Hiking

Mr. Fletcher’s Ride – November

Mr. Fletcher's Ride - NovemberWe went for a walk in Hitchcock Woods this morning and autumn has reached Aiken. I would say our leaves are just past their peak (they are certainly falling off the oaks and hickories in my front yard.) I decided today was the day I was going to start something I’ve been thinking about for some time. Find a spot in the woods and take a picture there every month around the same time. This will allow us to watch the seasons change here. Of course, snow is so rare in these parts, I reserve the right to ignore the once a month rule to capture it if it happens. Looking southwest at the corner of Mr. Fletcher’s Ride and an unnamed path about 1/2 mile in from our usual entry point.

Miata Weekend Off

At noon on Friday when we got home from work Donna & I and her Mom and Aunt piled into the MSV and headed north, destination Cherokee, NC. After dinner in our favorite little Italian place in north Georgia we arrived at the Holiday Inn in Cherokee. Right after Breakfast on Saturday we dropped off the ladies at Harrah’s so they could spend a chunk of the day feeding the one armed bandits. Donna & I went back to the hotel and packed the car and checked out. We then drove 5 miles the other way to go for a walk in the woods. She had picked a nice little 1-1/2 one way walk to a waterfall.

The leaves are at near peak and the morning, though cloudy, was crisp and in the lower 60’s. The walk was basically all uphill to a nice waterfall, who’s name I have forgotten already, but worth the walk. We then came back down the same way we went up. What a great way to spend the morning. After hiking we drove into Bryson City to find some lunch. We stumbled onto the 4th Annual Chili Cookoff, so guess what we had? For $5 you got a bowl, a spoon and a napkin and could sample any of the chili’s you would like. It started at 10:00 AM so by the time we got there a few had already run out and we missed voting for the people’s choice, but we got our fill of some very interesting tastes. After about 7 or 8 different half ladles of chili Donna and had had enough and took a little walk around downtown Bryson City. On the way back to the car we ducked into an ice cream shop, Donna got a scoop of chocolate, but I only got a small coke, as I was still full of chili. Turns out she was too, as she could only finish 1/2 the ice cream.

Then we went back to the casino to pick up Mom and Mary. Cell phones don’t work inside the casino and they won’t page anybody, so your only option is to wander around looking for who you want. Amazing how hard it is to find two particular little old ladies amongst the thousand or so people hunched over all those machines. It was pure luck we stumbled on Donna’s aunt. We then split the casino in halves and made another loop before we found Mom sitting in one corner. I can’t imagine how the atmospheres we each spent our mornings in coul be any further apart. Donna and I out in the clean air of nature and Mom & aunt in the closed, dark, smoke filled, beer in the carpet smelling room. Next time, they have a certain time to meet us outside.

The UPS man had left the side sills from Trussville on the back deck as I asked. I was going to install them today, but realized that I need to mail a Master’s Miata Club newsletter out on Thursday and I haven’t even started it. So today will be spent working on that little item, maybe next Sunday I can get them installed.

Ick, What’s That?

Up this morning in Dahlonega, Georgia and even though Holiday Inn Express’s cinnamon rolls are awesome Donna wanted eggs for breakfast. We asked the desk clerk where to go and she directed us to Danny’s just up the street. When we got there about 7:15AM we weren’t sure they were open because there was only one car in the lot. The sign said they opened at 6:30 so we went on in. Glad we did, nice home cooked breakfast type place. The food was good and cheap. And it showed, by the time we left the place was nearly full.

After chow we headed to Marietta by as many back roads as we could. There was even a 15 mile detour around a bridge that was out on GA53 we hadn’t planned on, but it was Ok because GA136 was a real nice Miata road. And like most of these roads in North Georgia on a Sunday morning, deserted except for us. We eventually had to get on I-75 to finish the trip to R-speed for there 4th Annual Open House. We got there at about number 25, by the time we left 2 hours later the lot was nearly full, probably 150 Miatas and about a dozen Minis. I was not swayed to buy any of the bargains, but did buy a new Rspeed T-shirt.

When we got home this evening and started to unpack the trunk I noticed what looked like brown water all over some of the bottom layers of stuff. At first I thought it was muddy water as we had tossed our dirty hiking boots in there. Upon closer inspection it looked like spilled Coke, which is weird because we didn’t have an open soda near the trunk all weekend. It took me about a hour to clean up the mess and I still need to let the bottom carpet dry from the cleaner I sprayed on it before I can vacuum it and then put it all back together.

Purchased Today: $14.75 in gas
Money spent since 03/03/03: $1140.66
Started up, went down, went up, back down, back up, down again, still down.
Top Transitions since 02/02/03: 209

Pencil And Paper

Went for a nice drive this morning to go hiking in the Sumter National Forrest on a trail we used to mountain bike on back in the day. We haven’t done the drive in a while and it seemed pleasant, but to be truthful the drive is part of the reason we gave up the mountain biking. The trail we went to today was about 45 minutes from home and is the closest place to drive to for single track riding. The other “local” trails are around 15 more minutes away. The experience went something like this: 10 minutes to load the bikes, 60 minutes to drive to the trail head, 10 minutes to unload the bikes, 60 minutes of riding, 10 minutes to load the bikes, 60 minutes to drive home and 10 more minutes to unload the bikes. It got tiresome. Now with hiking: you drive 60 minutes, walk 140 minutes and drive 60 back. Still work up a good sweat in the woods with a lot less hassle, it only takes a minute to fill the Camel Backs and shrug them on.

Batmobile is 88% complete. The only thing let is to assemble the desk and the items on it and then screw the interior to the body and then the chassis to the body/interior. That’s right, desk, back before the Bat Computer the Caped Crusader used pencil and paper to catch evil villains. Come back tomorrow for a picture.

Purchased Today: Zippo
Money spent since 03/03/03: $222.48
Started down, still down.
Top Transitions since 02/02/03: 102

Spam

Went away for the weekend to go hiking in the Georgia mountains. I left early Friday morning and returned Sunday at noon. I checked the email before I left and when I go back I had received 42 pieces of spam at the Master’s Miata Club Yahoo email address in those 54 hours. My favorite is the one from Venessa with the subject line, “Sick of Deleting Junk Email.”

Quiet Splendor Of The Forest

Up at dawn for the road trip to northern Georgia, again. This time we were with another couple in another Miata to go almost exactly where we were last weekend. We even used the same route we took home last Sunday to get there. Destination was Amicalola Falls State Park. we were parking our cars and then hiking a 5 mile trail to Len Foote Hike Inn where we would spend the night in the quiet splendor of the forest.

It is a fairly easy hike, mostly up, but some down too. We got a slightly early start as there was rain predicted for the late afternoon. We were prepared for rain (stuff packed in plastic bags, etc.) but just really didn’t want to get soaked. The rain didn’t come until around 7 PM and when it did arrive it wasn’t torrential. The best part was the lighting and thunder show. After dinner a lot of us gathered on the porches surrounding the various wings of the inn and enjoyed show. It was nearly dark and the lighting was going off all around us on different peaks surrounding us. As if arranged just for us, the evening’s entertainment finale consisted of a criss-crossing of almost the entire eastern sky with cobweb of lightning streaks. Almost if there was a cause and effect relationship between them, after the lightning a rainbow appeared against the gray sky backdrop. Because there is no TV and heaven forbid, no Internet, we were in bed by 9:30.

Purchased Today: nothing
Money spent since 03/03/03: $156.58
Started down, went up, still up.
Top Transitions since 02/02/03: 69

Walks In The Woods

The sun shone today. The temperature made it above 60. WOOT! We rode home with the top down and didn’t need the windblocker or the heat.

Since I’m not bike riding any more, at the “suggestion” of my wife, we have started to flirt with hiking. We have some friends that do and have tentatively scheduled a to The Len Foote Hike Inn at Amicalola Falls State Park for an overnight. In preparation for this we have bought some hiking boots (and the $14 hiking socks to go with them,) a Camelback mini pack and I talked her into buying a walking stick that doubles as a monopod for the camera. We are lucky that we have the 2000 acres of Hitchcock Woods within spitting distance, so we are going to plan on 2 walks in the woods a week as practice. A shorter walk on a weekday evening and a longer one on either Saturday or Sunday. Tonight we managed around a 2 mile hike (that is if the pedometer we got is accurate.)

Started up, went down, still down.
Top Transitions since 02/02/03: 30