{"id":553,"date":"2017-06-03T22:45:44","date_gmt":"2017-06-03T22:45:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/southernhighlanders.com\/new\/?p=553"},"modified":"2017-06-03T23:20:32","modified_gmt":"2017-06-03T23:20:32","slug":"synchronous-lightning-bugs-because-no-local-ever-called-them-fireflies","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/southernhighlanders.com\/new\/2017\/06\/03\/synchronous-lightning-bugs-because-no-local-ever-called-them-fireflies\/","title":{"rendered":"Synchronous LIGHTNING BUGS. Because no local ever called them fireflies."},"content":{"rendered":"

\"IMG_20170603_105048007\"\u00a0The water was inviting so I availed myself of the opportunity.,<\/p>\n

\"tn_IMG_20170602_130042303_HDR\"\u00a0It was a great day for bikepacking into Elkmont. I went solo. \u00a0My absence from the Smokies has been situational. \u00a0Several trips have been cancelled due to Spring storms. \u00a0Last weekend was a doozie and judging by the after effects, am appreciative to have slept indoors instead of campsite 15 as planned. \u00a0That makes two recent trip plans upended by weather.<\/p>\n

\"tn_IMG_20170602_182131717\"\u00a0There was one spot remaining at 24. Our usual lightning bug\u00a0viewing site is closed for bear activity. \u00a0I had been craving a solo night in the woods. \u00a0I would not be solo, however.<\/p>\n

\"tn_IMG_20170602_181949147\"\u00a0Although my intention was to interact with the infamous insects, these were the ones with which we all had to contend. \u00a0A swarm of honeybees infiltrated the entire drainage. \u00a0I spoke with a guy who got run out of campsite 30 because of the intensity of bees only to find them equally thick at Rough Creek. \u00a0And they persisted from dawn to dusk. \u00a0I have never experienced a bee issue of this magnitude. \u00a0It is reminiscent of the black fly hatches I also seem to nail with equal precision.<\/p>\n

\"tn_IMG_20170602_181955790\"\u00a0Anyway, I found some solitude along this beautiful spot full of memories. \u00a0My first true backpacking trip outside of the scouts was with my friend Chris when he got his driver’s license. \u00a0We took off to this campsite and fished. \u00a0I remember catching a small brook trout on my second cast and with that it was I who\u00a0was hooked. \u00a0I figure this was sometime around 1981. \u00a0No true count exists of how many times I have stayed here but it must be nearing a hundred. (There are likely 30 on the Southernhighlander<\/a> site)<\/em><\/p>\n

As the afternoon sun began to drop, a couple from Ohio came down to ask about the bee phenomena. \u00a0They noticed I was now bee free so I suggested that Maggie and Everett take a swim. \u00a0It is the salt to which the stingers are attracted. \u00a0Soon the pyrotechnics began slowly about a half hour into 9. \u00a0With rolling crescendo a cacaphony of silent and initially muted lights began to ebb and flow in chorus. \u00a0As I explained to my neighbor, John C from Cincinatti, it is the stopping that is synchronized. \u00a0No matter how many times I witness this miracle, I am humbled by nature’s majesty. \u00a0Soon insects had infiltrated my treeline and light free campsite. \u00a0I was enveloped in their swarm and carried away by the symphony.<\/p>\n

No photographic evidence exists, though I made great efforts. \u00a0Forty five minutes of gopro were wasted trying to share this with Laurel who is out of town. \u00a0I believe that the lightning bugs are only to be experienced first hand and look forward to taking her into that din. \u00a0 As the hour approached midnight the Christmas blinking diminshed as I fell into my tent with the vestibule wide open. \u00a0My eyes drifted, losing a battle with\u00a0the urge, but the twinkling still was visible as I fell into a trance.<\/p>\n

The sun showed up at 6 am and breakfast was simmering by 7.30. \u00a0After all, I had to feed all those well rested bees. \u00a0By 9.30 they had run me out of Rough Creek and a beautiful stroll was reward enough. \u00a0That, of course, entailed another swim at the Husky Gap intersection. \u00a0I thought about the Muir Faction. \u00a0We had scheduled a backpack into Goshen several weeks ago when the big storms closed the park. \u00a0Chuck and Ledge were stranded in Townsend at a hotel, their trip to the Smokies thwarted by Mother Nature.<\/p>\n

Ironically, I received a text from Chuck Adams and it was a picture of a black snake. \u00a0He thought of me. \u00a0The irony is that while he was sending me the picture, I was on the motorcycle departing Elkmont. \u00a0About halfway down the road before you reach the Little River road, Brian and I came upon this big black snake years ago and we stopped to move him from traffic. \u00a0I was thinking of this as I rounded the corner, and guess what?<\/p>\n

\"IMG_20170603_114432963_TOPIn the exact same spot. Could it be the same snake? \u00a0Snakes are following me, falling on me and nipping at my heels. \u00a0Skeptic? \u00a0Read below.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Apparently I am quite the snake whisperer. \u00a0More people equate me with snakes than anything. \u00a0I’m not one of those herpetological\u00a0freaks but respect them and tend to be in the snake place at the snake time. \u00a0On the way over the day before I narrowly missed another big, likely five footer, black snake draped across the pavement in Sevier county.<\/p>\n

However, the big serpent\u00a0tale comes from my\u00a0So Knox abode. \u00a0Upon entering my shop building two weeks ago, this gal dropped down almost on my shoulders. \u00a0She was halfway between the door and the frame. \u00a0When I cracked the door she fell right across my arm. My response,\u00a0slamming the door shut injured the creature. \u00a0Anyway, she wasn’t happy, as you can see. \u00a0Notice how\u00a0she is able to make her tail rattle leaves to mimic a viper. \u00a0Why do I think she is a she? \u00a0I am told that the females are aggressive during birthing periods.<\/p>\n