Adventures of an AT Section hiker "Mapless"

Category: Uncategorized

  • Appalachian Trail Georgia Section Hike – Day 1

    September 9, 2025 – The start of a new adventure – a planed 11 day section hike on the Appalachian Trail in Georgia and North Carolina…

    I have an ad on the Nantahala Hike Club web site that says I am in search of hiking buddies to hike sections of the Appalachian Trail. Back in June I received a email from Gab in Florida and she said she was looking to do her first section and did not want to go solo. We stated to plan this hike. I had posted our plans on Facebook and found 2 other hikers to join. The plan was for Nichole and Atticus to start at the southern terminus / Springer Mountain on September 7 and meet us tomorrow (9/10) at Jarrard Gap and we would hike northbound for another 11 days.

    After meeting for breakfast this morning, Gab and I parked our cars at Windinf Stair Gap on Rt 64 about 11 mile outside of Franklin. My friend Gail and Sandi (and Sandi’s husband) pick us up and we drove to Lake Winfield Rec Area. I had reserved a camp site here so that where we could take a short hike to the the AT in the morning.

    We checked in the campground with the camp host. The campground was nice, clean and site seemed to be fixed up recently with new gravel. We had the place to ourselves expect for some traffic on a road behind our site… I guess there were some homes back there.

    Gab texted Nichole and Atticus to check on meeting them in the morning. They said they had gotten off trail and would not be meeting us…. Niccole had maxed out with three days on the trail – it was her very first backpack trip and Atticus had a issue with a nerve in his back. it was now just Gab and I on the hike.

    We had a adventure with our first bear hang set up. (there were many signs in the campground warning of bear activity ) I tossed my rope a number of times before I finally got it stuck in a tree and had to cut the rope to salvage what I could. Gab’s rope was a bit short and so I tied them together and final was able to find a good branch to hang out food

    We fix our dinners , walked a bit in the campground to find the trail for the morning, hung our food and called it a early night.

  • Heading home – the end of this adventure

    Monday September 1, 2025 – Day 20 of the adventure road trip and time to head home to Franklin NC. Was packed and out the door at 8 am central… going to lose a hour heading to eastern time zone. Planned to break up the ride home with a stop at campground in southern Indiana.

    After about 3 or 4 hours on the road it was decided to just bite the bullet and drive all the way home… I was in zone and really did not need another night of camping…

    Ende up being a 12 hours drive (with stops). Rolled into Franklin at 9pm in the dark, rain and fog. Always weird to drive in the dark the first time in fall, right?

    And with that the adventure is over…. here are some details

    • 2412 total driving miles
    • visited 7 states
    • drove through 9 states
    • rode rail / canal trails in 6 states
    • 166 miles on the bike
    • 2 national parks visited
    • 0 – number of Buc-ee’s visited

    Next adventure – 11 days on the Appalachian trial starting September 9

  • Weekend in Chicago – Bike the Drive

    Weekend in Chicago – Bike the Drive

    August 30 & 31 2025 – Days 18 and 19 on the road – Woke up early in the condo. Brenden slept in, which was fine. I hung out and updated my journal and blog

    In the afternoon we headed to a local tavern and watched the Buckeyes kick butt on Texas again. Discovered I do not have the bladder to drink and walk in a big city like Chicago, smiles. I was always a struggle to make it back to the condo.

    I was pleasantly surprised at the number of gluten free options at the restaurants near Brenden. For dinner I had a very good gluten free pizza and gluten free carrot cake for desert – yum

    Got my bike stuff ready for Bike the Drive in the morning… We are going to try to get out the door at 7 as they suggest to start before 8 am to be sure you complete you ride before the road is opened again.

    Sunday we were up early and rode to entrances to the northern most entrance to Lakeshore highway for the ride. There were a ton of riders already on the road. We headed south. The drive was relatively flat but each time there was a bridge over a side street you had to go up and over. The bridge over Chicago river was a bit steep but do able. The river was big stopping point for riders for pictures, a bit of a traffic jam there.

    We stopped at a rest stop for drinks and snacks and then we rode almost to the Field Museum and headed back. The entire loop of the ride was 15 miles we probably turned around at 8 or 9. We started way to early we were back to outr start by 10… we then rode to to breakfast. When we go to the restaurants we turned off our tracking and we had done 20 miles

    The rest of the day we did nothing…. just relaxed and recovered. Bailey returned from her trip late in the afternoon and we walked to dinner. Yet another restaurant with gluten free options… in fact they had a whole gluten free menu. I was in heaven.

    Back at the condo I retired early.

  • Prairie Duneland Rail Trail and Chicago

    Prairie Duneland Rail Trail and Chicago

    Friday August 29, 2025 – Day 17 of the road trip. I am almost caught up with posting…. now doing two a day !

    Woke up and found I rolled over on my glasses and popped a lens. So part of the day today will be searching for eyeglass repair… all part of the adventure I guess. Had breakfast, coffee and packed up the van to hit the road again… first a bike trail not far away and then the dreaded drive into Chicago.

    The Prairie Duneland Trail in Chesterton Indiana, a few miles south of Lake Michigan is a nice suburban trail. It was a railway at one time. It was well shaded as is goes through different neighborhoods. I rode out 8.5 miles to a park that seemed like a good turn around and gave me a 17 mile ride.

    After the ride I was able to find a eye doctors office that would fix my glasses. I gave them some cash and said lunch was on me. They gave me a good suggestion for breakfast and it was nice to have my first hot breakfast for some time. So good

    I had some time to kill before heading into Chicago (Brenden had to work in the morning). I found a nice coffee shop in downtown Chesterton. I setup the computer and did some journaling and updates on the blog. Sat outside for some time… the coffee shop was very warm inside for some reason. There was a good amount of train traffic through the town and I can understand why I saw signs that said NO TRAIN HORN as I suspect their were trying to get the trains to not blow their horns as they went through town – they were load and frequent while I was there.

    Finally it was time to drive to Chicago and as expected it was a slow, lots of traffic and stressful…. not used to so much traffic coming from Franklin NC – smiles

    Met Brenden at his condo and was able to park in their parking lot spot after we got the bike off the top of the van – would not fit through the gate. Turns out this parking spot cost $20k when they bought the condo – yikes !

    I go a tour of the condo, and we were able to walk to dinner. He live in Edgewater / Andersonville neighborhood north of downtown. Very nice area with many options for restaurants. We ate on the patio of Hopleaf.

    It was nice to catch up with Brenden. I ended up crashing early when we got back from dinner. I real bed felt so good.

  • Day 2 at Indiana Dunes NP

    Day 2 at Indiana Dunes NP

    Thursday August 28, 2025 – Adventure Road Trip Day #16 – It rained overnight and woke up and it was still raining. The radar showed the rain would clear by mid morning. I had a bad sleep score and my Garmin showed I was in need of some recovery time. The plan was to take it easy today.

    Had to break out the citronella candle and incense to ward off the mosquitos.

    I was looking forward to seeing Brenden this weekend but was not looking forward to the drive into Chicago traffic.

    After I recharged my power station on the bathroom, I was bored and decided to head to the lake. I jumed on the bike, it was only 1 mile to the lake. I had a nice walk on the beach and bike ride to Mt Baldy. So much for taking it easy today. I saw the 1933 Wolds Fair historical houses, I rode the Calumet Trail and saw a turkey at the campground. Found there is train that you can ride from downtown Chicago to the park. Would make a great day trip for those living in the city .

    Back at camp I made dinner. I had to make a trip the the store outside the camp for propane for the camp store…. good thing the store was there… did not plan that correctly — opps

    I jumped in the van for the night and did way too much screen scrolling… this probably means the sleep score will not be great again…. maybe I can rest in Chicago when I have a real bed.

  • Pumpkinvine Trail / Indiana Dunes

    Pumpkinvine Trail / Indiana Dunes

    Wednesday August 27, 2025 – Road trip day #15 – Was up at 7 and on the road y 8 am. I think I have this down to a science now !

    Drove to Shipshewana Indiana to ride the Pumpkinvine Trail. This is a rail trial that runs about 18 miles to Goshen. I planned to go out 10 miles for about a 20 mile ride.

    This was a wonderful trail. Fully tree lined and shaded with views between the trees of Amish farms. Traveled though the town of Middlebury before the turn to head back.

    Both Shipshewanna and Middlebury seemed like very nice little towns. Lots of Amish in the area and even saw the Amish on the bike trail. Saw a restaurant called Blue Gate (or Bluegate ??) that was huge and had a ton of people going in… must be the local tourist attractions… I did not try

    Drove about 2 hours to Indiana Dunes. I was happy that google took me on US20 instead of 80/90. I was a nice snice drive for the most part.

    Since I had not missed my first night reservation I was a little concerned I would not have a site. When I checked all was good and the gentleman working for the park was very nice and was sure to provide all the information needed for my stay. I think my camp site was the only site that was had sun. This made things a bitt warm when I was setting up, but the shade should cover the site in the afternoon. Park was very nice, bathrooms and showers were very clean.

    Once set up I jumped on the bile to explore the area. The lake was only a mile or so up the the road with very little traffic. The lake views were beattifull

    Dinner and early to bed in the evening… tired… lots of miles today on the bike

  • Back on the road again…

    Tuesday August 26, 2025 – Day 14 of the road trip adventure. Headed back to Westside Toyota for service on the van. Finger crossed that do not have to replace the whole differential but only the magnetic coupler between the drive shat and the differential.

    It was a long wait but service was done at noon with only the coupler replaced. This saved a whole bunch of labor and the cost of the differential. Still the total cost of the repair was in excess of $3,000. I guess this is why we have credit cards…

    Stopped to pick up my bike at Stothard,s and said goodbye to Phyliss. Thank you guys ! Hit the road heading for Indiana. I am off my original schedule by a day. I have a reservation at Indian Dune National Park but I do not want to drive 6 hours . I found a $20 camp site at Pokagon State Park not far over the Indiana line from Ohio. Stopped at rest stop and had some food and coffee… said goodbye to Ohio !

    Arrived a Pokagon State Park about 4 pm. Seemed like a very nice park and campground. I set up the van for the night and cooked some dinner. Did a little walking around the campground to stretch my legs and climbed in the van for the night

    I found the next days bike ride about a 45 minutes away… sounds like a great rail trail ! Excited to ride.

  • An expensive day on the trip

    August 25, 2025 Not so lucky day #13 on the road trip. Morning appointment at Westside Toyota in North Olmstead Ohio. I have been dealing with the worry of a check engine light since day #2 of this trip. I had some diagnostics done along the way but had issues with finding parts when I was only passing through any given town. I had called ahead to this dealer and them to make sure that have the parts that were previously suggested. I was hoping for a quick visit, maybe a $300 bill and be on my way for the remainder of the adventure.

    The van still sounded like a jet engine and when I arrived at service I told them about the check engine and the jet engine and waited for their diagnostics. Two hour later I got the bad news.

    The check engine was a sensor issue, one that was not diagnosed before and they did not have the part..of course. The kicker was the jet engine noise was the read end of the AWD van ( I was thinking maybe front wheel bearing) The rough estimate was $6000. I was sick. How was I gonna pay for this? How was I gonna continue with my trip? Should I rent a car ? Should I just go home…. so much running thought my head.

    I got the van back, went to eat and started making some calls and checking my options. Th easiest and fastest would be to have the dealer fix. Toyota has a part warehouse somewhere close to Cleveland and any parts needed they could be at the dealer at 7am the next day.

    The $6k estimate was to replace both the rear differential and the magnetic coupling… The differential replace would be many hours of labor. Another shop that rebuilds drivelines suggested that I may be able to get away with only replacing the coupling would is a easier and cheaper fix. I went back to the dealer and talked with the tech and he was Ok with only doing the coupler and see if that resolved the issue

    With the help of the parts department I was able to order the parts myself and save about 25%. We scheduled the work for the next day.

    Another night in Avon motel and dinner at Hecks Cafe…. a few drinks were needed

  • Bike ride in “The Valley”

    August 24, 2025 – Adventure / Road Trip Day 12 – Did not sleep well last night worried about the van and where and what to do today. Got up at 7 and made coffee in room to figure things out.

    As part of the trip I was looking for forward to a bike ride on the Tow Path in the Cuyahoga Valley National Park south of Cleveland. I had spent a lot of time on the trail and in the park during life. But it would be a bit of drive and I with the van sounding like a jet engine so I thought to should stay closer to where I was staying.

    I decide on a bike ride on the Metroparks trail starting in Lakewood. I had bike this trail many times as a kid. We used to just call it the “The Valley” before it was the Metroparks. Toured the boat ramp and rode from Lakewood to the Mastick picnic area. Rode past the old hang out of the “green barn” which is not painted green. Ended up with 15 miles and brought back lots of memories.

    Next stop was Erie Island Coffee in Rocky River. I was fun to see this part of Rocky Rive… basically grew up here. Work on the journal and killed time until I could check into my room in Avon.

    Had dinner with the long time friends the Stothards on their backyard patio … how many time have we done this ??.. wild. Thank you Dan and Phyllis for for your hospitality. I was nice to visit and catch up.

    After adding the photos below I realized how lucky I have been with weather on the trip. The super hot and humid summer weather ended just as I started the trip and I have had sunny sky’s and gorgeous days with only on rain day out of 11 so far … blessed

  • Cleveland Ohio – back to my home town

    Saturday August 23, 2025 – Road trip Day 11 – Packed up the van and then a 2 hour drive to Cleveland. Went directly to the Sunset cemetery and did not maintenance on the grave marker for my parent and grandparents. Next stopped at a laundromat and did some laundry. Got some breakfast while thing were in the dryer.

    Was able to check in very early in the motel in North Olmstead and was able to relax in the air conditioning… it was kind of steamy morning.

    The bad news was there may be another issue with the van. When driving it sounds like a jet engine with the noise getting louder with speed. Google said it might be a power steering issue… ugh just what I need.

    Met up with the my friend the Stothards for the evening. We went to a Strongsville girls soccer game and to Red Wagon Farm. Both of these brought some memories form the past with the kids going to Strongsville schools as well has Red Wagon being annual ritual for during pumpkin season. Was surprised to the they now have a brewery and with live entertain the place was packed. BBQ dinner and a few hard seltzers were awesome.

    Was thinking of staying in the room for another night but the night rate went up $40 so I made a reservation in Avon for the next night which would not be too far to get into the Toyota dealer on Monday morning.

    https://www.redwagonfarm.com/