Thursday, March 24th 2011 by Mr. Bill.

It’s been a busy month since I last posted here.  I have joined a hiking and outdoors meetup group from the Raleigh Area.  So, I now have some like minded friends to hike and backpack with.  I’ve been to a couple of their outings and enjoyed myself.  I have also joined another group that is from the Greenville NC area.  Although not as big as the Raleigh group they have some interesting activities scheduled.  Unfortunately none of their meetups have worked with my schedule, but I have hopes.  Both groups are about the same driving time so I can pick as choose.

The first trail review is up on the main website.  I think I finally got the pictures small enough to load fairly quickly and big enough that you can see what is in the picture.  As promised the first review is on the trails at Medoc Mountain State Park.  I used Fall/Winter pictures.  As I take some Spring/Summer shots I may change the pictures some.  I am also toying with the idea of doing an online photo album.  But that might just end up on my facebook page.

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Sunday, February 20th 2011 by Mr. Bill.

The last couple of weeks have been a little rough.  I caught the cold/flu bug that is going around and had a hard time shaking it.  So, I missed two weekends of great hiking weather.  But, I was able to get in about 6 miles at Umstead State Park today (Sunday).  It was good to just get out and walk a little.  Tried out a new hat (very wide brim).  It will take a while to get used to.

On Wednesday I went to a free class hosted by the REI store in Cary, NC.  The class subject: “Hiking the AT”.  The presenter was a 2009 thru hiker, “Houdini”.  She was very candid about her experiences and the gear she used.  I will likey try to atttend another one of these classes to see what I missed the first time.

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Saturday, January 29th 2011 by Mr. Bill.

For the past couple of months I’ve been hiking and taking (and retaking)  pictures of the local trails.  I have been enjoying a fairly easy going pace of hiking one or two days from 5 to 18 mile each weekend.   This pace won’t ever give me “trail legs”, but with the exception of the climb at Medoc Mountain there isn’t enough elevation change in this area to really do the required training.  At this point I’m just enjoying my time away from most of the city noise and trying out some equipment to see what I’ll want to use on “the AT”. 

 I did get a good deal on a big (90 liter) ultra light pack on an after Christmas sale and I picked up a day and a half (tactical) pack at Walmart.  Both pack are hydration ready as are the hydration pack (currently in use) and my day pack from my Civil Air Patrol days.  I still haven’t come up with either a summer ultra light or three season down sleeping bag yet.  I think I’ll want both so I can switch off to the lighter bag as the spring nights get warmer.  I had several deals come up this winter, but they were all for normal length bags.  At a little over 6 foot tall I want an extra long bag.  I just have to keep my eyes open.

 For those who wanted to know where the rest of the content is….. Well, I’ve got a list of the links I want to include and that will go up next.  The trail reviews are coming along well but I’ve been unhappy with the pictures I’ve taken.  I’ve re-shot a lot of them now and am in the process of editing, cropping and water marking them.

Tomorrow I’m headed to Howell Woods to hike some.  I’ve visited there twice before.  They are having organized hunts during the week and on Saturdays (controlling wild pigs).  So those days some section of the woods are closed.  But, Sundays all the trails that are safe (not underwater) are open.  This is a nature learning center that belongs to Johnston Community College and therefore a private preserve.  But they are open to the public and very friendly to birders and hikers at any level.  Speaking of level…… It would be hard to find more trails (about 20) that were any flatter.  This area is part of the Neuse River flood plain and is typical in that it is mostly sandy soil and very little elevation change.

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Monday, December 13th 2010 by Mr. Bill.

The forecast for Saturday was light rain and cool (around 40-45).  So, I went hiking anyway.  I have to find out if my current equipment is up to snuff.

I decided to stick with the Sycamore Trail and I started from the bridle/bike trail-head.  That cuts off about a mile of lead in trail.  If the weather got real bad I could get back to my truck in about 40 minutes at worst.  The first hour was nice and peaceful.  I passed a few people and one large organized group.  As I had noticed at Medoc Mountain, poor weather thins out the crowd at a state park quickly.

About half way around the loop part of the trail I came across a small group of hikers and offered to take a group picture for them as they stood on one of the bridges.  Nice folks turned out to be from the Greenville, NC area.  Hope they didn’t get too wet.  Not long after I left them the rain increased to the point my wind shell wasn’t up to keeping my dry so I put on my poncho.  After fooling around with the hood and my baseball cap a couple of times I got good protection without messing up my vision too bad.

The rest of the loop went so well that I crossed over the bridle trail and headed to the picnic area (where the trail normally starts).  I used the small picnic shelter for my lunch stop.  The entire picnic area was empty.  I still had plenty of time so I walked back down the trail to where Pott’s Branch Trail crosses.  Walked around the Pott’s Branch Trail adding 1.25 mile onto my hike.  At the trail crossing I picked up Sycamore Trail again and headed back to my truck.  Hiking time just shy of 4 hours for 8.5 miles.  I took it slow in a lot of areas due to the weather, talked to a few people along the trail and had a real 15 minute lunch break.  All in all a nice day.  Lessons learned: (1) Put the poncho on earlier, (2) The poncho doesn’t protect my forearms, hands, or lower legs, (3) Store rain gear in an easier to access place. at least when rain or snow in forecast.

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Wednesday, December 8th 2010 by Mr. Bill.

Saturday was an interesting day on several levels.  It began with getting my wife setup for a Christmas sale at a local school.  Thanks to my daughter for helping out at the sale; freeing me up to go hiking.  Woohoo!  The weather forcast for the day had snow flurries and/or rain expected for the afternoon.

Ok why would I go hiking with rain or snow in the forcast?  Well I carry foul weather gear and I will get rain while on the Appalachian Trail.  So train in realistic conditions, right?  Additionally, rain on Saturday would result in slippery leaves on the trail for Sunday.

The plan for Saturday was to walk all of the trails in the park on one day.  That’s about 11 miles.  I started at the Ranger Station and headed out on Bear Swamp Trail.  Turned right on the Dam Site Loop Trail to the bridge over Little Fishing Creek.  I caught the Discovery Loop Trail to the right and followed around to Stream Loop Trail to the picnic area. 

The next section was walking around the Bluff Loop Trail.  The first little bit of rain fell on me in this section.  Nice view from the bluff, even in the rain.  Returning back to the picnic area.  Here I picked up the other side of the Stream Loop Trail to the Discovery Trail whick leads back to the bridge over Little Fishing Creek.

Crossing the bridge brings me to Summit Loop Trail (to the top of Medoc Mountain).  Just as I reached the clearing at the top of the hill (mountain) I got my first snow flurries.  With about two miles to go and not knowing if the snow would get worse I cut my planned rest stop short and head on down the hill to pick up the rest of the Dam Site Loop Trail.  The snow had about stopped by the time I reached the connection to Bear Swamp Trail.  Bear Swamp Trail runs about .75 miles and I made it about a half mile before the snow started again.  I picked up the pace and came out of the woods across from the ranger station.  Checked my watch — hiking time for today including breaks: 4 hours 41 minutes.  Just slightly faster than 2 mph.  Next week I paln to be back at Umstead State Park.

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Thursday, December 2nd 2010 by Mr. Bill.

Well I’ve slacked off on writing.  It’s thursday and I’m planning next weekends trails, but haven’t covered last weekends hiking.  oops!

Saturday - I visited Medoc Mountain State Park for the first time.  And hiked around Bluff Loop, Stream Loop and Discovery Loop Trails.  Mostly easy hiking with a little hill climbing on Bluff Loop.  Total hiking around 5 miles.  Very quiet in the park this time of year.  The leaf litter was heavy on the trails making my use of trekking poles wise even on the short easy trails.  Due to some bad time management on my part I wasn’t able to walk the other trails that day, but decided to return on Sunday to explore the park some more.

Sunday - Returned to the park for Bear Swamp, Dam Site Loop and Summit Loop Trails.  Again only about 5.5 miles, but very peaceful.  Hiking was still mostly easy, with some moderate hills and one very steep climb on the Summit Loop Trail.  You can avoid the steep section by entering the Summit Loop Trail by walking CLOCKWISE around the Dam Site Loop Trail to where the white circles change to red diamonds (trail markers).  Continue up the “jeep trail” to the summit and then follow around back to the big bridge.  I have worked out about an 11 - 12 mile circuit that I’m going to try this weekend.  Look for a new web section rating the trails I hike with pictures and links to maps etc.  Medoc Mountain State Park will be the first one posted…….

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Thursday, November 25th 2010 by Mr. Bill.

I’m back from my trip to Missouri.  I did get to do a little hiking.  The area around Pilot Knob, Mo. has a fair number a trails at Johnson’s Shut-ins, Elephant Rocks, and Taum Sauk Mountain State Parks.  Only having one afternoon to spend I selected three trails at Johnson’s Shut-ins to check out.  I started down the Johnson’s Shut-ins access trail and turned on to the Horseshoe Overlook Loop Trail.  This loop trail is about 1.5 miles long.  The lead in trail has several switch backs, moderate level, going up the hill side and then the loop follows around the top of the hill, easy level.  The overlook of Horseshoe Valley is worth the hike.  I returned to the Johnson Shut-ins Trail and it runs about 2.25 mile with a mix of easy and moderate level terrain.  After leaving the main area of the park I drove to the parking lot on the other side of the river.  This gives you access to the Scour Trail.  The Scour Trail leads to a Shelter that overlooks the Scour that was caused by a failure in a man-made lake atop a near by mountain.  The flood that created the scour also took out a section of the Ozark Trail in this area.  When the Ozark trail was being restored they built this trail.  About a mile of the Scour Trail runs with the Ozark Trail.  Just a note the Ozark Trail includes about 350 miles of trails from St. Louis, Mo. south to Arkansas.  The Scour Trail is a loop trail of about 1.5 miles, mostly easy level hiking.  

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Sunday, November 14th 2010 by Mr. Bill.

Oh Boy first Blog entry.  Had a nice warm up hike yesterday in Umstead State Park.  Started out at the parking lot for the bike and bridle trails and walked on to the Sycamore Trail.  It’s about a 10 to 15 minute walk for me to get to the loop section of the trail that way.  I took the left branch (clockwise around the loop) to the Graylyn Trail and crossed the bridge over Sycamore Creek.  Picked up the Company Mill Spur to get on the loop portion of Company Mill Trail.  Followed Company Mill Trail to the left (clockwise again) and met a fellow out for a day hike who was from Texas, but grew up in the Sourthern St. Louis area.  Nice guy - he was walking counter-clock wise so I met him again an hour later.  Having completed the loop part of Company Mill Trail, I came back across Company Mill Spur and Graylyn Trail to Sycamore Trail.  I finished out the loop and returned to my truck.  I figure the hike at around 10 -11 miles at 40% moderate 60% easy.  Walking time 3:15.

Next weekend I will be in Missouri visiting family.  Hope to find some strange dirt to stick my trekking poles into.  

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