As I've been home, I've had more time to browse the internet and as a result I've Facebook friended more people from the Smokies and have even had time to browse their photos. Now I took my fair share of pictures, and some of them are ok, but some of the pictures that other people took are just incredible! I didn't get as many plant pictures as I could have. I didn't really do much in the way of sunset/sunrise (though I did get a pseudo-sunset in N. Carolina, which was mostly just cool-looking clouds). And I didn't really take any pictures of the streams that I'm so fond of! Hell, I never even took a picture of the cabin, which is unfortunate because it would have been cool to show people where I lived this summer. The main subject of some of my better photographs ended up being salamanders. Not that that's a bad thing (and I did get some really cool salamander pictures), but I just feel like I missed some good photo opportunities while I was in the Smokies for 12 weeks, and now it's pretty much too late.
That said, one of these days I'll probably get around to uploading some of my better pictures to facebook. But that will require that I sort through them, and there's enough to make the task a little daunting (enough to put me off in any case). So don't hold your breath for pictures. Unless you see me in person, in which case I'll be happy to show you the pictures that are on my computer.
Monday, August 25, 2008
Friday, August 15, 2008
Better late than never
Now that I'm home and have more time available for the internet, I decided to go ahead and transcribe the description of my first solo backpacking trip from the 4th of July weekend.
July 5th, 2008
Back from my first solo backpacking trip! I realized while on the trip that it was fitting to go for Independence day, since going solo is a step toward a kind of independence in a way.
I left a half hour later than I planned on Thursday morning, filled out the permit, and then walked the horrible 2 miles along the side of the road (which of course doesn't have shoulders) before getting to the Huskey Gap trailhead. I hiked onward at a relatively good pace (perhaps TOO good) until reaching campsite 23 on the Goshen Prong trail. I'm not sure what time that was, but it was mid-afternoon. The total hike was about 10 miles. I read a lot when I got to camp (Bill Bryson's "A Walk in the Woods"), made dinner (pasta sauce in a duct-taped tupperware doesn't leak!), read some more, then I was in bed before it was even fully dark. Not a great night's sleep, but not the worst.
On the 4th I continued on the Goshen Prong trail to the AT and spent a little time in the high elevation Spruce-Fir forest. In retrospect I should have rested there and enjoyed it a bit more. I reached the very disappointing Siler's Bald and had lunch there. The bald isn't maintained, so the only grassy area is about 10 ft X 10 ft. A beech forest is taking over, however, and the forest after the bald was comprised of young beech with an understory of ferns and soft-looking grass. I did take the opportunity to rest in this forest, and I realized how extraordinarily beautiful it was with the sun shining through the beech leaves and all of the vegetation such a fresh shade of green. While I was watching the patterns that the sunlight made on the ground through the gently whispering beech canopy I had a perfectly "zen" moment, for lack of a better word. A surge of powerful emotion that I cannot explain (in fact, don't even fully understand) overtook me nearly to the point of tears.
And then on I hiked. I got off the AT at the Miry Ridge trail and hiked to campsite 26. Before that, however, I saw an enormous rattlesnake. It was easily 4-5 inches in diameter, and was probably bloated from a good meal. It was about a foot off the trail, stretched out, when I noticed its enormous, beautifully patterned but slightly terrifying form. It almost looked like it belonged in the tropics, and without seeing the head or tail my initial (though unfounded) reaction was "python!" Needless to say I was startled and jumped back off the trail and just looked at it for a second. And then the rattling started. It must have been used to hikers passing it, unnoticed, but it definitely didn't like my sudden movement. It never coiled though, so it wasn't TOO perturbed. I took a picture (unfortunately I was never able to see the head through the vegetation from my position, but I did photograph the rattle). Then, a short distance down the trail I met two older guys who turned out to be staying at the same campsite as me. They informed me that the water source was more or less dry. They had dug holes in the mud and were waiting for the sediment to settle, but wanted to scout out any alternative water sources. I warned them about the snake and then set up camp.
After looking at my map, I decided to check out a drainage about 1/4 mile back up the trail. I ran into the two guys again (the older one was John, the name of the younger escapes me), and they said they'd checked it out but found only wet rocks. I decided I would go anyways, but travel further downstream. I ended up bushwacking about 1/2 mile down the drainage before I found adequate water. Hiking back up the slope after having already hiked 13 miles with a pack that day was taxing, but I'd managed to collect enough water.
I cooked Zatarain's black beans and rice (which overboiled once, giving me a second degree burn on one of my knuckles). I did devise a good method for simmering with a Whisperlite, however. The trick that I'd heard on the internet is to de-pressurize the fuel tank and then re-pump it 5 times so the flame is weaker. THAT didn't work. But I did think that the burner would stay hot after the gas was turned off, and that if I kept turning off the stove and re-lighting it to keep the burner warm my rice would simmer. The trick is to use a flint and still fire starter to re-light the stove so that matches or lighter fluid isn't wasted. It worked, it just takes some patience.
Later on that night the two guys invited me over to their fire and we chatted until about 10. They had a mixture of rum and honey that was quite good. They both had made and used alcohol stoves and swore by them, so some day I'll probably try to make myself one. I had a good night's sleep, except for a brief period when a skunk or raccoon was nosing around right outside my tent (as in messing with the tent itself).
In the morning, just as I finished packing everything up, it started raining. It rained pretty much all morning, but the pack cover that I'd just purchased worked great and everything in the pack stayed perfectly dry. For some reason though, my GORE-TEX boots did not stay dry. They didn't even help much. They used to. I'm not quite sure what the issue is. The right one leaks especially fast, and I suspect that I may have tore the Gore-Tex when I stepped on glass on the Foothills Parkway (a rather large shard that did tear the sole). I did find a Mud Salamander (Pseudotriton montanus) sitting on the trail when it was raining, which is odd since they're normally not very terrestrial and there wasn't a nearby stream, but I guess the rain made it wander into the upland a bit.
In the afternoon the rain stopped, and as I was hiking back to Huskey Gap I saw a bear foraging along the side of the trail about 20 feet away. I shouted at it and clapped my hands, but it was ineffective. The bear simply took its sweet-ass time crossing the trail and walking far enough away for me to safely pass. Shortly afterwards, I was back on the road (definitely the worst part of an otherwise good trip) on my way to the cabin. And there you have it.
July 5th, 2008
Back from my first solo backpacking trip! I realized while on the trip that it was fitting to go for Independence day, since going solo is a step toward a kind of independence in a way.
I left a half hour later than I planned on Thursday morning, filled out the permit, and then walked the horrible 2 miles along the side of the road (which of course doesn't have shoulders) before getting to the Huskey Gap trailhead. I hiked onward at a relatively good pace (perhaps TOO good) until reaching campsite 23 on the Goshen Prong trail. I'm not sure what time that was, but it was mid-afternoon. The total hike was about 10 miles. I read a lot when I got to camp (Bill Bryson's "A Walk in the Woods"), made dinner (pasta sauce in a duct-taped tupperware doesn't leak!), read some more, then I was in bed before it was even fully dark. Not a great night's sleep, but not the worst.
On the 4th I continued on the Goshen Prong trail to the AT and spent a little time in the high elevation Spruce-Fir forest. In retrospect I should have rested there and enjoyed it a bit more. I reached the very disappointing Siler's Bald and had lunch there. The bald isn't maintained, so the only grassy area is about 10 ft X 10 ft. A beech forest is taking over, however, and the forest after the bald was comprised of young beech with an understory of ferns and soft-looking grass. I did take the opportunity to rest in this forest, and I realized how extraordinarily beautiful it was with the sun shining through the beech leaves and all of the vegetation such a fresh shade of green. While I was watching the patterns that the sunlight made on the ground through the gently whispering beech canopy I had a perfectly "zen" moment, for lack of a better word. A surge of powerful emotion that I cannot explain (in fact, don't even fully understand) overtook me nearly to the point of tears.
And then on I hiked. I got off the AT at the Miry Ridge trail and hiked to campsite 26. Before that, however, I saw an enormous rattlesnake. It was easily 4-5 inches in diameter, and was probably bloated from a good meal. It was about a foot off the trail, stretched out, when I noticed its enormous, beautifully patterned but slightly terrifying form. It almost looked like it belonged in the tropics, and without seeing the head or tail my initial (though unfounded) reaction was "python!" Needless to say I was startled and jumped back off the trail and just looked at it for a second. And then the rattling started. It must have been used to hikers passing it, unnoticed, but it definitely didn't like my sudden movement. It never coiled though, so it wasn't TOO perturbed. I took a picture (unfortunately I was never able to see the head through the vegetation from my position, but I did photograph the rattle). Then, a short distance down the trail I met two older guys who turned out to be staying at the same campsite as me. They informed me that the water source was more or less dry. They had dug holes in the mud and were waiting for the sediment to settle, but wanted to scout out any alternative water sources. I warned them about the snake and then set up camp.
After looking at my map, I decided to check out a drainage about 1/4 mile back up the trail. I ran into the two guys again (the older one was John, the name of the younger escapes me), and they said they'd checked it out but found only wet rocks. I decided I would go anyways, but travel further downstream. I ended up bushwacking about 1/2 mile down the drainage before I found adequate water. Hiking back up the slope after having already hiked 13 miles with a pack that day was taxing, but I'd managed to collect enough water.
I cooked Zatarain's black beans and rice (which overboiled once, giving me a second degree burn on one of my knuckles). I did devise a good method for simmering with a Whisperlite, however. The trick that I'd heard on the internet is to de-pressurize the fuel tank and then re-pump it 5 times so the flame is weaker. THAT didn't work. But I did think that the burner would stay hot after the gas was turned off, and that if I kept turning off the stove and re-lighting it to keep the burner warm my rice would simmer. The trick is to use a flint and still fire starter to re-light the stove so that matches or lighter fluid isn't wasted. It worked, it just takes some patience.
Later on that night the two guys invited me over to their fire and we chatted until about 10. They had a mixture of rum and honey that was quite good. They both had made and used alcohol stoves and swore by them, so some day I'll probably try to make myself one. I had a good night's sleep, except for a brief period when a skunk or raccoon was nosing around right outside my tent (as in messing with the tent itself).
In the morning, just as I finished packing everything up, it started raining. It rained pretty much all morning, but the pack cover that I'd just purchased worked great and everything in the pack stayed perfectly dry. For some reason though, my GORE-TEX boots did not stay dry. They didn't even help much. They used to. I'm not quite sure what the issue is. The right one leaks especially fast, and I suspect that I may have tore the Gore-Tex when I stepped on glass on the Foothills Parkway (a rather large shard that did tear the sole). I did find a Mud Salamander (Pseudotriton montanus) sitting on the trail when it was raining, which is odd since they're normally not very terrestrial and there wasn't a nearby stream, but I guess the rain made it wander into the upland a bit.
In the afternoon the rain stopped, and as I was hiking back to Huskey Gap I saw a bear foraging along the side of the trail about 20 feet away. I shouted at it and clapped my hands, but it was ineffective. The bear simply took its sweet-ass time crossing the trail and walking far enough away for me to safely pass. Shortly afterwards, I was back on the road (definitely the worst part of an otherwise good trip) on my way to the cabin. And there you have it.
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