True Colors

There's not much color out there, but look at ours reflect as we walk around Evergreen Lake

It is the first weekend in October and the trees haven't let go of their primary greens yet here in northwest Ohio. Regardless, this is the weekend of the women's backpacking trip at Oak Openings Preserve and it was colorful. The true colors of the women were brilliant....patience, respect, and gratitude. These behaviors, demonstrated while carrying loaded backpacks for 2 days and sleeping on the ground at night, were bright enough to color our trip beautiful.

We hiked through a variety of habitats. Here we are skirting the forest for a sunny break


and grazing the prairie


and contemplating the savanna


and crushing the frost as we head out on our second day
(left to right, Cheryl, LaRae, Lisa, Val, Karen, and Joyce
Look at the following blog and see how we lit up the night!

Backpackers Light Up the Night

A two day walk in the woods will peak with the true colors of its hikers, and the night sparks with the true grit of its campers.
Below, LaRae prepares her 1-star accommodation.

Joyce and Karen are ready to co-habitate though they were strangers hours earlier. Below, sisters Valerie and Lisa will share this cozy nylon wrap.


Volunteer Elsa builds a cook fire to get our dinner going.

Fire, Marshmallows and Moon light our night.

Wilderness: Life is Good

Canoeing in the Boundary Waters Canoe Wilderness Area

We went into the wilderness and it was good. Having friends meet Dan and myself and share their island with us made it very comfortable and reassuring, though less adventuresome.

Jon and Julie own a 3-acre island in Saganaga Lake, which is between two wilderness areas, the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness in NE Minnesota and Canada's Quetico Provincial Park. The Boundary Waters is 1.3 million acres of wilderness with thousands of lakes; it doesn't get any darker at night or quieter at day anywhere in the USA.



Friends Jon and Julie with us on an island overlooking the wilderness area.


The blues were plentiful....sky, water, and berries.

This grasshopper landed on my hand as I was paddling close to an island shoreline.


Jon and Julie put us up in a cabin. In effect, we we were not roughing it, even without electricity and flush toilet. The naked swims were better than any shower too! Yes, Life is Good!

Bye Smokies!

The view from 5000 ft Mount Cammerer in Smoky Mountain National Park is well worth the climb. In my opinion, if you get a clear day, the view from any mountain top is icing on the "I-did-it" cake. In this photo, I am standing below the fire tower. The camera's self-timer clicks the shutter in these "lonely" places.



It is so quiet at Davenport Gap Shelter where I spend the night. I am here by myself for a few hours. Notice the chain link fence on the front of the shelter. It keeps out the bears. The park service is starting to remove the fencing because the hikers don't like the feeling of being caged. There hasn't been as much bear activity at the shelters since there is more care in hanging food. This preventative measure is easier to do since the park put in high cables which we pulley our food up for storage each night.



I finally get a couple of visitors. Ann (age 62), pictured reviewing her map, is walking every trail in the park....over 1000 miles! She lives nearby and hikes a few times a week all year long. There are several walking clubs in the area so these day-hikers can always find someone to walk with.



In this view I can see the expressway heading north. It is the road I will be on TOO SOON.



The thru-hikers have to keep on truckin' as recorded here in the journal at Davenport Gap shelter (GA-ME 08 is short for 'from Georgia to Maine in 2008'). The thru-hikers have 2000 miles to cover this summer so they better keep "movin' on," like Cuatro briefly journaled. If they don't move on, they will get caught in the snow this fall at the northern terminus, Mount Katahdin.
Looks like Pips is loving the sunsets, sunrises, and the adventure. Looks like Pips and Kraut are loving each other too!
Happy Trails Thru-hikers! Bye-bye Smokies!

Thru-Hikers Are Not Through Yet

OK, so why do I like backpacking on the Appalachian trail in the Smoky Mountain National Park each spring? Because you never know who you will meet up there, but you can bet they will have a story. These are three of the five guys I spent my first night with at Davenport Shelter. I know them only by their trail names, which is the only way they all seem to know each other. Resin, on the left, is only 18 and wanting to experience the world before he starts college. The guy on the right is older than me and well educated. Rainfly, with the orange bandanna on his head and writing in the trail journal (see my blog dated April 22nd), is in his 40's, a high school drop-out. We slept on the wooden plank bunks in this shelter. I enjoyed talking with all 5 of the hikers and they loved me because I hiked uphill several miles with homemade brownies to share with them. I also gave extra food to two of the guys who were running low.
All of the backpackers who I meet at this time of the year are thru-hikers. These adventurous souls start in Georgia in early spring with the intent of walking more than 2000 miles until they come to the end of the trail in Maine. Every year several hundred hikers start but only 10% finish the entire trail. What I like about them is their attitude. I meet dozens of them in April, 200 miles into their trip, and they all still think that they are going to make it to Maine, or at least they express a lot of hope as they nurse blisters, sore backs, shoulders, hips and feet. They come in all sizes, shapes, ages, socio-economic backgrounds, American-born and foreign. Most are starting out alone but end up with a network of hiking friends all known to each other by their trail names. In the photo above are the first two women thru-hikers I met this year, HiLo and I-trod Along. They walk the same pace so they often walk together although they started in Georgia separately.


This is where I spent my second night, Cosby Knob shelter. There is always a spring for drinking water near the shelters. Here you can see two thru-hikers, Willow and Gentleman Jack, fetching water.


There are lots of chores to do when the day's hike is complete. These two women thru-hikers, Longwe Tru (an attorney) and Pickwick (a lab tech), are preparing dinner. They also are hiking alone. Actually Pickwick (with red bandanna) is not a thru-hiker. She has already hiked the entire Appalachian trail and is just doing a section of it this year.


The thru-hikers generally retire before dark. They make their own space within the confines of their sleeping bags to read, write in their personal journals, or sleep (toss and turn like a rotisserie many of them have told me). Willow, Pickwick, and I extend the day with a pajama party discussing gear, trail food, guidebooks, maps, and life histories. I could be friends with any of these women, I'm sure. You should know that Willow never backpacked before and she is 53 years old!
After I return home, I continue the journey by logging on to: trailjournals.com and looking for some of the hikers I have met who are submitting journals. This year I can follow Gentleman Jack and Longwe Tru. You can too. Just click on the link above, select Journals, and sort by trail name to find Gentleman Jack and Longwe Tru. Carefull though, there are hundreds of hikers that might drag you along and you could end up hiking the Appalachian Trail yourself someday!

Backpack Birthday

Backpackers Journal on the Appalachian Trail, April 5, 2008, Davenport Gap shelter. Click on the photo to enlarge it and read some of the entries from the thru-hikers who are backpacking over 2000 miles this year from Georgia to Maine.



I think it was for my 50th birthday when I did my first solo backpacking trip. Now I love it and try to get myself to the Smokies every April to celebrate my birthday. Here's some photos from this years trip.


It's a steep climb getting up to the Appalachian Trail in Smoky Mountain National Park.


Lots of streams to cross. This is a small one but a good place for a break (not a leg) and sip of cold water.


Don't you agree this is a great birthday gift? In my next blog entry you will discover why I really love to get up on the Appalachian Trail. Happy Trails!

Cayo Costa: Volunteer Work

Volunteering at Cayo Costa State Park in Florida for a month is fun and varied. It does not seem like work when I do things out of the routine of normal work and totally at will. Usually we were able to select our jobs. Above I am welcoming visitors to the island before I drive them from the dock to the beach on the tram.


Sometimes we pick up litter; by foot, bicycle, or as above, by kayak.


We help out with trail maintenance and sometimes clean cabins and bathrooms.



I enjoyed helping the state park post signs and rope off acres of beach to protect bird nesting areas. Above, Tom, Kathy, and I are on our way to a remote beach to help out. Some of the best parts about volunteering are all the wonderful people you meet and how much the staff appreciate the help.

Cayo Costa: Transportation

As volunteers we are able to come to Cayo Costa on a Florida Park Service boat like the one pictured above. We hitch rides on it when we want to explore other nearby islands like North Captiva and Gasparilla or if we need to go to the mainland to get supplies. Visitors to Cayo Costa usually arrive by public ferry or they come on their private boats. The island is 7 miles long north to south and 1 mile wide east to west. How do we get around once on the island?


You can take this truck-pulled tram on a service road from the ferry dock across the island to the beach. As a volunteer I help with the driving.


On calmer days you can explore the bays, lagoons, and sandbars by kayak on the leeward side of Cayo Costa. Why don't you see me paddling? This kayak is peddle propelled. It is peddled like a bicycle leaving my hands free for the camera, binoculars and snacks! We don't venture into the open sea with these kayaks.


This is my favorite way to get around on Cayo Costa. There are several miles of flat trails through the coastal grasslands and oak pine forests. At low tide it is possible to "coast" on the shoreline (until you turn around and hit the wind).



But you can barely beat bare footin'.

Cayo Costa: Earth-friendly Cleaning

We forgot a sponge when we packed our camping gear for our month stay at Cayo Costa. You just don't go out and buy one here on the island. First you ride your bicycle for a mile, then you take a motor boat for a half-hour or a kayak for 4 hours, then a car for a half-hour minimum, pay money, throw away packaging, and then reverse the trip. So what does that take, a few hours and a few dollars? Or you can pick up your still-warm used tea bag and wipe the dishes clean, lickety-split (I don't mean lick and spit). Why would we want to use an old bacteria-laden sponge when a sterile teabag is available daily? If the wet teabag is dipped in sand it makes a great pot scrubber (did you really think we care about the bacteria?)


Yes ma'm, you can have a hot shower on the island if you heat the water in these solar bags and then lift the heavy things overhead. Make sure the dribble hits you where you need it most!

Or you can just take a relaxing cold shower, no fuss no muss.



Laundry is a bucket dance (or a swim in the ocean with the clothes on, then a rinse in the outdoor shower).



I like this whole house cleaning....just shake it out. Chemical-free, earth-friendly, green-clean, eco-whatever you want to call it......it's just more, well.....wholesome.

Cayo Costa: Camp Kitchen

I love cooking outdoors, don't you? Even mac and cheese can be gourmade with a side of canned stewed tomatoes with basil and a sunset. The camp kitchen is simple but complete with everything a not-wanna-be cook needs; sink (water jug over an earthen floor), stove (25 year- old Coleman), pantry (black box with latches), and fridge (cooler).


The food pantry is nearly raccoon and feral hog proof. There are no provisions on the island.


If you can find them on this table top, the condiments are added to pasta-a-la-outdoors, rice versatilie, or spicy beans non-delux. PB&J and crackers with cheese are readily available favorites.


Some of Dan's catches won't fit well in the skillet such as this sea trout. Sometimes it works out better grilling them over a campfire. Dan is not too interested in cleaning and filleting the fish, but he does gut them! Today he caught several species; redfish, sea trout, snook, sheepshead, and flounder. He usually keeps whatever he catches first and releases the rest since we don't have good refrigeration.


Keeping it simple and enjoying the outdoors more, the camp kitchen.

Cayo Costa: Friends Visiting

Good Morning Cayo Costa! Shelling before Sunrise.



I hadn't been on Cayo Costa very long when Florida friends, Kornelia and Carol, came to visit for a couple of days. They arrived on this ferry boat with their kayaks and bicycles stowed on top. I gave them a tour of the island. Take a look.,,,,,


Kornelia showing Carol where she just spotted some dolphines surfacing
while on a bike ride around the north end of the island.


Carol and Kornelia taking time to "catch-up" and cool off in the surf.


Kayak touring through a mangrove tunnel. We paddled
through three miles of open water to get here.

Don't you want to visit too?