Page 105 - USA ROAD TRIP SUMMER of 2000

they were - at times in a slow walk with the bike being pushed.

We saw many sweet deer – bucks and does – like ghosts
appearing and disappearing into the wisps of mist in the tall

grasses.

Where are the woodchucks?

Crunch, crunch, crunch. That’s the sound of a large black bear
tearing berries off a wild cherry tree overhead. Look up! See her

wide butt right above your head? Keep your bike helmet on to
protect from the barrage of sticks and small branches she tearing

off and pitching down onto the bikers’ heads. Neat!

OK – bike ride’s over and we could still move so we decided to go

for a 9-mile hike 3000 feet up to the top of one of those
mountains ringing the Cove. It’s advertised as having “wonderful

views of the Cove”. But before we took off, we stopped at the
Ranger Station to ask about the woodchucks.

The wolves got them! They had an attempt to reintroduce the red

wolf into the Cove about 10 years ago. There was plenty of prey
base for the pack (so much for the woodchucks) but there was no

way of protecting the cubs from distemper that was endemic in

the domestic dogs. They moved them to another part of the Park
but the prey base wouldn’t support them there. They were moved

again to eastern North Carolina and they are thriving.

A few groundhogs were smart enough to put their burrows under
the stables near humans and they survived. These exceptionally

bright rodents will be the breeding stock for the next generations,
safe from the wolves and the coyotes that took their place.

Is it possible to hike continuously uphill for 3 hours without any

105