This season did not turn out as well as we planned. We did our usual weekend trips to state parks close to our home. Our big trip where we wanted to do an overnight hike the Appalachian Trail were thwarted by a serious strain to my ankle (see below).
We were also planning to hike a loop in Michigan consisting of the Manistee River Trail and the North Country Trail for a nice twenty-mile overnight hike. Another planned hike was on the Buffalo National River in Arkansas. Both of these postponed due to the ankle injury.
Our pop-up camper George still has problems each season. Mostly just little, annoying things due to cheap construction (you get what you pay for). The floor by the entry door has gone soft which is a major issue. We cut out a wood piece to cover and our dealer is sending picture to Viking to see if they will do anything for us.
Last weekend we put George into storage for the winter. I am already planning next year, with hiking!
Camping in Nature - Our Adventures
Friday, October 14, 2016
Wednesday, August 10, 2016
Appalachian Trail
For our June trip, we first headed to a weekend with a friend in Kentucky. He took us down to Nashville for an evening of pub crawling What an amazing scene, four or five blocks of bars all with live bands. There is no cover and the crowds and music are amazing. We started out at Tootsies and worked our way down the block.
But back to camping and hiking. We drove from our friend's home to The Lodge at Amicalola Falls. We had arrived to close to the southern terminus of the Appalachian Trail! We did not realize (poor research on my part) that its a day hike from the campground to the terminus. During the first day we hiked up see the Falls and called it a day.
We hiked up to the Falls from one side, up a forest road and then back down using the stairs. I am happy we did not go up this way!
The next day we drove the car to the southern terminus. We drove a very, very bumpy forest road. The pot holes were numerous and deep but eventually we made it to the parking lot. There were other folks getting ready to do some hiking there too.
We first hiked south to reach the actual start of the trail before hiking out to the first shelter. There were a few folks around the area soaking in wonderful scenery. We hung out awhile and then headed north on the trail. We got about a mile further north from the parking lot when I slipped and fell, twisting my right ankle. I thought a small thing and decided to keep on going. We took a break in another half mile and inspected the ankle more closely.
At that point we decided it was best to head back. We hiked up hill most of the way back to the parking lot and went back to our campsite. About 1:00 am I decided it might be time to see a doctor and headed to the closet ER. The upstart is a severe strain and as I write this on August 3rd, I am still in physical therapy. SIGH! Thus our hiking for this season comes to a halt.
But back to camping and hiking. We drove from our friend's home to The Lodge at Amicalola Falls. We had arrived to close to the southern terminus of the Appalachian Trail! We did not realize (poor research on my part) that its a day hike from the campground to the terminus. During the first day we hiked up see the Falls and called it a day.
We hiked up to the Falls from one side, up a forest road and then back down using the stairs. I am happy we did not go up this way!
The next day we drove the car to the southern terminus. We drove a very, very bumpy forest road. The pot holes were numerous and deep but eventually we made it to the parking lot. There were other folks getting ready to do some hiking there too.
We first hiked south to reach the actual start of the trail before hiking out to the first shelter. There were a few folks around the area soaking in wonderful scenery. We hung out awhile and then headed north on the trail. We got about a mile further north from the parking lot when I slipped and fell, twisting my right ankle. I thought a small thing and decided to keep on going. We took a break in another half mile and inspected the ankle more closely.
At that point we decided it was best to head back. We hiked up hill most of the way back to the parking lot and went back to our campsite. About 1:00 am I decided it might be time to see a doctor and headed to the closet ER. The upstart is a severe strain and as I write this on August 3rd, I am still in physical therapy. SIGH! Thus our hiking for this season comes to a halt.
Thursday, June 16, 2016
Camping Map
Here is our Google Map showing our camping locations by year since Michelle and I started camping.
Click here
Click here
2nd Trip of the 2016 Season
We spent the first weekend of June at Yellowstone Lake State Park in Wisconsin. This park is close to Blanchardville and Mineral Point, the park is situated out in the middle of nowhere. The lake is man-made and beautiful.
We spend a quiet weekend enjoying nature.
2016 Is Off & Running
Our camping season has begun! We picked up George, our pop-up camper, from my daughter-in-law on May 7th. She and her husband Nate are kind enough to store George over the winter in the huge out building. We took George to Kramer's Kampers in Zion, IL for his yearly tune-up. This is our fourth year with George and we are realizing how cheaply he is made. Little things keep breaking which is just a nuisance.
As usual our first camping weekend was at Rock Cut State Park outside of Rockfore, IL. This is our annual shake-down trip to make sure all is working well. This year the all the bathrooms and showers were working which is great after our experiences last year.
As usual our first camping weekend was at Rock Cut State Park outside of Rockfore, IL. This is our annual shake-down trip to make sure all is working well. This year the all the bathrooms and showers were working which is great after our experiences last year.
Sunday, January 24, 2016
Not As Expected
We did not get far with our hiking this year. We had planned a three day, two night hike on the Ozark Trail. We were shuttled out to the Courtois section at the Harmon Spring Trailhead by the fine folks at Bass Resort. We were left off and started hiking north to the northern terminus of the trail.
It turned out the day was very hot and had over 105 heat index. Most of the day, while hot was fine. We ate lunch using our new cooking gear and moved on. As we crossed one of the streams, we stopped and took our shoes and socks off so we could soak in the cold water. That felt so good!
In the mid-afternoon we decided to stop and realized we were on land with restrictions on overnight camping. Our decision was back south to a campsite or push forward to Bass Resort. It was at that point we realized we were nearly out of water. We decided to to go for Bass Resort and stay the night there.
The last mile or so was on a road without shade. The heat was oppressive and by the time we made it to Bass we were done! They shuttled us back to our campsite at Onondaga Cave State Park and that ended our hiking adventure. We went to the movies the next day!
This year we are looking to get out and at least stay overnight on a trail. We are again looking at the Appalachian Trail in Georgia, the North Country Trail in Michigan and the Buffalo National River in Arkansas. Wish us luck!
Note: Picture is not of one of us
Monday, April 20, 2015
Getting in Some Miles
I've been doing upper and lower strength training at our local RexPlex plus walking on the track for a hour or so. Thursday I walked six miles in our neighborhood. On Friday we both hiked nearly eight miles in Ned Brown Preserve (Busse Woods).
So we are gearing up for more training and our first overnight hiking experience in June. Soon we will be doing our walks with our packs.
We did pick up George (from storage) and moved him to Kramer's Kampers for his annual check-up and preparation for camping. Our first camping trip is coming up and a few weeks!
The season is nigh.....
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