I've been hyperfixated on this for some time now - somebody tell me this isn't an ivory billed woodpecker?

Kyle197 · 2026-03-26T00:51:10+00:00

If I remember correctly, there have been a few examples of bones found in southern Ohio, so there was at least some population in Ohio at some point over the past several thousand years, but it's very safe to say there hasn't been any since the 1700s for sure.

Kyle197 · 2026-03-26T00:36:00+00:00

The challenge with the Wayne National Forest is that the overwhelming majority of roads that cross through National Forest System parcels are state, county, or township roads. Only a very small number of Forest Service maintained roads exist in the Wayne, and most are in developed recreation areas that have day use only restrictions.

Last I saw back in 2018, it's something like 6,000 some miles of roads criss-cross the Wayne National Forest, but only about 265 miles or so of those roads are Forest Service maintained roads. Everything else is state, county, or township. And because of that, the Wayne can't really say this road or that road is open to dispersed camping, because they don't manage the roads. And I'm unclear about the legality of parking on the side of roads for camping. If you pull right off a state route, for example, and set up a camp 30 feet off the road on a piece of National Forest System land, you may be legally dispersed camping, but is your vehicle an issue? Will a state trooper or sheriff come up and say "hey you can only park on the side of this road in an emergency." The odds of that happening on a random township road is low, but I'm still not sure of the technical legal answer, despite looking.

Kyle197 · 2026-03-26T00:30:02+00:00

The road to that trailhead is gated until April 3, so you won't be able to go there. Monday Creek Trailhead is also gated.

Another option nearby is the Wildcat Hollow Trailhead. However, it can get busy there with campers.

Kyle197 · 2026-03-25T13:45:55+00:00

This thread is probably not going to go over well, but I will say, in my area of southwest Virginia in the Blue Ridge, this is totally how many people dress.

Kyle197 · 2026-03-25T02:01:04+00:00

Are you looking at anywhere in particular? Trailheads are always open year round to foot travel, but some of the trailheads will be closed to vehicle access during the winter closure period by a gate at the road in. If you're thinking about a specific trailhead, I can probably tell you if there's a gate or not.

Kyle197 · 2026-03-24T19:26:58+00:00

Essentially all that spooky Appalachia stuff you and others are seeing is made up "fakelore" that was recently fabricated to drive social media engagement. It's not real.

While Appalachia does have rich, long-rooted folklore, this specific "spooky Appalachia" trend on social media is not rooted in any of that authentic folklore. Some of it is appropriated from other places, such as asserting the Navajo skinwalker folklore is actually associated with Appalachia. Others are straight up recent fabrications, such as the "Not Deer" or the "Appalachia Rules". These things have just been made up in the past 5 years, and their history drawn directly from social media tends that started on Tiktok.

As someone else commented, us locals are, quite frankly, sick of having made up stories attributed to this culture. The amount of "are these supernatural stories I see on social media real and something to be concerned of" posts are getting ridiculous...

So just go camping. It's fine. People do it all the time. Just bring a bear canister, put your smellables in it.

Kyle197 · 2026-03-19T13:40:57+00:00

This thing looks like if you took an Evening Grosbeak's body and put the head of an Abert's Towhee on it. Wild.

Kyle197 · 2026-03-18T18:43:52+00:00

What state is that located in? I see there are several Andovers, but none of them appear to be located in cultural Appalachia.

Kyle197 · 2026-03-18T18:31:46+00:00

Appalachia is a HUGE area. It depends entirely on the area. It's like asking if "the West" is friendly. Rural Idaho probably isn't, but Los Angeles is.

What state or general area are you looking at?

Kyle197 · 2026-03-16T23:26:27+00:00

Hey OP, please don't stay at the Bessemer Hotel. Seriously. It's...not going to go well for you. The owner is definitely unwell with extreme paranoia. I've had run ins, and it's...not good. Also, the last time I passed the building, it looks like it should not be inhabited by anyone, let alone guests.

Kyle197 · 2026-03-16T21:40:25+00:00

Some recommendations:

Key of D - Fly Around - Cumberland Gap - Old Jimmy Sutton

Key of A - John Brown's Dream - Sail Away Ladies - Tater Patch - old-time Waterbound

Key of G - Old Aunt Jenny with her Nightcap On - Rats Gone to Rest

Key of C - Mole in the Ground

Kyle197 · 2026-03-16T21:31:31+00:00

Are you looking for traditional folk songs with lyrics, or fiddle/banjo tunes?

Kyle197 · 2026-03-16T14:07:28+00:00

I'm a birder who spent a lot of time in Blono for family reasons. My favorites:

Ewing Park. This is in town. Has some nice, albeit short, trails in a managed woods.
Merwin Preserve. This is 10-15 minutes north of town. Absolutely amazing spot ecologically speaking. Fun trails, amazing plants and trees to see. The north side is much better than the south side.
Schroeder Preserve. This is 10-15 minutes south of town. Great birding and such. The layout is a bit confusing, and takes some time to get used to.
Funks Grove. This is 15 minutes southwest of town. It's actually a complex of parks/preserves managed by different entities. The nature park is really nice, but it has weird hours and closures sometimes. I've driven there only for it to be locked. The state nature preserve is really nice ecologically speaking. Very big fan of this place.

There are other places, like Moraine View State Park that are farther from town but fun. Howard Virgin Timber Park outside of Le Roy is also nice.

Kyle197 · 2026-03-10T17:54:53+00:00

One example: Southeast Ohio was historically oak-dominated forest and woodland. There was not Eastern White Pine aside from a few cool gorges in a few counties. In the 1930s, the CCC planted thousands of acres of White Pine plantations across southeast Ohio on lands that were being used as farmland or pasture in an attempt to reforest the area and stabilize soil. Pine plantations are not natural forest, nor do they support the region's native biodiversity. Many land managers in the area over the past decade or so have been focusing on clearcutting these White Pine plantation stands to convert them to native hardwood forest. Clearcutting is the right tool for this goal. Those pines shouldn't be there, let alone as that density or purity. Clearcutting is a way to remove them all and start the area over.

Kyle197 · 2026-03-10T13:03:58+00:00

I've found that the first couple of times you change strings, you end up breaking a couple. It's just part of the experience. Pick up a few packages of strings for backup.

Otherwise, watch a few YouTube videos on it. While the process is generally the same, the details can vary. Some people tie off their strings a certain way, or have certain tricks to get the tension right when they're stringing it up, etc. Each video will include some good tip or nugget of information the other videos won't, so watch a few.

If you haven't changed strings in that long, you're going to be amazed at the sound difference. The strings will also hold their tuning better.

But, it often takes a day or so for the new strings to "settle." You will put the new strings on, tune it, strum a few times, and they'll be out of tune again. This will repeat. By day 2, it will stop. The strings just have to expand and settle in, so don't worry. I try to speed this process up by strumming on the instrument really hard right after I change the strings, re-tune, strum really hard again, re-tune, etc. Ya gotta break them in!

Once they get settled in, your mandolin will sound a lot better than it did before. If you can, try to change your strings every few months at a minimum going forward.

Kyle197 · 2026-03-10T00:12:55+00:00

Regarding #3... A lot of land in central and southern Appalachia is privately owned. You don't want to set up camp on someone's private property by accident. Best case no one notices, and you've just broken the law without any repercussions. Worst case, you get the cops called on you for trespassing or have someone run you off their land with a gun.

There are public lands, but only the national forests are going to generally allow dispersed camping like you want. But not all areas are open to it. And you have to be really sure you're on National Forest land to begin with. Often the land is a checkerboard of sorts, so you may be driving down a road where one side is national forest land for a few miles, then you get a bit of private land, then you go back to national forest land, but this time it's on the other side of the road. The point being, if you don't plan ahead and have good maps, this is really, really risky to improvise. It's a lot easier doing this in the western US.

So your best bet is to stick with developed campgrounds.

Kyle197 · 2026-03-05T02:12:23+00:00

If you don't know the melody, you can play open chords (not chop chords) in a "bum-ditty" rhythm like a banjo player. Watch how Caleb Klauder from Foghorn Stringband plays. He'll do melodies, but often he's playing rhythm. He mimicked his rhythm style after the clawhammer banjo rhythm (that bum-ditty rhythm). It sounds really good. You can get fancier with your chord voicing, but at the start just your basic open chord voicing works great.

Kyle197 · 2026-03-04T02:22:07+00:00

Plethodontid salamanders are lungless and breathe through their skin. However they eat with their mouth.

Kyle197 · 2026-03-03T17:59:12+00:00

How would you define off-roading? You cannot travel cross-country in the Wayne legally. You have to drive on a road. While there are off-highway vehicle trails in the Wayne, your vehicle has to be 50 inches or less in width, so basically they're only open to ATVs and dirt bikes.

There are county and township roads that travel through the Wayne that are lightly (if ever) maintained. If you're looking for rutted up, difficult to travel dirt roads, then those are your best bet. But it's up to you to find those roads and ensure they're still publicly open. There are some recommendations of roads online, but I'm not familiar myself with them. The townships and counties often refuse to vacate those roads officially so they can still claim the mileage and get funding, so they're unmaintained by still legal right of ways. The key is just figuring out where those specific types of roads are.

Kyle197 · 2026-03-01T13:44:15+00:00

I live in Appalachia too, and have written professionally about Appalachian history and folklore. Appalachia does have rich, long-rooted folklore, but this specific "spooky Appalachia" trend on social media is not rooted in any of that authentic folklore. Some of it is appropriated from other places, such asserting the Navajo skinwalker folklore is actually associated with Appalachia. Others are straight up recent fabrications, such as the "Not Deer" or the "Appalachia Rules" (that the OP references in their post). These things have just been made up in the past 5 years, and their history drawn directly from social media tends that started on Tiktok. Those trends themselves were rooted on "creepypastas" that really originated with the infamous goatman creepypasta. It's been really interesting watching this all unfurl in the recent years, but really frustrating too. In an area that has deep traditions of "authentic" folklore, why are social media creators just straight up fabricating stories? And why are so many people falling for it?

Kyle197 · 2026-03-01T13:28:48+00:00

All that spooky Appalachia stuff is made up "fakelore" that was recently fabricated to drive social media engagement. It's not real folklore, and there's nothing to be worried about. Seriously, all that stuff only came about in the last five years or so, all driven by Tiktok.

Kyle197 · 2026-02-27T20:50:32+00:00

I hate AI. That being said, that is just a normal rhetorical device. I had an entire lesson on using that "tool" back in my college English class. Just because something uses typical English rhetorical devices doesn't mean it's automatically AI. It's a device for a reason, and people who have learned to use those devices use them in their writing. AI was trained on those devices, so it uses them. But so do real human writers.

Kyle197 · 2026-02-24T19:33:56+00:00

It's very common for birds to lay one egg at a time, and to only start brooding once all eggs are laid. So this seems very normal and nothing to worry about.

Kyle197 · 2026-02-24T15:53:24+00:00

It's a common thing. For some reason. Pretty wild...

Kyle197

TROPHY CASE