Big Meadows at Tonahutu Creek - An American Shire

I hiked the Green Mountain Trail up to Tonahutu Creek that led to Big Meadows.  Big Meadows has the most wild life of elk, deers, moose and other wildlife in the Rockies. Tonahutu Creek runs through Big Meadows and it was very flourishing and grassy with peaceful and serene surroundings.  It is the perfect setting for a Shire so I kept looking for American Hobbits on the hillside.  Did not find a single one!  Made friends with several friendly chipmucks.  I guess that will have to do.

Witches Point on Smoky Mountains

It was a very misty, cloudy and rainy day on top of the Smoky Mountains.  It was difficult to see the mountain range.  Witches Overlook was a perfect place to stop to see the misty mountains below.  There was no smoke in the mountains on this day.  Misty rain was all around.

Witches Brew

On Misty Mountain
High in the clouds,
Bare trees, broken limbs,
Hanging purple sky,
Gusty winds,
Rushing waters below,
Cold, chilled bones,
Drizzling rain
Heavy Dew
Shadows all around,
A Witches brew.

By PL Fallin

Beorn, Creature of the Night

Beorn, creature of the night,
Your path is far and wide,
Some say you growl with the tongue of bears,
Born from the ancient bears of the mountains,
Thriving on milk and wild honey,
Did you come from the Misty Mountains?
Do you hear your ancient people cries?
Friend nor foe have you,
Part man, Part bear
I hear the rustling of leaves,
Whistling voices in the wind,
I see you running through the darkness,
I dare not move but stand still like the trees,
You sit alone above the clouds,
Nightfall after nightfall,
Watching the moonlight sink,
Beyond the mountains silhouette,
Waiting to reclaim your ancient home.

By PL Fallin

Mountain Chipmucks and Trail Mix at Cascade Falls

 

 I am becoming a hill walker.  Did a 6.8 mile round trip hike to Cascade Falls and there were some very steep spots on the way.  It was very rocky and certainty lived up to its name.  Above the falls was a large boulder where we enjoyed snacking with the chipmucks.  They had no fear and were unusually friendly begging for trail mix. I cannot get the chipmucks at home, who live in tame surroundings to come near me. I guess I need to be feeding them trail mix.

 

River of Muddy Blue Waters

River of Muddy Blue Waters

River of muddy blue waters,
With mysteries deep and wide,
Many a tale of folk lore,
Of Ships stranded and lost in the tide.
Oh River, I love you just the same,
I see your moonlight ripples,
Glistening in the rain.

Flowing past time like a wanderer,
Winding your way with no rest,
Through forest, hills, and meadows,
Twistin, turnin each bend
Headed for far-away shores.
Whether in rain or sunshine,
Oh River, I love you just the same,
I want to make you mine.

The muddy blue waters are swift,
Flowing over rocks and cliffs,
Washing away lowly creatures,
Carrying away their treasures.
What lays at your bottom floor?
Oh River, I love you just the same,
Sailing alone to seafaring shores.

By PL Fallin

Images of Tahquamenon River

The Clinging Tree

The Clinging Tree

Along the mountain trail
The living waters Flow
Gushing, Streaming,
Over the Rocks and Stones
Into the Big Meadows below.

Lingering on the River Bank
A Tree Sits all Alone
Beneath her stretched-out limbs,
Her Roots were matted In the Air
Twisted and Turning, Clinging
To the earth’s damp floor.

Twinges of pain in her path
Above my head vultures circle
Below my feet, dampness,
Mud, and thistles,
A full moon glows in the night,
I stood beneath her shadows
Staring at the tree’s desperate plight.

Through scars and pain she wept,
No protective mother’s coat,
Too many footsteps traveled this path,
Pity I felt for the Clinging Tree
Reaching out so desperately,
Grasping the earth’s muddy floor,
Surviving her fate at Nature’s door.

By PL Fallin

The Stone-Giants Guffawing at Me

 

Driving on sharped, curved roads up 14,110 ft above sea level tested my courage. I found out, I had none!  It was a good thing I was not the driver since I could no longer look out across the mountain range once we were above the tree line.  Seeing cracked  and broken rocks and stones, overhanging rocks with no protection from falling, blistering winds, a 40 degree drop in temperature, no wildlife except the occasional eagle flying overhead, I placed my hands across my eyes and refuse to look.  I could hear the Stone-Giants guffawing at me as the wind chilled my bones.  I kept saying over and over, I would rather climb on foot then be in a flimsy vehicle that the elements could destroy with the first strong blast of wind, lightening, and thunder.   At least I could cling to rocks with my arms if needed. It was much easier coming down; I guess it was more psychological then dangerous but then again, a few weeks earlier a man died from driving off the mountain road and his vechicle crashed over the rocky cliffs and mountain side.  I will never do this again :)

Rabbit's Fireballs and Creation of the Rockies

 

 RABBIT'S FIREBALL AND THE CREATION OF THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS AND COLORADO RIVER
(Northern Ute; Duncan 2002a; Version 1)
 

"The rabbit had this big ball of fire, a fireball—that was his power—he

threw it up in the air and it spun around up in the sky, came back down and he

caught it again. Then he said, 'Watch this, I’m going to throw this,' so he threw

that and this ball was moving, it cut into the ground, lot of things were flying up in

the air, valleys were created by that ball. It went on and on and on bouncing

around here and there. Finally it returned again, and they were standing on top

of a mountain." 

 

This was how the Rocky Mountains, rivers and valleys were formed.  Did J.R. Tolkien know about the Ute Indians legend of the powerful Rabbit who created the Rocky Mountains, the meadows, and rivers?  The Hobbit is very much like a personification of a Rabbit with human characteristics who lives in the meadows in a hole on the side of a hill, etc.  There are many who would dispute this observation.  Middle-Earth is an independent world abiding by its own rules but so is nature anywhere.  The Rockies is as dangereous as it is beautiful with its own "Misty mountains, Big and Long Meadows, The Running River, Forest, Bears, Spiders, and other wild creatures of all sizes.  Pikes Peak, the tallest mountain at 14,110 sq ft above sea level, is "The Lonely Mountain" of the Rabbit's Fireball creation.  Sometime to think about!

Ute Legend "Lake of Bad Medicine"

 

“The Legend of Grand Lake”
by Judge Joseph L. Wescott
“To yonder rugged mountain side
With rapid pace I quickly hied,
Upon a beetling rock I stood,
Gazing upon the angry flood.
Between dark clouds the moon shone out,
Throwing its silvery light about.
The wind still blew with a sullen roar,
The angry waves still lashed the shore.
Far, far away I soon espied
The raft upon the angry tide,
Each moment some high angry wave,
Carried a victim to the grave,
I saw a giant wave arise,
Whose chest towered toward the skies,
Went thundering on upon its way
Like angry wolves in search of prey.
And nearer, still nearer it came,
In pursuit of its human game.
The doomed ones saw that their hour was nigh
And in the deep they soon must lie.
The wave came down with a thundering sound
A cloud of spray was strewn around.
I heard a wail of fell despair,
Borne on upon the midnight air
Ah! what a sight now met my view-
The raft that bore that precious crew,
Was scattered in fragments far and wide-
Tossing upon the angry tide.
O’erwhelmed with sorrow, grief and woe-
To leave this world I long to go,
To join my friends in a land afar,
In their bright homes, some twinkling star!
But the Great Spirit wills it so
That I must tarry here below
To be a scourge to all our foes.”

“To this day the lake is considered “bad medicine” by the Ute Indians. As the legend goes, when the lake has frozen over for the winter, one can still hear the urgent cries of the women and children beneath the ice.

Mystery Island of Scattered Bones

Lake Granby has several small islands of which we stopped at one to explore.  Walking around on the rocky banks and through the patch of trees, a skeleton head and teeth were found.  Looked like a wolf's head but we did not understand how a wild animal would get on the island except during winter when the lake was frozen.  Why would a wolf cross a frozen lake to an island that had no food source for him?  Other bones were also found among the rocks.  This island is a trap and burial ground due to no escape if caught within it's rocky shores.

Attack of "The Flies" Suspense/Horror at Crisp Point

Crisp Point Lighthouse is located on the deserted shore of Lake Superior, just 37 miles north of Newberry, Michigan.  The Lighthouse is considered one of the most inaccessible and lonely mainland lighthouses in the Upper Peninsula and can be reached by taking a narrow country road through the Lake Superior State Forest.  It is a very long drive of endless woods and it is completely isolated from civilization.  When I got out of my car, flies started swarming around my legs, I started walking toward the lighthouse, the flies keep coming until there were at least a hundred or more, biting and attacking my arms and legs.  I had to run into the lighthouse to fight them off.  They did not like the cool air inside and did not enter the lighthouse but attacked me again as soon as I went back outside.  It was surreal like "The Birds" a 1963 suspense/horror film directed by Alfred Hitchcock except this movie would be called "The Flies".  I had to run to the car and jump in and close the windows and kill the ones that came inside with my bare hands.  The inside windows and my hands were covered in "fly blood".  I had hundreds of fly bits on my legs and arms and was lucky to escape.  The pictures of the park look serene and peaceful but the flies are hidden and lurking in the trees and brushes.  Woe to those who visit Crisp Point without powerful "Bug Off"!

"Gitche Gumee...Never Gives up Her Dead"

Whitefish Bay, Lake Superior, Paradise Michigan.  The Chippewa tribe called Lake Superior "Gitche Gumee 'never gives up her dead" due to so many shipwrecks, lack of recovery and the mystery of what happened.

A Mountain Goblin "Riddle in the Dark"

 

What has a root

that never grows?
Headless and cannot be heard,
What once was
can no longer be,
It lies beneath the sun,
the stars and moon,
With hallow legs in stillness hold,
Has arms that reach out to touch
but cannot feel?

Whitefish Point - Graveyard of Shipwrecks

The lighthouse marks the end of an 80 mile stretch of shoreline known as Lake Superior's Shipwreck Coast.  The beach was covered in debris of old wrecked ships. 6,000 shipwrecks and over 30,000 lives lost in the deep turbulent waters of the great lake region.

Forest Trunks huge and gnarled

 
"The forest trunks were huge and gnarled...branches twisted, their leaves were dark and dangling in the wind.  The land slope up and up and there was silence all around.  Continue Tale of "A Hobbit Adventure in America" a Tale in Photography.

Dark Murky Waters and Alligator Eyes

 

The alligator is starring at me but there is a pair of eyes starring at the alligator beneath the water.    The water is reflecting an owl from a nearby wooden post.  Interesting pair of eyes.

Storm Clouds Gathering at Shadow Mountain-A Colorado "Black Sky"

These are raw images of storm clouds gathering over Shadow Mountain and Grand Lake. Shadow Mountain is an appropriate name for the darkness and chilly winds.

Garden of the Gods - "Dungeons Deep And Caverns Old"

"For Over the misty mountains cold
To Dungeons deep and caverns old
We must away, ere break of day,
To find our long-forgotten Gold."
(The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien)

 

Rocky Mountains - A "Hobbit" Adventure

While visiting the Rocky Mountains, I read "The Hobbit" and all the adventures of Bilbo, Thorin and the Dwarves.  The Rockies were full of the same exciting scenery and awesomeness as the places traveled on Thorin's Map. I could write my own tale of bears, elks, eagles, moose, wild fires, roaring winds, rain, lightening and thundering mountains :).  Let the tale begin.......



Southern Ladies love a "Pretty Boy"

A bird's eye view of Pretty Boy

Granny McArthur "Passing the Torch"

Family tradition of gardening pass from Granny McArthur to her daughter, Mary Hillhouse.  I am the generation who has not picked up the torch like I should to continue the flower garden of memories.  It is something I must and will do.

Hillhouse Memories with Flowers

Mother Mary's garden has memories of love ones who gave her seeds and cuttings through the last 40 years to plant in her garden.  A stroll through her garden tells many stories of dear departed friends and family members.  Flowers are a symbol of love.

Southern Lady's Yellow Roses

My favorite flower is yellow roses.  I have always included yellow roses for special occasions in my life.  My wedding, the birth of my son, Mother's Day, birthdays, etc.  Mother Mary's yellow rose bush was in full bloom during Memorial Weekend.