Wildcat Creek Journal

When searching for trout in these southern mountains, the ability to navigate your way through laurel slicks and over slippery boulders the size of Volkswagens is just as important as your angling skills. The farther you find yourself from a paved road, the more aware you become of potential danger: a broken leg, head trauma,  a nasty cut across your forearm, with massive blood loss, or God forbid, the bite from a timber rattler. Somehow, though, the desire to find and catch just one more fish is far greater than any sense of self-preservation. 
Maybe it's the eerie silence surrounding you each time you stop to get your bearings that causes you to keep pushing on. The white noise of fast flowing water over the backs of moss-covered rocks is calming, yet unnerving at the same time. The idea that you're not the only living creature in this deep cove keeps you looking back over your shoulder as the mountains close in all around.
The cold headwaters of the Middle Saluda, rising up f…

My book, based upon the posts on this page, is now available on Amazon. Thanks for reading my posts, and check out the book if you have the chance. Don't forget to leave a review on Amazon once you've read the book. It will help my rankings tremendously if you do. I appreciate your readership. New content coming in the days to come.Right now, I am working on material for my next book, some of which I will be sharing on this blog. Thanks, Josh Lanier Here is the link: Wildcat Creek Journal: Selected Stories and Prose

My new book is out on kindle! Purchase your copy here and leave me a review. Paperback will be released soon. I'll update when it is released. Link to order below: Wildcat Creek Journal: Selected Stories and Prose

Sometimes late in the evening, the mood hits me, and I grab my hat and walking staff and head off in whatever direction I so choose. I do some of my best writing as I walk, because there is always something new, undiscovered, waiting just around the next bend, no matter how many times I have taken that same path.
Lately, I have neglected to walk like I should, even when my doctor instructs me to do so. Though the kind of walking she speaks of so often is more than a mere sauntering at a slow and contemplative pace like I prefer, I understand that I need to get my heart rate up in order for the exercise to do my body any good.
As far as elevating my spirit, however, there's nothing like a nice evening walk in the summertime. Or autumn, spring, or winter for that matter. In all seasons there are so many things to see, to draw inspiration from. 
Just to get out and place my feet on solid ground, feel the earth move beneath me, improves my mental clarity, helps to relieve my stress and a…

For many years, I have struggled to manage my weight, get into and stay in shape, and do all the things that I need to do in order to keep myself healthy so that I can enjoy all the things in life that bring me so much joy.
When I was growing up, like many of you, I didn't have much of a choice of what I would and would not eat. At my mother's table, it was Eat it or starve: the choice is yours.
As an "adult," I pretty much have free range of whatever food I want. The problem is, though, I always go for the cheeseburger or pizza, not the fresh vegetables and lean cuts of meat.
Another issue that I face is that, for all my life, I have been an emotional eater. Yes, I eat when I'm sad or sort-of depressed, but also go overboard when I am happy, proud, embarrassed, anxious, amused, fearful, surprised, uncertain, relaxed... you get the point.
I used to really enjoy food and cooking, but now with the way things are in the world, and how busy our day to day life has become…

Late evening haze, the warm glow of sun on the surface riffles of the North Fork finds me casting a hare's ear soft hackle, mending the drift downstream, trying to keep from hanging up in the tangled arms of a half-submerged yellow poplar tree that fell sometime in the squall of late winter, strong icy winds blowing across the lower mountains, at the foot of the Blue Ridge escarpment.
There are not very many trout here, in fact, I don't know if the state DNR even stock this stream anymore like they once did. What fish I do catch here are usually good ones, though, and put up one hell of a fight to match the struggle an angler must endure to locate and catch one of these wild, holdover fish. 
This stream is moody. At times, she is as calm and lazy as a summer day, water slow as a glass of fine wine. Other times, she becomes a handful, rough and dangerous, full of pent-up rage, making it difficult for even the most skilled of waders to stand in her powerful current. The waters of …