Short Hike on the AppalachianTrail

As for a lot of people who love the outdoors I’ve always had the thought of hiking the AT. I have been on several parts of the AT on day hikes over the years but never through hiked any of it. So I’ve been planning a 10-12 day hike with a goal of 165 miles from Amicalola Falls GA to Fontana Dam NC. Researching the internet for what others have accomplished, taking in their mileages and trying to estimate what I might be able to do was very tiring. There are too many variables in the information found to accurately determine what my daily mileage might be, so I guessed. My plan was to average 15 miles a day with a few days above 15. When I day hiked the AT on the TN/NC border there were open fields with rolling hills that were relatively easy. Not so on this hike. The first two days were the toughest and I only made eight miles each day. Obviously this is going to effect my itinerary.

3/20/2025

Michelle and I drove to Ellijay, GA where we stayed overnight. This 8 hour drive took us through some heavy traffic areas and a few winding back roads. We did manage to find Sal’s Brooklyn Pizza in Murphy, NC for lunch whose pizza was fantastic. We arrived at the hotel around 6pm, this ended an 11 hour day.

3/21

We drove to Amicalola Falls State Park arriving around 7am. The information center did not open until 8am. I registered my hike and received my trail tag so when my decomposing body is found they will know who it is. We sat through an informative video and lecture before starting the hike. Michelle left at 8:30 as I passed the arch.

If my pack looks heavy, it is. It weighed in at 53lbs. Partly because I was not planning on day trips into towns to eat in restaurants or restock so I had 15 days of dehydrated meals, breakfast and diner, plus snacks for lunch. Although I had two 32 oz water bottles I only carried water in one until I was close to the camp sight.

I had to upgrade most of my old camping gear with new lighter equipment. The one thing I did not upgrade was my sleeping pad. Forty years old and no air leaks. Three times bigger than todays pads and less comfortable but it is only meant to be an insulator between you and the ground. Todays blow up pads are thicker, some even have battery pumps to blow them up. I do not miss my old pump stove to cook with. The newer propane versions are lighter and easier to use.

The trail follows along the creek to the falls and the first set of stairs.

I figured all the climbing up and down ladders over the past two months while building our barn would prepare me for these stairs. I think this was a test for the next section of stairs.

With several rest stops along the way I finally made it the top. Although I still had a few miles to the Springer Mt Shelter. I reached the AT at Springer Mountain just after 5pm and the shelter twenty minutes later. My plan was to make the Springer Mt Shelter in 6-7 hours, it took 9, I picked out a tent site away from the trail and close to a bear box to store my food. Although there were a dozen campers here we were spread apart fairly well. Once my tent was up I heated up an MRE I received from Michelle’s son for dinner. As it turned out the MRE’s tasted better than the dehydrated meals. The temperature was in the lower 30’s and the wind was blowing from the north. After 7pm there was not much to do so I figured I would try and sleep. I’m not sure how many hours I laid there before falling asleep. As the night approached the temperature dropped and I was missing my bigger warmer sleeping bag. No sleeping in the buff on this trip. I still had layers of clothes on and I was shivering from the cold.

3/22

I survived the night and was having coffee at 5am followed by a double breakfast. I was on the trail at sunrise and made it to the Stover Creek Shelter by 10am for a short break. The hike today was a much easier than yesterdays hike. I’m heading to Hawks Shelter for the night. Before reaching the shelter my toe struck a rock causing my foot to hit my walking stick into another rock and I fell forward to the ground causing a fracture. I was less than a mile from the shelter so I carefully kept going. There were lots of tents set up when I arrived and it took a while to find a spot to set up my tent. After setting up camp I took out a 50′ para cord for hanging food and wrapped the fracture as tight as I could to prevent the fracture from getting any worse. I think it will be ok for tomorrows hike.

By 6pm there was hardly a tent space to be had. I made another MRE for dinner followed by one of the dehydrated meals. I was a little hungry. I hit the rack around 8pm. It was warmer than last night as we were lower on the mountain and less wind. Around 8:30 a guy sets up his tent pretty close to me. After he gets his tent set he uses a battery powered pump to pump up his air mattress. When he finally crawls into his tent, not sure if y’all know what noise an air mattress makes when you roll around on it. Kind of a squishy scrapping sound. Well that’s what I heard for hours, in stereo because another tent on the other side had the same equipment. Wasn’t until after midnight I fell asleep.

3/23

Woke up, yay, after coffee and breakfast I was on the trail again by 0730. A mile or so down the trail Stan the Man had coffee, OJ and donuts for the hikers. Stan has completed the through hike from Maine to GA but stays more local now. He helped me with my chest strap that was climbing up towards my chin. Probably should have loosened it after adjusting because a couple hundred feet up the trail it popped apart. I fixed it on my next rest stop.

Legs are feeling much better today and my strides getting a little longer on the inclines, sometimes. My Hamstrings are my weak spot and I need to stretch them from time to time while moving uphill. Made nine miles today camping at Gooch Creek Gap rather than the shelter avoiding the crowds. There are several open areas here for tents but the only other campers were two women that set up camp with hammocks rather than tents. We chatted some over dinner, they’re husbands are supposed to meet up with them. I ran into them at Neels Gap store, still no husbands, must have found something better to do. Still having trouble getting to sleep.

3/24

It rained from 2am-6am then a slight drizzle while having coffee and breakfast. On the trail at 0700 feeling energetic and moving at a quicker pace. The trail is not as hilly so it was easier to travel even through the fog and drizzle. It was a little weird walking into the fog with 20-25′ visibility. I reached my designated spot for the night at the base of Blood Mountain (9 miles). For the next 5 miles you have to have a bear container and cannot hang food from the trees due to the higher bear activity in the area. The hike to the Blood Mountain Shelter looked very strenuous (900′ ascend) and I thought I would not make it back down before dark. It wasn’t as bad as it looked on the map and I could have made a14 mile day before dark. I see the time to repack and stuff anything I did not need into a garbage back and would ship it home from Neels Gap.

3/25

Sleep not getting any better. It wears on my mind sitting in the tent for such long periods with nothing to do. Next trip I will hike till dark. Made it to Neels Gap before lunch. Found a box to ship my stuff home. They have a charging station here so I plugged in my phone and my backup power. Very slow process so I followed suit and ordered a pizza like everyone else. When everything was charged up I was on my way again. Before leaving I got to weigh my pack, still 35lbs, couldn’t feel a difference. I do not know how some are weighing at 25-30lbs. My goal today was to reach Bags Creek Gap (10 miles) but went a little further to a watering spot. The water was at the bottom of a steep hillside which I had to travel twice. There are no designated campsites here, just a couple small clearings. I set up camp, had dinner, hung my food bag and still had several hours of daylight left. I walked up and down the trail to occupy myself until 7pm. Again I couldn’t sleep. I was wake at 0330 when I got an alarm on my phone for the front door of our house. Michelle’s son was visiting so I text her to make sure everything was ok. Like I was going to be able to help. Probably a bird set off the alarm, we talked for a bit, explained my sleeping issues and decided she could pick me up the day after tomorrow. I’d spend one more night on the trail and we would get a room somewhere before heading home the next morning.

3/26

Up at 5 and on the trail by 7. When I reached Testanee Gap I stopped for a rest. This is a parking lot off a well traveled road. Once you cross the lot to continue on there is a steep climb. Not looking forward to another night in my tent I decided to call one of the shuttles to see if I could get picked up. Lucky me, my ride will be here in an hour. I booked a room through Expedia in Hiawassee. Was able to check in early, had a hot shower and had lunch at a restaurant next door. The hotel had a gym, I killed an hour there, for dinner I went to a chinese restaurant a mile away. Later I got a good nights rest, (6 hours).

This was my first multiple night backpacking trip, I learned quite a bit that will make my next one even better. I made it 50 miles in 5 days.

National Parks Part 4

5/21 Tuesday

Its a 4 hour drive to Old Faithful so we were on the road by 0130 and arrived in the dark. My first hike today is locating a restroom in the dark. There was construction at the front of the lodge so it was closed off. Eventually I found another entrance and returned to the truck for Michelle. By 0600 the temperature was in the high 20’s and it was getting light enough to walk around. Old Faithful wasn’t scheduled to blow until around 0800 so we started on the path that took us around all the other geysers and bubbling pools. There were Bison roaming the area. We arrived back at Old Faithful and waited for the show as the crowd gathered around. It was quite the sight when the water and steam erupted from the geyser and went infer several minutes.

We left Old Faithful and headed north to other sights, Bubbling Pools, Waterfalls, Elk and Bison. We did more than expected today visiting all the lower western side of the park before making our way to the Yellowstone Lake Hotel by 2pm. Probably would have arrived earlier but a couple Bison controlled the traffic for half a mile. We were able to check in early and we are here for a couple nights. Did not realize when booking that there is no TV and limited internet. The connection for the internet was one that did not connect with our iPhone or iPad. There was a room that had a few computers to access the internet for emails. Resting up the rest of the day.

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5/22 Wednesday

Resting up today around the hotel, we walked around the lake some and took a short drive. I went on a hike called Elephant Back Mountain Trail. This was a 3.5 mile hike that was very wet in the beginning, a lot of downed trees and snow covered when reaching higher up. Alone in these woods, knowing there could be bears around I did not want to sneak up on any so I made noise shouting out HELLO BEARS during the hike bear spray and pistol at the ready. As the trail became more covered in snow the trail markers were harder to locate and I found myself cutting through the woods off trail in three feet of snow following my trail app to get me back on course. Several times I thought I had reached the summit only to find the trail going higher still. When I did finally reach the summit there was no clear view of the valley below. Finally emerging back on the road 2 hours later and heading back to the hotel walking past several Elk and Bison. I stopped by the gift store and picked up a memory card game and a book of short stories to past the time.

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5/23 Thursday

It snowed last night, just a couple inches and I had to clear the windshield using a credit card. We started to drive to another hike but the snow started again and we decided it was another rest day. Tomorrow we head to the north west part of the park and move to a cabin for a couple nights.

5/24 Friday

It has now been two weeks on the road but didn’t feel like we’ve been gone that long. We’ve driven 3800 miles so far. Today is a beautiful day with the temperature reaching the mid 50’s. We toured Mammoth Hot Springs, drove into Montana for Bison and Elk burgers, Stopped at Fort Bridger and toured the visitor center and museum, we stopped at the Yellowstone Grand Canyon and hiked the South RimTrail to the waterfalls and checked into our cabin by 4pm. As we drove to the cabin we pasted four large hotel buildings that looked empty. No cars in the parking lots. However as we left in the morning there wasn’t a parking spot to be found. our cabin sat on the edge of a pond out the back door. Very pleasant setting, too bad there were chairs out back. We cooked on the camp stove out the back door.

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5/25 Saturday

The weather today was great, I went on two hikes early this morning while Michelle rested up and then re did one of the hikes with her later in the day. The second hike I did was at Casscades Creek, this area is known for Grizzly Bears so I armed myself with bear spray and pistol along with an empty water bottle to make some noise, all that HELLO BEAR wore out my throat. The trail started through a meadow and led into the forest next to a stream. I soon found myself trekking through water and 1.5 feet of snow. Hmmm, snow wet slushy ground, Grizzlies I began thinking this 5 .5 mile hike was more than I bargained for and about a mile in I turned back. Later we went to the Norris Geyser area (my first hike) where the 1.5 mile hike takes you through pools and streams with steam spewing from the ground. We stopped at the village shopping area for some ice cream before heading back to the cabin for the night.

5/26 Sunday

With road closures off and on we thought we would head out of Yellowstone early as we head to South Dakota to Sturgis and Devils Tower. So we headed out at 0130, and it began snow. As we drove the sow became thicker and we were traveling at 15 mph when Michelle slammed on the brakes to avoid running into a snow covered Bison standing in the road. He moved on and we laughed about it, when we got to the road leading out it was closed. Since we checked out of our cabin and the hotel on the lake was closer we went there and waited in the lounge area for the road to open. The clerk gave us a blanket and we both slept for a couple hours. The delay was 7 hours until we finally left Yellowstone. Going over the pass the snow was several feet thick.There were downed trees everywhere that have been down for quite some time. We stopped for coffee at this restaurant that had an interesting decor, looked kinda like you would picture a western bar and diner with animals on the wall, farming gear and so on. The menu looked good but they wouldn’t let Michelle order from the kids menu so I ordered the biscuit and sausage gravy expecting a cowboy size meal for $12. Wrong! A plate with a biscuit the size of a doughnut hole barely covered in gravy with a sprig of greens on the side was my meal. Well, we won’t go there again. 17 hours after we left our cabin we checked into our hotel in Gillette WY.

5/27 Memorial Day

After the best hotel breakfast we’ve had we left for Devils Tower by 0630. We arrived at 0730 not being the first ones there but not yet crowded. There were some climbers getting their gear ready in the parking lot. We took to the trail around the base of the tower admiring this giant rock. We watched a couple climbers making their way up the steep side of the cliff. It was a pretty amazing sight and glad to check it off our bucket list. As we were leaving we stopped to take some pictures of the Prairie Dogs that were abundant in the fields. We then drove to see Crazy Horse. We have been told that the view from the road was as good as paying to enter the park so we took a couple pictures from the road and saved the $70 for another day. Since Mount Rushmore was so close we did a drive by to familiarize ourselves with the area for tomorrow morning. From here we drove to Sturgis where we stayed for the night. We were booked for 2 nights but since we were ahead of schedule seeing both Devils Tower and Crazy Horse in one day we cancelled one night. They were very accommodating. We drove into the town and walked through Sturgis, lots of bars and souvenir shops and clothes stores. we had an ice cream cone while strolling through the street. It was like walking on the boardwalk in the winter, very few people around town. Back to the hotel for the yankee game.

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5/28 Tuesday

Arrived at Mount Rushmore by 0700, walked down the Presidents Trail then back up the 400 steps to the top stopping at the work shop where a ranger explained some of the techniques used to create the monument. Picked up a couple gifts and left by 0830. Next stop was the Bad Lands to look over the vast area of valleys and mounds and keeping anele out for Big Horn Sheep, did not see any Sheep but did see a lone Coyote. After leaving the park we crossed I90 to the Minuteman Missile Historic site where we watched a documentary on the history of nuclear missiles between the USA and Russia. Next stop was the famous Wall Drug Store in Wall SD. Huge shopping area is all I can say to describe this attraction. There were some very interesting stores and Michelle rode a BIG Bunny and I got to ride a Bronc.We sat for a piece of pie and a .05 cents cup of coffee.

It was getting late and we still needed to get to our hotel in Oacoma SD near the Missouri River. After checking in we crossed the river for dinner at Charley’s restaurant in Chamberlain. When you walked in you can tell it was a local hangout as well as a restaurant. There was a bar separated from the dining area by a half wall, a couple tv’s playing college games and several conversations going on. Nice local place with good service and food. I had Walleye and Michelle had a steak that melted in your mouth.

Back at the hotel Michelle chatted with her mom and her mom asked if we see the St Joseph Indian School to take a picture for her. South Dakota is a large state and the chance of us passing by this school is not likely. Until Michelle looked it up on the internet and found out it was a mile from where we had dinner.

5/29 Wednesday

First stop St Joseph’s Indian School. Drove through the campus taking some pictures. The next exit on I90 was where the Dignity of Earth and Sky Statue is so we popped in to see that. Very tall statue with plates that moved with the wind. A real work of art overlooking the Missouri River. Next stop was Kimball SD. Home of the Popcorn Ball. We had an address from the web site but after circling around town a couple times we had to ask directions. Mind you this is a very small town. Turns out the address was a warehouse and they did not sell from here, we had to go to the local service station to make a purchase and get the story behind the Popcorn Balls.

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Next stop was Ethan SD 2.5 hours away to visit a dairy farm, that’s right its time for fresh ice cream again.The young high school student, Cole assisted us and gave descriptions of the different cheeses and milk products they made. We each got a cone and then picked out some cheeses, a gal of milk and a pint of chocolate milk to take with us. Their milk is pasteurized but not homogenized. There are several pens with critters that you can purchase feed for so we did and fed goats, big geese and a couple Emus. There was a big St Bernard laying near the door, we named him Cujo.

Our next stop was 1.5 hours away in Nebraska. I little town with one resident who runs a bar and restaurant. The town is Monowi and the resident is Elsie. You can look it up for the story. We had lunch and talked with Elsie a bit. This stop was a little out of our way but we enjoyed the visit. No more attractions for today, we have a 4-5 hour drive to our hotel in Fort Dodge.

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5/30 Thursday

No early attractions today although we left at 0245 to drive 9 hours to Somerset PA stopping at Stony Creek PA and the Flight 93 Memorial. We had watched a documentary on the memorial before visiting which made the experience more enjoyable. We had dinner at a diner in Somerset and found a dairy run by a group of Quakers just outside of town called Moo Echo Dairy. So we went for ice cream and picked up a couple other things.

5/31 Friday

This was the end of our Journey visiting parks, memorials, interesting little towns and interesting people. From here we went to Jackson NJ to visit family for a couple days before heading back home to NC.

Hope y’all enjoyed these posts. More to come after our next adventure hiking off skyline drive in VA.

National Parks Part 3

5/18 Saturday

Today we went to Bryce Canyon National Park arriving at Sunrise Point at 0500 for the sunrise. Unfortunately it was a cloudy morning and the sun didn’t show itself for a couple more hours. We hiked down to the bottom of the HooDoo’s. It’s hard to describe the awe that you feel walking through these mounds of sculpted dirt that were created by nature. Kinda like being in a sci-fi movie or a scene from Star Trek expecting Capt Kirk to beam down in front of you. This was a 3.5 mile walk which we took our time completing. We have a long drive tomorrow so we headed back to Kanab to do some laundry and pack the truck to end another 10 hour day.

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5/19 Sunday

Seems like all our days start at 0330 and today was no different. We drove to Jackson WY, around 550 miles. About half way we stoped in Provo at a walmart to stock up on some fruit and a needed break. We also stopped in one town to see the worlds largest antler bridge.We arrived at Snake River RV and Cabins around 4:30pm. These cabins were much better inside than our last one and the setting is incredible with a porch, a picnic table and a fire pit facing a creek that merges with the Snake River just a couple hundred feet from our cabin. We walked along the river before calling it a day.

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5/20 Monday

Today we drove to the Grand Tetons National Park arriving before daylight, again. This being bear territory we waited for daylight to start our hike. Leaving at 0600 armed with bear spray and 9mm’s we took the trail to the Hidden Falls around Jenny Lake. The hike started out fairly easy along the shore line with some snow along the trail. The reflection in the water mirrored the snow capped mountains ahead of us. The temperature at the start was 29 degrees but we were comfortably dressed for it. We came across several Maramots and Chipmunks throughout the day. We crossed over a stream a couple times before reaching the falls. Being out here in the wilderness, alone and far from any help with the possibility of running into bears at any moment you can feel the threat. The trail came to an end at a big waterfall. After a few pictures we looked for the return trail, heading back the way we found a trail leading up the hillside. The trail was covered in a couple feet of snow and looked as though no one has used it. My app showed it would lead us to the return trail so we took it. The trail was steep and thin scrambling around boulders that looked like a good place for a bear to call home we made it to the return trail.

Although we were on the return part of this loop trail it was taking us higher up the mountain. We eventually reached the highest point of the trail(which we thought we reached a few times already) and the trail became less challenging. In the distance ahead of us there was a moose on the trail. His back was to us and as we approached he walked away only letting me get a picture of his rear though the brush.

It was exciting to come across the moose. As we walked the snow became less and the trail was heading downward. We came to a drop along the trail and below us were three bears foraging in the brush. We were 15 feet above them and they knew we were there. They didn’t seem to object us watching them. We began walking again and the trail led us lower and around a bend bringing us closer to the bears and at the same level. Bear spray at the ready we continued slowly walking past them.

That was so cool.

The rest of the hike wasn’t as exciting, a squirrel or a chipmunk here and there. As we got closer to the end of the trail others were starting their hike and we gave detail of our narrow escape. Close to the parking lot a helicopter flew over and found out later that on a different part of the park a hiker was attacked by a grizzly bear and survived because the bear bit into the can of bear spray which chased her away.

On the way back to our cabin we stopped at a rock shop and picked up a few souvenirs and stopped at the Sand Caves for another short hike.

Tomorrow we head to Yellowstone.

Part 2

5/15 Wednesday

Once again to avoid crowds we left our hotel at 0330 and arrived at the Bright Angel Trail Head in the Grand Canyon at 0500, passing several large Elk along the roadside. As it became lighter we started our hike at 0600. There are several rest stops along the trail and the plan was to go to the second rest area three miles into the canyon. The entire trail is eight miles down to the river. Michelle was leading the way carefully on the loose gravel trail and slipped falling to her butt landing on a rock that left her a nice raspberry bruise later that day. Along the way we saw a few large greenish gray squirrels and a few Big Horned Sheep. We stopped at the first rest area 1.5 miles into the hike for a potty break and a short rest. A sign posted here read “The way down is a choice.. The way up is not” reminding travelers to be wary of their efforts. We pushed on to the 3 mile rest area where a couple dozen others were resting. We sat for a spell, drank some water and ate some fruit preparing for the return trip up hill. When starting out there was a Big Horn Sheep in the middle of the trail eating a nearby bush. We carefully scooted behind him/her. As suspected the way up was quite a bit more strenuous requiring more rest stops. When we started the hike it was 50 degrees, the sun came out heating up the canyon and jackets soon found their way around our waist. The views are stunning along the trail and being here is very exciting with so much more to do in the days to come. The hike took us five hours and we were exhausted when we reached the parking lot. We walked around the canyons edge amongst the now hundreds of people that have arrived. The other hike we planned to do required a bus trip to the location and the hike was about six miles long, with the crowds growing we figured we did enough for the day. After a stop at the post office we headed back to the hotel. As we were leaving there was a mile long line at the gate entering the park.

5/16 Thursday

Big travel day today as we head to Kanab for three nights making several stops along the way. From Kanab we will visit Zion, Bryce and Grand Teton. We stopped at the Desert View Watchtower to watch the sun rise over the canyon. It was only 0530 and although the area was open the tower and shops were not. The day was a little cloudy but the view was worth the stop. After a couple hard boiled eggs we got back on the road taking in the view of the Vermillion Cliffs along the route. Our next stop was the Historic Navajo Bridge. This bridge was the only bridge crossing for 800 miles and was built to replace the Lee’s Ferry in the 1920’s. It served the people for 66 years until a new bridge was built next to it to accommodate the larger vehicles and traffic. While walking across the bridge we spotted a California Condor perched under the new bridge.

After leaving the bridge we drove down to the Colorado River where the Lee’s Ferry used to cross. The river was low and so I took off my boots and waded in the river.

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On the way out we stopped at a Wash crossing and hiked down the canyon towards the river. After a mile and a half we came to a drop that getting down would only be half as hard getting up so we turned around. It was a good 3 mile hike to break up the drive. Before hitting the main road we stopped at some boulders for a couple pictures.

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We reached our cabins in Kanab to early to check in so we went to Giff’s BBQ for lunch. This town has been used for several western movie settings with Clint Eastwood. The back the restaurant has a movie setting from Hang Em High. After lunch we had ice cream at a little shop in town. We checked in at 3:30, this place was a couple rows of wood cabins with a porch on the front. The inside was very comfortable but the wifi was not very good here.

5/17 Friday

Today we explore Zion National Park. We left the cabin at 0330 for a 1.5 hour 40 mile drive through some pretty winding roads in the dark traveling at speeds from 55 to 15 very quickly at some hairpin turns. The sky was overcast which added to the darkness. We arrived at 0500 in the valley of two high walls of rock. Any other day it started to get light around 0530 but being in this valley the light didn’t reach here until after 0600. We started our hike up the Pa’Rus trail over the Virgin River a few times. This trail was 1.5 miles to the main road. The shuttles started running at 0700 and passed us on the main road. When we reached the shuttle stop, since the weather was pleasant we decided to just keep walking cutting off the road to a trail along the river. We passed all the shuttle stops along the way to the number 6 shuttle stop. After a bathroom break we crossed the river to the West Rim Trail which leads up to Angels Landing. This was a very long and steep hike with multiple switchbacks, we stopped at Scouts Lookout where the trail splits looking way down from where we started at the Virgin River. At this point we have walked 8.5 miles today so after a snack and some water we headed back once again passing all the shuttle stops and back tracked all the way to the parking lot. On the return the temperature has risen to 80 degrees and we were drinking water more frequently running out a half hour from the truck. Another bathroom break and walk around the shops and ranger station we left the park by 1:30. Our hike today was 17 miles, that was not the plan when we started out but very satisfied with our efforts. On the return drive the views were amazing and felt like we were on a different road. It was so dark on the way to Zion that we couldn’t see the landscapes around us. We stopped at a ranch to get a few pictures of Bison. Guess the efforts hit us later in the day as we fell asleep during the Yankee game.

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26 Day National Parks

Part 2

5/15 Wednesday

Grand Canyon today, in order to avoid the crowds and get in two hikes we left at 0330 and arrived by 0500. The gates are not manned this early and the electronic registration machine was not working. We headed to the Bright Angel Trail. There were some other people mingling around at this hour but not many. We found the hike entrance and began our walk downward at 0600. The temperature when we started was in the mid 50’s and we dressed for that, which meant on the way back we were tying jackets around our waist and sweating a lot.

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Squirrels and chipmunks seem to know where to get food as they don’t seem to mind being around people. We were able to view a couple of Long Horned Sheep on two different occasions. The first three miles were fairly easy, all downhill with some loose gravel and sand as Michelle found out as she slipped landing on her butt as we approached the first arch.. There were two rest stops on the trail one at 1.5 miles and the other at 3 miles. We hung out at the three mile mark to have some fruit and rest before reversing our route and begin the not so easy walk uphill. We ran into a line of mules not carrying passengers but sacks. They were filling the sacks (riders not the mules) with dirt from the 3 mile rest area and dumping it along the trail filling in holes that were washed out. This was more for the safety of the mules rather than the hikers. The return trip required many more rest stops but we made it backup to the top in just over five hours, but we had enough exercise for one day and did not do the second hike on the South Kaibab Trail. We walked around the gorge lookouts for awhile but it was getting crowded now so we headed to our motel to checkin. As we left there was almost a mile of traffic at the entrance gates entering the park. I’m not sure about the worms but the early bird beats the crowds. We were able to check in at the Red Feather Lodge at 1pm Had a cold lunch since there was no microwave in the room. Later I walked across the street to a gift shop and picked up a few postcards. Yankees had an early game so the rest of the day we watched the game.

5/16 Thursday

Travel day today, we left at 0400 for Kanab where we’ll stay for three nights making a few stops along the way. We stopped at the Desert View Watchtower to watch the sun come up but it was cloudy this morning. It was only 0530 and there were a dozen people around, the tower and the gift shops were closed until 0900 so we had a snack for breakfast then got back on the road.

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Our next stop was the Historic Navajo Bridge crossing the Colorado River, on the way viewing the colorful Vermillion Cliffs. This bridge was the only crossing for 800 miles replacing the Lee’s Ferry which sank while transporting a Model T ford in the 1920’s. The original bridge was used for 66 years before the new bridge was built for the heavier traffic. While walking across the bridge I spotted a large bird sitting on the ledge of the new bridge which turned out to be a California Condor.

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We drove to the river where the ferry used to be, there is an RV/Camp site near the bottom. Walked threw the sand to the rivers edge and got in the river to get my feet wet. On the way down we passed several rock formations teetering on small pedestals. There was a hike in a “wash” that led to the river so we parked and started walking. The “wash” got pretty deep from the water ring through it over the years and there was some maneuvering over rocks and ditches. We reached a point that we could not go any further where there was a big drop into a hole to continue. Not wanting to scale the walls we decide to head back. our hike was about three mies there and back and it was starting to heat up. We stopped for a couple pictures at the teetering rocks on the way out.

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We drove from here another seventy five miles to the cabins in Kanab getting there before checkin so we went to Giff’s for lunch. Kanab was used in several of the old western movies with Clint Eastwood and John Wayne, Giff’s had a little western town behind it that you entered through the gift shop to tour. We had ribs and pulled pork for lunch $$$ followed by an ice cream cone at a little shop in town. We replenished our food supplies at Honey’s Market and checked in at 3:30. There were a couple dozen cabins here, at check in I was told there were three William Wilson’s registered. Spooky, we did not go looking for the others afraid it was some weird time warp thing. HAHA. Dinner in the room, yankee game blah blah blah.

5/17 Friday

Seems like our mornings start the same every day just like our evenings end the same. The fun part is in between. Today we left at 0330 for the hour and a half ride to Zion National Park. Forty miles through some very windy dark roads where 65 mph to 15 mph on some hairpin turns are frequent. We get there at 0500 and its still dark. Daylight has been around 0530 but we are in the bottom of a valley so it didn’t get light enough to travel until 0600. There are many hikes in the park and we had a plan to do a few. There are shuttles that can take you to different sections but they don’t start until 0700, so we started walking, couple miles later we were on the main road and the shuttles were passing by. We arrived at a shuttle station but decided to keep walking, this went on the rest of the day. We walked the road dipping down a trail then back on the road all the way to the West Rim Trailhead which led to the Angel’s Landing Trail. The West Rim Trail was 3.5 miles up 1200 feet to Scouts Lookout where the trail splits. Angels Landing Trail requires a reservation because it is a thin trail where you need to hold onto a chain to keep from falling off the edge. We did not reserve a spot. Scouts Lookout was a resting area with flat rocks to rest on while watching the chipmunks run around.

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When reaching Scouts Lookout we have walked 8.6 miles. On the way down from Scouts Lookout we passed a lot more people on their way up. After so many greetings of Hey, How ya Doin, Lookin Good, Your almost There, You Can Make It you change the greetings to The Keg Went Dry, Burgers on top are awesome, The line to the restroom is just as long. You get some strange looks. We again bypassed all the shuttle stops and waked all the way back to the beginning as the temperature soared into the 80’s completing 17 miles. We left Zion at 1pm and were amazed at the scenery on the way back to the cabins. It was pitch black on our way to Zion, we stopped at a ranch to take a couple pictures of Bison at a watering hole. You can imagine how tired we were when we arrived at the cabin. Fell asleep before the end of the Yankee game.

5/18 Saturday

Another hour and a half drive this morning to Bryce National Park only this was almost twice the distance. But no scary winding roads or 15mph zones. We arrived at 0500 to Sunrise Point for the sunrise, unfortunately it was a cloudy morning and although the sky was a bright red the sun didn’t show itself until it was high in the sky. We hiked down in the canyon amongst the HooDoo’s. Its amazing some they don’t topple over they have such thin bases. This was a 3.5 mile hike that we completed in a couple hours.

Long drive tomorrow to Jackson, WY where we stay for two nights. Pretty easy day today so we collected our laundry and set out for the laundry mat. There was a washer and drier at the cabins office but they were smaller and three times the cost. I took a couple pictures the town while we waited for the buzzer. After laundry we packed up the truck for tomorrows trip to avoid doing it at 3am.

26 day National Park Trip

Part 1

This trip has been in the planning for five or six months as a hiking trip as well as a sight seeing trip. We’ve made motel reservations well in advance which put us on a tight schedule to get in as much as we could. One issue was preparing for cold weather, off hand I can’t remember the last time I’ve been in snow and the cold does effect us more easily than it used to. So some new clothes are in order, mittens with open fingers so not having to remove the gloves when fingers are needed, gators for hiking in snow and some long johns. There was also preparing the truck for the trip. We decided to take Michelle’s truck rather than the RV due to the fuel consumption and ease in traveling also due to the tight schedule having to set up and break camp would have taken up valuable time. I found a used cap for the truck exactly what we needed with locking side windows that came off a 2018 GMC, same truck as our 2018 Silverado, even the same color. I also installed two slide out drawers in the bed to store supplies and make retrieval easier. The truck tires have some wear on them but Joey from R&S service station and I agreed they had at least 5000 miles left on them so new tires will hold off till after the trip.

We packed the truck with plastic bins for clothes and necessities. We brought our camp stove and cook wear, coolers, four cases of water, Bear spray, walking sticks and hand guns, if one don’t work use the other.

Luckily the Yankee game on the 9th was an early game so we could get to bed early. As usual before a trip neither of us sleep much. The day started at 0130 to finish loading. Michelle made some egg croissants for the road. We started our trip at 0245, first stop was for fuel. I recorded all our fuel purchases to see how the prices varied and to total our consumption. We had little traffic on our way to Gordonsville TN after stopping in Knoxville to visit with Michelle’s nephew Blake at Harper Maserati where he manages the repair shop. Saw a nice Alfa Romero for under $50k and a gorgeous Maserati for $225k. Neither could carry our load. By the time we arrived at our first motel we logged 596 miles. We checked in after 2pm, we had pulled pork and coleslaw from home watched the Yankees and relaxed for the night.

When we checked in we were told breakfast started at 0500. So we waited to leave at 0515. We refueled in Widener Arkansas for $3.09 per gal. The speed limit has been 75mph for some time lowering our consumption to 22gpm. While fueling Widener I helped a guy with his car, well his brothers car. He couldn’t open the hood, neither could I. I had to look the car up on the web to find the latch which was out of sight under the dash. Then to check and add oil you had to reach way down between the radiator and the engine. Honda Pilot is not service friendly. Got him straight and on his way. We stopped at a rest area that was unique, the field was an aperiary for honey bees. No bees yet due to the cold weather. The facility was also supplied with solar power and had a nice educational display of solar power.

We reached our motel in Alma AR at 2pm. changed clothes and drove to the Lake Alma hiking trails where we went on a short 2.5 mile hike. By the time we got back to the motel the Yankees were losing to Tampa Bay. We had some prime rib leftovers for dinner and called it a night after 8pm.

5/12 Sunday

HAPPY MOTHERS DAY. No breakfast at this location so its hard boiled eggs and on the road at 0300. We have an 8 hour drive to the next motel in Tucumcari NM. The advertised price of regular unleaded dropped quite a bit in Texas, however when you go to fill up the advertised price was for the lower octane E10 fuel with an octane as low as 85. I’m not sure how that effects my mileage so I stuck with the 87 octane. We traveled to Ute Lake State Park Hiking Trails, 24 miles down a remote road off of I40 in Logan NM for a hike.

We kept our eyes peeled for cougars and rattlesnakes. It was a good time to stretch our legs, there wasn’t much shade but the hike was short and we on our way in about an hour and a half. After reaching our motel we rested up for tomorrow.

5/13 Monday

The ride through the lower states is forever changing from the lush green trees and fields to the bare dirt and scrub brush, rolling hills to flat lands and strange mounds popping up out of nowhere. The land is so vast with scarcely any houses, it just feels different from the east coast. There were spots that if you walked a mile in any direction, outside any traffic sound, you could get lost.

The motels we are staying in aren’t in the 5 star range but the reviews were average. This one had breakfast at 5am but I don’t think the couple working the desk thought anyone would actually show up that early. We were there at 0445. Nothing was prepared so they jump into action. The tall young guy went for supplies and slips and falls smacking his head on the hard floor. He says he’s ok and goes back to work, but a little slower. The breakfast wasn’t much to speak of so we pulled out a couple more hard boiled eggs and left. We carry a Keurig machine when we travel so there is always enough coffee in the room. Next stop is the Petrified Forest.

We arrived at 11am, crossing another time zone. Although the entrance was just off I40 there were miles of road to get to the sights. The first sight was of the Painted Desert. Its hard to describe the scenery and the pictures won’t have the same effect as standing there looking at the thousands of acres of changing colors in layers on the hills and valleys. Still 16 miles to the Petrified Forest.

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The Petrified Forest, wasn’t much of a forest. There were no trees. But mounds of clay hills shaped by water and wind revealing tree trunks that have been buried for many many years. The trail took us to the bottom and around the mounds with scattered pieces of petrified tree trunks. How these trees became petrified is very interesting, best explained on the internet. You feel small in such a place. A couple more miles took us to Joshua’s Trail, we hiked into the canyon scattered with petrified logs. The trail wasn’t well marked but the app on my phone kept us close to the trail up to a point. After an hour we ran into another couple also having trouble finding the trail, we went one way and they went another. By now my phone battery was getting low, not wanting to wander aimlessly we headed back to the truck. We spent a couple hours in the park and still had miles to cover today so we headed out while reliving the experience on the way to our motel.

Around 2 pm we had to get on the road to make Flagstaff AZ where we stayed two nights. I scheduled a train ride in Sonoma for the next day.

5/14 Tuesday

We had an hour and a half ride to the train station and needed to be there by 11am, so we left at 0400 for the Coconino National Forest in Sedona to hike the Cathedral Rock Trail. We had to leave so early because the parking area fills up quick. At 0530 there were maybe six parking spots left. The trail is only a one mile there and back, however the elevation gain is 740 feet making it challenging. There weren’t tons of people on the trail on the way up which was nice. Once we reached the top we found the other hikers scattered about taking in the view and snapping pictures. Having to make several stops to breath, we made the hike in less than 2 hours. It seemed longer.

Our next excursion was the Verde Valley Train Ride at 1230, we arrived at 0900. After finding the station we left to visit a Botanical Garden close by. Back at the station by 1100 we walked around after getting our tickets reading the info on local animals and visited the museum. The trains were there waiting to board but didn’t start boarding until 1245. The trip came with a good size lunch and was served at 1130. Too big for one sitting so we saved some for the ride. The seating compartment was comfortable next to the window. There was a speaker giving descriptions along the ride and sharing some history. Like our hikes the trip was an out and back over three and a half hours through tunnels and along the cliffs. It was a nice afternoon.

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By the time we arrived back at the motel it was after 6pm and our National Park Tours begin early tomorrow so we called it a day to rest up.

This ends the part 1 of our trip. More to come.

First RV Trip

This is our first post in two years. We purchased an older RV a couple years ago to try and see some of the USA sights. In September of 2023 we made a trip to Tennessee and stayed at Roan Mountain State Park. On the way we stopped in Boone, NC to meet a friend and have lunch at Mike’s Inland Seafood. Great food if you’re in the area. The weather was perfect all week and we hiked every day. The RV is perfect for the two of us. The campground was super, we were able to get a spot fairly close to the bathhouse and the campground wasn’t too packed. We had slightly warmer than expected weather but the mornings were chilly. We took different hikes each day, I rode my 30 year old bike to one hike and surprised myself being able to peddle the whole way back without walking on the uphills. I even attempted to ride my unicycle, it’s been 20+ years. On the way home we again stopped at Mike’s Inland Seafood. Would be nice if the mountains were closer to home as this is a 6+ hour ride. Definitely looking forward to more trips and adventures.

Land Lubbers trip to Grandfather Mountain

Tennessee trip 7/8-12/2021

Up at 2am and out the door by 3:15 to get ahead of Elsa we saw plenty of deer on the way to Little Washington. We had a little rain along the way and only heavy traffic around Raleigh and Winston Salem. Traveling through Boone to Butler was a little tense not being familiar with the winding roads along the steep banks. We passed our cottage and continued to the town of Butler arriving at 10:30am. Checked out the Trading Post, went to the Butler Museum but it was closed, drove around Lake Watauga a bit as the roads got even smaller. Ended up back at the Trading Post for lunch. Calley our waitress gave us a little history of the town. The residents and some buildings were relocated so a dam could be built creating Lake Watauga. A map on the wall shows the roads and train tracks under the lake. 

We headed back to the cottage and parked facing traffic in the small driveway. As trucks came up it looks like they’ll run right into you so we turned around as not to see it coming. It was only 1pm and check in was 4 but talked them into an early entry. Planned on going to Banner Elk for the music festival but another hour each way didn’t thrill us.  

  7/9

I went for a walk this morning to the Smith Hollow boat ramp 1.5 miles away. The road split and I took the one that looked like it went down towards the lake, I determined it was the wrong road after I had an uncomfortable discussion with a mixed Rottweiler mutt who I’m pretty sure he/she was telling me I was trespassing on his/her turf. He back off as I walked away, putting my pistol back in the holster. After that extra mile I went down the correct road to the boat ramp. It is one of those mountain back country roads with a deep ditch on one side and a steep hill on the other with tall trees and brush, perfect for hiding a Bear or Sasquatch or something. About this time I’m wishing I had my hearing aids on. Luckily other than a few stray cats and two penned Peacocks these are the only critters I encountered. The Boat Ramp area was really nice and the view was worth the over 3 mile round trip. Walking the 1.5 mile trip down was a little easier than the return. 

On the way back I picked some flowers for Michelle from the side of the road. 

We left for Grandfather Mountain around 10am. The traffic got pretty heavy once we reached the town of Banner Elk. The Highland Games here this weekend is supposedly the largest in the country. The games are at MacCrae Meadows at the base of Grandfather mountain so it was bumper to bumper for 20 minutes or more. Once in we went straight to the parking area for hikers and hiked the .5 mile trail to the Swinging Bridge. The wind was blowing hard, wish I had my wind meter. Almost lost my hat once and after returning to the vehicle I realized I lost my glasses. Then we attempted the Black Rock hike but after a half mile of scrambling over rocks we turned back and drove to a site overlooking the valley and had lunch. We finished our visit at the caged animal section, couple bears, Elk, otters and two cougars that refused to show themselves. Treated ourselves to some fudge for the trip home. Stopped at the Captains Table restaurant for some calamari overlooking Lake Watauga. 

Awesome day.   

       

7/10

An easy morning, no walks since we will be walking more today. First stop was a trip to Bristol Caverns. Just under an hour away, we arrived about 10am. They were just opening and we waited for our tour guide “Tanner” to arrive. As we started our tour we had to wait for another guest to join us. Michelle, or curious Mike, started asking poor Tanner with questions about plants, school, his job and more. He answered as best he could in a quiet tone like a shy guy and was probably glad to see the guest approaching. We moved to the beginning of the cave tour and Tanner came alive speaking loud enough for a group of 20 and obviously trained to not fall behind by also speaking very fast. He was very informative and we enjoyed the 45 minute tour with him. The caves are awesome with lighting to show all the special areas. Pretty much like other caverns I have been in but this one was better with wide open areas, a little creek at the bottom, challenging stair cases(for some) to bring us down 180’ and back. Back at the gift shop the gentleman was also very informative and the 5th owner. We purchased a few postcards to send out and left a little after 11am. 

We drove through the town of Bristol and down the Main Street where the border of VA and TN are divided right down the middle of the road. Typical tourist town with Antique shops, coffee houses, breweries and high end clothes stores. The drive through was enough. 

Our next stop only 25 minutes away was Appalachian caverns. Not as popular as Bristol Caverns but it has other features like bigger stream and pools, a wider walkway although some areas were slippery, the guide was more experienced and knowledgeable about the geology and Bats. He also had a good sense of humor. We did not see any bats but he pointed out some dark spots on the ceilings where they hung out. The dark spots are caused by bat urine which keeps things from growing on the rock. He then pointed out that urine goes up but bat poop falls to the floor and shined a light on the pile at our feet.  At Bristol we were a group of 3, here the group was about 12.

The two caverns were vastly different but both were interesting. 

On the way back to our cabin we stopped at a State Park to finish our lunch and watch the swimmers in lake Watauga. 

Pretty much the end of our day.

7/11

The Highland Games on Grandfather Mountain. The games here are the largest in the states drawing Clan members from coast to coast. There were more activities here than at others we’ve been to including kilt runs, 440 yards for little kids and 1 mile for grown ups. They had a sheep dog demonstration that didn’t go very smoothly with the crowded field. We left around 2:30.         

7/12

We packed up and left for Chimney Rock at 6am. It’s around a 2.5 hour drive and even though the gps took us the long way around we arrived 25 minutes before the park opened so we walked around town( the 1 street) for a bit. The park is amazing, the trails are steep with lots and lots of stairs on very well built structures, many overlooks of the town and Lake Lure. Carrying on our tradition of being the first to arrive once again proved worthy. The only trail we did not hike was to the top of the falls which was another hour each way with some very steep grades. On our way back down there were crowds of people at all the overlooks. Total steps today, I think, since my phone went on lockdown for 20 min, was 13,688 steps and 68 floors climbed. We were dripping with sweat when we went to lunch with Christy and David Bare who were on Steppin Up about 4 years ago and live nearby.

After lunch we had a 5 hour drive to a Fayetteville hotel to split up the ride home.        

We finished the trip with a stop at Sams Club for groceries and were back home by 10am.

The End

3/28, Y’all are probably wondering, where’d he go. Home. So this morning (3/28)I got up at 3am and went outside to check the current, the fog was thick. I figured I was going to be here for awhile. Had coffee and went out again at 4, fog had lifted some and I could see across the harbor pretty good. I decided to leave after breakfast and pulled out at 0445. My next and last bridge opening was the Onslow Beach Bridge only 3.5 miles away and I had 45 minutes to get there for the 0530 opening. They open every half hour on request and will not open if your a couple minutes late. The fog was thick and Had a current behind me. I was only running the engines at 1200 rpm but with the current I was moving at 5.5 kts. I have the radar on which helped a lot in the narrow channel. Visibility was 75-100′ and I could see the shore line to my right. I tried to slow down a couple times but the problem with going to slow in the current is the current starts to steer the boat. The electronics do not respond as quickly as one would like and then you’d up zig zagging a lot having close encounters with the shore. I called the bridge when I was .5 miles away, I only knew this from the chart because I could not see the bridge yet. The bridge tender responded back that she could not see me as well, my lights are on. I saw the bridge lights at 200′ but could not see the bridge until I was within 100′ and I was there at 0525. I lingered for 5 minutes, most tenders announce that the bridge is opening, this one did not. I was only 50′ from the bridge when I saw it was opening. This is a swing bridge and the moisture in the air must have all the gears lubed up because I did not hear it start to open. I made it through and continued through the fog. Before I pulled the anchor I added 5 gallons of fuel to each tank, I have three 5 gal jugs on board, as I did not know when I would get fuel. Although the gauges are new (1 year old) they haven’t been very dependable. So I track my hours and average .75 gal per hour per engine. I have travelled 40 hours since my last fill up and should have used around 30 gal of the 45 in each tank. No worries. As I crept along the first marina I came to at 0630 showed less than 4′ depth on the chart, can’t go there. The fog stayed with me for the next few hours and I kept moving at 5.5 – 6 kts which is pretty good at 1200 rpm so the current must be moving pretty fast. This went on for 27 miles going through Swansboro and the Bouge Sound. My speed had decreased along the way varying from 3.5-5.5 kts. I was 3 miles from the Atlantic Beach Bridge when just like someone threw a switch I could now see for over a mile and getting better. Hammer down now cruising at 8 kts. Looking back I could see a wall of fog behind me. I decided to get fuel at Jarrett Bay Marina after passing through Morehead City. I came across several dredges working in the channel after Morehead City, this area is known for shoaling. All day long there was absolutely no wind, after Morehead City it picked up. I had gotten several weather alerts about approaching storms. A couple miles from Jarrett Bay Marina the wind had reached 25 kts from the SW. I assumed the outgoing tide would slow me down but instead it did the opposite. Adams Creek was draining towards the Neuse River and I was doing 9 kts when I entered the creek. The current and the wind would make getting off the fuel dock miserable so I passed and planned on getting fuel at the dock in Hobuken. Approaching Daybeacon #12 I was only moving at 6 kts and the winds were down so I put the headsail out and idled the engines and maintained 6 kts. It felt good to have the new headsail out, for 1.5 miles. The wind picked up again as I approached the turn at Beacon #9, to 27 kts. Damn! Turning into the wind and trying to roll up the sail was very difficult. Once letting out the sail so I could roll up more the rope was dragged through my hand and I felt the burn across my fingers. A millisecond is all it took to burn my fingers. The sail rolled up so tight I ran out of line and had 2′ of sail hanging out. I entered the Neuse River with winds around 25 kts and water depth at 7′ for the next 1.5 miles having the 2′ waves hitting me broadside until I could reach deeper water and turn down river. I have not had many good experiences on the Neuse and this is no different. I have 15 miles to go and it couldn’t go fast enough. After 5 miles the waves and the wind settled down and the ride was much better. The wind was directly behind me switching side to side so sailing was out o the question for the next 5 miles. At mile 10 I had to turn more north putting the wind off my port side at an angle I could sail in, so out went the heads and I stopped the engines and had a pleasant ride for the next 8 miles into Bay River. Two miles from Goose Creek and BAM, again the winds came slamming in at 25 kts. Again starting the engines and turning into the wind to take in the headsail was no joy. I shut down one engine as I entered Goose Creek, I tried to call the R.E. Mayo Dock about fuel but could not get an answer. Dave Parisi had found their website and told me they were closed on Sunday. I was running the starboard engine so I through the last 5 gal of fuel in that tank and continued on. The wind had passed after entering the creek and I was moving comfortably at 6 kts. As I entered the Pamlico river I started the port engine and headed for North Creek, just 5 miles away. Of course by now, in the open, the wind decided I was having too good of a time and brought on another challenge. Once again I was getting broadsided with 2’+ waves after 2 miles I received weather warnings of an approaching storm and I could see it coming down the river. Being low on fuel in this situation has been a problem in the past, as some of my readers are well aware, with junk in the fuel getting sucked into the lines and stopping the engines. After my last experience with this the tanks were cleaned and I have been using a product to break up the junk to prevent this from happening again. Of course this is the first time in this situation since then and it’s been kinda on my mind if it was working. As I reached North Creek I figured it must be working. I let Gary Knight know I was in the creek so he could meet me at the dock to assist with the lines. Inside the creek the winds again died down and it was a smooth ride into Steppin Up’s space. This was around 6:30pm, Chatted with Gary for a bit then started unloading Steppin Up. I stopped after an hour, showered and had dinner. Went to bed at 9pm but couldn’t sleep. Too much on my mind of things to do. Got back up and went back to unloading the boat. By now the winds had picked up and were reaching 40mph. I reset the fenders against the dock and added another to keep Steppin Up from hitting the dock. Before going to bed I ordered windows from Lowes for the garage and received notice they were ready for pick up. Back to bed at 11:30.

3/29, Picked up windows at 0700 and spent the rest of the day unloading the boat. It is absolutely amazing how much stuff there is. I ran out of bins to carry stuff in so the rest will have to wait until Michelle gets home to put things away. 🙂

It’s good to be home, now I need to focus on getting Steppin Up ready to sell. She is not show worthy and needs some cleaning up and some minor repair work. I have owned Steppin Up for 15 years, had many a good time with friends, have travelled many many miles, seen many different countries and islands and has made a good living for Michelle and I over the last 10 years. It is time to let her go.

Couple more days done

3/26/21

The days are getting warmer, temperature reached 80 degrees today. With the changing winds  on the ICW there’s no constant breeze under the Bimini and it felt even hotter at times. I made it to the SC NC border by 7pm and dropped anchor in a cove that we’ve used several times in the past at the mouth of the Little River Inlet. Every time we have stayed here before the Trawlers would come in at night, but not tonight. The water was calm all night, however the bridle came off and got tangled with some floating debris which I cut off early Saturday morning. Travelled 87 miles today, hoping to do 80 again tomorrow. The moon was bright enough to see at 3am, the full moon is tomorrow.

3/27/21

Today had a variety of weather. Got up at 0230, untangled the bridal, wrote yesterdays blog, made graded potatoes and eggs for breakfast. The moon was bright and almost full, I could  see all the shore lines and markers so I pulled the anchor at 0450 and headed out. I was able to maintain 7.5 knots up until 0745 when the fog fell.

Around 0730 Got a call from Debbie and Jerry Stubberfield(used to live in Bailey Pointe). Jerry looked out his window and saw me passing by. It was good talking to them.

The fog only lasted an hour but slowed me down to 5 knots while trying not to run into any docks or markers.

Once it cleared up I had the current keeping me from reaching above 6 knots. This lasted all but the last hour of the day. As I reached Shallotte Inlet, an area notorious for grounding vessels (once by me) there was a working dredge in the channel blocking my path. They had an alternate path very close to the docks. Prior to reaching this area I was thinking how glad I was that it was going to be high tide. 

When  I reached the Cape Fear River the fog again set in for around 4 miles. Luckily there were no ships traveling in the river. The rest of the day went pretty casual except for the many power boats rocking me around. Finally made it to the anchorage at Mile Hammock Bay.