Little River Canyon

For millions of years, the Little River has flowed down from the top of Lookout Mountain to Weiss Lake, carving a canyon that is one of the deepest and most extensive canyon and gorge systems in the eastern US. The canyon and surrounding areas became part of the National Park Service in 1992, the 15,000+ acres in Alabama forming the Little River Canyon National Preserve.

We had crossed the border into northern Alabama the previous evening after a stop at Kennesaw Mountain, opting to stay the night in Fort Payne for easy access to the Preserve the next morning. The drive had in fact taken us up and over Lookout Mountain. For most of its length Little River actually flows along the top of Lookout Mountain, making it one of the cleanest and wildest rivers in the southeast, undammed aside from an old hydroelectric project at DeSoto Falls on the West Fork near Mentone, Alabama. Before it was the Little River Canyon NP, most of the canyon was part of DeSoto State Park, and after breakfast we opted to begin our explorations of the Canyon in the State Park, at DeSoto Falls.

DeSoto Falls is named for Spanish explorer Hernando De Soto. The A.A. Miller Dam and upper falls can be seen from the parking area, but to view the 104-foot waterfall, visitors must descend stairs to the overlook.

From the DeSoto Falls Picnic Area we drove south about 16 miles, passing through DeSoto State Park and then climbing back up the Cumberland Plateau to the Little River Canyon Center. The LEED-certified building is a Jacksonville State University public facility with programs, events, gift shop, classrooms, movie theater and National Park Service offices. From the Center there is a trail that connects to Little River Falls picnic area.

45-foot Little River Falls marks the beginning of the canyon. A short boardwalk leads from the parking area to an overlook with a view of the waterfall. Being that a storm system had passed through the previous evening the falls were considerable, and we took a moment to enjoy the view before continuing on ¾ mile Little Falls trail. The trail winds south along the east rim of the canyon, with a final steep descent to the river at the end.

The bottom of the canyon was once the floor of a shallow sea during the Paleozoic Era, while the sandstone cliffs consist of sandstone and conglomerate shale, siltstone and coal. It was interesting exploring the rock formations along the river at this point, with the sound of Little Falls (also known as Martha’s Falls or Hippie Hole) accompanying our examination.

Having returned to the car, we drove over the bridge and then turned south on Little River Canyon Parkway. The first 12 miles drive along the rim of the canyon follow State Road 176, while the next 9 miles make a steep descend on Canyon Rim Drive. The Parkway features multiple overlooks and trailheads, while Canyon Rim Drive is mostly a connector to Canyon Mouth picnic area on the south end of the Preserve. While 176 is curvy and steep, Canyon Rim Drive is considered impassable to trucks, trailers and RV’s; I would suggest asking at the Visitor Center if you are unsure about the state of the road and suitability of your vehicle.

View from Little River Falls Overlook

The first overlook is Little River Falls overlook. Having seen the falls from a much closer vantage point, we took a look but then headed to the next one, Lynn Overlook. A sandstone rock glade stretches along the length of the parking area, allowing easy access to the eight rare plant species that live there. One of those is Elf Orphine, a small red plant about an inch tall. We were lucky to spot some blooming, and the kids enjoyed catching glimpses of lizards as we explored the rocks.

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The red succulent leaves of #diamorpha reflect light and hold water. Found in seasonal pools and shallow basins on rock outcrops, #elforpine becomes active in late fall and winter, blooms in late March, then dies. #Diamorphasmallii #littlerivercanyon #findyourpark #springbreak2019 #alabamahills

A post shared by Liene | Femme au Foyer (@femmefoyer) on Apr 16, 2019 at 7:55pm PDT

The next pull-off is for Beaver Pond Trail. The easy 1.24-mile loop trail is a favorite for bird watchers, winding through the woods to an area that used to be a pond dammed by beavers; be warned, the pond is no longer there. We opted to continue on to Mushroom Rock. This rock formation cannot be missed – it is literally right in the middle of the road. Legend has it that the road crew constructing the original scenic drive refused to remove the giant mushroom, and instead built the road around it. On the rim side of the road is a series of rock outcrops, and the kids had fun climbing and exploring before we continued on.

There are three trails that lead from the Parkway down to Little River. The first is Lower Two-Mile Trail, up next after Mushroom Rock. Although the shortest of the three, it is proof that the quickest way to the bottom of the canyon is straight down. We opted to skip these trails, no matter how short, as we had already descended into the canyon on Little Falls Trail, and were planning on a second exploration at Canyon Mouth.

View from Canyon View Overlook

Subsequent scenic overlooks include Hawks Glide, Canyon View, Wolf Creek and Crow Point. At Eberhart Point we took the left turn onto Canyon Rim Drive and immediately saw some steep, winding sections of road. There is really only one turn-off on this section, which is for Powell Trail. We continued down to Canyon Mouth Picnic Area, paid a parking fee, and pulled into the parking lot to discover we had the entire place to ourselves.

Canyon Mouth Trail was a quick 1.6-mile hike that led us up the banks of Little River to the point where Johnnie’s Creek flows in. There was quite a bit of poison ivy, we saw a snake or two, and the trail kind of petered out with no particular scenic view. On the other hand, there were a couple of sandy spots along the river that made for a nice place to sit and enjoy the river, and we spent a considerable amount of time there just listening to the sound of rushing water.

Little River, near Martha's Falls

Overall, Little River Canyon was a nice surprise. An excellent visitor center combined with a variety of trail options and the scenic drive make for an easy one-day exploration. The Preserve could be combined with time (and camping) at DeSoto State Park, and it’s only about 4 hours from the Upstate – doable for a long weekend. For us it was just day two, as we continued west across Alabama into Mississippi…

The purple martins of Lake Murray

A late summer trip to Lake Murray to watch the purple martin phenomenon has been on my South Carolina bucket list for more than five years, ever since one of my Fish & Wildlife Service friends told me about this amazing experience just 1½ hours from Greenville. This year the stars aligned when The Nature Conservancy announced the purple martin migration boat cruise on a night when we could make the trip.

Photo credit: Roberts

The cruise was aboard Catch the Spirit, a dinner yacht that is also available for public booking; see the Spirit of Lake Murray website. We pushed off from the dock located on an arm of the lake near Oswald Park, and soon were within sight of Dreher Island State Park and the main body of Lake Murray. Our destination: Bomb Island.

The 12-acre island is formally known as Doolittle Island, named for the commander of the 1^st US air raid on the Japanese Home Islands during WWII. The raid was planned in Columbia, and B-25 pilots often practiced on the island, hence the nickname. Records indicate that at least five B-25s crashed into Lake Murray during this period; three were immediately salvaged, and at least one remained abandoned in 150 feet of water until September 2005 when it was once again brought to the surface.  (Today the aircraft can be viewed at the Southern Museum of Flight in Birmingham, Alabama.)

More recently Bomb Island is famous for a different form of aviation - the purple martins. Today Bomb Island (also labeled Lunch Island on some maps) is the largest purple martin sanctuary in North America, with hundreds of thousands of birds flying up to 160 miles every evening to roost there. From the first week of July through the end of August, the purple martins begin congregating over the island at dusk, putting on quite a show with their murmuration.

Purple martins are the largest type of swallow in North America, on average 7.5 inches long and weighing 1.9 ounces. The males are solid black, appearing a glossy purple in the sun. As we cruised through the waters of Lake Murray to a sun slowly slinking in the sky, we started seeing the birds swooping overhead, passing us on their way to the island. Two, then four, then ten at a time. Before we even saw the dozens of boats gathered around Bomb Island we could see the cloud of martins circling above.

The closer we approached, the thicker the sky was with martins. According to the TNC naturalist, the swooping and swirling is a social behavior, not a feeding or mating ritual. The masses appear to descend into the trees to roost, only to take up into the sky again and again for an encore, all the while hundreds more birds are flying in from around the lake.

In late summer after leaving the nesting colony, the purple martins gather in large flocks to socialize, rest, and feed on the insect populations in the area, building and storing fat that will fuel their trip to their wintering grounds in Brazil. The dry island with low thick brush provides a sanctuary from predators and a micro-climate warmer and less windy than land. An individual martin may use a roost for several weeks before moving on, but the migratory roost lasts for about 8 to 12 weeks or more until all the birds are gone.

Every morning the purple martins exit the roost all at once, just before sunrise. The air is so thick with the birds that they show up on the National Weather Service radar; to see it for yourself visit the NOAA radar website for the region between 6-7am, and check “loop” & “auto update.” On the one morning I was able to get online in time there was some cloud cover over Columbia, but the bulls-eye was still visible.

The Lowcountry and GA populations are better visible on this radar shot, source here

Although the Bomb Island roost is well established and has been used for many consecutive years, the number of birds can range widely. A wildlife research biologist at Clemson University studied the roost in 1995, making visual surveys to determine size of the roost, and then comparing it to radar images from NOAA. His estimate was that the total roost population numbered at least 700,000 birds, possibly the largest purple martin roost in the world. However in 2014 the martins didn’t show. Using doplar radar researchers found a roost on Lake Monticello, with a portion of the birds possibly moving southeast to join a roost on Lake Moultrie. They were back again a few years later... My best guess as to the number of birds this year – maybe somewhere around 200,000-300,000? Regardless, it was simply breathtaking.

Out west purple martins usually nest in abandoned woodpecker nest cavities, but here in the southeast the martins depend on humans to build them bird condos, made from wood or gourds. There are two practical reasons for attracting a martin colony to your homestead; first is that they are voracious insect eaters, and the second is to scare away certain less desirable birds. The birds prefer roosting in homes placed away from tall trees – another reason why they might return to Bomb Island year after year, as the bombing runs destroyed most of the trees years ago.

There are still a few weeks left to catch the purple martins before they leave on their epic journey to South America. Grab your binoculars, load up the boat, and head for Lake Murray; a cruise to Bomb Island to enjoy the aerial acrobatics show will become a summer tradition.

Aviation History in Tuskegee

On our travels this summer we’ve driven several stretches of Tuskegee Airmen Memorial Highway, and when researching the topic, I was interested to learn there are honorary Tuskegee Airmen sections of interstate all over the US. We’ve got a section of Interstate 95 in Colleton County right here in South Carolina, near the Tuskegee Airman Memorial in Walterboro. However it was on our return trip from the Florida panhandle that we were really able to delve into this aspect of aviation history, with a stop at the Tuskegee Airmen National Historic Site in Alabama.

Tuskegee Airmen NHS Hangar #1

In the early 1900s, aviation was closed to African Americans, military aviation completely inaccessible. When Congress passed the Civilian Pilot Training Act in 1939, they intended to generate large numbers of pilots who could quickly transfer into military aviation if needed. When programs were established in colleges around the country, they included six black colleges, thanks in part to the efforts of the National Airmen’s Association of America. One of those programs was at the Tuskegee Institute, 30 miles east of Montgomery, Alabama.

In May of 1940, the first class of CPT pilots completed their elementary flight training at Kennedy Field. After legislature such as the Selective Training and Service Act of 1940 were passed, pressure from civil rights organizations and the press eventually led to the establishment of the segregated 99^th Pursuit Squadron in January 1941. Tuskegee Institute’s Moton Field and Tuskegee Army Air Field were the only training facilities for African Americans throughout the war, and the achievements of the Squadron's pilots came despite continuing racism and segregation, in Tuskegee as well as at overseas bases.

There is a Park Service Jr. Ranger Program at the Historic Site to help children understand the exhibits

By the end of the war almost 1,000 pilots had been trained. Even more impressive is the number of African Americans trained for service in the US Army Air Corps… 17,000 men and women were schooled as mechanics, communications & electrical system specialists, armament specialists, medical technicians, cooks, clerks, parachute riggers, air traffic controllers, flight instructors, bombardiers and navigators. All are known today as Tuskegee Airmen.

Taking in the view from the control tower

Start your visit to Tuskegee Airmen National Historic Site at Hangar #1 with a site orientation video and a look at two restored vintage airplanes and various exhibits. Continue on to Hangar #2 to see a wide assortment of artifacts and exhibits, including a replica P-51 Mustang. The initial Hangar #2 was destroyed by fire in 1989, but at the rear of the reconstructed hangar is the original Control Tower. Climb up to view where clearance to take off and land was given before stopping at the Bookstore for additional literature or a souvenir. Other structures onsite include the Cadet House, Army Supply Building, Auxiliary Storage Shed, Bath and Locker House, and the Skyway Club, the rec facility servicing all military ranks and civilians at the time.

The George Washington Carver Museum and Tuskegee Institute Information Center

While in Tuskegee, make sure to budget time to also explore Tuskegee Institute National Historic Site. It was here, in a repressive post-Reconstruction Alabama, that a celebrated university and symbol of African American achievement was born. Many of the buildings constructed while Booker T. Washington was president still stand, providing an architectural aspect to the history lesson. Both sites are free to the public; see websites for hours. Bottom line; the Tuskegee Airmen NHS provides valuable insight into our nation's history - military, civil rights, women's rights, aviation - as well as echoing the recurring theme of the last century: persistence and triumph in the face of racism and discrimination.

Tompkins Hall at Tuskegee Institute

A journey across the 50 States at TCMU

We haven’t been THIS excited about a new exhibit at the Children’s Museum in a while… The third floor has been transformed into an exploration of the United States: Trivial Pursuit, A 50-State Adventure!

California, Rhode Island, Connecticut and Pennsylvania

The exhibit opened mid-January to high praise from many Upstate parents. Children can travel across the 50 states, discovering the geography, history and culture of some of America’s most spectacular places.

Alaska, Arizona

The scenic panoramas serving as backdrops feature familiar tourist destinations, National Parks, sports venues and historic sites. There are plenty of hands-on opportunities to learn for kids of all ages, with features for tactile toddler exploration alongside facts and trivia for older kids and adults. The boys raced sled dogs in the Iditarod, rode a mule into the Grand Canyon, hitched a ride in a covered wagon, hit a home run in Fenway, and snorkeled in Hawaii. Meanwhile I was mentally paging through a photo album of places I had visited, the most vivid memory being Arches National Park.

Nebraska, Massachusetts, Maine, Hawaii

We’ve been to the museum and "Trivial Pursuit" multiple times, and I still feel as we haven’t seen the whole exhibit – there is yet another state, another fun activity around every corner. My boys had fun searching for the states we’ve traveled to, and special attention was paid to those states that friends and family are living in.

Minnesota, Michigan, Iowa, Utah, Alabama, Illinois

TCMU is also incorporating stories, arts and crafts into programs centered around the exhibit. Please visit their website and the calendar for more information on programs such as “Trivial Pursuit – Nebraska Adventure” and their President’s Day “Trivial Pursuit Camp.”

South Carolina, New Mexico, Montana, Idaho

The exhibit runs through May 15 of this year, so there is still plenty of time to discover this amazing exhibit! Entrance fees, museum hours and other information are available on the TCMU website, http://www.tcmupstate.org. Bon voyage!