A Wandering Knight

Day 1 on Lido Key

2012-01-20T14:17:00.001-05:00

Day 1 on Lido Key (mp3)

Two Hearted at the Two Hearted

2012-01-08T16:24:00.001-05:00

A fine chilly and windy afternoon at the mouth of the river. We spent the morning at Canada Lake but the afternoon at the Two Hearted was, I think, more memorable. The subset was special.

An Overnight On the North Country Trail

2011-12-09T14:02:00.001-05:00

Our second day of hiking featured on and off again rain but the temperature was actually rather warm considering what we had been expecting. By the time we reached this new bridge over Cole Creek we had hiked some 13 miles and were quite ready for the end of the hike and the much-look-forwarded-too burritos at the Sportsman's Bar in Newago.
Sunday, December 4, 2011

I joined Andy Mytys last weekend for an overnight backpacking trip on the North Country Trail. Together we are working on a project that we hope will draw people to the North Country Trail and associated side trails. We are hoping to develop information that will entice people who want a wilderness experience in Michigan's Lower Peninsula and want to minimize time spent on roads. To achieve this goal we have to evaluate the ecological diversity, availability of re-supply points, enticing starting and ending points, to name just a few. To tackle this job we need to determine where important and interesting features of the North Country Trail and other nearby trails are and how far they are from each other. The best way to do this is by falling back on classic surveying methods and using a measuring wheel and walking all the sections of trails that we think could be of interest. For those wondering a measuring wheel can be best thought of as a single-wheeled device that you push in front of you and as it rolls along a counter ticks over at precise intervals. The wheel we are using ticks over at one foot increments. While it isn't terribly heavy it is still a burden to push along even on the moderately gentle hills of the trails we are exploring. This is a project that will likely take quite some time to complete. When you can only tackle sections a weekend at a time and have to worry about the logistics of managing car shuttles you can only go so far: we were happy to do 24 or so miles on this trip.We were expecting to spend the weekend hiking in what could be pretty cruddy weather. The forecast had predicted high temperatures in the upper 30s to lower 40s and plenty of rain. The nighttime low was predicted to be around freezing and Sunday seemed to be a bit better. These conditions are not our favorite to hike in. It's especially bad when you have to deal with wet conditions around camp. We met Jim who was going to join us for a bit of hiking and help us with the car shuttle around 09:00 and a drizzling cold morning. It was about as expected and looking at the weather radar had convinced others that it was only going to get worse and so they decided to stay home. Since the first bit of the hike was only going to span about 3.3 miles we just tossed on our rain gear and set out. It's easy hiking and we enjoyed the walk even though the weather wasn't ideal. The weather was not great but in its own way it contributed to a nice feeling I think we all experienced. The rain which brought a bit of mist gave the world a peaceful if wet air about it.We spent a ridiculous amount of time driving from 16-Mile Road to Cleveland Drive. We had to first retrieve the car at 96th Street. I think we may have mis-understood the advice Paul had given us and resulting in us taking a rather bumpy and very round-about drive back to 96th Street. That can happen with the numerous ATV and Forest Service roads that criss-cross the region. However, once we got the shuttling done things would move forward quite smoothly for the rest of the afternoon. We dropped the car off at the endpoint of our hike (M-20 in Newago County) and Jim drove us to Cleveland Drive which is about 20 trail miles away. We said goodbye and once again donned our rainwear and put our backpacks on and struck out along the trail once more. I had predicted that we would not see anyone else on the tail and so was surprised that we did encounter a day hiker. Assuming we understood what he was doing correctly we figured we would see him later in the day as he returned to Pierce Road which was beyond where we planned to camp at Bear Creek. We never saw the fellow again. Given the time of year and the weather I was not surprised that we really did not see or hear all that much as we walked through the forests. I don't think I ever heard the honk of any Canada Geese or the warble of Sandhill Cranes both of which you sometimes might hear even this late in the season. The sound of rain pattering against my poncho was pretty common but at least the rain wasn't hard and often we had significant stretches where it did not rain at all. The hiking was easy and all in all the weather rather more mild than we had anticipated.

One very nice thing about this time of year is you often see colors that can really pop out at you. You see this here in these pictures taken on consecutive afternoons. It is a shame I could not really capture the depth of beauty that we got to experience as we crossed creeks like the unnamed creek and Tank creek on the first day.
Saturday and Sunday, December 3 and 4, 2011

One particular highlight of the day was passing through pine and cedar groves as we strode past the various creeks along our path. The colors this time of year are deep and rich. I wish I could have photographed them capturing the rich dark green of the live needles, the wonderful brown of the dead needles that softened the forest floor, the red-tinged bark of the trees that we passed by, and of course, the reflections from the clear creek water that burbled on by. However, with just an iphone handy and time running against us it was not meant to be. Some of the prettiest portions of North Country Trail in Manistee National Forest can be found around creeks. Our campsite in the pines that are near Bear Creek was not the absolute prettiest of these places but it was still one of the nicest campsites I think I have pitched a shelter at in quite some time. We reached that site just before 17:00 and were pretty well set up before it got dark. We had staggering amounts of time to do with as we pleased before going to sleep. After all, you can only really lay in a comfortable sleeping bag for so many hours. Taking advantage of the spaciousness of my Trailstar we shared a very lazy dinner that easily used up a couple of hours of easy chit-chat and adequate backpacking food. We did hear, at least I think we did, a couple local boys yelling to each other but I am not sure if they were on the NCT or somewhere near on Pierce Road. I expect it was the latter. Eventually it was time to sack out and we timed that pretty well as the rain which had been holding off finally returned and continued throughout the night finally coming to an end a couple hours before sunrise.

Our campsite at Bear Creek was excellent. The pines helped shelter us a bit from the steady rain that fell during the night. I used my Mountain Laurel Designs Trailstar which is very roomy and gave us plenty of comfortable space to enjoy our dinner together before Andy retired to his much smaller poncho-tarp shelter.
Sunday, December 4, 2011 (morning)

I am so glad we were able to set up and take down camp when it was not raining. Sure we had to pack up wet shelters but it is so much more pleasant to do camp chores when you are not getting soaked in the process. This was probably even more appreciated by Andy since his shelter was his poncho. We will likely never win any awards for quick departures from camp. I know I could have been more efficient than I was. We probably came close to using up 2 hours from getting ourselves moving to actually leaving camp. It was just shy of 09:30. We figured we had about 14 miles of hiking to do and that meant we would likely reach the car at the trailhead at 17:00. It was overcast but not yet raining. It was also considerably warmer than the day before. i doubt the nighttime low temperature dropped below 40 degrees and it was certainly climbing well into the mid-upper 40s as we left camp.

We aren't really sure what this not-long-dead animal is. Maybe an ermine or something like that. It is a bit hard to tell from the photo but the animal is pretty much all white fluffy fur except for the black tale. The photo looks the way it does because I shot it with my iPhone 4 through the Aquapac bag which may once have been optically clear but I don't think it is any longer.
Saturday, December 3, 2011

The rain would come and go, fortunately during the mile-long stretch of trail through a clear cut region the weather was calm, but it was never terribly intense. Really the weather was more annoying and inconvenient than anything else (you don't want to have a nice lunch if it is raining and taking a bathroom break is always a pain). At times on Sunday I certainly felt as though we had actually walked quite a bit farther than the map seemed to suggest we should have gone. That would turn out to be mostly an illusion. Sunday also would lack much of the really lovely creek crossings we had on Saturday though you shouldn't get the impression the trail is dull. After all if you look for things to admire you are bound to find them and the supremely brilliant green moss runs we found are an great example of that.By the time we passed the place where last year a friend of ours jammed her ankle and Chuck came to fetch her we were starting to count the miles we had left to go to reach the car. When we reached the next milestone it seemed like we surely must be almost done as we paused to take stock and make some adjustments (listening to a couple big dogs at a near by though out-of-sight house bark up a storm) we were definitely dragging a bit. We were almost to the point where we were making guesses how many thousands of feet we had to go before reaching the new bridge over Cole Creek which we knew was about a mile from the trailhead. At about 16:10 we reached that bridge and knew our journey was almost done. Hurray. Our legs were tired, our feet sore, and we wanted to have a good hot meal. By 16:30 we were at the trailhead and the rain was drizzling down once again. But the overnight hike was done and we had accomplished what we had set out to do. We were happy; the trip was definitely a good one.

Turkey, Days 11 & 13: Istanbul Part 3

2011-11-22T21:50:00.001-05:00

Reader's Note: The visit to Cappadocia (Day 12) will appear in the next post. I wanted to consolidate all the Istanbul days in a series of related posts.

We did not need to leave for the airport until late morning. We took some time for one last walk around the area near the hotel. We found ourselves walking across the Hippodrome and soaking in some final sights on this last gray morning. One of those sights was this impressive flock of birds that were swooping down on some sort of food. It was definitely a feeding frenzy and perhaps a bit reminiscent of something out of Hitchcock's The Birds. You can get a better sense of things by watching the video clip below.

Perhaps you recall the wall of hats from our first day in Istanbul(link). We returned to that store to try on a few more hats and had I found something that I felt would fit well in cold windy weather I would have bought a hat. Mom had better luck and purchased the hat you see here.

It is another rainy day here in Istanbul. With clear umbrellas in hand we sallied forth to the tram line to the station on this side of the Bosphorus by the Spice Bazaar. Our hope was to take a ferry to near where we wanted to go and after some diddling about and wandering about we found the ferry boats and learned as the rain continued to drizzle on down was that the ferry we wanted did not run all that often. We elected to not wait and went to find a bus to the area of the church of St. Savior in Chora (Kor-ah). It took a bit of work but we figured out the buses (and learned too late that you cannot buy passes on the bus but have to get them at kiosks that we have yet to really locate). The buses though do seem to run efficiently even though you have to buy tickets elsewhere and the bus station by the ferry dock is a congested and somewhat dangerous place. This church was built sometime around 1320 and today it is a museum. It never was anything but a church and what we got to see was impressive if you are particularly interested in iconography done in the form of tile mosaics. I have to admit that I am not really one of these people though I admit perhaps some of that is due to the fact that it is hard for me to really see what is being depicted.

The church of St. Savior in Chora is a smaller church but it seems to me that it is in very good shape. While I find it hard to really see this type of mosaic tile art sometimes tough and certainly miss a lot of the imagery it is still impressive in its own right.

We caught a taxi to Sentral (?) Istanbul which ended up being incredibly inexpensive and we were quickly whisked across the city to what was once some sort of energy production building that puts one in mind of the Tate Modern in London. Unlike that grand building this one clearly has quite a long ways to go before they really flesh it out with fantastic modern art exhibitions. We did see a fantastic suite of architecture photographs of buildings for Le Corvosie (sp). Really great stuff. The university campus that this building is part of is a rather secure campus and it seems to be doing pretty well.

I've mentioned the dogs that are out and about everywhere; cats are too. The majority of the cats e saw throughout our visit to Istanbul were small like this trio here. As you can see people put food out for the cats too but I think Istanbul's cats may have a tougher life than the dogs do.

This was one of the few interesting sculptures we saw in Istanbul Sentral. I imagine in a few years this large building will have a bunch of interesting collections.

This was something of a slow day for us. The lousy dreary weather certainly contributed to that.We were a bit tired of the poor weather and that laid the groundwork for what we planned to do tomorrow. We would take a tour to Cappadocia (the journal of that entry will appear in the next post).

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We spent our time touring the Topkapi Palace under drizzling skies. It was moderately crowded and I suspect that it must be far more busy on nicer days. We wandered in and out of buildings trying to absorb the wealth of information available. I know we did not succeed. While the complex is large and many places like the passageway shown here (I think this one connected the Sultan with his harem) show off intricate architecture I think I felt a greater sense of wealth and power in a place like the Alhambra.

Our final full day in Istanbul dawned once more with clouds dominating the sky and rain drizzling down. This poor weather only made us happier that we had taken the tour through Cappadocia the day before. We had a couple places to visit today. The first was the Topkapi Palace which was the home of the ruling Sultans for centuries. We walked through the rain soaked city to reach the palace noting that seemingly fewer people seemed out and out though we did notice some dogs searching for bites to eat. The relative lack of people made me hope that the palace wouldn't be too crowded but that would turn out to be somewhat not the case. We picked up tour information including an audio guide and began strolling around the complex of buildings that make up the palace. It is really rather hard to describe all that we saw; there was just too much You read or listen to the information provided and unless you are paying careful attention the information has a tendency to slide in one ear or eye and out the other. While we saw many clear signs of great wealth such as the incredible clothing that was on display that was often worn by sultans and their families I ended up left with a bit of a feeling that thee palace wasn't as impressive as places like the Alhambra. I am sure this is an unfair view. I am glad that we did explore the palace. Even though I feel I did not get as much out of it as I could have it was worth the few hours we spent there.

Looking out on the Sea of Marmara from Topkapi Palace before we left the complex.

The Blue Mosque rising into the unpleasant sky.

When we left the Topkapi Palace it was early afternoon and the weather still had not cleared up. However, the weather did not seem to be stopping people from getting out and about. We were searching for a place to have lunch and as we looked we found ourselves watching a road running race go on by. I've no idea how long a race this was. I do know that it involved lots of people because it had clearly been going for some time when we saw it and show no signs of ending as runners went by to occasional cheers even after we had finished our lunch. It was still too early to simply return to the hotel so we found ourselves walking down to the Spice Bazaar. By this time the wind had picked up and the rain which had been intermittent seemed to be intensifying. We hurried into the bustling bazaar. It seemed to me that it was more crowded here than the Grand Bazaar had been but I suspect that was not really the case. Again I found myself wondering how so many small shops selling much of the same sorts of things managed to get on by but clearly they do. When we left the rain had subsided some and we decided it was time to head back to the hotel to get inside and out of the rain. We walked past vendors selling roasted chestnuts (that must be a tough gig) and soon enough we were back at the hotel with a some time to kill before our evening activity: a visit to see some whirling dervishes dance in what was once a mosque and now is a place for Turkish folk arts (I think that is right).

When we left the hotel for the mile or so walk to where the Dervishes were going to be the weather was still rather cruddy. It wasn't so much that it was cold as it was drearily rainy and a bit windy. We found our way to where we needed to be (I think not that far from the Spice Bazaar) and with the time we had left ourselves were able to locate a small restaurant for dinner. Standard fare food-wise. We found our way to the former mosque with a bit of time to spare, more than enough time so we could mill about with the crowd and have some of the offered coffee. Upon filing into the performance space I have to say I was a bit surprised. It was a large room set up theatre-in-the round style with folding chairs (I don't now recall if they were built-in or not) all around. Certainly a couple hundred people could sit all around if the place was full and it seemed full to me. In the center is a small empty space large enough to hold several people but only just large enough for the dervishes themselves (5 of time with room to move about). The 4 musician who would accompany them set in seats just above and outside the stage. We were first treated to one style of music that I now cannot describe that well. It was interesting but did not leave much impression. Clearly it was local folk music of some sort. The real show though wasn't happening yet. That would start with a different group of musicians filing in followed by the whirling dervishes themselves. Their does seem to be some pageantry involved in this. Perhaps that is not quite the right word as it felt more solemn them that. The music that swelled at this point was completely different from what we had just heard and as it began the dervishes began to move. At first they moved around slowly and then things settled down with a single man in the center with his fellows orbiting around him as all of them began to spin steadily increasing their speed. Arms were sometimes raised high, sometimes held halfway up, and rarely (I think) against ones chest. Head posture varied from person to person with some holding their heads straight while others let them rest on a shoulder. I am not sure if they had their eyes open or closed but I think the latter. Their expression though all seemed to be of intense concentration perhaps rapturous though maybe that is going a bit over the top. It is an impressive display of control especially as you realize that when they stop they show no signs of dizziness. Were I to spin like that for even a short time I would then wobble my way around when I stopped. THey never did. Different men took the central position after slight pauses in the music. It was an intense performance but I am not sure I would say it was joyous or exuberant. Maybe it is not meant to be. The whirling lasted easily 20 minutes and it might have been closer to a half hour. It definitely is an interesting spectacle but I think we all were left a bit underwhelmed in some undefined way. I do not think we were alone in that feeling.

When left the place to find that the rain had stopped though it was still blustery and slick outside. We had to retrace our walk back to the hotel and stopping at a coffee/bakery/restaurant type place along the way was definitely a nice way to end the evening. It was lively in that large restaurant; more lively than the crowd had seemed as it filed out of the whirling dervish performance but surely that is an unfair comparison.

13th Great Lakes Hikes November Gathering

2011-11-15T20:11:00.001-05:00

McCarthy Lake could be a good place to camp if you show up when RV/Campers aren't around. It is a nice lake just off the NCT and it was a good place for us to, more or less, end our hike after messing up our hike.
—Photo by Andy Mytys

Every year for the past thirteen years when the second weekend of November rolls around I join many other folks for a weekend of day hiking, eating fine potluck food, chatting around a campfire, and generally having a good fine time and getting in a couple of final hikes before firearms deer hunting season opens. It is known as the November Gathering and though it is organized under the umbrella of the Great Lakes Hikes email group (hosted on Yahoo! Groups as, "greatlakeshikes") it isn't limited to members of GLH alone. This year we had a mid-sized group attend as a few folks had to drop out at the last minute which was a bit of a shame. This year some people were able to break away from work a bit early and go on a paddle of the Little Moskegon (I think) River. Others, including myself, John Lawton, and Andy and Elwira Mytys, went up to tackle our section of North Country Trail fall maintenance chores. I know that the paddlers ended up having a good time. We certainly had a good and productive time doing our trail cleanup work even though we did not quite complete the entire section before the sun set and full moon crept out from below the horizon. We got a bit of a late start but the time spent in Lowell was worth it.Friday evening saw pretty much everyone arrive at the Schoolhouse. We spent most of the time chatting either inside or by the fire as the moon rose. My only regret is my strangely dumb decision to fail to bring out the brats and buns for us to have a proper dinner. But that's the worst I can come up with for the evening. It was well after midnight when the last of us, including me, toddled off to our tents to curl up under our sleeping bags or quilts and settle in as the temperature continued to steadily drop towards around 30*F (-1*C). With the moon blazing I know that I wasn't the only one surprised by how light the interior of my tent was. If you didn't know better you would think someone had left the backyard floodlight of the Schoolhouse on. Given how little sleep I managed the night before sleeping in until just after 09:00 when Paul came outside and called out to those of us still asleep that we needed to get our butts in gear was wonderful. John slept through that hale which was completely understandable as he had gotten virtually no sleep the previous night. But when Andy shock his tent and then unzipped it and peered in he did rise and get ready in good order too.

A few stretches of the North Country Trail had patches of snow like this one near 5-Mile Road in Lake County. On the drive up we saw similar patches of snow as we drove up to our trail section by 13-Mile Road.

Plans were made for the various hikes of the day as people tucked into muffins, fruits, fried potatoes, and more for breakfast. The kids with some of their parents would visit some nearby lakes; another group would trek around 8 miles somewhere around US10 (I think); and the final group which included me would tackle a 13 mile stretch between 5 Mile Road (Lake County) and US-10. This is a hike that is quite a distance from the NCTA Schoolhouse, easily an hour away. Our group of half a dozen (me, Andy, John, Matt, Jim, and Paul) set out just after 11:00 on a warm for this time of year sunny day. We slowly spread out into faster and slower groups. Andy and I found ourselves trailing behind as I took pictures and he paused now and then to make notes of distances as me measured the trail with his wheel. It was a quiet day in the woods. Now and then a bird could be heard and very rarely a gunshot. We quickly moved beyond earshot of the cars that motored down 5-Mile Road. As we walked through the leaf covered sun dappled forest we spotted small patches of light snow sprinkling the ground. It wasn't much snow but it is remarkable how much it was able to hang on as the daytime temperatures reached into the 50s. The walk through the forest generally trended southernly and had us walking into the sun. Soon we came to the Vince Smith memorial Bridge which spans the Big Sable River. It's a rather nice spot with what almost surely must be a spring-fed pool not that far away. There are some good looking camping spots in that area and that would turn out to be a good thing later on.

This is a nice bridge spanning the Big Sable River. Not far from the river is a spring-fed pool and there are spots that look quite good for camping. Andy and I crossed this bridge 3 times. On the second crossing we both had the same thought, "Vince Smith must have been quite special to get multiple bridges named for him." That definitely says something about how our minds were working as neither of us realized we were crossing the bridge we had crossed an hour earlier.

The group spread out into its component parts not long after that point. Andy and I moved steadily on completely enjoying the early afternoon. We crossed forest service roads and several ATV two-tracks and then realized that we were no longer on the trail. That happens sometimes as you walk down a narrow hiking trail; you follow the "natural path" and just veer off the proper course. We realized our error when we reached a Forest Service road (it would turn out to be FR8570). We turned around and hurried back to the blue blazes of the North Country Trail. We didn't want to fall too far behind and when we found the blazes we strolled back down the NCT still completely enjoying the day. This is when we should have started to pay a bit more attention to what we were seeing but we knew, were absolutely certain, we were heading the right way. The sun wasn't really in our faces any more. Then we came to a good looking bridge. Vince Smith must have been a member in really good standing of the Spirit of the Woods chapter we decided because he had at least two bridges named for him. We were sure that was the case. Then we arrived at 5-Mile Road and began to wonder why there was a road walk here. Realization dawned on us at this point: we had retraced our steps. We had gone entirely the wrong way. We were back at the starting point. What could we do but laugh. We never were really worried about our screw up as we both had the gear to deal with an unexpected night out if by some fluke chance it came to that. We knew it wouldn't. We managed to get in touch with Paul who was with the rest of the group and near McCarthy Lake by this time. They would continue the hike to its planned end while we would hike to McCarthy Lake and then return to the NCT crossing of 3-Mile Road and wait for a ride there. This type of screw-up has probably happened to anyone who spends enough time hiking in the woods; ours was just a little longer than most.After returning to the Schoolhouse and finding it awash in people and stuff I quickly found that I had little to do before the main meal. After all all I had to do was put my pies out to warm up. Everyone else was either getting their dishes ready or chatting with most everyone else inside. But some people were sitting around the small steadily burning fire. It was nice to sit with them and avoid the truly stunning hustle and bustle inside and children were corralled and meals were prepared for dinner. But in due tme the call came out that diner was ready and thus the bulk of the evening really began. The Saturday evening meal at the November Gathering is always a relaxed boisterous affair with a stunning assortment of food to suit all dietary tastes. This year was no different. Conversations flowed throughout the meal and everyone was having a good time. Some people would drift off to sleep fairly early but those of us who stayed up would drift in and out of the Schoolhouse as the evening settled in. It was a remarkably warm night though overcast. Eventually the impromptu conversations, games, and concerts would all end and a few final hardy souls (including me) would settle in around the hot little fire to enjoy late night brats, drinks, and some last enjoyable chit-chat. It was a great way to end the day and we all shuffled off to bed somewhat past midnight once again.

This is a newly installed bridge that is replacing the old bridge that was broken and also was in a worse location.

Rattlesnake Creek bridge marks the northern end of a stretch of trail that is muddy and often likely flooded. It's a section that you can easily find yourself stepping into a wet hole as I did. The overcast sky was giving us quite a show as clouds scudded across the scene rather quickly. Canadian Geese flew on by as we hung out on the bridge for a bit.

As we approached the White River I found myself wondering at how dark it was getting. It seemed as dark as it had een as the sun approached the horizon Friday when we were nearing the end of our trail section cleanup work. I had not realized that it was, in fact, actually nearing sunset as I thought it was earlier than it was. Even with the sky as overcast as it was we still had a hint of color from the sunset.

Sunday is always an interesting day at the Gathering. It is a lazy morning since people tend to stay up late the night before. There is also no reason to rush as most time any hiking we do is typically shorter than the longer hikes of Saturday. Of course it also takes time to clean up the Schoolhouse and I personally think we do a pretty good job of that. The overcast but warm morning rolled on as people figured out whether they would join a hike or simply head home. For my part I joined Andy, John, and Elwira to finish up our trail maintenance and then we would meet the other remnants of the Gathering (Haan family, Jim, Dave, Nancy) who were doing an out-and-back trek from Echo Drive near White Cloud. Finishing our maintenance work did not take that long and by 14:00 we were together again at the M-20 Trailhead that is about 4 miles from Echo Drive. The skies refused to clear but the air temperature was surprisingly warm for this time of year. We hoped the forecast for rain showers would hold off while we hiked to the newly built bridge that spans Cold Creek. This is quite a nice structure and it ought to last a long time. Retracing our steps back to M-20 and then continuing on to Echo Drive would be the capstone of our day's hiking. Abbie put to of our fellow hikers to shame by strutting forth with gusto leaving them to drive back to Echo Drive. This means she hiked close to 10 miles today. The section is a nice one featuring a wonderful red and white pine grove that Julie is absolutely right would make a superb place to take an afternoon nap let alone camp out (barring the fact that there is no water). The views by Rattlesnake Creek were also quite good and we saw and heard a flock of Canadian Geese fly by probably looking for a place to land for the night as sunset was only about an hour away. There is a rather muddy stretch just beyond (south) of Rattlesnake Creek that runs for almost 900 feet across worn out puncheon that gave me some pause. With any luck that stretch of trail will get raised decking sometime in the near future. As the sun set, providing hints of color in the sky, we crossed the White River and walked past a huge field as it drizzled down upon us. The rain didn't amount to all that much and by the time we reached the cars it had stopped. A fine day of hiking had come to an end and with it the effective end of the 13th annual Great Lakes Hikes November Gathering.Larger versions of the photos can be found on this Picasa Web Photo Album

Turkey, Days 9 and 10: Istanbul Part 2

2011-11-08T16:19:00.001-05:00

Taksim Square is the high point of a major tourist district. We got here around 13:00 and like the area around the Starbucks down by the Modern Art museum this is a thoroughly modern street. No narrow twisting streets here.

We had a somewhat better sense of at least the old city after the tour of the day before. Today we struck out on our own to explore a bit farther afield. That would mean venturing across the waters of the Bosporus to see what another part of the city was like. We used the efficient tram to depart from the Sultanahmet stop which is less than 10 minutes from the hotel; barely 10 more minutes to the stop near the Istanbul Modern. The walk there was brief along a modern very busy street. One thing that quickly caught our eyes was the huge cruise ship that was docked just beyond the buildings. It is always a bit surprising how close buildings are built to the waterfront. All manner of structures from the smallest homes to largest commercial spaces snuggle up against the waterline. I've heard that tides here are pretty limited but what about storms that could bring a storm surge up the waterways. The cruise ship seemed awfully close to the seawall and if that is true then the waters must be fairly deep fairly quickly. I am sure that their are other museums around town besides the Modern. We enjoyed the stroll through the Islamic Art museum and of course the Hagia Sophia is certainly a museum. But the Modern is one of the few museums we have visited so far and I am not entirely sure that Istanbul is known for museums in general. However, the Modern is really quite something. We left the museum full of interesting modern and older artwork which was worth the visit and began heading to the funicular that would take us to Taksim Square. Along the way we made a welcome discovery of a Starbucks. A nice mid-morning coffee was enjoyed as we did a bit of people watching mixed in with some local canine watching. It is still remarkable how many dogs are just out and about. Many, if not most, have tags so it is clear that some people are looking out for the dogs but the dogs are just that out and about on their own (the ear tags denote an animal under veterinarian's care). They're well socialized and behaved and I must admit I'd not mind seeing similar attitudes if the dogs were similarly inclined personality-wise back home. And I haven't even mentioned the numerous small cats that are out and about too. The funicular was a disappointment. I think we were all hoping for something like we had ridden in Lisbon a couple years ago. That one was a downhill ride and outside. This one was underground and so rather dull.We left the train ride at the top of a big hill and began walking back down towards the waterfront. This was done by following streets that had fairly little traffic and plenty of bustling shops. It is clear that this is a bit of a market district (Taksim Square is a tourist area). Our goal at this point was to visit the Galata Tower which lies on a flat spot somewhat down the hillside.

I believe this panoramic photo spans a view from the southwest to the northwest. The view of the water is mostly facing south.

The tower is 66.9 meters high and is reported by the materials present to be the oldest tower in existence. It has served as a watchtower, a fire-tower, a garrison for soldiers, and also I think as a prison. Today it is a museum to all those things and you ride an elevator to near the top where a restaurant is placed and reached by a spiral staircase surrounded by stone walls (all seemingly circular shaped). The views from the balcony around the rim were quite good though a bit muted as the day was still overcast.

Gazing back towards Galata Tower. The photo makes the sky full of clouds look a bit more scary than it really was but we really did have mostly nothing but clouds during much of the day with a few bright spots like when we crossed Galata Bridge.

We continued on down the hill stopping for a bite to eat at one of the many narrow almost hole-in-the-wall style fast food joints that dots the streets here. A beef and veggies (lettuce, tomato, pickle, potato) filled wrap is I think a pretty common quick luncheon here. It hits the spot. We were going to cross the water using the pedestrian side of the Galata bridge. From that walk we had some fine views of the city skyline that was visible to us on both sides of the water. Those water gleamed a rich green and they must be teaming with fish because dozens of people were standing by fishing rods that were braced against the bridge wall with lines dangling down into the waters below. We saw a few ferry/tour boats motor below and under the bridge and we would come later to realize just how close those boats came to the underside of the bridge later on. We walked past the Spice Bazaar and then started to wind our way through the twisting streets that would eventually take us back to a spot somewhere between the Basilica Cistern and Hagia Sophia and the old cemetery and the Grand Bazaar to our right. After all was said and done we walked at least 11km today as we explored a bit more of the city and we used up much of the day doing it. It was a very good day.

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Mom and Dad at the dock that swarms with ferry and tour boats. Numerous fisherman are also here and the fish market is definitely quite active. We never did try a fresh fish wrap from one of the boats but I suspect it would have been good.

We began our day with a visit to the Grand Bazaar. It is hard to really describe this place. It is in some ways akin to a large mall with some 4,000 shops. But it is also close kin to an old world inner city shopping district. The bazaar is composed of what I expect were once narrow streets lined with hundreds of hole-in-the-wall sized shops. Nowadays the whole place is covered by roofs with ceilings that are sometimes quite interesting to look at. What makes this even more interesting is that each section seems to host scores of shops that sell the same types of stuff like jewelry, leather goods, or carpets. We found ourselves wondering again how so many shops selling so much of the same basic things can all get by. I can see how the whole place could get incredibly packed and unpleasantly hot at times. There is precious little air moving through the narrow marble laid walkways that seem so common here. It is an interesting place to be sure but I wouldn't think of ever using it as a regular place to go shopping for most things. I find myself wondering if it really is meant solely as a monument to capitalism and trapping tourists. It is worth a visit for the experience I suppose and it is reasonably easy to ignore the store clerks standing outside all calling to you that they have the best whatever to sell you and you really should come in and buy, buy, buy (I think it is worse for restaurants. They all sell seemingly similar foods and the people outside all claim to be the best and that obviously can't be true).

We had hints of sunshine as we sat on the boat waiting to depart but it did not last. I think the mosque is the Yeni Camii (The New Mosque). We never did go inside this mosque but if the inside is anywhere as impressive as the exterior it must be quite special.

I'm not sure what area of the eastern shore this is but I think it is just shy of a park and about a kilometer northeast of the second bridge we went under. The buoy shown here is probably nowhere near alone. The waterway here is teaming with boat traffic from very small to staggeringly large craft so navigation aids like this most be quite important. The Rumelihisarı, Rumelian Castle, was perhaps the most impressive thing we saw as we motored along.

When we left the bazaar the skies were still overcast but we had already decided we would head back to the area of the Galata Bridge and the dozens of tour boats that ply the waters of the Bosporus (yes, it is also spelled Bosphorus). We were going to take a ride on one of these boats for a tour up and down (north up and back south). The sun tried to peak out and for a brief time it seemed as though we would sail under somewhat sunnier skies than the overcast that had predominated. We motored out on time with what seemed a fairly full load of people. The boat scraped (well not quite) under the Galata Bridge and was soon moving through the green waters towards the Black Sea (which we would not reach, probably came within 15km of the sea). Their was a person giving a presentation about what we were passing in Turkish and English but it was so garbled that none of us could understand any of it even when we stood near a speaker. Perhaps that is the difference between the unguided and guided tours. Maybe the latter give you a real person who you can actually understand even if they might be on a large boat. Instead we did our best to figure out what we were passing as we went by. Along the way we made a quick, barely pausing for people to get on or off, at Uskudar. We passed by what seemed to be somewhat hilly terrain with hills shrouded by plenty of trees. It was interesting to see yet more various buildings nestling up against the seawall (if it exists at all). We passed under a couple more bridges along the way. All told I think we travelled about 13km We also passed by a substantial castle that looked quite impressive from the water (identified later as Rumelihisarı, Rumelian Castle, which was built in 1451 by Sultan Mehed II). It is a shame that during the whole 90 minute ride the overcast sky seemed to darken though a hint of sickly yellow could be seen below the dark clouds where the sun was trying to pierce a somewhat thinner layer of farther away clouds. But the worst we got was plenty of wind. It was an interesting ride but I just wish we could have understood more of what was said.

The military band we saw is really worth checking out. The movie you first see isn't that important as far as I'm concerned.

The next stop for us was a visit to the military museum. But we were not going there to check out military history. We were going there to catch a military band concert playing turkish-style music. I think they refer to this as "mehter" (mecht-ter) which features a substantial drum core with a few types of wind instruments and cymbals. After watching a movie that zipped through somewhat overly patriotic platitudes and statements that I don't have a reason to doubt about the nature of military band music. The mehter is remarkable in its ability to push armies along. The soldiers marched in after a great door opened to expose the theatre to the outside with a fountain gushing in the background. 50 or 60 men dressed in red and blue with tall hats came marching in. They were lead by at least a couple senior members who directed them. When the band started to play the various drums from deep kettle drums to higher pitched almost snare sounding drums augmented by cymbals that were clapped together by several players sallied forth. They were accompanied by wind instruments that I cannot name but had a whining but not unpleasant sound to them. I am sure that the rolling thunderous music would carry easily across valleys and when you finally toss in the chorus of male voices raised in song I am confident it would be impressive when heard as an army marched into battle. Listening to the band play has definitely been a highpoint of our visit to Istanbul so far and I highly recommend it.

Turkey, Days 7 and 8: Istanbul Part 1

2011-11-06T22:37:00.000-05:00

Our first afternoon's exploration of the immediate area around the Dersaadet Hotel did not take us all that far afield. We quickly discovered many small stores like the one with this fantastic wall of wool hats (top, —Photo by Jonathan Knight). We visited a pedestrian mall, a little higher-end bazaar as well as finding a pleasant restaurant for a late lunch (bottom) the steaming puffy bread seems to be something of a staple at restaurants that focus on local cuisine.

Getting to the airport and through the preliminaries of getting onboard our flight to Istanbul went quite smoothly. The only odd thing was that we went through security checkpoints twice. The first was right at the entrance to the airport. The checkpoint was rather akin to what you might find at a public building entrance with a belt x-ray machine and metal detector arch. I wish I could say that the flight went as smoothly as everything else but that would be far from true. While the flight was the right length of time it was far from smooth: it was very bumpy. I can't recall a flight that had anywhere as much turbulence as this one had. Though I did not see it happen I understand many passengers grabbed their vomit bags and filled them. I felt a bit queasy leaving the flight but it wasn't nearly bad enough to cause me to worry that I might loose my breakfast. This was not clear air turbulence. We passed through some stormy weather and I do wish the pilot had come on and said something though to be honest I am not sure what he would say. "Yes, we are experiencing turbulence." I already know that. I'll choose to believe that he was not concerned for the plane and so had nothing to say to the sardine-packed passengers.It took a bit longer than I think any of us expected to get our luggage at Istanbul's Ataturk airport but once we retrieved our stuff it was easy to find the person from the Dersaadet Hotel who was going to drive us to our abode.The hotel doesn't look all that big from the outside but when you enter you realize that though it may be small it is well appointed. We were greeted by a lady, Gozde, who I suppose is best thought of as a guest director akin maybe to a consigliere. She provided us with a wealth of information about the hotel and about Istanbul. It may not always be the best information (we learned later that a ticket sale was overpriced for my parents who could get a senior rate - though we got reimbursed later on after she confirmed that rate did exist; way to go costumer service is top notch). We got ourselves settled in while it drizzled and then started to rain more steadily and we donned our raincoats and picked up some clear plastic umbrellas (these seem legion around here) and went out to explore the immediate area and get a bite to eat. we are located in the old city not that far from the Blue Mosque (known to locals as Sultanahmet Mosque), Hagia Sophia, and other major places like those. We found a small pedestrian shopping street not far from here and quickly learned that shops that sell all sorts of textiles from carpets to hats were pretty common. We also found a nice little restaurant where we got some Turkish pizza (a plain and meat style) that did a pretty good job of hitting the spot. It was nice to have some fresh and hot food on this dreary wet afternoon (we went back there for dinner and found it far less good than the lunch). At first glance this area doesn't really appear all that exciting but we have learned that first impressions can be wrong and I fully expect that we will have a better feel for at least some of the city after we conclude our walking tour tomorrow.

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It was rather busy in the Blue Mosque which is named, I believe, for the blue-ish tiles that are all over. Religious art is not to be found anywhere inside a mosque but that doesn't mean you can't find decoration like the tile work of the dome or the stain glassed windows.

We have found that we get a lot out of walking tours when we visit a new city. After you do a tour you have a different view of the place than you held prior to a guided exploration. That was certainly true when we visited Lisbon and we expected it to be so here in Istanbul. We met our guide from Backpackers, a fellow named Ahmed (Ahmet maybe), in the hotel lobby right on time for the start of our tour. It was just going to be the three of us with the guide during the morning and during the afternoon portion a couple of others would join us: a very small tour indeed. We began by walking down the narrow not quite quiet streets with their often non-existent sidewalks (and traffic definitely pays less attention to pedestrians than one might like) to pay a visit to the Backpackers' office to pay for the day's tour. Ahmed had things to tell us as we walked though at this late date I can't really tell you what they were. Our first major stop was at the Blue Mosque (the tourist name of the place; locals refer to it as Sultanahmet Mosque after the Sultan who built it 400 years ago). We took our shoes off before entering but Ahmed told Mom she did not have to put a scarf on over her hair (she could have). I suppose as a major tourist spot trying to really restrict what those not-devout Muslims who mostly visit are given some slack which is an eminently practical approach. When we entered we were quickly taken aback by the size and openness of the place. Like all mosques the interior design is simple. I don't know that I have ever seen an ostentatious flamboyant design which doesn't mean I haven't seen intricate art and artistry such as we saw in the great mosque and church of Cordoba.You never see religious art in a mosque but that doesn't mean you don't get a sense that a place like this is not meant for serious reflections upon the existence of god and ones place in the universe.

A view facing the Blue Mosque as seen from the Museum of Islamic Art. The bulk of the day was consistently overcast though we lucked out and it did not really drizzle any.

We then visited the Museum of Islamic (and Turkish) Art. This was once a palace though I am not quite sure for how long it was one. Today it stands as a museum which was interesting enough to check out though a lot of the stuff we saw went in one eye and out the other for me. I think I got more out of the stories we heard from our guide about intervening stopping points like just outside the Blue Mosque and why it has six minarets (a supposed mis-understanding between the architect and sultan. The Sultan wanted golden minarets and did not say how many he wanted but the word for gold and the word for the number six is pretty similar and that was where the mis-understanding occurred).We wandered through the Hippodrome which was once where chariot races took place. We strode passed an Egyptian obelisk that dates back to sometime around 400B.C. and whose hieroglyphs stand out quite stunningly well even today. And then we found ourselves with a substantial amount of free time. Our guide left us to our own devices to find lunch and kill some time before the afternoon potion of the tour would begin. We walked through some twisting little streets trying to figure out what to do and in due course we found a small place to get a bite to eat. Like so many other places it seems to us the entire staff was composed of just men. And I wonder where Turkish women eat if and when they eat out. Perhaps they take their meals upstairs (in this case) and segregate themselves from the men down below. The only people who I suspect mix genders at meals in restaurants are tourists. The lunch though not quite what we expected certainly filled our needs once it arrived. Up to this point I still can't say I have a great feeling about the city per se. Individual structures are remarkable but the feel of the city has not been all that great. I can't really put my finger on why this is. It must be some strange combination of things. But it is not a bad city. Maybe it is just different.

The obelisk's hieroglyphs stand out very well which I personally found rather surprising given how old it is.
Dad and I as we wander about the areas around Hagia Sophia. —Photo by Judith Knight

We started our afternoon by visiting Hagia Sophia. This is actually the third building to have that name and be on that spot. The first was built in, I think, the 4th century A.D. and was a wooden structure that eventually came down. The second building was of wood and stone and also came down (fire, I think). The third building which has been around for something like 1,500 years has been a church and then a mosque and since the 1930s a museum. I believe the Hagia Sophia (Hall of Wisdom) was a church for far longer than a mosque and as a church it had all the trappings of a major cathedral of Christianity. When it became a mosque the sultans and, I suppose, Immans did not want to destroy the frescos art works that were meant to inspire christians so they just plastered them over. I suppose that was their way of acknowledging the quality of the work even though it clearly did not fit into their beliefs. When the Hagia Sophia was turned into a museum I guess part of the restoration was to strip the plaster and expose the ancient artwork once more. That really helps bring you a sense of the age and remarkable nature of the building.

Entering Hagia Sophia you quickly get a sense for how large the place is. I think that even if it wasn't lit by modern lighting it would be a fairly bright place overall. My recollection of the Cathedral in Seville is that it felt much more somber though it was easily as spacious. We also had a chance to climb up to a balcony that is about halfway to the roof as I recall. you can really see how the main floor spreads out from up here. And although I don't personally draw any inspiration or religious fervor from the mosaic artwork like the one here that sits above an archway leading to the main area I can understand how many people would.

Hagia Sophia is huge. At the peak of the dome it rises some 55 meters and though I do not know the size of the main floor I feel confident that it is easily as large as grand places like the Cathedral in Seville. Seville feels like it rises a bit higher but standing in the main area you know that the church is vast and meant to be impressive. What makes it all the more so is that the building was built considerably before Seville's Cathedral. We left Hagia Sophia to visit the Basilica Cistern. Nowadays the cistern is nowhere near full but back when it was in use being fed by the Eğrikapı Water Distribution about 18km north of the city through at least a couple aqueducts including the 971 meter long Valens aqueduct it would be totally full of water. From what I have gathered that means it could hold around 80,000 cubic meters of water. For comparison an olympic sized swimming pool holds about 2,500 cubic meters of water. I suppose when it was full the 336 marble columns were wholly submerged and god knows how they could have done any work on the interior structure if something started to crack. Maybe that never was an issue. But today the water is, or seems to be, less than a meter deep leaving 8 meters of open space rising around us. With the indirect lighting the feel of the cistern is really quite special. And, yes, it was used to film those scenes in From Russia With Love when Bond and his Turkish secret agent colleague pulled a gondola from their abode to the Russian embassy.

The Basilica Cistern is definitely worth a visit. The photos aren't going to show it off well because I didn't do a good job taking them. In a way it almost feels more impressive today than it would have been when in use. That's because we can actually go inside and see what they did. Sure back when it was in use I am sure it was pitch black but just to build the structure.

The cistern was the last stop on the tour for all five of us (the other two were a couple from Mexico) and we said goodbye to them when we left the cistern. Ahmed then took us to the endpoint of the tour: the Grand Bazaar. He left us there and we took a quick turn through the 4,000 plus shop filled pedestrian mall. I am not sure right now what to think of this place. Perhaps I will get a better sense when we do some extra exploring tomorrow. Suffice to say the place is huge and chock 'o block with what seems to be about a gazillion small shops that are all selling similar things. How these numerous shops can make a go of it is beyond me. We left the bazaar and walked back to our hotel quite pleased with how the day had gone.

Turkey, Day 6: Yakakoi to Derekoi

2011-11-01T22:09:00.001-04:00

Yakakoy nestles into the hillside. We were dropped off and we quickly climbed up into the hills that rise above the village.

The night had treated us to some rain and a considerable amount of wind. When we got up for breakfast and walked outside we saw that the drainage at Zeytinada was not up to the challenge of keeping the place from flooding. The sky was full of fairly high clouds and it seemed as though the worst of the heavy weather was probably done. It turned out that we were wrong about that. Not long before we were all to pile into buses to go to the starting points of the easier and harder walks the skies darkened and thunder rumbled. Then it began to pour. Clearly from a safety point-of-view walking along a rather exposed ridge through a thunderstorm was not really a good option. The walks were cancelled pending a vaguely hoped for change in the weather. We settled in to see what would happen.The storms rolled on through and the rains slowly abated. Some people decided as the weather cleared that doing any sort of walk was just not worth it and went out and about on their own. The decision had been made to see what things looked like around 11:30 and it became clear that as that time approached we would do a walk after all. The walk was abbreviated from what was originally planned but many of us clearly felt that it was better to be doing at least some walking then either stay at the hotel or go wandering about the districts of Bodrum.We boarded the buses to ride to the village of Yakakoi (also spelled Yakakoy) which seems to be built neatly into a hillside. This meant that our walk started out climbing steeply out of town on a cobblestone road. We climbed out into the hills under leaden sky but at least the rain had passed on to somewhere else.We reached the top of a ridge an gazed out on to rock formations like Cheese Rock. This more mountain-than-rock didn't really make me think of a lump of cheese but I suppose to some it clearly does.We were walking, once again, along what can best be described as mountain lanes. The valley we were walking down into now seemed more verdant than anything we had seen so far. There was a small trickle of water, a rivulet that would eventually turn into a river (a small one - a very small one). This lushness made the hike a bit more interesting than it otherwise might have been. In time we picked up another dog. This fellow was bigger than the others we had met with a massive head. He had a thick coat that was definitely in need of a good grooming but he also was clearly quite comfortable with people. That seems to be a trait of the roaming dogs in this country: they get along well with people. We walked past a couple farms with bulls (one standing by a gate who didn't seem to mind people tromping by). We slowly came into the town of Derekoi (also spelled Derekoy) where we would spend a bit of time visiting an art gallery/cafe. The place is housed in a tower-like house that is really quite something. It was a neat place to visit and we arrived just before the rain that had been holding off finally returned.

The mountain lane we followed that connects the villages of Yakakoi and Derekoi is well lined with rich foliage (left) like this blue-green plant here. Not long after passing an intersection we came upon this bull (top-right) in his farmstead. I believe that is Cheese Rock in the distance. We had lunch just beyond an intersection where a farm lay. Perhaps that is where the dog I have been thinking of as "Big Head" came from (bottom).

We then piled into a local bus for the fairly short ride to the seaside village of Gümüslük (Goo-moos-look) to spend one last afternoon on the shore of the Aegean.The waters lapping against the shore and upon the islands not far off shore (there is a causeway to some old ruins that we couldn't walk across). Nestling right up against the sea itself are shops and places to eat. There is a strip of sand that I suppose technically can be called a beach but really I don't think deserves the name It was nice to walk in this village and sitting down for a late-afternoon snack of Turkish pizza (made on a light bread. They called them Turkish Pies and we tried a potato one and meat one). The food was flavorful and hot both of which were such welcome changes from the fare we had been consuming at the hotel.

Turkey, Day 5: Loop Over Bodrum

2011-11-01T18:11:00.001-04:00

The day started out with mixed clouds as we strolled the mountain roads above the valley that contains Bodrum. I still find myself wondering what Turkish maps must show as these roads are used to get from place to place. I know that when Ian planned the re-route for the third hike he used Google Earth/maps. At least the roads we followed (left) had a bit more to look at. Flowers like the ones shown on the right are a case in point.
—Left photo by Jonathan Knight

I am not quite sure what villages, if any, we were going to pass on through on this loop walk above the valley that hold Bodrum in the distance. We dropped the folks doing the shorter walk off at a sarnic that was easily the largest I have seen so far. We continued on to a spot near a restaurant where we would climb a dirt road that winds its way into the hills above the valleys.Today the sky was dotted with clouds. Those clouds would play an important role in the walk as the day wore on but at the outset things were looking pretty good.Like the bulk of the walks so far we were following mountain roads. This time the walk though was a little more interesting even though the terrain was still pretty much the same as it has always been. Perhaps that was because we were moving up and down and it just felt a bit more lively. We left the hill we were skirting to return the the main road for several hundred meters of walking to the sarnic that the people doing the shorter walk had left from. It was back into the hills at that point and where we would remain until dropping back down to the restaurant we started at - closing the loop.
I'm not sure who the tomb belongs too. Ian had some information to share but I didn't write it down. If you did not know something was there you probably wouldn't know something was there. The port of Bodrum is visible in the distance. The other two photos also show some sights along the mountain road we were following.As we returned to the hills the clouds slowly thickened. When we paused at the top of one ridge to look out upon the water in the distance where a ship was coming into port. We were at a lookout that was home to some very old tombs of an ancient people (I believe the same people who lived in Pedesa). If we had not been told they were tombs I rather doubt we would have known it.By this time we had already experienced a sprinkle or two. We had also passed a local person out for a stroll (I assume). She had a small pack of small dogs with her. I assume they belonged to her as they had collars or at lest ear tags. It had begun to drizzle on and off by this time. We continued winding along the dirt road below the cloudy skies. The initial interest in the walk had faded somewhat by this time. It was not that it was really bad as such just uninteresting. But it would get a little more interesting after we stopped for lunch not long after passing the group doing the easier walk who had been settled down on a ridge just above the road.

Here we all are at our lunch spot. —Photos by Jonathan Knight

Around 13:15 the clouds darkened and the rain began to come down hard. There was still blue sky off in the distance but it was being cobbled up by the clouds and the rain began to come down hard and fast. I got a good chance to use my new rain skirt and it seemed to protect my upper legs quite well. I could wish for it to be a bit longer but I think it will do a pretty good job overall. Other people had not bothered to put any sort of rain gear on and they got soaked quite quickly. I had put my rain jacket on over my backpack and so could not zip it up so my green Smartwool shirt quickly turned a rich forest green hue as it soaked through. But the air was warm and I did not really feel uncomfortable.The pouring rain lasted for a bit less than a half hour and by the time we were well into the last descent of the day down to the end point it had slackened off quite a bit. Our group had spread out a little bit and Mom, Dad, and I were amongst the leaders as we caught up to the folks who had been doing the easier walk. We shuffled into the open design pavilion-like restaurant. I think we were all quite looking forward to this point. Everyone wanted to dry off and have a bite to eat or drink was welcomed. It was just too bad that what we were able to get turned out to be merely OK and made worse by the fact that the prices were rather high especially given what we got.

Turkey, Day 4: Ephesus

2011-10-31T16:49:00.001-04:00

I think we saw one roaming dog as we strolled through Ephesus. We saw many cats including this calico sitting atop her pillar watching scores of people move on by. Roaming cats and dogs seem to be a natural part of the world of Turkish life as anything else.

Ephesus is about 100km north of our hotel but sadly that is as the crow flies and the roads forced us into a far longer journey. It took 2.5 hours to drive there. We did take a break at a convenience type store along the way. Stores like this, in fact many places, have a nice open design. In some ways they're best thought of as large pavilions with a few rooms under the roof. The drive went easily enough even though it was a bit tedious. Our guide had some things to tell us as we drove along but to be honest I am not really sure what they all were now. Much had to do with giving something of an overview of all the places worth visiting in Turkey and that was done by describing, thumbnail sketch style, the history of the locations. We arrived at the site of Ephesus (sometimes spelled Efes which is the Turkey name) around 10:30 and found the place swarming with people.We had paused briefly at an aqua-duct to snap some photos just before arriving (it's just a handful of kilometers south of Ephesus and once provided her with water). Perhaps we should have started getting an idea of the scale of things after seeing that arched structure. I don't think we did. In fact at the outset Ephesus seemed kind of puny as we started our tour. But it did not take long before we started to really get a sense of the true size of the place. We gazed out upon the ruins as we walked down the somewhat slippery marble that I suppose formed the streets of Ephesus during its heyday over 2,500 years ago. You can't but be impressed by the fact that the streets are effectively cobbled and though they must have been dangerously slick when wet the fact that they would also avoid huge swaths of mud and keep dust down is a great advantage. When you then start to think about other things like the detailed plumbing this city of 225,000 people supported along with things like the large (for then) library, the amphitheaters where plays as well as less savory things such as animal fights and gladiator battles took place (and probably fights with slaves). I can't really describe the scale of the place.This aqua-duct is just a handful of kilometers south of Ephesus. It is hard to know just how big this water channel is but it certainly looks quite sizable to me. As I understand it this was one of four major aqua-ducts that fed the city.

The streets of Ephesus are all cobblestone with big slabs of stone. Along the sides of the streets you see pillars that remain and some walls that also remain. In some cases there are even some hallways that link portions of structures such as a passageway that runs into an amphitheater.

Two grand avenues of Ephesus. The avenue on the left is what we walked down for quite some time heading to an overlooking view that gave fine views of the library (and a suite of open-toilets that had a system for disposing waste). The second avenue was a merchant's way (I think) ran from beyond the library (perpendicular to the first avenue) to the truly grand amphitheater we would basically end our visit at.

The mosaic in the stone is not uncommon here in Ephesus. We were told that the place was once a store and I expect that it must have been a store for fairly posh goods. My impression is that the more posh places were strung along this street and lesser places spread out farther afield (left). I believe that there are two amphitheaters in Ephesus. Here (right) we sit in the smaller theater that was used for minor events and, I think, political debates. The larger theater, that could hold 25,000 people, was meant for much more massive events.

We walked past old structures that show still some of the grandeur of what they must have been when complete. The library is probably the best example as you stand amongst the high arches and look upon the copies of reliefs (originals are in museums outside of Turkey and that is clearly a sore point). But it is hard to imagine people from two or three millennia ago going about their business in these places. What was it really like in a bathhouse or a reading room of the library. What might go on in a shop along the stone covered street we had been walking down. I am not really able to imagine that all that well and I regret that because it makes it harder to appreciate an ancient site like Ephesus.

(top left) Looking out across the spreading expanse of Ephesus. We had already walked through a fair bit of city street from wide avenues like the one above to narrow stretches (below). The photo on the right is us standing under the remaining arches of the former 12,000 volume library. This is one of the narrower passageways.

I am glad that we went to Ephesus. It is remarkable how much still stands after so long and it makes you wonder how much of any of the great cities of today will be around two or three thousand years from now. Of course, a lot will depend on what civilizations are still around a few thousand years from now as cities that are still actively inhabited will change and grow (shrink) as people live in them.

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The town of Selçuk is a hopping tourist spot. Many christians come here to visit the house of the Virgin Mary who it is believe lived there until her ascent into Heaven. Being just a couple clicks from Ephesus certainly doesn't hurt. The sarnic, a dome structure that gathers water, is quite a bit larger than I think any we had seen to that point.

I should write a bit about the town of Selçuk which is just a couple kilometers northeast of Ephesus ("sel-chook," I think). We visited briefly a mosque that looked both quite old and impressive in its austere way. We also spotted a sarnic in the distance as well as the castle, I think, that overlooks the town. I never really did see the one remaining column of a temple to Artemis. However, the highpoint was really lunch. We ate at a cafe that provided ample if not exactly piping hot food. Far and away the best lunch and perhaps dinner we have had to date. It all felt very local and I feel confident many local men take meals at a place like this. That was something we again noticed as we strolled the streets for a little bit afterwards: the vast majority (I don't actually think we saw any women) of people eating out or just enjoying a cup of tea were men.

Turkey, Day 3: The Mumcular Valley and Village of Etrim

2011-10-29T22:48:00.001-04:00

Mom is leading the way. We are about to leave the ridge and drop down into Mumcular Valley and the hamlets that it contains.
—Photo by Jonathan Knight

Today started out rather slowly. The buses arrived 45 minutes late perhaps due to road work getting in the way though this seems a little odd to me. To add a bit of insult to injury at least one bus, the one I was in, was driven by a driver who drove considerably below the speed limit even on the best of roads. It was as if he was trying to protect his seemingly new Mercedes minibus from any possible harm. It turned what should have been about a 45 minute drive into one that was much closer to 80 minutes. Today we had travelled something like 18km east across the peninsula for our walk around and above a large valley (the Mumcular Valley) that sported several small villages with their associated farms. We would be walking along country roads through pine forests and that made for an interesting change. As we proceeded along the gently rising grade we noticed that the forests were thicker than anything we had seen. Now and then we passed by very wide forest roads that could only be so wide to act as fire breaks we reasoned. It was easy going though uneventful.

Looking down onto the valley below. Small hamlets dot the landscape below. I suppose most of the farms are growing grains and olives.

As I write this I honestly can't tell you much more about the walk than I just have. We curled around a farming valley but that is really all I can say. We were doing an alternative route because the originally designed one was being wrecked by some type of serious road and/or forestry work that was tearing things up. That meant instead of walking entirely through pine forests to at last descend into a small village (I think Etrim) to visit a local carpet factory we would instead head into the valley and pass through a couple farming hamlets along the way to the original endpoint of Etrim.

I think the mosque minaret you see here is likely the mosque in Etrim.

I think this alternative route, probably about the same distance though with considerably less elevation change, was actually more interesting. Of course we wondered when we would pick up the dog of the day today (A blond lab Ian had encountered last week that was reportedly very friendly) and that thought rumbled around all day long until the very end. We moved fairly quickly, for a group of our size, along the roads (no traffic) taking just a few short breaks along the way. We did not find the olive orchard for lunch but the pine tree sheltered glade off the side of the road was quite a fine spot to eat anyway.When we dropped completely off the ridges above the valley we went into a village made up of numerous small homes with accompanying farm plots. Dogs moved about, you saw chickens now and then, cows in fields mooed as we passed. A simple, though probably tough, life. Still there did seem to be a tranquility about the place and it might be far less well off than many places but it also felt well kept and loved. We passed through the village and long worn sun baked paths passing a green colored turtle pond along the way. Maybe some of the numerous turtles will show up on the photo I took but I doubt it.

As we walked along the sun-baked paths that wind amongst the hamlets and their fields we came upon this rather unpleasant looking pond. Sure it is a pretty green but it isn't a water I would want to get too close to. However, the turtles that live here don't seem to mind.

The walk ended in the village of Etrim which we had driven through on the way to the starting point of our walk. This village sported a carpet factory which we were to visit. Factory makes it sound so industrial and that really is a bit unfair. It is perhaps better to describe the place as an artisan collective where the ladies of the village who have been making carpets and wall hanging textiles for generations. We were greeted by the owner (maybe) and an elderly lady of the village. The man was serving as the front man for the place and described what they did with pride. The woman was the one responsible for providing tea and light foods of some sort of pancake-style (though not a pancake maybe more akin to a pita or nan) stuffed with veggies. We would learn later she was also one of the artisans who ever so slowly create the village's carpets. We also finally met the friendly happy-go-lucky lab Ian had told us about. Apparently after it arrived the previous week it decided to stay. We had our snacks before we were ushered into a large room festooned with carpets and wall hangings. They all had patterns of varying levels of intricacy and, for me at least, often too tough to really take in well. I have little doubt that the quality is high but it is hard to really know.

I think it most be part of Turkish hospitality that if you are spending any substantial amount of time in a store or taking a taxi ride you are going to be offered something to eat and/or drink. Under most cases you don't pay for this but here in this artisan collective we did pay a couple lira.

After being shown what was being made and given chances to purchase something that caught our respective eyes we put our shoes back on and went down to where the older lady was now sitting on the ground (or maybe on a mat) in front of a loom working on a carpet. It takes a month to make a square meter of rug with its 36 knots per square centimeter and that must be extra hard when you realize the creator has to keep the pattern she is building all in her head and doing so over a long period of time. That speaks to dedication and knowing that this type of thing is a big part of the weavers life doesn't make it necessarily easier. We spent a while observing this place and I am glad we were able to do it. Being able to walk through the couple villages we did (the last one with its very narrow streets with homes with a cows or chickens in the yard - subsistence farming again) really made what could have been a somewhat dull walk far more interesting.

Turkey, Day 2: Gundogan to a suburb of Bitez

2011-10-28T17:18:00.001-04:00

Our day ended at a beach. Our first visit to an Aegean Sea beach of the trip. Calling it a beach is technically true but if you are conjuring up images of wide stretches of white sand banish that notion now. The sand is dark and only a few meters wide. And that sand is packed full with beach chairs and a little farther back the low tables with their chairs for people to sit around at the beachside restaurants.

We drove several kilometers northwest of the hotel (about 15 minutes) to the starting point of the day's walk. According to Ian the walk would be about 12km in length and ascend somewhere around 420 meters and descent around 300 meters. We were going to walk between some old Turkish villages somewhat more inland than we had yesterday. I really wasn't sure what to expect. The sky was dotted with a few wisps of lacy clouds but it was clear it would be another warm day for the 7.5 mile stroll.We left the village of Gundogan (Gan-doh-awn) without really ever seeing it. We began climbing into the hills along a shady gravel/dirt road that wound its way ever upward in gentle long switchbacks. The scenery really was not that remarkable though it was nice to have some shade from the sun. Our group slowly spread out with knots of people chatting as we travelled at various speeds up the mountain road past the occasional house. We were heading southernly and as we climbed now and then we got a good view of where we had come from. At one point, perhaps 30 minutes in to the walk, over the recurring blare of a fog horn (though why that was sounding I have no idea) a very loud PA system came out and something was called out. I suppose it could have been one of the five-times daily calls to prayer (we certainly caught that later in the day as we had lunch at a rather disused - though not wholly so - farm that was surely well over a mile from the nearest village). Eventually we came to the point where we would take our big detour of the day.

Like yesterday today's walk was mostly upon mountain roads though they were a bit smaller overall. Certainly the road between Gundogan and Dagbelen though not long after passing the ruin at Site we did get a bit of what we would consider trail did make a short appearance just before lunch. I'm fairly certain the village in the background of the photo with Dad must be Gundogan.

The plan was to turn sharply west and hike down the hills into the tiny hamlet of Dagbelen (Da-belen) for a tea and coffee break. One of our group, Sandy, decided he did not want to bother with the detour so elected to wait for us at the shady spot where the road intersection was. Within a minute of our turning we encountered the folks doing the shorter walk coming up from that very village where they had started their hike. Sandy would join them for the remainder of the day. They in turn gave us the dog that had been traveling with them since they had begun. She was a modest sized mutt who was clearly bright and very well accustomed to being around people. I have no doubt she spent a fair bit of time with walkers like us. I have no idea who she might belong to if anyone at all. But she clearly is one self-sufficient dog and she definitely endeared herself to us rather quickly. I guess we are suckers, but that's not so bad. We walked down the mountain road, dog in tow, and paused briefly at a strange sculpture garden not far out of town. I can't say much for the carved stones that I saw but clearly they are someone's labor of love. Along the way we passed a donkey-train heading up into the hills. Maybe they and their master were going to an olive orchard a couple miles further up that we would pass later in the day. Who can say.

This is all the obviously visual ruin left of part of Site (Si-tee).I believe many other ruins are in the area but they're nowhere near as obvious. Even this rather tall imposing bit of well over 2,000 year-old wall. This shady area would have actually made a nice place for lunch but it was still a bit early for that.

The village we found was quiet with the most noise probably coming from a few children playing not far from where we sat drinking tea, coffee, or other cold drinks. When they got picked up by a school bus (half day I guess) that noise abated. I had a sense that this is a village where time has stood still, or at least moved much more slowly than elsewhere, for quite some time. Sure we were at a coffee and tea shop that had plenty of "modern" touches but the air of times gone by was present. I am sure many people do basic subsistence farming in the hills nearby tending to their cows, harvesting olives, and so on and give little thought to the bustle of a place like Bodrum. But I bet they don't ignore that bustle. We hung about for what seemed a rather long time before some of us (be fair, it was led by Mom and Dad) decided it was time to go. We took the lead and with the dog we had acquired trotting alongside we began the climb back into the hills. The rest of the group would not be far behind.We would pass the road intersection, dog still with us, and soon the road would turn into a single track. A bit more than a hiking trail but not much more. We passed by an olive orchard and then came upon a rather well hidden from view ruin. A bit of high wall that was once, perhaps 2,700 or more years ago (during the heyday of Pedessa), part of a watch tower. The tower may have been part of another ancient town called Site (Si-tee) but no one is sure of that. Our path would narrow further turning into an old stream bed, at last proper trail walking, and we would ascend fairly quickly coming soon to an old water gathering object called a sardonic (sar-nitch). This is a dome that rises a couple meters off the ground and descends to a base wall that is a bit over a meter high. The whole structure is easily a couple meters in diameter and sits over a cavity that is fairly deep below ground level. At the base of the dome, at the top of the wall, are small holes. There may also be holes in other places on the dome itself. The holes let water flow through and drip into the pool in the cavern below. The water can be used for crops or to water farm animals. I suppose people can drink it too as long as they take care (doesn't a farm animal have to worry about water-borne diseases?). This tank also sported a small phallus at the apex of the dome. The symbol of fertility though I trust this one was once bigger having been worn down over centuries because it is rather tiny now - the size of a large pine cone perhaps. This tank was made of stone but they can be made of cement as was the one we would see later in the day at the old farmstead we had lunch at.The old farmstead may once have been prosperous but these days though it clearly sees some tending, we saw a couple donkeys and a person doing something in the distance, I believe it has been pretty inactive since the sad days of the 1920s. During that time ethnic cleansing of non-Turks (mainly Greeks) was taking place. Greeks were encouraged (that is probably being a bit more polite than was the reality) to emigrate back to Greece. The same thing was happening to Turks in Greece though I believe the numbers were much smaller in that particular case.

This female dog attached herself to the easier walking group almost at the start of their walk. When we met them she switched her allegiance to us as we hiked down to the village of Dagbelen.

This is a watering gathering place - a sarnic. Below the stone dome is a cavity the hold the water which is gathering through the numerous small holes that permit it to drip down into the space below.

We left the farm and began our descent down into a suburb of Bitez. We tromped down a loose gravel road that really seemed far more substantial than it needed to be. I believe it was meant to be a fire road of some sort but even at that it sure seems wide for an area of such sparse population. The industrial village we came out into was not much to look upon. We settled down, with the dog , now known informally as H.F., to await the buses that would take us to Bitez (Bi-tesh) proper and the beach. At about 14:30 the buses arrived and we piled in saying farewell to H.F. who trotted after us for a minute or two before being lost to view. I am confident she will do well without us but that did pull at the heart strings a bit. Ten or so minutes later we rolled up to the beachfront at Bitez and found everyone who had done the shorter walk happily settled down at a beachside bar and we joined them with pleasure.The Aegean here is quite clear and very dark. The sand is not particularly white. It is more a dusky brown and the seabed is similarly dark and dotted with small and midsize stones to stub your toe upon. However, the water though not exactly warm is quite easy to swim in once you take the plunge. Drying off under the beaming sun is easy enough even if you have forgotten to pack a towel. We sat at one of the low tables drinking our cold drinks of choice and enjoyed 90 minutes of quiet beach time. I suppose if anyone had wanted (maybe some did) you could have had a nice bite to eat too (I suspect the food would have been better than anything else we have had to date). All in all this was a nicer ramble through the hills. If there is a downside it is that we are not finding this trip to be all that obviously photogenic.

This hammock was part of the thriving beachfront at the beach we ended our day at in Bitez.

Turkey, Day 1: Pedesa and Bodrum

2011-10-25T16:16:00.001-04:00

My Father is standing amongst the ruins of the ancient town of Pedesa. The outer walls were well over a meter thick and judging by the remains of one watch tower they cared about their defenses. We strolled through many rooms and even saw what could have been a cold storage area (or a badly placed latrine as it was within one of the rooms).

We spent the day before flying from Boston to Bodrum. The flights went smoothly and this time despite some lengthy lines at various passport control points and security check points things went pretty smoothly. Of course, just because things went smoothly doesn't mean it was the most pleasant of trips. Their is something particularly wearing about hours-long flights squeezed into small seats with little leg room and no way to get out of your seat without disturbing your seat row mates. However, we survived the trials and tribulations of modern air travel and maybe even dozed a bit on a couple of the flights. The food was lousy (worse than usual) but we arrived in Bodrum in good order and this time all our luggage came with us.After getting ourselves slowly sorted out into our respective rooms at the Zeytinada resort, which is located by the village of Torba, we had a bit of a chance to see that the physical layout of this resort which is not quite on the coastline but not that far away from the Aegean either is really quite something. It may well be the nicest place we have stayed at though it isn't perfect (I think the towels are a bit rough and I expect my parents aren't thrilled by the two single beds in their room). We dragged our tired bodies to dinner and that is where we learned that we were not the only people from North America. Eight fellow travelers came from Victoria, BC. They're part of a walking group and every now and then they go on a big trip such as this. This means that nearly half the people here are either from the States or Canada: definitely a first for us. We also met the two HF leaders Lonica and Ian. The buffet dinner itself, eaten at the very dark poolside, was nothing to really remark upon - the food definitely was not up to the same standards as the jasmine-scented physical landscaping of the hotel complex. Maybe breakfast and subsequent meals will be better.

****** ******

Rising before sunrise feeling much better rested though not completely back to snuff we wandered over to breakfast, greeting a couple of the resident cats along the way, arriving promptly at 07:30. Breakfast is also served buffet-style and I have to report that it was mediocre. We have certainly had far better. Tenerife, which you if you read these posts carefully may recall left us a bit cold as far as dinners went, definitely did a better job with breakfasts than they have done here. But we found things to eat and I am sure we will get by even though we might not love the meal. The grocery store across the street will certainly serve our lunch needs adequately (figuring out what is what can be tricky and we are staying clear of the hard to identify meats in the deli case) though the bread is rather drier (as we learned at lunch) than I think any of of would prefer. Another small complaint is that the tables we have to sit around only seat 4 people so if we eat together we rather preclude any chance to talk with others. Perhaps that is the point, to force people to split up, but I rather doubt it. I think it is just the way things are here. The morning dawned clear and even a tad cool but we knew that would not last. Even as we waited for the grocery to open at 08:30 we could start to feel the inevitable heat coming. By midday it was easily 80 degrees in the shade at Pedesa.

A glimpse of the facilites of the Zeytinada Hotel located in the village of Torba. —Photos by Jonathan Knight

The walk we were going to do would be about 7.7 miles long and have an ascent and descent of about 1,000 feet (12.3km, 300 meters). We would take a bus a short ways, less than 5 minutes it would turn out, to the start of the walk probably not much more than a couple klicks north-north-west of the hotel. The walking today would turn out to be entirely upon mountain roads. Dirt roads somewhat bigger than a basic two-track but not much and certainly not something you would drive quickly upon though any car could drive them. We began a slow steady ascent into the scrub covered hills (I suppose maybe at the peaks of the highest they might be mountains but that is being generous). There really was not that much to see at this point. In some ways the scenery reminds me a bit of high desert in Arizona except that here at the lower elevations you do not find cacti and other desert plants blooming. A few pauses for short breaks and once when Mom and I heard the bleat of sheep and the ringing a cow bell (turned out to be on a sheep or goat so I guess that isn't quite the right term) move across our field of views descending a hill to our left (west I guess). We missed the official turning point of our route and ended up taking a path that probably lopped off close to a kilometer but took us through a nice stand of pine trees as we neared the top of the hill we had been climbing and the location of Pedesa.

The first half of the walk was along mountain roads much like this one. Except for the bit of pine forest we went through, and that was an error though I think a good one, scenery was much like this.

Pedesa was an ancient city of perhaps a few hundred thriving for a few hundred years some 2,500-3,000 years ago. It sits on top of a hill that is perhaps a couple miles away from Bodrum and the sea which seems a bit peculiar from a trading point of view and you would have to schlep material up donkey paths to the village but it definitely would be easier to defend against attacks. What remains today, including a meters thick outer wall (with one tower - well the remains of a low watch tower), are in some ways meager but it is impressive in its way. I suppose if I were properly trained I could imagine people living in the small stone walled rooms. We pondered places where pillars may have been: round foundation stones with holes in them. I wondered where farmlands must have been as we strolled through the maze of loose rocks and stone walls that remains.

Take a look at some of the foundations of Pedesa and the view of the Aegean Sea as seen from just beyond the remains of a lone watch tower.

Pedesa is pretty much at the top of a hill with distant views of the Aegean sea. The sea looked quite blue fading into the equally blue and still completely clear sky. We could see the junction where we were supposed to have turned earlier but did not. We had a brief climb before beginning a somewhat steeper descent than the ascent had been. The mountain road here was also a bit softer and a little more rutted than the rather hard packed dirt road of the first half of the walk had been. Perhaps the highlight of the descent was found at a couple of water troughs. As we waited for the rest of the group, all of the people in both easier and harder hikes since we had merged at Pedesa, a herd of sheep with a few goats came tromping on through. They made a beeline for the water. Sadly, though we were not surprised as Lonica had told us it was coming, the end of the descent also took us through a bunch of garbage spots. People just tossed dry garbage out on the side of the road. Pretty gross though at least it did not stink. We were checked out by a couple local friendly dogs as we passed a few houses. We were at a main road which would take us into Bodrum proper within 20 or so minutes of steady walking. Pretty much everyone decided to head into town though a couple caught a local bus back to the hotel.

Bodrum proved to be a bustling town. I am not sure what the permanent population is but I am sure it is vastly less than the population during the peak tourist season (this is now the tail end of the tourist season). We wandered through a pedestrian mall that had a wide assortment of shops and places to eat. The marina was full of all manner of boats for rent along with tour boats and other small craft. We wandered into a local neighborhood of small streets with buildings closing in on either side. They reminded me of some of the areas we climbed around in Seville. All in all Bodrum seems like a cosmopolitan tourist town and I can see why people use it as a base.

#23: Hollerfest, 2011

2011-09-17T01:39:00.001-04:00

Your browser does not support the audio element. You can play the audio by following this link.

Hollerfest has been running now for 5 years. Put on the by the King family on their farm, Frog Holler Farm, the festival is an intimate gathering for performers and patrons alike. The music is varied and the atmosphere is congenial. I joined several friends this year, at long last, for the festival weekend and had a wonderful time.I had not planned on doing a podcast for this festival so I apologize for any audio quirks as all I had with me was my iPhone. I think it turned out rather well. My heartfelt thanks to all those who gave me a bit of their time to take part in this podcast. I especially want to thank the bands I recorded under-the-radar as it were. In order that you heard them (I hope):

Applessed Collective
Dorkestra
String Cheese
Frank Allison
Nutshell
Blue Party
Griff's Jams
Isosceles
Natalie Mae
Lac La Belle
Nervous But Excited
Bliss
Creole du Nord

The cabin is easily 150 years old. It has one large room suitable for a cabin concert that can hold a couple score people in close comfort. An ante-room with a rather soft, probably very old, coach greets you, and along the left wall as you enter is a hall with nocks that contain a desk, shelving, and I think even some cooking stuff. It's definitely a building from the past. With its gas (kerosene?) lanterns you get the eerie light of life before electricity was commonplace. The cabin is utterly without power.

Just some other views of the grounds at Hollerfest, 2011. Gazing out towards the crowd and the distant campsites from the lengthy line as I wait for dinner on Saturday night. The food is quite good, vegetarian though not necessarily gluton-free. The stage on the right is the small Second Holler stage that frequently hosted smaller and/or quieter groups than the Main stage would. That doesn't mean they were any less enjoyable.

ipadio: Ken's phlog - 10th phonecast

2011-09-10T16:46:00.001-04:00

ipadio: Ken's phlog - 9th phonecast

2011-08-27T14:54:00.001-04:00

ipadio: Ken's phlog - 8th phonecast

2011-08-26T21:26:00.001-04:00

Maker Faire, 2011

2011-08-14T00:40:00.001-04:00

The Tornado Intercept Vehicle. Larry, Marla, and Andrew. Though you cannot see it here one of the vehicle's spikes was punched into the concrete parking lot.

This is the second year that the Maker Faire has come to the Henry Ford Museum in the Dearborn/Detroit area. The fair is all about do-it-yourself building projects from the very small to the huge. While the huge projects, like the Gon Kirin fire breathing dragon or the Life Sized Mousetrap, certainly attract attention (they did for us) the smaller projects including swarms of robots and Makerbot printers to name ust two are important too. The fair is really about the spirit of creating things and the joy of experimentation and exploration. It is, of course, great fun to watch the Eppybird gentlemen fire off a display of over 100 Coke Zeros with over 600 Mentos and create geysers of foam that sway back and forth into the sky. But it is their enthusiasm for what they do that is really catching and perhaps some will try creating their own soda foam plumes later on.I joined Larry, Marla, and little Andrew Biederman and we explored what we could on the second day of the Maker Faire. We had a very fine time doing it even though we had to spend some time standing around in lines sweating in the 90+ (F) degree heat. The price for admission seems a bit steep at $28 but I would pay it again.

ipadio: Pirates Of The Archipelago: Garden Island

2011-07-16T21:45:00.001-04:00

ipadio: Ken's phlog - 6th phonecast

2011-07-16T12:54:00.001-04:00

ipadio: Ken's phlog - 5th phonecast

2011-07-15T00:07:00.001-04:00

To the Islands I Go

2011-07-13T14:57:00.001-04:00

This weekend I will join 19 other people and we will travel to GArden Island in Lake Michigan. This small island is one of several in a small Archipelago that lay just north of Beaver Island. During the trip we will explore this island and see what we can still find as it has slowly been reclaimed by Nature since the last resident died, Peter Monatou, died in the 1940s. Though it seems tempting to try to visit the other islands that lay nearby this will not be done (at least not by me). Maybe that can happen on some future expedition after all we are calling ourselves the Pirates of the Archipelago and that implies we ought to visit the other islands too.If possible I will post some information while I am on the island and you will be able to see it if you follow follow me on Twitter. You can also track information on the following map which should become more interesting when we arrive at Fisherman's Island State Park in Charlevoix tomorrow evening. You can also learn more about trip from the Fortune Bay Expedition Team website information page here.

Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore Day 4

2011-06-12T17:49:00.001-04:00

Little Miners Falls. The path to this waterfall is by Potato Patch which is an OK campsite though not my favorite.

Thunderstorms rolled on through our camp last night. I don't think they brought all that much rain but they certainly provided us a good sound and light show. Come morning we woke to overcast skies and a dampness in the air that made things feel a bit more chilly than they probably had any right to be (unlike the first day when at times the nip in the air felt like the chill you notice coming off a big patch of snow). People left camp in the usual staggered fashion with Nancy, Tim, and Doug leading the way. I wonder if Doug got up at his stated usual time of 04:30 and waited for the rest of us to stir at more reasonable hours (i.e. when the sun was actually shining or at least causing the sky to be well lit). Gail also left earlier than the rest of us and Matt and Jen left just before (I think) Joni, Andy, Elwira, and I did (or maybe they left with us and soon left us behind - it doesn't really matter). As I said above the air had a slight nip to it: full of moisture and feeling like rain. I think we all started out wearing raingear at least as much for a bit of extra warmth as for its proper purpose of warding off rain (which never came). It wasn't long before everyone had warmed up enough to discard the raingear and it was becoming clear that though the day felt moist it wasn't going to rain.

We strode on along the clifftops through the forest of pine and other trees (It felt like it was a bit different forest than yesterday) and we fell into an easy hiking rhythm that soon propelled us to the area by Potato Patch and Little Miners Falls. This waterfall is down a somewhat steep and narrow path past some lovely sandstone rocks that bulge out in interesting curves. The fallls were flowing well, like so many other waterfalls have been, and I am glad Andy showed them off to me. We continued down the onerous descent from Potato Patch (the worst of the day) down to the nearby road and then to the beach that is near Miners Castle. It was here that we found Gail waiting in a slightly sour mood. The reason for her mood was obvious: a couple people were camping on the beach. Worse they had made a campfire. Both are expressly forbidden but it is the campfire that really is irksome because it will leave a more permanent mark. People should know better.

Top left: Andy and Elwira on the beach near Miners Castle (photo by Gail Staisil). The beach experience was marred by the campsite that had been made and was still present when we came by around 10:00. It was a nice beach though. If you use tour imagination perhaps you will spot Bridal Veil Falls on the sandstone cliffs in the panoramic photo. I never could see the tiny waterfall.

From the beach some were able to spot the elusive Bridal Veil Falls which is only rarely flowing this late in the year when it is very wet. We pushed on along the beach (Joni took the trail) towards Miners Castle. Hiking in the sand is never an easy task and when you are trying to avoid being swamped by Lake Superior as you walk the slightly firmer sand by the surf line it gets tougher still. But I am glad I was walking the beach. It just felt like a nicer way to go than the trail at this point and certainly was nicer than the last bit of trail we had to eventually take to get to the picnic area and gift shop at Miners Cstle. We found Tim and Nancy there having spent their time having a bite to eat and taking in the views. We settled down to do the same and use the restrooms (flush toilets, man!). After spening close to an hour there we hefted our somewhat lighter packs for the last four mile push on to Sand Point.

Even though the castle is down to a single turret it is worth walking down too by this time the sun was beginning to drive the clouds away and the tempersture was soaring into the upper 70s.

The weather by this point had cleared to a partly cloudy sky and the temperature had definitely risen well into the 70s. We paused to take pictures of the now smaller Miners Castle. A few years ago one of the turrets came crashing down. I guess the siege engines of water and wind finally took there toll. The castle has one turret now and doesn't look nearly as castle-like. Though I did not see it a deer was climbing the rocks of the castle to get goodness knows where. I think that may have been the first deer seen on the trip. We had heard coyotes the very first night at Seeney and again off in the distance not long before sunset at Mosquito Beach. We heard a solitary loon once too as well as many gulls of some type the last two days.

The western part of the trail did not want to be outdone by the eastern end so we encountered wildflowers again. Mostly trilliums and Forget-me-nots but I am told we passed Jack in the Pulpit and other flowers too. One way these last four miles really outshone the rest of the trail was the amount of sucking mud to be dealt with. I had said that yesterday had plenty of this type of mud but today was worse. Just before arriving at Miners Castle, a little after the big ascent from the beach to the cliffs, I totally lost my footing on a patch of slick black mud. My feet went out from under me and I fell back and down on my back and butt. I was lucky not to slam my head on anything. Funny to watch for Gail but not so good a feeling for me. Probably less damage was done though by this fall than the one I took yesterday that has definitely resulted in a bruise and a knot of stiffness. Dodging the sucking mud under the even warmer sky was a bit draining. While the forest itself wasn't bad I wouldn't have minded getting some additional last views of Lake Superior.

Just some of the wildflowers we saw between Miners Castle and Sand Point. This stretch of trail was gull of sucking mud sections and would have been far worse had it not also sported many boardwalks. -photo by Gail Staisil

Andy and I trailed Elwira, Joni, and Gail for quite some time but eventually we found them at a rest spot that we decided wasn't quite good enough. We marched on a bit farther to a ridge where a breeze could be felt and water was readily available should we want it. That breeze was lovely against our sweat stained backs. It was a good spot for a short break. We figured we had about 1.5 miles to go and it was just coming up on 14:00. We had left Miners Castle a little after 12:00.

As we slogged through more sucking mud holes and across sometimes slippery boardwalk the skies began to change. With a degree of suddenness that was a bit surprising the temperature plummeted and the winds picked up considerably. I would not be surprised to learn the air temperature dropped 20 degrees. We scurried, well as best as I can ever scurry, down wooden steps to an overhanging rock formation to take shelter from what we feared was going to be a raging storm (some want to call it a cave; a very shallow cave). It turned out to be just wind which I am sure we were all quite thankful for (we learned later from Nancy and Tim who were just arriving at the car park at Sand Point that the winds were really whipping the trees about and pushed the waters of Lake Superior in quite a ways from their normal resting place). It was coming up on 15:00 at this point and we had less than a mile to go. Andy pulled ahead with the rest of us trailing to various degrees. Joni was really feeling it in her ailing foot but with wonderful help from Elwira she pushed on, always positive though clearly not at anything like 100%. Just before 15:30 we arrived at Sand Point with the temperature still much cooler than it had been a half hour before though the winds had subsided. The hike was over and even with the few foibles of sucking mud, aches from unexpected falls, a wounded foot or vagrant headache everyone had a wonderful time. I think our group worked pretty well together and I think Andy did a fine job keeping us together and aware of what was going on. He deserves plenty of praise for doing what it took to make sure everyone finished and finished happily. Of course it helped that the participants were easily pleased. I am sure we would all return given the chance to do so.

-- Post From My iPad

Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore Day 3

2011-06-11T20:30:00.015-04:00

A glimpse of Little Beaver Lake. This is a shallow lake that can be great for swimming.

During the warm nigh it began to rain. I don't think it was ever a hard rain but it lasted for some time. It wasn't enough rain to really bother anyone just enough to wake us up and check our tents or tarps. Those who enjoyed getting up very early, like Doug, did so and the rest of the camp woke up at more leisurely and reasonable hours after the sun had risen. We found fairly blue skies and a steadily warming morning: fine hiking weather.

Tim and Nancy were the first to leave I think just before 08:00. Doug left around that time too and Matt and Jen left somewhat later. Joni, Andy, Gail, Elwira, and I left just before 09:00. No one had been in a real hurry to leave camp and there was no reason to rush. We started our walk along the trail passing Little Beaver Lake which was looking pretty nice and heading towards the campground at Beaver Falls which sits above a particularly wide beach of very white sand on Lake Superior. We saw a handful of sea kayaks beached there but no one came out to the beach during the considerable time we spent hanging out having a mid-morning snack.

Perhaps the most interesting bridge along the whole trail it is by The Beaver Creek campground. -photo by Gail Staisil

Upon leaving the beach we climbed up on to the cliffs that clung to the Superior shoreline. We strolled through the dense forest with lookout points popping up now and then giving us great views of the Lake. At this point the lake was shades of light green with hints of tan in the shallow beach parts. We came upon the Coves which are rock coves that have been wearing away for some time and it was at this point that we were haled from above. Doug, Tim and Nancy called down to us and to say we were a bit surprised that they were there and that they had not seen Matt and Jen was putting it mildly. It turned out they had taken the long way around Little Beaver Lake adding a couple of miles to their day which also neatly explained why they hadn't seen anyone else. I'm not quite sure why they did that but I think they enjoyed themselves despite having to contend with a great increase in biting flies and such.

Our group slowly spread out again as the morning edged into
the afternoon and we closed in on Spray Falls. Spray Falls was a gusher this time. It was spurting water out from the cliffs quite a ways before falling with gusto into the lake. Perhaps we shouldn't have been surprised by this because we had already passed by a couple of waterfalls that Andy says he has never seen flowing so briskly before. The downside to all this water is that the trail is in many places quite mucky. The kind of muck that can suck a shoe off if you are unlucky. Definitely the kind of mud that can invade a Keen sandal turning a dry havan into a moist one (though a shoe would have been worse). When we stoped for lunch not too far, a couple of miles perhaps, from Chapel Beach we noticed that it was clouding up. those clouds would open up with intermittent rain that was at times more than just a drizzle. It was more than enough to cause us to put on rainwear. Of course with the clouds and rain the character of Lake Superior changed again.

Spray Falls. The close-up photo is bt Gail Staisil. My recollection is that Superior was more green as you see in the wider shot. One thing that surprised me was how small the stream feeding the waterfall seemed to be. Clearly my impression was wrong.

The lake has moods. You can see them expressed in the frequency and intensity of the waves on the surf line. But they're also visible as the lake changes color. As the clouds took over the lake shaded into rich deep emerald green hues. The hue you might associate with a high alpine tarn or glacially fed lake. Fantastic coloring. The forest durning this time also had become incredibly still. It was as if everything was holding its breah waiting for a storm to break. Fortunately no storm came.

Andy Mytys took this picture of me. With the arrival of the clouds, but before the rain, the lake shifted to this wonderful emerald green hue. Gail Staisil's photo shows another fine view of the varied shoreline.

Here is just a sample of how rich forest colors can be. This is a downed log but it is lively nonetheless.

Chapel Beach was something of a zoo. Three tour boats were plying the waters offshore. People on the boats were gawking at the shoreline cliffs and people on the beach. Those on the beach gawked back towards the boats. Both sets hooted and hollered at each other. Overpowering it all was the blaring of the boat's PA systems describing what was worth taking note of. Not the most pleasant of places and we did not linger overly long. It was mid-afternoon by this point and we still had 4 miles to go. Again the trail got muddy as we strolled through the clifftop forests. We would pass a few people, some woefully dressed (cotton t-shirts, sweat pants) during the rain. I hope they were returning to their cars (easily 3.5 miles away). We also passed some other backpackers who also were carrying gear none of us would ever consider: huge packs with massive cinnamon rolls of sleeping bags. The things must've weighed a short ton. I hope they were enjoying themselves. For my part the last few miles did start to feel as though they were going to drag me down. I was tired and I needed a bathroom break. Good spots were hard to come by. I am sure I slowed down somewhat and I walked into camp a little before 18:00. After having had dinner and a chance to relax in good company I feel much better.

Gail Staisil took both of these pictures as she spent some quality time on the beach at Mosquito Beach. The photo with the lovely colors in the sky is actually facing southeast while the other one looks more northwesterly. Not long after sunset we would start to hear the distant rumble of thunder.

Most everyone else is asleep already as has been the custom of many. Jen and Doug led the pack hitting the hay around 19:30; others followed and just Andy, Matt, Elwira and I (maybe Gail) are still up. It is coming up on sunset and the tour boats are long gone. We had a sunset boat go by not long ago. God they create a ruckas. Tomorrow we hike out, about 9 miles, and I expect that some people will tear off ahead so they can start the long drive home as soon as possible. Joni, Gail, Andy, Elwira, and I certainly will not be in that group.

-- Post From My iPad

Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore Day 2

2011-06-10T18:49:00.002-04:00

The morning featured a drizzling rain that came and went with enough frequency that rainwear stayed on. The lake would start out this silver-gray but later would shift to green.

I was falling asleep as I wrote the journal entry for last night. I was just wiped out and even the act of concentrating on creating an accurate and interesting journal note could not help keep me awake. I believe I nodded off three times before deciding it just was not worth continuing the effort. I haven't looked at those last few paragraphs yet but I am sure they'll be an interesting read that will benefit from a serious editing job. Hopefully tonight I will not have similar issues though I am tired and ready for bed as it approaches 22:00 and the sky rapidly (very it seems to me) darkens.

It was quite a bit warmer last night than the evening at Seeney but on the flipside during the middle of the night it began to rain steadily. I don't think I can call it a downpour but it was constant with just enough slackening now and then to give us hope as dawn shaded into morning that it would stop altogether sooner rather than later. I have no doubt that the bulk of the camp was awake long before any of us really began to stir and pack up what we could before breaking down our shelters. A little before 09:00 with the rain spitting at us we donned our packs and various forms of preferred rain garb (I believe we have 5 poncho users on this trip) and struck out for the Au Sable Lighthouse where a couple covered porches would provide us enough protection for a decent breakfast. We strolled through the now gray skied but richly red-brown and green forest past a somewhat quieter and somber Lake Superior and soon came to the lighthouse. In more pleasant conditions I would have taken time to wander the grounds checking out buildings and reading what I could about this historic (not used now) lighthouse. But the weather did not invite lingering about such things and once everyone had eateen we returned to the trail or the beach depending on preference.

The actual trail dives into the pine and birch forest and is definitely an easier stroll than the wilderness beach of Lake Superior. But the beach affords you views of the lake itself as well as the chance to find interesting rocks or peer at the now more exposed carcasses of shipwreches. At the outset I elected to walk the trail thinking slippery rocks did not appeal to me. A couple others joined me but most took the beach route. I wish I had done that too because while the conversations on the trail were fine I ended up missing the shipwrecks and couldn't take the time to walk back to them to see how they have changed since I was last here in 2000. When I did join the beach walkers I was rewarded by a reasonably easy beach stroll that only got a little tricky when having to trod over sandstone rocks and such and not slip or step into standing water (I failed the latter). The clouds were still dominating the sky but when it rained at all it was only a mere sprinkle and at that it did not last long. All things considered it was turning out to be a nice enough day. You might wish for more sunshine at breaks like our early lunch at Twelvemile but even that desire could be tempered as I sat in shade at Seven Mile creek when we stopped later in the day for a gear drying break and a second meal.

By mid-after oon the rain had departed and we shed layers. With the sun making appearances we took a break a little later at Seven Mile Creek to sit on the beach and air wet gear out.

By this time I am sure the temperature had risen to the upper 50s and when we were not on the beach itself we were sheltered by trees so there was little wind to whisk heat off of us. Walking through the forests today was different than yesterday. The forests were of pine and birch. I have to say that this forest was in its way really very pleasing. The colors on an overcast day such as this were really popping out. Mossy green seemed richer, the pine needles looked more lush, the reddish-brown of the forest floor seemed more vibrant in hue. When we would pass through a grove of hemlocks the darkness they brought forth was deeper and the quiet greater. We were still getting a feast for the senses even though the wildflowers of yesterday were long gone.

The photo on the left is from this year and the one on the right was taken August of 2000.

Nancy. While we never got beyond partly sunny most of the day an overcast day still can be quite enjoyable.

The last few miles to Trappers Lake, especially the last couple were also on forested trail. But this stretch of trail is in need of some tender loving care. Many blowdowns had to be negotiated. Trees or bushes with branches poking out into the trail at eye level were a common sights. I hope the person or people responsible for this bit of trail are able to do some work on it soon. Even with these impediments our slow group still reached camp around 17:00. We had taken our usual breaks to gaze at things along the way like the now really ruined ancient Plymouth that has been decaying in the woods for decades why it is there is anyone's guess as there is no track nearby Matt, Jen and Doug had arrived a couple horus before us and Nancy and Tim who had left the beach at Seven Mile Creek a good half hour ahead of us had increased that lead somewhat but not overly much. We had enjoyed our breaks as much as I am sure Matt, Doug, and Jen enjoyed the extra time in camp. Hiking styles vary and each has something to recommend it. Fortunately there has been enough of a breeze here at Trappers to keep the worst of the bugs at bay. To be sure Andy has picked up his large quantity of bites (I hope he was exaggerating the number because if not that is shocking). We all had a leisurely dinner and many people took off to bed before sunset. Even us last hold outs are all packed in for the night and I expect I will be the last to crawl under a sleeping bag as I am about to do.. This has been a fine day overall even if a bit moist. I do wish my digestive issues would go away. It does make me wonder what good those pills are for me, but this is more an irritation than a serious problem. I also have come to the conclusion that the Keen sandals need a bit more support in the heel or thereabouts as both my feet feel a bit sore and it can't be from pounding pavement as the trail when not sandy beach was excellent forest loam. Tomorrow we will have our longest day, about 12.2 miles (today was 11) to Mosquito Beach. I hope the weather holds.

-- Post From My iPad

Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore Day 1

2011-06-09T20:41:00.015-04:00

Our first day here in Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore is coming to a very fine end. Sure some of us only got a handful of hours of sleep as we did not arrive at the Seeney Township Park campground until well after 01:00 but everyone was up at at 'em in plenty of time to leave the campground around 07:00 to drive into Munising for an early breakfast at Sydneys. Joni would catch up to us a bit later as she had stayed at a nice hotel in Munising and since Gail lives in nearby Marquette she just met us at the visitor center for the park in Munising around 09:00. The morning was already shaping up to be a pleasant one with a warming sun rising into a clear blue sky. It appeared the weather forecasters were going to get it right for the day which was certainly quite cheering for all of us from down below The Bridge where it had been pouring rain in buckets the last couple of days. After a quick detour to gaze at Munising Falls, Alger County has so many water falls, we piled into the shuttle bus for the hour ride along the now completely paved H58 to Grand Marais at the start of our hike.

By now it was edging past 11:00 and even though we took a couple side trips to get a better appreciation of the dunes by Sable Falls along with the falls themselves we were soon striding down the Lakeshore Trail proper (also a portion of the North Country Trail). In this area the trtail rises and falls a little bit but none of the hills is anything more than a mere blip As we walked through the forest of beech, white pine (red probably too), and I expect oak what began to catch our attention were the wildflowers. It was not unusual to see a large patch of tall blossoming white trillium next to a swath of blue-purple Forget-me-nots. Sometimes the flowers seemed to be taking over hillsides bathing them in white and purple blossoms. I do not think I have ever seen so many flowers.

Our first glimpse of Lake Superior at the Grand Sable dunes.

Wildflowers were everywhere on this first day. I do not think I have ever seen so many before. The Trillims were sometimes quite large.

Our winding path took us past Sable Lake (with a bit of road walk, sigh) and continued leading us over hillocks through areas of wildflowers. Not until we reached the Log Slide, some 7 miles in, did we again get view of Lake Superior. The Log Slide once was a giant flume for sliding red and white pines down into Lake Superior where they wer sent to wherever those great logs would go to be processed. The logging industry has been gone for over 100 years but the Log Slide remains as do, I am sure, numerous stories about it. I wish I could recount some of them but I cannot.

A last glance back at the Log Slide. Superior has shaded from the rich deep blue at noon to these green hues of later afternoon (a bit before17:00).

We are camped at the group site at Au Sable East and it is a decent site if a tad far from the Lake. Someone got a nice little fire going and that seemed the best way to end the day. Some folks hit their beds early, others chatted around the fire, and at least one took a sunset stroll on the beach. We were all finding our niches in the group and it was good.

I'll close this out with the roar of Lake Superior hopefully soothing me to sleep. I can hear something chirping or peeping in the distance. With any kind of luck no Whiporwills live nearby to disturb our slumber. Last night one went off for what seemed an age around 04:00 and I'd rather not have that happen again.

Start of the Lakeshore Trail

2011-05-31T00:40:00.001-04:00

** Ken **

Sent from my iPhone

More From the Lakeshore Trail

2011-05-30T20:38:00.002-04:00

Just a few photos from today and yesterday on tge trail. The waterfall is Little Miners Falls. As you can see a lit of the time it has been overcast but yielded some fantastic colors.

** Ken **

Sent from my iPhone

ipadio: Ken's phlog - 4th phonecast

2011-05-30T16:21:00.001-04:00

ipadio: Ken's phlog - 3rd phonecast

2011-05-27T21:48:00.001-04:00

ipadio: Ken's phlog - 2nd phonecast

2011-05-26T18:35:00.001-04:00

The Lakeshore Trail, Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore

2011-05-25T00:17:00.001-04:00

This Memorial Day Weekend I am going to join several others and we will spend 4 days hiking the Lakeshore Trail in Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore. This is a trail that runs along the beaches and cliffs of Lake Superior between Grand Marais and Munising, Michigan. It's about 43.2 miles long and for the most part it is pretty much level. But what it lacks in elevation changes it makes up for with scenery around Lake Superior and inland lakes. It also can more than make up for any walking challenges by throwing unexpectedly nasty weather at you and voracious bugs.It has been a decade since I have been to this particular national park and I am very much looking forward to this trip. The trip has been organized by Andy Mytys who has been visiting PIRO for years. In fact, this trip is something of an annual event for him. For the last several years it has been a mainstay hike for the Western Michigan North Country Trail Chapter which, like Andy, I am a member of. For all sorts of reasons I've not been able to attend this trip in the past but that will change this weekend. It will all start out with our Ann Arbor contingent (me, Andy, Elwira, and John) meeting up at a carpool lot around 7:00PM for the 6+ hour drive to join the western lower peninsula (mostly from around Grand Rapids) contingent of folks at a campground at Seeney Township Park, Seeney, Michigan. This is almost something of a tradition with us - getting to our first campground during the very small hours of the morning before the bulk of the trip is to really begin. We'll get a little bit of sleep before catching an early breakfast in Munising (Sydney's for those that care) and then catch the shuttle to Grand Marais and then hike the Lakeshore trail back towards Sand Point in Munising. While the trail itself is easy to follow and the footing is excellent that doesn't mean the trip won't be a cakewalk. Right now the weather forecast looks pretty wonderful with highs in the mid-to-upper 50s (mid teens Celsius) and lows in the lower 40s (~5°C). But there is a frost advisory right now and it is certainly possible for the temperatures to dip below freezing or rise well into 80s. Storms off Lake Superior are also not to be sneezed at so good rain gear and a decent shelter are valuable. Having said that personally I think we will all more likely be bothered by the bug population. It has been a cool and wet spring which is pretty good breeding for the critters. While we are walking or on the shoreline proper it ought not be much of a problem, but in camp things will likely be different. That's especially true at Trappers Lake which is a bit inland. Because the bug population could be annoying I've elected to use my aging, but still functional, Shires Tarptent Virga. I could have gone with my Mountain Laurel Designs Trailstar and an Adventure 16 bug bivvy but I can set the Virga up much more quickly than the Trailstar and that is a good thing if the bugs are fierce. If, and this is a big if, I have a data connection to the internet during the trip I will hopefully post some photos and such along the way. But don't count on it. Again, if I have an internet connection you'll be able to follow our progress both here on the interactive map below and via the Social Hiking website. You can learn more about the trip itself from a very complete description here. My trip to PIRO in 2000 is documented here.

Poll: Is Live Blogging Import to You

2011-05-06T12:01:00.002-04:00

With the increasing penetration of communications technologies into our daily lives it has become quite possible for the average person to both comsume and produce media. While this has been going on for longer using desktop and/or laptop computers based at the home or office it is increasingly more common, and perhaps more powerful for its ability to put a person in the thick of things, with the ever more popular and capable smartphones including Apple's iPhone and the numerous Google Android-based devices. While there are still many remote places that do not have connectivity that number is decreasing. With that in mind I am putting forth the following poll question. Please take a moment to answer it and if you have comments by all means make them at the bottom of this post.
Your browser doesn't support iFrames :( Vote for this poll here.

Water Hill Music Fest begins: The Carpool Quartet

2011-05-01T14:10:00.001-04:00

Listen!

Early go the Water Hill Music Fest

2011-05-01T13:56:00.001-04:00

Listen!

Nichols Lake WMI Lightweight Backpacking class

2011-04-11T22:56:00.001-04:00

Listen!

Bridal wreath falls

2011-03-14T19:07:00.001-04:00

Listen!

via AudioBoo

Spain: Days 7-9 - Granada

2011-02-22T14:10:00.004-05:00

Mom standing in courtyard below the Comaras Tower. You'll see later that the tower is quite remarkable in its own right as it casts reflections on the pool behind Mom.
Photo by Jonathan Knight

the We spent Saturday transiting from Tenerife to Granada. To get to Granada required we fly once again to Madrid, an airport we are getting to know pretty well by now. At least this time our layover was only about an hour. The flight from Tenerife was on a wide body jet that should expend less space on the first class seating so those of us trapped in coach can have a little more leg room. There was no meal service; at least nothing for free (cheap airline). The final flight to Granada was quick and the small airport was easily dealt with. The taxi ride into the city did not inspire confidence. We could see snow on the distant mountains and as we entered the city itself the streets we were driving down in late afternoon did not look that pretty or interesting, but what can you really tell from within a taxi cab. Our hotel, the Maciaplaza, on Nueva Square is compact. The rooms are considerably smaller than what we had in Tenerife but although they lack decent natural light they felt nicer. This hotel even had WIFI which was a nice plus for us. However, we would learn of the limitations of our new abode fairly early on too. People talking, loudly, in the halls late at night was chief among the flaws of the hotel. I am sure many enjoyed a night out on the town before returning to their rooms to crash. They disturbed our sleep. The other major failing of the hotel is the substantially over priced breakfast. For 7.50 euros you should get much more than we did and the coffee that was exuded by the machine has to rank amongst the worst any of us have ever tasted. But the flaws of the hotel are secondary to the visit which would, for us, begin in earnest Sunday morning.

The sun was lightening the sky as we began to ascend the streets towards the Alhambra. It was a constant climb along cobblestone roads and up steps past small streams of water alongside tall walls with plants. We found our way to a large plaza and from there along a path that was lined with tall sculpted dense bushes. We picked up our tickets then began our stroll through the entire palace complex of the ancient moorish kings. If their are guided tours we never saw any sign of them except for what was clearly some sort of specialty tour for a large group of Japanese who were listening to their guide via some sort of closed-circuit radio system.

I couldn't hold the camera steady enough to really show you the fantastic patterns that are here, and everywhere, on this wall. Detail work like this can be found throughout the rooms and upon the exterior walls of the buildings that comprise the Alhambra palace.

Pools, fountains, and small aqueducts that run along the ground abound. Water plays an important role in the overall landscape architecture of the Alhambra. You hear it move, you see if flowing, and of course the light that bounces off the water creates scenes like this one here. Takes with my iPhone 4 using a technique generally referred to as high-dynamic range (HDR) photography (technically I think what is happening is more accurately called tone mapping). Multiple photos are taken at different exposure settings and fused together. Our eyes see something special without any help but most cameras need a little help. The courtyard is dominated by the 45 meter high Comaras tower. WIthin that tower is the, as I recall, Ambassador's Hall (or room) and it looked pretty grand too.

As you enter what may once have been an administrative section you are immediately struck by the quality and intricacy of the mosaic work you see on the marble paths and upon the walls. the patterns are rich and the colors varied. I wonder how visible some of this work was centuries past as the lighting could not have been all that great. Where natural light fell things were bright enough but there must have been many very dim places. As we walked through the rooms we felt the chill of the morning air, still not much above freezing (it would warm into the 60s), pervade the marble walls and interior space. Dress warm here as I certainly never saw any signs of fireplaces.

Shot on a clear, crisp (though warming) morning of January, 2011. The Alhambra has many courtyards like the Golden Hall. The garden featured here is one of many and other courtyards are dominated by reflecting pools or fountains. The rooms we walked through are not to be outdone as they feature intricate designs in the walls as well as mosaics on the floors or ceilings. It is a feast for the eyes.

I think we were most taken with the outside appearance of the complex. For example, walking through the courtyard where the Comaras Tower is you see the detailed stonework on the stucco walls, the styled myrtle hedges, and the lovely reflecting pool that is home to goldfish. While the main room in the Comaras tower is impressive with its vaulted ceiling rising tens of meters above I think some of the other great rooms I have seen in the past left deeper impressions.

This is a view from Torre Cubo (Cubo Tower) which is one of the highest towers of the Alhambra. We are gazing out to the northwest.

When we climbed the Cubo tower to peer down on the city below we found white rooftops spreading out to the north for quite a ways. From the nearby watchtower, the highest point on the hill, we could pick out our hotel down in the square. By this point the sun was high in the sky and the day was warming up quite nicely. I suspect the people that made the Alhambra home would try to spend time outside of their buildings to enjoy the breezes and the sight and sound of the ever present water. Water is a defining feature of the entire complex. Small fountains are everywhere fed by rivulets running through narrow troughs that also feed the many reflecting pools. I wonder if they had an abundance of wildlife visiting the complex to take advantage of the abundant water.

I think the walk to and through Generalife through the hedge-gardens and along the Water Stairs and through the Sultaness' courtyard with its many arching fountain jets was really quite special. I wonder how crowded it gets during the high season because during our visit of several hours it never really felt crowded. Nor did the complex really feel like a castle. That is, it did not feel like it was meant to be a military strongpoint where people could shelter from invading armies with huge stores of food and other materiel. Perhaps though this is an illusion and points out my limited knowledge of such things instead of any real basis in fact because we know that there were granaries and other such storehouses aplenty.

It is mid-January, 2011. The morning is all but spent and the sun is blazing forth in a clear blue sky. The gardens are beginning to show their flowers and the tress will be leafing out soon. Between the gardens, water, and all the patterns in the architecture of the Alhambra a visitor has no shortage of things to marvel at. Here we see portions of the Generalife which was the summer palace of the Nasrid Emirs of the Emirate of Granada. In our brief wandering through it did have a more open and airy feel than the rest of the Alhambra complex which would make sense for a summer estate. This should not be taken to mean the rest of the complex is closed as that is hardly the case.

Our next stop was St. Nicolas Square in the Albaicin. To get there from the Alhambra we boarded a well packed city bus that took us down the hill, through the busy and narrow streets of the central part of town, and up again into the neighborhood of the Albaicin. Buses seem to run frequently but take care as you will almost certainly get jostled about as you stand or sit. The Albaicin feels like an older section of the city full of narrow winding streets some with low steps. The square is at the high point and we found a nice outdoor cafe for a surprisingly tasty lunch (too bad the minstrels playing guitar and singing weren't quite as good). Walking down the hill we worked our way through cobbled streets lined with homes down towards the Darro river. At this point the river doesn't seem all that wide as it runs through the city. The far bank seemed sheer and up on the heights you can glimpse portions of the Alhambra. We strolled through blocks that had small plazas where people were out enjoying a drink and a bite to eat. The atmosphere of the whole area felt very nice. The sense we had had in the taxi ride into town was clearly an illusion as we were finding the streets lively and clean (yes we did see some people who were begging and might have been homeless but it wasn't bad. Interestingly, many of them seemed to have a dog as a companion).

* * *

The view from Nueva Square. to the left, unseen, is our hotel. To the right, dominating, is the hill upon which the Alhambra sits. You can see the bell tower on top in the distance. The square is pretty lively during the day lined with hotels, shops, and restaurants. Once you move off the square it is not hard to find yourself walking narrow streets in small neighborhoods. We found the more interesting places off the square.

Our second full day, our last day, we spent wandering the lowlands of Granada. The city is spread out around a couple rivers and across several hills of some considerable height. But I think the bulk of the town is in the river valleys. Certainly the bustling major avenues are down low. We walked along the mosaic covered sidewalks. We worked our way towards the train station but were in no particular hurry to get there. In fact we had hoped to join a walking tour that was supposed to start at the town hall but nothing came to pass. Many people were out and about. I don't know if they were tourists out shopping or local city-folk; probably a mix of both. Certainly the little coffee place we stopped at for a mid-morning coffee and muffin felt like a hangout for locals. It felt lively as we slowly moved along streets wide and narrow. Overall everything seemed clean and well maintained. It was an easy morning.

We worked our way back to the hotel past the Fuente del Triumph (sp?) and in and out of little twisting streets full of tiny tea shops and stores selling what looked like more exotic, or at least handmade, clothing owing at least something to a middle eastern heritage. We would find our way back up to St. Nicolas Square, very quiet in late afternoon perhaps because people were on siesta. We saw people relaxing in the sun and others trying to earn a few Euros by performing on the street or selling their wares placed out on blankets that could be quickly rolled up should a police officer come into view. While I feel sure we walked a fair ways it might be fair to say we never went that far as we spent a lot of time winding our way in and out of small neighborhoods.

I can't speak to the nightlife of the city. If we have a gap in our travels and experiences of places it is in the time we spend out at night. We get dinner somewhere or other, often one of the toughest decisions we have to make on any given day, and then return to our hotel for an early bedtime.

Tenerife, Spain: Day 6 - Anaga Peninsula

2011-02-17T13:50:00.001-05:00

I think we started the harder walk near the village of Cruz del Carmen (see map.) We were dropped off at a lonely, not open, cafe that sat amongst a couple other buildings. We would start the walk with a lengthy descent but after Sylvia's fall, not far into the walk, we had to hang out by the closed cafe waiting for the ambulance and coach to pick up Sylvia (and I think it was Karen who went with her) and the rest of us respectively (Vince stayed with us as he needed to make sure the rest of the group got to where it needed to get too).

The plan was to do the tougher walk today starting up high near Cruz del Carmen, head down the ridge line towards the village of Taborno, through more valleys into the hamlet of Las Carboneras (sp), and end up at the village at the end of the road called Chinamada which we were took had superior views of the Atlantic Ocean. That was the plan. The reality ended up being a bit different. We all rode in congenial silence most of the way along the narrow twisting roads into the Anaga Peninsula. This is the northeastern tip of Tenerife and as we drove on and up we came to realize that we were in for yet another treat. The valleys were deep and lush. More lush than we had seen thus far.It was clear we would be seeing different forests and terrain than we had seen on any of the previous walks. The walk that came closest to what we were now seeing was the second day's traverse along the escarpment above the organ pipes through the Canary Pine forest but that is only because it sported mountain vistas of a slightly similar nature.

Those of us doing the tougher walk were dropped off first. We had a sizable group were ready for a fine 8 mile trek. The walk would have considerably more descent than ascent. We were expecting around 2,800 feet of descent and about 1,600 feet of ascent. The people doing the "easier" walk of 5.5 miles would have about 1,380 feet of descent and 1,180 feet ascent. Our walk would merge with the easier route when we passed the town of Taborno. But circumstances intervened before we got more than 50 meters. The walk started out on descending, slippery, trail and Sylvia slipped and fell badly. Badly enough that she could not go on. Badly enough that her wrist began to swell noticeably straight away. VInce, the HF leader today, sprang into action and with some help of others (I hope they were not in the way) he got things sorted out as best as could be managed. An ambulance was called and the waiting began. For us the waiting would end up being about 90 minutes with the ambulance arriving perhaps an hour into that period. Vince had managed to get in touch with the bus company and through them the driver so the coach was able to come back and pick us up and ferry us down the mountain. After all it was obvious we were not going to do the entire walk anymore. Sylvia's waiting is, sadly, perhaps still going on as I type this entry this evening but when she left us she was in good spirits and I suspect she still is though maybe a bit bored and put out by now. The group pulled together wonderfully and the things that we could control and handle I think we did pretty well. Kudos.

As we rode in the coach down the mountain heading to the village of Las Carboneras where we hoped to link up with Cathy's group of "easier" walkers we were surprised to see them not far along a mountain trail just off the road. It turned out they had spent a fair bit of time in Taborno before heading out and we were catching up to them on the bus. We pulled over and soon joined our group to their group (with a couple exceptions). By now it was a little after 12:00. The trail at this point is mostly hard packed dirt with a few steps thrown in. It is a reasonably wide path and when not slippery with mud provides solid footing but the valleys that open out to one side do create vertiginous views and if you do not have a head for heights they can be a bit overwhelming. Linda found them so (perhaps she was shaken by Sylvia''s fall too but she never did like descents) so we ended up dividing the group of everyone up into those that would rather walk the quiet road to Las Carboneras and those who preferred to hike the mountain path.

Taken at a turning point along the twisting steep trail not far from the place we were dropped off at by the bus (see map.) It is just after noon and the groups have merged though Linda, Vince, and I think one other ended up walking the quiet tree lined and twisting road to Carboneras. The trail though steep allowed for pretty sure footing and it was quite enjoyable walking down into the lush forested valleys. We did not see the ocean all that much.

The path was lovely to walk. This area of the island is definitely the richest in flora and perhaps fauna we have walked through. Not only did we see a perfusion of wildflowers, succulents, ferns, and trees we also heard quite an assortment of birdsong. The views down into the valleys were wide and impressive. Even more impressive when you noticed the terraced slopes being cultivated with who-knows-what. Despite the problems we had encountered earlier in the day this not-so-easy walk (recall we are now doing the portion of the walk that was called the "easier walk") was turning out to be quite special.

I believe we dropped down into two distinct valleys before climbing out to Las Carboneras. The few damp and muddy spots reminded one to take care as he or she trod the dirt trail but in general the footing was quite good. But this was far from a simple stroll. At about 13:35 we climbed the last rock step past cultivated terraces (and at least one fellow working them) into the village. Lunch was had along the side of the road; definitely not one of our better lunch spots except that we could gaze back across the valleys we had crossed and marvel.

At 14:00 we shouldered our day packs for the last few kilometers walk to Chinamada. Those people taking the road went one way while the bulk of the group went the other. We were going to climb over the mountains, march along a ridge line, and drop down the other side into the village. I suspect the distance for this leg of the hike is about 4.5 to 5.0km. I expect that total distance we walked today is somewhere between 7 and 8km. The climb was moderately steep and steady along good path. We met two people who I feel certain must be a local older couple. They wished us well as we passed them heading in the opposite direction. The sun beat down upon us as we climbed to the top of the mountainside and then we began our descent with a bit of extra up thrown in for good measure. The views opened up and we enjoyed the simple pleasure of gazing out on verdant valleys below. Then we heard the bleating of goats.

We were approaching a hillside homestead with a sheep fold. The animals looked to be in superb shape and given their reaction to us, very curious and friendly, I am sure they see many walkers pass by their enclosure. We left them to their devices and soon after began the last drop down into Chinamada. By now we had caught several glimpses of the brilliantly blue-green Atlantic and much nearer to hand the bulk of our blue sided bus loomed in our view. The walk was completed not long after 15:15 which gave those folks who wanted to plenty of time to make the 20-30 minute hike out to a viewing point on a spit of land. For my part, and quite a few others too, I was happy to settle down in the courtyard of the tan cafe and have an ice cream and a beer. The view from this very well kept collection of buildings may not have been quite as wide as what the people who did the final extra bit of walking saw but it was enough for me. This day, that started so roughly, ended for most of us I think exceptionally well. That is a credit to the HF leaders and the island of Tenerife.

The view from just outside of the cafe we ended our hike at. Their are a few houses here too but overall it is a pretty small village at the end of the road. However, there were other people in the cafe besides us so life does thrive around here. For those of you who are curious the picture was taken in this area (see map.) Some people would take a 20 minute, roundtrip, walk to the tip of the peninsula to get a better view but like my parents and a few others I was happy to hang out at the cafe and have ice cream and a beer.

A hike on the north eastern tip of Tenerife in the Anaga Peninsula region. We were going to start up the mountains somewhat closer to Cruz del Carmen but had to change our plans after an injury was sustained by a hiker near the start of the hike. Instead we started just a few kilometers east of Carboneras having joined the folks doing the "easier" walk. We strolled through laurel forests full of flowers and other plants, into valleys, and across mountains ranges to reach the village of Chinamada and a fine view of the Atlantic Ocean.

Tenerife, Spain: Day 5 - Las Cañadas

2011-02-13T16:33:00.001-05:00

While we did see some other types of foliage along the way this is the pant we saw the most. It looks as you pass by pretty dense as if you could lean against it and not much would happen but though the leaves are close to each other you wouldn't want to lean upon it like it were a hedge.
The crater is some 17 kilometers across and surrounded by mountains that rise, in some cases, several thousand feet above the rim. While Mount Teide is clearly the most prominent it is hardly alone though I think it was the only one to be capped by snow. There is a cable-car that you can take and get much nearer the summit of Mount Teide but getting a permit to do so is, if I understand correctly, a challenge. The caldera, which we would walk a portion of, is crisscrossed by many two-tracks and in some places actual trails. It is easy going.

We decided not to chance the potentially steep and scree lined path that would take the harder walk up to the third highest peak of Tenerife. Instead we elected to walk across the Las Cañadas crater and then do an extra couple of miles around a mini-crater. We would miss out on a chance to gaze out from real high but we still ended up doing a very fine walk at about 6,600 feet above sea level under completely clear blue skies.

To reach this place required us to take take a bus ride that was about 80 minutes long. It follows the same twisty road that took us to La CaCaldera a few days before but continued to climb past the tree line into terrain that reminds one a bit of some of the mountainous desert around Palm Springs or perhaps a bit like Sedona though the rock formations here are brown and black and aren't, for the most part, quite as interesting to look upon. When we disembarked the bus along with the other folks who had decided not to do the tougher walk (about 9 of us in all) it was edging past 10:40 and the sun was beaming down on us raising the temperature easily past 60 degrees. We struck out south-south-east across the 17 kilometer wide crater with Mount Teide at our backs and the mountain the people doing the other walk would be scaling off in the distance looming large and steep on one side and somewhat less so on the other. We walked along the dirt two-track past what looked a lot like sage brush but surely are something else: big bushy plants that sport long leaves and look dense but aren't. There was not much other sign of life but I expect life abounds because spots of damp sand existed all over the place and you did not have to dig down far to find much damper ground. Where there is water life is almost certain to follow. Other than our own conversation I did not really notice any sounds about us. But having said this I suspect that the silence that would appear if we had been quiet would feel different than the silences you encounter in the deep desert of the American southwest or the quieter places of the Grand Canyon.

Looking back along the two-track towards Mount Teide which dominates the northern edge of the crater. As you can see it is a rocky and rough seeming area. Even though we found damp patches of sand now and then I don't think I ever saw anything even remotely resembling an oasis of green.

Not long before we would stop for lunch we worked our way around this rock formation. Things like this helped make the otherwise flat walk along the two-track interesting.

Our lunch spot. The group consists of (left to right): unsure of name, Heather, Vince, Judy, Jonathan, Janet, Graham, Linda.

Look in the right direction from pretty much anywhere and you can find Mount Teide rising up on the northern edge of this greater crater.

This was an easy walk along two-tracks that gained about 100 feet and in the last stretch lost 600 feet as it worked its way across the crater towards the Parador hotel and visitor center. As we walked we gazed out across the crater to the highlights that are the mountains upon the rim. Key amongst them is Teide.

Our walk into the mini-crater, using route #3, would take us past this interestingly curved rock formation. We would see it from a view vantage points as we walked the 2.5 mile loop. If you have limited time and don't mind steady climbing and descending on sometimes gravel-based trail then do this walk. It's not far from the Parador cafe. There are many such walks in this area and some are, I have no doubt, quite a bit more challenging than this one.
Until we began the descending portion of the 2.5 loop I don't think we realized the Moon was out. Had it not been pointed out to me I am certain I would not have seen it.

This walk would take us approximately 6 miles across the Las Canadas crater which is in the National Park of Mount Teide, Tenerife, Spain. We would also do an extra 2.5 mile walk through a subsidiary crater which featured many more rock formations and considerably more ascent and descent. All done on a glorious January day.

When we reached the visitor center after a nice three hours of walking and a few enjoyable breaks we arrived at Parador. The line for coffee seemed a bit too daunting to me so I gave up and joined the rest of the group for a sit in the sun at a picnic table. We had a couple hours to kill before the scheduled departure so Vince took some of us (me, my parents, Graham, Linda) on a loop hike that would take us down around several grand rock formations into a small subsidiary crater. This would turn out to be about a 2.5 mile trek featuring about 520 feet of descent and perhaps just a little less ascent most of which would happen in the last 1.25 miles of the loop. We wound our way around the base of one great tower, past a curved formation that if you looked at it right could be seen as a peculiar drinking horn or maybe a rough hewn seat for a titan, and towards the mini-crater. We worked our way along the level ground along the first portion of route 3 moving counter-clockwise like everyone else we saw doing the same route. At the halfway point Graham decided to turn back and the rest of us began working our way down the rocky, but still good footing, twisting trail down and down and down. It was nice to be walking along a true trail instead of a two-track. Sure it was slower going for me but the scenery certainly made up for it. We even had a glimpse of a near-full (maybe full) Moon just above a two-pronged rock formation. The ascent, when it came, took considerably less time even when you consider that it probably was only about 75% of the descent. We followed switchbacks that were generally built upon excellent tread-way of either hard-packed dirt or rock. It was definitely easier going than the mixed bag of the descent. We ended up walking through this intricate mini-crater in a little more than an hour but when you add in time for breaks we were probably away closer to 90 minutes. It was a great way to extend what we really up to the start of this loop merely a gentle stroll. I would recommend visiting this area to anyone who enjoys walking even though getting to this area is a bit of a schlep.

Tenerife, Spain: Day 4 - Free Day

2011-02-10T23:37:00.001-05:00

Walking through this park is a pleasant experience. This section of the park which includes a pond, fountains, and a playground covers 40,000 square meters. We always saw people strolling or jogging along the wide paths.
Besides being quite large the park is well maintained and that comes through straight off when you see signs like this one.

Today is our free day and we could not ask for better weather. Perhaps inland and up high it is cloudy and damp again (like yesterday was with mists shrouding our hike around Mount Negras and her lava fields) but down on the coast at Puerto de la Cruz it is clear, sunny, and warm.

We enjoyed walking through the park with the views of Mount Teide way off in the distance. While we saw some people para-glding, more on that later, I don't think we saw anywhere near the number we had seen soaring on our first day.
Water features prominently in the park's design. Besides the pond and fountains there is this fantastic set of waterfalls cascading down by the 186 steps.

We spent the day strolling through the bustling streets of Puerto de la Cruz. This is a substantial town and it seems prosperous. The streets are clean, there are numerous shops of all types, and overall things seem very well put together. Leaving our hotel we walked once again through Taoro Park (not the official name but the name I am using) and down the 186 steps past the falling water feature (see the photo with Mom and Dad) and from there down into the heart of the town.

The highlight of the town has to be the sea wall that restrains the frothing surf of the aquamarine Atlantic Ocean. Today as we walked along the seawall we saw a couple people swimming in the clear, probably chilly, water. We also saw some people practicing with their paragliders in a parking lot. I suppose they were learning how to control them in a somewhat controlled environment (i.e., on the ground). When we left the seaside for the streets we found them full of shops of al types, cafes and other eateries, and plenty of people that seemed, overall, well off. It is clearly a thriving town.

The surf of the Atlantic Ocean pounds agains a seawall that is I think made of lava rocks. It has a worn look but a solid one too. At times, though not this time, a wave will crash and boom as it strikes the wall sending spray high enough that it can mist over the wall itself and drench anyone passing by on the top of the sea wall. I believe a lot of the coastline of Tenerife is either cliffs, sea walls like this, or rocky beaches. There are a few sandy beaches, we saw a couple small black sand ones, but they're few and far between. Tenerife is not, I think, the island you would pick if you want a classic beach vacation.

On the first day we saw numerous people flying their paragliders. Today we saw a couple people, like this fellow, practicing in the parking lot by the seaside carnival (I think that is what it was though everything was taken down at this point). There are quite a few lines that the person controlling the wing has to know how to use so practicing on the ground certainly makes sense.

Tenerife, Spain: Day 3 - Mount Negras and the Canal

2011-02-10T01:05:00.001-05:00

In 1706 Garachico was a thriving port town. An eruption of a nearby volcano buried much of the town and today it is now the much smaller town that you can see off in the distance. We stopped at this overlook to peer down on the town. If we had time perhaps we would have paid a visit to the cafe that nestled into the cliff but limited time prevented that.

We decided to do the easier walk today. This walk would be about 6.5 miles long, ascend some 1,000 feet, and descend about 1,900 feet. Our reasoning behind this change was that we did not want to feel rushed doing the longer 10 mile walk that would have to be done in six hours. The walks were taking place on the western edge of the island looking out over a peninsula. One walk would climb a volcano while the easier one would just meander around affording views of Mount Negras and the volcano that last erupted in 1706 destroying most of Garachico. To get to this area requires a long bus ride of nearly 90 minutes so we did not start walking until just about 11:00 (the longer walkers started about 10:30). The bus ride was certainly scenic enough as it climbed up away from the coast and the views of lava fields and regular fields were striking. We stopped briefly at an overlook to look out on the peninsula and see the now much smaller town of Garachico. You could see the old lava that had buried the town back in 1706. Fortunately for them not many people died as they had plenty of warning and the lava was slow moving. We dropped the harder walkers off while the skies were still pretty clear and they struck out on their assault of a nearby volcanic peak. We then drove on another 20-25 minutes to a spot by an open air chapel (name unknown) and began our walk form there. By this time the clouds were moving in, a high overcast. We began our gradual ascent along a trail that struck Mom and me as if it could have once been a streamed. It was the most "trail like" trail we had seen so far. The forest here feels more open and perhaps a bit more lush than what we had traversed the day before (the elevation is about the same). We walked amongst Canary Pine (they look a lot like bristlecone pine; with their needles hugging close to the trunk branches. They resemble bottle brushes). 40 minutes into the walk we would get our first look at a major enclosed canal. We were done with the bulk of the climbing by this time too. The canals distribute the water that is gathered from the mist that the trees harvest (4 times as much water as just rainfall) and distribute it around Tenerife. By now the light overcast had grown somewhat heavier and it was spitting rain at us. The air was damp making the low-mid 50s temperature feel much colder than it had any right to feel. Not the nicest weather.

After leaving the lush forests we would walk along a barren road. Soon we would leave the majority of trees behind. We could gaze out on lava fields and just see mountains rising in the distance but as the afternoon wore on the overcast turned into a dense mist and mild drizzle.

We soon would leave the forest for more open expanses. Following a black lava road we walked along a ridge that sported lava cliffs nearby and off in the distance gave us mist shrouded views of volcano whose name I'm not sure of and later Mount Negras. Now and then we would spot orange lichen growing on the lava; the first steps to breaking down the lava into the rich fertile soil that volcanic slopes are known for. I suppose it will take a few hundred years more. When you look out across the older lava fields you do feel like you are looking at something you would see on the moon. In the distance you can see greener slopes, no doubt on much older lava gone to soil, but nearby the black rock was still young. It was too bad that most of this was shrouded in cloud and with the wind blowing around no one was really inclined to stop much.

We had lunch in this spot. There was a dip and some rocks that sheltered us from the breeze. By this time, about 13:20, it was spiting with a bit more vigor. Sometimes in conditions like this you get a magical sense of the world around you but I don't think anyone felt that ethereal sense on this damp afternoon.
Photo by Jonathan Knight

The hike today was in the vicinity of Mt. Negras. We would end at a small village with a lovely cafe which was made all the nicer because, as you can see, the weather was rather misty. A large part of the hike was on what we would call forest service road that wound through centuries-old lava fields. You can see one of the volcanos in the video.

We continued down the lava road (barred by barriers at two points and eventually left the open terrain for forests once more as we began to descend the 1,900 feet down to the endpoint of the walk in town X (at a little cafe where we would have wonderful coffee and pastries). The descent was on forest road and easy enough going though relentless. We were surprised at 14:30 to come upon the folks doing the tougher walk. They still must have had 4 or so miles to go. They had experienced much better views than we had as they had been higher than the cloud layer. Lucky them. I figure we still had somewhat less than 2 miles to go to get to our endpoint and we said goodbye to the others and continued on down and out of the woods into fields of grasses dotted with a tree now and then. It must be good habitat as folks saw many birds. One final very steep descent down a cement walk into a valley and we were pretty much at the end of the walk. We reached the cafe at 15:20 and it was a great way to end the walk. especially since we still had a 90 minute bus ride back to the hotel. interestingly the ride from the cafe to where our walk started and the harder walk would end took just ten minutes (leaving us about 20 minutes to wait for them to arrive).

We would leave the lava road and surrounding fields to drop back into the forests which would, in time, yield to farm fields. The weather never really would improve that much so everyone kept at least some wind and/or rain gear on. A little while after this photo was taken we came upon a crossroads and met the people doing the tougher walk coming up from the village below (probably about 2-2.5km away). They still had quite a ways to go and just a couple of hours to do the walking in (covering much the same route we had just done though they did have some shortcuts to use). We would leave the dirt roads eventually, walk along a paved road for a bit, and finally descend very steeply down a cement walk that would pop us out just below the cafe and bus.
Photo by Jonathan Knight

The walk down the rather steep cement path. I think this stretch took us 15 minutes and as noted above we popped out just below the bus and cafe. The folks who did the tougher walk had to ascend this steep path: ugh.

Tenerife, Spain: Day 2 - Above Aguamansa

2011-02-09T12:07:00.003-05:00

On the way along the long, slightly hilly, traverse that would take us over the organ pipe escarpment. The trail is superb and although there is a drop off it isn't too vertigo inducing.
Photo by Jonathan Knight

The day dawned seemingly overcast but that was an illusion of the dawn light. As the sun rose it became clear that there was not a cloud in the sky and we were going to at least start the day with fine clear weather. Everyone piled into the bus and we spent the next 40 minutes winding our way into the island uplands to the village of Aguamansa (about 3,500 feet above sea level) where the people doing the easier walk disembarked. The bus continued on for a few more kilometers and a couple hundred feet of additional ascent to drop those of us doing the harder walk off at La Caldera. It was just before 10:00 and the air was brisk and the temperature in the shade had a decided nip to it. Still considering we were going to be climbing a cooler start is hardly a bad thing.

Cathy led our group of a dozen hikers and we first took a quick glimpse into the forest sloped La Caldera which is a small crater now covered in grass and sporting picnic tables around the edge. It's not particularly deep and I expect it is quite old. If you did not know it was a crater you might just think it some depression in the ground. I wonder if it was ever used for outdoor events like sports or maybe an impromptu amphitheater. We began our climb along a mountain road (think forest service road if you are from the States and you'll have a good sense of what we were walking along) and soon we were climbing steadily and warming right up. We ascended through forests of Canary Pine and once in a while a view of the organ pipe cliff face of the escarpment we were going to traverse presented itself for inspection. Perhaps if the sun had been in a different location the cliff face would look more organ pipe like but to my eye it was certainly nothing terribly obvious. We passed by a quarry that was extracting water and continued up the mountain road. Cathy told us that the forests manage to gather in about 2,000 liters of water per square meter per year just by pulling the mist condensation from the air (four times the amount gathered by just rain). The water that is gathered is shipped all over the island via aqueducts. I've no real sense of just how much water that is. We soon came to what could charitably be called a trail shelter (a roof sitting atop a few big posts) where we took a break from our steady, though reasonably gradual, ascent, for a quick bite before we set out on what would turn out to be the real meat of the hike.

We stepped on to a pine needle covered forest trail that would rise and fall, sometimes steeply, along the cliffs eventually taking us to easily over 5,000 feet above sea level. The trail is excellent and barring a few spots very well maintained. The vertiginous drops that we had been told about really weren't that big (OK, a fall could really hurt you but they weren't the stomach clenching drops I think some of us were imagining, just your average drop into a valley below). To be sure if you stepped off the edge you would fall a long long way but the trail was easily a meter wide and footing was never a problem. In a few places there was stout 4x4 wooden fencing on the outer edge and sometimes even heavy cable or pipe embedded in the rock of the cliff. I don't think the heights bothered anyone.

In early afternoon clouds started to roll in from the coast. They formed an impenetrable layer several hundred feet below us obscuring the village from our view. We could hear sounds of village life, dogs barking and a rooster crowing now and then, but nothing was visible below the cloud floor. The clouds hit the rock face and stayed there. They never rose to meet up and did not dissipate. When we reached the village the clouds became much less interesting to look at: a solid light gray overcast.
Photo by Jonathan Knight

One standout feature of the traverse was glimpsing Mount Teide off in the distance. Today we could easily see this 13,000 foot mountain rising into the blue sky. Nothing obscured the view today. In fact , the clouds that were present were below us presenting us a view of their puffy pillow soft seeming tops as we worked our way along the traverse above the organ pipe cliffs and beyond. That traverse did take us quite some time and it certainly felt like we climbed more than the expected 2,100 feet (to say nothing of the 2,500 feet we would descend). But I think that can be put down to the fact that often it was a bit steep in spots. When you consider that the vast bulk of the climbing and descending was probably done in far less than the 7.5 mile total length of the walk this is no surprise.

Mount Teide is a volcano that rises over 13,000 feet. We saw it often today as we worked our way along the traverse. The day before it had been shrouded in clouds (as I suspect it often is).

At the start of the hike the temperature was perhaps about 50 degrees. As we gained altitude the temperature dropped some so that even when the sun was high in the sky it was probably still only about 50 degrees in the shade. But though we were tromping through forest of pine with splashes of ground cover thrown in here and there we were often in sunshine so it was hardly chilly. We took our lunch breaks on rock outcrops that not only afforded us fine views but let most of us soak in some of the warmth from the sun. By 14:00 we had reached the trail junction that would take us down to the village of Aguamansa where we would meet the people who were doing the easier walk. The notes suggested that the trek would take about 90 minutes. As we began the descent I lagged behind with Dad as the rest of the group pulled ahead moving down the pine needle covered trail down some steep bits that gave me a bit of pause. But I don't think they were ever too far ahead of us. Far enough that they could take rest breaks, but only short ones. We had a couple points where Cathy had to take a few minutes to figure out exactly which way we needed to go but she did that without any fuss and we never went the wrong way. At some point as we dropped down the last 1,200 feet of elevation we walked thorough the cloud layer (you never would have noticed except for the fact that all of a sudden the sun was gone) and the scenery changed markedly. It became cooler and grayer but hardly unpleasant. In due time we reached the first of the dirt roads below where the long heard sounds of dogs barking and roosters crowing was considerably more noticeable and then further down (at our low point) we came to paved roads that would lead us back uphill into Aguamansa proper. That last mile (maybe a bit less) felt like a slog because though it was generally a gentle climb in a few places, especially as we entered the village proper, the climb became quite steep indeed. It was a reprise of the final climb of the hike from the day before. We reached the bus, sitting outside a cafe that had just closed for the day, right at 16:00. Had we not had the bits of confusion about which way to go I expect the harder walk could have finished with just enough time to get a coffee at the cafe. Instead we piled into the bus for the fast drive down the curving roads back to the hotel.

Tenerife, Spain: Day 1 - Coastal Walk from Puerto de la Cruz

2011-02-08T16:44:00.002-05:00

The hotel we are staying at sits about 100 meters above the coast and a few hundred meters inland. The town mostly spreads out below us though it also sprawls further inland. The grounds are lovely.

I woke up too early for my own good and Mom and Dad probably woke up too late. Pulling all-nighters across an ocean and two continents on 3 airplanes with nearly 10 hours of layovers in uncomfortable airport seating is not conducive to a good night's rest. But we went down to breakfast with brave faces and fairly awake. The clearing skies certainly helped lighten our moods as the morning air was warm and the sun becoming bright. We found others of our group enjoying the buffet style breakfast and we settled in to eat and chat. All meals are going to be buffet style here and while the choices are varied the food so far does seem a bit bland. But I've no doubt it will suffice.

At 09:30 our group of 13 hikers plus the HF leader, Vince, gathered and we struck out across the fine grounds of the hotel to the back entrance. We were leaving the remaining 5 or so (plus Cathy, the other HF leader) to do the easier walk. By now the sun had chased most of the low clouds away though clouds were hanging around the 13,000 foot peak of the high mountain. A fine first day and a surprisingly warm one we soon found out. We strolled through park Taoro which is nicely laid out as it overlooks the Atlantic and lower portions of Puerto de la Cruz which seems to be built into the cliffs around the rocky beaches that sometimes interrupt the sheer cliffs that drop down to the sea. We dropped down towards the ocean ourselves passing through what, to us, seemed to be a prosperous and large town. It seems clean and people were out and about on this early Sunday morning. It was quite pleasant and a notable change from the far smaller town of Plaia de X where we stayed in Portugal last year.

Walking along the top of a well maintained seawall path watching the surf boom against the cliffs and rocky (and Sometimes black sand) beaches we made quick time. Now and then an especially great wave would crash against the shore sending spray billowing up over the sea wall and misting us in the process. It was quite clear why the rock and gravel-like path was damp underfoot. We scampered across a small lava field and continued trending westward either directly above the surf line or winding our way through narrow streets lined with sometimes colorful small buildings and, I suppose, apartments and such like. A very nice feel existed about the whole area.

Looking back towards the heart of the town. We would eventually reach a coastal path called Rambla de Castro which is best thought of as a nature path along the coast.

In due course we reached the Rambla de Castro, the coast path, leaving behind the side streets of the town. This dirt and stone path is very well maintained and clearly meant to promote walking by tourists and locals alike. In places where drops are precipitous stout 4x4 wood fencing has been erected to add a sense of security to the path. The footing is excellent even on the descents. We wound our way westward along the coast sometimes dipping into small ravines that surely sometimes must have water sluicing down their bottoms but today all seemed dry. Numerous small bushes festooned with flowers that looked like daisy but seem to grow more like heather dotted the sounds of the path especially when it seemed to spend time crawling up hillsides. Some of those steep hills were terraced though I am not sure anyone was growing anything on those terraces of green grass and ground cover. By this time the air temperature had risen to around 70 degrees and the sun beamed down upon us in a fairly cloud free sky. We couldn't see the peak of the big mountain always but we could see the numerous paragliders that were flying off its flanks. They wheeled about up in the clouds looking so peaceful. I cannot imagine ever trying that sport.

We encountered a few people as we walked. We encountered at least as many cats. To be sure their numbers dropped off some as we continued down the Rambla de Castro but they did not vanish. Given the number of birds you could hear I expect the outdoor cats do well enough. I wonder if they use the occasional lava tube caves for rain shelter when the storms come as they surely must.

Three hours into the hike we reached the point where we would leave the coast path, in a small village whose name I do not know (28.3958N, 16.5941W). We had hiked about 5 miles of the 8 miles planned and ascended all tolled perhaps 1,000 feet of the planned 2,600 we expected to do. In other words we had covered two thirds of the distance and a bit more than one thirds of the elevation gain. We had some serious climbing to do and when the bus we caught near our lunch spot dropped us off (28.3918N, 16.6265W) and we had all taken advantage of the restroom at the playground by the snack bar we were able to then gaze up into the steep sided ravine that sported many paths that climbed inland (south). We began to climb. Once again the trail was superb and sported more of that excellent, and seemingly quite new, wooden fencing along the edge. Our group slowly spread out as people are wont to do when climbing a fairly steep slope. The sound of the surf diminished as we climbed up the switchbacks into the lush greenery of the ravine. The temperature had dropped by this time as clouds had drifted in to cover the sky. We even had a smattering of drizzle though it was nowhere near enough to make me want to put on my rain jacket (Derek did pull out his umbrella). Up and up we went. Though the sound of the surf was decreasing other sounds remained present: a rooster crowed now and then, dogs that must belong to the houses upon the ridge top barked (the couple we encountered, off leash, coming down the path were quiet though perhaps a bit friendlier than some would have liked). Some people carried on conversations as we ascended. Not I. I just climbed at my slow steady pace enjoying the nice afternoon though I did wish for a bit more light so I could snap better photos (I didn't want to fiddle with the Canon so I stuck with the iPhone which while good in many ways is still no true dedicated camera).

Looking back towards the Atlantic from the ravine we are ascending. The trail is hard packed ground and stone steps. It reminded us a bit of the Vernal Falls trail in Yosemite as far as footing goes though here the scenery is quite a bit different.

It would take us about 45 minutes to reach the top of this first big leg of the last two thirds of the hike. We still had a couple hundred meters (600 feet) of ascent to do with about a quarter of that much descent thrown in for good measure. The notes for the walk suggested that this final bit would take just under an hour and it would turn out that we would do it a little more quickly than that. I think the last bit was actually considerably easier than the 250-300 meter climb we just did. Sure it was a few tens of meters less climbing but it felt like it was a lot less than that. Perhaps it was because this last stretch wound through rich green forests full of lush low growing plants and ferns along with the tall dense trees that sometimes blocked out the sky almost completely. Perhaps it was because the path didn't always just climb or descend but had more of a mixture. The worst portion of this last section was the final slog up a paved road that would take us the last quarter hour rising some 270 feet as it climbing into a hamlet that probably had little more than a gas station, bar, and a hotel (I think) with a few residential homes thrown in for good measure. We would have about 40 minutes to kill before the local bus would come and we would ride back to Puerto de la Cruz (about 40 minutes of driving which surprised me).

This was a tough first walk because the bulk of the climbing was done in the last 3 miles of the hike. But it felt good to do the trek and we got to see a nice slice of what I expect the island has to offer. My only real complaint is that from where the bus dropped us off in town we still had a 20 minute walk along the busy streets to return to our hotel.

At the Ann Arbor Folk Festival.

2011-01-29T18:31:00.002-05:00

Listen!

via AudioBoo

Seville Day and Night

2011-01-20T16:00:00.001-05:00

Have a taste of Seville in this video. While we didn't really explore the nightlife we got glimpses around dinner as we searched for places to eat. People were out and about having fun. Of course, during the day we saw plenty of great stuff from stunning architecture to all manner of shops great and small and much more.

Download now or watch on posterous

IMG_1847.MOV (2198 KB)

** Ken **

Sent from my iPhone

Seville, Spain

2011-01-20T11:24:00.001-05:00

A much larger city than Granada with a wholly different feel. The Cathedral is not to be missed for its impressive size. The Alcazar feels more opulent than the Alhambra though that is likely an illusion because it is more compact and meant to be a royal palace rather than a fortress. The El Salvadore church though smaller than the cathedral is ornate. Many other things are different here than Granada. The narrow streets, barely one car wide, sport sidewalks that are just wide enough to stand. Squeeze into a doorway as a vehicle goes by or you might get clipped by a side mirror. We are hearing and seeing more birds here but far fewer dogs and cats. Photos:
My Father is standing in the Patio of Oranges outside the cathedral. It is sad to see all that fruit and understand it is sour and not fit to be eaten (sprayed to keep birds away). The Cathedral's Giralda tower rising 97 meters as seen from the entrance just outside Alcazar

One of the pools in the Alcazar. Water features play a big role in the architecture of Muslim-inspired design. Too bad many fountains were not active. The Mercury pool with several pairs of ducks. We also saw a couple wonderfully blue and green peacocks.

** Ken **

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The Alhambra

2011-01-17T03:43:00.001-05:00

We spent several hours yesterday walking the grounds of the Alhambra, the palace of the Nasrid Kings. Two things that really stand out for us are the gardens, especially around the Generalife; and the intricate marble and stone work. Walls are rife with designs etched into the stone. The walks are inlaid with mosaics. The gardens of shaped hedges, trees, and no doubt flowers are exquisite. Everywhere water is flowing in streams and fountains.

** Ken **

Sent from my iPhone

Tenerife Day 4

2011-01-12T11:10:00.001-05:00

We have spent the day strolling through the bustling streets of Puerto de la Cruz. This is a substantial town and it seems prosperous. The streets are clean, there are numerous shops of all types, and overall things seem very well put together. Leaving our hotel we walked once again through Taoro park (not the official name but the name I am using) and down the 186 steps past the falling water feature (see the photo with Mom and Dad) and from there down into the heart of the town. The highlight of the town has to be the sea wall that restrains the frothing surf of the aquamarine Atlantic ocean. Today as we walked along the seawall we saw a couple people swimming in the clear, probably chilly, water. We also saw some people practicing with their paragliders in a parking lot. I suppose they were learning how to control them in a somewhat controlled environment (i.e., on the ground). When we left the seaside for the streets we found them full of shops of al types, cafes and other eateries, and plenty of people that seemed, overall, well off. It is clearly a thriving town.

The photo with the small town in the distance was taken yesterday on our way to what would turn out to be our mist shrouded walk through forest and lava fields. The town is Garachico which was destroyed back in 1706 by volcanic eruption. Today the town is much smaller but it certainly looks cute enough seem from on high (about 500 meters).

** Ken **

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#21: Deerfield Park, In Memory of Richard Bolton

2010-12-15T18:07:00.003-05:00

On an overcast morning Andy Mytys pulled up and I hopped into his car for the drive to Mount Pleasant, Michigan to join dozens of others for the memorial service for Richard "Dick" Bolton. I was part of the small contingent of people who knew Dick through hiking activities focused on the North Country Trail and through the Great Lakes Hikes email group (hosted at Yahoo Groups as "greatlakeshikes"). We arrived not long before the service was meant to start and so were settled down in the basement (undercroft as the church pastor refers to it) amongst a couple dozen other people. The nave was full of everyone else. This modest sized, oldest continually used building, 1882 I believe was when it went up, was a fine place for the memorial service.

After the service people scattered to regroup at a nearby school for a nicely put together lunch. This was where people really had a chance I think to talk and perhaps share memories of Dick. I can't say if that really happened or not but I hope it did. For those of us from Great Lakes Hikes though the highlight of the day was after the lunch. We drove over to Deerfield Park (in Isabella County) to spend a few hours wandering through a perennial favorite place of Dick's throughout the years. This was the first time I had been to this 591 acre park and that added an extra special bit of pleasure for me. I can fully see why Dick enjoyed visiting the park and strolling the few miles of trails that wander through forests of beech, oak, and pine as well as along the banks of the Chippewa River. The afternoon weather had not cleared but when within the forest none of us really noticed the breeze. It was fun to talk through the woods and past things like Bailey's Rock which all have meaning for those of us who either talked with Dick about Deerfield Park or read his numerous missives about the park.

A reminder: You can click the title of this post to see the video in 720p HD. To be sure to receive the highest resolution version of the podcast you should subscribe to the Wandering Knight podcast via the iTunes link provided on the left.

#20: Great Lakes Hikes November 2010 Gathering

2010-11-21T20:52:00.006-05:00

Since 1999 the members of the GreatLakesHikes email group hosted over on Yahoo Groups has held a gathering in early November the weekend before modern gun (rifle) deer season starts. For a weekend we take over the Schoolhouse owned by the Western Michigan Chapter of the North Country Trail Association. The Schoolhouse is located near the town of White Cloud at the intersection of 5 Mile Road and Felch. The North Country Trail is less than a mile away and other trails like the Birch Grove Loop are even closer. It's a great place to get together for a base-camping weekend where you can enjoy the company of friends in an indoor or outdoor setting.

This year the Gathering was held the weekend of November 12-14. People started arriving in the early evening of the 12th and so the fun around the campfire was well under way by the time Andy, Elwira, John, and I pulled in just before 11:00PM on Friday. The evening was chilly but their was little wind and the fire was burning bright and hot. People were comfortable and having fun. We joined right in once we got our shelters pitched. Of course, some people were already asleep for the night but when you remember that some of those people are young, very young, kids that's quite alright. Even the diehards, including me, packed it in around 1:00AM, after all we all knew we had a long fun day ahead of us Saturday.

What really makes the Gathering shine are the people who attend. We had our usual mixed-bag breakfast before getting ourselves sorted out for the various hikes Saturday. The longest of these turned out to be about 11 miles starting at Echo Lake Road and returning to the Schoolhouse. SHorter hikes used that same basic route just starting closer to the Schoolhouse. The weather was overcast and crisp, threatening rain. A pretty typical autumn day in Michigan's woods. By the time we were closing in on the end of the hike that threatening rain began to drizzle down upon us. It wasn't a storm but it was steady. More than enough to cause us, once back inside, to stay pretty much inside. Durning the evening the on-and-off rain kept us from making a second campfire but we made up for it throughout the night with the usual good varied food, excellent conversation, and impromptu live music from Chuck and Charlotte on guitar and violin with Chuck providing gritty vocals.

Sunday dawned colder but dry. Weather that would turn out to be ideal for what we had planned to do. People helped clean up the Schoolhouse and then went their separate ways. Several others decided to join Andy, John, Elwira, and myself and hike our section of North Country Trail and help us do our fall maintenance work. That help was quite welcome as we had a dozen or so major blow down of primarily oak trees stretching across the trail. Over half of them were too big to merely drag off and required us to saw through them first. Many of those required a few hundred strokes with the bow saw to cut through: oak is tough. But with the help we got through the 7 miles of trail in about 5.5 hours of good solid work. Thanks everyone.

This was a very good Gathering and perhaps one of the best attended.

My apologies for the problems in the audio. For those of a technical bent wondering what is going on it is a side-effect of using an external microphone with an iPhone left in regular mode. The iPhone must be in Airplane mode when doing such recording to prevent any chance of interference from the radios in the phone. This is annoying, but to be fair a smartphone isn't a dedicated recording device.

A reminder: You can click the title of this post to see the video in 720p HD. To be sure to receive the highest resolution version of the podcast you should subscribe to the Wandering Knight podcast via the iTunes link provided on the left.

Lunch spot

2010-11-14T22:50:00.002-05:00

Along the NCT doing trail work.

The Gathering, 2010 - The Night Before the Day

2010-11-13T09:16:00.001-05:00

The annual NCTA/GLH Gathering is taking place as late as it can this year. Friends of long standing get together the weekend before rifle deer season for a weekend of schmoozing and hiking. By the time I arrive with Andy, John, and Elwira the campfire fun was well under way. It will be a good weekend.
** Ken **

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TGO Challenge 2011: Waiting, waiting, waiting

2010-11-10T02:38:00.001-05:00

On Monday morning I found myself up very early watching Twitter and being more drawn in than I usually am. The reason was simple: people in the United Kingdom were getting their letters informing them of their acceptance into the 2011 TGO Challenge. Colin Ibbotson (@tramplite on Twitter) was going further and checking if people he knew were on the list and passing out the sad news that some of us were not.I must admit to a much deeper sense of sadness that I did not get in. I was, perhaps unreasonably, surprised that I did not. Perhaps I had fallen into a mistaken belief, an Internet fostered legend perhaps, that applicants outside of the UK pretty much always got in. I hope that belief was mistaken because I'd hate to ponder the alternative.

What surprised me was the depth of my sadness as I learned with increasing certainty that I had not made the cut. I was reconciled to the fact when I received confirmation that I was on the waiting list, number 20, from Roger Smith later in the day. It is remarkable I felt quite so strongly when you consider the amount of effort one has to put out, even if you live near the Scottish Highlands, to take part in the TGO Challenge. I don't think I have formed the deep ties that many other Challengers have formed, seemingly quite quickly in some cases, so I don't have a real good reason why I felt the way I did. I suppose the community feeling the Challenge engenders is stronger than I already knew.

I will still create a route for 2011 and hope that within the next couple of months I manage to creep up the waiting list into the select lucky few that will take part in the Challenge next year. It's not as if I would have made any reservations for plane flights or hotels right now so having to wait is not going to be horrible at least if it only lasts until early next year.

-- Post From My iPad

#19: Fall Fun Day, 2010

2010-10-23T02:54:00.006-04:00

Generally the first weekend of every October you can expect a nip in the air and the leaves of trees to be turning. Autumn is just getting started and the burst of colors before the quiet stark beauty of winter is just beginning to appear in the lower peninsula of Michigan. It is a fine time to be outdoors and a great reason to spend time with friends. With that in mind the Western Michigan chapter of the North Country Trail Association holds an annual event they call Fall Fun Day. A day is spent doing some gentle hikes in the area of White Cloud, Michigan based out of the Birch Grove Schoolhouse. After the hiking is done those that are up for it spend a few more happy hours enjoying fantastic food that has been prepared by diligent volunteers of the chapter.

An Autumn Paddle

2010-10-13T23:05:00.002-04:00

On Monday Steve and I put together our Pakboat Puffins to do a paddle along the Huron River. We were going to paddle the stretch between Flook Dam on Portage Lake down to Delhi. I have paddled a this section a few times in the past but not in the past few years. It features a few rifles and perhaps one small rapids though even that rapid is tiny especially when water is low. Another nice feature of this section, and why I had paddled it before with other friends, is the canoe campsite about 40 minutes down stream. Steve and I had no plans on stopping there. We were just out for the day to paddle and, with luck, enjoy cider at Dexter Cider Mill. We were not quite sure how long the paddle would be - we figured between four and six hours depending on how lazy we were about things. We had plenty of time so being lazy was definitely an option.

It was a glorious Fall day with just a few clouds adding texture to the blue sky. In the sun it was pleasantly warm. We set out just before noon and made the quick portage across the dam to start our paddle. We did not think we would see anyone on the river after leaving the boat landing and we were right. But we made up for the lack of people encountered by spotting numerous turtles, 3 osprey, a heron, and naturally numerous fish in the very clear water. The trees were beginning to show their fall colors, various birds besides what Steve spied were out and about calling to each other, and once in a while you would hear a croak of a frog.

We would eventually see one kayaker and late in the day a couple canoeing a small portion of the river. One fisherman out late in the day perhaps hoping to catch something as the afternoon waned. All in all, we were pretty much alone.

Overall the paddle would take us a little more than four hours. We paused for an hour at the Dexter Cider Mill to have lunch. The cider mill was closed but the pizza and sub shop across the street was open and although it took a bit longer to get our food than we thought it would the hot subs made a welcome lunch. To add a bit of excitement to that break I found that I had to re-assemble my Puffin a bit. The Pakboat Puffin is a folding kayak. It's probably better to say assemble-able kayak. You have a skin, I don't recall what the material is called now but it is tough, and their are several metal struts and ribs. You insert the long struts and ribs to create the kayak, fill the air tubes - sponsons - to increase floatation and stability, put on the spray deck, and you have a kayak that is quite serviceable in rivers and sheltered bays (I'd not use it in big open water). Pakboat is known for their folding canoes that are often used to paddle wilderness rivers so they have a good reputation and the Puffin 12 foot kayak is a tough boat. Steve has a similar boat, the Puffin Sport. I had a rib pop out on me at the lunch break. It probably happened when I got out of the boat, pushing down on the boat as I stood up. It's easy enough to fix but I had to first remove the spray deck, deflate the sponsons, and then reset the rib. Once that was done my Puffin was good as new.

One other aspect worth noting about skin-on-frame boats is that when you bump a rock you really feel it. Sadly I bumped more than a few rocks along the way. I'll probably never be a big whitewater paddler as I can't read the water from a distance. But then when the water is low even a sighted fellow like Steve will bump a rock now and then too. I can't swear to it but I suspect I have a sore spot on my rear because of the few rocks I bumped.

We had a very good day. We spent a few good hours paddling on the water and the time spent setting up Steve's motorcycle so he could ride back to the truck and then return to fetch me and his boat wasn't all that long. I since have taken a look at a map of the area and it looks like we may have paddled around 12 miles, perhaps closer to 13 miles. I was surprised by this and it makes me feel better about the sore thighs and butt.

One last little note about the photos taken on this trip. I used my iPhone 4 to take the pictures. I had put the phone inside an Aquapac bag which has an optically clear section of plastic that you can shoot through. They call it "optically clear" but unless you manage to keep things clean you are going to have slightly blurrier images than you would shooting with a naked lens. However, having the phone in the waterproof bag is definitely worth the price of slightly less clear photos.

Hidden Lake Garden Walk

2010-08-03T04:22:00.001-04:00

Comment: The Ann Arbor Walks meetup.com hike for August 2, 2010.

Name: Track 020-Hidden Lake Garden, Tipton,MI
Date: Aug 2, 2010 11:19 am
Map:
(valid until Mar 20, 2010) Google Map
Distance: 13.2 kilometers
Elapsed Time: 2:47:09
Avg Speed: 4.7 km/h
Max Speed: 7.9 km/h
Avg Pace: 12' 41" per km
Min Altitude: 287 m
Max Altitude: 315 m
Start Time: 2010-08-02T15:19:08Z
Start Location: Zone: 16T
Easting: 739181mE
Northing: 4657154mN
End Location: Zone: 16T
Easting: 739191mE
Northing: 4657121mN

Learn more about our group here at the meetup site.

Hidden Lake Gardens, located near Tipton, Michigan is a new place for me. It boasts at least 5 miles of woods trails that also spend a bit of time weaving through prairie-like glades. There is also a several mile drive you can walk or, obviously, drive that affords the visitor many expansive views that put one in mind of a golf course without the annoyances that golfers would pose. Steve organized the hike for the Ann Arbor Walks meetup.com group and I along with Patti and Lynn joined him for this gentle ramble.

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Maker Faire: Detroit 2010

2010-08-01T16:30:00.001-04:00

The Maker Faire has come to Dearborn, Michigan. This is, as far as I know, the first time this fair(e) of do-it-yourselfers who love to build mechanical and electrical and all sorts of other things has left the San Francisco Bay area. Makers are people who like to build things, to tinker with hardware, make robots, bild air launching marshmellow shooters, design and fabricate Rube Goldberg machines of considerably size, and so much more. Their is a sense of overwhelming creativity and a desire to affect the word that permeates the whole event. Not only can you see and sometimes interact with the things being shown off but you can learn how to build your own devices too.

I joined my friends Lar and Marla with their baby Andrew to spend a part of Saturday at the Maker Faire. We just wanted to wander around and see what we could see and we were not disappointed. Seing people create interesting and sometimes unusual or quirky things is just plain fun. You have to smile when you see are blue car covered in a couple hundred robotic fish and lobster that are all wired into the vehicle's electrical system and do strange things at the behest of the driver. Or you can find yourself watching a group of people in fire suits working with fresh molten metal. I wish my battery had not long since died because filming those people pouring molten metal from a hand cauldron that required six of them to shift and pour into molds. I wonder what they were going to do with that molten metal. Of course, seeing strange vehicles like Big Dog (or is it Dawg) which is a four-person bike with flame throwers that fire flames several feet up into the air; or, the seven or so person multi-wheel bike that has people sitting in a circle each pedaling to propel the bike with one person steering. I got to ride that and it was fun. That was built by one father who built three of these bikes that people could pedal around the fair. I wish I could have tried the two-wheel bike that looked like a hamster wheel with a person sitting recumbent style pedaling away. On the other hand the monocycle motobike look terrifying and I don't think anyone who didn't already have extensive motorcycle experience should give that thing a shot though the guy I saw driving it wasn't even wearing a helmet.

Some people clearly have a sense of whimsy. The fellow who had the idea to build a swing with a fountain falls into this group. I got to try this one out. As you swing back and forth the fountain would throw water as any good fountain does but as you approached the low-point of your swing the fountain would stop and you would not, usually anyway, get wet. I guess the timing was a bit off because I did get somewhat damp though hardly soaked. The fellow I talked with just had the idea to do this and got friends together to help him build the swing set, fountain, and sensors that controlled the spray (using the angle of the swinger to tell when to turn things on and off). That was fun.

We had a great time exploring and seeing what things people built. The biofeedback based flame thrower from Canada was interesting. The Power Racing Series was intriguing especially when you realize that those little electric kid sized cars are only meant to hold about 120-130 pounds and these builders are souping them up for adults to race. I wish I had tried one out. Then, of course, their are the great machines like the life-size Mouse Trap modeled directly off the old game that you probably played with as a kid. This trap was built to crush a car. They needed five days to assemble the cranes, gantries, stairs, trebuchet, cast-iron bathtub, and two-ton weight that would crush the van. They would fire this thing off a few time during the day and the Astro van was looking pretty smutted when I got to see it. This is a machine that required a dedicated person with passion to design and build. That's impressive when you learn this has been in development for years.

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Ann Arbor Summer Festival

2010-07-11T18:41:00.000-04:00

- Posted from my iPhone

Ann Arbor Summer Festival

2010-07-10T02:13:00.001-04:00

Ann Arbor Summer Festival: Top of the Park

2010-07-01T23:07:00.000-04:00

- Posted from my iPhone

Location:E Washington St,Ann Arbor,United States

TGO Challenge Day 14: May 27, 2010 - Stonehaven and Montrose

2010-06-23T10:18:00.000-04:00

It rained a bit during the night but it wasn't enough to really bother anyone. I think I was irritated more by the light that was shining into my shelter. I also spent a stupidly long time finding my way back to my campsite after visiting the bathroom. Annoying. By the time morning came with overcast skies and humid air. We packed up our dew coated shelters and left the caravan campground a bit past 08:30.

Photo: Nicolas and Jeroen hiking down a dirt road. Our last day together would start out with a several kilometer road walk then feature a dozen or so kilometers within the Fetteresso Forest, and I'd top it off with another ten or so clicks on a busy paved road. While the paths in the Fetteresso are often not the prettiest and the forest is clearly a working forest it is still a nice place.

The first few miles of the walk towards the sea today were on roads. The roads were not that busy which made it tolerable.. We found that we were able to cover the 7 or so kilometers to the northern edge of Pitreadie Farm near Moss-side where we took a break before beginning the lengthy crossing of the big fields that are home to numerous cows. It was starting to cloud over and what I thought was going to be a scorcher of a day was turning out not to be so bad. I pulled ahead of my companions who were taking a longer rest to get a break from their massive packs. I strolled along the wide farm path near large colorful cattle who sometimes seemed to care I was moving by and sometimes seemed to barely register my presence. I am basing this pretty much entirely on the quality and volume of the moos that some let loose as I went by. Perhaps that doesn't count for much. I am happy none really moved towards me though some definitely did look my way. At the southern edge of the farm field I found a locked gate and the only way over was to climb over a barbed wire fence. This happens now and then and I find it really annoying. The wire is just a pain to deal with especially as you worry about cutting yourself. Nicolas and Jeroen caught up to me at this point.

We quickly entered the Fetteresso Forest. We ascended through the managed forest paths as the weateher got blustery and we put our rain gear on. The paths in the forest here run from forest road to very narrow, the width of a bike tire it seems, and it can be confusing at times. You need to pay closer attention to how many intersections you have passed so you can properly place yourself on a map. If you are not used to this sort of thing the Fetteresso can be daunting but I think Nicolas had no real issues with the forest. Our biggest complaint was that the really narrow paths were often a flooded mess. But even though sometimes the going was a bit slow we made fine progress through the various types of paths and tracks. That is perhaps the single most notable thing about the Fetteresso Forest: the variety of path types. One moment you can be walking a hiking/biking trail and the next passing by a huge stack of cut timber on a logging road. This is a working forest more akin to something you might find in the Hundred Mile Wilderness (not!) than a large forest that is just allowed to grow as it would. ''In early afternoon we pass by the southern edge of Hill of Hobseat and that is about when it really clouded over and subsequently began to pour - not far from Mergie.

Photo: The Fetteresso Forest mixes wide and narrow paths with forest roads. It can be a confusing place if you do not pay attention to the map and check your location often. However, it shouldn't be feared. One thing that is notable about this working forest is that the forest itself is really quite inpenetrable beyond the paths.

Nicolas and Jeroen decided that they were done for the day. Jeroen's back was acting up so pushing on the remaining several miles to Stonehaven was not in the cards. I was unwilling to set up camp so early especially since it was dumping rain. I decided to continue on. From Mergie you have a couple of options of how you head to Stonehaven. The minor roads probably require a bit more hiking and you have a wretched highway crossing unless you walk a way north to Slug road and cross the highway using the overpass. Walking down Slug road is shorter but a slog along a far busier, though it is just one lane in each direction, road. I took the latter route and just had to pay a bit more attention to the fast traffic, especially trucks, as they zoomed on by. I walked through the rain wishing it would stop. I gaze out across the road and through the inhabited farm fields and waited for the rain to subside. Eventually it did and I just had to worry about getting splashed.

I spent about 2.5 hours walking down SLug road towards Stonehaven. As I entered the town the sun broke out and warmed things back up and I felt as though I was ending my walk on a high note. Sure I had no idea where the train station was and I was even in a bit of doubt as to where the sea actually was but I had made it. I was done. I found the huge hotel in the heart of downtown and eventually figured out I had walked right by the train station. Once I figured out where things were it was a fairly easy matter to catch a train to Montrose and find my way , with an able assist from both Challenge Control and a store owner on High Street, to the Park Hotel. I entered Control around 20:00 and was welcomed by Robin. My walk was done. The last tough bit of navigation to the George House was all that was left: turned out that was the worst part of the day. I went a bit astray a couple of times before finding the place. It's a nice enough hotel though my bed feels a bit lumpy.

* * *

I was right that my bed was lumpy. I think it might have had a tilt in it as well. Considering that I was paying for this room I think the bed should have been more comfortable than it was (though it was hardly the worst I have ever slept on; that award probably still belongs to The Doyle or that horrid place in Anchorage that Joe and I used one night). However, the rest of the room and the breakfast were good. At breakfast I found Louise Kiernan and the rest of her family group along with Barbara Peers. We didn't have much of a chance to talk as they were getting ready to depart and I was in the midst of a cooling breakfast.

I checked out and wandered over to the Park Hotel and Challenge Control under a sunny sky. It was going to be a good final day for the last walkers to enter Montrose and check in. I had a couple things to pick up at Control that I had forgotten to fetch yesterday and once that was done I just hung out. Challenge Control can be a beehive of activity when all of the Challengers are out and I reckon it is even busier when scores of walkers are arriving. But today, Friday the final day of the Challenge, it wasn't too busy. People trickled in and signed out and were presented with the same goodies I had received the night before. I was waiting for Nocolas and Jeroen to arrive. I knew they were on their way and it was just a matter of time before they strolled in. That time eventually came and I got to congratulate them on completing their walk. That is pretty much how the day went. Chatting with people who had just arrived, others who were hanging out like me, and just killing time. Most of us were wiping out the day until the final Challenge dinner. I had decided that I would stay for the , somewhat overpriced I think, meal and catch the last train to Glasgow. Had I planned things better I'd have cancelled my room in Glasgow and stuck around Friday night so I could have the full enjoyment of the dinner and the afterglow that would surely take place afterwards. Oh well. While I enjoy the company and the speeches from people like Roger Smith are fun the food the Park Hotel provides for your £17.50 is so-so.

Location: Stonehaven and Montrose

-- Post From My iPad

TGO Challenge Day 13: May 26, 2010 - Waulkmill Campground

2010-06-20T22:29:00.000-04:00

The biggest difference between a hotel and a B&B has to be in the food they offer you at breakfast. I had a great room that simply based on the number of people it could sleep would probably cost an arm and a leg in some places but the choices I had for breakfast were meager compared to any of the B&Bs I stayed at. It was a simple Continental style breakfast with small cereal boxes of various cereals with a small plastic bottle of milk suitable for a bowl or two and that was about it. I joined Nicolas and Jeroen and we ate our small breakfasts together. A regular cooked breakfast definitely is leaps and bounds better but I suppose we could argue that this cereal breakfast is much more akin to what most of us have on the trail. It's just that when you spend good money for a room you want to end with a good meal too.

I decided that I was going to buy the Paramo Qito jacket the night before and so while Nicolas and I went to the outfitter so I could make the purchase and he could check on a couple things Jeroen visited the grocery to get a bit more food. When we met up a little later it was edging past 09:20. It was clear and the day was warming up nicely. We gathered our gaar and set out for the primarily road walking of the day.

Photo: Even a road walk can be pretty when you cross rivers like this. Granted this was the only water we would see today but the point is still valid.

We started out walking along fairly quiet roads that would take us in and out of small woods and past farm fields. It was easy walking through what I would classify as rural lands not unlike places in farm country you can find almost anywhere. It was easy going and as we walked we chatted about the events that had lead to this point and other things that you talk about during a lazy walk. Soon we found we had worked our way, via back roads, a few miles and we saw a couple other Challengers coming down the road. The couple were Lou and Phyllis LaBorwit. They were taking a more direct route to get where they were going. We walked together for a short time but soon we had to go our way and they went theirs. Soon clouds took over the sky and it started to spit just a little bit. Just enough that we felt we ought to put our raingear on. That gave me a chance to try out my new Paramo Qito.

Photo: I look spiffy in my new jacket. It was particularly good at keeping me comfortable when the wind picked up on this slightly cooler afternoon.

We paused at the top of a hill in Slewdrum Forest near Muckle Ord. It would be our last break of the day as we just had to walk down the gentle, though seemingly endless, hill to the Waulkmill Campground. It was early afternoon and seemed too early to stop but that was just what we did. We found our patch of grass by some picnic tables to set up our camp. That is what we got for our £9.00. Sure we got access to a bathroom and showers but it really isn't that much when you think about it. Of course perhaps I would have felt differently if I had felt like using the shower as Jeroen would do but I don't think so.

There is a restaurant next to the campground. I am not sure of its name though I heard it said several times. Nicolas and I went in there while Jeroen decided to take a nap. It was mid-afternoon and a few people and a dog were at this surprisingly large inn. We settled in for some tea and later beer. It was a nice place to kill time which is precisely what we were doing. I later had dinner, pretty good, at this eatery. I think if we had shown up just a little earlier than we had we would have found some other Challengers. Instead it was just us and a few locals. Not a bad way to spend the afternoon and early evening. It is raining now as I write this under my Trailstar bathed in the rather glaring glow of a lamp near ground level that is shining too brightly into my shelter. Still I think I will sleep well enough as although there are many campers here I think most of them are empty.

Photo: Our camp in the RV campground. We have the range of shelters here from Nicolas' Akto through Jeroen's Tarptent to my Trailstar.

Location: Waulkmill Camoground

-- Post From My iPad

TGO Challenge Day 12: May 25, 2010 - Aboyne

2010-06-17T09:01:00.001-04:00

After a night's sleep that seemed to be over all to quickly I walked out of the Glenernan Guest House on a pleasant somewhat cloudy but not threatening morning. I found my way down to the old train station where teh Deeside Way runs and almost immediately found two backpackers with staggeringly large packs - two Challengers going my way. Nicolas and Jeroen are the two TGO Challengers from Belgium. Nicolas has done the Challenge several times and I fully expect he will be the first from his country to do ten crossings. Jeroen is on his first Challenge. They were going to walk the Deeside Way to Aboyne and since that was what I had decided to do I joined them. My plan before had been to climb Mt. Keen but I wimped out. It was probably really chilly up on that easternmost Munro anyway. The walk to Aboyne along the hike and bike path that runs near the Dee was going to be considerably shorter and clearly a lot easier as it would not rise to 3,000 feet but stay at the river's elevation.

Photo: Just one of the views from the former railroad grade that has now turned into a hiking and biking trail. It is an easy stroll between the two small river towns of Ballater and Aboyne.

It isn't the most exciting of walks you can do but the path is not a bad one and the scenery, what there is of it, isn't bad. Having the river for company a lot of the way helps out a lot. Nicolas is a talker and I found that we were able to chat about a fair bit quite easily. Now and then Jeroen would chime in but he was far less involved in the conversation perhaps because his english isn't as strong as Nicolas' but he could also be shy. We strolled down the former railroad track pausing a couple times for breaks and in fairly short order we found ourselves approaching the flooded areas of the path that are near Aboyne. We found our way to the outfitters where my companions wanted to check out some of the Paramo clothing for themselves and family members. I also took a good long look at some of the clothing as I had been hearing good things about items like the Qito rain jacket for a long time. The outfitters knew all about the Challenge and as we browsed they fed us tea. I would not be surprised if other Challengers pass through here and end up spending some money like all of us would end up doing. By the time we walked out of the store my Belgium companions had both purchased Paramo clothing and I was on the fence and tethering towards buying a Qito jacket it was mid-afternoon. We worked our way over to the Boat Inn which is a serious hotel and got ourselves rooms. Though the rooms are on the pricy side, especially for one person, they are well appointed coming with a kitchenette. I know other Challengers camped out not far from the hotel and I am also aware of a few Challengers who stayed in other guest houses in the area. I think we were the only ones though at the Boat Inn.

After a relaxing shower and a fine meal at the restaurant and a few congenial drinks shared with my new Belgium hiking buddies we went off to our respective rooms for a fairly early night's bedtime as the rains continued to come down in fits and starts.

Location: Aboyne (The Boat Inn)

-- Post From My iPad

TGO Challenge Day 11: May 24, 2010 - Ballater

2010-06-16T12:15:00.000-04:00

I'm not sure exactly when I walked out the door of my B&B but it was after 09:00. The skies were overcast and it felt a bit blustery. I walked down the quiet road towards the forest that has paths that lead, among other places, past the Lion's Face rock formation. The woods here are full of nice paths and I began ascending the path I thought would take me where I needed to go. But I had gone the wrong way and as I gained elevation I realized I had made an error and was climbing Craag Choinnich. As I left the woods I noticed that the wind had picked up considerably and I donned my poncho more for wind protection than against the spitting rains. The view from the top of the peak was nice enough but it really was not worth the extra time and effort to get up there given the quality of the weather. However, on a nice day I think this must be a popular spot. I went back down and took a path that would take me out to the A93. I ended up popping out a lot sooner than I would have liked. The best path for avoiding the A93 turns out to be off to the right of where I was. Walking the busy road was not much fun but you do what you have to do.

Photo: The view from the Craag Choinnich. Definitely a windy morning up on this fairly exposed bit of rock above Braemar.

I crossed over the Invercauld Bridge into the Balloochbuie Forest and began heading towards Balmoral Castle. At this point the walking is all along forest service style roads. The roads in this managed forest are very well cared for. In fact I would pass by a road crew that was adding gravel to the road base and then flattening it down with a steam roller, what a huge racket that made. During part of this time walking under the now clear skies I hustled to keep up with another Challenger who set a pace I really could not keep up with over the long haul. We passed by the old cottage, with some aggressive dogs that I definitely would not trust, where two years back I realized I was going the wrong way (fortunately a path exists that leads, or used to, back towards Glas Alt Shiel and Gelder Shiel bothy). My hiking buddy had been hiking for a lot longer than I and decided to pause for a tea break. I kept going along the forest road alone.

Photos: We were still a little ways from the castle at Balmoral when we encountered these hairy horses and reddish brown cattle. The walk had been through managed forest up to this point where farm fields took over before coming to the castle and its immediate surrounds.

As I was photographing some rather hairy horses in fields not that far from Balmoral Castle my erstwhile partner caught up to me and we continued on towards the castle. We had hoped to see the castle but we couldn't get close to it without paying an entrance fee which we did not intend to do. We both thought there was a tea room we could get a drink at but if it was present I certainly did not see it (we had separated again by this point). It was time to head down the B road towards Ballater. This was a quiet road with infrequent traffic which made it tolerable. But it is a long walk.

Passing by the sign reading "Ballater 6" around 16:00 was a rather depressing event. It meant I still had 6 miles to go and I had thought I was a bit closer than that. I pushed on. I passed the old memorial to Queen Victoria and pushed on. I passed by some nice farms with huge fields and shaggy horses. Some had people working in them. I kept pushing on. I passed a sign telling me that Spital of Glenmuick was 7 miles away and continued on along the eastern bank of the river Dee. Traffic increased and at last I was crossing the bridge that would put me in the heart of Ballater - it was a bit pasted 18:00. If only I had known where the campground was I might have gone right there and camped out but instead I spent quite a bit of time tracking down a room. I ran into a few people, Challenters from prior years who recognized me, and learned from them of a possible place to stay. Turned out they were full but the lady who ran the place called another guest house and found that he had a room left. I walked over to that B&B (turned out to be farther away than I had thought though still only 5 minutes from the heart of the village) and found a welcoming B&B waiting for me (the Glenernan Guest House). Once I settled in I went down to the Alexandra where I had learned I could get a good meal and was likely to find other Challengers. The guest house owner was right on both counts.

I had a reasonably good steak though nothing special after enjoying a hard cider at the bar while waiting for a table. As I finished off my meal Mase, Paddy, and Jill who I had first met back at Stravaigers campground and bunkhouse in Fort Augustus came on by. They had already eaten but were hanging out enjoying the fine atmosphere of the place before returning to their campsite. I joined them and for the next few hours, until the staff told us it was time for them to close, we enjoyed each others company and shared a few good drinks. It was a great way to spend the night. I left them to return to the campground (never did figure out where it was) and I went back to my B&B. As I arrived I met the owner who was closing things up for the night. I hope I did not seem to drunk. I don't think I was. I'll sleep well.

Location: Ballater (near Glenernan B&B)

-- Post From My iPad

TGO Challenge Day 10: May 23, 2010 - Braemar

2010-06-14T20:35:00.000-04:00

A good long night's sleep was just what my feet needed to recover from their prunish state. My shoes were still rather wet and my socks were not in the best of shape but my feet were happy once again. I had taken a lovely shower the night before (ah good water pressure and a normal sized towel that is provided by Mar Lodge, such a step up from a hostel bunkhouse) and I was ready for the day. I wandered out into the cool overcast morning and strolled over to the main building. That stroll yesterday felt like it took so much longer. Just goes to show what a good rest can do and the absense of pain doesn't hurt things either. My only concern was that I had left my rainwear in my room and it sure looked like it was going to open up on pour. I reached the main building before that happened. Finding a few other Challengers having cereal, toast, juice (none for me as it seemed to be gone) and coffee in the spacious kitchen I settled down to join them for a lazy breakfast. Had I a chance to do it again I would spend the extra couple pounds and get the full cooked breakfast even though Braemar is only a scant handful of klicks away. I was not in any great rush. When I did return to my room to pack up I found Jeremy, a first time Challenger who had started near his home village located not far from Torridon, also getting ready to depart. Just as we were set to leave the rains did arrive. It seemed silly to leave the dry warmth of the bunkhouse entrway and the reasonably comfortable couch for the pouring rain and a road walk into Braemar. After all the walk would only take an hour or two and the rain would probably pass by quickly. We waited. Our patience was rewarded in fairly short order and sometime around 10:00 we left the bunkhouse and began the 0.4 mile walk out of the grand Mar Lodge estate to the road that would take us into Braemar.

Photo: Stiles are rare over here. More often than not you have to figure out how to open up a gate in a fence and the locks seem to vary with every gate. Once in a while you might find a kissing gate that you simply have to squeeze through. Stiles like this are a nice change but they could be a bit better too. For example, they often seem short a step on each side - that is unless you are long-legged like Jeremy who took this photo.

We walked down the road until we came to the parking lot that gives one access to the paths in the Morrone Birkwoods. These paths wind around a small forest among hills that overlook Braemar. We entered the woods and soon found a large beaver dam amongst the forest tracks. It was a far better way to work our way towards the town than the direct but tedious road walk. We negotiated a couple fences and stiles and soon found our way to a great overlook. I am not actually sure what the name of this spot is though I am sure it is named and it is definitely popular.

Photo: I am not sure what the name of the lookout here is but the view on a clear day most be wonderful.

When we walked down into Braemar Jeremy and I split apart. He went to find the campground and I wandered into the tourist information office to see if a B&B was available. I found one and ended up paying a rather high price for it. This brings up a sore point with me. I understand paying a bit more for a double room (that is a room with a double bed) than a single but paying twice as much is excessive. What irks me a bit more is the way the room rate was explained lead me to think it was considerably less than it was and when this came up the lady behind the desk in her attempts to apologize ended up making me feel as though it was my fault. Annoying.

I found my B&B and then went back down to the Fife Arms to see who was around. I found a few Challengers present including Alan and Phil and SHirl (Sloman, Lambert, and Worrall) with a few others. We shared some drinks and then a game of team pool. The rules were a bit different from what I know and I almost made a couple mistakes like trying to make a shot using the other teams orange (we were red) balls to sink a red ball. Though Alan and I lost to Phil and SHirl we did not do badly. We all had fun. But all good things have to end and these three veteran Challengers had to get going to cover the kilometers to get to their next port of call - Callater Lodge I think for all of them. Once they left, it was mid-afternoon by this time, things seemed awfully dead. I had nothing to do.

Photo: A look at the quiet street my B&B is just off. It is a quiet early evening here in Braemar.

I know other Challengers were in town and you would think I would have been able to find them in the usual watering holes but I could not. I did not check out the hostel or campground and maybe they were all hanging out in those places. I ended up having a quiet bite at the nice chiipy shop (they always seem to have a horde of motorcycles parked in front) and then I went back to my B&B for the night. Even though I know at least two other Challengers are here, Lou and Phyllis, I haven't seen hide or hair of them. I guess I will just settle in for bed. I kind of wish I was elsewhere. It's too long in this town with no one to share time with and I feel as though I've spent too much money. I don't mind spending money if I get something good out of it in terms of time spent with others or finding something cool in the town but that isn't really happening this time around.

Location: Braemar

-- Post From My iPad

TGO Challenge Day 9: May 22, 2010 - Mar Lodge

2010-06-13T20:06:00.000-04:00

I was right my selected spot for camping was not quite flat. I found myself sliding now and then off my ideal spot and bumping the silnylon of my Trailstar. Since condensation was forming on the inside of the shelter, a normal problem with any single wall shelter especially when their is little wind blowing through to help whisk moisture away, the outer shell of my sleeping bag was moist too. Not wet just a bit damp. This is an issue anyone using single wall shelters has to deal with. People using double wall shelters deal with it too but the condensation is a bit farther away so you can be a bit more causual about dealing with it. Since the sun was out it was easy to dry things off. I was ready to leave camp around 08:40 not that long after Lou and Phyllis had finished pulling up their stakes and departing. I caught up to them right by the good stream at the old ruined shack (which, to be honest, I don't think I ever really saw this time). We forded the stream, got water, and then continued on our way. In this area the paths appear and vanish in the peat bog mire and we actually lost the path for a while and ended up following what is probably a sheep trail. It was a definite path but not one people would want to follow. We crept along for a few minutes and then noticed that the nice easy to walk path was a couple meters to our left and just above us. Even though it wasn't much above us it was a little scramble to get to it. It just shows that you can be practically on top of a far superior route and not realize it for the longest time.

Photo: Does it look scarier than it is? Yes, it does. Much of the walking today would be through the glen with very little elevation change. You need to head into the mountains.

When we crossed the metal bridge over the fast flowing River Eidart we slowly began to spread out. The temperature was rising steadily as we walked through the rolling hills. The skies did not stay blue through the whole day but the times that clouds took over did not last all that long. It was a very nice day to be walking the paths through Feshie even though as the day wore on I did feel a touch of sun or wind burn forming on my exposed arm. It was good to just walk along the paths and enjoy the good weather. A few times I found that I would have to pause and search for the path as it had temporarily vanished from view. One time this happened at a stream crossing in early afternoon right around when I was starting to feel pretty hungry. I paused to have lunch and as I was finishing two Challengers, the couple Lou, Phyllis and I had seen the previous afternoon, came on by. They had just talked with Lou and Phyllis and I learned they weren't that far behind me. I freely admit I took advantage of watching them depart and seeing which way they went to pick up the proper path once more.

Photo: in the early afternoon clouds chased each other across the sky but I never as if it was going to rain.

Eventually I found my way to the two-tracks that start near Geldie Lodge. Geldie Lodge is, like so many places, a bit misnamed. Once, years and years ago, it may have been used as lodging for the occasional shepherd but today it is just an empty shell. No lodging here. I must admit I find it a bit depressing to see the word "lodge" on a map and then find that you can't actually stay there. I'd rather it just said "ruin" and be done with it. Had I arrived earlier in the day and done some serious searching perhaps I could have found Alan and Phil's wine and cheese party but it was not to be. Instead I continued on my way through the modestly deep and very swift flowing water that was gushing across the road (and completely flooded my shoes) on down past the properly named, actually it might lack a name entirely and just have the building symbol which doesn't inspire any thoughts or feelings, ruined building at Ruigh nan Clach towards (the not white) White Bridge.

Photo: I'm fairly sure that sign wasn't there two years ago.

Two years ago, the 2008 TGO Challenge, I reached White Bridge a little after 17:00 and found a few people set up on the windy banks of the River Dee. I decided, along with Laura and Mary Ann, to go on to Mar Lodge where I lucked out and managed to get an apartment for myself instead of taking a room in the bunkhouse. This time I crossed the green colored White Bridge around 16:00 and found myself alone. I had seen quite a few cyclists the last few kilometers who were either out for a day of riding the good two-tracks or perhaps they were going to bike close to some of the peaks and then make summit attempts by foot. It was certainly a fine day for either; far better weather (even if a tad warm) than two years ago. I treated myself to a lazy break by the river before returning to the gravel track. I still had quite a ways to go if I wanted to spend the night at Mar Lodge.

The two-track here is rather dull. It is merely the means of getting from point A to B. Their is not much to draw your attention away from the squishing of your feet in your sodden shoes or the slowly increasing aching of your feet as your pound the hard surface towards the admittedly pretty forested area by Linn of Dee. When I got there I saw, and especially heard, plenty of signs of people out having a good time. I am not sure if anyone was in the water (it is a very fast river here and paddling it could be tough if you aren't experienced) but that hardly matters as it was clear people were out and about having fun. Last time through this way we saw no one. Perhaps because this time was a Saturday afternoon, around 17:30, instead of a slightly later Friday afternoon was all the difference that was needed but I think not. I decided to walk the roads towards the front entrance of Mar Lodge. I think this was a mistake. It is definitely a longer route than going via the back route past Claybookie. It could be a couple klicks longer. It certainly felt a lot longer to my feet. I was very happy to see the welcoming sign at the estate just a little before 19:00. As I strolled up to the massive main building I could hear the sounds of a bagpipe drifting across the estate as someone practiced his or her craft. I was able to get a bed in the bunkhouse and take part in the very nicely put together dinner. Their are quite a few Challengers here though after having dinner with the bulk of them I have only seen my roommates and even them just briefly. I am pooped and my prune-looking feet are crying for a nice dry rest. It has been a good day.

Video: Much of this video was shot early in the day while still about 14km from White Bridge.

Location: Mar Lodge

-- Post From My iPad

TGO Challenge Day 8: May 21, 2010 - Somewhere in Glen Feshie

2010-06-10T16:56:00.001-04:00

The sliver of sunshine that has been peeking out through the masses of clouds has all but vanished and I think it will not be coming back tonight. It is about 21:30 and I have just left Lou and Phyllis to finish up their dinner at their solid blue Stephenson and returned to my screamingly yellow Mountain Laurel Designs Trailstar. This is a pretty nice camping spot even though I could have picked slightly less lumpy and sloped ground than I did. It has been a good day and I think it will be a good night even if I find myself sliding off my sleeping pad a fair bit.

I left the Allt Gynack B&B after a filling Scottish breakfast a little before 09:00. The mroning was bright and clear promising fine weather for the foreseeable future. I strolled through the quiet streets of Kingussie heading out of towards towards Ruthven Barracks. As I neared the old fort I saw Lou and Phyllis coming out from the place they had stayed the night before. They have the distinction of not only leading the American contingent of TGO Challengers in successful crossings, having done more than a dozen each, but also of being the oldest couple on the Challenge this year (81 and 78 respectively I believe). They're well liked by everyone and a whole slew of stories exist around them. They're good people and I was happy to join them for a while as we walked down the road past the old fort towards Tromie Bridge. I had thought I might pause at the barracks to get some additional photos and video but before I knew it it was receding into the background as I chatted with the venerable couple about the Challenge. At some point as we worked our way through the very much managed Baileguish forest I pulled ahead from Lou and Phyl and continued the easy walk through the woods and farm along the forest roads and farm track. The morning was passing easily and the weather was still quite fine. I was feeling in fine spirits as I came to the paved road that runs along the River Feshie's western bank. When I came to the lovely sign saying that I was at the last bridge crossing of the Feshie I had to make the sad decision to cross here instead of taking a chance and fording the river downstream by the bothy (which I thought might be possible and later learned definitely was possible as Vicky Allen did just that). I would get to experience new paths though which is a good thing. In fact, the path I was following was also new to Lou and Phyl.

Photo: Signs like this are definitely mire common than they were two years ago. Photo by Phyllis.

By this time the clouds had chased the sun away and the wind was picking up somewhat. Sounds of the river competed for my attention along with sounds of construction work. I am not quite sure what those fellows were doing but I'd not be surprised if it involved some type of bridge work. My narrow path took me inland and well up above the river below. It wasn't hard walking but it was a bit muddy. Then the path came to a gushing stream. If you have long legs and are confident crossing that fast flowing moderately deep stream would be easy work for you. It gave me pause and I had to pluck up my courage to go across. Fortunately as I was getting ready to cross, perhaps 30 or so minutes after arriving (I had a snack too) Lou and Phyl showed up as did a local fellow out for a day hike. He was of great help to Lou and Phyl ferrying their packs across for them. I had crossed by this time and together we continued along the narrow path, now and then it would come within feet of River Feshie, towards the bothy at Ruigh-aiteachain. We walked together to the bothy wading through one more stream (I should have removed my shoes for that one too) and passing by a group of cyclists out for a day of hill riding and then we were at the bothy just as it began to rain.

The rain did not last long and it gave us an excuse to sit inside briefly and have snacks and gaze at the map figuring out whether to go on or not. It was still rather early, barely 15:00 when we arrived. Lingering about was not a problem for any of us and when Vicky Allen showed up, having set up her tent a ways downstream (the best water source is at the bothy along with an actual privy) we lingered a bit longer still. But it was really too early to stop even though I did consider it as I was really hoping to get some photographs and shoot a bit of video of the local friendly horses if they decided to make an appearance (they did not, I wonder if Vicky saw them). Lou and Phyllis wanted to shave off some kilometers so they could get to Braemar at a reasonable hour tomorrow. I had no such ambitious plans but shortening the hiking the following day to either WHite Bridge or Mar Lodge was fine with me. We gathered our stuff up, said farewell to Vicky, and continued on our way - it was probably about 16:00 by this time.

The easy to follow path leaves the bothy following near the bank of the river heading along the course of the river until it reaches a series of landslides. Two years ago I along with some others took the tough way through these scree fields of very unstable rock taking a low route that was definitely far more trouble and potentially dnagerous than the proper higher up path Lou, Phyllis, and I would trod this time. As we approached the landslips we could see a couple people, we assumed Challengers, setting up camp down by the river's edge. I wonder if you stuck hard and fast to the river's edge if you could get around the landslides that way and just where does that path on the other side of the Feshie go. We picked our way across the scree and I think we all felt a sense of relief to get back onto more stable ground and continue on our way. At this point I decide to pull ahead of the others and see how far I would get before deciding to camp. We knew that decent spots existed not far from the old shell of a shepherd's shack near a stream a couple of miles beyond the landslide area and that was where, more or les, I think we all wanted to camp. Time was passing by as I worked my way along the good path up and around the bit just before Ruighe nan Leum (never did see the lower elevation route option that is on the map, and this is also about where I got plenty of extra water and then, I believe, left my Nalgene canteen). Finding a safe water crossing at Ruighe nan Leum took a bit of time but I managed to get across the rushing water without getting wet and I was proud of that. From there you climb a bit along a narrow path and head easterly with the Feshie vanishing from view below and to the south of you (but never very far away). I was now looking for good campsites even though I was reasonably sure I was within a couple klicks of the shepherd's shack. I was also ready to stop so when the large field on the southern side of the path with a rivulet of water just off to the north appeared I decided that it was time to stop and set up camp under the darkening angry looking skies. It was about 19:20.