Widow's Creek Trail - Stone Mountain State Park

Okay, this was truly fat hiker hell.  We set off on a wild goose chase for Dogwood Trail (2.5 mile strenuous).  However, we couldn't find it and the woman at the Visitor Center had no idea which one we were talking about.  The only one on the list with that description was Widow's Creek Trail (Widow's Creek Trail: This trail is entered from the back country parking area. The trail follows Widow's Creek for 2.5 miles to the different back country sites and stops. To view Widow's Creek Falls, park just beyond the Widow's Creek bridge and walk a short distance upstream.).


The trail started out IMMEDIATELY with some strenuous inclines.  It was fat hiker hell.  It never stopped!!  Or at least it felt like that.  At one point, I told Steve how frustrating it was to do all this climbing and still be incredibly out of breath, legs still felt like spaghetti, and not feeling any stronger.  It's frustrating after the few weeks we've been hiking to hit something like this and be based of all your accomplishments.

He assured me that this wasn't an easy hike. He was out of breath, too. It was going to take a while for strength to really build up. I knew this, but hiker heffer really is getting tired of feeling week.

S on the trail on
the way back down.

S out on a log
while HH rested her feet

There wasn't much scenery.  It was a very pretty creek with tons of rhododendrons.  Man, they were TALL!  There were several fir trees, too.  There was a small waterfall when you come to the first backpacking campsite, but we decided to check it out on the way back. 

The trail went up and up and up. I swear it never ended until the trail ended. I think we went up around 400 ft in 2 miles? I'm not sure. I didn't get signal to be able to track this trek properly. We came to what we assume is the end as we ran out of blaze markers.

And now the descent from the mountain we just climbed. I honestly though my feet would be more sore. This time, I tried a new strategy. I leaned back, took shorter steps, and concentrated on the heel stepping first. This weekend to work for a while. We only had to stop once on the way down.

 

 

 The waterfall was neat.  it wasn't very tall, but was cool.  Our arrival was announced by the two dogs staying with the backpacking couple camped out at the falls.  They were so cute!  One came up and licked my face.  *giggle*

On the way back, my eyes tend to wander and find interesting things to photograph.  I found this cool looking moss type fungus type thing.  It reminded me of air plants?  You remember those, don't you?  A bromiliad type mini plant?  Anyway, it was too cool NOT to photograph. 

 

 

 

I'm sore.  I'm tired, but I didn't give up!

Moore's Knob Loop Trail

After many, and I mean MANY hours of searching for a trail for today, we decided on Moore's Knob Trail in Hanging Rock State Park.  About 1.5 hours away.  We get up, eat breakfast and head out.



S on the trail
 

Okay, I thought all park rangers in the Visitor's Center are supposed to be nice.  This one wasn't.  We got a map and I was looking at the one under glass on the counter.  He asked which route we were taking and was quick to inform us there was 900 steps to that one.  The inner fat chick was like, "So what?  You don't think this heffer can make it?"

We head over to the trail and start out...or at least we thought we were.  Come to find out we were following a trail from a group area to the parking lot.  LOL  So,,,trail head round 2.  There's a short trail to the actual trail head. Once we arrived, we headed left and were glad we did.


My Mountain Man S!

It was very rustic and a steep trail.  Parts were very narrow and we could tell that this part wasn't used all that often.  We climbed up and over many rocks.  It was about a 900 foot elevation gain in about 2.5 miles.

Once I finally got my insoles sorted out, we did a good pace climbing over the rocks and heading to the summit.  Just when we thought we were finished, we found out we weren't.  *sigh*  So, we trudged on.  My legs were getting pretty sore and I was spouting off about this being fat hiker hell.  It's a never ending climb.  S said, "Buns of steel!"  Me, "Nope!  This is hell!  You just keep climbing and it does nothing for the flabby ass!"  There were several scenic stops.  All the while, S kept commenting how the view would be better if it wasn't for the trees.

We stopped for lunch a little after 11.  My feet were started to hurt a bit.  We kept hearing woodpeckers on different hollow trees making different pitches.  There were also other bird calls I couldn't make out.  I think it was the black birds prevalent on the mountain.  I couldn't identify it to save my life.

At one of the scenic stops, there was this crag that S climbed up into.  He convinced me that I needed to do the same...here's the picture.  It wasn't all that easy for this hiking heffer to get her arse up into that crag, but it was cool when I did.


After another short stint, we reached the summit.  OH MY!  It was beautiful!!  A full 360 view of the area.  We could see Pilot Mountain (aka Nipple Mountain according to me), several other chains of mountains; it was breathtaking!  There was a lookout tower to climb for a completely unobstructed view of the area.  It was well worth the rough climb!  Words cannot describe...

 So, here are some pictures...There are more, but I just couldn't see fit to post ALL of them here.  I mean, a girl's gotta save somethings for herself.



As we came down from the lookout, I noticed that the rock surrounding the tower was all shiny!  I'm guessing it was part pyrite?  It was gold type shiny I got distracted...  *snort*

Shiny rock that's not so shiny here.

 The trip down was not so rugged.  900 some odd stairs down...at least I think that's what the "nice" ranger meant.  We stopped a few more times as the steps were irritating my feet.  I step toe first going down stairs. *shrugs*  We stopped about halfway when I REALLY had to pee!  I.CAN.NOT squat.  My knees won't let me.  I have to learn.  If it was a complete emergency, that's a different story.  But knowing a restroom is within walking distance, I waited.

Finally arriving at the car, we stopped at the visitor's center so I could pee and we headed "home."  We stopped at a grill and tobacco shop for fuel....the edible kind.  We were hungry!  I had good barbecue and fries.  S had a burger.  We bought t-shirts then went back to the cabin so Missy could be country dog again.

Rural Hiking, Mt. Airy, NC

S noticed at the end of the hike that the rubber sole was coming apart on his shoes.  Since Tuesday was his birthday  and I was going to get him new hiking shoes anyway, I started looking for somewhere to get him some new ones where we were.  There were... two.  Fancy Gap Outfitters being the most promising and for the double bonus it was in Mt. Airy where we were already planning on heading for the day!

Okay, we are usually early birds.  Apparently, this town isn't full of early birds and most of the stores didn't open until 10am.  So, we decided to check in at the visitor's center.  The nice woman behind the "counter" gave us an okay map and marked it up with all the popular places and times they're open.  From there we decided to hit the Squad Car Tours.  The tour was 35 minutes which let us at 10ish when most of the stores were open.

The tour was interesting.  I had no idea Mt. Airy had a HUGE quarry there.  They have been mining granite for 100 years.  There were several Andy Griffith related sites, of course.  We passed the Gertrude Smith House.  She was a famous interior designer; famous for using stamped brass cornices on her window treatments.  The Christmas trees were GORGEOUS firs.  It was funny to pint out the antique glass to the docent.  The blue Versailles Fostoria power and perfume jar was neat.  It was original to the house, I'm sure.  Oops.  We did that last.  Apparently this is NOT a chronological account of our rural hiking.

When the tour was finished, we wandered the streets; stopping into various stores until we arrived at Fancy Gap Outfitters.  We spent some time (and some $$) in that store.  S found some nice new boots.  We purchased sock liners, socks, and I bought a new fleece.  This one is more functional than it is pretty.  I love my UK fleece, but it is not very wind resistant.  This one was $20 and it's perfect!

We wandered up the street more and popped into many stores.  We had lunch at the Blue Bird Diner, which is a diner that is the model for where one of the characters worked.  Trixie?  Was there a Trixie?

Anyway, the fried mushrooms were FABULOUS!  They were coated in a tempura type batter.  We gobbled them up!  I had a mushroom Swiss burger and S had chicken tenders.  Both were excellent!

The stroll down the second side was fairly quick   There were a few hops we went into, but they ere mostly tourist traps with lots of cheap souvenirs.  We didn't find any we couldn't love without.

We strolled back to the car and headed to the Gertrude Smith house I mentioned earlier.  This tour was very entertaining for many reasons.  The elderly docent was very funny and old school...  hint hint.  The house and trees were beautiful!  Gertrude's room was all pink.  I can't imagine...living in a room that's all pink.

We came "home" and let Missy be mountain dog for quite a while.  She LOVES not being on the leash.  I LOVE it when she poops in the woods and I don't have to pick it up.  It's a win-win!  She wanders and sniffs.  When she's gone too long, I holler for her and she comes running back.  She looks so happy!

Then, we made dinner, played cards and hit the sack!

Stone Mountain Loop Trail

Stone Mountain Trails

Again with the crack of dawn.  It wasn't too bad as the closest place to get breakfast was 12 miles away, I think.  It apparently was the most hopping place in town for a Sunday morning.  Seems as there were several locals there.

We arrived at the park shortly after 8am.  We loaded up our gear, put on our hats and gloves, and then headed up the trail.  It started out easy, but they all do!  *snort*  We saw some deer as we entered the trail.  A short distance in, then there was a fork; falls to the left, summit to the right.  We headed right.  Either way, as we found out, stairs were inevitable.

About 1.7 puts you at the top of the summit.  Oh man is it gorgeous!!  There are about 3 scenic overlooks; all of them gorgeous.  I was amazed most by the erosion lines on the rock.  They were amazing!  Years!  They took years to make!!  S was in awe of the whole view.

We climbed down stairs, thinking those were the only ones.  Man we were WRONG!  The knees really didn't like going down all those stairs, but I trudged on anyway.  We trekked through woods, up and down hills and stairs until we came to the Homestead, which was literally at the base of the mountain.

It's amazing to think of a family living there at the base of the mountain.  There were several buildings for the little homestead.  The cabin looked small, but we couldn't see it from the inside.  There were two chimneys, so I'm sure it could have been nice and toasty on the inside.  Definitely a simple, but difficult life.

We are lunch and ran across the couples with dogs we chatted with at the summit.  Very nice people.  One gave us some tips on things to do while we are here.  The breeze picked up so we finished eating and headed on up the trail.

My left foot started to ac t up soon after.  I really do need to have that looked at.  My right foot was fine all day, but not the left.  So, now the frequent pauses begin.  *sigh*

The next stop was the decide whether to see the lower and middle falls.  It was a mile one way.  Meaning it would add 2 miles to our trek. Yeah, sure!  Only 2 miles, you say?  *snort*  There were a couple of decent downhill slopes and I'm thinking, "We're gonna have to climb those on the way back."

There was another fork dividing the lower falls with the middle falls.  On the map we had, they looked to be on the same path.  Well, they're not.  We headed for the lower falls.  Not quite sure we got to them, but saw a nice small falls and decided to head back.  The knees, hip and left foot were really bugging me by this time.

We stopped to photograph a few nice little white water sections of the stream.  It is always amazing how water can find the smallest crevice to run through and erode into a stream.  At times, you can only hear the water because it's running under a rock or a tree.

Stairs...there were several leading up to the falls.  These were apparently appetizer to the all you can eat buffet of stairs later.  S, "These aren't really falls.  It's just water running down a rock."  Me, "Well, the water IS falling down the rock."  They were pretty.  The striations in the rock were neat.  it was also neat how the falls appeared to be divided into two.  Not to mention the giant boulders at the bottom of the falls.  Those were impressive, too.

Now...the stairs.  Let's just say there are a shit-ton of the for me or anyone NOT in perfect shape to climb.  S said it was like climbing to the top of the Empire State Building.  There are roughly 300 stairs to the top of the falls.  With that being said, you're screwed either way.  Stairs down at the beginning either way and stairs to climb at the end either way.

About 2/3 the way up, there's a walk way taking you to an up-close view of the top of the falls.  This was interesting.  What you don't see from the bottom is the little side stream that joins the main stream.  This is the reason they don't want you to hop over the railing.  Again, the erosion of water just creating a path to run.  It's just amazing.

*sigh*  Now to climb the rest of the stairs.  I have no choice.  I.MUST.KEEP.GOING!!  Oh, did I mention the rhododendrons?  I don't think I did.  They are MASSIVE!  At one point, when we descended, it was just a forest of rhododendrons.  They formed an archway over the trail.  It was just gorgeous!  They were HUGE, too!  I don't think I've seen such large rhododendron leaves before...just gorgeous!

Back to the stairs.  I just kept telling myself that I have no choice.  I had to kept climbing and it was mind over matter.  There was no bailing.  No saying, "I just can't make it!"  There wasn't anyone to carry me the rest of the way.  I just HAD to do it!  Bottom line!  And I did!!  The feeling of accomplishment and spaghetti legs was prominent at the top of hell.  I DID IT!

I learned:
- That small nibbles really do give you boosts.  I really could feel them on this hike.
- My LEFT FOOT SUCKS!  I really do need to see professional help on that and probably my knees.
- Trekking poles ROCK!!  I honestly don't think I could have done this without them.  They also add a level of cardio than just pumping your arms.
- That I can climb a crapton of stairs.  *snort*
- I have eagle eyes!!  I spotted this on our hike.  Know what it is?  I bet you don't unless you've seen it before.  Ice!  It's ice that has formed from some water coming out the the ground at the base of a tree.  I noticed and had to snap this photograph.

 

Stone Mountain Cabin Rentals

*shameless plug*

S calls and says, "Where do you want to go on vacay?" 
Me:  "Vacay?  What's that?"
S:  "I'm taking a week off after Thanksgiving.  Where you wanna go?"
Me:  "Um....I don't know."

Mass emails and several links later, we decide to go to Stone Mountain.  Conveniently, there are cabin rentals MINUTES from the state park where we can bring the Missy Girl!!  *happy dancing*  AND they're NOT an arm and a leg!!  *more happy dancing*  So we rented a cabin from Stone Mountain Cabin Rentals.  Cliche...I know. 

As usual, we are always up early.  That's just what happens when we go to bed at 9pm.  We lounged, drunk coffee, lounged some more...  Then showered, packed up the car, grabbed the dog and headed out.  We were on the road an hour earlier than planned.  There is only so much lounging one can do before a road trip to start a vacay.  We hit McD's for breakfast and then 66W.  Missy settled into her bed and off we went.

Mapquest IS NOT always right.  Just saying.  It wanted us to turn left onto the road to the cabin, but it's a right.  PSA.  Of course, we arrived an hour earlier than anticipated (and check in time).

We arrived here:

Okay...we have an hour to kill and food to get for the week.  So, out came the phones and mass googling ensued to find a grocery store.  You know you're in the countrywhen you have to drive at least 10-15 miles for a grocery store.  There are numerious convenience/gas stations that all themselves "grocery" stores, but that's like buying chops from 7-11.  I just can't and it's not cheap.  Howeer, they all sell pizza...and cheap pizza at that.

We hit the "local" Food Lion.  I got subs for lunch and we went back to "check in."  It's quaint.  S pointed out how the cabin in SC was so much better.  I had visions of us leaving early because it was unbearable.  I think it's cure and "couch" is horrid.  It's a futon, but it's better than no couch at all.  The ned is hard, but it's not unbearable.  The "stove" is two  electric burners.  There's a grill, but we couldn't get the charcoal to light, so for dinner we fried the chops, roasted potatoes in the toaster oven and had green beans.  We hit the sack early to get ready for our 4.5 hike the next day.

Prince William Forest Park

Lessons learned in cold weather car camping...and other transcriptions from the Hiking Heffer's Hiking Journal.

S wanted to get back into hiking and camping and doing outdoorsy type stuff.  We'd gone on a couple of hikes on our own, but I had the brilliant idea of joining a hiking group (or 10).  We joined one that was doing a hike with a car camp...and it wasn't far from us!  HORAY!  Except, we had to drive south on 95...during rush hour...on a Friday.  *sigh*  Prince William Forest Park here we come!

Yes, traffic was hideous.  Of course it always is on 95 south.  It really should have only taken us about 45 minutes to get there, but well....

We arrived about an hour before dark and furiously worked to set up the tent for the night.  We haven't set it up in over a year so it took us a little while longer than anticipated to set it up.  We set up the Ritz of tents.  It's  a 6 person but is perfect for the two of us and the air mattress.  More on that later...

K1, one of the event planners, came to introduce herself and invited us over to their campfire, which was nice since we didn't have any wood to start one on our own.  H also stopped by an introduced herself.  Everyone was SO nice!  I was doing a *happy dance* in my head. 

Once the tent was finally finished, we wandered over to the "party" to meet some other members of the group.  First impressions are always fun:

K1 (event planner #1) - a bit on the quirky side, but very nice!
K2 (event planner #2) - quiet, but also very sweet
H - cute.  Very well traveled for what appears to be such a young age.  Smart kid too!
L - Hiliarious!  He had us all laughing pretty hard!

The fire was nice and tasty.  My feet were freezing!!  We practically had our feet in the fire, though, which is not a good thing.  L didn't light the best fire for night 1.  I was starting to doubt whether we'd survive the weekend.  My feet just WOULD NOT get warm. 

We excused ourselves to cook dinner.  We had jalapeno sausages and chips for dinner.  It didn't take long to cook or eat.  I was starving, but still freezing.  *sigh*  Then we rejoined the party for more laughs.  I was so tired and so cold.  I think it was around 9 that we hit the sack, or at least tried to.

Lesson 1 - Now I know what they mean when they say you need to keep dry to sleep warm.  My feet were freezing because they were moist.  I had worn my hiking shoes to work and...well...yes moisture did occur.  And it didn't occur to me to remedy this before it became too late.  I FROZE!

Lesson 2 - Air mattresses and cold weather camping DO NOT go together.  These are things a novice camper just doesn't think about...  Well, I DO NOW!  NO air mattresses for cold weather camping.

I shivered, I shook, I tossed, I turned.  You name it, I did it.  There was no sleep to be had for me, and well consequently for either of us.  I finally gave up after about an hour plus, crawled out of the blankets and sleeping bag, grabbed by bag, and put on not one but TWO pairs of socks.  Magick solution #1!  YES!  FINALLY!  *hears trumpets blaring*  SLEEP!  Which was short lived.

Around 5, the mattress (and my bladder) decided to wake me up.  The air in the mattress was too cold and was simply sucking the body heat out of me.  We both took a trip to the heated bathroom.  Can I just say...thank jebus for heated bathrooms!  *rewind*  A WHILE ago, we received new emergency packs at work and had to turn in the old ones.  I...let's just say...refrained from handing in certain items from the old pack.  A mylar blanket being one of them.  Well, before I left work, I tossed that puppy into my bag.  Boy am I glad I did!!  We opened that sucker up and put it on top of the mattress, but under the blanket that was on the mattress.  This reflected our own body heat  back to us and not allowing it to get sucked into the air core of the mattress.  YES!  Two more hours of sleep!!

We are coffee drinkers.  So, the first thing we did when we got up was put some water on to boil for some coffee.  Well, this drew a crowd.  The party was at our campsite that morning.  K1, H and L all stopped by for a chat, some cocoa, coffee, or mocha.  H brought over her Jetboil and made some oatmeal while we cooked up our breakfast scramble.  After we ate, we joined the rest of the group at K1s campsite where the rest of the members were congregating.

We piled into cars and headed over to the trail head.  Initially I was towards the front of the pack, which was a bit too fast paced for me.  I needed to head to the back.  However, it was like pulling teeth to get people to go in front of me when we stopped!  *sigh*  I am glad we had the trekking poles with us though.  That saved me more ways than one.  I lasted longer on my feet with those things, then if I didn't have them.  And it helped my knees on the descents.  This really was an up and down trail.

However, the trail wasn't all that scenic...  The fall color was pretty much gone.  This is pretty much what it looked like most of the time.  It does wind around the stream at points and that was pretty.  I didn't even see many fungi either.  Cause...I'm obessesed with photographing fungi.  You'll find out later. 





We stopped at a nice part by the stream and ate lunch.  Everyone was snacking on tuna and crackers.  We had kaiser bun sammies.  And I wonder why I'm still a heffer??  *snort*  So as you can see, there are SOME scenie parts of the trail, but...yeah, it was pretty brown most of the way.

The trailhead started at the Turkey Run Education Center.  and followed High Meadows Trail (A trail that begins on the ridgetop and descends to the South Fork of Quantico Creek, including a wide variety of habitats.  2.1 miles (3.4 km)).  Then we picked up the South Valley Trail ("The longest single trail found in the park, includes abundant beaver and other creekside wildlife habitat, with excellent opportunities for wildlife viewing.  9.7 miles (15.6 km)").  Then finally the home stretch on the Turkey Run Ridge Trail ("A moderately difficult trail between the Turkey Run Environmental Center and the South Fork of Quantico Creek.  1.4 miles (2.3 km)").

That last leg on the Turkey Run Ridge Trail was killer!!  My feet were kill me!  My knees were sore and my hip was really sore.  BUT, I trudged on like a trooper.  I was afraid to stop because I wasn't sure I would be able to get up again.  *snort*

Saturkey night camp cire was just as hilarious and fun as Friday night.  There were considerable more people to enjoy!  There was about 16 of us camping that night, but the campfire Satuday night could accomodate us all.  It was excellent!

There was a smorgasboard of food!  We brought our token marshmallows and hot cocoa.  There wasn't anyone starving, that's for sure!  We excused ourselves to cook our burgers.  I was FAMISHED!  Then went back for more fun.  I was toasty warm and tired.  Everyone kept thinking I was asleep, but I wasn't.  I was just enjoying the fire, the company, and the occasionaly haldful of chocolate covered toffee.

Sleeping was MUCH easier!!  K1 brought some extra sleepign bags and S used one Saturday night.  I bundled up in 1 pairs of socks, three shirts, and two pants in our sleeping bag.  I was toasty for a long time, but then some cold air snick in in the wee hours and I had to shift lower into the sleeping bag.  Problem solved.

Strangely enough, I slept past 7!  GO FIGURE!  I honestly thought I was programmed to wake up with the sun.  Who knew?  We packed up and said our goodbyes.  We headed home to pick up Missy...then do 7 loads of laundry. 

So, what did I learn?
Lower temperature sleeping bags are essential, but expensive.  :(
Air matresses SUCK the body heat out of you.  DO NOT use in cold weather.
It's okay to wear many layers to bed when it's cold...and yes I WILL sleep in them.
Rubber shoes will melt when close to the fire.
A teepee shape is a MUST for building a good campefire
Jumbo marshmallows are not better for smores.
You can dehydrate beef stroganoff....