Still Have a Long Way To Go

Ok so it's been awhile. When I left you last I was preparing to hike the Ga leg of the App trail. Turns out I made it two days/ 22 miles before getting sick and having to be extracted in Woody Gap Ga by my saint of a wife who had just returned home from a girls weekend in Atlanta. Brian did finish the week without me. My next venture out was in Oct. when Brian and I set out from Deep Gap NC for a weekend trek to Winding Stair Gap. We spent a hellish freezing night on top of Standing Indian Mountain that first night and woke up to snow the next morning none of which we were prepared for. It was supposed to be freezing and rainy the rest of the weekend so we packed it up and headed back to the car since we were not prepared for that kind of weather.

So for those keeping score that's App Trail-2 Kenny-0

Over the winter I have sold the tent and sleeping pad, upgraded some gear and purchased a hammock and tarp and in general have done my best to lighten my load. Brian and I have another App trail section planned for the first week in May. We're going from Deep Gap to Fontana Dam this time. We're doing it earlier this year because in June I'm going to be a dad yet again and my saint of a wife is going to have me on lock down the second half of 2010. So I'll let you know more as the day gets closer and I get a few test runs of the new gear under my belt.

One Month and Counting

It's been awhile, I know but it has also been a very busy two months. While I have not had the opportunity to hit the trail, (due to schedule conflicts and a very unexpected demand for my acoustic group) I am excited that our App Trail adventure begins in exactly one month! To to get you up to speed on the last two months, we are fully outfitted as of last Sat. Everything is packed and ready for our overnight trip planned for this weekend. We have reservations at the Hiker Hostel in Dahlonega Ga for Sept 4th. The wives will drop us off there and leave for a girl's weekend in Atlanta and the Hostel will drop us off at the Springer Mt parking lot on 9/5. All we have left is food prep and we'll be ready for the big one! I'll update after this weekend with some pictures of the overnight.

The Swamp Things

Mundy and I decided to go to Columbia for an early anniversary weekend. I suggested to her that since we were down there why don't we hike the Congaree swamp. I mean after all what could possibly be more romantic than hiking in a humid muddy mosquito infested swamp?  As I got ready to walk out of the room grin on my face knowing the answer ( there is no way you are getting me out there) she said " Sure.  It'll probably be fun." After I picked myself up off the floor, I got real excited. 

So Sat we found ourselves getting up and driving the 20 miles south of Columbia to the Congaree National Park. We pulled in and strapped on our packs and headed up to

 the Harry Hampton Visitors Center. If you've never been there it is a really nice facility. I went in and checked in at the desk and spoke

e with one of the friendly rangers who provided me with a trail map and answered some of my questions on the trail conditions. The park has over 20 miles of trail consisting of 7 different trails. We opted for the 10 mile River trail that would take us to the Congaree river. 

We consulted the mosquito meter and lucky for us they were not too bad. So off we headed past a large (both by size of group and size of people) group waiting on a ranger to give them a guided tour of the boardwalk trails, and pressed on into the swamp. 

The trails are all interconnected and you have to hike some of most of them to get to the trailhead of your particular trail. All start out on the boardwalks and you feel as though you are stepping back in time as you head down towards  your destination. So off we 

headed down the lower boardwalks. We would have to hike half a mile down the lower boardwalk to the Weston Lake trail, another half mile on the Weston Lake to the Oakridge Trail, and yet another half mile on the Oakridge trail to the River trail trailhead. 

The boardwalk trail was beautiful and soon we ended up at the Weston Lake trail. We stepped off the boardwalk into the mud and headed out into the forest and away from the sounds of civilization. I know it sounds cliche, but when we left the boardwalk that was the last we heard of people until we looped around and caught the boardwalk on the other side of our journey. 

The trails were all well maintained, easy to find, and marked with different colored blazes, letting you know which trail you were on. Where the trail intersected with other trails, signs pointed you in the proper direction.  The Weston Lake trail was the least impressive of the ones we hiked, but this is not to say it was bad. The views were just not as great as the Oakridge in my opinion.

(cypress in one of the numerous creeks)

Right around Wise Lake, we found the Oakridge trailhead and started on the half mile journey to the River Trail. The Oakridge Trail is beautiful! Most of the time you are skirting creeks with Cypress trees growing throughout. After reaching the River Trail trailhead, Mundy wanted a look at the map. After consulting the map (and how much farther we would have to go) she suggested that we continue on and hike the Oakridge Trail. What could I say ? She had agreed to come out and hike the swamp to begin with so on we went. 

The trail was great! The numerous feral pigs that live out there must have thought that this trail was a buffet because they had rooted up tons of spots beside the trail for miles. It was nice not to hear anything other than forest sounds for awhile. We didn't encounter any other hikers on the trial which surprised us. We pressed on through some of the most beautiful forest that I have ever seen and also some of the biggest trees. Congaree Swamp is home to some of the biggest trees in the state, along with the state record Loblolly Pine. 

We saw lots of squirrels and tons of tracks including raccoon, bobcat, and boar. We were hoping to some deer or feral pig but continued on scaring squirrels as we went. Just before we hooked back up to the Weston Lake Trail, we heard a large crash and saw a feral pig go diving into a creek and run up the other side. It stopped and looked back at us on the other side of the creek before running back on through the woods. 

We hooked back into the Weston Lake trail and saw some of the larger trees in the park. Soon we were close enough to Weston Lake to begin hearing people. Loud people. It was the group that we had left earlier that morning. They were concluding their tour of the boardwalk at the lake. Lucky for us they were leaving. We walked back onto the boardwalk and sat on the bench by the lake and ate lunch, talking to the rangers that had stayed behind. They inquired about our hike and answered some questions about what we had seen. They were very helpful and extremely genuine and interested in our thoughts. We saw an alligator in Weston Lake. The rangers told us that they get gators every 10 years or so. They float in from the river when it floods. They eat everything and then leave when it floods again. 

(Mundy posing in front of one of the big trees)

We finished lunch and headed back to the visitor's center. We hiked 6.6 miles and had a great time. I'll be back sometime soon. Mundy said that she enjoyed it but was sore the next day. So if you get a chance to go, I highly recommend Congaree National Park. We'll definitely be bringing the boys here soon to do the boardwalk trail. It was also fun to hike with such a good looking partner ( no offense Brian). So I'll leave you with some pictures of the swamp.

(Weston Lake)

Little By Little

So I added some new gear this weekend. This brings the official gear list a little bit closer to completion. So far I have

Kelty Red Cloud 5600 pack
Kelty Grand Mesa 2 tent W/ footprint
Camelbak 100 liter bladder
Various hiker clothes
Swiss Made trekker poles
leatherman Tool
Vasque boots
Patagonia rain jacket

Just added this weekend a Katadyn hiker pro water filter and App trail maps and guide book for NC and GA. I'm saving up for a North Face Equinox sleeping bag and a Thermarest Prolite sleeping pad. I also have a food dehydrator to make meals to carry with us to cut down on expense.

I had to take this week off from the workout regimen as we spent most of it at Duke with Charlie. I'll get back to it hard next week. Our trip is less than 4 months away and I still have alot of work to do. I'll update again when I have more news.

Preparing For the Big One

As some of you may or may not know, the first week of Sept, Brian and I are tackling the Georgia leg of the Appalachian Trail. In preparation, I have been getting my (formally) lazy butt out of the bed at 5:20 every morning and heading to Wellness Works and taking P90X to help sculpt my flabby and soft love machine into a hard and well built love WMD. This has taken some time and pain on my part but hey, I'm worth it. Today Brian and I tackled our first hike with our packs loaded (30 lbs) to get a feel for what we're in for and to see what we need to work on. Our first adventure took us to scenic Abbeville County to Parson's Mt. This is a 4 mile loop around the lake with a spur trail that takes you to the gold mines and the fire tower.

The first leg of the trail was no problem. Then we headed up the spur to Parson's Mt and the fire tower. Now Parson's Mt is not really very tall. I think it's an elevation of 800 ft or so. but right at the gold mines it starts getting REALLY steep.

(A little history)

(Where all the gold at?)

I realized when the terrain got tough that P90X alone was not gonna cut it. I have to work on more cardio related activities. I got winded REALLY winded. We continued on though and made it to the top. We were disappointed to learn upon reaching the top that the fire tower was closed. So we took a break and headed back down the path.

(the fire Tower)

Going back down the "mountain" was easy and we found the next leg of the loop. This was also pretty easy. We passed some other hikers and traded some friendly words and finished the loop back by the boat ramp. I'll say this Parson's Mt is a nice and uncrowded place to spend a Sat morning. We enjoyed the hike and found some areas in our training to work on. There are also some good car camping sites that would be good to take the family out here to one weekend.

So what have we learned today?

1. Need to work on more cardio
2. Parson's Mt is a cool out of the way place close to home

I still have a long way to go before Sept.

I'll leave you with a couple more pics from our trip.

(The lake)

(Me on top of the "mountain")