Your daily outdoor news bulletin for November 13, the day Darryl “Chocolate Thunder” Dawkins broke his first backboard with the Chocolate-Thunder-Flying, Robinzine-Crying, Teeth-Shaking, Glass-Breaking, Rump-Roasting, Bun-Toasting, Wham-Bam Glass-Breaker-I-Am Jam in 1979:
Table Rock Fire Growing
The wildfire raging in North Carolina’s Linville Gorge Wilderness is growing, is expected to continue to grow, and is not contained. The Table Rock Fire was 15-acres in size on Tuesday afternoon, but quickly grew to 40 acres a few hours later. Last night the fire jumped from 40 acres to 100 acres and is zero percent contained as of mid morning. The fire is approximately a quarter-mile southwest of Table Rock Mountain and threatens the Outward Bound base camp area, but no other homes or structures. Nearly 40 U.S. Forest Service firefighters and others are working to clean existing roads, trails and fire lines to contain the blaze.
In a bit of irony, this past January a proposed prescribed burn was debated for the Linville Gorge Wilderness, pitting the Gingercake Acres development – who opposed the burn – against the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission – who supported the burn. This debate sparked on of our own in the pages of our November issue.
The fire is under investigation. The Forest Service is asking anyone who may have seen someone camping or was in the area of the Table Rock picnic area to call the Forest Service at828-652-2144.
North Carolina Open for Shredding
North Carolina has gotten cold in the past few days, and with some flurries around, ski resorts in the western part of the state are ready to open their slopes, if they haven’t already. Sugar Mountain Ski Resort outside Banner Elk began blowing snow on Sunday and continue to do so, allowing them to open the upper and lower portions of Flying Mile. You can get a lift ticket for $30 for a full day and $25 for a half-day. Cataloochee Ski Area in Maggie Valley announced that they will open for skiing and snowboarding tomorrow, Thursday, November 14th.
Both Appalachian Ski Mountain and Beech Ski Mountain Resort report that they are blowing snow on their slopes and will open sometime in the next two weeks, weather permitting of course.
Dog Climbs Everest
Well, not to the summit. Rupee the rescue dog, saved from a dump site in India by South African Joanne Lefson, is the first official canine ever recorded at Everest Base Camp. That honor was supposed to belong to Lefson’s late dog Oscar, but Oscar was hit and killed by a car in California. Lefson found Rupee a couple months later and continued the journey.
There is more to the story of course, and you can read it all and check out the very cool photo gallery at the Huffington Post.
