by Collin Stuart Chambers
THE GREAT PUMPKIN OF MAX PATCH Hey! I really like your pumpkin. Truly. That thing has character… and whoever hauled that ginormous gourd to the top of Max Patch clearly has strength and tenacity! I know this because I hauled it back down. While many of us enjoy...
by Collin Stuart Chambers
FIRST THE FLOWERS, NOW THE BERRIES… I’m about to share an unpopular opinion, and I’m going to post it anyway, because that’s apparently my whole personality these days. I already spend a fair amount of time asking people to leave the wildflowers...
by Collin Stuart Chambers
BUT IT’S JUST A FEW FLOWERS… I saw several different groups picking wildflowers on my patrol at Max Patch last weekend. Handfuls of them. Some with their kids right beside them, little bouquets clutched in little fists, everyone smiling in the sunshine...
by Collin Stuart Chambers
You made it through winter (almost!). You navigated snow, the ice, the wind that makes your eyes water in ways that have nothing to do with emotion. Congratulations. Now brace yourself for what comes next. Mud. So much mud. If you’ve spent the winter in a region...
by Collin Stuart Chambers
What’s Bugging You? A Trail Guide to Surviving Gnats in the Smokies Let’s talk about that special kind of madness that only a swarm of gnats can bring. You know the feeling—when they hover in clouds around your face, dive-bomb your eyeballs, and somehow find their way...
by Collin Stuart Chambers
“In difficulty lies opportunity.” I saw those words on a billboard today, somewhere between a gas station and the rising blue ridges, and they swirled themselves around my brain. The phrase looped over and over as I drove home on this warm,gorgeous spring day....
