Of Best-laid plans

After several miserable weekends in a row better weather finally crept into the Florida panhandle. To celebrate I had decided that I would dust off my mountain bike that had been hanging up in the garage all winter and peddle over to Ranger Camp road and get a few miles in on the Timberlake Trail system. Timberlake has well over 26 miles of hiking and biking trails suitable for any almost any skill level. I'm not a daredevil so I stick to the easy and intermediate trails and leave trails like Carbo to the diehards. Dutifully I aired up my tires, filled up my water bottle, pulled on my gloves, strapped on my helmet and after a brief once over of the bike I was off... to a grand distance of three houses down where my front brakes seized up for no apparent reason other than to tick me off.

I freed the brakes and pushed my bike back home and into the garage where I began digging for tools and gear oil. Ten minutes later still no luck. My day was starting out almost exactly as the previous day had, only instead of a stubborn set of brakes I had heck assembling a travel cage for my Southern flying squirrel duo. And although I did finally get the cage assembled, it took a hammer, a set of pliers and language that would make turn a pirate's ears red. So once again I was right back where I started, my plans foiled and in a very foul mood.

How to salvage my plans of fresh air and exercise? Well, I was already dressed for it so I picked up my water bottle, grabbed a camera and headed out to the very same set of trails to hike a five mile portion of it. Not quite the adventure I'd had planned, but it would have to do until I could drag my metal beast into the bike shop for an overhaul. My slower pace allowed me to be passed by several of my biking buddies, leaving me to once again reflect on the bike that had failed me. They might be faster, but I was getting the natural experience. Heck, with my camera in tow I might even be the one to take a picture of the elusive Ivory-billed Woodpecker.

Or not. Instead I managed to work my way down to the edge of Stinky Creek (which isn't so stinky in the winter) and get a spectacular shot of a turtle basking on a log. I also found a deep pool of water where a rather large bass was hanging out, but even though my camera is waterproof, the acrobatics required to obtain said shot would have had me swimming with him and I am terribly opposed to cold water.



So, while not the perfect day that I'd set out to have, it was still a nice day and the forecasted 30% chance of rain held off. And if I may take a brief moment of creative license; a leisure day that doesn't go quite as planned is still better than a day at work.

Hiking on the Appalachian Trail

I recently returned from a hiking/camping trip along a portion of the Appalachian Trail that began at Deep Gap in North Carolina and traveled south into Georgia to finish at Dick's Creek Gap.

About an hour into the hike one of our hiking companions sustained the first injury. This leg of the AT is extremely rugged with steep climbs and descents, and it wasn't long until a knee injury occurred. By lunchtime on the first day we reached Muskrat Shelter and rested for a bit while we had a brief lunch. Kris has an old knee injury of his own that began to bother him, so we decided that when we pushed on after lunch we would slow the pace.

Upon reaching our destination seven miles from the start we selected a nice site on a ridge top that was somewhat out of the direct line of the gusting wind that blew through the area and strung up our tent hammocks so we could fix dinner and enjoy the tranquility that we'd come in search of. As dusk fell we could make out the faint headlights of cars traveling along a highway many miles away and we began to hear the cry of a nearby owl.

The next morning we enjoyed a leisurely breakfast before starting out on the next seven mile leg. Upon retrospect, seven miles a day is the most anyone should consider doing in one day, especially on rugged terrain. The knee joints really start to feel it and there's not enough time available to rest them properly. We'll probably aim for a more conservative 5 miles a day on the next hike, at least if it's rocky.

We started out again on our hike. This section of the hike had more of the steep climbs and descents that started to bother even my good knees by the end of the day. Lunch was at the three story Plum Orchard Gap Shelter. This building was brought in by helicopter by the U.S. Corp of Engineers. It sits about .2 miles off of the main trail near a small stream. There were numerous places to pitch tents and hang hammocks, but our goal was still two miles away at Cowart Gap.

Kris and I decided over dinner due to our knee injuries that we would not be continuing on to Unicoi Gap, our original destination. Instead we would hike 2 ½ miles the next morning to Dick's Creek Gap and have the shuttle pick us up. To push on would mean that we would have to struggle 17 more miles and climb two very steep mountains. The other hiker that was injured on the first day also decided to join our departure.

On our last morning on the trail as we walked alongside of a babbling brook I was fortunate to spot a striped ground squirrel and photograph it. It was a nice way to end three days on the trail. The tent hammocks performed amazingly well and I can say without a doubt that I will never go back to a regular tent unless there are no trees available. The trekking poles were also a life saver. I can't imagine the condition we'd have been in without them.

We'll finish our hike from Dick's Creek Gap to Unicoi Gap another time after our injuries heal. As it was, it was still a nice three days on the AT that we will always remember.

Hiking, Camping, White Water Rafting, and Crystal Digging

I've been gearing up for our vacation at the end of the week, and we've got a lot to look forward to. On Saturday we'll be digging for crystals in Franklin, North Carolina. I'm a rockhound who loves digging for all sorts of gems and minerals, particularly sapphires. I also have an impressive quartz crystal collection with one specimen weighing it at 55 lbs. I got this one from a dig in Arkansas.

In addition to gemstone digging, we'll be hiking a portion of the Appalachian Trail where we'll get to camp in style in our hammock tents. We hiked a twenty mile portion of the trail in Georgia last year and enjoyed it so much that we're doing another section this year. We've got our gear down as light as possible, have a nice selection of camp food picked out and with the addition of the hammock tents we fully expect to have an even better time this trip.

This will all be after our white water rafting trip on the Ocoee River on Sunday, and then another full day of gem digging. Did I mention how much I love digging for gems? At any rate after 10 days of life in the great outdoors I'll have plenty to write about when I return, and probably hundreds of pictures. And this is also the part where I think about all the people who don't get outdoors and enjoy the experience. They're missing so much!