BackWoods Drifter

This post I decided to write while camping.

Right now it is about 9pm on Aug. 31 and I’m camping on top of the mountain in Drews Creek. If I had been following my plans I would be in Martin’s Creek down in the hollow instead of on top of the mountain but as plans are apt to sometimes do, somewhere along the line they changed.

My trips to the mountains now always begin with a visit to the game cameras. The Spring Hollow cam in Drews Creek is the one I like to make sure I get time to check because it has been the most productive. That camera is located 22 trail miles from my house. I had planned on checking the camera in Martin’s Creek first this time because it is only about half the distance of the other camera and I wanted to camp there because ginseng season starts tomorrow and that is a place I want to go seng hunting.

A quick note – I had been hearing thunder in the distance and it has now started to rain. This will be my first night weathering a storm in this tent. I was a little unsure about tonights weather when I left home this morning so I came prepared for mother nature. I brought rain repellant for the tent and I brought a tarp to sit the tent on so there would be extra protection for any water that may run under the tent. I also set up in an area with minimal large trees. There are a lot of small trees so they should help with a little protection.

Now back to why I am on top of this mountain, curiosity is why. I just had to see the photos from the Spring Hollow cam first. And since I was already over here I decided to camp here and go to Martin’s Creek in the morning then home tomorrow evening. I came out of Spring Hollow to the top of the mountain because it was still pretty early in the day.

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Unfortunately, since it can at times take me a little while to compose a post, the paragraphs above are as far as I got before the battery in my laptop died. So I’m finishing this post at home.

I think I got lucky with the storm. Turns out it was more bark than bite. Just a lot of thunder and few rain drops. I did get some more pictures from the Spring Hollow cam. The one bear I’m beginning to think has a den somewhere not far from the camera.

This weeks photos also cleared up a small mystery.  I had been getting late night photos that showed what appeared to be two deer. I couldn’t be sure because all I could see were eyes.

Like the bear I believe these two deer, a doe and her yearling, also call this area their home. I’ve gotten a lot of pictures of the doe but this is the first picture with her yearling plainly visible.

The morning after camping, I went to Martins Creek to check the camera there and do some ginsenging.

It seems as if the second camera and bears are going to have a history. If you have read any of my recent posts you will know I moved one camera to Martins Creek after it was attacked by a bear in Spring Hollow. I thought when I moved the camera to Martins Creek I set it up next to a deer trail. Maybe I should have looked at the sign a little closer. The next two pictures aren’t real clear but there is no doubt what it is. Definitely not a deer.

This bear didn’t intentionally bother the camera but he just happen to go up the mountain right by the tree the camera is attached to.

I tracked the bear up the mountain for a little distance and ended up finding my first stalks of ginseng for the season. I was right about Martins Creek being a good place to ginseng. In short order I found about twenty stalks on the side of the hill above the camera.

Right at the moment I am getting my gear cleaned up and ready for another trip to the mountains. I plan on going back to Martins Creek early in the morning and camping until Thursday in order to do a more thorough search for ginseng. I’ll let you know how that turns out.