• April 16, 2018 Spring is on it’s way.

Red bud spring is turning into dogwood spring in Paint Rock. Blue long-spurred violets are giving way to blue crested iris, and the breathtakingly blue phacelias are replacing the breathtakingly blue bluebells.  And as Alabama Public Television winds up its shooting for the week, it reminds me to ask, Why is there so much blue in Paint Rock?

 

Yellows for the bees, reds for the birds, but who and what in nature besides us is seeing all of this blue, and how are they seeing it? There’s so much beautiful blue here in spring, it’s almost spooky, and you have to wonder what is it about Paint Rock that has evidently made blue such a signal color.

 

But seeing Paint Rock is partly about the challenges of seeing it. Its beauty is in part a result of its isolation and the difficulty people have in accessing it.

 

The mules, as a result, have become indispensable for travel through this forest. Some are disappointed when they discover the mules have four tires rather than four feet. I’ll admit, I’d rather have the latter, too. But these motorized, four-wheel drive mules are almost as sure-footed on these mountains as the real thing, and a whole lot smoother.

 

You appreciate how hard they have to work after riding up and down these thousand foot drops repeatedly during the day.

Monday opened cold, with the Paint Rock River in full flood and streams gushing. The falls descending deep toward China in the mouth of Keel Sinks Blowing Cave entertained the film crew for much of the morning. It was apparent the water falls coming high off the plateau were going to be equally spectacular, and we had two mules full of film crew, film equipment and ant specialists ready to get from the sunken bottoms to the high tops.

 

As we ground toward the top, one of the mules just sat down and quit. It was our only significant glitch after weeks in the field. Fortunately, you don’t need a drive belt to come down off the plateau.  Luben Dimov patiently ferried everyone down in his mule, and since everyone knows everyone hereabouts, Dennis and Tim got us in touch with the person who knew more about sick mules than anyone else in Alabama. His shop was just down the road in Paint Rock.

Bill Finch