot timepiece.

The watch is the Tissot T-Touch Expert, and it is also an altimeter watch, with barometric pressure, temperature, chronograph, compass, and alarm. It is designed to be less clunky – the reviewer says the others look like “wrist-top robots” – he calls this boardroom bling with a crystal face, titanium bracelet, and minimal flair.

It retails at $1,095, so price is one thing the Casios have on it…not to mention their solar battery and atomic timekeeping features. This one does have a touch screen, so all navigation is done from that interface, which might be better than dealing with the buttons on the Casios...still, I think I will check this one out, next time I come across a Tissot dealer.

By clicking on the label "Tech-Watch Geek" you will be taken to the entire series of altimeter watch reviews.

Herpetology

As the week is coming to an end, I decided to get the jump on my pool chores Friday morning before setting off on a hike, and also because there was a forecast for tropical storm rain and wind. This hike, the third and final of my vacation, was going to be White Oak Canyon, which is over on the east side of SNP. As I went about the routine of setting up the robot and cleaning out the return baskets, I found this little toad swimming around against the suction that would have eventually brought him down.

He was gray from the cool water and from being submerged in it for so long, and seemed a bit swollen and waterlogged, so I didn’t know if he’d make it. So I set him on the terrace near the path to keep an eye on him while the work continued. Sure enough, after a few minutes, he’d warmed up and taken on a brownish color and hopped away. I took this photo just as he was preparing to go back into the yard – I hope he makes it.

After I got back on fairly level ground in the canyon yesterday, I nearly stepped on this snake basking on a rock (see the gravel? I stepped THERE). The photo doesn’t really show the colors of this one, but there was a distinct pattern…so I’m thinking back to Howard’s advice, “Once you have seen the copperhead’s pattern, you never forget it.”

But this snake wasn’t aggressive as I would have expected from a copperhead, the markings didn’t form the distinctive hourglass that I have been told to look for – and the colors here were pale red and yellow. In reading my Peterson guide, the one I’ve come up with is Northern Water Snake, which ranges from Maine to Colorado and south to the Gulf of Mexico. There is also a Southern Water Snake, but it’s range is described as extending only to the Carolinas and west to Texas, plus the colorations are a more distinct pattern.

While the northern water snake is harmless and is described as timid, the field guide says that “it can be found in virtually every unpolluted swamp, marsh, bog, stream, pond, or lake in its range.” That's for all my snake-fearing friends, you've probably been as close to one of these as I have at some point!

Wild, wild life

After the golf outing Tuesday, I decided to take a short hike yesterday...and there was a tentative golf plan today, back in Fairfax, but one of our threesome dropped out for some reason (involves a USAir flight to Hartford or some excuse) so we bagged it. So I hiked again today.

First a shout out to Howard and co. at Evergreen Outfitters - good seeing you yesterday, and if our discussion of the Caverns Country Club course means you might be up for a round some day let's work on it.

So my two hikes so far were the Stoneyman Summit and Ivy Creek, both up in the Park. I have a number of photos to upload and will post next week; still logging in from the Panera in H-burg.

In the meantime, a wildlife report. This photo is of the old doe that leads the herd into our yard during the morning and night. On this occasion she was alone, but she's brought along as many as 5 others with her at times. They are eating all the hostas (the variegated ones, anyway) and really feasting on the fallen apples. In fact, it's unusual to find an apple on the ground out there, the deer eat them all.

Also, when I was driving up to the Stoneyman summit yesterday, two sitings: a young black bear climbing over one of the stone walls and onto Skyline Drive (he turned and ran as I approached - my greeting: "watch it there, big fella!") and a six point buck there on one of the shoulders. Pretty fulfilling, as all I'd been catching site of, for the most part, has been chipmunks and bunnies.

Nature Fest

As I mentioned last post, I am on vacation at the Cabin. The other day, we saw this praying mantis clinging to the window in the hallway (it was out, we were it). That's as close to one as I've ever been - these guys are pretty fearsome. I'd hate to be the bug this guy was stalking!

I've heard they're good luck....I could use it.

Golf in the Valley

A quick post tonight...I'm taking a week off and don't have internet at the Hawksbill Cabin, so I am posting from the Panera in H-burg.

Today my buddy Dennis came out for a golf round. I've been wanting to try some of the local courses - we were going to the Caverns Country Club, but it's closed for maintenance. Instead, we went to Shenvallee in New Market (Google for a link if you are interested).

It's a nice course and I have no complaints. It felt good to be out, pulled off a couple of pars on the front nine. The photos here are from the tee and from the second shot lie on par 5 #8 of the Old Course there - that is Massanutten in the background.

They had ice cold Amber Bocks waiting for us in the clubhouse afterwards. And I took a swim in the pool when I got back. What's not to like?