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Took a walk today

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    • On flick locks, there should be a screw or dial that can adjust the tightness of the lock.
      I have Fizan twist locks. They have a plastic plug on the inside. It can not be adjusted, but could be replaced if they are broken (would have to find a place to buy parts).
      For either type of lock, the work by friction either on the inside or outside of the pole, depending on the style. Dirty poles could interfere with this, so giving the surfaces a good cleaning may also help.
    • Thanks guys for the suggestions. They are twist locks. So, first I will try cleaning.

      We've had snow each of the last 3 days and more to come later today; total of about 7+" so far. So yesterday my friend & I went snowshoeing on the golf course that she lives on. Pretty strenuous but enjoyable as we were the only ones out so beautiful and peaceful. Saw a lot of deer tracks and some others that were probably squirrels as they went to trees and ended there. Warmed up with some chai tea.
    • Kathy and I got out for an easy 6 miles today around Stump Pond in a county park that's not too far from us.
      Even though the sky was a solid gray overcast, with no sun shining through, the temperature was about 50 degrees with a slight breeze. As for wild life there were ducks, geese, swans, a heron, and 3 deer. There were lots of people out, many were walking their dogs and some riding their horses. There were a good number of trail muffins, left by the horses, to avoid. Why is it dog owners are expected to clean up after their animal but horse owners aren't?
      Just asking.
    • Interesting hike on my local trail today.

      I tried to take a photo of a hazardous widow maker that was right on trail so that I could report it. Instead it decided to collapse while I was taking the photos.

      Sorry for the low quality photos, but I wanted to include the time stamps on them.
      Dogs are excellent judges of character, this fact goes a long way toward explaining why some people don't like being around them.
    • This reminded me of watching Gentle Ben growing up. Everglades only 100 miles from where I grew up (and at now). Guess I need to swing down there sometime.
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      The road to glory cannot be followed with much baggage.
      Richard Ewell, CSA General
    • Astro wrote:

      This reminded me of watching Gentle Ben growing up. Everglades only 100 miles from where I grew up (and at now). Guess I need to swing down there sometime.
      I've always wanted to kayak the 'Wilderness Waterway,' Flamingo to Everglade City.
      “Of all sad words of tongue or pen,
      the saddest are these, 'It might have been.”


      John Greenleaf Whittier
    • IMScotty wrote:

      Astro wrote:

      This reminded me of watching Gentle Ben growing up. Everglades only 100 miles from where I grew up (and at now). Guess I need to swing down there sometime.
      I've always wanted to kayak the 'Wilderness Waterway,' Flamingo to Everglade City.
      Gators probably wouldn't bother you. But water moccasins and pythons might not be so laid back.
      The road to glory cannot be followed with much baggage.
      Richard Ewell, CSA General
    • Hiked my route out at LBJ National Grasslands today. Was mid 60's at 10:30 and was mid 70's by 2:30 my finish of 9 miles. The FS did a controlled burn some month back on the area we use out there for Orienteering. Today I was hiking off our map on a trail and smelled fresh burn. Yep!! Still smouldering! I took a photo where the two burns are on opposite sides of the road. The older burn has inch tall grass and the new burn....was burnt. The FS has also removed or sawed open some blow downs that happened after the burns.
      I was surprised they had to have burned on Saturday because Thursday night we had 85 MPH winds and a massive rain event. I wouldn't think it would be dry 12 hours after that.
      Pirating – Corporate Takeover without the paperwork
    • Took a day trip from Vegas to Valley of Fire St Park. Walked the Fire Wave and White Domes Trails. Drove in through the Lake Meade NRA. Very scenic drive.


      Elephant Rock. It's supposed to look like an Elephant.


      Fire Wave overlook.


      Daughter on the White Domes Trail. She lives in Henderson.


      Son in the White Domes slot canyon.


      The White Domes Trail comes down this notch.
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    • Today we took a day trip to Death Valley.
      we went to Zabriski's Point


      had a burger and beer at the saloon


      went to the Devils Golf Course


      OMO and OWO made it to the bottom.


      We went to the Artits Pallette Overlook


      I had to get a pic of the famous thermometer at the visitors center. It was an unimpressive 70 deg today.


      But the longest hike of the day was from the parking garage to the front desk to the room at the hotel. We have a view of the Horseshoe, Paris, Planet Hollywood, Cosmopolitan, and Bellagio from our window.
    • With the time change, I hiked at LBJ National Grassland. I did my 5 mile loop before lunch. Sat at the truck for lunch, then hiked my shorter loop. While on a short Forest Service road walk, the FS volunteer came by. He and I usually talk. His ranch is just off the grasslands and he was out picking up trash and checking one of the day-use areas. I asked about smoke I'd seen and he confirmed it was a small FS controlled burn of a debris pile and YES it puffed out a bunch of black smoke. He also said yes they have been doing smaller controlled burns, which I'd found on my prior hike. I then remembered to ask him about hunters stands in the forest. He confirmed they MAY put them up but only for 72 hours and should be removed and if I knew of some, he'd like to know as the FS would remove them. He also asked if there was flagging on them. Deer hunting season ended some two months ago. I told him where two were. He knows that area well and knew where one was I described. The second one is harder to spot. Once back at the truck I was worn out and wanting to leave. But the next two weekends I probably won't make it out to LBJ due to orienteering event work. So I grabbed my roll of construction flagging and hiked back to the first hunters stand, which is near a dam and easy to spot. I put some flagging on it and then hiked back the other side of the water channel on a trail and eventually spotted the other stand. Getting to it was a bit tough! It was placed on a Spur in the middle of the water channel. The channel at that point is around 20 to 30 feet deep! I worked down and back up to it. The stand itself is just about six feet up the tree and they put in four screw things into the tree to make steps! I flagged it all as best I could. I could see the open grasslands so I hiked back out towards the open grasslands, which was my truck. I found some flagging in from that direction and so flagged some more.
      So my hike was 9.72 miles.
      Pirating – Corporate Takeover without the paperwork
    • Took a walk this weekend around Evora, Portugal. Walked at least 6 miles the first day exploring and getting lost on the winding medieval cobblestone streets. Maybe only 4 the next day. This is a beautiful little city...

      Admiring the view from the roof of the cathedral.


      The 'Chapel of Bones.' Yup, the entire thing is decorated with human bones. These monks felt that reminding people of their mortality would help them live a better life.

      The Roman Temple at Night.


      An archeologist gave us a very informative tour of megalith sites around Evora. Here I am next to one of the largest standing stones; Almendres Menhir. This stone marked the Winter Solstice.
      “Of all sad words of tongue or pen,
      the saddest are these, 'It might have been.”


      John Greenleaf Whittier
    • Took many walks in Lisbon these past few days. Lisbon has steep hills! My calves are sore. This is good for me.


      The Alfama District of Lisbon was my favorite. The most Medieval part of town it is a maze of narrow alleys, stairways to get up and down the steep hill, and has endless hidden charms and character.

      Kathleen navigating the stairs of Alfama.

      One of the views near the top.

      Mr. Peacock in Castelo de Sao Jorge.

      And, we also hiked miles touring the other neighborhoods of Lisbon too.



      Bairro Alto is known for its 'nightlife.' It looked like one big drunken street party to me. More steep climbs and narrow alleyways, but after observing all the wildlife, Kathleen and I moved on.


      The Belem district has some impressive monuments (Belem Tower shown above). We were especially impressed with the Jerónimos Monastery. The walking was easier here, it is in a flat area along the river.
      “Of all sad words of tongue or pen,
      the saddest are these, 'It might have been.”


      John Greenleaf Whittier
    • Took more walks last week...

      We explored the the buildings and grounds of three of the four palaces in Sintra I had hoped to visit (the 4th was vetoed by the boss as enough already). Lots of ups and downs and several miles, but Sintra as a walking destination was a bit of a disappointment to me (I'll describe why at the end).

      The Moorish Castle - Built in the 1100's by the Moors. Spectacular History here.

      View of Sintra from the Moorish Castle

      Hiking the grounds around the Moorish Castle

      View of Pena Palace from the Moorish Castle


      Neptune: Architectural detail over the entrance gate of Pena Palace. King Ferdinand was a patron of the arts and oversaw all the details of the design and construction of the palace.

      Monserrate


      My wife exploring the interior of Monserrate



      The Chapel Ruins, Monserrate: Built intentionally as a ruin in the 1700's. An example of 'Folly Architecture.'
      “Of all sad words of tongue or pen,
      the saddest are these, 'It might have been.”


      John Greenleaf Whittier
    • Hiking in Sintra:

      Information on the hiking trails of Sintra was hard to come by. Best I could do was buying a USGS style map of the area before the trip. I picked a VRBO close to Monserrate planning on enjoying daily hikes in the park (the Palaces are in a National Park). We could see the Palace from where we stayed. We hiked about one mile (uphill) on the lane to the palace and we were stopped by a gated entry. I knew that driving in Sintra was restricted, but I did not know that went for walking too. Google and the map did not mention this gate.

      The set up in Sintra seems to be designed to discourage people from wandering around. We had to drive into the city (Sintra), park, find the right 'tourist bus,' and be driven to each destination. What should have been a pleasant 40 minute walk was now 2 hours wasted each way (and a bit of an expense).

      I understand it. The locals are tired of the mobs of tourists wandering about. They want to control and channel them. But from my perspective, it was a bit of a disappointment because I wanted to get walking miles in, not bus and car miles. That said, Sintra is stunning and I would highly recommend a visit.
      “Of all sad words of tongue or pen,
      the saddest are these, 'It might have been.”


      John Greenleaf Whittier
    • My friend called me up last Friday to say that her SO was going on a boy's golfing trip to Hilton Head for 5 days and asked if I wanted to do a hiking trip. Well, I didn't have time so I said I could do a day hike. We went on Sunday to Island Lake State Recreation Area. There are about 4 diff hiking trails. I've been on 3 of them and I wanted to do the 4th which is the yellow trail. The yellow trail and the blue trail start from the same parking lot. Friend used the outhouse then we walked a short distance to a post with yellow marking on it and started out. Turned out we had started at what was considered the end but no big deal. So, as we passed posts every half mile, we could see the remaining mileage. When we got to the 1.0 mile marker, we were ready for only one more mile so onward we went. After we'd walked for awhile, my friend said 'seems like we've gone at least a mile' to which I replied that it shouldn't be much farther. Well a very short while later along came 2 cyclists and I motioned that I'd like to talk. So, the second one stopped and I asked if we were close to the parking lot. He said we were going in the wrong direction. Turned out we'd missed an unmarked turn about a mile back where there was a Y. We had come down the top left section of the Y and we continued walking down the leg of the Y. Turned out we should have turned and walked up the right hand top part of the Y. So back we went. That's what I get for forgetting to take a map. Ended up at 8 miles for the day. Didn't see any wildlife but sure did hear a lot around a flooded area. Tried to see what it might be but nothing was in sight. When I got home, I intended to take a catnap but ended up sleeping for 1-1/2 hrs.
    • Traffic Jam wrote:

      LIhikers wrote:

      I wish I could say I've been walking. The second week of Feb. I took a spill and the back of my ankle and foot have been painful ever since. If there isn't some improvement soon I'll be making an appointment with my doctor.
      doing any better?
      Not really. Some days are better than others but I've got pain in the area of the Achilles tendon on my left foot.
    • Last week I hiked on the East Lakeshore Trail and increased my mileage to 4.5. It was a gorgeous day and I had to get outside. My foot was uncomfortable towards the end but I think I’m ready to increase to 6 miles.
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      Lost in the right direction.
    • Took another walk today, not quite 6 miles but close. There was more elevation change this time so it was a little more challenging.

      The flowers and the fragrance from the honeysuckle was delightful!

      I found a good spot to throw out a fly (is that even the right phrase?) with my Tenkara rod. I saw small fish and hoped to get a nibble. I know I wasn’t trout fishing, just wanted to cast a few times. My first cast landed in a bush on the bank, the second in the trees <sigh>. I finally just tossed the line in the water. A few minutes later, I see water rippling about 10 yards away and think I’ve attracted a big fish! As it got closer, I knew it was a snake. He came right up to the bank so I grabbed my stuff and skedaddled.
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      Lost in the right direction.
    • Haven't been able to get out on any trails but I'm working part-time at the golf course at one of the entrances to the subdivision so now that spring has finally sprung, I've been walking to work several days this week and last. The flowering trees are so beautiful. I've decided I'd like a pink dogwood to replace the pine tree at the corner of the house that grew way too tall and my husband had cut down.
    • Trillium wrote:

      Haven't been able to get out on any trails but I'm working part-time at the golf course at one of the entrances to the subdivision so now that spring has finally sprung, I've been walking to work several days this week and last. The flowering trees are so beautiful. I've decided I'd like a pink dogwood to replace the pine tree at the corner of the house that grew way too tall and my husband had cut down.
      Sounds like the perfect job!
      Lost in the right direction.