Sunday, July 31, 2011

Macro Mania at Hatcher Garden

Hatcher Garden
Spartanburg, SC
Sunday, July 31st, 2011

I took a quick trip to Hatcher Garden this morning.  I kept the Macro Lens on the camera the whole time.  Here are a few of my favorites:











The full gallery is posted here:
http://community.webshots.com/album/580638830QMeBeJ

Monday, July 25, 2011

Turkey Pen Gap - South Mills River Hike
Pisgah National Forest
Transylvania/Henderson County, NC
Sunday, July 24th, 2011
Even though it is not that far from my house (about an hour drive), for some reason I have never hiked this area of the Pisgah National Forest. When hiking in unfamiliar places, I prefer to go with a group. After all, there is safety in numbers!

So when I saw this hike listed on the Upstate Hiking and Outdoor Adventures Group calendar, I signed up.

Directions to the Trailhead:
  • I-26 to Hwy 280 (Asheville Airport Exit)
  • Take Hwy 280 South-West for Approximately 11 miles.
  • Turn Right on Turkey Pen Road (Just past the Boylston Baptist Church and just before the Transylvania County Line)
  • Take Turkey Pen Gap Road to the trailhead parking at the end (approximately 2 miles)
We started out on the South Mills River Trail which heads down hill from the parking area to the South Mills River. A nice suspension footbridge makes for one of the few dry river crossings in the area. On the other side of the river, we continued on the South Mills River Trail which turns left and heads upstream and uphill.

Crossing the suspension footbridge over the South Mills River
After a short distance we turned right onto the Mullinax Trail. This trail gains about 500-feet elevation over about 1.2 miles which is fairly mild but would actually be the steepest climb of the day. Getting the worst climb out of the way early in the day before the afternoon heat arrives sounds like a good plan, but you just can’t escape the 100% morning humidity this time of year.

By the time we finished the short climb on the Mullinax Trail and met up with the Squirrel Gap Trail, we were all drenched in sweat. There are several nice looking campsites around this trail junction which we used as an excuse to take a short break before continuing on. We continued to the East on the Squirrel Gap Trail

A light rain started to fall which actually felt really good. At this point it was enough to cool you off, but not so much that it soaks into your gear and clothing!

At the first major river crossing, I was able to rock hop across and keep my feet completely dry. But then as I attempted to position myself for a good angle to photograph the others crossing the creek, my feet slipped and I plunged into ankle deep mud.

Kimberly at the first major river crossing
The mud would not stay on my boots for long!

We turned onto the Riverside Trail which soon entered into a small clearing. The rain started to pick up a bit. Not quite a downpour, but definitely a steady shower. Still it wasn’t enough to justify the yelling and screaming we heard coming from behind me. “Run Run Run” is what I heard. I have never seen my buddy Johnny move this fast as he dashed past us while slapping at his ankles before eventually diving into the river.


Hiking through the field just before the Yellow Jacket Attack
It turns out that Tim and I, who were in the lead stirred up Yellow Jacket nest. The swarm of Bees then proceeded to attack the middle of our group, causing the women to go into a screaming frenzy and Johnny Corn to turn into Usain Bolt.

Johnny ended up with multiple stings. While very painful, yellow jacket stings are usually not very serious. Unless of course you are allergic to them!

Fortunately Johnny was not showing any sign of serious allergic reactions, so we continued on!

There was no keeping our feet dry at the next river crossing. Since I knew there would be about 10 more crossings, and I wasn’t about to take my boots off and back on each time, I purposely wore an older pair of hiking boots which I didn’t mind getting wet. At this point, most of the group was still going with the boot removal at each crossing. I just trekked on through the river boots and all giving me time to photograph the rest of the group. 
Tim and Caroline crossing the river

After the crossing, someone suggested taking a break for lunch. By heading off trail into the thicker forest canopy maybe we could escape the heaviest of the rain. I really didn’t think this was a very good idea. It had been raining long and heavy enough by now that no forest canopy would be able to keep you dry.

For me, it would have made more sense to keep moving while it was raining and take the break once it stopped so we could rest in more comfortable conditions. Plus after a large fast food breakfast, I wasn’t hungry yet!

However, I went along with the group and left the trail. Knowing that there would be no dry spot to sit down and since I was not ready to eat; I used the time to take out my camera and mini umbrella and went down to the creek for some photos.   

Very Small cascade on Bradley Creek (a major tributary to the South Mills River)
After a few minutes I heard was another round of yelling and screaming as Holly was the victim of a second round of yellow jacket attacks. I didn't want any part of the yellow jackets, so I continued trying to keep the rain drops off my lens so I could snap a few decent photos.

Fortunately, Holly didn't suffer any major reaction from the stings either.  After the break we continued on the Riverside Trail. 

The Riverside Trail follows the South Mills River for about 4 miles. I didn’t keep count, but I believe there was a total of (13) River Crossings. The majority of these crossings are definitely not the type where it is possible to rock hop across. 

Caroline at one of the River Crossings
Most were about knee deep and fairly easy, but we are in a moderate drought right now. Under normal flow, I imagine some of these crossings would be quite challenging, and during heavy flow they would be impassible.

  

Holly crossing the River
Eventually we completed our 8-mile loop and made it back to the parking area.
Despite the 100% Humidity, the excessive summer heat, rain showers, and yellow jacket attacks; I saw enough to know that this is definitely an area that I want to get back and explore some more. Based on the number of river crossings, this is definitely a summer time destination.

Other than a bunch of shots of my hiking companions crossing rivers, I didn’t take a whole lot of photos. Most of the hike my camera bag was inside my pack to keep it dry.
Here are some of the few photos that I did end up taking:
http://community.webshots.com/album/580610068RZNZcO

Sunday, July 24, 2011

Iggy exits the pack!

With the summer heat, our annual beach vacation, and a bathroom remodeling project, it has been a while since I got out hiking!  I finally got out today and Iggy made his first appearance in months.

Iggy on the Rocks

I also saw rain for the first time in weeks.  Unfortunately while it rained during our hike it didn't rain a drop back at home!

More photos and a trip report will be posted soon!

Saturday, July 23, 2011

Master Bathroom Project - Finally Done!

About four months ago I posted some before shots of our Master Bathroom.  I am sure glad we have a guest bathroom, because our Master Bathroom was out of commission for much longer than planned!  However, I am happy to say that this project is finally complete and it was worth the wait!

Our Newly Remodeled Master Bathroom

Our New Shower

Amy's New Tub

Saturday, July 16, 2011

Photos from our Beach Vacation

The 2011 Thyen Family Beach Vacation to
The Outer Banks of North Carolina
June 25th through July 2nd, 2011


I finally finished going through all the photos from our Beach Vacation.  Even after significantly editing down the lot to a more reasonable number of photos, I still had to break it up into two albums:


Scenics:
http://outdoors.webshots.com/album/580519034lofRjm

Family:
http://community.webshots.com/album/580553197DjEvvU

Tuesday, July 12, 2011

Christmas in July

One of the things that my Brother Bill and Sister-in-Law Michelle asked me to do was to try and get some good shots of the kids to use for their annual Christmas Card.  So Michelle made up a big "Happy Holidays" banner which we took out to the beach for some photos.

Here is my Nephew Liam and Niece Marielle saying "Happy Holidays" in July!

Monday, July 11, 2011

Some Photos from Rutherfordton

At the In-Laws
Rutherfordton, NC
Sunday, July 10th, 2011

My Wife Amy picking Green Tomatoes
We would end up having a side dish of Fried Green Tomatoes at Supper




Fetchin' Water

Amy's Dad Filling up the Water Totes

My Father-in-Law Chris




Passion Flower


Lily




Hawk


Lizard



Not sure what these are



Sunday, July 10, 2011

Hawk

Amy and I went up to Rutherfordton, NC to visit her parents this afternoon.  Here is a quick shot of a Hawk in a tree. 




I'll post some more photos from our trip tomorrow

Friday, July 8, 2011

Night Shots at the Beach

One of the most challenging genres of photography is Night Photography.  It requires a lot of patience, trial, and error.  Here are the results from a few attempts at night time photography during our annual Beach Vacation:













Wednesday, July 6, 2011

A few action shots at the beach

My nephew Liam going airborne

My other nephew Conner Skim Boarding


My brother Bill jumping in the pool


My Niece Marielle jumping at the beach

Tuesday, July 5, 2011

Photos from the Beach

As usual, I took way too many photos during our annual beach vacation.  Still working on going through them all, but here is a sample of some that I thought turned out pretty good.









Monday, July 4, 2011

Happy 4th of July

I wanted to get some fireworks photos on the Beach, but every time I went out on the beach after dark, nobody was shooting off fireworks.  However, one evening I was able to capture this series of shots from the balcony of the Beach House we rented:











Meet Zoey

 Meet Zoey! Amy and I just adopted this beautiful girl!