Ramblin' On...

2026 so far...

2026-04-24T16:48:00.000-04:00

Some great outings both Down East as well as in the Glen Alpine area:

1/3/26 Upper Creek Falls Loop: 1.89 miles.

1/4/26 Rose Creek dirt road bike ride: 17.65 miles & 2,095' elevation gain.

1/7/26 Big dirt road bike ride. Rose Creek/Steels Creek/Little Fork/Upper Creek/Timbered Branch/Craig Creek/Wilson Creek/John's River/White Mill Creek were all crossed or passed. 37 miles & 3,778' elevation gain.

1/9/26 Jonas Ridge hike: 11 mile & 3,572' elevation gain.

1/10/26 Crowders Mountain State Park hike. Boulders Access: 9 miles & 1,483' elevation gain.

1/12/26 Fonta Flora short bike ride. 4 miles

1/13/26 Kayak Nolichuky River with John E. Calhoun. 9.5 miles.

1/14/26 Shortoff approach hike: 10 miles& 2,328' elevation gain

1/17/26 Devil's Cliff and Gingercake hike with Noel. 4.4 miles & 1,555' elevation gain.

1/23/26 Flanner's Beach fast track: 8 miles

1/29/26 Fort Macon trail jog and beach walk: 8.3 miles

2/2/26: Shoveling now for 5 hours and 23 minutes. 16.5" of snow!

2/3/26 More shoveling for 52 minutes.

2/7/26 Saluda River Walk: 3.8 miles.

2/8/26 Lake Murry, Lakemont Drive walk: 3.1 miles.

2/9/26 Dreher Island walk at Lake Murry: 3 miles.

2/10/26 (2) Congaree National Park hikes and North Fork of Edisto River walk in Orangeburg.

2/12/26 Fort Macon fast track: 5.5 miles.

2/14/26 Flanner's Beach trail run & beach walk: 7.75 miles.

2/16/26 New Bern waterfront walk: 6.4 miles.

2/17/26 Skateboard Ketner Heights: 8 miles.

2/24/26 Catawba Falls walk with John E. Calhoun: 4.5 miles.

2/25/26 Rose Creek dirt road ride: 25.75 miles & 3,032' elevation gain.

2/26, 2/27, 2/28 Food running at Treat.

3/4/26 Table Rock Gap, Chimneys and Little Table Rock: 9 miles.

3/5/26 Rose Creek to Table Rock Gap bike ride: 26 miles & 2,938' elevation gain.

3/6/26 Table Rock Gap, Chimneys and Little TR backtrack. 9 miles

3/12/26 Morganton walk with Di: 4 miles

3/13/26 Upper Creek Falls Loop with Di: 2 miles

3/14/26 Fish Hatchery walk and Downtown Morganton with Di.

3/15/26 Oak Hill Park walk with Di: 4.1 miles.

3/20/26 Kayaking Hancock Creek to Neuse river: 10.1 miles

3/24/26 Dirt road ride: 30.78 miles.

3/26/26 Kayaking North River: 8.3 miles.

4/3/26 New Bern walk: 5.1 miles.

4/7/26 Skateboard Ketner Heights: 10.5 miles.

4/8/26 Flanner's Beach walk: 6.4 miles.

4/15/26 Bike Ride from Wilson Creek Gage up Adako Rd>Murphy Place>Maple Sally Rd>Maple Grove Church Rd>90 to Mortimer>Brown Mountain Beach Rd>Wilson Creek. 34 miles & 3,562' elevation gain.

4/20/26 Jonas Ridge Hike: 10 miles & 2,619' elevation gain. New trail.

4/22/26 Fonta Flora walk from Harris Whisnant trailhead: 6.24 miles.

4/23/26 Bike ride from home to Fonta Flora at Harris Whisnant trailhead: 31miles & 2,506' elevation gain.

4/24/26 Disc Golf at Catawba Meadows then lunch at Treat with Hans. 2.4 miles.

Life Rolls Onward

2026-03-03T14:29:00.001-05:00

3/3/2026

The Things I Want to Give You

I want to give you what no one else can give you.

What I want to give you can't be bought, sold or traded. Only lived and gifted.

What I want to give you is a glimpse into my memories, my feelings, and my heart.

Not the dark memories, we all have our own that we struggle with on our own. Just the beautiful ones.

Views of Oceans, Seas, Mountain Ranges, Deserts, land that goes on forever, Meteor Showers, and Stars.

Feelings of rainfall pelting your skin and snow melting on your face.

Joy of skipping school and going swimming in a pond the color green from minerals.

Rush of standing next to a cliff with wind gusts so strong that you need to lean away from the edge.

The rejuvenation your body gets when jumping into a cold mountain creek when exhausted after a hot day of play.

Wind so strong on your face that you instinctively squint your eyes to keep debris from hitting them.

Joy of being able to walk, jog, or run because you know it is a gift that can be taken away in a heartbeat.

Love of seeing your child take her first steps and to hear her voice talking to you in complete sentences.

Pride you get when your children find their way in life and acknowledge your guidance.

Satisfaction of living our lives on our own terms and realization that we don't always get it right every time but we can have a "do-over" most of the time.

Springtime, 2025.

2025-06-15T11:51:00.000-04:00

As planned, I left my Continental Career with an early exit opportunity. My first month was spent in Florida. The months since then has been spent between Havelock and Glen Alpine. It's not been as I planned and envisioned, but it has been productive.

Helene devastated and changed more of the trails and creeks than I had anticipated before I was able to get out amongst it. I've still only scratched the surface so far but I'm hoping to get into a lot more in the near future.

I've done some good hikes, logged some road and mountain bike miles, done some great coastal and lake paddling but only whitewater kayaked once, and it was on Wilson Creek.

I want to put into words the feelings / emotions the streambed changes elicited in me.

I might do that at a later time, still trying to wrap my head around it...

Some pics from my paddling outings:

Late Spring 2024 in Florida. Thanks Diane

2024-06-30T05:34:00.013-04:00

This was another great visit with Diane. I never thought I would love Florida so much but Diane has introduced me to so many great places and has been the best hostess.

I had never had any interest in Florida before I met Diane. Over the years I had been twice but was not impressed. Diane really opened my eyes to the possibilities. The paddling potential alone is so diverse from salt water with an incredible amount of wildlife to crystal clear freshwater springs, also teeming with wildlife. The water quality of the ocean is also impressive compared to what I had seen in the past. Especially in Key West but the water from Indialantic and Sebastian Inlet areas are shades of blue that I did not know existed.

I'll be going back in October 2024 and plan to stay for a month. Some of my favorite places over the last years with Di have been the Keys, Sabastian Inlet, Crystal River, Hermosassa River and springs area. Of course the entire Brevard County area: Indialantic, Cape Canaveral, and Cocoa Beach.

My next trip I will do more touring kayaking in Sebastian as well as some paddling/exploring south of there from the Round Island Beach Park, close to Ft. Pierce. I also hope to do some fishing if time allows. I'm excited to spend more time on the water and explore some new places.

Update 4/16/25:

I did go back down to Indialantic FL for a month late October and into November. I did a lot of kayaking, reading, drinking coffee, some skateboarding around Indialantic, saw several launches, watches the dolphins play, got up close and personal to some manatees and generally just enjoyed the weather and the salt air.

By the beginning of January I was single again. It was mutual and I'm glad we could end on good terms.

Life goes on...

ODAAT

2024-06-16T10:31:00.004-04:00

One Day At A Time

Things have been rough lately but as stated in the title: one day at a time.

I know that losses and gains are realities for everyone - it's the definition of the human condition, it's how we handle them that define us. It would be easy to be bitter or sulk over our losses. I don't think anyone should live like that - it's not healthy.

My recent losses: my oldest sister Susy, my dog Felix, a friend I have had since 15, a kayaking friend, relationships, etc. We all have them, and we should all be aware that we will deal with more and more as we age but of course, knowing this doesn't make it any easier...

The way I plan to move forward is by making the most out of each day, treating people with due respect and working on myself.

I still have a full-time job until October 15, 2024. I feel fortunate to continue to have that paycheck coming in until then and that I have had gainful employment for all these years - both with the current company and the one I left over 25 years ago. Since 1986 I have had gainful employment with only a few weeks of vacation every year. That is about to change. This doesn't mean that I will never have another full-time job or that I know what to expect, that's part of the allure.

Honestly, I don't know if I will ever have a full-time job again and if I do what it will be, only time will tell. I do know I am going to focus on some things that I think will be harder to do the older I get. I'm currently 59 and like everyone else, not getting any younger. My goal is to become the person I want to be and my road to get there is not an easy one, but I think the pay-off could be immense. In my case both mentally and physically.

On July 3, 2022, I had my last alcoholic beverage. Coming up on my 2-year alcohol free anniversary in a few weeks, I think it was probably one of the best decisions of my life. I had stopped drinking at 40 and then started up again at 45. I could say that I wish that I had not started drinking again but that is the past and I have tried to learn from my mistakes. It was definitely not an easy habit to break. I tried a few times before it took hold.

I really enjoyed the brewery lifestyle. I compared going to breweries to adult theme parks and I still have a lot of the brewery swag - fun times. I'll always have memories of the good times - ups as well as a few memories of the downs (hangovers and drunkenness) during those 12 years. Along the way there were valuable learning experiences - "that's life". One more way that I will continue to "Ramblin' On" - but with some purpose...

After 10/15/24, my last day of employment, I will be changing my lifestyle. With minimal income I will attempt to make the most of what I have, and I feel I do have a lot (I don't mean monetary or physical belongings, more along the lines of Peace, Love and Happiness (thanks to G. Love & Special Sauce for the definition)).

10/15: the date when I will have a lot more time on my hands - Goodbye 6 to 4. The date I will also have a huge shift of priorities.

My ongoing to-do and "Focus On" List:

Cut extra expenses i.e. streaming services.

More exercise.

Meditation.

Lower Heartbreak Ridge - A Great New Trail

2024-06-15T15:48:00.017-04:00

This pic is from Heartbreak proper.

So many great views on Lower Heartbreak. They did a great job and I loved the

Chapter 2 Formally Starts October 15, 2024

2024-04-11T08:14:00.001-04:00

After 25 years of employment with my current company, I've accepted the early retirement option. I'm excited to start a new chapter and a little scared. I've never been unemployed and the thought of no paycheck coming in is intimating.

Signing the intent to accept early retirement on April 2, my 59th birthday

I've been anticipating something like this for a long time. I'm glad it is my choice and not a layoff.

My plans: Kayak, Bike, Hike, Fish, visit my parents more to help them out, visit Diane in Florida and hopefully do some big month long (or longer) road trips...

Deep dive into meditation, physical fitness, mindfulness and casual guitar playing. As always, spend as much time with Starla and Noel as they have available. The option of getting another job will always be there but I am not going to actively search for one until I have to or an opportunity presents itself.

July 3, 2024 will be my 2 year alcohol free anniversary. I don't see myself drinking again and want to focus on my health

New Years Day 2024: Pinnacle Hike with Diane

2024-01-06T21:45:00.006-05:00

Chapter One of the Rest of My Life

2023-12-23T21:53:00.051-05:00

12/23/2023

Earlier this month I had a 25 year milestone at work. I started working there on December 7, 1998. In those 25 years I've worked with many people and in three different capacities. I've made multiple trips to different areas of Europe as well as to Japan once. I've visited many different cities in several different countries. In 2004, I made a few different trips and was in Europe for a total of 18.5 weeks and for the last stretch a total of 9 weeks, returning on December 15. In the three different jobs, I've supervised many people and interfaced with so many more people during these 25 years... I feel fortunate to have been employed with one company this long and afforded so many varied opportunities. That said:

Of all the people I have worked with over the years, only two people and the HR Manager acknowledged my work anniversary on the web site the company uses to celebrate work anniversaries. I'm positive that the HR Manager acknowledges everyone's anniversary. I was a little disappointed at the minimal acknowledgements but honestly, I'm not surprised. The last few years I have felt invisible. The department in which I am Supervisor and QA lead in is key to future business and to after-market product but not in the limelight. All emphasis in our factory is put on the production output. That's where the $$ is made and where the spotlight shines the brightest.

Times have been very strange since the pandemic and industries have been turned upside down, sideways, shaken vigorously and turned over a few times. There are still a lot of people, who had "in-plant" office jobs before the "Covid Days" but who now rarely physically come into the plant to work. My department has had little to no downtime and all of our work is on-site. For the most part, I feel that I have a great group of employees. I feel fortunate to be in a position to have worked with and helped build the team by hiring more than half of them over the last 12 years. The first half of my time with the company was spent in the production Quality Assurance Management. There was a lot more turnover, and we were hit with layoffs a few different times. Stress was never low in the production quality area. I have been gone from that environment since 2010 and there is not a single person left in the group that was there when I was part of it...

I'm not complaining because I have continued to receive a monthly paycheck as well as some very nice bonus checks over the years. My salary has more than doubled over those 25 years and they have never missed paying me... It's been a very good run and I feel fortunate to have made it to 25 years. I've seen several people leave of their own accord, even more get laid off, and more than a few retire. It's a dynamic place to work and a fast-paced environment.

I was 33 years old when I started there and 58 now. I had two young daughters (1 year old and 4 year old) and a wife. My daughters are now 26 and 29 years old and I no longer have a wife, now she is some other guy's wife ;<)) I've sold 2 houses and bought 2 houses since I have been employed there. I've bought 5 different automobiles for my family and countless kayaks and bicycles for the family. There have been 3 different dogs that have been part of the family and now there is only 15-year-old Felix...

On an even more personal note, I have had to grapple with family issues like my father's fight to recover from double pneumonia and a collapsed lung. He was in the hospital for over a month and intubated for about a week. He has fought back and is getting stronger all the time. He had a set back with RPV last week but is doing his best to beat that as well. He is a fighter and never ceases to amaze me. My mother is a rock and continues to keep it all together. I visited last week and tried to help out as best I could. I drove down on my first Holiday, December 22, took them to the emergency room in New Bern where they diagnosed his RPV. Got them back home late that evening and got up the next morning to grocery shop, wash cars, and mulch the leaves in the yard as well as fill up the back of his truck with deadfall. On Christmas Eve I got up and took my mom to the Urgent Care for an unexpected medical issue that she needed addressed. After I got her back home satisfied that she had correctly self-diagnosed, I picked up her prescription and then hit the road going West around lunchtime to get back to Glen Alpine and work on housework to start celebrating Christmas with Starla and get the house ready for Diane's visit.

To comment some on my "active hobbies", aka, reasons to keep moving: I've kayaked, mountain biked and hiked more miles than I could ever calculate or even estimate. I've met and known countless people that I have shared these sports with that have moved on putting their chosen outdoor sport behind them, a few that have passed away and maybe a dozen that have kept on keeping on. It's not a surprise that people change priorities and put things on hold with the intent of getting back into their chosen sports - some actually do make it back. It's always funny to see people pick up a sport and think they are an expert after a couple of years. I feel like there is always something more to learn and new plateaus to reach. The plateaus get harder for me to attain every year, mostly due to priorities. I see a few people who I can say put me to shame in this aspect by pushing their own limits, over and over. Dan Richardson comes to mind with his long MTB rides and ORAM finishes every year. He inspires me to push myself and to try harder, thanks Dan! Keep on turning those cranks...

In 2024, I plan to "step it up" in terms of my physical activity and goal setting and meeting said goals. I will envision as well as meet some of my own personal plateaus and open a new door on the rest of my life. I will start living a "cleaner" lifestyle and set a personal standard for living with an even lighter carbon footprint. I will endeavor to step away from the TV and focus on positive activities that help myself and my loved ones. I will replace the TV with reading, meditation and "getting after it". I quit drinking alcohol on July 3, 2022, and that has been a springboard for getting into better shape, mentally and physically. I had gone alcohol-free from age 40 to 45 and made my best endurance gains I could have ever hoped for. It's a long hard road but nothing comes free and we all get back what we put into it.

2024 has big changes in store for me. I'm not going to elaborate on what I speculate these changes to be right now, but I plan to elaborate with a Chapter Two in later January if not in February... Chapter Two can't be written yet because it has not been lived yet.

Merry Christmas, Happy New Year and Peace Out,

For Now,

Amos

It's Been Too Long Since I Made a Post... Cambria California, April 2023

2023-07-08T10:56:00.012-04:00

I will be up-loading some photos from a California trip Starla and I took in April, 2023.

We flew into Las Vegas, picked up our rental car and made a road trip across California. Our destination was a small town on the Pacific Coast Highway called Cambria. We arrived at our destination at dusk. My experiences at the Pacific Ocean have not once disappointed me in terms of beauty, power and overall variety. I've been fortunate enough to see the Pacific from the far south/west point of California at Border Field State Park, north at Cape Mendocino in Humboldt County and one of my favorites in 2017, the small beachside community of Pacifica. This trip I got to spend time in Central Western California and it is now one of my favorite places, anywhere!

In 2017 Noel and I stayed in a small motel on the ocean in Pacifica. The topography right at the ocean really impressed me and I knew I wanted to eventually get back and see the area south of Half Moon Bay where Noel and I headed East to visit my sister Donna in Mammoth on the east side of California.

2023 was the year Starla and I had the opportunity to explore an area of California that I had never seen but had visited through my imagination via incredible photos and topographical maps.

Starla researched places for us to rest in between adventures and she reserved us a hotel room in Cambria. We were on the second floor of a very laid back Hotel with a balcony where we could chillax with ocean views. We stayed in Cambria and explored the area for the first 3 days of the trip.

The last 2 nights we stayed at a golf resort in Monterey. This room had a great shower, comfortable beds and was very convenient to the Bay.

5/7/22 Managed to do a 33.9 mile road ride today, paddle a 2 unit Catawba release after work Tuesday and a 23.37 mile Wilson Creek Wilderness ride last weekend.

2022-05-07T17:50:00.005-04:00

I'm trying to get back in shape.

Some Colorado spring break fun:

Our hotel balcony at Idaho Springs:

Noli surf session:

First Day of May, 2022. Can't believe that I haven't posted anything since August 2020

2022-05-01T13:13:00.006-04:00

Florida has so much to offer and is an amazing place with an incredible amount of sea and land life. Diane really opened up my eyes to all of the possibilities down there.

From an April 2022 Colorado trip with Starla, we had a blast:

Saying goodbye to my girls and starting on a road trip to Florida with Di:

Nolichucky with Bobby Bouche:

Paddling with Di at the Chassahowitzka River on the West Coast of Florida. The springs were awesome but my favorite was the Otters!

Back on Wilson Creek:

The summer of 2020 is ending and between the Pandemic, Politics, Economy and interpersonal relationships, I think I live in Bizarro World where every thing has turned upside down! The uncertainty of what will happen next is scary and exciting all at the same time.

2020-08-29T09:12:00.002-04:00

Now it is January 30, 2021 and things are still Bizarro World and some scary shit has been happening: world wide Pandemic, Political Coup in the Nation Capitol in the country where I live, Racial strife resulting in large gatherings of people ensuing in violence and destruction of property, extremist conspiracy theories that a large percentage of people actually believe, and overall mass insanity related to political beliefs (both sides think the other is bat shit crazy).

I feel fortunate that so far it has not been all bad for me. As of today I'm in a romantic relationship, still gainfully employed, and have my health, I still have not contracted COVID 19 in spite of the fact that I have been in close proximity of many people that had it, and I'm on good terms with my family of whom I am thankful none have contracted the virus. And on another positive side we have some political stability with a new president and the Senate leaning a little bit on the Democratic side, IMHO.

April Watagua, Blue Ridge Parkway Bike Ride, some Soul-O Wilson Creek and hanging with Starla

2020-06-19T14:50:00.000-04:00

Foggy and rainy day on the parkway

End of Feb. March and Early April

2020-06-14T11:24:00.001-04:00

Back to the Nolichuky with Jimmy Vick. Feb. 22, 2020:

This street sign on the Noli shuttle ride has always cracked me up. I think in most states they call it a bump...

The other end of the shuttle.

2/23/20: Riding Fonta Flora, 27 miles on Big Blue. This bike covers ground fast. I took it to Warrior Creek on 3/22/20 and was not disappointed. Love the Hightower LT and it has become my main bike since the first ride after I got it but Big Blue has a lot of life in it and excels on the fast flowy single track like Warrior Creek and Fonta Flora.

2/29/20: Chestnut Mountain, Sinkhole

There was snow on the ground at the top of Chestnut Mountain.

Table Rock and Hawksbill from Sinkhole.

3/7/20: Upper Wilson Ridge, Schoolhouse then a beautiful waterfall at Mortimer.

3/12/20 Pisgah started at North Mills River:

3/14/20: Love this view of Table Rock from Yancey Ridge

Yancey Ridge, one of my new favorite rides

Great view of Grandfather after a Yancey Ride

3/15/20: Another Fonta Flora early morning ride

3/21/20, My Dad's birthday. New drivetrain on my road bike. 44 miles from Hwy 181, to Linville Falls then back towards Grandfather overlook from the Parkway.

3/28/20 Road ride from home. 48 miles

3/29/20 Snooks Nose

4/2/20 Noel finally came home for a visit on my Birthday. We had a lot of fun.

4/11/20: Snooks with Gerhard and Johnny C.

Facetiming with my parents :<))

An old Christmas list for Starla from back in the day:

January / February 2020

2020-06-11T19:01:00.004-04:00

January and February 2020: Some Soul-O Wilson Creek Runs and quality time with Starla. We miss Noel since she moved to Wilmington.

Starla in her element as the Head Chef/Kitchen Manager at Treat in downtown Morganton. Looking forward to them opening up again so that Starla can get back to full time work. I've asked for a reservation the first evening, cant wait to support my baby girl.

We didn't get much this year but it sure was pretty while it lasted.

Nolichuky with Jimmy and Johnny on 2/1/20. Cool to see the surfer at Jaws again.

Starla and I riding the Greenway

I always like to go hike down to the North Fork of the Catawba when the water is high.

Linville Falls at dusk with a lot of water.

More fun at Wilson Creek then hanging with Starla:

Been getting a lot of Wilson Creek runs

Back to the Greenway with Starla

I've been trying to eat healthy throughout 2020. The only meat I have eaten is fish.

A couple more from the 2/1/20 Noli run.

March 1st, Spring is just around the corner. The first two months of 2020 have been interesting to say the least... I didn't publish the post in March and updated on June 7, 2020. What a crazy Quarter of a year we have had. I'm very nervous and anxious to see what happens next...

2020-06-07T10:03:00.001-04:00

Start off with some stats from January and February 2020:
MTB:
1 ride at North Mills River > New Years Day celebratory ride
2 Kitsuma rides (much lower than my average over the last few years)
1 Hedleys ride with some lower Creek added in
1 Buffalo Creek / Weed Patch Mountain night ride 10 miles (stopped at the first big overlook)
2 Green Way rides with Starla. 11 miles each
1 Fonta Flora 27 mile ride
1Chestnut Mountain out and back + Sinkhole. 14 miles
Kayak:
13 runs on Wilson Creek
2 runs on the Nolichucky River
1 run lower Upper Creek

The kayaking has been good and when I did ride, the trails were in good shape. Obviously I didn't MTB nearly as much as I usually do but there has been a lot going on besides kayaking.

I'm revisiting this post on June 7, 2020.

What a strange and crazy trip we have been on since then!

I had the breakdown above in the drafts since 3/1/20 but never published. The last sentence really seems like an understatement now: "Obviously I didn't MTB nearly as much as I usually do but there has been a lot going on besides kayaking."

I think that the last 3 months have been the most unusual and surreal months in terms of our general populations public health (Corona Virus), the economical impacts (Starla has been out of work for months and I expect my workplace to have a major incident at any time) - people don't support the automotive industry when there is a pandemic and major recession going on and the quantity of confirmed cases in Morganton keeps rising daily.

If all that was not enough crises; there are nationwide protests against police brutality especially racially motivated. I'm 55 and during my life there have been many riots and protests related to this topic. This movement is by far the most widespread and aggressively violent. Or so it seems thanks to all of the modern media/news, now that everyone has the ability to capture every moment to social media with a smart phone. Maybe there will be some positive change that comes out of it but it will not be without a lot of sacrifices.

Anyway... Very sad state of affairs as a population. I've been working all along thanks to being in an essential position. Let's hope it stays that way but I am not overly confident. Only time will tell.

With all the necessary social distancing and shutdown activities, it has throngs of people heading to recreate outdoors. Trailheads and boat launches are more crowded than I have ever seen them so I have been trying to go off the beaten pass when I get out which has not been as often as usual.

Fortunately, "the nature of the beast" that I am, when it comes to outdoors activities I have always preferred to get off the beaten path and socially distance from "group events". I have almost always preferred to be in a crowd of 4 or less. Like the perfect size for a rock band, haha.

On a very personal note, both Noel and Starla moved out at the end of 2019 and my divorce finally became final early April. All has been sad but eventually expected milestones.

I've changed my diet to pescatarian (only fish in terms of meat). Since the girls moved out, I've been cooking almost every meal for myself. Since all of the restaurants that I frequent have been closed for a couple of months, cooking for myself has been a necessity and a blessing. I've probably been eating healthier than I ever had my entire life.

I'm lucky to have had the 3 key women cooks in my life that I have learned the cooking fundamentals that I use from: Mom, Noel, and most recently Starla. All 3 are awesome cooks, my mom has been doing it forever and does it great (glad I paid attention a little bit all those years). Noel does not give herself as much credit as she deserves but she really learned to cook for herself while at college and has maintained the vegetarian lifestyle for a few years now and was regularly feeding me the last couple of years while she was living here and Starla has become an accomplished Chef / Kitchen Manager at a very special locally owned restaurant: Treat. Anyway if anyone even looks at the blog anymore there will be some food photos along with the prerequisite nature shots.

Enough Rambling On for now. End of 2019 Picture time. My next post will have early 2020 pics:

11/16/19 Weed Patch Mtn Soul-O:

11/24/19 Black Mountain Hike out of Montreat with Noel:

Thanksgiving 2019

Nice juicy Wilson run with Layla, aka Nikki

Got the tree and up and decorated (thanks to the girls) early for once!

12/7/19 was a short sleeve MTBing day

12/8/19 was a little cooler MTB day

Wilson Creek has provided quite a bit in the last 6 months:

12/14 Wilson Creek Soul-O with bike shuttle. The superlight has been my shuttle of choice recently. Still love riding that bike even if it is just shuttle rides!

Hanging out with my girls in Black Mtn

12/23 soul-O paddle:

Christmas Eve Soul-O dawn break paddle:

Christmas Morning with my girls:

End of December Trip with Starla Down East to visit my parents:

New Years Eve in Asheville with Pigeons Playing Ping Pong

Christmas morning vegan breakfast:

First Post since August. November and Fall weather have arrived and thankfully rain came along with it.

2019-11-05T17:55:00.000-05:00

11/05/19
Yes, Fall is here, the summer of 2019 is gone. It was a good one. I am going to ramble a little bit and lay out some thoughts. Disclaimer: This rant will bore 99.9% of people, just skip onto the pics and you will have less chance being bored by my verbiage 😉

MTB: Through the summer of 2019, I have been lucky enough to ride some of my local favorites and even added a new favorite (Yancey). The trails I frequented over the long hot summer: Kitsuma, Head Quarters Mtn., Heartbreak Ridge, Upper Wilson Ridge & Schoolhouse Ridge, Snooks Nose, Raidercamp/Harper Creek, Spencer Branch/Fletcher/Trace Ridge, DuPont and even a Bent Creek ride (thanks Johnny Calhoun). I even managed some Lake James road bike rides. The rule of thumb for the summer was ride close to water so that I could cool down post ride in a clean and refreshing mountain creek – natural ice bath plus a few degrees but still plenty cold. The two coolest, cleanest, and refreshing creeks were Newberry Creek and the headwaters of Harper Creek in Kawana (fountains of youth). The most fun swimming due to depth and cannonball / diveability was Mill Creek upstream from the geyser, Wilson Creek, Linville River, and Gragg Prong. It was an awesome summer! We didn’t get much rain but I got in the water more than I ever have over a summer. I hope to carry that on next summer, etc.

Kayaking: Throughout most of the summer, natural flow paddling has been non-existent since June, but I did manage a late summer Ocoee trip Aug.31 & Sept.1 – I got a Soul-O on the Upper, Olympic and Middle sections Saturday then just the standard Middle Ocoee on Sunday. Late October it finally started raining enough to squeeze in some Wilson Creek runs at varying levels (from 7” down to 0), a Gragg Prong run and a Nolichuky River run. So far, the fall is starting out nicely. I am hoping for more rain, I can’t wait to get up to the Watagua again to paddle with T.O. Dave, Phil, Chris, Dalton bros, Simpson and Joe, and the rest of the regulars I see when I get up to the High Country. That is just a few, there are many more that I could name and plenty that I don’t know since I am not up there that often recently due to the low summertime flows.

I give a shout out to the regulars that I still manage to continue to paddle with when our schedules work out: Ash of course since we still get out as often as possible to bike, paddle or hike, Steven, James and his crew, and Jimmy is back on the scene, Wesley, and Corey. Early summer I even got a text out of the blue from Nikki and we did an afterwork Wilson run at 10 or 11”. I have to admit when I get out paddling the old familiar runs, I always miss my buddies like Terry, Andy, Phil, Chris, Bobby Bouche, Obie and Huggy: R.I.P. and so many more folks that I have had the pleasure of paddling with, sorry that I cant name them all.

As I get older and continue to paddle it is a scene that I would never have expected twenty five years ago in terms of meeting and paddling with strangers. This is one of the reasons I do so many Soul-O runs. Since the mid 90’s, I have usually paddled with a rotating crew and never really needed to branch out much. For over a decade I was chasing the water every weekend with whoever was part of the current crew roster. During the work week when it was wet enough, we were hitting up Wilson, Lower Upper, Doe or Watagua for as many after work runs as we could squeeze in (still try to do the after work runs just not at as high or low levels as I once was willing to run). Even back then I would go on the occasional solo trip up to The New River or the Ocoee and I even took one to the Upper Gauley but usually I would run into a familiar face to a paddle with, meet a new friend and paddle together or hitch a ride and run the river SoulO. The paddling community just wasn't that big and most people were willing to paddle together with the occasional exception. After I moved to Glen Alpine in 1998 and through the 2000’s, most people that I would run into at local runs like Wilson Creek or Watagua, were regulars. College kids would come and go but the regulars were often there. The Green was always a different story being a major stepping stone in terms of big drops, manageable difficulties and the ability to walk the Big 2. When I was going to the Green frequently, there were always a lot of crews that were "in it to win it" or one up man ship which is all good since it helps push the boundaries of the sport but not really a scene I want to be around much. Love to watch the videos of wave-wheeling big drops or whatever is the newest downriver freestyle move but no interest in being in the presence of that much testosterone.

Unfortunately, most of the old crew either quit paddling or moved away. A couple are still paddling but our schedules only line up occasionally. There is also the fact that I have become more selective of river levels and not wanting to paddle with people who tend to swim a lot. It can be kind of risky to paddle with people you don’t know. I have been on both ends of that, worried that the guy I met at the put in is in way over his head and going to have an accident with only me there to help him. Or the shoe is on the other foot and I approach one of the random masses of dudes who now venture out to Wilson nowadays and who may be nervous to paddle with me since they are not sure about my skill level and if I can keep up… Which is valid because I have a hard time not stopping to surf a sweet wave, especially if I am in my Mullet! Which is one more reason I do more SoulO runs at Wilson than meet up with some random dudes... One more reason valid to me, most people prefer to takeout at the normal take out and I hate to miss Screaming Right Turn.

Hopefully 2020 will be a better year for me to fit into some new or existing crews. I broke some new ground this past weekend paddling with a few new friends and hopefully I will be able to paddle with them more in the future.

Bottom line I plan to continue to get out there and do my thing like I have been all these years: If it is too dry to paddle I will continue to turn the cranks, if it is wet enough I will paddle and to fill the voids I will hike. That has been my plan for years and I think I will try to stick with it!

Gragg Prong

Yancey Ridge

Nolichuky Gorge: one of the most beautiful in the southeast

First Post since Spring. Wet spring and early summer, hot and humid mid-summer but steller MTBing conditions. Krazee Days & hot evenings in The Alpine. Glen Alpine that is...

2019-08-24T11:47:00.001-04:00

It has been some crazy months since my last post.

Just when I start thinking I have got things figured out and things will be alright I feel like the rug gets pulled out from under me and I go falling backwards (again) with my arms stretched straight out and my hands doing little circles in the air...

I just tell myself, leave the past in the past and move forward - the other options are unacceptable but it is really hard not to let IT get to you. I'm not always successful but I try.

Anyway I feel like I have not let the BS get in the way of Kayaking and MTBing. And so it goes, Day by Day:

Upper Creek with Keith Raker and Edger. It was low water but still fun, to me anyway...

Johnny Calhoun at Screaming Right Turn, Wilson Creek

Thanks for the pic JC!!

Layla and I caught Wilson Creek at about 10 or 11 inches. It was a Blast, just like old times. Gaston was missed, if he had been there it would have been like 1999 again!

I got to do an after work paddle with a father and son and 2 young friends, all from Asheville. The dad had really done a great job kayak mentoring the boys. We did 2 runs at 4" or 5" together and they were a lot of fun and impressive. One of the 15? year old's paddled the second run in an OC1 and he styled it as well if not better then he did in his kayak.

2 runs On the Watagua with Layla, Sara Larsen, Take-Out Dave and a few guys joined us for the second.

Lake James paddle and swim day with Noel. 6miles over 5 hours = lots of fun

A Surfer at Jaws on the Nolichuky

April 18 Watagua Run

2019-06-10T18:52:00.000-04:00

Playing Catch Up again. Early April, my B'Day week. It was some awesome MTBing and DuPont waterfall hiking tour with Noel

2019-06-10T17:35:00.004-04:00

First Post for 2019 and it is already late March - Happy Birthday Diddy!!.

2019-03-23T20:22:00.000-04:00

Visited my dad for his Birthday March 21st. 81 years young.

Still getting out there, I've just not been blogging about it - time to play some catch up. Some pics to remember the amazing times outside:

With all the rain we have had plenty of opportunities to paddle Wilson Creek. I've paddled early in the morning, late in the evening and at all times throughout the day. Life is Good!

Fun day on the Watagua with Curtis, his son, Johnny Calhoun, Take-out Dave and Steven.

Is this a race? no just bad timing

Severed head

I managed to take a colleague from Germany on a MTB ride in DuPont. He rode Starla's bike and I think he really enjoyed the experience.

After work hike with Paris and Leah from Auburn Hills MI.I love to show off our back yard Goodies.

Johnny and I managed a double we had never done before: Watagua in the morning and Nolichucky in the afternoon. A big day of paddlin'!

Santa Cruz Hightower LT and more Wilson Creek runs ;-))>

2018-12-08T07:00:00.000-05:00

Squeezed in a ride before the snow hits. Taking my last vacation day of the year and riding Sinkhole and Hedley's was a great way to celebrate my 20 year work anniversary!

The last several weeks have been incredibly fun:

Road side attraction on Upper Creek. Should be renamed to Scary Big Sieve Rapid now

One of my Soul-O runs in which I started up at Craig Creek Rd.

Early Morning Soul-Os on Wilson Creek are very special

John

Christine

Jimmy Vick back in action on Wilson Creek

John surfing it up on Eye Lid Peeler Wave

No posts in awhile but the paddling has been great this year. Especially the good old dependables: Wilson, Watagua, Nolichucky, NF French Broad, Big Laurel and even high water Ocoee;-) As usual, also some fun MTB rides as well (especially Kitsuma, Mills River, DuPont, Warrior Creek, and HQ Mountain to name a few).

2018-10-14T13:33:00.001-04:00

I feel extremely fortunate to be able to get outside and paddle, MTB, and/or hike as often as I do and I try to never take it for granted. Western NC is such an amazing place to live and there are so many potential adventures to undertake. I'm celebrating my 20th year living in Burke County this year and it has been one long adventure with a lot of ups and downs and I guess that's life, you cant have some ups without some downs. Ups and Downs, this phrase has a lot of potential for metaphors considering the outdoor sports that I love so much and how they utilize gravity and elevation changes to instill so much excitement, fun and most surprising life lessons. "What goes up must come down", "Pay to Play", or even "Surf it Out" can apply in so many situations both specifically and in the "Bigger Picture".

When I moved to Morganton I had already been kayaking for a few years and had canoed since I was able to buy one at 18. The initial canoe purchase was to fish out of and I used it as often as I could find someone to go with and sometimes solo. We lived in coastal NC and there is no shortage of water to paddle on "down East".

1987, The year I married and turned 22, my cousin Mike took me on a white water raft trip down the New River Gorge. Mike was a river guide / photographer / journalist who I owe a lot to in terms of starting me on a journey of chasing the white water dream. Mike had his own personal raft outfitted by him with an oarlock set up and room for two paddlers in the front. One of Mike's friends and a fellow raft guide was a nice lady who paddled along with me in the front of the raft. Mike's brother in law paddled with us as "safety boater" in a Perception Dancer kayak. I was hooked by the idea of kayaking at some point between when we launched at Cunard and when we go to Fayette Station, the take out. I was already very familiar with the New River Gorge, it was the area my parents were born and raised in and we visited every summer. My parents always managed to get us out to some of the local state parks, or check out the latest New River Gorge bridge construction in the 70's, visit Thurmond (close to where my mom was born) or even old mining town ruins - my dad spent some of his formative years living in one of these, Grandpa Ivey was a coal miner. I even remember going to Summersville Lake and the Gauley River release - long before there were commercial releases. One of my other cousins had taken me fishing along the banks of the New and swimming in Summersville Lake. I have always heard stories of my parents living the river life when they were kids (not paddling but hanging out around the river or Manns Creek in Babcock. Like many people all around the world my parents home town was located on a river, I was lucky it happened to be the New River Gorge!

I owe my cousin Mike a lot for taking me on that rafting trip. It was an eye opening experience. After the paddling trip, I wasted no time heading to Fayetteville WV to the paddling shop to cost kayaks and gear. I was a struggling young technician, just married and could not afford what seemed like a small fortune to me at the time to spend on new gear to fully outfit myself and start kayaking. I remember the paddling shop guy telling me that since I lived in NC I would have a lot of opportunities to kayak. This was news to me at the time. What a long strange trip it has been since that epiphany was instilled in my head.

I was not able to afford a kayak that year but ended up buying a Perception Dancer from Mike's ex-brother in law 6 years later, when I was 28 (it was probably the same kayak he paddled that awesome day on the New River Gorge). That was about 24 years ago. I am getting old...

That's it for now - going to head out for some Wilson Creek runs but I will pick up here for my next blog post. Thanks for reading, if you have made it this far ;-)

Spring Paddling this year has been pretty good so far...

2018-05-05T19:16:00.000-04:00

4/23 through 4/25, we got a good bit of localized rainfall. Happy Spring!!!

I was invited out to Wilson Creek for an after work run by Steven on April 26. Initially I was hesitant due to the anticipated juicy level but ultimately I am glad I made it out and once I was on the creek, it was all good to go. The level was 9" and Eric was there as well, his 3rd run, Steven's 2nd and my one and only that evening. The next day, Friday, April 27, I just barely managed to get back out to Wilsons for 3 runs at 7" and down to 6" (estimate) with Steven and Curtis Burges who I had not seen in a quite a few years - we had done a big Wilson Creek ride years ago and I ran into him at the ORAMM one year. This was another paddling session orchestrated by Steven and he was on a tight timeline so we got down to business and knocked it out.

Steven, Curtis and I did 3 pretty fast runs and with shuttles it took about 3 hours. We didnt go race pace but there was also no dilly daddling going on. Afterwards I headed home, ate a late lunch/early dinner, waited for Wesley then headed back out to the creek for a late evening run (my 4th of the day) at around 4.5". Wesley and I took our time paddling down the creek, stopped to smell the roses then jogged our shuttle, getting back to the car at sundown. The next day I was going to take off the day from paddling to MTB but Johnny Calhoun expressed some interest in Wilson Creek so we met up for 2 great runs on Saturday, April 28. The level was good but I have to admit, I never looked at the gauge.

Sunday, April 29th and I was meeting up with JC in Asheville again for another Nolichucky day trip. The level was approximately 3500 cfs. At this level the Noli was padded out and plenty of fun. The water level made me miss the Gauley River.

I worked Monday then took the rest of the week off for a much needed vacation. On Tuesday, May 1 I headed back up to the Watagua for an early morning run with Take-out Dave. I was at his door at 10:00. The level was reading 333 cfs and just below 6" on the bridge gage. I paddled my Mullet down and had an exceptionally chill and relaxed run - always a pleasure to paddle with Dave. He always makes me feel right at home considering his home really is at the take out!
I had a dentist appointment on Tuesday, May 2 and Dave was down with an even earlier run to accommodate my schedule - he is a true friend. I got to his house at 8 am. The level was still around 300 on USGS and a solid 4" on the bridge gage. Another stellar Mullet run and I took the photos below during the run. Dave paddled his RPM down and styled it as usual.

Sorry for the water spots on the camera.