Coosa Backcountry Trail - Vogel State Park, Georgia

This past weekend, I had a trip planned with one of my friends from the Atlanta area.  He wanted to hike the Coosa Backcountry Trail in Vogel State Park, Georgia.  I mentioned that I would like to do something like that and he asked if I was interested in joining him.  Sure, if you are sure you don't mind the company.  He didn't, so we made the plans....

Below is a quote from him about the trip (he's not the long-winded writer I seem to be at times).

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Quote:

Originally Posted by ModoVincere Well, the trail proved to be tough. We hiked to the halfway mark and decided to cut it short. Came down a forest road and managed to get caught in a total gully washer...omg, the rain was coming down! So the map got soaked and basically was useless.....we soldiered on. Took a wrong turn and just kept going. I think we hiked pretty close to 15 miles total. Found someone to give us a ride in the back of their truck. Was very glad to get back to the park.....now I'm resting and nursing the blister on my right foot. WP is quite the hiker....not that I'm anything impressive, but 15 miles in one day is a long assed hike!

I'll add a bit more detail to MV's ripped post...

Hmmm, I didn't think the trail was too terribly tough, but tough none-the-less. I think our biggest problem was not having a good topo map and/or corresponding profile map. We thought we were further along based on the profile map, but while stopped at lunch (after 3hr of hiking), we looked the topo map over and realized that we were NOT where we thought. Not quite to the half-way point.

So, realizing that we had quite a ways to go, it was a bit depressing....it seemed like the next climb after lunch was harder - maybe it was, maybe we're just out of hiking shape, but we became a bit discouraged and thought that we'd just cut the hike short by taking the forest road. Maybe about 9-10mi total hiking (had we taken the correct direction at the intersection of the 2 forest roads).

So, we get to the intersection of the 2 forest roads. Due to the inability to read the topo map after it got all wet - we chose to head to the left. Should've gone right. We walked and walked and walked. At one point, after stopping at a campsite to rest, MV said he was about ready to just pull the compass out and head cross country. He knew in what direction the park (main part) was, so we "could" do that. But, we didn't. Soldiering on...

OMG....'twas a gully washer about 30min into our short cut!! Stopped to put our rain covers on the packs and soldiered on. My camera was in a shorts pocket and got wet (even though it was in an unzipped Ziplock ). I think MV's phone got messed up too. I had water sloshing around in my boots, we were totally soaked. I just wanted to finish....miserable with water sloshing in my boots. I'm glad I had sock liners (Wigwam Gobi) on, otherwise, I think I would be nursing a blister or two also...

After about 2hr from the diversion to the forest roads and going mostly downhill (and thinking we'd just die if we had to turn around and hike back UP the way we'd came), we came upon a campsite with some guy camping. We had decided that we had had enough, especially getting caught out in the gully washer, that we would try to hitch a ride back to the park. 1st guy turned us down cause he'd been drinking. Told us where to find the trail....duh. We know where that is and it's at least another 4mi hike on the trail plus what we had left to get to it. Fortunately for us, a big redneck Dodge truck came along and they gave us a ride back to the park.

I was so glad to get back to the park and get out of those damn wet socks & boots. My feet were like prunes - all wrinkled.

I did have a great time and don't let MV fool ya...he's quite the hiker too! I would really like to go back and complete this trail. Yea, it's quite a drive, but I want to finish it. Not sure I can do it in a couple weeks, but the fall would be a really good time - maybe less leaves and more views from the ridge tops. Dang!! I had a great time!! Already thinking about when/where I can go around here or towards the western part of the state.

Gotta get my butt into hiking shape (as does the bf) so we can do the Foothills Trail this year or next together.  

I unpacked everything from my pack this morning (Monday, July 26) and weighed it as it came out.  Pack weight empty=5.6 pounds.  Gear into pack=11.3 pounds.  Water carried=6.5 pounds.  Total pack weight=23.4 pounds.  It would have been lighter had I not carried the water, but being unsure of water sources, I felt it best to carry the water.  The load did get lighter as the day went on. 

Sonny and I at the start of the hike....

 

 OK....that's enough picture posting for one morning...Here's a linky to the photobucket site.....

I do wish that I had been able to get some pictures while it was pouring down rain....it was a true gully washer!  The water flowing down the forest road was, at times, deeper than my boots.  I think the majority of the water sloshing in my boots was from runoff from my legs... 

New Addition To The Household...

First of all......NO!  It's not what you think!! :)  Yes, I got rid of the teenagers, but........I added a baby!  A Miniture Pinscher! 

She is a Chocolate Min Pin and I picked her up on 5/28 - her name is Taylor (Taylor Cheese).  The bf had rescued a Min Pin (or so we thought - after seeing him recently, I think he's part Min Pin and Dachshund).  When I picked her up, she was 10 weeks old.  It's now July 20 (almost) and she is 4.5 months old.

Wow.  A lot of the time, I think - "what in the hell was I thinking?????"  My life is so changed with having her - from initially getting up a couple times per night, to taking her outside a lot, to house training, to teaching her commands....It is JUST LIKE having a baby in the house!  OMG. :)  But, as much trouble as it seems at times, I wouldn't change anything. :)  

I can't express how great it is to come home from work or from out cycling and have someone be excited to see me.  Tiger?  Well, yea, I guess she's happy to see me, but is more like - Feed Me!!  Taylor is SO happy to see me after work.  I am getting my backyard fenced in this week too.  It will make it much easier (or so I think) to get outside with her and play and work on some commands.


Ummm, what else?  She's been to doggie daycare 3 times since last week.  Unfortunately, I'm not sure that I will continue taking her.  She is doing very well on house training - when I don't get to her in time, she will use the "puppy pads" and when I do get to her, we go outside to 2 specific areas.  But, I noticed, this past Fri-Sun, that she was peeing anywhere in the kitchen that she wanted to.  Not acceptable.  It comes from the daycare because she has free run over an area inside and outside and just pees/poops where ever she wants to.....this is brought home.  So, I'm not sure whether to continue taking her and just being more diligent with her at home or what.....


That's all.....here are a few pictures (the first few are from 5/28 and a little blurry cuz she is all energy!) from when I brought her home (weighed in at 4 pounds 2 weeks afterwards at the vet)

This last photo is after one day at doggie daycare - she is whupped! :)

Oh, and at her last vet visit on 7/9, she weighed in at a whopping 7 pounds!!! She gained 3 pounds in a month. :)

First Century Of The Year

My riding buddy Dallas wanted to ride the century route that we had done 2x last year, Saturday a week ago. I was in, as were 6 other guys. So, we had myself, Dallas, Cliff, Randall, Brian, Grady, Russell, Philip in for the ride.

Left at 7am and we ran a nice easy double paceline for the first 25mi. Stopped at a store that Dallas had stopped at yesterday while driving the route and the operators had locked the bathroom and would not let us use it. Not bad for the guys, but I wore bib shorts and needed to take the jersey off in order to get the bibs off. I was sorta pissed cause I NEVER have to pee on a ride, but I did this time and the assholes wouldn't let us. The guys went behind the store....I had to ride over to the tobacco curing barns and take care of business.

But, while waiting for the "person" to come out of the bathroom, Russell said he didn't think we should be stopping every 25mi and he was going to pick the pace up. DH. I could tell that the pace was faster when we started. He doesn't know how to ride in a group. Surging & slowing. Slowing on the declines and surging on the up slopes. Just take it easy up the climbs and the group won't fracture.

I bitched and whined to Dallas and he went and told Russell to ease the pace up and to take the climbs easier. That worked for a little while. Another thing - he can't hold a line worth a shit and no one likes riding behind him. Oh well, enough about him for the moment.

We did pretty well for the next 30mi, reaching another rest stop by 10am (55mi). I was starved by then, as was Randall (and he had already eaten 2 PBJ's). I had up to that point, 2 gels and 1.5 bottles of Perpetuem and 1.5 of water. Randall and I had a cheeseburger, coke & split some Ruffles Cheddar chips. Everyone told us it was a bad idea, but we knew better.

From this point on, we had a headwind and whenever Russell was on the front, my legs were really screaming. I couldn't have cared less about the pace for the ride - I just wanted to finish without hitting the wall at 90mi or cramping. We ended up breaking up into 2 groups - the Russell group and the Dallas (sensible pace) group. Philip started to cramp because he wasn't drinking enough and when he came off the front, we told him to just sit in the draft and rest. He did up until the next rest stop and then got himself into the Russell group....bad idea.

Made it to the next rest stop at 73mi with an 18.7avg. At this point, I was filling my bottles with luke warm water from an outside spigot and then dousing my head & back. The others followed suit. Russell was hell bent on getting started again and said for us to hurry up. Go The F On then. Since Philip had cramped, he should've stayed with the Dallas group, but he didn't.

Dallas pulled for the most part in our group and when he went off, I followed because I was directly behind him. Randall pulled, then off. Then Russell. Then the group split into 5 & 3, as I just could not keep his pace - it was myself, Dallas, & Randall. They left us in the dust on the way to Kenly. When we got to Kenly, Brian had waited on us and the other 4 had gone on. It was good that he did, as he helped Dallas pull.

We have no idea the route the others took, but learned, upon arriving home, that Russell & Cliff dropped Grady & Philip. Grady had dropped Philip. The 4 of us made one more stop for water & Nutter Butters (for me & Randall - we were hungry again!).

So, we finally arrive back to Dallas's house around 2pm (I think) to find just Russell & Cliff. We asked where Grady & Philip were? They shrugged shoulders and said they didn't know. Probably 5-10min later Grady showed up. He was in bad shape.....couldn't really talk and was covered in goosebumps. He was finally able to tell us that Philip was a ways off and cramping up. He finished with 113 miles.

Dallas went off to see if he could find Philip. The rest of us sat around on the carport talking and when Russell left, we talked about him. I told Randall I was not going to ride any long rides if Dallas invited him again. He said Dallas wouldn't be inviting him again and I think this is so.

After all of that ^ I felt pretty dang good. Could of had more food to eat, but I think I did good by starting to hydrate Wednesday and eating well last night. I'm really proud of myself for completing this ride. I've only been really riding for the last month and have done nothing more than 47mi in that time.

I stopped off at Lowes and picked up some french onion dip, Lays Wavy Chips, Jalapeno Doritos & Fresca. I ate some of that while I tried to figure out what I would have for supper and get a shower/cleaned up.......

That's all.

Going Solo - South Mountains State Park.

Well, I have decided that since I'm not "into" cycling nearly as much as I was this time last year, I would, maybe pick up another hobby. I used to go hiking/backpacking to the Uwharrie's quite a bit in the late 90's/early 00's and I really enjoyed it.

So, I decided that would be my next hobby because I liked it and I already had some gear. Boy, was I in for a surprise....I knew I wanted to get a new backpack - what I used to use was the old external frame pack - I wanted a new & improved internal frame pack. Picked up an Osprey Ariel a couple of weeks ago and a few other items. I "thought" I could just use most of the stuff I already had....

So, earlier this week, I decided to just go ahead and try this out...Picked out South Mtns because it's close to my Dad's house and I planned on visiting him this weekend (his birthday is tomorrow). Packed up the gear I had along with the rented sleeping bag from REI and put the pack on. OMFG. Heavy. I decided to stop at REI in Durham on the way and see about a few "lighter" items. Replaced the heavy (1.5#) pots with a 10.7oz set, replaced the 2 # Thermarest with a 16oz one, ditched all the clothing except a shirt & clean undies, ditched all the food except a meal for supper & breakfast. Put the pack on after doing this. Wow, that's much better! :)

Then I put the REI Half Dome tent inside.........holy cow! Now the pack is heavy again! Oh well, not much I can do about that now because the tent I wanted is on backorder. So, I go with what I have. BTW, the tent weighs in at SIX POUNDS!!

I arrived at South Mtns later than I planned (a couple things to take care of for my son caused delays), but thought I could get to camp in 1.5hr. I didn't plan on the whole 4 miles being pretty much UPHILL. Followed the creek for a while, then crossed it at the lower waterfalls. Then the trail went UP. OMG. This was strenuous for a first time out hiking in ages. But, I motored on. Finally, I reached the top of a really long climb (shadow picture) then headed down, thinking it's not much further.

Wrong. More uphills, a few flats, but the majority was uphill. I was seriously wondering what the hell I got myself into....I finally reach the trail to the Jacobs Branch campsites after2hr. I set the tent up, go down this really steep trail to the water source, climb back up...Boiled the water for my meal - at this time, I'm lightheaded from not eating since 11:30am - and it seems like it takes forever. Finally, get the meal ready and while waiting on this to "cook", I start my campfire. I'm actually doing pretty well with this solo thing.

Eat my supper, let the boiled water cool off and add that to my water bottle. Another couple arrive around 8pm and set up across the field. I'm pooped, so I went on to bed around 9pm. It was windy the whole night, got just a tad chilly. I know one thing - I do not like these mummy style sleeping bags. I don't like my feet so close together - I like to spread out. I'll have to find something with a larger toe box...

Up around 7am, eat breakfast and begin packing up around 8am. It starts to sprinkle, so I hurry up & get things packed up. My hips and right knee are hurting before I head out and only get worse as I head back. I thought the downhills would be easier, but they weren't. Actually made my hips and knee hurt more. By the time I reached the waterfalls and traversed down the steep stairs, my legs were shaking. I didn't think I'd ever get back to the car, but I did.

I'm going to replace the heavy Whisperlite stove with a Snow Peak GigaPower stove and that heavy assed tent is being replaced with a Big Agnes FlyCreek UL2. Also, I need to pick up a pair of trekking poles - I think those will help too.

That's about it. I'm thinking of going to Eno or someother park either next week or the week after.....

It was great fun! I sorta wish I had someone to go with me - might be a little more fun, but overall, I did have a great time. :)

Linky for pictures until I can add them here, once I get home tomorrow.... 

Ft Benning, Family Day on 4/14

I finally got around/time to try and get a bit of write-up done on Family Day/Graduation (sorry for the delay).

The time finally arrived...10 long weeks since I had seen Kyle, minimal contact - a few letters, a few calls and an occasional text message between us.  I was SO eager to get to Columbus, GA last week to finally get to see what the Army had done to him, to hug him and tell him how much I loved him and how VERY Proud I was of him!

Wednesday, April 14 was designated as Family Day.  This day started out at the barracks where Kyle lived while at Sand Hill (Ft Benning).  OMG.  This was absolutely awesome to see the Company come marching out from the bay singing "Drill Sargent, why don't you leave me alone?  Why don't you let me go home?"  Not sure if I can embed the video, if not I'll do a youtube linky for it.  

So, the Company came out and I looked and looked at all the young, bald-headed men in 3rd Platoon.  Where in the world was my son??  I could not find him for the life of me, amongst all the baldness & some wearing the BCGs.  Finally.  Finally, either I or his step-mom found him.  I did not recognize him because he had his BCGs on!  Captain Oliver talked about several things, then told the families the significance of the Berets, what each color stood for.  When he talked of the black berets, the Soldiers bent over, pulled the berets out of their back (tucked into the belt) and put them on.  They all stood back up at the same time.  OMG.  It was so awesome to see those young men in the black berets.  What love and pride I felt for Kyle!  

Also during the Family Day proceedings, there were certain young Soldiers recognized for their achievements during BCT and 5 Soldiers took the Oath of Citizenship.  Isn't that awesome??  These young men becoming citizens of the US, going through all they did through basic.  It's just great!


After all of that, Captain Oliver released the Soldiers to their families until 2030 that evening.  I could not get off the bleachers fast enough to find Kyle!  I did manage to not cry when hugging him, but lemme tell ya, I almost did.  It was so good to see him!  Everyone gave him hugs, we took more pictures, then he went up to his area to get everything that he needed, leaving just what he needed for the next days Graduation.  We got everything except the large duffle bag into my car.  He had a lot of stuff.


In several of Kyle's letters, he told me where he wanted to go eat, the stuff that he really missed.  Our first stop for lunch was Red Lobster.  Kyle ordered a spinach/crab dip for an appetizer, salad, and main meal was lobster tail, crab legs, shrimp, baked potato.  When the salads came to the table, everyone began eating and I looked over at Kyle (sitting beside him) and he was shoveling the salad in pretty dang fast!  I told him he could slow down, that he had more than 7 minutes to eat.  LOL.  The rest of the food came out and he did manage to eat that a little slower.

After Red Lobster, it was over to the ice cream shop, similar to Cold Stone here in the Raleigh area.  He had some big ole cup of white chocolate ice cream with Reese's Pieces.  The rest of the family had ice cream too, but I was too full to have any.  After the ice cream, we headed to the mall to look around.  Everywhere we went, there were strangers coming up to Kyle, thanking him for serving, shaking his hand, wishing him luck.  It was very moving to see this happen.  So, it's around 5pm by now and Kyle is ready to eat again.  The rest of us are still so full, but it's about Kyle that day, so we ask, where do you want to go?  Outback was the answer.


After supper, it was back to Sand Hill for Kyle and hotels for the rest of us.  The next day was the big day!  New post for Graduation so that this one isn't extremely long....it's already long now as it is and pictures have to be added. :)


This is C Company, 3rd Platoon.  Kyle is 3rd row, 4th from the front.

The soldiers who became citizens of the US on 4/14.

Kyle and I.

It-was-fun-just-tooling/putzing-around....

Well, this post will be a bit of explaining about my upcoming year and about the last couple of rides I've done......

Many who read this blog know that I was injured back in December and that injury took me out of cycling till January 20th or so.  I had planned on starting back to riding, training for Mitchell and doing a couple of organized rides prior to AoMM for training rides.  But, even the best laid plans can fail for one reason or another.  My plans fell through when the weather turned cold & nasty the last week of January and didn't let up till sometime this month.

During this time (January, February & part of March), I tried to get on the trainer to ride, but I hate that thing and just ignored it.  I felt discouraged, disappointed, and depressed about cycling.  I even had thoughts of selling every single bike I own and quitting cycling.  But, I knew deep down, that I would regret those sales so, I held on to the bikes.  I hated the fact that I had lost all of my cycling fitness, knowing how strong I was prior to Nov/Dec 2009, and that it was going to be a long hard road to get back to my fitness level of June 2009. 

That road is a discouraging road.  You go out to ride, thinking you can ride 50-60 miles and ride as hard/fast as you could 6 months ago.  Wrong.  I figured that out quickly when I went to G'ville, SC to "try" and do a 40-60 mile ride the first weekend of March.  I even had these grandour thoughts that I could still climb.  I set out to climb up/down/up/down Paris Mtn and then ride elsewhere to get in that mileage.  Uh huh.  I made it to the 0.75mi point on Paris Mtn, where the road takes a left and goes UP.  I couldn't do it.  Not at 3-4 mph.  I turned tail and ended up riding around Paris Mtn area for 2 hours.  A hilly 2 hour ride for my first ride in 2 months.  I had a pathetic 25 miles.  Yes, that's 25 miles in 2 hours.  You can figure out the pace. :(

So discouraged after that - I didn't ride again until March 15 (I think) and I did a quick 16 miles or so after work one day.  I rode again that week on Sunday, March 21 for 2hr.  I did manage to do a little further distance, 30 miles.  But, my butt hurt like the dickens!  And, I had to fight the wind.  Anyhow...My last 2 rides have been of the "It-was-just-tooling/putzing-around" variety.  23 miles last Thursday, the Sunday ride, and a 15mi ride with my buddy Dallas (who hasn't ridden in 2+ months either).  And, you guys know what??  I actually enjoyed those last 2 rides.  You should have heard Dallas moaning & whining about the pace at times, but I had to remind him to forget about it right now.  Time in the saddle is what counts for both of us now.

What's my point to all the above?  I'm taking the season off.  I'm not going to do Assault on Mt Mitchell (sold the pass) nor will I be doing any organized training rides prior to that ride.  I'm going to ride, try to get back on a Tu/Thur schedule with Dallas and some of the other guys, but I'm not going to be concerned with how fast we go (like I was last year) or I'll try not to. :)  I want to finally enjoy cycling after 2.5 hard years of cycling without "seeing the roses or even smelling them".  I'm sure Dallas and I will get back to form and be able go knock out 60mi rides in 3-3.5 hours, but it's not all about that this year.  I think being burnt out and having close to 3000 miles by the end of May the last 2 yrs has taken it's toll on me.  I'm ready for something different with cycling. :)

That's about it.  I do want to do other activities this year, things that I used to enjoy but lost due to cycling every bit of spare time I had.  I'm going to work on getting fit enough to hike the Foothills Trail in SC/NC sometime this summer.  I'd like to take a week off from work and hike the whole thing (77mi).  I think it will be some awesome fun!  Who knows what else I might try....maybe a BRP tour?  We'll see....

Right now, I do feel much better, knowing I'm not doing any rides up to AoMM nor AoMM.  It's like the monkey is off my back now. :)

Phone Calls!

w00t!!!!!!!!!!!!!  I got to talk to Kyle this morning for almost 45 minutes! :)  He had tried calling last night, but he had to let some others use his phone and it was going dead.  He said that if one person in the platoon didn't have a phone or was unable to use a phone, the whole platoon lost that privilege, so he let his Battle Buddy (Rivera) and a few others use it.

OK...things are going pretty good for him, now that he's not a squad leader. Still, he said he only has about an hour in the evenings to write & get prepared for the next day, so it's still hard to write to everyone. I guess Sundays are the better days for writing since they don't have to do much.  They will get in trouble right now if they are caught writing after 9pm, so he doesn't want to do that.

His platoon (3) won the Basic Rifle Marksmanship and the whole company was awarded with a milkshake & pizza party (I think the whole Co because he said even though they won, they were last platoon to get pizza) and he ate 2 WHOLE pizzas! He didn't quite make it to the Expert for marksmanship, he's a Sharpshooter and can re-qualify after 6mo.

He had 2hr to use the phone this morning and next weekend, he thinks they will have the phone from Fri-Sun!!! I hope everyone there does everything they are supposed to do so they all get to use the phones!  They are getting more privileges as they move through Basic.  They now can go to the PX without the whole platoon going with them - just themselves and their Battle Buddy.

Oh yea...his Grandma sent him a box. A box with note pads, pens, envelopes, stamps. But........................underneath all of that was 8 Reese's, 6 Almond Joys, 12 Butterfingers and something else!!! LOL - he said that he opened it and was about to freak out! Fortunately for him, he had opened it not under the DS supervision (he had to tape it all back up and then open again and pretend to be surprised!) so when he finally opened it, he had to take it all to the DS, who said he couldn't have it. He really wanted to have some, but didn't cause he knew he and the rest of the plt would get into trouble. LOL at his Grandma :)

He has been getting lots of mail from family & friends....20 push ups for each pc and 5 extra for each sticker. I think that one letter I sent him had about 10 stickers on it!! He said he had to do around a 100 that day at mail call!! For his birthday (yesterday) all he had to do was 19 push ups. He was lucky too...usually what happens on your birthday is once you do your pu, the DS steps away and says "have at it" or something like that - the platoon then just attacks you and gets to give you a birthday "beating" /eek/ !!! Fortunately for Kyle, the DS needed someone to help him get the cell phones and chose Kyle! :)

That's about all he said or all I can remember right now. :)  If I remember more in a little while, I'll post it up. 

I guess I can go for a ride this afternoon since he's already called me today. :)