Journal: Two nights and three days taking it easy at Hercules Glades Wilderness, February 2023.Trip write-up: 15-minute read, +35 (14 minute Video)
February 13, 2023
Short Breaks
Quick visits, day trips, excursions, and weekends away. Anything under a day or two, that you wouldn’t count as a genuine vacation.
December 4, 2022
Journal: Four days on the Ridge Runner Trail & the Devil’s Backbone Wilderness, December 2022 – Work has been keeping me off the trail for too long. I took three days of comp time to get out in the wild and put a few miles under my belt. I’ve been wanting to revisit the Ridge Runner Trail North Fork Loop ever since I first hiked the trail in May 2020. Trip write-up: 10-minute read, +42
November 24, 2022
Cottage Still Life – This photo started life as a joke picture for the girls, and then it took on a life of its own requiring a second ‘shoot’ just to put right a few of the details.
November 12, 2022
Snow in the yard and on the field – We woke Saturday morning to a light dusting of snow which had mostly melted by the evening.
November 12, 2022
Cottage in the snow – For the past couple of months Ginger has been working with her parents on a remodeling project, converting the one room with ensuite ‘Little House’ into a Writers/Get Away Cottage. It now has a living room/kitchenette, bedroom, HVAC and a wraparound deck out back. +1
September 13, 2022
It’s always good to see the car where I left it.
September 13, 2022
Black Eyed Susan and backpack – Before heading up the ‘Farm Track Trail’ and into ‘Shelob’s Lair’ I stopped to fill up with cool creek water and a dunk in Piney Creek. It was cold but very refreshing.
September 13, 2022
Looking back the way I’ve come, east towards the lake.
September 13, 2022
Hiking westwards along Piney Creek. Much nicer than trying to cross ‘Cat Briar Meadow.’
September 13, 2022
Please don’t do this. If you can pack it in, you can pack it out.
September 13, 2022
Packed up and ready to leave – Day four and it is time to go.
September 13, 2022
Noodles for lunch – I cooked breakfast on the wood stove. I decided to use the Fancee Feest alcohol stove to heat water for my lunch.
September 13, 2022
Clear-up after breakfast – I’ve used this stove a lot on this trip, and its final outing was heating water for my breakfast – biscuits and Gravy, and my morning cup of mocha. +2
September 13, 2022
Day Four – Bluffs and hill by Piney Creek.
September 12, 2022
Dinner, campfire, a visitor, and dreams. I don’t have a campfire very often nowadays. But it seemed like a good way to celebrate my last evening, and what use is a fire ring if you don’t use it every now and then? +1
September 12, 2022
Twilight at PIney Creek Wilderness.
September 12, 2022
Day Three – Enjoying the last of the sun – With the sun already set on the other side of the lake, the foreground really pops in this picture. +1
September 12, 2022
Visitor – midland water snake. It appeared like a periscope sticking eight inches vertically out of the water, making a point of studying me and tasting the air with its flickering tongue. I must have passed the test because it swam past where I was sitting and proceeded to hide in a hole in the nearby rocks. +1
September 12, 2022
Resting spot in the sun.
September 12, 2022
Mountain House Southwest Breakfast Skillet and a cup of tea (PG Tips), enjoyed against the backdrop of the lake.