Day 2 – DuPont State Forest. No bike pictures, but after the ride I hiked to Triple Falls
and Hooker Falls for a quick swim
Then to New Belgium Brewery for recovery fluids.
and the drive home sunset.
An Instagram follower asked me for interior shots of the Flippac
My camp spot for the night, the race start for the North Carolina Mountain Bike State Championships.
Back to Tsali for a Southern Classic/SERC mountain bike race
I found this rock when picking up firewood.
After work, Sam and I started driving to New York. I just wanted to break up the drive and avoid a predicted winter storm. As I searched for hotel that are dog friendly, I wasn’t willing to spend $100 just to sleep so I found primitive camping in Michaux State Forest in PA. We arrived just after 10pm and it was dark, we drove around the dirt roads a bit before settling on this ATV parking lot. The stars were so bright, I had to do a light painting picture before bed. It was down in the 20s but we both sleep well.
Good morning. Prepping the Salsa Las Cruces for a gravel ride.
In the end we rode 17 miles of gravel and closed to vehicles but open to bikes Forest Service roads. None of the trails or FS roads were marked, so we had to “guess” and cleaned a ton of spider webs… The webs are one thing, but when the large spider is in the middle of the web and starts crawling on you, it’s less pleasant!
I wanted to try something new this weekend – instead of Photos of Day, I wanted to create a Vlog or Video Blog post. I didn’t take any pictures, only video. I made a bunch of mistakes, and edited this is less than 2 hours after unpacking, but here it is…. CLICK TO WATCH THE VIDEO
Sam and I backpacked this beautiful loop in the Pisgah National Forest. Starting at NC 215 we joined the Mountain to Sea Trail, past Devils Courthouse, Art Loeb Trail to Black Balsam Knob, Sam Knob Trail to Flat Laurel Creek Trail to NC 215 and back to the truck! Hike #36 and #37 of #52hikechallenge
The day started bright and clear skies (we made a great choice) we did a quick hike – Hike #30 of #52hikechallenge on the Upper Chattooga River trail.
After the hike, we claimed the big rock in the middle of the river and I feel asleep on my blanket under a bright blue sky. I awoke an hour later with a chill to a completely gray sky – (we made the wrong choice)
Even in the cloudy woods, as total eclipse started, the woods got as dark as night! This picture is only the start, I gave up it was so dark!
After totality, the sun broke through the clouds for some pictures – it was still so cloudy, this is without a filter!
as the eclipse continued, we saw more and more…
Even Kodak was protected!
James, Beth and my family. We may have missed seeing the totality, but had a blast, experienced the feeling of totality, and enjoyed the long drive home on small back roads, following the Gazetteer.
Where to go for the Eclipse 2017? After studying weather maps, forecasts, cloud coverage predictions, we chose a spot in Nantahala National Forest near the NC/SC line. We found a spot just above Pot Hole Falls.
Sam wades in the water in late afternoon light.
Mini pies and American Honey = a great evening!
Vacation Day 9
Hike #28 #52hikechallenge High Knob Trail to fire tower
We packed up camp in the morning and headed back up 33 to the trail head for one last hike.
The group.
Again what won’t Clay do for a picture?
Moth Macro
After the hike we had a picnic lunch at the the roadside overlook and said our goodbyes!
What a relaxing and fun week of camping and exploring with friends!
Till next year…
Vacation Day 7
The day started with some pew pew (or bang) Jim and Beth had not shot their new shotgun, I wanted to shoot my 357 and clay brought a fun target 22 with 200 rounds.
The clip is empty Sam!
The main reason we left the southern part of the forest was to drive the well known forest service roads, there were some rock ledges (no pictures, I was spotting) and a little mud.
and some great views. This is Meadow Knob, we finished on Flagpole Knob before heading back to camp!
Butterfly wing macro, just because it was pretty.
