Alex!!

January 25th, 2015. Today was a really great day. My long time friend Alex came hiking with us today. he had knee surgery not too long ago so we tried not to push it too hard. My boy Ricky and my bud Lon was on hand as well. Our congregation of Sunday Morning Crowders Mt Hikers is growing. Zach and his wife just had a baby boy 7 days ago. He is a little wrapped up right now so he wasn't able to come. Missed ya Zach. See ya next time.

Took some extra Pics of some gear I have been using. Going to start doing some gear review soon. I have purchased some new gear and I still have plenty of old gear. Don't expect Professional advise from me. I am not a hiking Pro. I am an amateur with some experience who loves to share advice and ideas.

A small list of things I will be talking about are; Biolite stove, Geigerrig hydration pack, Nabi action cam, Ribzpack, Sawyer Filters, etc. I have a bunch of stuff. Need to get rid of most of it. What ever I review it will be something I have beat up on. I don't care for out of box reviews. I personally like how this stuff works type reviews. This type of review mite help someone make a good sound purchase for outdoor use.

I have to say Alex did really good. We pushed it up the stairs and then out to Rocky Top Trail to the Flats. then came back the Tower Road. His Knee was getting soar so I thought the road trail would be easier. I don't know. I have forgotten how long that road is.

Ricky Looked like he was having a good time. Being stuck with a bunch of old guys can't be too fun.

Lon was a Beast. He was up the stairs in no time. Must have been the Bullet Proof Coffee he drinks. Him and Zach swear by it. here is a Link to a receipt BulletProofCoffee. I don't know if this link is exactly like Lon's or Zach s. Play around with it and see if its for you.

The view today was so nice. You could easily see the South mountain range and Chimney rock mt ranges.

The Tower Trail road back down the mt was long. It did give us some very nice views of the mt. I have to say hiking in the cold and winter can give you some really nice picturesque views. Those views mite be hidden with tree foliage.

I'm so happy Alex came with us today. Him and I where in Scouts together. It was a lot of fun and reflection for us to hang out on the trail again. He told me as we where heading up the stairs that he hasn't been up this mountain since we where boys. A lot has changed since then.

Ricky wouldn't stop talking about Hardee's Commercials and hamburgers. We got the hint and Finished at the Hardee's on hwy 321 s.

Thanks again to family and friends who put up with me. The congregation is growing for my Sunday hikes. All are welcomed. Unless I post i'm not doing it. We hit the trail at 9am on Sundays at the Linwood parking lot. Crowders Mt st Park.

Added 2 more to the Sunday Hike.

Picked up a couple more worshipers of the church of Crowders. My Boy Ricky and my friend Jamie went out with us this time. Over all we hiked less then 3 miles. As a group we did explore a lot more of the top of the rock. Below ill post a Link that will show the trip in a storybook fashion. Its kind of cool.

Story Book.

I would like to say Congratulations to Zach and Erin for bringing into the world Huxley Rocket Skidmore. Can't wait to take em Hiking. 

I'm keeping it short this time. Next time I mite do a gear review. Take care Y'all. 

Cold hike

Another Beautiful Day on Crowders Mt. January the 11th 2015. First things first. Its cold. It is in the 20s and we started out right at 9am. My Bud Zach was with me today. We left the Linwood parking lot and went strait to the stairs. Found some ice on the way to the top. Other then the Cold it was a pretty day.

Had at least a 30 mile view. You could see Charlotte in the distance.

I have to say I have gone to the other side of the Park so much. I have forgotten how pretty this side is. It also seems a tad more adventurist.

Today Zach and I had a lot of stuff to do today so we kept our hike short. This time we did decide to go down a different way. Mite not have been allowed. since we ran into wire fence when we got down to the trail again. Oops.















Sound isn't too good in this Video, but you can see us traversing down a path we probably shouldn't be on.

I do think the side of Crowders that most folks don't go on anymore. Does have the better views and trails. I am starting to get better at not taking too much crap with me. Thanks to Zach. He didn't even carry water up the trail. For the most part nether one of us should have too. short hike up and right back down. We are less then a mile from our cars.  Long time ago I was like that. After the Marines taught me to carry everything and then kids making me feel I should. I do need to just relax and just GO. Not everything in life requires a GO BAG.



All I carried to day was My water Bladder. It had Water, First aid kit, 4 Granola, and a snickers bar. I was layered in my clothes with my trusty North Face to cover. Had my wool cloves and my SOG multitool. This is a very short List for me.

 

 I know that soon I'm going to need to start heading farther out. If I'm going to want to  have something to write about. Crowders is basically in my back yard. If I cant head out past Gaston Country I can at least do something at Crowders. Work and the cold and Kids and Chores will be getting under control soon.

Being at home for most of the week. Has its challenges. I have to say I do love my Crowders Mt. Its there. Its not going anywhere. If I can't get away for long dirty adventure. Crowders becomes my warm cup of soup. Zach said its our Church. Hike to the top. Hang out with some friends.

 Sunday Mornings. If I don't already have an Adventure setup that weekend. You will find me at Crowders. I set out at 9am . I try to be back at the cars by 12 to 1pm.  Hope to see ya on the trails. Later.

PS
we can be a little goofy.

First hike of 2015

First Hike of 2015. January 4th 2015. Oorah!
It was another rainy day at Crowders Mountain. This time it was pretty much rainy all day. Had a few lite spells but the rain kept coming. Even tho the rain was  non stop. The Temp was in the 60s. Had to peel off layers of clothes on the way up.

 

Today I had my Buds Zach and Lon come with me. You know you have good friends when they are willing to go hiking with you in the rain. Thanks guys. Started out about 9:45am at the Linwood access parking lot.  Its really a short hike to the top of Crowders from there but its like strait up right away. I was sucking wind pretty good today. In my defense I didn't go light. Since I use Crowders to acclimate and shape up for later stuff. I took my big pack and loaded down a little. I can say with clarity I need to do more Cardio.

 

I have to say Tower Trail to the Top of Crowders is a good training trail. You start out quick and to the point. Then you get to the Stairs. I have head there are about 300 of them. I wasn't counting. I was too busy trying not to Die. Coarse we get to the Top. Zach is like you mind if i go up and down the stairs a few.  Ug. Show off. Hes in better shape then I am. I'm getting there. SLOWLY.

 

I will say it was another really cool low cloud fog like day. You could see down to the clouds that where covering the land only things that where over 1000 feet where breaking cloud cover.

After the Guys where kind enough to let me catch my breath we commenced to following the Rocky Top Trail towards the West. I did remember this time to bring my little baggy to pick up trash along the trail. Walking the top parts of the ridge had its challenges. Mainly the rain just making some spots slick.

 

I know that the Pinnacle Trail is very popular. I get that. My opinion. the Rocky Top Trail is just way more entertaining and challenging. Ive traversed it both east and west. Either way it just a fun trail to be on.

 

Over all we had a Pretty good time. Despite the rain. Basically we went up and down and around the Mountain. In little over 2 hours.  After I got my wind back from the stairs. I was able to maintain a steady flow of travel. I have to say thanks again to my hiking buddy's. They made hiking in the rain fun. Not sure where the next hike will be. Thinking about hitting South mountain next time. Weather and Time will have a lot to do with that. Take care Family and Friends. Love to see ya on the trail. Oorah!

Last Hike of 2014

last Hike for 2014

Started out a little early for me and Crowders mt. Crowders is very close to where i live. Travel is very easy. I go there alot for my getaways and exercise. Being so close most of the time i get there around 9ish and start right away. This day I i was there at like before 8am. The weather was cold, wet, and a little windy. Even with those conditions it really wasn't that bad. When I started it was in the 40s but moving up pretty fast, by the time I got to the top of Kings Pinnacle (aka Pinnacle Trail) it was mid 50s at least. Pinnacle  is by far the most popular trail at the state park. Its about 2 miles one way and goes up to 1,705 feet up. the trail is fairly wide and maintained well. I'm able to go from bottom to top in about 40 min. I use this trail a lot for my weekly hiking exercise. There are a lot of other nice trails at Crowders mt state park. For last sec trail hikes I usually choose this one.

Because of the weather and the elevation. I can say when I did get to the top. It was a very different view then I was use too. On a sunny clear day. you can see Charlotte in the distance and the other mountain in the park (Crowders Mt). Not today . there was a very thick Fog surrounding the top of the Mountain. It gave a almost fairy tale like smoky Mountain look. Very cool.

I am getting better at getting up this trail. Ive been coming to this park since I was a Kid. A couple of weeks earlier. I was able to make the claim that I finally Hiked all the trails at Crowders MT state Park. I like to use Crowders as a practice area for other adventures I want to do later and further away from home. If I'm not on an Adventure. I trying to make a habit of at least hitting Crowders for a Sunday hike. I think its working.

After I got to the top. I realized  I am the only one up here. It was nice. It felt like a real adventure. With the fog and empty mountain top. I hanged out for a bit. Had my Brunch then headed on back down. It was a Nice way to end the year.

Happy New Year!

Broad Wing Hawk visiting the Neighbors.

Broad Wing Hawk visiting the Neighbors.

I believe this is a Broad winged Hawk. i noticed this bird y this morning just sitting on the corner of my neighbors house. I was able to get pretty close. It didn't seem to mind at all.
I guess the small pets in the area should look up every now and then. make sure they don't become lunch.

I hope I haven't miss ID-ed this thing. The closest thing i could find would have been a Red Tailed Hawk. I didn't see any red on this guy. i also remember the last time i did see a Red Tail. It was kind of small. This hawk was kind of big.

This Thing looked so proud and  unafraid.. Even thou there was a few smaller birds flying around trying to get the Hawk to leave. I tried to go back and get Video but it got tired of me looking at it and flew off.

I guess You never know what you mite find or see outside unless you go outside and play.

Well i hope everyone injoys the Pics. Till next time. Oorah! Over come and adapt. and go outside and play.

Tiger

Tiger is back

Getting back to what I love. No more politics. No more religion. Focusing on having fun outdoors. This year was good. Next year planning to be even better.