Wednesday, July 20, 2011
New Feet
Sunday, June 26, 2011
Half the Truth
"Freedom is only part of the story and half the truth...That is why I recommend that the Statue of Liberty on the East Coast be supplanted by a Statue of Responsibility on the West Coast."
-Viktor E. Frankl
Man's Searching for Meaning
Tuesday, June 7, 2011
Playing
I'm finding time to play, but not finding time to blog about it. Some of that is because when you get caught in the rain, the camera needs to stay in the plastic bag; it's easier to blog with pics.
So, what have I done since last check-in?
Kayaking on Tygart Lake (and getting caught in a hail storm. oops).
Geo-caching at Pleasant Creek
Hiking and hill runs at Tygart Lake State Park
Hiking/jogging on the North Bend Rail Trail
Hiking/jogging on the Spelter Smelter Trail (can't find a link for the trail, but plenty in the news about the trial...since it's one of my favorite trails, there weill be more on this in the future...)
Running on the McTrail at Prickett's Fort
Jogging/walking (8 miles! - longest distance in years) on the Mon River Trail.
Hiking (again caught in the rain - but better than getting hit with a falling tree) at the Snake Hill WMA.
Hiking - just walking out the back door and going.
Wow. I really am getting some play time.
What's next?
I'm going camping this weekend, which means hiking.
I need to get in a couple of short intense workouts coming up.
Running the 10K in Clarksburg on the 18th (that's what this playtime is supposed to be getting me ready for).
I've found a few cool websites and I have a few fun things planned, so I'll keep things up-to-date. Mostly.
Thursday, May 26, 2011
Sleeping on the Ground in the Rain
I spent the night at Bear Heaven and it rained.
...and rained...
...and rained some more...
A lot of rain.
Not just a lot of rain for a little bit. An-unrelenting-lot from the time it started.
I put on the poncho and wandered around, looking for the other 2 geocaches at this little campground. I found the first one (Bear Haven - as it's named on a couple of different maps, but I prefer Bear Heaven as the Mon Forest Map and road signs call it - Bear Heaven sounds like Nirvana and Bear Haven sounds like someplace the Bears have to go to save themselves. What a difference an 'e' can make.), but the other (On the Rocks) will have to wait for another day (when it's not raining).
I set up camp in the rain.
It continued to rain.
It rained some more.
It rained all night.
It rained in the morning.
I took camp down in the rain.
It continued to rain.
I threw the wet tent and tarp in the car.
It continued to rain.
I loaded up and headed home.
It rained the whole way.
And it kept right on raining.....
Wednesday, May 25, 2011
Sleeping on the Ground
I went camping and the main thing I'm still pondering over is sleeping.
In a tent.
On the ground.
When did sleeping on the ground become something I'd think about?
More to the point: When did it become noticeably uncomfortable?
And can it be reversed? Is it just because I, as I am inclined to (want to) believe, am not used to it?
It never bothered me 20 years ago and I don't want to believe that it's the 20 years, by themselves, that matter.
It's not like I haven't camped in 20 years, but I guess bedroll-with-a-few-extra-blankets-because-we're-car-camping is not sleeping-bag-on-ground-camping.
I will suck it up and get over it.
Noteably: It has been 20 years since I've camped alone.
I like the solitude and the quiet. I like it so much I will be doing more of it. I'm setting up my backpack for my next trip so I can hike in and ditch the car-camping.
Tuesday, May 24, 2011
Mountain Spring Geocache
Monday, May 23, 2011
Bickle Knob 2
Sunday, May 22, 2011
Bickle Knob
Oh, wait! Before I got to Bickle Knob, I stopped at the Coberly Sods grazing area for the next geocache in the series: PFC2 (Coberly Sods). The coordinates seemed to be good because I was right at the gate, but the only thing I found was a film container lid held down with a rock on top of the sign. Nothing else.
Alright, on to Bickle Knob....
There. Now you can see it through the trees: