{"id":632,"date":"2010-10-24T12:43:00","date_gmt":"2010-10-24T12:43:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/homegardenjoy.com\/site\/2010\/10\/little-ottie-cline-powell.html"},"modified":"2019-06-28T15:05:47","modified_gmt":"2019-06-28T19:05:47","slug":"little-ottie-cline-powell","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/homegardenjoy.com\/site\/2010\/10\/little-ottie-cline-powell.html","title":{"rendered":"Little Ottie Cline Powell"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>\n

Yesterday we laced up our hiking boots, drove to the Blue Ridge Parkway, and hiked to the summit of Bluff Mountain. It was a strenuous hike up a steep mountain, with leaf-covered scree and tumbling cliffs making it especially slow-going. Shadow was a trooper and her four-paw drive helped steady me on the other end of her leash as she led the way. I felt like there wasn’t enough oxygen left on the planet to satisfy my lungs. It was like hiking two hours up the steepest flight of stairs you could imagine. Why do hiking packs get heavier as you go along, even when you’re drinking water from your water bottle and thereby supposedly lightening<\/i> the load?<\/p>\n

Up through mostly bare forest, past groves of wild laurel and maples we hiked until the rough trail opened onto a sun- dappled meadow.\u00a0 There we stood on the summit of Bluff Mountain.\u00a0 The cement pylons from an old fire tower were still visible, so I sat down to catch my breath while John poked around looking for a marker or something to tell us what gorgeous valley we were looking at.\u00a0 The rolling valley and tiny houses looked like a model train set, with each white house and farm a tiny model on a scale map of a valley.\u00a0 The wind blew softly through the trees and golden leaves shimmered on the mountain slopes.<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

We weren’t sure if we had made it to the summit of Bluff Mountain or its neighbor, Punchbowl Mountain, so we set off to look around the cement pylons for a U.S. Geological Survey marker.\u00a0 They usually tell you where you are plus include the summit height.\u00a0 As we poked around the underbrush, I came across what I first took to be a grave stone – then realized it was a memorial marker to a little boy, Ottie Cline Powell.<\/p>\n

Off to the side of the meadow, under a scrubby tree as the trail picked up again in the forest was a low stone marker with a bronze plaque on it.\u00a0 Someone had left a small toy car on it and there were smooth, tumbled pebbles left as mementos (see\u00a0Blue Ridge County’s article<\/a> detailing the story. The fully story of Ottie’s disappearance is told very well in the article. \u00a0Wikipedia<\/a> also has an entry about the event).<\/p>\n

The plaque said that little Ottie Cline Powell, aged 4, had wandered away from his school building in November 1891 and his body was found on this spot in April – 7 miles <\/b><\/i>away from the school building.<\/p>\n

How had a four year old child wandered up a mountain that we had found so difficult to climb? What had drawn him away from his school? How had he died? My heart just broke thinking about how frightened he must have been as he lay down under the tree where he died.<\/p>\n

When I got home, I searched online and found the story.\u00a0 Apparently, little Ottie was at school that cold November day. A storm was brewing and the teacher in the one room school building asked the children to gather firewood at recess, something they did frequently. When she called the children back to the building, Ottie was missing. She immediately sent the children home to fetch their parents and the community began a search, spreading out in circles from the school.\u00a0 Ottie was not to be found.\u00a0 The community searched until snow made it impossible to keep combing the mountains for the boy.\u00a0 His distraught parents put up posters as far away as Lynchburg offering a reward for his return but no clues – not a single one – turned up.<\/p>\n

Then the following spring, in early April, a party of hunters found the remains on top of the mountain.\u00a0 Evidence suggested that Ottie had made it to the summit the same day he disappeared for he still had chestnuts in his stomach – the snack he had eaten at school.\u00a0 The night he disappeared, an ice storm hit the mountain, and the assumption is that he died of exposure the same night.<\/p>\n

While I could not find any evidence that Ottie’s ghost haunts the mountain, I will tell you that there was a sense of lingering sadness up there, perhaps enhanced by the toys left on the old marker.\u00a0 It was a good hike, but I wish I’d brought a little flower or something to put by Ottie’s marker. I still couldn’t shake the feeling that somehow he lingers on the mountain, a wisp of sadness in the wind.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Yesterday we laced up our hiking boots, drove to the Blue Ridge Parkway, and hiked to the summit of Bluff Mountain. It was a strenuous hike up a steep mountain, with leaf-covered scree and tumbling cliffs making it especially slow-going. Shadow was a trooper and her four-paw drive helped steady me on the other end…<\/p>\n

Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"wprm-recipe-roundup-name":"","wprm-recipe-roundup-description":"","_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","_wp_convertkit_post_meta":{"form":"-1","landing_page":"0","tag":"0","restrict_content":"0"},"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-632","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-uncategorized","7":"entry"},"yoast_head":"\nLittle Ottie Cline Powell - Home Garden Joy<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Little Ottie Cline Powell\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Yesterday we laced up our hiking boots, drove to the Blue Ridge Parkway, and hiked to the summit of Bluff Mountain. It was a strenuous hike up a steep mountain, with leaf-covered scree and tumbling cliffs making it especially slow-going. Shadow was a trooper and her four-paw drive helped steady me on the other end...Read More\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/homegardenjoy.com\/site\/2010\/10\/little-ottie-cline-powell.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Home Garden Joy\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sevenoaksgardening\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:author\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/jeanne.grunert\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2010-10-24T12:43:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2019-06-28T19:05:47+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Jeanne\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@WriterGrunert\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@WriterGrunert\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/homegardenjoy.com\\\/site\\\/2010\\\/10\\\/little-ottie-cline-powell.html#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/homegardenjoy.com\\\/site\\\/2010\\\/10\\\/little-ottie-cline-powell.html\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Jeanne\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/homegardenjoy.com\\\/site\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/2a4a2d7c5e897228f42be953553e4140\"},\"headline\":\"Little Ottie Cline Powell\",\"datePublished\":\"2010-10-24T12:43:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2019-06-28T19:05:47+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/homegardenjoy.com\\\/site\\\/2010\\\/10\\\/little-ottie-cline-powell.html\"},\"wordCount\":773,\"commentCount\":6,\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/homegardenjoy.com\\\/site\\\/2010\\\/10\\\/little-ottie-cline-powell.html#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/homegardenjoy.com\\\/site\\\/2010\\\/10\\\/little-ottie-cline-powell.html\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/homegardenjoy.com\\\/site\\\/2010\\\/10\\\/little-ottie-cline-powell.html\",\"name\":\"Little Ottie Cline Powell - Home Garden Joy\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/homegardenjoy.com\\\/site\\\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2010-10-24T12:43:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2019-06-28T19:05:47+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/homegardenjoy.com\\\/site\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/2a4a2d7c5e897228f42be953553e4140\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/homegardenjoy.com\\\/site\\\/2010\\\/10\\\/little-ottie-cline-powell.html#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/homegardenjoy.com\\\/site\\\/2010\\\/10\\\/little-ottie-cline-powell.html\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/homegardenjoy.com\\\/site\\\/2010\\\/10\\\/little-ottie-cline-powell.html#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/homegardenjoy.com\\\/site\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Little Ottie Cline Powell\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/homegardenjoy.com\\\/site\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/homegardenjoy.com\\\/site\\\/\",\"name\":\"Home Garden Joy\",\"description\":\"Grow What Nourishes You\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/homegardenjoy.com\\\/site\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/homegardenjoy.com\\\/site\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/2a4a2d7c5e897228f42be953553e4140\",\"name\":\"Jeanne\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/a00d7eb73461d2099498e814aff8b33f2ad508e1d0608cc28e4457e188352d5f?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/a00d7eb73461d2099498e814aff8b33f2ad508e1d0608cc28e4457e188352d5f?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/a00d7eb73461d2099498e814aff8b33f2ad508e1d0608cc28e4457e188352d5f?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Jeanne\"},\"description\":\"Jeanne Grunert is a certified Virginia Master Gardener and the author of several gardening books. Her garden articles, photographs, and interviews have been featured in The Herb Companion, Virginia Gardener, and Cultivate, the magazine of the National Farm Bureau. She is the founder of The Christian Herbalists group and a popular local lecturer on culinary herbs and herbs for health, raised bed gardening, and horticulture therapy.\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.amazon.com\\\/Jeanne-Grunert\\\/e\\\/B002FR9ZX4%3Fref=dbs_a_mng_rwt_scns_share\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.facebook.com\\\/jeanne.grunert\\\/\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.instagram.com\\\/homegardenjoy\\\/\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.linkedin.com\\\/in\\\/jeannegrunert\\\/\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pinterest.com\\\/sevenoaksjeanne\\\/\",\"https:\\\/\\\/x.com\\\/@WriterGrunert\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/homegardenjoy.com\\\/site\\\/author\\\/jeanne\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Little Ottie Cline Powell - Home Garden Joy","robots":{"index":"noindex","follow":"follow"},"og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Little Ottie Cline Powell","og_description":"Yesterday we laced up our hiking boots, drove to the Blue Ridge Parkway, and hiked to the summit of Bluff Mountain. It was a strenuous hike up a steep mountain, with leaf-covered scree and tumbling cliffs making it especially slow-going. Shadow was a trooper and her four-paw drive helped steady me on the other end...Read More","og_url":"https:\/\/homegardenjoy.com\/site\/2010\/10\/little-ottie-cline-powell.html","og_site_name":"Home Garden Joy","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sevenoaksgardening","article_author":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/jeanne.grunert\/","article_published_time":"2010-10-24T12:43:00+00:00","article_modified_time":"2019-06-28T19:05:47+00:00","author":"Jeanne","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@WriterGrunert","twitter_site":"@WriterGrunert","schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/homegardenjoy.com\/site\/2010\/10\/little-ottie-cline-powell.html#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/homegardenjoy.com\/site\/2010\/10\/little-ottie-cline-powell.html"},"author":{"name":"Jeanne","@id":"https:\/\/homegardenjoy.com\/site\/#\/schema\/person\/2a4a2d7c5e897228f42be953553e4140"},"headline":"Little Ottie Cline Powell","datePublished":"2010-10-24T12:43:00+00:00","dateModified":"2019-06-28T19:05:47+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/homegardenjoy.com\/site\/2010\/10\/little-ottie-cline-powell.html"},"wordCount":773,"commentCount":6,"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/homegardenjoy.com\/site\/2010\/10\/little-ottie-cline-powell.html#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/homegardenjoy.com\/site\/2010\/10\/little-ottie-cline-powell.html","url":"https:\/\/homegardenjoy.com\/site\/2010\/10\/little-ottie-cline-powell.html","name":"Little Ottie Cline Powell - Home Garden Joy","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/homegardenjoy.com\/site\/#website"},"datePublished":"2010-10-24T12:43:00+00:00","dateModified":"2019-06-28T19:05:47+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/homegardenjoy.com\/site\/#\/schema\/person\/2a4a2d7c5e897228f42be953553e4140"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/homegardenjoy.com\/site\/2010\/10\/little-ottie-cline-powell.html#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/homegardenjoy.com\/site\/2010\/10\/little-ottie-cline-powell.html"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/homegardenjoy.com\/site\/2010\/10\/little-ottie-cline-powell.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/homegardenjoy.com\/site\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Little Ottie Cline Powell"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/homegardenjoy.com\/site\/#website","url":"https:\/\/homegardenjoy.com\/site\/","name":"Home Garden Joy","description":"Grow What Nourishes You","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/homegardenjoy.com\/site\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/homegardenjoy.com\/site\/#\/schema\/person\/2a4a2d7c5e897228f42be953553e4140","name":"Jeanne","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/a00d7eb73461d2099498e814aff8b33f2ad508e1d0608cc28e4457e188352d5f?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/a00d7eb73461d2099498e814aff8b33f2ad508e1d0608cc28e4457e188352d5f?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/a00d7eb73461d2099498e814aff8b33f2ad508e1d0608cc28e4457e188352d5f?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Jeanne"},"description":"Jeanne Grunert is a certified Virginia Master Gardener and the author of several gardening books. Her garden articles, photographs, and interviews have been featured in The Herb Companion, Virginia Gardener, and Cultivate, the magazine of the National Farm Bureau. She is the founder of The Christian Herbalists group and a popular local lecturer on culinary herbs and herbs for health, raised bed gardening, and horticulture therapy.","sameAs":["https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Jeanne-Grunert\/e\/B002FR9ZX4%3Fref=dbs_a_mng_rwt_scns_share","https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/jeanne.grunert\/","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/homegardenjoy\/","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/jeannegrunert\/","https:\/\/www.pinterest.com\/sevenoaksjeanne\/","https:\/\/x.com\/@WriterGrunert"],"url":"https:\/\/homegardenjoy.com\/site\/author\/jeanne"}]}},"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/homegardenjoy.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/632","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/homegardenjoy.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/homegardenjoy.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/homegardenjoy.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/homegardenjoy.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=632"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/homegardenjoy.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/632\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/homegardenjoy.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=632"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/homegardenjoy.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=632"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/homegardenjoy.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=632"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}