The Anonymous North Carolina Hiker

Two weeks till the hike...

2013-04-22T13:32:00.001-04:00

Well, I'm scheduled to head up into the Smoky's in a little less than two weeks. The dehydrator is running full time now for the next week. Squash and sweet potato drying into a powder, beans and beef jerky ready to go.

What foods do you dehydrated for backcountry trips?

Richard Flunker

A little more than just hiking...

2013-04-18T21:24:00.001-04:00

When I first started this blog, it was soley for the purpose of writing up my hiking trips up and posting a few pictures. But its come to my realization that I could use this forum for far more.

My hiking has always lent me plenty of time with which to explore my imagination, and a few years ago I decided it was due time to settle down and write a book. I had always written in the past, either in this blog, or even further ago, in short stories for friends. In those many years I had come to realize that I had many an interesting story in my mind and that most of my friends had always enjoyed them and had always asked for more.

This past December, 2012, I finally published by first book, a zombie novel called Deadfall Survivors, which can be found on your favorite ebook vendor. It actually contains many elements of my hiking adventures within it and is based in North Carolina. Its much more about survival than zombies, but zombies are always fun.

That being said, sales have been better than I expected and work is well under way for the next book in the series. Already, as has happened many times in the past, friends have asked if I can include them in the book in one form or another, a tradition I had employed in the past. They are always minor parts but its fun to involve your fans one way or another.

If you are a fan, and have enjoyed my first book, I am now opening up this oportunity to become a living (or dead) addition to the next book. Simply send me an email, either through here or to richard.flunker@gmail.com, telling me your name, a brief description, where youre from, and a favorite part from the first book, and Ill will certainly entertain the possibility of adding you into the book.

And dont worry, there are at least four books planned for this series.

Richard Flunker

http://www.amazon.com/Deadfall-Survivors-ebook/dp/B00ASHPYEW/

Rocky Mountain National Park, August, 2012

2012-10-03T21:48:00.001-04:00

Well, it’s been quite some time since I've posted here to the blog, for two main reasons, two reasons that tie into each other. First, I had my fourth child born this year, in December of 2011, and because of this first reason, I just haven’t gotten out anywhere near as often as I’d like to. There is nothing to complain about, it’s simply the reality of life at the moment. I was very fortunate then, when a planned family reunion hike in the Rocky Mountains was still a possibility, even though most of the family would not be there after all.

The main point behind the hike had been my nephew’s, Mike, desire to go on a hike with me as he had followed along here or on Facebook. After decisions and planning, we had decided on the Rocky Mountain National Park. The dates didn't work for everyone, and it turned out that Mike himself would only be able to meet up with me at the end of the week. But, it so happens that my sister lives in Longmont, just an hour away from the park, and had been able to get the entire week off and her daughter, Ruth, and her (Sara, for reference) were able to join me for their first backcountry hike.

The flight out to Denver was uneventful, if enjoyable. The layover in Atlanta was fun, basically because I enjoy large airports. So much going on in these places that I can sit there and just observe. Luckily, I only had to wait there two hours anyways. My sister picked me up that evening, on Saturday the 4^th of August, dropped me off at her house with her kids, Eric and Ruth, and she headed off to her graveyard shift. I passed out rather quickly after a long day in the air and got the rest I would need for day one.

On a side note, the drought that has been affecting that part of the country was painfully obvious from the air. I am ever thankful for the constant green in my North Carolina.

Day 1 – On my own.

The plan for day one was for me to go off and hike on my own and camp out that first night. Sara still had to work that Sunday night and I had thought it a decent idea to get my body used to the altitude to hopefully make the rest of the week enjoyable (or at least with less sickness and throwing up). We drove up from Longmont into the Rockies for the first time in 20 years. The mountains really do rise up quickly, jagged peaks on either side constantly all the way up. The main road goes up and through Aspen Park, which, for a reference, is the Gatlinburg of the Rockies. It is a tourist town with the same things you see in that famous Tennessee town, the mini golf, eateries, and other methods to relinquish your money.

We stopped by the backcountry office at the park to get our permits and plan out our hiking trips. As opposed to the Smokies, you have to plan your trip precisely and put in the dates into the computer so that the number of campers and hikers are limited in each campsite. We didn't get the trails and campsites we had hoped for, but got two decent trips planned out, the second one essentially the same as we had initially planned. If you really want to get the sites you want, you have to call in months ahead of time to reserve them. After being able to just walk into the Smokies and go wherever, this felt very restrictive, but I understood why they did it. Sadly too though, I also paid the 20 dollar per trip fee, 40 dollars total. Wasn't too happy about that, but again, the money stays in the park, and I usually donate anyways.

My sister drove me out to the trail head of the area I would hike up to and camp out for the night and dropped me off around 10:30 AM that Sunday morning. My campsite was only about 2.5 miles from the trailhead, all uphill about 1500 feet up into 9300 feet, well past the 8000 I wanted to help acclimate. Beyond the campsite was, though, were a couple of alpine lakes, one specifically, Lawn lake, and I had planned to head up to it to check it out before coming back and camping for the evening.

The first .7 miles go up sharply about 1000 feet and I immediately felt the altitude, but not in any adverse way. I began to yawn a lot. No headaches, no nausea, just constant yawning. I felt comical almost, yawning every two minutes or so for the first hour or so of hiking up to the campsite. My poor brain was completely confused. I was in good shape, and not tired in the least, and yet I kept yawning as if I should be. My eyes were wide open, yet I found myself wondering why. In the end, I was quite thankful that this was the only thing that really happened to me, other than something else also comical later.

View south from the campsite.

I reached my campsite, right next to a wonderful mountain stream. I threw up my hammock and unloaded some of my gear, mainly the food in my bear canister (new experience for me). Didn’t like hauling extra weight just to haul food, but the trees around were simply not tall enough to rope up food high enough off the ground. All this to keep food away from the 25 bears left in the park. 25 bears. The Smokies have over 300 in a similar size area.

Dropping everything off, I then trekked the rest of the way up to Lawn Lake. It was a nice clear day and I there were many other people hiking up to the lake that day. I had a late lunch at the lake and then hustled to get back to the campsite by 5 that evening. In total, I hike just over 10.3 miles that day with no adverse affects.

Back at the campsite, I quickly found out that I had forgotten one key tool that I would need: lighter or matches. I had forgotten to buy some that morning on the way up. I wasn’t hungry, as I rarely am that first day or two of hiking, but I knew I needed to put food in me, so I settled for some breakfast bars, Oreo cookies and some powdered milk. I just wasn’t feeling it at that point. So I took my camera and began walking around. I walked around the trails around the campsite and nearly ran into an 8 point buck. Also got startled by an owl simply sitting in the tree staring at me.

That night, I froze my ass off. It got down to 45 and I had not brought my big sleeping bag, since the rest of the week was supposed to be warmer at night, and I shivered a lot, which is fine with me. The worst part of the night though, was something else the altitude made me do. Pee. A lot. All night. I kept having to crawl out of my hammock (an ordeal in itself), find a spot and pee, usually while shivering, which made things harder even. I would have slept fine that night if only I had not had to get up every hour or so.

Day 1 down, 5 more to go.

Day 2 – Family Reunion

Sara and Ruth would pick me up around 9 am that morning and we would head off to do the rest of our hike. I got up at 7, and not surprisingly, had no urge to pee. I quickly ate nothing, as I had nothing worth eating that didn't require heat, and headed down the trail. It was nice and cool and I was down in an hour, with plenty of time to sit around and watch the people that were starting their day hike up to Lawn Lake. Sara was there shortly after nine and we began the drive up and over to the western side of the park where our other trails were. Thankfully, Sara had brought along lighters and even more so for me, a pair of donuts that I gobbled down.

The drive up and over is a popular drive, and for a good reason. You go from 7000 feet up to 12000 feet and the views are awesome. Not many animal viewings that time, except for a few elk. Once down on the other side, we found our trail head, packed up, and headed out. I brought along a bit of extra padding to put in the hammock for warmth at night, and a lighter.

We began up the trail, Tonahutu Trail, and quickly were overwhelmed by the not so pleasant smell of horse poop. By the third mile, I was complaining rather loudly about the smell in more vulgar terms. We ran across several of the guilty animals, and the guilty riders. One of them even had the audacity to offer me a ride.

Horse poop aside, the scenery quickly faded from the trail head and the busy trail into a quit trail that routinely opened up into valley meadows. We would hike through the trail and suddenly be right next to a meadow, a stream running through it. I stopped many times to take pictures, thinking each one was the last time I would see such a vision. It would only get better.

Just one of many meadows.

After about three miles, it became apparent that both Sara and Ruth had plenty of adjusting to do. This was their first time out in any kind of backcountry setting, and hauling all that weight takes some time to get used to, not only just for the weight, but for how everything fits on the pack. Things kept shifting and that wears a hiker out faster than the actual hike. Our campsite goal was still 5 miles away, and if we kept on the trail, we would have to hike a strenuous 10 mile hike up and over a peak to reach our next campsite. My sister and niece though, needed another day of simple hiking to get their packs how they wanted and I predicted that a tough hike the very next day wouldn't be a good idea. So we planned to stop at the next campsite, rest, repack, and take a different trail to our site the next day. That change of plans would prove to be one of the best things to happen on the trip.

View from campsite Paintbrush.

The campsite was called Paintbrush. The site veered off the main trail through a patch of downed trees into a small rising about 15 feet above a very large meadow. It had a wonderfully nice large area to put a tent down and perfect tree spacing for my hammock. The view of the meadow was amazing. Just as we got there, it began to rain, so we threw our rain gear on and sat down and talked. That night we cooked food, and despite still not being hungry, I had barely eaten since the previous day, so I crammed some food down, crawled into the hammock, hoped I wouldn't have to pee so much this night, and fell asleep to the sound of a thunderstorm pelting our hammock / tent.

Day 3 – Best Hiking Day, EVAR!

Sara and Ruth.

I woke up Tuesday morning at around 5:15 AM, having slept much better, without the constant desire to pee and much warmer after reorganizing how I bundled up. I did though, wake up with a pretty bad headache, probably due to the fact that I had barely eaten in two days. I got up, took some advil, converted my hammock from sleeping to sitting, and sat there. I had the hammock set up at the very edge of our campsite with a perfect view of the meadow, which this early morning was heavily shrouded in fog. It was an amazing sight, one which I kill myself for not taking a picture of, but that morning, with my head, I just sat there and relaxed. Then, in the distance, I began to hear some honking and from the fog began to emerge a whole herd of elk, at the river, drinking. Along the northern edge of the meadow, one of the elk was running along the tree line honking. As the fog began to lift around 7, Sara and Ruth began to stir in their tents, aching and sore from their first day of hiking and the elk vanished along with the fog.

After breakfast, where I ate heartily, the plan was, instead of attempting to go up and over a peak, we would double back the three miles, and take a 7 mile trail up a different side of the mountain to the campsite we were set to be in that night. We were off by 8 AM, having repack and reshifted some of our gear. Once back and the trail head, the girls dropped a few things at the truck, and we headed up the secondary trail, called the North Inlet Trail. It was 7.7 miles, all uphill, but rarely very steep. I felt really good and set myself at a rather fast pace, usually leaving the girls behind. Id stop every mile and wait for the girls while taking pictures.

Careful...

In our very first mile, we nearly stumbled into three male moose, just 10 feet off the trail. We stopped for a while to make sure they weren't ornery, and thankfully, they were just interested in relaxing at the edge of a meadow. I took my pictures and went ahead and was later informed by Sara that I had walked right past a mother moose and her calf. That might have gotten messy.

The trail continued up the valley, following a stream that routinely broke out into meadows, then back into narrow valleys with many waterfalls. One big difference between my Smokies and the Rockies, other than the age and the height, the trees are spaced further apart and there is far less under vegetation, so one actually gets to view further into the distance. The trail was very rocky, many times being literally cut out of the mountain side. I even came across a group of 8 rangers working on a section of the trail, cutting rock blocks out of the mountain and moving them over with a series of pullies and cables to set them down as stairs. It was amazing work, hard, yet so simple and effective. I talked to them for 30 minutes right up to the point they offered to let me help them. I laughed, in a non offensive way, and kept going.

There were a few campsites along the way, and I always had to keep in mind that the girls were only on their second day, and going uphill. They were going at their own pace, but it was still a good steady pace, about 2 miles an hour. I was going at about 3.5 miles an hour, uphill, and I must say, I was impressed with myself. It gave me plenty of time to scout ahead, and bushwhack a bit to take pictures while waiting for the women each mile. At each campsite, Id let the women decide if we wanted to stop short. We really wanted to get to the campsite for one main reason, it was one of the very few campsites where campfires were actually allowed in the whole park. It took us a while to get there, but it was worth it.

Campsite Porcupine was delightful. It was off the trail on the other side of the stream that we were following up, built rather steeply into the hill, but with enough space to set up a couple of tents and good spacing for the hammock. The stream was just below us and the view was great. To our delight, there was a rather large pile of wood just ready for us. We were exhausted, dusty and hungry and the temp was quickly dropping. We were at about 10100 feet and it was going to be a lot chillier that night. Within minutes though, I had the fire going and we sat around the log benches that were there, ate food and laughed at our soreness. I was even able to make my quiet niece laugh, although it required good ol campground humor: farting.

We settled in for the night and slept good, if a bit chilly, but good for the evening.

Day 4 – Lakes on the top of the world.

Porcupine.

We were scheduled to stay at Porcupine campsite for two nights in a row, so we decided to explore the area that day. I was on my fourth day, and was hoping to wash up in the stream, and was hoping for a “warmer” afternoon to have the courage to do so. We began though, by heading out to take a side trail that led up to two lakes Nokoni and Nanita, both above 11000 feet. About two miles up, I realized that it was about to get steep and that we wouldn’t be back till after five, well past any chance to clean up without freezing in the river, so I doubled back and went back to camp. The women went on without me and experienced complete silence at lake Nokoni.

I on the other hand, experienced a lack of clothing within a very very cold river. I was able to clean up, wash my clothes and soak up some sun while laying on what appeared to have been a previous half log bridge that had washed out at some point. I then did some of my own exploring around the area, finding a really nice waterfall nearby, North Inlet falls, the trail’s namesake. That evening we ate well and used up the rest of the wood. We headed to bed early because it was our plan to hike out really early the next morning to make it back to a small town at the bottom of the trail, near where the trail head was. I was hoping to get there before breakfast, and they wanted lunch.

North Inlet Falls.

Day 5 – Breakfast and another family reunion.

I was up around 6, and after a quick snack of oatmeal, I was packed up and off onto the trail by 7 am. I came across another moose resting near a small pond in a meadow and another deer eating across the trail. Going downhill now, I was making amazing time and covered the 7.7 miles to the trail head in just under two hours. At about 5 miles away though, I began to run into people heading up to some of the waterfalls on the trail. That wasn’t what shocked me, but the fact that these people were in flip flops or sandals, most of them without any water at all, dressed in jeans and midriffs. This is the kind of thing that I would see right off the car in short trails, but this far up I was a bit shocked. I think they were going to be shocked by thirst and blisters after the end of their day.

I made it back into the town, Grand Lake, and headed into town to find somewhere to eat. I found a little restaurant serving breakfast on its small main street, and ordered myself a rather large amount of food. Even the waitress asked me a couple of times if I was really ordering all the food. After that banquet, I walked down to the lake that gave the town its name, pulled out my Kindle, and settled down to read for a while waiting for the women to arrive. They did get into town around 11 am, had their lunch, and we were off in the truck back to the other side of the park. Our older brother and his family were going to be getting into Aspen Park later that afternoon and we were going to meet up with them.

We met them and actually got a room with them at the same hotel they were in. We planned to head out to the Bear Lake area the next morning, but because they were doing road work, we could only get in before 8 am, so we headed to bed early.

Day 6 – Glacier Water.

Nymph Lake.

I had hoped to achieve two goals on this trip, reach a peak (13k feet or more) and drink glacier water. I missed the peak, but was really hoping for the glacier water. From Bear Lake, it was about 6 miles up, 10 miles loop trip, to Andrews Glacier. Sara was joined by her younger son Eric and they and my brothers family would hike up the lakes that led up to the glacier, and head back when they felt they should. I told them I would meet them back by 4pm.

So I bolted off at my pace and stopped at the first lake on the way up, of which there were many. When I stopped to take some pictures, I noticed that my nephew Mike had actually kept up with me and was planning on going all the way to the top with me. It was great to catch up with him and after the third lake, where we stopped for a while to snack and talk, the rest of the group caught up and my brother Tim also decided to head on up to the top with us.

Up to Loch Lake.

We passed Nymph lake, then Dream lake and reached Haiyaha. These alpine lakes are frigid and crystal clear, and the further we went up, the less people we ran into. The silence over the mirrored water was wonderful. We came down a bit from Haiyaha then took another trail up to Loch Lake, a lake that spilled as a waterfall and we hiked up all the way up beside this waterfall. The lake was larger than the others and crystal clear. We stopped and ate some lunch there before heading up even further.

The trail got smaller and thinner the higher we got, and it branched off into an even small barely maintained trail that led to the glacier. After about half a mile of scrambling up over trees and boulders, we entered into the glacier’s spill area, a huge boulder laden valley at the top of the mountain. The trail essentially ceased to exist and we were crawling over large eroded boulders, navigating our way to the top .We finally stopped short of the very top of what we assumed was the trail, and found an area where a small stream was pouring off through high mountain grass, just below a portion of the glacier.

Almost there...

We stopped there, exhausted, but with an amazing few. I broke out the filter, filled it up, and we filled up our bladders and had some amazingly cool and crisp glacier water, just like I had hoped. I even broke out the pipe and enjoyed some good Virginia Black at the top of the world. It was a very fitting climax to the trip.

View from the glacier.

We headed back down starting around 1 pm, hoping to get out of the peaks and the possible thunderstorm that was coming. Downhill is always easier, but we, especially my novice (out of shape) hikers were beginning to feel it. By the time we made it back to the parking lot, my older brother was at the end of the hike, but we and Mike both made it and I can honestly say that I was extremely happy that they had both come with me. Our family is spread out all over the states, and so don’t get together as much, but when we do, it’s always great fun.

We headed back into Longmont where I bade my sister and niece goodbye. I think I got Sara hooked on backcountry hiking.

Tim.

Day 7 – Back home

I spent the night with Tim and his family at their hotel and they took me to the airport the next morning. I did have my camping spoon confiscated by the airport security people, acceptable loss, if not funny.

The flight home was simple, without incident and I was home a little after midnight that night.

Mike, on the way back down.

Once again, exact plans for this trip fell apart, but yet again, the experience was amazing. I really miss the heavy dense vegetation of my Smokies, but the Rockies were quite enjoyable. It was nice to have clothes actually dry off after washing them. There are far more restrictions in the Rocky Mountain National Park, things that made my general hiking trip annoying, but its understandable when I saw the way people were on the trails, barely prepared.

My sister and I have pledged to try again in 10 years, and reach the top of a peak that time around. Despite living only one hour away from the park, this was the first time she had ever gone, but I think I have her hooked.

I was pleased that I didn't suffer from any altitude issues, other than the yawning and peeing, and was especially happy with my hiking pace and distances I was able to cover without falling apart. I tried some new food ideas and some were failures but others were great successes. Olive oil is hiking liquid gold. I also figured out good thresholds for staying warm and just what to use at certain temperatures. Its always tricky in the hammock because wind can really change the game, but it helped. I am also completely in love with my boots. At no time, in that rough terrain, did I ever feel pain, get blisters, twist an ankle, or have any discomfort at all.

I am looking forward to returning to my Smokies, but I will certainly love to revisit the Rockies in the future.

Happy Hiking.

Great hiking link

2012-03-08T09:51:00.002-05:00

This is a very cool link that was passed on to me by a fellow hiker.

Talk about previewing a hike in detail...

http://www.naturevalleytrailview.com/

Happy Hiking...

Cold Mountain and the Shining Rock Wilderness Area

2011-11-19T14:49:00.001-05:00

Every year, I try to make at least 3 major hikes. One in the spring, because I enjoy the new greenness while still enjoying the brisk evenings, one with an old friend of mine, because we just love talking about everything and anything, and one in late October, because you still get color in the lower altitudes, but the peaks have dropped all or most of their leaves, and the views are amazing, when they are otherwise hard to see in the summer.

This year, I was able to drag along two friends with me, one who had never hiked backcountry in quite some time and one that had never hiked backcountry at all. I wanted a decent challenge for myself, a peak with views, a good taste of backcountry hiking for my friends and someplace completely new to me. After some researching, I finally decided on the Shining Rock Wilderness area with its famous peak, Cold Mountain. This area of the Blue Ridge Mountains has great views plus some reasonably high peaks for the area. The challenge was the unmarked trails and having to rely on maps, compass and my smart phone (yeah, not a wild stretch). The peak was obviously Cold Mountain, the Art Loeb trail would provide a wonderful up and down trail over balds on the way to the mountain and I had never visited this area at all, despite having heard plenty about it.

Our trip began on Wednesday evening, as I rocketed through Coats, NC to pick up Thomas, then a quick shuttle to Raleigh to pick up Mike and then heading out towards Asheville where we would crash that night right at the exit on the eastern side of Asheville next to the Blue Ridge Parkway. We learned all about Thomas’ problems, probably more than he intended to talk about, but he just kept on talking and talking (this is a recurring theme on this trip). Thursday morning, we got on the Blue Ridge Parkway

and headed up the mountains through countless tunnels up past Mount Pisgah and that homely inn up there I had never noticed before (marked for future checking out). A few miles past Wagon Gap, we came across the turn off for Black Balsam Knob and the Art Loeb trail. Parking at the trail head, we picked up the Iverson Gap trail, a trail that paralleled the Art Loeb trail along the western side of the mountains.

It was a far flatter trail that allowed us to get used to our packs. It routinely intersected with the Art Loeb trail that was going up the tops of the balds in the direction Cold Mountain. It probably functions as a really good service road for rangers if needed. We followed that trail for about 4 miles. It intersected the Art Loeb one more time before it turned into a nice narrow trail following the side of the mountain. The view towards the west was amazing. In lower levels, the color was vivid. The ultra clear sky (this was gonna change) allowed us to see far beyond the initial mountains in front of us. The temperature was a wonderful 60, allowing for the best hike I had had in a long time. We took a time, in the section of the Iverson Gap trail that narrowed to sit down for a bit, take pictures, talk, snack and it was so relaxing we all nearly fell asleep. Of course, we were then attacked by a bumble bee (another theme, attacks by wild animals). It never bothered me but it kept going back and forth between Thomas and Mike. Continuing our hike, we reached the end of the Iverson Gap trail, ending at the Art Loeb trail once again.

This intersection at Flower Gap had what appeared to be nearly seven trails coming in and out of that little area. This area was also a well used campsite. It was just underneath shining rock and seeing that it was nearly lunch, we hiked the short yet very tight and cramped trail up the Shining Rock. At this point, the brush around the trail was extremely thick. My pack was packed rather high and kept getting caught in the branches above me. I had to nearly crawl many times. Shining Rock was a great climb though, and once again, the views did not disappoint. We had our lunch here and enjoyed the view, and the quickly changing weather. Clouds came up and over us and the sun vanished into gray skies. We knew we’d want to get as close to Cold Mountain as we could because there were calls for rain the next day. After cleaning up our lunch we hit the trail. This is where the fun began.

The trail got incredibly thin, although still very clear. The brush was thick and sharp and I have several scratches and rips on my pants. At one point, the brush got caught on a zipper, opened a small pocket and stuff spilled out. The trail continued though, opening up over the top of a few balds to allow for great views. Then, as we started down the second bald, the trail vanished, just stopped. There simply was no clear path onwards. Our backcountry experience became something else. I fired up the smart phone to see just where we were and tried unsuccessfully to find the trail. At one point, with the brush being so thick, Mike and I stood up on some rock formations we had found and let Thomas walk around the brush with his hiking stick held high to see if we could find the trail. We didn't. I fired up the smart phone again after about 2 hours of hunting for the trail and began to hack our way through the brush just following the map. We came upon a very clear campsite but no clear trail off after this. Once again, we began going through the thick brush in the direction of the trail marked on my phone. At one point, we were nearly scuttling along on our stomachs through the thick brush. Then, we heard it. At least Thomas and I did. A low growl. We both looked at each other and I said “its time to go back”. We high tailed it out of there back to that campsite we had found earlier.

(Edit 11/21/2011. Look below in the comments for a website that shows how to find the trail.)

We debated staying there and going on the next day, as it was already almost 5, but after looking around, we could find no water source. So we hiked out of there back to the campsite at the end of the Iverson Gap trail at Flower Gap. There was a stream nearby and a really good covered area with plenty of space to camp. We were quite disappointed. We were still a good 4 miles from Cold Mountain with no idea where that trail was, a day of rain on the way and time running out. We were scratched up, sore and beat up. We camped, set up our tents and hammocks, ate some good hot food and sat around to enjoy the darkening skies, smoke our pipes and enjoy the talks. That is, of course, till we were attacked by wild forest creatures (a mouse). It attacked Mike first, attempted to bite off his entire hand (it walked over its hand), then a few minutes later, it came bounding at me trying to cut my jugular (it jumped towards where I was sitting). We were terrified, debated setting up traps to capture this monstrosity, but settled with just going to bed.

The next morning greeted us with a strong fog. I was able to pull a smidge of reception to see that the radar was bringing rain. We decided to hike on out of there back to the car, regroup, and find another way up to Cold Mountain. We packed up quickly and this time took the Art Loeb trail back towards the car. Unfortunately, there would be no views this day. The fog gave us possibly ten feet of visibility, making for an eerie hike through the balds. On the top of each bald, the trail got tricky. Was it the trail or a washed out section? You could never know. After the second bald, the rain began picking up. Even with rain gear on, you got cold and wet and hypothermia was an instant concern. I kept the guys going and we decided to forfeit the last section of the Art Loeb and just take the quick Iverson Gap trail back to the car.

Just as we got on that trail, the wind and rain came in a fury. All I could do was put my head down and keep walking. Thankfully, at this point, the path was nice and wide, so I just looked down and kept on going. After a few miles, the rain stopped long enough for me to get out some dry clothes, change my shirt and at least get some dry clothes underneath it all. My pants were ultra water resistant, but I was sweating so much that it was chilling me there anyways. We met a pair of older hikers who were, in their own words “out here just screwing around”. They picked an awful day to do that. We made it back to the car just as the rain was really coming down even harder. We crawled into the car, cranked the heat and headed back down into Asheville.

After a bit of research, I found another way up to Cold Mountain that we could do in one day. We camped out at a Comfort Inn, dried all of our gear, ate Mexican….and then ordered a pizza and got ready for the next day.

That Saturday, we headed out towards the Daniel Boone Boy Scout camp just underneath Cold Mountain. The Art Loeb trail ends (or begins) there and goes up to the ridge that leads up to Cold Mountain. It was a very brisk (freezing) morning, ice on everything, clouds over everything. We were determined to get up to the top to at least say that we did. We did ditch a lot of our gear and only took essentials, water, snack, camera and a lunch, cold and rain gear, and off we went.

The way up can be divided into three segments. The first segment is the initial climb from the camp. It goes up very quickly over very rocky terrain. The climb did warm us up quickly though and we were out of the wind. The trail continued like this for about one mile, going up steeply as we gained about 2000 feet. Then, we went around one bend and the mountain was in view, albeit covered in clouds. And then the wind hit us.

This was the cold side of the mountain. The wind hit us with ice. Granted that it was cold, ice at least bounces off rain gear and doesn’t get anything wet. We got our gloves on and kept going. The trail was very rocky, and covered by leaves to hide those slippery rocks, but there was no hiding where the trail was here. This segment continued for about two miles, sometimes picking up what appeared to be really old roads no longer used and at times getting very thin, mountain on one side, a good fall on the other. We did find a good stream where we refilled and knew wed have water on the way down.

We ran into a couple that was on their way down who were woefully underdressed. She had his gloves on and tights and they both were red and looked miserable. We traded quick stories but they clearly wanted to get out of there as quickly as possible.

We took the Art Loeb trail up to a ridge that is next to Cold Mountain and met another group there, these dressed for the weather. They had spent the night up on Cold Mountain (we were jealous) but it had been a cold one and they had no views as the peak was still covered in clouds. At this point we got off the Art Loeb and took the Cold Mountain trail. The trail was covered in ice, but the views began to open up. We could easily see the peak from the trail now, as the sun was now shining clearly and the clouds were gone. We were estatic; we were a mile away and we were going to get our views. We took a quick break to snack up and Thomas continued telling us all about himself (this had gone on pretty much non-stop all the way up so far).

The last final mile up to the top followed the southern side of the mountain up around the west, but when it reached the northern side and we followed the ridge up the top, we were attacked by wind and ice. It was bitter on the northern side, but when the trail dipped into the southern side, the sun warmed us up quickly. The views opened up routinely, with amazing views in every direction. We followed the thin trail all the way up to the geological marker and found an amazing view point facing south (and in the warm side).

The view was great. I can really only let the pictures do the talking.

We stayed up there for about 30 minutes, just talking, enjoying, and smoking pipes. Mike let us know that he did have a heights issue and Thomas broke out the camera and went crazy. The pictures of the views from up here are all his. We had seen a very small stream and some wonderful rocks to sit on just on the southern side of the mountain on the way up, and Mike and I headed back down to cook up some rice to eat there before we headed back down. Thomas stayed behind a bit to take more pictures.

The way down was eventful because we ran into many people that were on their way up to camp at the top. Then, the final animal attack. A bear. Yes, a bear. Well no, it was actually a really big fluffy dog that really looked like a bear coming around the trail for a split moment. My breath was certainly taken away for a few moments until I realized that this “bear” was wearing a collar and carrying a pack of his own. We joked with his owners for a bit. We encountered another couple headed up. I envied their night on the peak and the possible clear sky view of Asheville and our universe.

The race was on to get to the bottom. We didn’t have much time left with sun light left so we upped the speed a bit, all the time staying careful of slippery rocks. Going downhill is no fun when you have to watch every single step you take. I managed to slip on one and really scrape up my shin and Mike nearly went off the edge once when he stepped on a false pile of leaves (there was nothing underneath). (Michelle, I debated putting this in lest you not allow your husband to do this again with me). About 40 minutes from the bottom, the sun dipped down behind the mountains in front of us. We had about that much time left. Thomas also suddenly was very quiet. I took one look at him and could tell that he wasn’t doing well at all. From that point on, no one said a thing until we could smell people cooking down below us and we could hear kids. We made it back down in time, crawled into the car, Thomas holding on to his stomach contents the entire time.

Once on the road, we commiserated on the whole trip, the wonderful first day, the misery of losing the trail, the rain and wind, but the amazing hike up to the peak and the wonderful views. We stopped at a Crackel Barrel (my official post hike restaurant of choice) and we destroyed a large meal each. We then decided to actually go home that night, with my final destination in Fayetteville being reached at 2 AM.

The trip was an amazing one. I’ve had many difficulties in trips before, but never with others with me. I was truly disappointed in not being able to find that trail and have already vowed to return there and complete that trail in its entirety. Cold Mountain of course, was a special treat. The hike was challenging, yet very rewarding. The views were amazing. I was disappointed that I didn’t find Nicole Kidman, but I am overall very satisfied.

And now, I await the spring. Next year I have trips planned in the Rockies, the Clingman’s dome from Deep Creek campground, Mt Mitchell from the very bottom, and some section of the AT I have yet to plan. I hope Mike and Thomas enjoyed themselves and are willing to go with me again.

The winter comes, and Id love to do snow hike, but, my wife is due any day now, and I believe I will stay home this winter and enjoy the addition of a new hiker to my family.

Cheers for 2011 and happy hiking in 2012.

That's me, if anyone is curious.

Mike

Morrow Mountain (And those things that annoy me at campsites)

2011-11-18T14:31:00.000-05:00

On the weekend of October the 15th and 16th, my family and I, along with our friends Mike, Michelle and Greyson, from Raleigh,

hooked up at Morrow Mountain state park to enjoy some time together. It was my wife's last potential time away from home (we are expecting any day now)

and it got Mike to get his gear out of storage and make sure everything was there before our Shining Rock Wilderness hike the following week.

Morrow Mountain (barely a mountain really) is a really nice state park located in Central NC, near Albermarle. Its based around these three mounts at the very edge of Uwharrie NF. For what's around there, its a great place to go if you want a taste of mountains without the really long drive out west. For this reason, its quite the popular place during the summer and we have never attempted to stay then because reservations are hard to come by. But, this chilly weekend, we were surprised by the park hosting a wedding....AND....all the people who had come to attend were staying the night in the park. We got off really lucky in finding a spot that a guy had cancelled on that very last minute.

We enjoyed ourselves, cooked various foods over a fire and talked into the night while the next day, Mike and I hiked up Morrow Mountain itself in a nice, brisk 3.4 mile hike. We met the families at the top, enjoyed the view and then drove home.

Now, just a typical weekend outing in the popup. But what got to me, while we sat around that evening and watched the unusually packed campsite mostly filled with people who maybe only camped once in a big while, is the odd things people do when at a campsite. Some are funny, some are annoying, and some are downright dangerous.

Many people were there with large vans with what seemed like every single object in their own homes. They then proceeded to set up tents that might be larger than my house. I don't mind tents, but these "tents" had porches, satellite TV, separate rooms, beds, maid and butlers, second stories and backyards with swimming pools. Personally, I go camping or hiking because I want to get away from home, not bring it with me.

Annoying though, is at night. I'm used to all kinds of creepy sounds, growls, hoots and screeches in the middle of the night. Whats worse than any of these? The sound of dozens of people snoring and this sound traveling through all the paper thin tent walls. I'm sure what few beasts were around were terrified of the noise. One or two hiking buddies snoring I can deal with, but the Morrow Mountain Snoring Orchestra doing a rendition of Mozart's 5th Snoring Movement did not help the sleeping abilities.

Dangerous though, are those that seem to have absolutely no common sense when it comes to fires, especially starting them. On more than several occasions did the night light suddenly light up bright when some crazy person was throwing gas or some other flammable liquid onto what they deemed a small fire, because, if those five big chunks of wood aren't going up in flames as easy as a piece of paper, just throw explosive liquids on it.

Would love to hear what other horror stories you all have with camping trips with the less outdoor inclined.

Enjoy the pictures.

Next week, Shining Rock Wilderness hike, wind, rain, ice and snow.

Happy Hiking

Humor in camping...oh so true

2011-10-10T22:28:00.003-04:00

Found this and laughed quite a bit.

see more Comixed

Happy Hiking

Xcrown

A little ink for the trail...

2011-10-06T19:26:00.000-04:00

What a busy summer this was? Finished a History degree by August and I was rewarded with a little more ink on my body. My inking has always been really significant to my life, so I figured this was quite appropriate. Enjoy.

Happy Hiking.

Voyageurs National Park

2011-09-30T15:53:00.000-04:00

Voyageurs National Park

A good friend of mine (we’ve known each other since before high school, long story) and I take a yearly trip where we try to do something different each year. Last year we hiked the Smokies since he had never been here. This year, we went up to his home state to check out the Boundary Waters and Voyageurs National Park and get him out on a canoe for his first water trip. I hadn’t been on a canoe trip in over a decade, so I was looking forward to the water.

The Trip

I got up early on Tuesday the 23rd of August and took off to Greensboro from my hometown in Fayetteville to catch a flight out from there to the Twin Cities (via Detroit). The first leg of my trip was in a tiny 34 person plane and we were all crammed in pretty tight. I took the time in that hour trip to watch the Blue Ridge Mountains go by below me and plan my food for the trip. The Detroit airport was ultra cool, with an tunnel in between concourses that had an interactive wall that changed colors and sounds as you walked by and had a really high tech metro in the inside of the main concourse. I still walked.

The second leg of the trip put me in a far bigger plane with plenty of people and space. At the Twin Cities airport, I watched crazy drivers picking up people at the worst airport curbside pickup I have ever seen. Within a few minutes, Ben picked me up and we were headed north...
We had to stop at the REI first to pick up our canoe and some fuel. That went smooth and then we headed over to the first Wal-Mart we saw to buy our food, but instead walked around until we discovered that they were remodeling their grocery section. So on we traveled north to the next closest available Wal-Mart. After purchasing up what we needed, we realized we wouldn’t make it to the park till too late to get on the water and find a spot, so we chose to find a small county park along the way to crash for the night.

We dumped out all of our food on the table and began organizing, breaking down and putting into Ziploc bags.

I was sporting my new waterproof bag. I didn’t want to take any chances out on the water. Ben also got his newly purchased campers hammock. I had been using mine almost exclusively for hiking, and he wanted to try it out too. He was just going to rent one, but decided on buying one anyways. We picked a spot that had three trees with almost the perfect range to set them up for the night.

My only worry about this trip was a concern for mosquitoes. My fears turned to nightmares as we were relentlessly assaulted in wave after wave of kamikaze blood suckers. I had a really bad feeling for the week. For this matter, we finished our packing, had a quick pipe smoke (a tradition for our trips) and quickly crawled into our hammocks and crashed for the night.

Day 1

Our drive up to the park was quick, full of talk, laughs, and a hunt for a hardware store in order to find tent spikes, or something similar (garden stakes) to use for our hammocks rain covers.

As we headed north though, the sky kept turning darker and greyer. As we turned into the last stretch of road leading up to the park, I could tell the trees were swaying; there was a lot of wind out there. This was not very promising.

As we pulled into the parking lot completely filled with people’s boat trailers, we took a quick look at the ranger station and then headed down to the canoe dock. The wind and water hit us right away. This was going to be rough. The lake looked more like the ocean, with 3-4 foot waves crashing on the shores. We got our canoe ready, got in and took off for about 30 seconds before the waves were crashing over the canoe and filling us up very quickly. We quickly made for shore, soaked already. Obviously, we would not be putting out today. As it turns out, the winds were 30 mph with gusts up to 60 mph.

So instead, we decided to hike some of the trails they had nearby. Turns out this was a great idea, for a four mile trail they had starting there led us to a spot where you could see the lakes from a high point. It was a wonderful, windy, amazing sight. Along the way, I learned firsthand of a fellow animal that would be with us the entire trip, some noisy territorial squirrel that howled every time we got near his land. We also saw a tiny snake and many butterflies.

This hike made up for the really bad initial outcome we had with our trip. My dear friend, who had never before been on a canoe, was certain that our trip was doomed. I had to encourage him, let him know that was only a one day setback. It was not going to be this windy every day here. The next day, he’d see, the lake would be just as placid as we imagined.

That night we camped at a small city park right next to one of the many rivers that feed this area. We had our food, rice with our own flavoring, smoked our pipes and had our first good look at the Milky Way, which we could see clearly. We also believe we heard wolves howling in the night. If it was, it was quite far off and we couldn’t be too certain of it.

Day 2

The day was obviously calmer although my friend still worried about condition on the lake. We drove back up the ranger station and we were greeted by a crystal clear lake. We put off again, this time with ease and we were on our way.

I must first say, while this trip was absolutely awesome, there was one thing that really put a downer on things, and that was everyone in their motorboats. I had read that the park was a zero wake area, but apparently, no one follows this, as we were constantly fighting against all the wakes being made by all the motorboats. In my whole time there, only two, out of the hundreds of boats I saw, actually slowed down near us. Some even came super close to us. We were the only people on canoe there, with a few kayakers. That aspect was very disappointing. It will come into play later.

Already that morning, I got my first ever view of a bear in the wild. After a decade of hiking the Smoky’s and never seeing a single bear, here on my first day, we saw a bear thinking about swimming across a small strait we were coming upon. It took a few looks and headed back into the woods, but not before I managed to get my high zoom lens on and get a few pictures.

On a small break on yet another island, I saw an enormous turtle that vanished under the water before I could get the water out. On this same island I found a bald eagle feather, probably one of the coolest mementos I have ever gotten from any of my trips.

We had lunch on another island that had a large campground. There was a large buoy just out of the island, and as we found out, this was a high traffic area. Boats came flying around the corner following the numbered buoys. As we ate lunch, we wondered just how many accidents had happened on that blind corner.

By 4 we reached a smaller campsite (nearly all the campsites are on islands, a super cool feature) which was occupied by another party, but we just required a few trees (those there were plenty). Apparently, the motor boaters head out really early in the mornings, find a campsite, set up for the week or days, and then head out. We unfortunate slow canoers didn’t have this luxury. When the other party arrived later that evening, they eyed us suspiciously, and one of them asked us how long we would be staying. I mentioned only the night and they seemed relieved.
We were exhausted from the paddling (new muscles) and my friends back was aching (eh oh). We ate, smoked, gazed at tons of shooting stars, then crashed for the night.

Day 3

The next morning, the fishermen were gone early and we, with aches and sore muscles, took our time eating and getting out of there. Before we left, a ranger (btw, the absolutely cutest female ranger I have EVER seen) who was there cleaning up the fire rings gave us some good locations where we would avoid the motor boat fishers. So we headed off, for about a 5 mile paddle.

That day we went off the “beaten” path and went behind the islands parallel the main waterway. It was much nicer. No wakes and plenty of smooth water. We eventually discovered a completely empty campsite which sat about 20 above the water with a fantastic view of the lake. It was wide open, plenty of choice trees, fire ring on the rocks and a table.

I took a lake bath that evening, cleaning up good and after managing to get enough wood for a fire, threw a butternut squash wrapped in foil into the coals. After about 45 minutes, and plenty of turning, I had myself probably one of the best hiking meals I have ever had. I ate the whole thing with gusto (and a touch of butter and salt).

That night, with an amazing view of the lake, we watched the sun go down (something we had done every night as well) and had ourselves a super (and I mean insanely) quiet night. Not a single bug, cricket or frog. It was, odd, making my ears buzz. The only sound was the occasional loon call and answer. A rather creepy call when it’s totally silent.

We also attempted to fish off that rock. We had tried fishing all trip long, but were having no luck. Our bad luck continued here. I actually had two bites, but my friend Ben, had nothing but a lost lure.

That night we smoked our pipes and talked for hours before crashing.

Day 4

We plotted a trip that would allow us to go by as many campsites as possible, slowly working our way back to the ranger station. If all else failed, we would end up at the first campsite we had enjoyed lunch in the first day.

That morning, while Ben was still sleeping, and as I ate pancakes with real maple syrup on the rock, I heard the bald eagles crying. Already on this trip, we had seen many and learned their very unique calls. From the trees behind me I could hear one and I thought to myself, I really need to get my camera out.

Within a few moments, from across the bay, another bald eagle came gliding and I sat there entranced, watching it. As it flew over me, I realized I hadn’t made a single move for my camera. Woops.

This day would prove to be our longest day. Every single campsite was taken as we came up to them. On one, we arrived just as a large boat house full of college age kids, laughing loudly, rammed that huge boat right onto the beach and got it stuck in the sand. They cursed, then laughed, then someone jumped in the water. Spring Break, Hikers Edition. Sigh.

We paddled approximately 12 miles that day, taking an hour to eat lunch and rest a bit before finally making it back to that larger campsite, which was only inhabited by another duo, older men who had a kayak with a sail on it. SUPER COOL (I want one now). We had plenty of space and had ourselves a large meal, thinking of finishing our food, but found out that we were less hungry than we assumed.

That evening we got a great view of the sun coming down on the lakes.

I must point out that, after that first night of mosquito hell, I don’t think I saw a single one after that. Our nights on the lakes were bugless, cool and very comfortable. There were always an abundance of great tree locations and as I have since I purchased it, slept in amazing comfort in my hammock.

Also, while the motor boaters were loud and annoying, at about 5 o’clock, they all seemed to disappear, and our whole evenings were wonderfully quiet.

That evening, we were joined for a brief moment by a border patrol boat that was, get this, a JET BOAT. Yes, a boat that gets around on a jet. The rangers joked that it got less than a mile a gallon, but it could go upwards of 100 mph, useful I guess, if you really need to get somewhere on the lakes. It was flat bottomed, so I can see a small wave sending that boat flying. As they left, it sounded like a jet plane.

Day 5

That morning we were greeted by bald eagles calling on an island across from us and a wonderfully foggy morning on an absolutely crystal clear lake.

Since I had enjoyed my pancakes the morning before, I repeated that on my menu, adding in some bacon bits I had. Super good.
Our paddling trip was only 3 miles back to the ranger station. We were there by 10:30 that morning, unloaded, loaded up the canoe and headed back to his house in New Ulm, MN, where Id spend a few days before heading back home. We smelled awful, were tired, but had a great long talk all the way to his home covering politics, science (were made out of carbon), arguing, family, God and who knows what else.

All Done

I spent a couple of great days with him and his family, introduced them to Carolina BBQ, hushpuppies and homemade onion rings as well as other of my cooking skills. We played games, watched movies, talked a ton and had a great time.

Regardless, I was quite homesick for my Carolina. The last leg of the trip from Cincinnati to Greensboro, I was one of 7 people in a 34 person plane. That part was nice. My rental car (thanks to my wife) was waiting for me at the airport. I drove home and joined my fam for a night out at some southern restaurant.

My Thoughts.

Despite the setback of the first day, I think Ben was finally getting comfortable with the canoeing, the way it moved and rocked, by the last day. The motor boating was really a pain. Having to constantly change course in order to deal with the many wakes was troublesome, although, thankfully, never dangerous. If there is a next time, Ben suggested the Boundary Waters outside of the park, where motorboats of any kind of completely illegal.
Fishing, which was something we really wanted to try (and eat), turned out badly. Maybe the Boundary Waters, where we wouldn’t have to worry about wakes, will allow us to fish from the canoe with more confidence.

Otherwise, this was a great trip. I saw my first bear, saw more bald eagles than I had ever seen before, plenty of loons, turtles, beavers, otters and those pesky squirrels. Remember those? In each campsite, there was one. He would sit on high branches, scream at us, then circle back around the camp, and scream at us from somewhere else. He would also peel apart pine cones and eat the seeds, throwing the cone peels in a nice pile under whatever tree.
The nights were clear, the Milky Way visible every single night, with plenty of shooting stars, some quite dramatic. Many hours were spent talking about so many things with my good friend. Some new muscles were broken in and thankfully, Ben’s back was not broken in the end.
Who knows what we will do next year? Ive suggested the Redwoods in CA.

That time of the year...

2011-05-23T18:06:00.000-04:00

Ah, the charms of North Carolina. Beach two hours away, mountains five hours away. Blue water calls loudly this time of the year, but, I am planning one more trip to the mountains in either June or July, then I have a Boundary Waters trip in Minnesota in the end of August.

In the meantime, enjoy the water everyone.

Happy Hiking

Xcrown

April Smoky Mountain Trip

2011-05-09T22:31:00.000-04:00

Well, its been a week overdue, but I had nearly 600 pictures to go through, 20 videos and tons of laundry. Apparently, a weeks worth of hiking clothes = two weeks of laundry??? What???

Anyways, we had a great time, if not tiring.

On Day one, we went on Laurel Falls Trail

Day two saw us at Chimney Tops.

Day three held rain and cold for us on Clingman's Dome and Arch Rock.

Day Four we relaxed a bit in Gatlinburg.

Day Five we hiked up to Grotto Falls.

We camped in Greenbrier Island Campground, a wonderful campground for tents and RVs. It was the first serious trip with out pop-up, and we discovered a leak in the plumbing, but otherwise absolutely enjoyed sleeping next to some rapids.

I also reviewed two items I had purchased earlier and used quite a bit on this trip.

Tech 4 O Trailhead 1 Watch

Zamberlan 760 Steep Hiking Boots.

We enjoyed cooking out and I am already looking forward to getting back up to the Smokies.

Happy Hiking

Xcrown

Grotto Falls

2011-05-09T22:21:00.003-04:00

After a day to recoup from the Clingman’s Dome disappointment and the migraine headache, a day spent walking slowly in Gatlinburg on a weekday, a wonderfully empty and quiet weekday, we had our last hike planned. Those same clouds were pouring over the mountain, after a night I had spent with my eyes on the radar as the Tornadoes that had womped on Alabama came into our area. The closest tore into Newport, TN, about 21 miles north. We just got a bunch of wind. Shook our Pop-up quite a bit.

So on that day, we joined our neighbour who was taking his kid as well and we went up to go see Grotto Falls. This would turn out to be our most enjoyable hike of the trip. First of all, the hike is short, only about 1.1 miles up to the falls, with only about 500 feet of elevation gained. So while it was uphill, it was a gentle uphill.

The trail can be reached by taking the Roaring Fork Motor Trail, a one way road into the mountains that link up with a bunch of trails and also offer a view into the homes and farms of the people that used to live in the mountains.

The hike itself up was windy and it threatened to rain multiple times. This time, we were prepared, good gear, warm clothes, our rain gear all ready on. The kids loved it. The boots were muddied and wet on this trail and we laughed it off as this was the last time wed be hiking. There were some people on the trail and we did notice evidence of the Llamas that are used to haul up supplies to Mt Leconte.

We reached Grotto Falls and immediately fell in love. The falls are very small, compared to other falls in the park, but they are delightful. The trail continues under the waterfalls as they fall into a nice small pool. The trail then continues up on its way up to Mt Leconte. In the meantime, the sky opened up and rained a bit, and then the sun came out. And with the sun came the life. The salamanders popped out from their rocks and laid wonderfully still for me to take their pictures. All sorts of bugs, pictured here, came out for their cameo on the Flunker Cam.

There is something magical about being able to walk behind a waterfall. I have added a video to see it, its really just a small little fall, but still, the magic is there.

Our trip down was pleasant, the sun full out and the bugs and birds all out enjoying the warmth.
On the way out of the motor trail, we stopped at a few of the farm houses. My first thought was, I could have built a better home than this. My second thought was, no, no I couldn’t.

Happy Hiking

Xcrown

Arch Rock

2011-05-09T21:57:00.001-04:00

The third day of hiking greeted us with dark clouds pouring over the Greenbrier ridge just a few miles from our campsite. My first hope was that we would enjoy a cooler hike this day than the last couple of hikes we had enjoyed. The second thought though, was that we would be rained on. We had planned to go up to Clingman’s Dome so that the kids could check it out and then hike the AT a few miles in and then out. But we were about to witness just what the Smokies could do with weather.

As we took the road up the mountains, we watched the temperature gauge. At Gatlinburg, it was 81 degrees at 9 am. As we drove up the 15 miles up to the top, we kept watching it drop. By Chimney Tops trailhead, it was 72. By the Alum Caves trailhead, it was 67. At Newfound Gap, it was 52. We were dressed in shorts and had some long sleeve shirts and our rain gear. When we reached Clingman’s Dome, the gauge read 48. That was quite a drastic change. We got out, but we quickly realized there was no way that the kids were going to enjoy this. Not only was it chilly, but it was drizzling and you could see maybe 100 feet ahead of you. There were going to be no views this time. I told my wife and kids to stay in the truck and I would haul up to the Dome to see if I could get a lucky shot. I didn’t. On the way back down, it started to sleet. Yes, ice was falling on me. Our trip on the AT just got changed.

So we had to re think this. We took out the map and looked at the trails near us, and we remembered that it was a nice warm 68 at the Alum Bluff Caves trail, a popular trail, but long enough we hoped it wouldn’t be swamped with people. We drove down, warming up to a wonderful 68 degrees, but cloudy. This was going to be an interesting day. It was at that point that I began to feel the tinges of a migraine.

I suffer from migraines. It’s my thorn in the flesh. It’s a huge thorn too. But, there are a few things that can help relieve them. Oddly enough, those same things that can relieve them, sex and vigorous exercise, can also make them explode in pain. So here I was, munching on a PBJ by the creek next to the trail and wondering what to do. As always, I picked the wrong choice, and decided to hike.

Despite the ever growing pain in my temples and neck, the trail is absolutely gorgeous. Huge trees make the trail into a wooded tunnel, with a creek crashing by right next to it. But as we went, I knew there was no way we could go too far before Id need to get back. So we decided to make it to Arch Rock. Im glad we did. It was a truly unique mark on the trail and the trail crosses a bridge and then cuts into the rock and up into the mountain. We also got lucky. Having drizzle hitting us all the way up to the Arch, as soon as we got in it,

the heavens opened and it started pouring very heavily. Thankfully, we remained dry under the mountain. We had a snack and as soon as they weather cleared, I packed the kid into the pack and hauled tail. I covered 1.3 miles in about 18 minutes. It was about as fast as I could go without running and slipping on all the roots and rocks.

We made it back to camp, somewhat wet, sore, in pain. But, we got a glimpse at this trail and I am certainly going to hike it up all the way to the top.

Happy Hiking

Xcrown

Chimney Tops

2011-05-09T21:54:00.000-04:00

Our hikes this week would always involve little ones. My daughter is 8 and can hike nearly anything I can, just not for as long, and my two year old son will certainly try and can hike quite a bit, just at a far slower pace than I would by myself. Therefore, we would have to be limiting our hikes to 5 miles at the most. We also wanted challenging hikes. These two criteria would be found in the hike up to Chimney Tops.

Chimney Tops is a dual set of rock peaks that are opposite of Mt Leconte. It’s one of the few rocky peaks in the Smoky Mountains. Because of its location, it offers really good views into Tennessee, Mt Leconte and beyond. The last part of the hike involves actually scaling the rocky peaks and that aspect is quite attractive to so many different people. For us, we just wanted the rough challenge while keeping it within what my kids could do. It is located on highway 441, the main road that goes up and over the top of the mountains. There is a small parking area for the trail, but there’s plenty of space around it to park.

The trail is actually two sections. The first .9 miles are a smooth uphill that crosses the same stream three times over nice wooden bridges. At about half a mile up, you open up into this meadow that at the time we hiked through it, was absolutely covered in white flowers (waiting for someone to identify for me).

It was like walking into a white carpeted room. The pictures I have simply do not do it justice. You only gain about 360 feet in this first mile, so its quite a leisurely hike. My two year old did this section no problem.

After the first mile and crossing the last bridge, the trail forks. Going east, one can take the Fork Prong trail up to the AT. It’s about 2.3 miles straight up. I most certainly want to do that section sometime in the future. To the south, the Chimney Tops trail goes straight up. From here, we gain over 1400 feet in 1.1 miles. What’s worse is, that after about .3 miles, the trail follows an old stream bed. Rock after rock greet your tired legs with each step up. About halfway up, while my two year old was still doing everything on his own, I picked him up and threw him in my carrier so that we could make it up before nightfall.

On our slow way up, we passed many unprepared people, many who had given up after maybe .2 miles of that trail. It is quite the hike, but made enjoyable by the fact that a stream runs down right alongside the trail. Every .2 miles or so, we would stop, splash some cold water on our necks and shirts, and keep going. At about .8 miles, it flattens out quite a bit and then you follow the ridge out to the actual Chimney Tops.

On this day, it was quite windy, and I simply wasn’t going to attempt to scale the rocks all the way to the top. Instead, my daughter and I scaled them halfway up to a point where the wind wasn’t hitting as hard and where we could sit comfortably. She had her nice binoculars while I pulled out my camera. Jess and Chris sat back at the feet of the rocky peak snacking on some treats.

The view is great and I really wish I could have scaled up to the top. On a future trip, I promised my daughter we would.

We did meet some interesting people though. A couple, whose woman had never really hiked before, decided to go out our youngest child’s pace. She made it up and was happy she did. We met an Indian couple whose wife had hiked up in flip flop type sandals, carrying a small child. On the way down we met a couple from Louisiana, they had 7 children (none on this trip) and they still were planning on going as far up as they could.

The way down actually proved harder on our legs than going up. That section on the old stream bed was quite difficult, and my daughter collected the first two of her many bruises from those rocks. We did stop at the first bridge crossing and took a quick dip into the frigid stream waters. We cooled our legs off there before finishing off the trail back to the truck. Out of those brutal four miles, my two year old (ok, hes almost three actually) did 3.2 of them. We were all quite tired out, but looking forward to some more hikes. Sadly, the next day would prove to be our worst hiking day.

Happy Hiking

Xcrown

Laurel Falls

2011-05-09T21:43:00.000-04:00

Having arrived there late in the morning, earlier than we had expected, we set out to find something simple we could do. It was a warm afternoon, in the mid 80s, so something with water would make the experience more enjoyable. We picked the Laurel Falls trail.

This trail is a paved trail, the only paved trail, off of the road between the Sugarlands visitor center and Cades Cove. It does offer a parking lot, but beware, it’s practically always full. This was a Saturday, and it was in the afternoon. Well, we did come for a hike, so we parked about a half mile away and walked up to the trail. It was so busy there they had three park rangers attempting to guide traffic and help people park.

The actual trail is 1.3 miles up along a paved path. They say paved, but I found this “feature” not to my liking at all. It’s full of “potholes” and downright uneven in so many places.

I much would have preferred mud, or gravel, or even an old creek bed. I know why they paved it, but if you’re going to do that, then keep it up. I have no idea how a wheelchair can make it up this thing with any ease.

That being said, the trail is simple enough. There is a rise of about 320 feet through moderately dense forest. The falls themselves are beautiful, with two distinct layers, and a concrete bridge crossing over the highest part. If you like, you can scale down to the second part below and sit and relax, as we did.

My daughter even attempted to follow me out to a rock I was sitting on, slipped and enjoyed a refreshing bath in Smoky Mountain waters.

There are plenty of rocky formations along the trail that offer great picture places. There is also one lesser waterfall about halfway up that allows for the younger ones to crawl all over it without overt danger to their beings.

Overall, this is a nice little trail; just don’t go on it if you want some solitude. It took us about 1.5 hours to go up and down (we did sit in the waterfall for about 25 minutes) and I counted almost 200 people. With this comes the usually trash you encounter on a heavy path like this. I picked up about 10 empty or near empty water bottles that had been tossed to the side. Hit this trail early on a weekday morning, and it’ll be quite enjoyable.

Happy Hiking

Xcrown

Tech 4 O Trailhead 1 Watch

2011-05-09T21:33:00.000-04:00

Again, this equipment review comes from the fact that my current wristwatch finally went kaput. But as I was researching a new wristwatch, it came to me that perhaps I could get something a bit more than just a watch. At first, I looked at those gps watches to keep track of where I was and how far I had hiked, but, I simply didn’t need to know exactly where I was, and the battery times of those gps watches was usually quite low. What I simply needed was a watch that did all the watch stuff, but that had a way to keep track how far I had gone. I found that, and more, in the Trailhead 1 watch.

This watch is larger than most, so be warned. If you’re a fan of tiny watches, this is not this. Despite this, it fits well on my wrist. The wristband has several notches to help fit any size.
The mile tracker on it works like a charm. It doesn’t rely on gps but on an accelerometer, and on flat land, it works to .002 of a mile precise. Doing uphill and downhill hikes, it’s more like .1 miles off, but this can be adjusted by changing your stride. It’s still more than useful to know where you are at, how far you have gone, your pace and your hiking time. It is EXACTLY what I needed, and the battery lasts for 3-4 years, just any normal watch.

Additionally, you get an altimeter, which was fun to use on our hikes. It also has a barometer and provides temperature readings. The temperature is only accurate while off the wrist, which is something that I don’t think will ever be worked out. It works great at night though. I’d hang it up in the hammock and see just how cold it got at night.

All other watch aspects are available. Timer, chronometer, alarms and multiple times are all there. The special features take some time to setup and calibrate, but once it’s all set, everything works within a few quick and easy button pushes.

I am quite happy with this watch and highly recommend it to fellow hikers that just need a simple way to keep track of mileage.

http://store.tech4o.com/products/345261/Traileader_1

Happy Hiking

Zamberlan 760 Steep Hiking Boots.

2011-05-09T21:30:00.001-04:00

Along with the many trail reviews for this trip, I also review some new equipment that I had to buy. My old Merrell boots had finally bit the dust when on one trail hike in the beginning of spring I felt a few rocks right through the sole. Not good. So it was time to invest in a new pair of boots. Now, the previous pair had lasted me six years of heavy duty. With shoes, it has always been my reasoning that I can afford to pay extra for good shoes/boots because they will last this long. After much review reading, I came up with the Zamberlan 760 Steep.

The boot is quite expensive compared to other pairs, but so far, it has been worth it. The boots have a more traditional footing, with a higher heel than many other hiking boots Ive worn in the past. At first, it was somewhat awkward wearing the boots, but as I started hiking in them, that feeling quickly vanished and I was instantly converted to this kind of boot.

The boots are incredibly comfortable, despite looking horribly rugged and rigid. The soles are Vibram, and I had practically no issues in walking over wet slick stones in the streams up in the Smoky Mountains. The boot is made out of Italian leather, yet my feet remained quite cool. It is of course water proof, and having that higher sole enabled me to splash across shallow creeks without having to worry too much about getting my feet wet.

One of the great features on this boot is the bend around the ankle. Instead of being completely bound in leather, around the ankle there is a short cut in the leather which allows the ankle to bend quite freely while still remaining strongly bound. At no point did I feel completely stiff and rigid within the boots.

Id also like to point out that the boots required absolutely no breaking in. I got absolutely no blisters or sore spots. The large toe box is also a wonderful part of the boots. Going downhill, your feet simple don’t slide forward and crush your toes as some other boots have done to me. This makes going down steep hills a far less painful experience.

The only con comes from its build. If youre not used to having higher ankle boot ties then your ankles are going to feel bound. This is probably only a problem if you wear lower cut boots or ankle free boots (are these really boots?). The price is also going to be quite a put back, you will probably spend at least 250 dollars for this pair of boots. For me, this pair could easily last 1500-1700 miles. Thats a lot of hiking time for me.

http://www.zamberlan.com/catalog/index.php?lang=en&pg=prod&idprod=108&idcat=2

Happy Hiking

So Much...

2011-05-02T21:29:00.002-04:00

Got alot to process here. Around 400 pictures and a couple of videos. I have 4 trail reviews to write as well as equipment reviews Id like to write about. All of this will be put together with a general review of the trip up to the Smokies. Some pictures turned out great, especially the tiny fauna I saw. Soon...

Happy Hiking,

Xcrown

Down...

2011-04-29T22:33:00.002-04:00

Well, while Im not back home yet. We are officially out of the mountains. A weekend wedding in Indiana and then back home on Sunday. There are a ton of pictures, some video and many rants and raves as well as a few speechless moments Ill attempt to put into writing. All coming this following week.

Happy Hiking,

Xcrown

Almost at the Smoky Mountains...

2011-04-19T21:08:00.000-04:00

Well, we have everything about as ready as we can get it. Will open up the pop up tomorrow and make sure everything is ok and dry in there. Now, if only these next couple of days could go by in a hurry.

Here are planned hikes,

Charlies Bunion
Ramsey Cascades
Rainbow Falls
Grotto Falls
Hen Wallow Falls
Alum Caves
Porter Creek Trail
Chimney Tops (really looking forward to this one)
Laurel Falls

Anyone gone on any of these trails or locations? Would love to hear any comments.

Heres one from last April. A hike up Twenty Mile trail up to Shuckstack, starting at campsite 93.

Happy Hiking,

Xcrown

Storms over North Carolina

2011-04-17T18:33:00.000-04:00

My heart goes out to everyone who was in the path of nature yesterday. We were fortunate. I watched as the three storms split up just miles south of our house.

I wish speedy recovery to everyone affected.

This shot was taken right after the first storm split right by us.

Happy Hiking,

Xcrown

Juney Whank Falls - Smoky Mountains

2011-04-15T12:55:00.000-04:00

My co-hiker takes a moment to write into his journal as we take a break just under Juney Whank falls. Is there no better place? When youre hot and sweaty and the falls mist right over you as you sit directly underneath them?

Got any pictures of Juney Whank? Share them.

Happy Hiking,

Xcrown

Deep Creek - Smoky Mountains

2011-04-13T17:36:00.000-04:00

In anticipation of my hike next week up in the Smoky Mountains, Ill post a few of my pictures from my previous times there.

Here is one, taken six miles up on the Deep Creek Trail, one of my favorite trails at the park.

Happy Hiking,

Xcrown

Audio Eno River Tour - Youtube

2011-04-12T13:57:00.001-04:00

This is a very interesting find. Hope you all enjoy.

Happy Hiking

Xcrown

Every Trail - New phone app.

2011-04-10T21:26:00.000-04:00

I found a very interesting app called Every Trail. I have an Android smartphone which I keep charged via solar power on my hikes. Generally, Ive only used it for keeping notes, but this app will allow me to map out the whole trail and then everyone can view the exact route I took on the site Every Trails. I will try it out next week at Uwharrie. Should prove interesting.

http://www.everytrail.com/

Happy Hiking,

Xcrown