Wednesday, November 18, 2009

Roan Mt. Shelter

Fire wardens Cabin, higest shelter on the AT.

Monday, November 9, 2009

Return to camp Cody




A few photos of our return to Oak Mt. State park. I’ve camped at this spot more than anywhere else. I guess because it’s close to home and easy, one step beyond car camping. This is Cody, my camping buddy’s dog. He really likes being out in the woods. He is also very old, a bit blind and deaf. The time before this we were harassed by Coyotes all night barking and howling around the camp site being a royal pest but of course it was meant for the dog but he never heard it, lol.

waiting......

Sunday, September 20, 2009

Roan Highlands



My friend trigger happy jack on her birthday 9/5/09 on one of the balds between Jane's Bald and Grassy Bald near Carvers Gap on the N.C./Tenn border. That's my tent to the left with the door open. We spent the night down hill from a herd of goats and two big white sheep, ah, or goat dogs. It was fantastic! When I layed down to go to sleep I heard a few coyotes howling on the moutain top and the dogs barking back. I gave a silent chuckel and went to sleep.

Friday, August 28, 2009

Roan Mt.

More photos from Raon Mt shelter.





Roan Mountain Shelter 8/14/09

These are some photos from Roan Mt. High nob shelter taken on my 52nd Birthday. What a wonderful experence to wake up on my Bday at 6258 ft. to a most beautiful morning.




Thursday, July 2, 2009

Solo backpacking. 5/8/09


This weekend I did my first solo backpacking and camping. It was lots of fun but a lot of physical stress. I’ve not done much walking a long distance in many years so working my way up to this point has been a goal I made for myself. I was going to try two nights of camping but decided the first morning maybe that would not be a good idea. The hike to the camp site is only 3/10 of a mile. The temperature was in the 88 and very humid. If you have ever been in the south in the summer you know what I’m talking about. This was my second trip to this same camp site at Oak Mountain State Park so I knew the terrain and what the surrounding area is like. To my surprise the last few hundred feet of trail was a small stream and the camp site and the fire ring had water running right though the center of it. Not to worry though, there is ample room around to pitch a tent and a second fire ring close by. This area was also protected from the downhill run of water by a large tree that had fallen. It put my camp closer to the nearby creek but I checked it out thoughly and it would take a major flash flood to raise the water to a dangerous level. I set my tent up between two small but sturdy trees so I could cover the area with my new Grand Trunk AT Hybrid hammock (which I never did). I set the AT up as a hammock on some trees close to the tent first. What a great thing! It makes a very comfortable place off the ground to sit or lay in, so glad I got it. I arrived late in the day so I did not have a lot of time to play around and quickly started my search for fire wood. I had brought a New York Strip steak and a potato in two layers of foil so I wanted some good hard wood to cook my steak over and not pine. I found a lot of small hard wood but much of it was on the ground and damp. As I had mentioned I had been to this site less than a month ago and I could found signs that others had camped there also so most of the good sized wood was not to be found. They left foil and stuff by the fire, bad form. I went across the small creek where I had found some good wood before but this time the best I found was a small tree that had been down the last time I was there. Someone before me had trimmed off the top and branches so I had only to slice off the logs I wanted. It was about two to three inches in diameter. I got my trusty folding saw that had yet to be tried out and started sawing. I got one nice log and went for another. Did I mention that I’m badly out of shape? I never have been a good saw person; just get tuckered out to easy. I ended up with two logs about two and half feet long and used them to put my little grill from my small bar b que on to cook my steak. The steak meal was a good idea but I was so tired by the time I sat down to eat I could hardly enjoy it fully. I ate as much as I could but could not finish. I felt a little bad in the stomach and so exhausted I had to lie down. The fire was dyeing as I crawled in my tent and I had the fly door open so I could see the fire and camp site. The night was a comfortable 70s and a full Moon with some clouds so it was quite wonderful. The Moon would play light in the door of my tent as I lay relaxing.
One thing I discovered from this experience is it’s very easy to over pack. You can’t take it all and you can’t take all the “just in case” items and luxury items are costly in weight. Out of shape and over packed this trip told me what I needed to know. Not what I wanted to know but what I needed.

Wednesday, February 11, 2009

clean



Alice,outfit by aerySoul.com
Using 3 IBL lights, 2 white spots.
One RED IBL, one GREEN IBL and one BLUE IBL.
Red, green, blue (RGB) makes white.