July 16-17, 2013 Observation
On Tuesday, July 16, 2013, Cato Holler and I hiked to
Brown Mountain and camped in the Rock City boulders (Devil’s Hole) area on the
uppermost part of the north slope of the mountain. Our purpose for the trip was to check for
bioluminescent fireflies and glow worms.
Unfortunately only a few fireflies and no glow worms were seen. Otherwise, we did get some neat photography!
We parked in Chestnut Gap along FS Rd 982 (Mortimer Road)
and hiked south the 3 miles along FS Rd 4099 (Little Chestnut Mountain Road),
then ½ mile up the connector trail to the summit of Brown Mountain. We arrived about dark and set up camp within
the large boulders of Rock City.
Afterwards, we hiked to Bear Rocks (approximately 1 mile by trail) where
we photographed runnels, distant lights, skylines and planes. For proper orientation, Bear Rocks is an area
of very large exposed rocks on the northwest side of Brown Mountain at
coordinates 35.91654O N and 81.76766O west. Bear Rocks also includes Bear Cave, an
approximately 50 ft X 100 ft maze of covered passages including a through going
passage that some ATV enthusiasts ride their motorcycles through.
A careful search of Bear Cave failed to find any glow
worms, and only a few fireflies were seen during our time on the mountain. The lack of fireflies was particularly
puzzling given our recent find of multiple fireflies at Wiseman’s View. More investigation is planned.
Weather and Moon
The weather was typical mid-summer hot and muggy with
afternoon temperatures up to 90OF and nighttime lows approximately 68OF. Recent heavy thunder storms had every stream
and drainage flowing with water.
Although yet another storm blew past to the north just as we started our
hike, we were spared any rain and enjoyed a partly cloudy sky.
The 53% Waxing Crescent moon rose about 2:30 pm and by
sunset was nearly overhead. After dark,
the moon was only occasionally blocked by clouds.
Equipment used
A tripod-mounted Canon EOS REBEL T3i DSLR camera with an
18-55mm zoom lens was used.
Big Foot Found on Brown Mountain!
OK, maybe not!
Image 4007 shows typical erosion runnels on the
exposed granite at Bear Rocks.
The 3 individual channels join down slope to form a
single channel.
Although at a vastly different scale, the runnels are
somewhat reminiscent of the headwater drainages of a mountain stream, with all
runoff flowing into a single channel.
For the proper scale perspective, the small dark
circular spot between the ends of the two closest runnels is a US quarter.
Jonas Ridge
House Lights from Bear Rocks
Here the tripod-mounted camera is set atop Bear Rocks
looking west-northwest toward Jonas Ridge.
Gingercake Mountain is the high point of the skyline
ridge on the left side of the image.
Our BMLCam1 is located at one of the houses within the
row of lights just to the left of center of the image.
Careful inspection of the image shows a dim light
illuminating the NC Highway 181 BML Overlook on Rip Skin Ridge to the right of the
center of the image and between the two rightmost bright lights.
Moon light reflecting off leaves on trees less than
100 feet in front of the camera can be seen in the foreground.
The moon is located beyond the upper left corner of
the image.
f/5.6, ISO-400
Airplane over Brown Mountain
Image 4018 is a half-minute time exposure taken from
Bear Rocks of a particularly bright light from an airplane approaching high
over head from the north.
The camera is facing north and the airplane traveled
from the bottom to the top of the image during the exposure.
The stars are those in the basin of the ‘Big Dipper’
constellation.
Apparently the plane’s landing light was on and
produced the lighted flight path.
To the naked eye, no flashing navigation lights were
visible.
However, careful inspection of the photograph clearly
shows the flashing navigation lights on either side of the bright streak.
No sound was heard until the airplane was nearly
overhead, at which time the typical rumble of a distant airplane was heard.
f/5.6, ISO-400
View Toward Linville Gorge from Bear Rocks
Image 4017 is a 2-minute time exposure looking west
from Bear Rocks.
Table Rock is the prominent flat top peak on the
skyline to the left while Hawksbill Mountain is the prominent skyline peak to
the right.
Laurel Knob is the dark skyline high point near the
center of the image.
Wiseman’s View is located near the base of Laurel Knob
and near the center of the image.
Table Rock and Hawksbill are on the east rim of
Linville Gorge, while Laurel Knob and Wiseman’s View are on the west rim.
Star trails are visible in the sky above the
mountains, while moon light can be seen reflecting off of leaves on trees about
100 feet in front of the camera.
The 50% Waxing Crescent moon is just beyond the upper
left corner of the image.
f/5.6, ISO-400
Marion, NC from Bear Rocks on Brown Mountain!
Image 4024 is a two-minute time exposure looking
southwest from Bear Rocks.
The prominent single white light above a dark peak on
the skyline left of center of the image is the flashing light on a
communication tower atop Mount Ida on the south side of Marion, NC.
The measured azimuth to this light is 220 degrees,
which matches the line-of-sight plotted on the appropriate USGS topographic
map.
The brighter cluster of lights in the center of the
image may be from the Wal-Mart/Lowes shopping center near the junction of US
Highways 70 and 221, and NC Highway 226 on the northwest side of Marion.
f/5.6, ISO-400
