Monday, March 13, 2017

A Hike to the River

I had been out of the game for a while with back injuries and leg injuries and family nonsense and on and on and on...  Finally between Thanksgiving and Christmas last year I hit a spot where everything aligned and I could spend a day or two planning and a day out doing the hiking and exploring I enjoy a lot.  One of the side effects of not getting outside much and having time to look at maps is sometimes you find a spot you feel like you just need to visit and you hafta try.  It's just required.  This map shows what I was thinking and the spot I saw.  If you look back over previous posts you may notice this is just down river from the last spot with a river overlook I attempted to reach.  This is a shorter hike by almost a mile though and the terrain profile suggested it might be an easier go over the land.


Caltopo.com's profiling utility is really helpful for me when I am convincing myself that my body and mind can get me in and out without any "rescue required" failures. The 19x exaggeration in vertical slope doesn't help though...


As the profile suggests the first half mile was a bit rough on the way in.  Driving for a couple of hours to reach the starting point always leaves my needed to stretch a bit and it was cold and a bit windy on this day so it was that much harder to loosen up.  I had to pause a few times on the opening hills.  Fat and not young are not always a helpful thing...



But once through the initial warming up and finally up on top where things smoothed out a bit, the views were as nice as I expected.  Hiking was good and old log road served pretty well.


The lack of colors other than brown always make the staghorn pop.  I love this stuff...


Stopping about half way along to take a break and rest. That Hill People Gear Pack is just top notch. For light weigh exploration it's really tough to beat.


Out at the end of the log road things got a bit less clear for direction and the map and compass really came into their own. 


The trail wasn't hard to see once I found it but I had to circle for a second, just to make sure my bearings were right. Cold, windy, and sweaty are the wrong combo to have when getting lost...


At the end of my travels up and down and up and down again, I got the view I had hoped for...


The Ohio River Valley is one of my favorite things to look at on a map.  The geologic history and the relationship to the ice ages and glacial flows is something special to me.  Getting a nice view from above and a great hike to boot... well, that was just the really good stuff.  Only one thing to do in a spot like that;  Make Coffee...


My little esbit stove continues to be the most useful and least debated kit thing I have bought for my time out beating the bush.  It's a legal fire alternative for state forests like this and it's a fast option when travelling light and making a fire is just more than is needed.  I am really pleased with it.

One more gratuitous shot of the HPG Tarahumara...  For the money this little pack is hands down the best day-hiker out there if you can fit all the gear in it you want to.  Add the frame sheet.  It's worth the extra $.  I really did enjoy packing this along on my trip...  This from a guy with a bad back.

Things being cold as they were down in the valley and me sweating my guts out, I couldn't stay long.  A valuable lesson was learned there about carrying a small blanket even when not camping overnight.  If I had had one with me, I could have been a while and rested.  Instead, I had to drink and go or risk some form of danger from hypothermia. 

The hike out, while exactly the same length, took very long.  My legs were feeling their lack of use about half way back and I had to pause more often than I liked.  This was compounded when I realized I had left my Ibuprofen at home by mistake and I was going to have to just gut it out. I literally ransacked the back looking for it too...  Tough moment for me.


Anyhow, I made it out OK. Slow and steady and one step at a time...  It's a great hike and I would encourage others to give it a try.  Based on what I saw there, others do from time to time but not very much...