Guest Cervelo Posted February 16, 2014 Share Posted February 16, 2014 (edited) It is an awesome place although access is so limited and you have to be out by dark unless your at the one campground and its only access is by boat. I've haven't been this year I'm ashamed to say but the coolest part about paddling the lake is if you stay on the edges. Your almost guaranteed to have otters come out and "play" with you. There is plenty of hard ground in the interior but I would not recommend wandering to far...it's very easy to get turned around in some of the pine forest (done it) it's flat and all looks the same. Glad you enjoyed the vids! Edited February 16, 2014 by Cervelo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WSA Posted February 17, 2014 Author Share Posted February 17, 2014 Great video of Sugar Knob cabin Cervelo...brings back many memories. I think I last spent a night there in '83. It is a rather dark and dank structure....the smallest one in the PATC system. I think it started life as a radio relay installation, if I recall correctly. Love the Big Schloss area too and when I lived in NOVA, I spent a lot of time on the (then named) Big Blue trail. Some of the best mountain walks in VA over there. Yep, I'm familiar with that BFRO report. Not sure what to make of it. I think way to many of these get written off as "bear" , and I'm wary of subsituting my judgment for others who were there. So, I keep it in my "hmmm" file. I never had any experiences in that area I deemed out of the ordinary, but then again, if you want to find, you have to hunt. Back in those days my awareness of this possibility was extremely low. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JKH Posted February 17, 2014 Share Posted February 17, 2014 Yes, cool videos. Will have to try that in future, it would be helpful to see more context. I figured out how to lighten up the images I do have to show more detail. First is original posted on previous page showing large hunk of stump, second is looking away at more pieces broken off of it. I should have taken more, with more scale items, because it was truly massive and well scattered. Next pic is a branch about 4" diameter that I found in October laying in the trail looking very fresh, appears twisted. Second is small tree it appears to be from, about six feet off the trail, maybe 5' high at the break. Just getting started with this evidence stuff, will try to do better next time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hiflier Posted February 17, 2014 Share Posted February 17, 2014 Hello JKH, Take your time, you're doing A-OK! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WSA Posted February 17, 2014 Author Share Posted February 17, 2014 And also love the vid from the top of Big Schloss Cervelo...more memories. The last time I stood up there was a on a day much like the one you captured. I recall standing on the tippy-top facing W. Va. when two Vietnam era fighter jets (F-8's?) blew up from behind me, just over the altitude of the ridge....woooosssh....of course I saw them before I heard them and it certainly got my attention. My guess is they were carrier based, but they were definitely some vintage fighters. The VA airspace always has some surprises. Once on Old Rag my b.i.l. and I had the classic "black" helicopter, Apache I believe, circle us with the gattlings trained on us the whole time. I could see the pilot's head swivel to look at us, and the guns tracked his head movement. It is a pretty sweaty thing to be in those cross-hairs, for sure. Of course, this in SNP airspace. "How the hell is that legally happening", I wondered then, and I still wonder. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Cervelo Posted February 18, 2014 Share Posted February 18, 2014 They do some trick stuff in the mountains of Va Just north of Charlottesville Va I've seen some of our boys from Va beach so close to the deck they were below the mountains! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WSA Posted February 18, 2014 Author Share Posted February 18, 2014 I've had some startling moments out there, yes. Once at Deep Gap shelter in GA we had a fly-over at just above treetop level late in the evening. I swear ti fanned our campfire, and when I looked up I realized everyone else was on their bellies too. Funny, guys, real funny. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest DWA Posted February 18, 2014 Share Posted February 18, 2014 ^^^Not to get too far off topic here but my thinking on that is: Flyboys! If you aren't protecting my right not to have to experience that crap in wilderness you are protecting nothing that means a thing to me. And don't get all sanctimonious. Flying jets is a privilege and not a chore. Why not do it in a shopping center parking lot? Much more fun, lots more reactions, and a much bigger laugh! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hiflier Posted February 19, 2014 Share Posted February 19, 2014 (edited) Hello DWA, There may have been a valid reason for it. Edited February 19, 2014 by hiflier Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest DWA Posted February 19, 2014 Share Posted February 19, 2014 Hey hiflier, There's a valid reason for the NSA to listen in to every phone call I've made in my life. Doesn't mean it's freedom, or that I have to like it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hiflier Posted February 20, 2014 Share Posted February 20, 2014 Hello DWA, Fine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest WesT Posted February 26, 2014 Share Posted February 26, 2014 Hunting blinds? Now there is something I had not considered WesT. Who's to say for sure, but a very intriguing theory. Not sure I follow you about "ramifications" though. If you have sound evidence, I for one would encourage you to post it for us to look at. Ok, I've thought about it. I've kept my mouth shut for almost 2 years now and I'm feeling chatty today. Keep in mind that wood manipulation is very tricky. Most are the result of natural causes. Some, however, I call suspect. What was investigated was a structure of unknown origin and purpose. The structure is located on private land in SW Virginia. I don't know for a fact what did this. But it's purpose was discovered through examination of what remained. It's not all that was found there, but I'll stick to the hunting blind for now to keep things in focus. But I repeat, I DO NOT KNOW FOR A FACT WHOM OR WHAT DID THIS. I have researched it ad nausium and have yet to come across a similar hunting technique ever being described. I'm going to have to have to go to work in a few minutes but you have my word I'll be back to explain and show the evidence. It's going to take alot of time because I'm a slow typer and all my pics are in photobucket. Yeah I know, but you'll see I'm a man of my word. And as far as I'm concerned now, I've just committed to sharing. Hi Cervelo, enjoyed your vids and pics as always. My favorite pic of yours is the rock shelter. Here in the SW part of our state we call them "indian rock houses". There's one near Backbone Rock (just south of Damascus Va.) and I've heard of another one being on Holston Mountain. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WSA Posted February 26, 2014 Author Share Posted February 26, 2014 I look forward to that WestT...just the sort of thing I'm always interested in. Talk to you later. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
southernyahoo Posted February 26, 2014 Share Posted February 26, 2014 I've heard of the theory of hunting blinds being used, though more like clever use of the environment. Some bushy tree's like Eastern Red Cedars would be perfect for it, one reason being that they tend to grow in clearings where there is some open ground to give chase in an ambush strategy. If you were going to take down an animal bare handed, you'd have to hide from your quary until they were close enough to pounce on them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest WesT Posted February 27, 2014 Share Posted February 27, 2014 Thanks for putting me at ease guys. I appreciate that. I held back in hopes of some kind of independent verification and/or explaination. But it doesn't look like that's going to happen and I'm not getting any younger. I'm going to do this in sections for easier reading. Hi southern yahoo. I got schooled in environmental manipulation. The part that really unnerves me is I don't know the source of the schooling. All I know is I hadn't heard of such a thing in all my life and I'm an old geezer. As promised, you'll be seeing it all. Please stand by and thank you for your patience and interest. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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