Category: Hike

Hike: Dickey Ridge Trail

I won’t deny it. The best part of this hike was the 10.2 mile bike ride of which all but 1.4 miles was downhill. What a thrill! I can hike uphill forever but I wither quickly when I have to bike the same incline.

When my hike planning went well on this adventure then I’d end the hike with my return being largely a downhill bicycle ride. This wasn’t always possible to plan. While I have elevation information for the hiking trails, I didn’t have something similar for the Skyline Drive. I have since collected that data using a GPS but I didn’t have it at the time. I just assumed the road contour generally followed the Trail and this was only true some of the time.

This hike was made to truly finish off my hike-bike of the entire length of the National Park. Hiking the Appalachian Trail within the park only covered 95 miles of its 105 mile length. The northern-most 10 miles are a separate hike along Dickey Ridge, a trail I hiked today.

I have now hiked the entire Shenandoah National Park from top to bottom!

Dickey Ridge View

Bridge Falls Hike Lake Travel

Central Park: This is NYC?

Post author By TravisGood
Post date September 13, 2009
No Comments on Central Park: This is NYC?

I enjoy hiking in National Parks and I love visiting in New York City. By spending time in Central Park I get the best of both. Since being cleaned-up and made safe, it’s a green gem in the heart of the world’s greatest city.

North to south, the park runs for over 50 blocks and it’s about a quarter the width of Manhattan. It’s huge: 843 acres accounting or 6% of Manhattan’s surface area. In its boundaries you can find many, many places of interest: the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Jacqueline Onassis Reservoir, Central Park Zoo, the Harlem Meer, and on and on. As if this weren’t enough, it’s also the venue for a large number of events due to it being at the center of such a large city. It quite literally is a breath of fresh air in this densely occupied island.

Bike Hike Mountain Road Travel

The AT: My Two-Hike Overnighters

Post author By TravisGood
Post date August 26, 2009
No Comments on The AT: My Two-Hike Overnighters

Butterfly — Though I don’t pay much attention to them, there is a huge variety of insects to be seen along the trail. One of these hikes I’ll need to focus on them but until then I’ll just keep avoiding them underfoot.

First it was an idea and then an accomplishment. Within 24 hours I hiked 22 miles and biked 17.5 miles and in between I slept like a log on Loft Mountain. This took me half way through the South District of Shenandoah. My second time out I hiked an even more ambitious 23.1 miles and biked 22.1 miles while collapsing at a Days Inn overnight. I was going out with a bang! (Or a thud!)

Allow me to give you a feel for what a day hike along the AT is like. The picture below I took early on my first day. From this view point you can see Loft Mountain in the distance. Over hill and dale the day’s hike was 13 miles and this is what it looked like. Good thing I didn’t expose myself to this ominous prospect too often or I might have given up!

Bike Hike Road Travel

The AT: Two More Hikes Down

Post author By TravisGood
Post date August 8, 2009
No Comments on The AT: Two More Hikes Down

Rocks. They stand in stark contrast to the misty softness which pervades the park and rocks define some of her most interesting features. Three I’ve hiked are Old Rag Mtn, Stoney Man, and Bearfence Mountain. All three are excellent examples of this.

AT - Two More Hikes Down 1

This week I hiked twice. Once took me past my half-way point, from Hawkbill Gap to Booten Gap (10.2 miles). Another took me to the two thirds marker at Swift Run Gap (11.3 miles) where US 33 crosses the park. With four more day hikes I’ll achieve my goal and be in Waynesboro!

The AT in Shenandoah is at a high altitude and is usually much cooler than the surrounding lowlands. This explains why it was a popular get-away for the rich and the powerful in D.C. before the days of airconditioning. This week has been particularly pleasant for hiking as it’s been unseasonably cool and dry. My first hike started at 64 degrees; my second hike at 59 degrees. On neither day did the temp break above 80.

Bike Hike Travel

The AT: Almost Half Way

AT Half Way — It wasn’t till 9:20PM when I got back to my car after 12.8 miles of hiking and 14.1 miles of biking the hills of Shenandoah National Park. Truly I was exhausted ... and that’s just the way I like it!

The word “Almost” above is key; it was supposed to read “Past Half Way.”

Here’s a case where I bit off more than I could chew. Over the course of Appalachian Trail - Thornton Gap to Hawksbill two days my goal had been to hike 23 miles and bicycle back the slightly longer 27 miles. A late start didn’t bode well for my trek nor did arriving back at my campsite after 11:00 PM. Thank goodness I had set-up camp early that day! By morning I was set on changing my plan. I meandered Skyline Drive from mile 52 to its northern entrance stopping at overlooks, visiting facilities, and taking short hikes to peaks.

What I learned was that I don’t want to tackle these longer bike-hikes over back-to-back days. This has to be fun and too much exertion robs me of the joy. When I’m exhausted, I don’t want to start a 14 mile bike ride where half is a struggle up hill! I’ve got better things to do!

So how will I do things differently going forward?

Hike Mountain Travel

The AT: Volunteers

Today I paid a little more attention to the wildlife around me.

The most exciting creature I saw was a black bear but as is always the case he ran off before I could frame a shot. Many deer did the same thing but one allowed me to get quite close … that is, until I inhaled a fly and started to cough uncontrollably. The most threatening creature was a three foot long snake which I almost stepped on. While I saw many critters I heard many more. If I were a birder I’m sure I’d have been in bird-heaven!

Hike Look Back Mountain Travel

A Look Back: Climbing Ben Nevis

Post author By TravisGood
Post date June 7, 2009
No Comments on A Look Back: Climbing Ben Nevis

Cold On Ben Nevis — It was cold and wet and foggy; I wasn’t feeling so good physically. However, I was on cloud nine as I sat next to the peak marker of Ben Nevis in Scotland at over 4,400 feet.

Nowhere on my plan did I write “Oh yeah and climb England’s tallest peak.”

Nowhere!

Still, that’s what I did while visiting Fort Williams in western Scotland, on the border of the highlands. From near sea level it’s a persistent climb over several miles as you climb to the peak. At the base they were warning people off due to bad weather but when was I going to come back? Not any time soon so I put on all the layers of clothes I had and set out. It was rewarding.

Hike Ocean Road Travel

Acadia National Park

Jordan Pond is a spot I got a bit caught-up in. The water is crystal clear, the water was like glass, and the surrounding hills were quite the spectacle. No wonder I returned there four times!

Twenty five years ago Beth and I spent some of our honeymoon in Bar Harbor so we could enjoy this neighboring national park. My memory of Acadia was vague. I remembered islands, camping at ocean’s edge, and eating lobster but not much more. Perhaps it was the good vibe of getting married mixed with a wondrous setting but returning has long been a travel priority.

Hike Mountain Travel

The AT: Entering Shenandoah

Post author By TravisGood
Post date May 3, 2009
No Comments on The AT: Entering Shenandoah

Leave No Trace — As with many borders, were it not for the signs you wouldn’t know there was a border. Along the AT into the Shenandoah National Park I saw this sign ... I was glad to have arrived!

The forecast was for rain and there was a downpour as I drove to the trailhead. I was prepared for rain but I would have preferred not to slog through the mud. As it turned out I was very luck. It didn’t rain at all.

Where the Appalachian Trail crosses US 522 is where I started my hike.

Hike Mountain Travel

The AT: Appalachian Trail

Post author By TravisGood
Post date April 24, 2009
No Comments on The AT: Appalachian Trail

AT Sign — There are few of these signs along the way but they’re located at strategic points. Here, next to I-66, was the start of the segment I hiked which is referenced as VA-Secton 5.

The trail is 2178 miles long and runs from Maine to Georgia. It’s world renown and it runs through the Shenandoah Mountains which are practically in my backyard. I like hiking so it’s a natural stomping ground for me. My past walks along it were purely by chance as parts of different hikes. Today my goal was the AT.