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BY ANN and ROB SIMPSON

Photography stops in and near Great Smoky Mountains National Park

Known worldwide for its incredible diversity of plants and animals, Great Smoky Mountains National Park is a nature lover’s — and photographer’s — dream world.
In 1976, the park, which spans more than 800 square miles in the southern Appalachian Mountains, was designated an International Biosphere Reserve — an honor only given to the world’s most important biological areas.
Undisturbed by glaciers that scoured the northern states, the Smokies have been a refuge for species many of which are found nowhere else in the world. More than 12,000 species of plants and animals have been documented within the park boundaries. About 100 species of native trees and 1,500 flowering plant species grow here. About 200 species of birds, 66 species of mammals, 67 native fish, 39 reptiles and 43 amphibians call the park home.
Elk, reintroduced to the park in 2001, thrive in Cataloochee Valley near the sleepy song-filled town of Maggie Valley. Black bears claim a population density of about two per square mile.
And at least 30 different species of salamanders can be found here making the Smokies the “Salamander Capital of the World” with the most diverse population of salamanders anywhere.
Cades Cove is one of the best places to view wildlife in the park. Drive the 11-mile loop road watching for turkey, deer and black bear. You can stop and see historic pioneer cabins, barns, and churches as well as great displays of southern Appalachian wildflowers including 10 species of trillium and many other flowering beauties.
Only about an hour’s drive from Knoxville, Tennessee, the tourist-filled town of Gatlinburg, Tennessee, is the closest entrance to Great Smoky Mountain National Park. Fill up with gasoline and stock up on picnic items here, as there are no gas stations and limited food and beverage options in the park.
Plan on arriving the weekend before the OWAA Knoxville conference so you can join in the festivities at the Roan Mountain Rhododendron Festival and marvel at the pink sea of Catawba rhododendrons in the State Park.
Wherever and whenever you go, just don’t forget your camera.
—Ann and Rob Simpson have written many books and articles on national parks coast to coast that promote wise and proper use of natural habitats and environmental stewardship. Longtime national park advocates, their recent work has been centered on providing informative and colorful nature guides on the wildlife and wildflowers of the major parks including Shenandoah, Blue Ridge Parkway, Rocky Mountain, Yosemite and Yellowstone National Parks. You can contact them at annrobsimpson@snphotos.com.
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Five must-hit hikes near Knoxville

Fort Loudoun State Historic Area

Make a 3.4-mile loop on a water-encircled peninsula at this site of an 18th century English fort located less than hour from Knoxville. First, travel hilly woods overlooking Tellico Lake. The trail then winds through open meadows before returning waterside. A climb leads to rewarding overlooks of the Southern Appalachians. After your hike, incorporate a visit to the park museum and fort.

Frozen Head State Park: Emory Gap Falls and DeBord Falls

This 2.8 mile out-and-back hike in mountainous Frozen Head State Park located about an hour from Knoxville, leads to two named cascades as it explores a rugged valley carved from the highest terrain on the entire Cumberland Plateau. The hiking is easier than you may guess as it follows an old roadbed most of its distance. Traveling along North Prong Flat Fork stream, the hike enters a wildflower-laden valley to reach DeBord Falls, which is complemented with a shaded pool. The ascent sharpens upon joining Emory Gap trail where Emory Gap Falls drops over a stone lip framed by a rockhouse.

Cumberland Trail above LaFollette

This is one spectacular hike. Follow the Cumberland Trail as it leaves the town of LaFollette, located about 40 miles north of Knoxville, then climbs the slope of Cumberland Mountain. You will join a knife-edge ridge with protruding spine-like outcrops that offer expansive vistas. Peer upon LaFollette below and southward to the Smoky Mountains and west into the wild Cumberland Plateau, culminating in the Powell Valley Overlook. Beyond this vista, come to a backcountry trail shelter, high elevation stream and Window Rock, a stone wall with porthole in it. It is 5.6 miles there and back.

Smoky Mountains: Baskins Creek Loop and Spur to Baskins Falls

This 6-mile loop, very near Gatlinburg about an hour from Knoxville, travels through surprisingly hilly terrain and winds amid multiple ecotones to reach Baskins Falls. The route returns via Trillium Gap Trail. Auto accessible pioneer homesteads are passed en route to the trailhead.

Ijams Nature Center in Knoxville

Use a series of trails to make a pair of loops totaling 3 miles. Leave the worth-a-visit visitor center and raptor enclosure, bisecting wooded hills to reach Mead’s Quarry. Circle around the lake leftover after marble mining operations ceased. The circuit makes a big climb above the quarry, reaching a pair of overlooks. Head to the Tennessee River. See Maude Moore’s Cave; pass by a wildflower rich hillside near Otter Island, then climb back to the nature center.
– Information provided by Johnny Molloy
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New Members

Joseph Albanese has spent the last 10 years in the natural resource field. He worked for many federal and state agencies in his career, including the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in Alaska. He has also spent time with the Freshwater Fisheries Unit of the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation. He was the technician responsible for ridding New York City’s Central Park of rabies during his tenure with the USDA’s Wildlife Services division. He regards the summer that he went 27 days without touching dry land, and 39 days without showering, among the highlights of his vocation. Recently he has started detailing his experiences through pen and camera, with stories featured in Outdoor Life and Field & Stream. He has pieces coming out in Eastern Fly Fishing, Saltwater Sportsman, The Fly Fishing Journal, as well as other outdoor magazines. You can reach him at www.josephjalbanese.com.
Jeff Helsdon has more than 20 years experience as a writer and photographer. He is currently the turkey hunting editor and senior reporter for Ontario Out of Doors magazine and a field editor for Ruffed Grouse magazine. Helsdon has written for newspapers, Great Lakes Angler, Ducks Unlimited Conservator, Delta Waterfowl Report, NRA’s website and several other publications. Over the years, Helsdon has won several awards for his writing and photography. Helsdon calls the turkey-rich woods of southwestern Ontario home. He has hunted turkeys in two Canadian provinces and several states. Helsdon completed a Canadian slam of turkey hunting, bagging eastern birds and a Merriam’s in Western Canada. When he’s not turkey hunting, he enjoys fishing with his family, especially on Lake Erie and hunting for upland game, waterfowl and deer.
Retired after 45 years in news, talk, and sports radio, Brian Jennings still consults for some large stations around the nation, but his main focus is using his media skills to help advance conservation ethics for public lands, waters and wildlife. He produces and narrates conservation videos and podcasts and authors print content for numerous publications. He enjoyed more than a decade as national vice president of programming for a large broadcast company which held over 240 radio stations nationwide. After leaving those front lines of broadcasting, he found his way home to the front lines of the outdoors and back to his roots.
Ken Keffer was raised in Wyoming, and he’s worked as an environmental educator and research biologist throughout the country from Alaska to Maryland and New Mexico to Ohio. He is now based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. As a freelancer, Keffer regularly contributes to Birds & Blooms and other publications. An award winning author, Keffer has co-authored numerous books focused on getting kids and families outside including the National Outdoor Book Award winning “The Kids’ Outdoor Adventure Book: 448 Great Things to Do in Nature Before You Grow Up.” Keffer was the recipient of the OWAA’s 2014 John Madson Fellowship. Learn more about Ken and his writing at www.destinationnature.net.
Veteran outdoor journalist Dan A. Nelson is editor of Gearinstitute.com, as well as a regular contributor to several national publications. Nelson left his general news beat at the Pierce County Herald and Tacoma News Tribune to work as an outdoor journalist in 1991 as editor of Northwest Trails magazine, where he would spend up to 159 nights per year in a tent while “conducting research” in the wilderness. Over the past 23 years, Nelson has written for Men’s Journal, Backpacker, Outside, National Geographic Adventure, USA Today, CNN, The Seattle Times, Outdoor Retailer, Elevation Outdoors and other publications. He wrote a gear review column for the Seattle Times Outdoors from 1994 until 2011 and continues to provide outdoor feature coverage for the Times. He has authored a dozen guidebooks and launched a number of popular guidebook series with the Mountaineers Books, including the “Best Hikes with Dogs” series. He began working with the Gear Institute as a fly-fishing rod and reel test director in 2012.
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Today’s Deer Hunting Handbook

By Robert Amendola
Acclaim Press; soft cover; 285 pp; 140 illustrations; $19.95.
In the breast of every hunter beats the heart and never-ending desire to match their knowledge and skill against the master of the woodland, the whitetail deer. “Today’s Deer Hunting Handbook” is the first book to cover all aspects of hunting the whitetail deer from A to Z. Each chapter is packed with facts and proven techniques for the novice as well as the experienced hunter. Within its pages, you will discover how to consistently locate whitetail deer, track their feeding, bedding and traveling routes, select the best stand location and understand what it really takes to become a superior whitetail deer hunter.

Downstream: Reflections on Brook Trout, Fly Fishing, and the Waters of Appalachia

By Matthew T. Dickerson and David O’Hara
Cascade Book; E-book and softcover; 146 pp; $18.
“Downstream: Reflections on Brook Trout, Fly Fishing, and the Waters of Appalachia” is a mosaic combining nature writing, fly-fishing narrative, memoir, and philosophical and spiritual inquiry. Fly-fishing narratives and fragments of memoir provide the narrative arc for exploring relationships between humans and rivers, and the ways in which our attitudes and philosophies impact our practices and the waters we depend on for life. While each stone in this mosaic is worth a close look in its own right, seen from a distance the book offers a broader picture of the cold mountain waters of Appalachia and their famous native fish: the brook trout.

Mount Misery

By Angelo Peluso
Skyhorse Publishing; E-book, audio book and softcover; 227 pp.; starting at $10.49.
“The first time the creatures tasted human blood, their savagery went undetected.” Thus begins Mount Misery, a science-fiction horror tale by writer Angelo Peluso. Located on the Long Island Sound, random attacks by unknown
creatures are terrorizing local residents. Marine biologist Katie DiNardo and ichthyologist Nick Tanner have seen the damage caused by their mystery creatures but are at a complete loss as to the attacking species. All they know is that they need to get to the bottom of this . . . and fast.

Nature Guide to Yosemite National Park

By Ann and Rob Simpson
Falcon Guides, an imprint of Rowman & Littlefield, falcon.com; paperback; 240 pp; 284 color photographs; $16.95.
Biologists, photographers and writers, Ann and Rob Simpson have added another book to their unique series of nature guides for the national parks. “Nature Guide to Yosemite National Park” is filled with user-friendly descriptions, quick identification aids and color pictures of over 200 of the most commonly seen plants, animals, birds, insects and other organisms. Small enough to toss in a backpack, the book is packed with information to help Yosemite’s 4 million visitors learn about, and enjoy, their outdoor experience, including suggested nature hikes and wildlife viewing areas, charts for driving times and elevations, visitor services, maps and photo tips.
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• Read other writers: You don’t need to reinvent the wheel. Sometimes good ideas are right in front of you. Read magazines and newspapers to look for inspiration on how others covered similar situations. If someone found a clever way to write about a climbing festival, the basic method could apply to a mountain bike race or shooting competition.
• Break it up: Not every story needs an exhaustive 1,200 words. If you find the right narrative, or the topic is controversial, then by all means, expand. But sometimes it’s easier to think about your event in pieces. Find a handful of different characters and ask them each similar questions. Your story will be quick and fun to read while still being informative.
• Do your homework: Showing up the day shed hunting opens on an elk refuge or the last day of ski season and working a crowd can result in a good story. It also can end with dozens of interviews you may or may not need. Plan in advance and call event organizers or your sources to see if they have heard of interesting stories. You don’t have to be intimately familiar with every outdoors topic, as long as you have good sources who are.
• Character is key: Many topics can be told through the lens of an interesting character. When turkey season starts, find the guy who’s traveled across North America hunting every species and subspecies. At the beginning of hunting season, ride along with the most seasoned warden in your state.
• Mix tips with characters: Use a compelling person to teach your readers about his or her passion. Tired of writing about how another Joe or Susie caught the new state record crappie or walleye? Ask Joe or Susie to take you fishing. The state record fishing story will be better as Joe or Susie talk on the water, and you can offer useful information from someone who knows.
• Think visually: Sometimes the best new angle is to scrap the idea of a traditional format. Instead of pitching a series of tips on staying safe in bear country, propose writing a choose-your-own-adventure maze. This requires the help of an illustrator, but the payoff is big. Readers absorb more information when they have to make choices. It looks snappy. And in the end, it’s an entertaining change of pace for you.
• Be curious: How does one train for that event? What is that piece of gear and why do you use it? Remember: If you are interested, chances are your readers will be too.

—As the outdoor writer for the Casper Star Tribune Christine Peterson has spent the past four years tracking wolves, camping with Peruvian shepherds and catching any fish that will bite. When she’s not chasing stories, she can be found running or wrangling her 2-year-old Labrador.
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How to put paper on video

• Do your homework. Know the topic and share that knowledge not only with the viewers, but with the people being interviewed. Don’t, however, pretend to be an expert.
• Millgate suggested I talk to myself. I was reluctant to appear as loony as she does sometimes, but her on-camera presence is so strong I had to at least try. It worked.
• Have fun and be yourself. Viewers can tell when you are putting on a fake identity.

—Brett Prettyman has been a member of OWAA since 1992 and an outdoor writer at the Salt Lake Tribune since 1990. He is currently serving as the second vice president of OWAA and busy planning the 2015 OWAA annual conference June 26-28 in Knoxville.
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How to put video on paper

• Video involves more elements than any other medium. All you have to do is take away the element of motion, and the print translation starts.
• Look for medium-appropriate shots. Moving a sleeping grizzly bear out of a trap is great video. The bear sleeping in the trap is a great photo.
• Sights and sounds translate well in video but not so well in print. Tell the readers what the rushing river sounds like. They can hear it in video, but they can’t hear it in print. Write your story well enough for readers to hear the river through your words.

The true power of putting video on paper comes from being able to cross mediums and write for the masses in multiple ways. Prettyman and I are multi-media storytellers and in today’s world that means mastering all mediums, not just guarding the one you’re good at.
—Kris Millgate investigates outdoor and environmental issues for TV and web with cross publication in newspapers and magazines. She serves on OWAA’s Board of Directors and is a life member of Trout Unlimited. See her work at: www.tightlinemedia.com.
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