Hiking At The Minor E. Clark Fish Hatchery, Morehead, Kentucky, August 2, 2025

After attending the Artisans Harvest event in West Liberty, Kentucky, yesterday, we decided to travel to the Minor E. Clark Fish Hatchery so I could get in a hike. I parked Candice in the van in the shade and began my hike. Shortly after I started hiking, I met a local man, (recently relocated to Kentucky from elsewhere) who happens to be a biologist employed in a federal government job. He also happens to be a very experienced birder and we struck up a conversation. I am choosing not to name him in light of the extremely oppresive and destructive nature of what is happening to thousands of federal employees all over the country. Our conversation was initially about birds and I told him about my recent experiences around the visit on our property by a large flock of Evening Grosbeaks. While we were talking, he pointed out a pair of mated Bald Eagles which were soaring over the fish ponds and told me they are nesting on a distant ridge within sight of the hatchery. This was my first sighting of Bald Eagles at the hatchery but I have to admit that I might have missed them soaring in the distance. As our conversation progressed, we got into an enlightening discussion of the ongoing decimation of the federal government by TRAITOR Trump. The man was open and honest about his feelings, stated he is just a few years from possible retirement, and might be willing to retire early if another opportunity is presented to employees in his department to take voluntary early retirement. Our conversation was mostly about the horrible attacks on government employees, immigrants, and humanity in general which is happening by TRAITOR Trump and his Criminal Syndicate which poses as a "cabinet". Yes, it was a sad conversation in many ways. But it was also honest, open, enlightening, and, in some ways, stress reducing. After our conversation broke up after about 20 minutes, I walked back to my van to let Candice know that I had been talking and would just then be starting my hike so she would not be alarmed by my lateness in returning. Then I got into an area of the hatchery property which I had never been in before, saw a large amount of birds of several species, and had a great hike in an area I had never been in before. As I was preparing to leave the hatchery, both Candice and I were able to watch an osprey swoop into a pond and capture a large goldfish and fly away with it. I suspect that a pair of ospreys are raising young somewhere near the hatchery. It was a great experience from several viewpoints: political conversation, hiking, new experiences at the hatchery, and bird watching with two great species, one of which I had never documented before, the osprey actually taking a fish. And I got my sixth sighting of Bald Eagles, a mated pair in flight.

"No Kings Day" Protest, Morehead, Kentucky, June 14, 2025

Yesterday, my wife and I attended the "No Kings Day" protest in Morehead, Kentucky, along with somewhere in excess of 200 other people who are all committed to seeing the end of the occupation of the White House by TRAITOR Trump and his Criminal Syndicate which poses as a "cabinet". It was a very successful and fulfilling event. It never stopped raining the entire time we were there. We arrived at almost exactly the scheduled start time of noon and had to leave at about 1:30pm to meet an old friend of mine at Cracker Barrel whom we hadn't seen in about 25 years. I wish we could have stayed longer. I dropped my wife off around the corner from the little city park at the junction of KY 32 and Main Street, and then drove down the street about three blocks to find a safe parking spot at a business which was closed for the day. When I returned to the protest, my wife had been invited under a tent which the organizers had set up, actually one several such tents. We had not thought about making protest signs and took none which is a shame. But the street side of the park was lined shoulder to shoulder and about three rows deep with people who were holding a wide variety of signs some of which were homemade and some which were commercial products. My favorite sign of the day is the one in the picture above. But during the time we stayed, one man who told me he is 80 was sitting down to take a break and agreed to loan my wife his sign which she held while he rested and managed to situate herself in her power wheelchair on the street edge with the sign. There was a lot of traffic for a Saturday in Morehead and most of the cars driving by were blowing their horns in support, waving in agreement, sometimes shouting encouragement to us, and in the spirit of honesty, some few would give us the finger or shout an obscenity. But the majority seemed to be supporting us. I talked to numerous people during the time I was there including a photographer for the local Morehead newspaper. Our conversation was about the difficulty which small town newspapers and radio stations are facing with the movement of most advertising money to the internet. We specifically discussed one of the Morehead stations which some people I know used to own as one in a small chain of small town Eastern Kentucky stations. That station, and all their others, have recently been sold to a Right Wing Radical Repugnican who has actually served prison time for vote buying when he was an elected public official. The Morehead newspaper has actually been sold a couple of times since the inception of the internet as have at least two other papers in Eastern Kentucky. None of those sold seem to have been bought by people with liberal leanings. Yes, it is possible for a newpaper editor, publisher, owner, and staff to promote rational liberal ideas which still providing accurate honest reporting. In fact, one small town newspaper on the Virginia border has, in the last couple of years, won a major award from the Kenucky Press Association for reporting it did on the 2022 floods in several Eastern Kentucky counties, and it is quite liberal in its leaninings. It's a shame in these times that more small town newspapers and radio stations were being bought up by Right Wing Radicals and being turned into megaphones of the Radical Right. I stayed at the protest as long as my other appointment would allow and both of us really enjoyed our time. We both feel a sense of accomplishment and fulfillment for having taken time out of our lives, as we always do, and as you should also be doing, to support the steadily growing public opposition to the TREASON of TRAITOR Trump and his Criminal Syndicate. Always Stand Up, Speak Up, and Speak Out!

I wish I could have personally thanked every one of those American Patriots who stood up in Morehead and every other town and city in the country on No Kings Day. That is impossible. But each of you should know just how proud of you I am and how grateful I am for your courage and commitment to our country and our democracy! Always Stand Up, Speak Up, and Speak Out!

Me And My Shirt Take A Trip To Two Eastern Kentucky Towns!

 

 

This morning my wife Candice & I had a few things we needed from Wal Mart in Morehead, Kentucky, and left home about 11am.  Our first stop was at a McDonald's in one of those towns.  I don't intend to say which McDonalds' or which town in order to protect an intelligent, committed employee of that McDonald's from any potential punitive actions her employers might wish they could use against her.  When I pulled up the food service window, she handed me my order and suddenly said, "I like that shirt."  I thanked her, pointed out that my wife was also wearing a similar kind of Kamala Harris shirt and suggested that she be sure to vote and get out all the votes she can for Harris.  She said, "I'm trying with everybody I can".  Then she added, "We ain't going back."  I loved it.  

Later I was at the meat counter in Wal Mart when I encountered a couple about 35 or so and the man suddenly turned to me and said, "I like that shirt."  We struck up a conversation and they assured me that they are registered and do vote.  They also told me that the wife sometimes wears one of the "Childless Cat Ladies For Kamala" shirts.  Then the husband began talking about the connections between TRAITOR Trump and Vladimir Putin and Russia.  We talked a bit about the theft of the 2016 election in Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, and Michigan about which they agree with me totally.  All together it was a fine day.  I saw one or two of those irritated and ignorant glances when others saw the shirt but no one during the day, including our lunch at Cracker Barrel, said a negative word about our shirts.  And I would actually like it to have happened because it impossible to confront that kind of ignorance if the don't open their mouths.  

Hiking At The Twenty-Six Boat Ramp, Daniel Boone National Forest--August 29, 2019

Today, August 29, 2019, my wife Candice and I took a long drive in the country and I took two side trips to hike in the Daniel Boone National Forest and/or Cave Run Lake.  First I spent a half hour or so at the Twenty-Six Boat Ramp which is located just off Kentucky 772 about a mile or less from Kentucky 519 just about a mile from the Morgan/Rowan County Line in Morgan County.  Even though I have lived in the area for more than twenty-five years, I had never been to the boat ramp area in question.  I had actually arrived there by the long way around through the Kentucky State Tree Nursery and Woodsbend Youth Development Center in the Woodsbend area on Lower Grassy Creek.  It is a beautiful drive along that route through some of the best farm land in all of Morgan County.  There are numerous well maintained farms, the Tree Nursery and the Youth Development Center as well as three major, well maintained and photogenic cemeteries along the way.  The most interesting of those cemeteries is the Bear Wallow Cemetery. With a name like that, how could you avoid taking a drive along this wonderful scenic route?  

But once you arrive at the Twenty-Six Boat Ramp, a great deal of the beauty is lost due to abuses of the site by what seems to be a group of partiers from time to time combined with an overloaded Corps of Engineers who probably do not have the time or staff to adequately maintain all the public use facilities in the Daniel Boone National Forest.  The drive off Kentucky 772 to the boat ramp is tree shaded, scenic, and inviting.  It has a large gravel parking area, a concrete boat ramp, and lies on a tributary of Cave Run Lake.  All of this should have combined to make a wonderful location to hike, fish, kayak, launch boats, and simply eat a leisurely lunch on a work day.  But the ramp was poorly situated and is pointed upstream which means that a lot of debris ends up in the ramp launching area and at least one large log was visible in the water on one side of the ramp directly in front of the incoming boats which I suspect are few and far between since a far better situated and maintained ramp is located only a couple of miles away just across the line in Rowan County.  Between the parking lot and the water, there is an area which is about four feet lower than the parking lot and probably two feet above the normal water line.  But it is subject to periodic flooding when the Corps of Engineers is holding large amounts of water in the lake.  The normal amount of debris which would end up in area like that would be expected and workable.  But the people who have been using and abusing the boat ramp area have made a workable situation both disgusting and infuriating.  I hiked this area for quite some distance downstream along the waterside and found it littered from one end to the other with all sorts of garbage.  I usually carry a plastic grocery bag with me when I hike and pick up whatever litter I find in the locations I utilize no matter where they are, whether I have ever been there or not, and whether or not I ever likely to return.  But if I had the assistance and time today, I and a couple of friends could have easily filled the bed of my Ford Ranger with garbage which had been thrown about by the users of the area.  I actually found the remains of several camp fires and two them had the remnants of automobile tires in the ashes.  One had the steel belt wires from a large tire combined with beer and soft drink bottles, Styrofoam live bait containers, and general garbage.  And this particular camp fire was not the worst of the lot.  Another had not only the steel belt wires from a tire combined with its bushel of garbage.  It also had the steel rim from a large automobile tire.  In addition to these camp fires, the entire area was randomly littered with what were obviously fresh bottles and cans which showed no evidence of ever having floated in on the waters.  This entire area is a disgrace to every human who has ever helped to damage it.  

This area is tree shaded, quiet, inviting, and on the edge of the water.  It could be a wonderful site to use in a variety of ways.  But in its current condition, I am certain that it drives potential users away on a regular basis.  It is in dire need of a major clean up and regular policing from the Corps of Engineers and local law enforcement and yet I know that all these agencies are understaffed and overloaded.  The bottom line is that it is a damn shame and in desperate need of change on a major level. 

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After I left the Twenty-Six Boat Ramp area, I crossed the county line into Rowan County and turned right up the first paved road into an area which is part of the upstream lake and is used as a camping and hiking site.  I do not recall the particular name or number which is assigned to this road but it is the last left turn off Kentucky 519 in Rowan County before the bridge at the Morgan County line.  At about a half mile, you find several camp sites with rudimentary launching for small boats.  Then there is a locked gate across the road which is obviously the old state highway along the Licking River before it became a part of the lake.  The road is only a couple of feet above the water line and still in acceptable condition.  There area a plethora of spots along this road which could be used as lake shore fishing spots.  It is quiet, tree shaded, flat at least on the area I hiked, and a wonderful place to hike, fish, ride a bike, etc.  It is closed to vehicular traffic beyond the aforementioned gate. During my hike, I encountered a nice lady who was riding a vintage bicycle along the road and camping with her family at one of the camp sites.  She advised me that the road extends for roughly five miles or more along the lake shore and connects with another old road which climbs the mountain side to cross out of the Daniel Boone National Forest.  She also told me of a rumor that is rampant among users of the area that the Corps of Engineers is planning to lease that area to a vendor who is already renting kayaks on the lake for use as a paid camping, hiking, and multi-use area.  I tend to doubt the rumor but I will admit that it could be possible.  I hope to return to this area and spend more time and distance hiking it to see as much of it as I can.  When I do, of course, I will post about it on this blog.  

These two areas which I hiked today are well worth the time to utilize if you are in the general area.  I would also encourage all of you to contact the Army Corps of Engineers Office in Morehead and discuss the need to clean up and enforce civilized practises on the users of the Twenty-Six Boat Ramp.  If you utilize it, please take a camera along, which I did not do today, and shoot some photos of the egregious garbage, campfires with evidence of burnt tires, and pass them along to the Corps of Engineers. 

Minor E. Clark Fish Hatchery, Morehead, KY, July 8, 2019

On July 8, 2019, we took our nine year old nephew, Connor Nehlson, to the Cave Run Lake Spillway for a picnic, a hike and a visit to the Minor E. Clark Fish Hatchery just below the spillway.  I have known about the hatchery for at least twenty years but I had never visited it until a month or so ago while I was hiking at the spillway.  There is an old paved service road which runs between the hatchery and the dam and I figured that out by accident simply by following the service road until I found myself at the hatchery. That service road is an excellent place to hike, easy to hike, tree covered all its length, and it connects with the other hiking trails in the area of the Cave Run dam and spillway.  When I took Connor there, I took along my camera and got a few photographs around the hatchery.  The hatchery is comprised of a couple of what appear to be residential houses for senior staff, an equipment garage, and a large building which is both an office complex and the hatchery building itself.  In front of the office and hatchery building there is a large concrete holding tank which is used as a display tank in warm weather so that visitors can see specimens of several of the larger fish breeds which are either native to Kentucky or raised at the hatchery.  The tank is somewhat like a large livestock watering tank but considerably larger but only about three feet deep.  Most people, including children of eight or nine can see over the top of the concrete sides into the tank.  There are two or three species of catfish including two paddle bill catfish about three feet long.  There is also an albino catfish which must be about ten or 12 pounds.  There are also about a dozen large outdoor ponds in which fish are raised until they are ready for stocking.  There are gravel service roads around these ponds and I have hiked on them a few times but I am not certain whether hiking is actually permitted around the ponds or simply ignored by the staff. These ponds are also an excellent place to hike, absolutely flat but totally exposed to the sun, near several staff which increases the safety factor for at risk hikers, they attract several species of water birds, and the area is fully visible from more than a hundred yards away.  There are also three or four long, narrow, shallow concrete holding tanks in the ground between the buildings and the ponds which appear to be used for holding fish temporarily until they are transported for stocking.  

Paddle Bill Catfish In The Observation Tank--Photo by Roger D. Hicks

The hatchery does give indoor tours of the hatchery building between 7am and 3pm according to the state website.  There are actually three fish hatcheries in Kentucky but I have not visited the other two. The Minor E. Clark Hatchery at Morehead and the Peter W. Pfieffer Hatchery east of Frankfort are both operated by the state of Kentucky and raise fish species which are considered endemic to either cool or warm waters.  A federally owned hatchery is operated under the name Wolf Creek National Fish Hatchery at Jamestown, Kentucky.  The Wolf Creek National Hatchery raises cold water species of fish such as trout. 

Connor At The Observation Tank--Photo by Roger D. Hicks

If you love fishing, icthyology, hiking, bird watching, or biology this will be an excellent place to visit. It can be educational, great exercise, and good, clean, fun. It can also teach you a lot about the fish stocking and individual species preservation efforts in Kentucky.  It is located less than ten miles from I-64 and can be accessed from the Morehead exit or the Sharkey/Farmers exit.  It is also only a mile or so from US60 and about the same distance from Pop's Barbecue which is an acceptable place to eat.  There are also motels between the hatchery and the interstate.  If you are in the Morehead area, you can combine a trip to the hatchery with fishing, boating, and hiking at Cave Run Lake.  You can also visit the Kentucky Folk Art Museum and Morehead State University, my alma mater, in nearby Morehead and make a day or a weekend trip out of it.  

Connor Nehlson At One Of The Concrete Fish Holding Tanks--Photo by Roger D. Hicks

Responses To Some Reading Of Cratis Williams

Having just completed "William H. Vaughan A Better Man Than I Ever Wanted To Be A Memoir" by Cratis Williams, I want to set down some responses it generated as quickly as possible.  The book, or more accurately pamphlet (only 72 pages), is a biographical memoir about Dr. Vaughan the most important mentor in the life of Williams who is one of the most important figures in the history of Appalachian Studies.  The two met when Williams, a freshman in high school, moved from remote Crain's Creek in Lawrence County Kentucky to the county seat of Louisa so he could board in a home and attend high school which no member of his family had ever done. Vaughan was a teacher at the school and eventually became its principal.  He would later complete a doctorate and become president of Morehead State Teachers College (University).

The two maintained a mentor and protege relationship for more than 40 years until Vaughan died in Nashville where he lived and taught after being fired at Morehead following a political turnover in Frankfort.  Vaughan was a Democrat.  The new Kentucky governor was a Republican.  The firing cost the college its accreditation for one year.  But wherever the two moved in their separate careers, they stayed in touch and supported each other throughout their professional lives.  Williams was the only Lawrence County native who attended the funeral of Vaughan in Nashville in 1972. Their relationship was a model for what all mentor/protege relationships should be.  It was close, honest, cooperative, and life long. 

But the most striking thing  I noticed in reading the book was a quote by Williams in a biographical statement at the end of the book.  In that brief segment, Williams discusses his earliest exposures to the negative stereotyping of Appalachian people and how he dealt with that stereotyping throughout his life.  It should be a model for every Appalachian native today when the need arises to confront and educate the people who disseminate the stereotypes. The quote says:

"In college I picked up from  professors and students from outside the Appalachian region the negative attitudes toward us Appalachians that fictional stereotypes had created.  It was a shame to  be Appalachian.  An Appalachian persons first obligation to himself was to identify and correct or reject everything about himself that betrayed his identity.  As I considered and tried alternates, I found many of them superficial, unreal, often pretentious, and sometimes hypocritical.  I had to pretend, for example, that young middle class women were innocent little girls who played at life as if they were still in doll houses.  I had to substitute shallow euphemisms for the colorful and vigorous language in my dialect.  People played religion in middle class churches and few seemed to take it very seriously...My acceptance of people as they themselves saw themselves stood me in good stead.  My ability to listen, consider, ask questions without condemning or rejecting appealed to those who fate it was to work with me.  It has seemed to me that such success as I have enjoyed as a 'public person' is owing largely to my having accepted myself with confidence, and without significant loss of self-esteem, as an Appalachian.  I never feel the need to apologize for who I am or try to obscure my identity.  I find it enormously comfortable to be myself."  Williams, Cratis D.; "William H. Vaughan A Better Man Than I Ever Wanted To Be A Memoir"; p. 72.

The truths contained in that brief quote cannot be accurately enumerated or adequately explained by a person who has never been subjected to the negative stereotypes which Williams is discussing.  But he was able to progress from the point at which he first encountered the stereotypes to become a proud spokesman for the Appalachian people.  He created a career and a body of writing which is rarely equalled in any field.  Only one or two other native Appalachians have succeeded to the degree that Cratis Williams did.  Every Appalachian person who benefits from his work owes him a debt of gratitude. 

And every native Appalachian should try to confront the stereotypes and the people who perpetuate them.  We are the last minority group in America which it is still socially acceptable to denigrate, defame, and belittle.  So long as we stay silent and accept the stereotypes they will live on.  We need to take the same postion toward them that Williams took.  We must defend our heritage and our culture.

Cratis D. Williams, Ph. D.