Adventures of an AT Section hiker "Mapless"

Tag: adventure

  • 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

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • 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

  • Niagara Falls and Chautauqua Lake NY

    Niagara Falls and Chautauqua Lake NY

    Friday August 22, 2025 – Adventure / road trip day 10. Up with the sun as usual. Beautiful morning next to the canal. Walked over to the local coffee house near where I camped / parked for the night. For a small town they had a big assortment of bakery and food available. There was a good crowd of people at 8 am so it must be a popular local spot. Had some coffee and wrote in my journal.

    Headed to the auto report shop. I had asked the day before if they could pull the actuators they thought needed replaced and see if there was any obvious issues. They found none. Since I was heading to Cleveland I decided to make a appointment at a Toyota dealer on Monday in North Olmsted and asked them to order / have the parts on hand that was just suggested. The mechanic thought I should be OK as I will have to drive for 2 days to and hope all goes well.

    Drove to Niagara Falls (about a hour) and did some biking on the Greenway Trail past the falls and through the hoards of people viewing the falls. I was a gorgeous clear day with temps and 70’s. Made a loop of Goat island and headed back towards the van but then continues a bit further to extend the ride. Back at the van I packed up and drove to a small park I had passed and had a bit of a picnic lunch.

    After lunch drove to the Chautauqua Lake (NY) area, Had been here a number of times over the years and want to do a driving tour around the lakes. I stopped in Bevis Point and did some walking. Stopped in a restaurant / brewery for a drink… review the ultra high prices on the food menu and thought I would just cook at the campsite tonight !

    Finished the driving tour and drove the Chautauqua Gorge Campground. This was a private campground that seems newer with newer looking building and bathroom. I was going to try to do a boondock / free spot in the area but still have not gotten used to doing this – too chicken to get kicked out.

    Had a nice evening at the camp. Built a small fire with the big supply of wood near by and kept the misquotes at bay. Had dinner, shower and jumped the van before dark – this travel is tiring at times.

  • The next adventure

    Monday August 11 – The next adventure begins in two days. I will be attending the Appalachian Trail Conservancy Volunteer Leadership meeting in Maryland and I will participating in Bike the Drive 2025 event in Chicago with my son. I have connected these two events with a road trip of camping and biking on various rail trails. Some of the highlights will be Niagara Falls, hometown Cleveland (and the CVNP towpath trail), and Indiana Dunes National Park. You can see the route starting in Franklin NC in the photo below.

  • Summer hikes and adventures

    Wed 8/7/25 – My apologies, I have not posted anything since May. I had hoped to get in a section hike in GA in June but the heat was just too much. I don’t do well in heat and humidity and I have an aversion to dehydration.

    I have been doing day hikes and bike rides (rail trails) in Western NC – my home base. To maintain my fitness, I have tried to so something at least every other day.

    Below are some pictures from various hikes and bike rides. Some of my favorite trips are listed below

    Greenway Trail (biking) – Franklin NC

    Doodle Rail Trail (biking) – Pickens SC

    Ecusta Trail (biking) – Hendersonville NC

    Whiterock Mountain (hiking) – Highlands NC

    Wayah Bald Lookout Tower (hiking) – Franklin NC

    Springer Mountain / Appalachian Trail (hiking) – Georgia

  • Shenandoah Section Hike Day 5/6

    Sunday 5/11/2025 – Day 5 of my Shenandoah section hike. I was so anxious and worried about this day. The schedule called for a 13 mile day ! Most of my hikes are in the 8 to 9 mil range max so this was going to be a test not only for distance but also total ascent. I was able to modify the plan to 12 miles and avoid a big climb at the end the day. I had my son create a pace chart so I could be sure I would stay in track and finish before 6 pm. The worst part was going to be water. There were no water sources over the 12/13 miles

    The day started out well, making good time with each mile. The sun was out and after noon it bergan to get warm. I was consuming lots of water and I was worried I would run out. I asked a few folks along the way for some extra water. A passing car on the skyline stopped and gave me a Gatorade. I was felling so thirsty like I could drinks everything I had.

    I reported each mile to family and friends via text to give myself some confidence on what I was doing. The last few miles were teeming with Mountain Laurel in bloom. I made to the spring and camp site in the late afternoon feeling very spent but recovered well with lots of water, electrolytes and dinner.

    Stats for day: 12.12 miles, total ascent 2350, 7 hours 55 minutes , average speed 1.5mph