February 5, 2009 Issue
Hiking With Grandfather
Changes Announced Regarding Sales of Hiking Permits
By March, the sale of Grandfather Mountain to the state will be official and all backcountry hiking becomes free to the general public. Until then, the mountain is selling one-day hiking permits at its main ticket gate only—not at off-site permit outlets—and is no longer selling 12-month hiking permits. Customers wishing to use the trails accessed from within the attraction will still have to pay Grandfather’s admission price. Photo by Sam Calhoun
Grandfather Mountain and its off-site permit outlets are no longer selling 12-month hiking permits. One-day hiking permits are still required until the sale of Grandfather Mountain to the state is complete, and are available at the Grandfather Mountain ticket gate. Hiking permits are no longer available at off-site permit outlets such as Footsloggers and Mast General Store.
According to Grandfather Mountain President Crae Morton, the final paperwork for the sale of Grandfather Mountain and its backcountry to North Carolina should be completed by the end of February or beginning of March. At that time, when the sale is official, hiking on many of Grandfather’s trails will be free.
“Since we only had a few more weeks of official ownership of the trails, we thought it best to stop selling annual permits,” said Morton.
Even after the sale is final, hikers wishing to use the trails accessed from within the attraction will still have to pay Grandfather’s admission price. After the sale is final, hikers wishing to use Grandfather’s backcountry trails such as the Daniel Boone Scout Trail and the Profile Trail will no longer need a permit.
“For all intents and purposes for our hikers, everything will be the same; we just won’t be collecting money for hiking permits,” said Morton.
Next month, National Park Rangers will join Grandfather’s staff in patrolling the trails to make sure hikers stay on the path and follow the rules and regulations that protect the mountain’s fragile ecosystem. Morton stressed that although hiking in Grandfather’s backcountry will soon be free, the same rules apply and will be enforced. Until the beginning of 2010, Grandfather Mountain staff and state rangers will work together to maintain and monitor Grandfather’s complete trail system.
“Since there will be no hiking fee once the state purchases the backcountry, this is the simplest solution for a seamless transition,” said Morton. “We anticipate minimal inconvenience, as we have much less hiking in the months of February and March.”
For more information, call 828-733-2013.
Grandfather’s Virginia Big-Eared Bat Population Decreases
Eddy Cartaya, a ranger of the National Park Service, squeezes to get into Grandfather’s Mystery Hole Cave. Cartaya, along with two researchers from the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission, rappelled into the cave to observe and count the number of bats inside. Photo by Joy Franklin
Researchers converged on Grandfather Mountain on January 26 to venture to the area’s caves in search of Virginia Big-Eared Bats. The bat, with its characteristic large ears, is on the state and federal endangered species lists.
According to Grandfather Mountain Naturalist Jesse Pope, Grandfather is home to the biggest colony of the bats in the state and was the first place the bats were discovered in North Carolina. Researchers first discovered the bats at Grandfather in the mid-1980s, said Pope.
On January 26, researchers conducted bat counts at Cranberry Iron Mine and at Grandfather’s Black Rock Cave and Mystery Hole Cave. These three locations, all in Avery County, are the main spots where the Virginia Big-Eared Bat has been found in North Carolina.
Counts are conducted every two years and are scheduled during the winter when the bats are hibernating. This year, researchers from Grandfather Mountain, the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the National Park Service participated.
The Cranberry Mine has multiple levels, but surveyors explored just one level this year, and counted approximately 200 bats. None of the counted bats were Virginia Big-Eared Bats, but species identified included Big Browns, Little Browns and Northern Long-Eared Bats.
At the Black Rock Cave on Grandfather Mountain, researchers counted approximately 230 Virginia Big-Eared Bats, down from the 2007 count of 376 bats. The count at Mystery Hole also decreased. Five Virginia Big-Eared Bats were recorded this year, down from 55 in 2007.
Pope said this decrease does not spur any immediate concerns.
A cluster of Virginia Big-Eared Bats hibernates inside Grandfather’s Black Rock Cave. To get an inhabitant number that is as accurate as possible, researchers diligently try to count each bat nose they see. Photo by Robert Currie
“The cause could be natural; the caves could be getting too cold. When caves get too cold, bats tend not to stay as close to the openings, moving to more secluded parts of the cave,” said Pope. “There is lots of speculation as to why the numbers might have gone down but we really don’t know. It’s normal for the numbers to fluctuate occasionally.”
Pope also took water and dirt samples from the Mystery Hole that will be tested for invertebrates because much is still unknown about the Mystery Hole and its inhabitants.
Numerous gates have been placed at each cave entrance to keep curious visitors out. Pope stressed the importance of staying away from caves in the winter.
“Continued disturbances will cause the animal to leave and never return to the site,” said Pope. “In the wintertime, this extra flying around causes the bat to burn its fat stores and without food it could eventually die. In order to have the least impact, the scientists venturing into these caves to conduct counts limit their time to keep the cave temperature from significantly rising.”
Pope also noted the white-nose syndrome that has killed tens of thousands of bats in the Northeast this winter as another reason for people to stay out of caves. Bats with the syndrome have a white fungus on their muzzles and other parts of their bodies. The affected dead and dying bats are usually emaciated and those found outside are severely dehydrated. Biologists are not sure if bats are transmitting the syndrome, if people are the cause, if both are spreading it or if it comes from an entirely different source. National and regional caving organizations are working with biologists in the Northeast to help assess the situation, provide advisories to the caving community and document cave visitations to determine if cavers could be spreading the outbreak.
“This fungus hasn’t been found in this part of the country,” said Pope. “And of course we hope to keep it that way since bats are such an important part of our ecosystem and we have such special species on Grandfather.”
For more information, call 828-733-4326.
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