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Took a walk today

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    • did a morning 4 mile walk on the Neuse River Greenway Trail, a paved walking / running /biking trail on the east and north sides of Raleigh. They have distance markers every quarter mile so I could time my pace to be within a few seconds of 4 minutes per quarter mile which comes out to be 3.75 mph. The deer are not shy.
    • We drove up to Luddingto SP to do our favorite 2 mile loop around Lost Lake (badly named as the location of the lake is perfectly obvious). Then we had lunch on the dog-friendly patio of the brewery in town. We came home via Baldwin for a cone of Jones's Black Walnut ice cream. It was amazing. It was surprisingly uncrowded at the park, considering it was a holiday weekend with perfect weather.


    • Week before last I camped in VA with family and did some short hikes. My granddaughter’s, 2 & 4, were a lot of fun. It was the 2 yr old’s first trip.
      We hiked the Humpback Rocks overlook trail but turned around before reaching the top because it got too difficult for me to hold onto the 2 yr old and navigate the steep rocky trail…they did great though!

      They are really into flowers and rocks and were constantly giving me things to put into my pockets. Occasionally I had to furtively clean out my pockets and throw out the numerous stones and weeds.
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      Lost in the right direction.

      The post was edited 1 time, last by Traffic Jam ().

    • Oh boy, another hike gone wrong…planned by me of course.

      TimeZone and I met near Reliance TN to hike another section of the BMT, Towee Creek picnic area to Coker Creek. I did my homework and studied maps yet had trouble finding the trailhead. It used to be at one end of the parking lot and indeed, we found it going in the other direction. I read about a reroute but thought that took place before I last hiked this section.

      So I used Gaia to locate the trail which was overgrown and came to a dead end at the creek. We waded the creek and searched the other side of the bank to no avail. I think my exact words right then were, “Gaia has never failed me.” Well now it has. I also have FarOut and should have checked it but I’m not as familiar with it.

      I suggested we go back to the parking lot to regroup so we walked to the bridge where we saw painted blazes on the ground pointing the right direction. Ugh! 45 minutes wasted (but I enjoyed wading in the creek.)

      We got on the right trail and made it to the ridge when it started getting dark and the wind picked up significantly so we decided to head back to the cars. It was raining and lightning by the time we made it back to the parking area.

      I was feeling adventurous so drove down Hwy 30 and located the turn off to Lost Creek campground and drove down Kimsey Hwy for a while. Hwy is a misnomer for sure.

      As usual, TZ was very nice about my screw up.

      The coolest part was seeing this Cork-lid Trapdoor Spider, it was big!

      First photo by TZ
      The map photo is the Gaia map that I was following, it’s wrong.
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      Lost in the right direction.

      The post was edited 2 times, last by Traffic Jam ().

    • When I was driving down Kimsey Hwy, (a rutted road with barely enough room for two cars to pass), I had to stop to allow a small turtle cross the road. About a mile down the road, I decided to turn around and came upon that same turtle crossing the road again, headed in the opposite direction. He saw me and turned around, again. That turtle is like me and doesn’t know where he’s going. :)
      Lost in the right direction.
    • Traffic Jam wrote:

      When I was driving down Kimsey Hwy, (a rutted road with barely enough room for two cars to pass), I had to stop to allow a small turtle cross the road. About a mile down the road, I decided to turn around and came upon that same turtle crossing the road again, headed in the opposite direction. He saw me and turned around, again. That turtle is like me and doesn’t know where he’s going. :)
      But the key is that he is having a good time doing it. The same for you and your adventure. :)

      Personally, I have found FarOut to be a very helpful companion.
      The road to glory cannot be followed with much baggage.
      Richard Ewell, CSA General
    • odd man out wrote:

      I suppose this qualifies as a "walk" but we hauled camp chairs and an ice chest to the beach at Olive shores. From the parking lot to the beach is 0.2 mile each way, but you have to climb Mt Olive (really just a wooded sand dunes with 150 stairs up one side and 150 stairs down the other).


      Growing up in FL there was vey little elavation change at the beach. Was really shocked when around San Francisco, CA how steep it could be down to the ocean.
      The road to glory cannot be followed with much baggage.
      Richard Ewell, CSA General
    • I’m in Colorado. I accompanied my dad to his 60th college reunion. It’s hard taking care of an elderly parent (airports are absolute nightmares for the disabled) but I was fortunate to have some time off for a wonderful walk today.

      My dad is a true hero. He was nominated for the Medal of Honor. (I overheard his classmate say, “you should have gotten that medal, you had more balls than anyone I’ve ever seen.) Hearing and seeing the respect his classmates have for him is awesome. He’s in very poor health and requires a lot of assistance but he’s worth the effort.

      My mom is also a hero. She took care of the home and family while my dad served in the military but also received a very high medal for heroism for extraordinary work as a nurse. I’ll never come close to their accomplishments.
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      Lost in the right direction.

      The post was edited 3 times, last by Traffic Jam ().

    • TJ, you've got plenty of your own accomplishments, don't sell yourself short. Let's see, long distance hiking, spinning yarn, knitting, playing the fiddle, helping people through your nursing career and maybe most important being a mom and grandmother. And that's all I know about, I'd bet there's more.
    • LIhikers wrote:

      TJ, you've got plenty of your own accomplishments, don't sell yourself short. Let's see, long distance hiking, spinning yarn, knitting, playing the fiddle, helping people through your nursing career and maybe most important being a mom and grandmother. And that's all I know about, I'd bet there's more.
      Thank you, that’s so kind of you to say!
      Lost in the right direction.
    • Yesterday I walked on the trails again, maybe 4 miles. It amazes me how many trails are around here with easy access. I just walk out the door of the hotel.

      I was on a loop trail, mostly following my nose, when I came to a parking area that I had to walk through before accessing the next trailhead. A sketchy man (nearly sure he was homeless) with a pit bull got out of a beat up vehicle (held together with duct tape). The dog looked happy and friendly with a nice harness on but I decided to be cautious and took the sidewalk back. It’s nice in the trees but in the open, the sun is blazing. All you CO and PCT hikers know what I’m talking about!

      Im doing ok with the elevation, some minor symptoms…can’t sleep, felt bad yesterday but Luquid IV perked me up.
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      Lost in the right direction.
    • Traffic Jam wrote:

      Yesterday I walked on the trails again, maybe 4 miles. It amazes me how many trails are around here with easy access. I just walk out the door of the hotel.

      I was on a loop trail, mostly following my nose, when I came to a parking area that I had to walk through before accessing the next trailhead. A sketchy man (nearly sure he was homeless) with a pit bull got out of a beat up vehicle (held together with duct tape). The dog looked happy and friendly with a nice harness on but I decided to be cautious and took the sidewalk back. It’s nice in the trees but in the open, the sun is blazing. All you CO and PCT hikers know what I’m talking about!

      Im doing ok with the elevation, some minor symptoms…can’t sleep, felt bad yesterday but Luquid IV perked me up.
      My last day was typical of this. I was on top of Hope Pass all bundled up with long sleeves, jacket, wool beanie, and gloves. Then hours later in short sleeves feeling like I was walking thru the desert. :)
      The road to glory cannot be followed with much baggage.
      Richard Ewell, CSA General
    • This past Tuesday and Wednesday Kathy and I finally got out for an overnighter. Due to traffic it took us about 3 hours to drive to the southern part of Harriman State Park. We finally started walking about 11:30am and headed to Stone Hill shelter. Kathy picked the route and there was much more up and downs than flat ground. We arrived at the shelter and found it to be in good condition with a new roof and a floor in good condition too. The walls are all stone and there were signs of recent cement work. Despite all that we decided to use our tent as the skeeters were heavy and biting us both. We ate dinner in the shelter though. We knew there was rain in the overnight forecast but didn't expect the storm that started at 4am and went until 6am. It rained very, very hard and our Tarptent kept us dry. Once the rain stopped we packed up, had breakfast back in the shelter. Our route out was almost all down hill and took us past Pine Meadow Lake. From there the trail back to the parking lot at Reeves visitor center was much different than I remember it from years ago. We went through the visitor center, which is now run by the A.M.C. Then changed our clothes and headed to the town of Sloatsburg for lunch at the Rhodes Tavern. After a good meal we drove home.
      We didn't see much wild life in our 10 mile in and out. There were 2 Turkey, a few red efts, and very few birds. I'm not sure I want to count the mosketos as wildlife. We did go to sleep to the sound of coyotes howling in the distance. Now that we're both retired I hope that is the first of many nights in the woods.
    • hikerboy wrote:

      Yesterday I went up to Minnewaska State Park and had a perfect day for hiking-temps in the mid 60s, sunny and breezy. I hiked part of the Long Path, which has a few nice scrambles and beautiful views, including a nice panorama of the Catskills.It also goes past Rainbow Falls, but no rainbows today.

      Beautiful!
      If not too much roadwalking, The Long Path might be an option for a July hike for me someday.
      The road to glory cannot be followed with much baggage.
      Richard Ewell, CSA General
    • LIhikers wrote:

      That's a great park, I'm glad you had a good day to enjoy it.
      I've been going up there since the '70s, it's where I first went rock climbing, before we found out rock climbing was an actual sport, and you were allowed to use ropes.WE just loved to climb stuff.
      But I hadn't been up there since before the pandemic, as it became so popular, it was getting too crowded for my liking.Yesterday, I met only one other hiker the entire day. Perfect.
      its all good
    • LIhikers wrote:

      Astro, don't confuse New York's Long Path with Vermont's Long Trail.
      Didn't, The Long Trail is another one I have considered. I know I would love the first 100 miles of that trail, just not sure about the last 170. Heard described as shutes and ladders or compressed version of the Whites and Southern Maine. That part doesn't sound that fun in the rain.
      The road to glory cannot be followed with much baggage.
      Richard Ewell, CSA General
    • hikerboy wrote:

      LIhikers wrote:

      That's a great park, I'm glad you had a good day to enjoy it.
      I've been going up there since the '70s, it's where I first went rock climbing, before we found out rock climbing was an actual sport, and you were allowed to use ropes.WE just loved to climb stuff. But I hadn't been up there since before the pandemic, as it became so popular, it was getting too crowded for my liking.Yesterday, I met only one other hiker the entire day. Perfect.
      We haven't been there in a long time because we could only go on weekends and it was always crowded. Now that we're retired I can see a weekday trip in our future.
    • LIhikers wrote:

      hikerboy wrote:

      LIhikers wrote:

      That's a great park, I'm glad you had a good day to enjoy it.
      I've been going up there since the '70s, it's where I first went rock climbing, before we found out rock climbing was an actual sport, and you were allowed to use ropes.WE just loved to climb stuff. But I hadn't been up there since before the pandemic, as it became so popular, it was getting too crowded for my liking.Yesterday, I met only one other hiker the entire day. Perfect.
      We haven't been there in a long time because we could only go on weekends and it was always crowded. Now that we're retired I can see a weekday trip in our future.
      It's such a beautiful park, and the adjacent Mohonk Preserve is just as beautiful, plus, you can watch the climbers doing their thang.
      its all good
    • Astro wrote:

      LIhikers wrote:

      Astro, don't confuse New York's Long Path with Vermont's Long Trail.
      Didn't, The Long Trail is another one I have considered. I know I would love the first 100 miles of that trail, just not sure about the last 170. Heard described as shutes and ladders or compressed version of the Whites and Southern Maine. That part doesn't sound that fun in the rain.
      Astro, I considered the second half of the LT great fun.
      “Of all sad words of tongue or pen,
      the saddest are these, 'It might have been.”


      John Greenleaf Whittier
    • Walking around Smoky Mountain Vistor Center and the an antique car group was finishing up a break.
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      The road to glory cannot be followed with much baggage.
      Richard Ewell, CSA General
    • Our 2023/24 Orienteering season opened on Saturday September 23 at Fort Worth's Gateway city park. We had a Score-O event (mass start, find what you can within your chosen time limit and return on time). There was a Heat Advisory in North Texas. My buddy and I did OK for the first hour, finding one control that was miss placed (about 30 meters off, NOT at the "Western Fence End"). Two very nice high school men decided to orienteer with us and we figured Strength in Number on the sweltering day. We were all really struggling with the elevations, sun exposure and HEAT by 11:30 AM (we were on the three hour course after the mass start at 10). It was already in the 90's by then. But we were across one of only two river crossings and half way around that so just keep going in the remote part of the park. My buddy had to take a knee several times. He'd not carried enough water and I was almost empty on my 1.5 liters. I think the youth were also out as they asked a few times where the closest water stop would be (a long way....north end of the park at a road) We'd stop and my world would spin. A few times it seemed dim even. We got in a snails pace and once we were out on a trail that went to a road, I told the youth about water ahead. They politely asked if we'd be OK and if they could head back as the couch would be concerned. SURE head back. When we reached that trailhead with water, another youth was being assisted into a car by his friends. I check my phone weather and found it was 96 with a THI of 103. We took an hour to just walk back. I lost my GPS track but took some 16,000 steps and 7 stories of elevation change on the part that did record (less than half). Once we were back we heard of the casualty lists. At least three kids barfing from heat illnesses at the finish / HQ area. ONE other youth transported by ambulance. Several very excellent orienteer's that I always loose to, had quit the event and were sitting in their vehicles with the AC on HIGH, and sucking cool water while trying not to barf. We did the same for about 30 minutes just to begin to recover. Given the heat and casualty list, I wound up with a first place in the Male, Long course and Old-Farts division.
      Pirating – Corporate Takeover without the paperwork
    • rhjanes wrote:

      Our 2023/24 Orienteering season opened on Saturday September 23 at Fort Worth's Gateway city park. We had a Score-O event (mass start, find what you can within your chosen time limit and return on time). There was a Heat Advisory in North Texas. My buddy and I did OK for the first hour, finding one control that was miss placed (about 30 meters off, NOT at the "Western Fence End"). Two very nice high school men decided to orienteer with us and we figured Strength in Number on the sweltering day. We were all really struggling with the elevations, sun exposure and HEAT by 11:30 AM (we were on the three hour course after the mass start at 10). It was already in the 90's by then. But we were across one of only two river crossings and half way around that so just keep going in the remote part of the park. My buddy had to take a knee several times. He'd not carried enough water and I was almost empty on my 1.5 liters. I think the youth were also out as they asked a few times where the closest water stop would be (a long way....north end of the park at a road) We'd stop and my world would spin. A few times it seemed dim even. We got in a snails pace and once we were out on a trail that went to a road, I told the youth about water ahead. They politely asked if we'd be OK and if they could head back as the couch would be concerned. SURE head back. When we reached that trailhead with water, another youth was being assisted into a car by his friends. I check my phone weather and found it was 96 with a THI of 103. We took an hour to just walk back. I lost my GPS track but took some 16,000 steps and 7 stories of elevation change on the part that did record (less than half). Once we were back we heard of the casualty lists. At least three kids barfing from heat illnesses at the finish / HQ area. ONE other youth transported by ambulance. Several very excellent orienteer's that I always loose to, had quit the event and were sitting in their vehicles with the AC on HIGH, and sucking cool water while trying not to barf. We did the same for about 30 minutes just to begin to recover. Given the heat and casualty list, I wound up with a first place in the Male, Long course and Old-Farts division.
      wow, sounds like the event should have been canceled.
      Lost in the right direction.