Spotting a Bear in the Smokies

I actually wanted to work on pictures from NYC today but I feel like I have to put these out first... Yesterday we went for a hike with the interns at the lab. It was a mix of sun and clouds while we went up the (maybe a little too steep) trail to The Jump Off, a rock with pretty steep sides. Unfortunately, the the clouds were hanging quite low so we did not see the other mountains...

Nick couldn't help but rent a Ford Mustang, it was fun riding with him as a passenger though... :)

After the 5 mile hike, we went up to Clingman's Dome:

... and on the way back down something unexpected happened: we ran into a crowd that was watching bears. Three cubs trying to climb down a tree (apparently it is easier for them to get up there than to get back down).


The mother was around 10 meters away, first watching us but then deciding that we are no threat for her cubs and so she continued to look for food.

The mother went into the woods and came back, getting close to the path we were on. At first, people were kinda nervous because of her but then we slowly walked towards the bushes where she was eating. It was fascinating and scary at the same time.






We got pretty close, today I would say we were a little too close. Luckily, nothing happened and we all got home, very excited and happy about this encounter.

UPDATE: I think I should mention that we never left the path to get closer to the bear. The bear was sitting in a bush close to the path we were on and we did not follow her into the woods or bushes.

On the way to NYC

After spending a long time inside the Udvar Hazy Center I wanted to leave to get back downtown. While grabbing some food, a guy working as a guide approached me and told me that there is an Airbus A380 scheduled to fly by soon. Of course, I didn't want to miss that so I waited. Unfortunately, the Airbus did not come, but we saw a couple of planes coming in to the nearby airport. That was interesting, too, especially since they came in quite low.

It took me a while to get back since I missed a bus (why should the connection bus wait for a minute if he can leave everyone behind for another hour?!). Trying to get into the National Archives failed because they were already closing. Well, maybe I come back one day...

The next morning I wandered around with my backpack trying to kill the time until my bus leaves. So I went to the Martin Luther King Memorial. I expected YAM (yet another memorial) but was quite surprised by it, it's one of the few that seems to have a deeper meaning (at least to me).

It is a half round with quotes by MLK:

I really liked many of the quotes but I don't want to bother anyone with those, you can find them here.

The half round leads to this stone ensemble:


The inscriptions say "Out of the mountain of despair, A stone of hope."

... and "I Was a Drum Major for Justice, Peace, and Righteousness,". The latter was criticized because King did not put it that way. The inscription is therefore meant to be removed this year. For me, this is one of those useless discussions of nitpickers that you find in many places...

On the way to the bus I came along Washington Monument and saw a crowd of people standing there taking pictures. I ran with my heavy backpack to see what is going on and got a shot of what I believe was Marine One taking off from the garden of the White House.

At one of the Smithsonian museums along the National Mall:

Since the bus station is right next to Union Station, I had a chance to look at how a train station looks like in the US. Basically, it is like an airport with gates that let you in when your train is ready to be boarded:

It says: "All MARC passengers must remain inside the station and wait at the assigned gate behind the glass doors until a track has been posted for your train.
For safety and crowd control, passengers are not permitted to wait on the platform area or in the Metro hallway." Look how far we have come...

So I boarded the bus and finally go to New York City after a 3h ride:

Next up: finally some pictures from NYC :)

Udvar Hazy Center

On my way to New York City, I again spent a day in Washington D.C., this time to see the Udvar Hazy Center, an annex to the National Air and Space Museum on the National Mall. This is where the big toys are on exhibition!

It is located near Dulles Airport and looks like a terminal itself.

The first prominent thing you see when entering: The blackbird, a Mach 3+ reconnaissance device developed in the 1960s. Pretty impressive.

Many WWII airplanes are on exhibit.

A Bell UH-1, kind of a symbol of the Vietnam War where it served as a medical and evacuation vehicle.

Another highlight: The Concord. Since I was a kid, I have always been fascinated by this very special, supersonic passenger airplane. A pleasure to see it in real life.

Clearly the highlight and my main reason to go there: The space shuttle Discovery. This is an impressive symbol of modern engineering and science and an awe-inspiring monument of technological history.

Also interesting to see: one of the many test and preparation versions of the lunar landing module.

Finally, another piece that gave me a chill: the Enola Gay, the Boeing B-29 Superfortress that dropped the atomic bomb over Hiroshima.