Monster Geocaching Trip: Day 5, The long ride home

Just like, well basically every other morning on the trip, we were "up and at them" before the sun.  We had one last hike in the Smokies on the agenda, then it was basically a long drive home, seeing the just about the entire length of I-81 through VA as well as literally every inch of it in WV, and MD.

Our hike was 6 miles on the AT, north of Newfound Gap to the Icewater Spring Shelter and back.  We met a section hiker from Florida at the shelter, then near the end of the hike where many day hikers were out of the a stroll on the AT, one guy passed asking me if I was coming from Maine.  All I could think to say was "I wish!" (although I'm well aware that the reality of starting on Katahdin and being here in August aren't really reality because of the weather I would have had in New England in March/April)

Anyways...some pics from the hike:

Yup...we're a long way from Maine.

Trail scene, ascending out of Newfound Gap

Taking in the smoky views

Tempting to go to Charlies Bunion...

Shelter view

The large Newfound Gap parking area was crawling with tourists and we didn't waste any time getting packed up and headed (pretty much) towards home.  There was one small detour that dad wanted to make, and I didn't have any objections:

Kentucky!

We stopped in the town of Middlesboro, just on the other side of Cumberland Gap to learn a little bit about the entire area being a meteor crater via an Earthcache.

By this point it was around noon and we were already getting tired, but still had hundreds of miles to drive.  We decided to limit it to just a couple of final geocache stops in southwestern Virginia, and then it was just driving and trying to stay awake.  My first experience with 5-hour energy was positive and it seemed to work well for approximately four hours.

I really should have taken a picture, but somewhere near Winchester VA, we went through a serious downpour and emerged with a stunning double rainbow view to the east.  The colors for both rainbows were some of the most vivid I've ever experienced in a rainbow.

All good things must come to an end, and around 10:30pm we rolled into Mechanicsburg to drop dad off.  I checked the quite literal "trip odometer" and it read just a couple miles under 2000, a mark which I passed on the 20 minute ride home, where I found that the skunk smell from days prior was still lingering after I pulled into the garage.  I had a rough, tired day at the office waiting for me the next day, though there we no regrets about having such a "busy vacation"!

Monster Geocaching Trip: Day 4, Smokies

With a big day playing in the Smokies ahead of us, we got an early start and headed south out of Cherokee to the Tsali Recreation Area along the southern shores of Fontana Lake.  We drove through quite a few showers on the ride down, but it seems the gods were smiling upon us and it stopped raining just long enough to do the 7 mile roundtrip hike/run to a virtual cache out on the well-maintained bike/equestrian trails.

The next stop was a short one at Fontana Dam: a large concrete mass which you can still drive on, even after all of the restrictions coming out for structures like this after 9/11.  I suppose because this is one of the few access points to the National Park on this southern side, it may need to remain open.

The next area to visit was the town of Proctor, along Hazel Creek on the northern shores of Fontana Lake.  The only dilemma was, it's either a 20+ mile roundtrip hike, or a $50 boat ride from Fontana Marina.  Given the interest of time (and the opportunity of setting the record for the most expensive geocache ever), we opted  for the boat ride to the mouth of Hazel Creek and we really enjoyed the 2 or so miles we hiked around the ghost town of Proctor.  This was also our first official entry into the National Park, and an official "bucket list" item checked off for dad.

Approaching Fontana Marina

Getting dropped off at Hazel Creek

I look really annoyed here, but was actually having a great time!

Main Street in Proctor

The 3 hours flew by and we were soon back at the lake, waiting to be picked up.  While we were sitting, we enjoyed some intimate experiences with nature in the forms of a hummingbird buzzing overhead and a curious water snake near the banks of the lake.

After we got back to the car, we immediately got on our way to the next location on the list: Clingman's Dome (the highest peak in the smokies, Tennessee, and along the Appalachian Trail).  Interestingly enough, the "crow flies" distance from Proctor is roughly 14 miles, but the shortest route by car is to go around the park to the east (back through Cherokee) and nearly 70 miles to reach the dome parking area.

It was getting hot and humid at the lower elevations and we were glad to be getting back up above 6000', where the weather was a bit cooler!

The long, steep climb from the parking area to the top of the mountain was very deceiving, as from the parking area, it looks to be only a few hundred foot climb.  Needless to say, the 1/2 mile up got our blood pumping along with many, many, others on this gorgeous day.  The NPS kindly placed benches along the way up to rest our legs and lungs.

Approaching the CROWDED top of the dome

We could almost touch the parking area!  (this photo was actually taken about half way down the path)

Along the steep approach trail up Clingman's Dome

What do you do after visiting the highest point in the Smokies?  Go down of course...about 5000' down to the Sugarlands Visitor's Center and the mile loop Fighting Creek Nature Trail and some good old fashioned Tennessee Virtual Cachin':

One of the final stops of the day was in the Elkmont area of the park, where we encountered the star of the video below, just a couple hundred feet from a heavily occupied car camping area.  This guy was obviously scouting for food, and this is another reminder that when we stay in "their home", we really need to store food properly, or fellas like this could end up shot.

We got a room in the bustling town of Gatlinburg for our final night of the trip.  This place was a serious commercialized contrast to the park's North Carolina neighbors to the east, like Bryson City and Cherokee.

Monster Geocaching Trip: Day 3, Lows and Highs

...the lows of a river gorge, as well as the highest point east of the Mississippi...

The day began where Day 2 left off, in Morganton, NC.  We left pre-dawn and with limited visibility in the morning fog heading north to the east side of Linville Gorge, I ran over an already dead but still very stinky skunk.  This smell would haunt us for the better part of the next two days...

The sights were so much better than the smells, plus, I'm able to share those here.  So I'll let the pictures do the talking for Day 3, since there are so many I'd like to share.

At the start of our hike down Spence Ridge Trail in the Linville Gorge Wilderness

Waterfalls beside Spence Ridge Trail, about half way down the gorge

House Rock

Some pretty fungi beside the trail

Linville Gorge Falls, upper and lower

View of Hawkbill and Table Rock mountains, as seen from halfway down Babel Tower Trail on the east side of the Gorge

Wiseman's view, looking south (due to the beautiful contrasting landscapes here, coupled with the issues with weather we had at high points later in the trip, this was my favorite view of all 5 days)

After leaving Linville Gorge, we headed SW, on the Blue Ridge Parkway for about 20 miles to the highest point east of the Mississippi, Mt Mitchell:

At this elevation, we were in the clouds which took away most of the views, and also took about 20 degrees off the temperature: I had to put my fleece on for the short walk up to the summit.

Dad, busy being the highest point east of the Mississippi!

We then hightailed it south to Chimney Rock Park, barely making it to the ticket office before the 5:30pm cutoff.  The admission price was a steep 15 bucks, but the views were fantastic:

Pano taken from atop Chimney Rock

Plaque set in rock, and view of Lake Lure to the east

The final stop before getting to Cherokee and the doorstep of Great Smoky Mountains National Park, was the "final cache" for the North Carolina Delorme Challenge.  It wasn't nearly the final adventure of the PA Delorme Challenge, lucky for us too, cause it was getting quite late in the day.

On The Rocks Trail Run Race Report - 15K

The On The Rocks Trail Run is now in its third year and it continues to evolve, this year offering 4 different distances: 5k (walk), 10k, 15k, and 30k.  It's held annually at Rocky Ridge County Park just northeast of York, PA, a town famous for its manufacture of Harley Davidson Motorcycles, York Barbells, and the original home of the York Peppermint Pattie.  My wife and I participated in the inaugural race 2 years ago simply because it was a local race that fit nicely with our training schedule for the (also inaugural) Hershey Half Marathon in 2010.  It was our first race ever, and we had absolutely no idea what we were getting into on so many levels.  It was a tough run with some bumps and scrapes, but we made it through and received our medals, less than 10 places from dead last.

Fast forward to this past Saturday, 8/18/2012...

I got up with the alarm at 5:30am: plenty of time for my pre-race routine, plus the 45 minute drive to York for the 7:30am start of the race.  Unfortunately, my routine didn't go as planned plus I forgot my breakfast, so I had to stop along the way to pick up a banana and yogurt.  I was now on my way, prepared to cut it close with an ETA of 7:12am, which is bit too close for my comfort.  To top it all off, there was a detour off the exit for the park, which delayed me another 6 minutes!

Parking and packet pickup went smoothly and I had my bib on and ready to go with 3 minutes to spare.  Without time to look into my race bag, I had to save that "Christmas Morning" goodness for after the race.

The start was pretty interesting logistically.  There were two different starting lines going in opposite directions on the same trail: one for the 10k and the other for the 15k/30k.  After the starting horn blew, we parted ways and us 15/30K'ers made a mad scramble down about a hundred foot descent to start the race.  This is the point when I first became extremely humbled as a mostly road runner transitioning to do more trail runs...

I've been doing considerably more trail training recently and figured I'd be ready for a race, but some of my fellow runners are just plain crazy!  I couldn't keep up on the downhill sections.  I'm not sure if I just need to "let go" and let my instincts kick in, but I really just don't feel comfortable going that fast on rocky, and sometimes slippery terrain.  Fortunately for me, I was able to sustain a run during 95% of all climbs during this race and passed quite a few others on the uphill portions.

There was one insane out-and-back section of just a few hundred yards that I would characterize as a "washout" trail: straight down the side of the hill.  It was a tough climb back up, but short.  I was very happy that this happened early in the race.

The next section took us through an exposed area with absolutely no tall growth.  The high banked turns for the bikes were fun to utilize as a runner.  The "bushy" growth was extremely thick and only 6-8 feet tall, giving a feeling of isolation on this winding trail even if other runners were only 50 feet in front or behind.

Aid stations were placed about every 2 miles, offering water, gatorade, some other drinks, pretzels, m&m's and other various snacks.  It was nice to see food offered for the 30K runners but like usual, I only take water and gels on a run (but no gels today).

A girl was setting a great pace in front of me for a few miles during the middle part of the race, until she took an ugly spill after tripping on a root.  I helped her up and confirmed she wasn't seriously hurt, then decided to continue on at the pace we had established.  Before the fall, she had mentioned she was doing the 30K and I'm confident she finished; she seemed like a very strong runner, but I didn't see her after I received the "are you sure you're okay?" confirmation.

By this point I was curious to know where I was from a mileage standpoint, but without distance markers on the course, my only option was to ask a fellow racer with a GPS watch.  Risking the fear of disappointment, I opted to stick with my mental mileage and keep on truckin'.  Around what I believed to be mile 8, I recognized that the course was roughly the exact opposite of the 8.3 course from two years ago, and I knew it wasn't far to the finish, with the exception of one last climb.  It was rough and I slowed down considerably; almost to a walk, but I couldn't justify walking with less than a mile to go.

Approaching the finish, I was pleasantly surprised to see the clock read 1:35 and some change, since I was expecting a time somewhere around 1:45:00.  It turns out my official time was 1:35:35, good enough for 12th place overall in the 15K.  Even while averaging over a 10 minute mile I'm happy with my time, given the significant rockiness of the course and the challenge presented by a few hills.

After the finish line, a young boy was handing out what looked like a mini fluorescent green purse (about the size of a cell phone) with a rolled up slip of paper in it.  This is when I realized that unlike 2 years ago, we weren't receiving medals for this year's race.  Instead, we got finishers certificates.  I don't do races just for the medal, but like many others out there, I really enjoy the feeling of them draped over my neck after crossing the finish line.  They're also nice souvenirs that usually possess a unique character of the race, something that bibs just aren't able to do most of the time.  I should note that at no point prior to the race was it stated that medals were to be handed out.  I simply had the expectation based on the race 2 years ago.  Interestingly enough though, there was a box of old medals near this year's finish line.

The post race food was served under a huge pavilion and consisted of generous quantities of subs, cookies, peaches, watermelon slices, donuts, chocolate milk, orange juice, and water.  At the point when I arrived, there was a good congregation of 10 and 15K runners seated at the picnic tables and chowing down on the goodies.  I got my fair share of water alongside two of my favorites: chocolate milk and cookies!

Sorry for the lack of pictures, but since one of the race rules was no headphones, I didn't bring my phone along for the run.  I may have to reconsider stashing it on future races regardless of the headphone policy for this purpose.  After all, sitting right against my skin, my Spibelt feels virtually weightless even when carrying a smart phone.

When I got home, I had the chance to check out what was included in the race bag which featured a technical shirt from Asics in bright yellow which will definitely come in handy on early morning runs!

In summary, here are some things about the race that...

I liked:

• Easy parking and packet pick up
• Cheap entry fee ($30)
• Bright yellow Asics technical race shirt
• Good selection of food and drinks at aid stations
• Post race food
• Nicely maintained, yet challenging trails
• Well marked course, despite many turns (maybe 25 or so?)

I didn't like so much:

• No medal
• No mileage markers
• Spectator turnout was pretty weak

As always, a big thanks goes out to the race organizers and volunteers; without you, races like this wouldn't be possible!

The next scheduled race for this guy is the Paine to Pain Trail Half Marathon just north of NYC in October - my first race in New York State - see you then!

Monster Geocaching Trip: Day 2, North Carolina

Sunday, 8/12/2012:

Started in Emporia, VA...ended Morganton, NC.  Lots of driving today, and very few geocaches.  There were a few "goal" caches in the central part of NC before we got out to the bulk of the caches in the mountains out west.

The day began with a pre-dawn alarm and we were on the foggy back roads north of Lake Gaston by 7am.  During the roughly 40 minute drive to the lake, we encountered at least three areas with dogs off leash, just running around on the road.  On each occasion, I had to slow down to a near stop to swerve and barely miss them.  It pains me to see how acceptable this is in rural South Central VA, and I'm glad to say the trend turned for the better the farther south and west we drove.  I should also note that about half the dogs we saw on the roads in that region were dead.  RIP pups.

Anyway...

The first stop was an enjoyable morning 2 mile flat water kayak out to the NC/VA state line in the water, marked by a buoy:

Next up, roughly 100 miles away, was a virtual cache at the Andy Griffith statue in Pullen Park, one of the nicest public parks I have visited...EVER!  (and trust me, geocaching generally brings you to a considerable number of public parks)  It was country club manicured, and complete with a mini train for the kids as well as a beautiful indoor carousel.  Here's a shot of my dad, Andy and Opie:

And what trip to Central NC wouldn't be complete without some SCNB?!?

Wilkesboro had some nice sights in a little historic area of the old jail:

At this point it was around 2pm, we had driven 300 miles and had only found 4 caches!  The final stop before hitting the Hampton Inn in Morganton was South Mountain State Park - namely High Shoals Falls after a mile hike and a couple hundred foot climb.  We got a bunch of shots on the way up, but this one is my favorite; I feel it best catches the beauty of the lower falls, framed by a couple of handsome gentlemen:

Once again, we finished the day in the hotel room watching Olympics coverage, this time though it was the closing ceremonies dominated by a bunch of crazy Brits singing and dancing.

And if you're curious, click here for a view of the day's route.

Monster Geocaching Trip: Day 1, Central VA

I recently had the opportunity to take a few days off from work to do pretty much whatever I wanted (what more can a guy ask for, right?).  After weighing my options, I opted for a monster geocaching trip to tie up some loose ends left in North Carolina, as well as enjoy some new areas of Virginia.  I invited my dad and being a Earth and Space Science Teacher, had some time to spend running around in the south in mid-August.

The main goals were:
1) To visit the 12 remaining virtual caches in NC west of I-95, leaving only a single cache left to complete the challenge of visiting every single active virtual in the state.
2) Finish the North Carolina Delorme Challenge, which I've qualified for for about two years, but haven't been able to find the final container, which is near Asheville.

Day one began in Central PA when the sun came up, and we set off on a 3 hour drive south to Culpeper VA, finding our first cache at 9am.  After a couple hours, we made it near Fredericksburg and the grave of Stonewall Jackson's Left Arm.  Yes, you read that correctly:

He's apparently a pretty big deal in the south.  I've even heard his portrait might still adorn the mantle of some homes.  I've also heard I may be related to some of these homeowners.

We later visited ground zero of the VA Earthquake of 2011, which was pretty uneventful, but neat to visit actual site of that event from recent history that I can remember vividly.

The night ended doing the "hotel shuffle" in Roanoke Rapids, NC with no luck in finding a room.  My wife came through in this clutch situation and found us an empty room in the nearby VA town of Emporia, which was within striking distance of the first cache of the following day: Gaston State Line, in the middle of a huge lake which straddles the NC/VA border.  We learned the hard way that night that being about halfway, Southern VA / Northern NC along 95 is prime hotel territory for families from the northeast travelling to and from Florida.  We fell asleep watching the last full night of proper Olympic coverage from London, and some speedy Jamaicans putting on a show in the 4x100 relay.

Fun with RunKeeper

RunKeeper is my go to app for recording workouts. It has been for almost a year now for the simple fact that I can take one item (my phone) which takes care of 1) my music and 2) my workout data. The greatest feature of this app is the customizable audio cues relating to anything from current heart rate to average pace. It also doesn't interrupt my music to tell me the information, which is great when I'm cruising along on auto pilot, rocking out to some System of a Down, or my new favorite Trust Company.

Though I often use the app for runs and occasionally hikes, today I decided to have a little fun and get some data on my lawn mowing activities. Overall, I was very pleased with the accuracy of the map: when zoomed out, it appears to "color in" my entire property. I was much less pleased with my pitiful average pace. It was however, fascinating that covering my entire lawn is just over a mile total.