Jan 15, 2017

We woke up after a few hours of questionable quality sleep in the car at the rest stop and watched the sunrise from the parking lot. It was a nice view over the mountains even if it wasn't the most colorful sky. We ate some tofu scramble that I made last night before leaving which ended up being a great idea. Good start to the morning.

We drove about two more hours until we got to Watkins Glen. We found our way onto the Falls Trail and were immediately blown away by the icicles everywhere along the walls.

The trails were really icy so we strapped on the microspikes and the yaktrax that Becca got which seemed to work incredibly well. It got her up and down these steps.

This view was my favorite place in the warm weather and I didn't know Rainbow Falls could look any more insane. We stood here and wandered around under the frozen falls on the path for a long time just existing in awe. Everything was so beautiful there. Even better was that no one else was around.

We went into the town of Montour Falls to check out the couple of falls that are weirdly right in the middle of town behind some houses. Not a bad view for these people. It was a nice little break for a snack and then we left.

We went to see Taughannock Falls next. We saw them from above and then found our way to the trail along the river to get here. The viewing platform at the end of the trail was so icy, and getting down to the edge of the water where these crazy frozen branches were was really tricky. It was definitely worth it for the shots I got.

We decided to stop at Ithaca Brewing for a couple of flights before turning in for the night. They had some great beers including a chardonnay barrel-aged, a great double IPA, and a raspberry berliner. It was a good choice stopping here. We stopped to get Ethiopian food at a place called Hawi. We got takeout because they charge a stupid fee to share a plate. We grabbed coffee at Gimme! and headed to the hotel.

What should have been simple was annoying as we checked into our room and then ended up having to change to another building because the wifi didn't work at all and Becca needed it for her online class. The woman at the front desk didn't make things easier since she was an asshole and she didn't know what she was talking about. We eventually got situated and I ate the takeout and played with my new MacBook a little before getting into bed before 8pm.

Dec 27, 2013

I got up a little later than expected, but I got ready and headed up to Ringing Rocks County Park north of Philly. It was a long ride up, but I listened to some good podcasts and got there at the same time as Joanna so that worked out well. It was a quick walk to the main attraction. There is a boulder field with rocks that apparently ring out when you strike them with a hammer.

We tested that out and it appears to be true, but not quite as pronounced as I expected. It was still a cool sight with the light snow covering the rocks. She tested out a lot of the rocks while I watched on. Once the novelty wore off, we headed down the path where a waterfall was supposedly hiding.

We got to the waterfall where there was still some water streaming through the ice and it looked awesome. I had to carefully climb down over the icy rocks to get a good view from below and I was happy I did. It was an amazing thing to stand and watch. A beautiful winter scene.

We went over to Nockamixon DGC next. We had played here before a couple years ago and I had a pretty good memory of it. The course is challenging, but playable. It doesn't feel like you have to drive more than once, which is a complaint I have on some longer courses. This one is nicely laid out and rocky at parts.

It weaves in and out of the woods, up and down hills, and over a few water hazards. We both played pretty well considering the cold and difficulty of the course. I had quite a few drives I wasn't at all happy with, but I felt like it had to do with the weather and my hands being dry so the disc slipped. I made up for it with some really good ones at the end.

We went over to Tinicum Park next, which we had also played before. The taller grass had been cut so the field shots were just wide open now. Not too interesting. Hole 7, which is a tree-lined straight shot, is one that I had remembered doing really well on last time. I did not do so well on it this time. I was about done with disc golf for the day by this point so we quit after hole 9.

I came home and got my equipment ready for the wedding tomorrow and then just chilled out for the evening. I continued watching White Collar, which I started last night and have really been enjoying. Gotta love Netflix.

Jul 25, 2013

This one is for the early risers. We got up before dawn and headed down into Yosemite Valley and parked in the big lot for Half Dome hikers. We packed up all of our food and put it in the bear locker and got ourselves ready to go. The beginning of the hike is one we had done before, but I don't have much recollection of it. Once we got up near the water I started to recognize things like the boulder fields and then the bridge. We followed the trail up past several waterfalls before splitting off.

The hike took us over many different types of trail. It was sandy, rocky, paved, barely there, grassy, and packed dirt at different times. It was also sometimes densely wooded, sometimes on the edge of a rock face, and sometimes a wide open area. The varied terrain added to the fun of the hike, but it was strenuous before we even got to the end. It was pretty long to begin with and then there were steep parts with rock steps.

After a long walk, we started being able to see the rock formation called Half Dome that we would soon summit. As with anything that large, it looked a lot closer than it really was. We had some more winding and climbing over the big rock face in front of it before we got there.

We could see the ladder leading up from pretty far away with little dots of people on it. When we got closer and saw it first hand we just got excited. I did, at least. We perused the pile of gloves at the bottom of the ladder, left there for people to use as they wish. I tried them, but it felt too slippery with gloves so I went on bare-handed.

I felt like I took to it pretty easily. I was on the inclined rock and climbing with the use of ropes no problem. I definitely noticed the difficulty at times, but mostly I was just having too much fun to care. It's just so cool to be up there on the side of this giant slab of rock, pulling yourself up with a rope. We moved pretty fast on our way up except for when we stopped to shoot some photos.

The view from the top was breathtaking. It reminded me of Cloud's Rest last year, but of course that's because Cloud's Rest is just across the valley and the view is very much the same. The gray and green of the mountains and trees lining the earth and creating this really crazy pattern is my favorite part. They almost mirror the puffy, shadowed clouds. I love it.

We hung around taking photos for a while back and forth and looked around for the USGS marker but couldn't find it, then eventually headed down. The way down was actually harder to manage with no good grip and long spaces between boards. It wasn't so bad once I got a routine going. We were down and over the approach trail, but we had the steep rock stairs area that is just as bad going down as going up but for different reasons.

The trail down seemed long. Just long. It wasn't particularly hard at any point, and we actually took another route that was suggested to be easier on the knees than climbing down the rocky part we came up. We saw some nice scenery with views of Half Dome and the waterfalls from a different angle. The trail seemed to drag on for so long. We were behind people that we had to pass one by one at times, and the switchbacks wrapped back and forth forever until we finally got to the trail split we recognized. I had run out of water also so I was just waiting until we got to the bridge with the water spigots. Even the last part of the trail seemed never-ending. I suppose it's expectation mixed with exhaustion, but I just couldn't believe how long it was seeming.

We finally made it back to the car where I peeled off my socks and shoes and collapsed in the seat for a minute. I didn't want to get back up, but I got the food from the bear box and headed off to the village area of Yosemite where we could get showers. The men's showers had quite a few unoccupied stalls so I jumped in one and took the best shower I've had in a long time. I need that badly. Joanna had a while to wait for the showers because girls. So I sat in the car relaxing, watching a show, and eating hummus and crackers.

When we were all squared away we headed out of Yosemite and towards the coast. We found a Chipotle for dinner with a Starbucks next door to download more episodes of Breaking Bad. We sat in the lot watching some and then wandered down the road to Wal*Mart when we couldn't find a place to sleep for the night. I decided to go out to Buffalo Wild Wings to see if I could make a friend who would let us camp in their yard. No such luck. I had a couple of beers with a Mexican guy who drives trucks in the area. He was a cool guy and we had a good conversation, but no luck with a new sleeping arrangement so it was back to the passenger seat for me.

Jul 13, 2013

We wandered around Olympic National Park looking for what we wanted to do. We spent some time at Hurricane Ridge Visitor Center trying to figure that out. We asked some questions about trails and suggestions, and the hike we were going to do seemed long and we were unsure about it, so we decided to do some easier quick hikes to see the park.

First we hiked to Marymere Falls. It was an easy hike down a nice nature trail that led to a viewpoint of this beautiful, cascading waterfall. It is nicely tucked away from the groups of people playing in the river downstream.

I felt like climbing on things and rock hopping so I got down in the stream and made my way out on the rocks after climbing on the bridge for a while. 

I was glad that I wandered out there because I got this nice shot from a mossy rock in the middle of the stream. The whole area was beautiful, but this is one of my favorite spots.

We drove around the park farther to the Hall of Mosses and the Spruce Trail. This was in the rainforest section of the park, which is possibly coolest. Actually, it's really not possible to choose. This place is awesome. The moss-covered trees were just crazy in this area. It was a beautifully lush area and this scene just seemed perfect to me.

The trail had posted information about the many different types of trees and ferns we were seeing as we walked. There is such a varied ecosystem in this area of the country it's insane.

We came upon a large, fast-flowing river whose bank we walked along for a while. We skipped some stones on it, or I should say that I skipped some and tried to show Joanna the proper technique for picking a good, flat rock and then spinning it nicely on its side to skip across the water.

We came across this big guy on the trail and I stopped to take his picture as we tried to figure out why he had a big gash in his side. Maybe slugs fight sometimes.

The rest of the trail was along a stream lined with tall trees and ferns all over. It was a beautiful trail, and I'm glad we decided to check it out. I wish we could spend more time in this park considering there are three temperate zones I believe, with alpine, tropical, and subtropical at different areas in the park. This will definitely be a place to visit again.

We made the long drive back out from the nature trails, watching huge birds in the river area along the way, and got to a very crowded South Beach Campground with a few spots still open. We grabbed a nice one along a ridge with a view of the setting sun over the ocean. It was a nice place to sit in the car and eat while we watched Breaking Bad. We spent a bit of time doing that before getting in the tent away from the wind for the night.

Jul 8, 2013

The drive back up to the park from Cut Bank had some cows still adorning the sides of the road for breakfast. We went back to the visitor center to use the restrooms and ask for suggestions for a day hike and information on longer ones.

We ended up at the St. Mary Falls hike. It seemed to be a pretty popular hike, but we didn't see too many people along the trail. After passing a small cascading waterfall and a stream we came upon St. Mary Lake, a beautiful, huge, and still lake reflecting the towering peaks that rise out of it. I spent a lot of time here shooting the view behind the dock.

We follow the water most of the way, passing several sets of falls on our way. St. Mary Falls is a nice set of three falls. The rushing torrents are where all the people from the parking area had congregated, taking photos in front of the biggest of the falls. We stopped for a few minutes but then moved on.

Virginia Falls is the biggest on the trail and I'm glad we made our way up to it. We could get close as the mist sprayed down on us along the rocky edge. I went farther below to get a better angle and almost fell into the rushing water after a misguided attempt to get out on a wet rock. I didn't fall though.

After some more photos we headed back down, finding a nice spot to perch and sit for a while to eat our Clif Bars. Of course it had to be somewhere we had to climb to so we could be off the beaten path. It was a really nice hike, and short enough that we didn't get caught in the rain.

We managed to get a spot at the nearby St. Mary Campground, where we set up our tent early in the afternoon and hung out inside resting. The clouds started to roll in later in the afternoon with thunder echoing through the campground and off the mountains surrounding us. It was intimidating, but I wanted to go for a bike ride and get away for a while so I headed down toward the lodge.

Once at the lodge, I got myself a beer and a black bean burger. It was so good. I went up to the bar for another beer and ended up talking to this couple who was there on their way to their son's wedding in Whitefish. I pulled up to the bar and talked with them about their travels and mine. We had a great conversation and they offered to buy me a blueberry ale that was so fresh and delicious. Another woman at the bar came over and talked to me for a while about hiking in California. I gave her some suggestions on where to go and she was amazing grateful. She pulled out a $100 bill and handed it to me. After telling her I couldn't accept it, she insisted I take it for my trip. The people you meet in bars!

It was pouring outside by this point and I was drunk. I texted Joanna to pick me up with my bike and she came down. I said farewell to my new friends, who handed me another bottle of blueberry ale when I came back, and headed outside. I stood under the porch while I waited for her to get there, sipping my beer slightly as I talked to one of the housekeepers from the hotel who lives there during the season. I attached my bike to the car and got in the car soaking wet to tell Joanna the story of the night on our short drive back to camp.

Mar 23, 2012

I met Laura and Jess in Glassboro and began our drive at 4:30am toward Patapsco Valley State Park in Maryland. After driving the periphery of the park for quite a while we found an entrance and came in. We were the first and only people in the park at 7am. I took some photos of the fog as they tried to nap in the car.

I walked the Switchback Trail down to the river and got some really great shots of the silhouetted trees and spiderwebs outlined by droplets of water.

We went over to the Rapids Trail after they stopped trying to sleep and wandered along the edge of the fast-flowing water. It was a nice secluded area with plenty of great views.

Henryton State Hospital is inside the park boundaries and we couldn't pass up the opportunity to explore the complex of abandoned buildings while we were so close. Several very large buildings sit out in the middle of the forest, long empty and decaying. It took us quite a while to walk through each of them.

They were all mostly gutted and covered in graffiti. It was interesting, but nothing really unique about any of it unfortunately.

We headed down to the southern part of the park and stopped at a picnic area to have lunch and rest for a bit. We then picked up the Cascade Falls trail and headed up the mild grade, following the stream.

The falls came pretty quickly on the hike and were smaller than we expected. The trail was a really nice and relaxing walk. Nothing too difficult. When we got back we were ready to head out.

On the way home we stopped at DuClaw for some food and a beer. The Celtic Ale was great. After hanging out for a bit at home Kate and I went to Christie's to hang out and watch The Lion King since we couldn't decide on any other movie.