Category: Travel

Summary: Shenandoah-AT

Shenandoah Overview — This is where most people begin the Skyline Drive. I didn’t get here till after I’d hiked and biked the vast majority of its length. Not till the very end did I cap my adventure with the Dickey Ridge Trail hike.

My hike was 125 miles: 115 miles along the Appalachian Trail plus another 10 along Shenandoah’s Dickey Ridge Trail to the park’s entrance. In addition, I biked 105 miles along Skyline Drive. I have no idea where I got the idea pursue this big goal but I can briefly describe how I did it.

Stage 1: It all started innocently enough. “Why not hike a little section of that famous Appalachian Trail which runs 2,170 miles from Georgia to Maine?” I thought. Linden, VA on Interstate 66 was a convenient place to start so I did a couple of one-day hikes along it till I reached Skyline Drive which runs along the ridges of the Shenandoah National Park. When I arrived, the next phase of my adventure occurred to me.

Bike Hike Mountain Travel

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
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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.

Bridge River Swim Travel

Brooklyn Bridge Swim

Third time’s a charm! In 2007 they lost my paperwork. In 2008 I showed up but the event was canceled due to a hurricane warning (a false alarm). Then, finally in 2009, my paperwork was in order and there was no hurricane and I was finally able to swim under the length of the world’s most beautiful bridge from Manhattan to Brooklyn.

Bike Hike Mountain Road Travel

The AT: My Two-Hike Overnighters

Post author By TravisGood
Post date August 26, 2009
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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
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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?

Historical Lake Lighthouse Museum Road Travel

Taste of Chicago

Chicago - 0 — Cloud Gate is a giant jellybean of highly polished steel. In its reflection you can see the Chicago skyline along Michigan Avenue. It’s hard not to walk around it an be amazed.

Last year while returning home via the Lincoln Highway, our nation’s first transcontinental road which ran from Manhattan to San Francisco, I stayed in Chicago just as “Taste of Chicago” was winding down. “Wow!” I thought “I’ve got to get back to see this next year!” And so I did.

“Taste of Chicago” is a nine-day food and performing arts festival which takes place in Grant Park along Chicago’s waterfront. This is a big deal! All the music concerts are free and included such acts as Hootie and the Blowfish, Barenaked Ladies, Buddy Guy, and much more. To get a sense of scale, take a look a the map below. For food alone there were 56 restaurants!

Bridge Family Historical River Road Travel

Canada’s Eastern Provinces

Post author By TravisGood
Post date July 15, 2009
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Kelsey at Niagara — Ironic that here I chose a picture taken on the U.S. side of Niagara Falls but Kelsey’s exuberance outshines the dreary day. She started energized and positive and throughout 12 days and more than 3,000 miles she remained a great travel partner! Go Kelsey!!!

Road trips with Kelsey are starting to become a tradition. Our first outing was down the east coast to Charleston. Our second trip was along Route 66 <fix> from Chicago to Santa Monica. She’s proven to have what it takes to flourish on this kind of trip so why not keep it going?! Heck, soon she’ll be able to share in the driving so we can do even more.

Wanting to ensure she has a good time, I take her over territory I’m already familiar with. Just recently I had been along the Maine coast <fix>and up to Prince Edward Isle, <fix> two years ago I drove across Canada, and three years ago I’d visited Niagara Falls. I proposed weaving these together into one massive loop and she agreed. The route of our trip is mapped below. We started in D.C. and went clockwise around the circuit.

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!