Hiking Dude Blog

I got in 40 miles this past week, 8 miles each morning. It continues to be crisp (that's 'cold' for some of you down south) so I have the trail almost all to myself.
There's not much to see for the first 45 minutes since it's so dark, but as the sky lightens I can make out critters ahead and birds around.
Yesterday I was entertained by a young eagle. It was very windy blowing across a lake enough to cause whitecaps. The trail skirts by the shore and the eagle was riding the wind above the trees along the shore scanning the water for an easy breakfast - maybe a dead fish blown to beach.
He floated effortlesssly, slightly twisting his tailfeathers or neck to work his way down the shoreline. I was jealous.
A murder of crows (look it up) was harassing the eagle, swooping in and banking off at the last instant. If you've not seen crows do this to hawks or other large birds, you've missed out. I'd think the eagle would get fed up and turn on them, but he just seems to ignore them and they keep acting tough.

Next week's forecast is just 10% chance of precipitation and more 'crisp' mornings, so it looks like another great week of hikes ahead. They (whoever they are) are calling for snow showers Thanksgiving week, but we'll see.

Hike On

On the trail this morning, I watched these two jays. They were scouring a bank above the trail, I assume looking for acorns or other nuts.

I also had two big turkeys come up the hill to the side of the trail just as I was passing. I thought they were squirrels since the little rodents are always so noisy rustling through the dry leaves. The turkeys spied me at the same time I saw them, about 10 feet away. They stopped but scurried off before I could take a picture.

Including the ravens, robins, geese, ducks, chickadees, woodpecker, and one muskrat I saw today, it was a pretty wild 8-mile hike! It was cold too - about 25 degrees.

The trail is an old railroad grade and about a mile stretch is cut lower than the surrounding terrain and gently sloping downhill. When I entered this portion I noticably felt the temperature drop. I bet it was at least 5° colder than other parts of the trail. It was a great demonstration about choosing a campsite location - cold air can gather in lower areas, especially when there is no wind keeping it circulating.

Hike On

Yesterday's 8-mile hike was mostly just covering miles. It was dreary, even a few drizzles of rain. Not much to see.

But, when I stepped outside today I was greeted by Orion, Cassiopeia, the Pleiades, Ursa Major, and Polaris. A perfectly bright, crystal clear night sky making it easy for a quick review of the constellations and direction finding, even though it was just a bit before 7:00am. That will all change this weekend when the clocks get kicked back an hour - Don't Forget!!!

I was also greeted with frost since it was 30°F and it didn't take long for my knees and rear to get cold. Just overnight the small pond along the trail froze completely across. It will melt today, but it's certainly a sign of what's coming.

Tomorrow, I'll have to switch to warmer pants from my zip-off nylons. If you are interested in forecast and historic weather info for your location, I've found that wunderground.com is a good site. If you use a different site, let me know.

Hike On

I had the trail to myself this beautiful morning - too bad for everyone else because it was a spectacular 10-mile hike. No wildlife either so maybe I just missed the memo that today was a sleep-in day. Only a few gorgeous maple trees left strutting their bright yellow leaves, but they'll soon be as bare as the rest.



I caught the sun rising through a summac thicket about 4 miles down the trail. Not much of a picture, but I'll keep trying.

I started more than an hour before sunrise so I could get some dark walking in and watch the skies brighten over the miles. We're down to only 10 hours of daylight now and we'll continue to drop all the way down to 8 hours 46 minutes on the winter solstice. That's not many hours in which to hike!

We're finally supposed to get a bit of rain tonight but no snow for at least a week. Looks like Colorado continues to steal it all!

Hike On

BOO

Watch out for goblins, gremlins, and ghosts on your way home from work tonight.

Hike On

It's not much to look at now, but this will soon be my sleeping bag replacement for my long hikes starting in the spring.
It's just instructions, a bunch of black yarn, some thread, a few yards of silver grey nylon fabric, and a big bag of polyester insulation. Now, it's all up to me to turn it into a 28F sleeping quilt - not a sleeping bag.

Sleeping quilts may be new to you - they are to me - but if you think of how a sleeping bag works, they make sense. You crawl into your sleeping bag on top of your pad and zip up the zipper. The insulation between you and the pad is now squished flat, resulting in no insulating effect. If you were to completely unzip your sleeping bag and lay it over you like a blanket, it would work just as well but would be way too wide.

A quilt is just like a sleeping bag except the heavy zipper is removed and the underbody portion is removed. This results in a much lighter item that lasts longer. It lasts longer because you are not constantly crushing the insulation every time you use it.

Similar to sleeping quilts are top bags which are sleeping bags with insulation only on top and a plain fabric layer on the bottom, or possibly a sleeve into which your sleeping pad fits.

This is my first MYOG (Make Your Own Gear) project for my upcoming long hikes. I may also make my own shelter and pack, and I'm working on a water prefilter. More about the projects as I learn how to sew.

Hike On

You never know what animals you might see while hiking. Usually, on high-traffic paths around communities, it's just the squirrels and small chirping birds. They don't really care about humans. Other animals tend to like their privacy.

The path I walk most mornings is busy. Lately, with the later sunrise and colder temperatures, I've had more time to myself and have seen much more wildlife - a crazy raccoon, handsome buck, red fox, and now an owl. I try to keep my eyes open and I noticed the owl perched on a limb about 40 feet off the trail.

After watching him awhile, I continued on and two women walked towards me. When they got closer, I told them where they might see the owl if they were interested. I saw that they stopped at the owl spot for awhile and then continued, so I assume they saw it.

Another group of four very talkative women, two bike riders, and three runners passed me. I didn't bother mentioning the owl to them because they were intent on their own little world, whether that was conversing or covering ground quickly. I expect they were getting what they wanted out of their time on the trail and didn't care if they missed one old bird.

I think hiking allows you to experience much of what's around you, but you have to reach out a bit to find it. If you're hiking along and notice that you're just looking at the ground coming towards you, stop and look up! You're missing out!

Hike On

I just joined the Outdoor Bloggers Network - a bunch of interesting blogs about fishing, camping, hunting, hiking and other outdoors stuff.

If you'd like to read thoughts and stories from other outdoors folks, check them out at OBN site. Just be prepared to get lost in dozens of very interesting websites about the things you love to do!

Happy Birthday, OBN!

On the trail this morning, there was a big dark blob far ahead. In the early morning gloom, I couldn't make it out but it was certainly not there yesterday.
It moved.
Oh, just a rodent, another raccoon scrounging around getting into mischief. But, as I walked closer, it didn't scurry off. As a matter of fact, it looked my way and started coming towards me.

Now, wait a minute. I'm 6-1, 175 pounds and he's 1-2, 20 pounds. Why's he coming at me?
'Hey, go away! Hyah, move it!' Nothing, he just keeps waddling towards me so I start backstepping to keep 20 feet or so between us.

He stopped. I stopped and watched. He kind of teetered and swayed like a drunk trying to stay upright.

Now there's no food that he's protecting. No young ones. I can't see or think of anything that makes his behvior make sense. So, I figure there's something wrong with this guy and I'm not about to get bit or scratched by some zombie raccoon.

Since I was in no hurry, I just watched him. He swayed. He turned. He took a few awkward, uncoordinated steps. I waited.

When he finally got over to the side of this wide trail with his back to me, I quickstepped past him on the other side of the trail. He didn't twitch, budge, or react.


So, how should we interact with animals we meet? We should minimize our impact and respect wildlife according to Leave No Trace principles. If our presence is affecting the animal's behavior then we are too close and should remove ourselves from the area.

Normally, an animal will scurry away from humans, recognizing us as threats. You've probably seen squirrels, chipmunks, birds, snakes, rabbits, maybe even turkey, deer, and fox while out hiking. They will run, fly, or slither away as fast as they can until they feel safe. Sometimes just a few feet to stop and look at you. At that point, our reaction should be to continue down the trail, leaving them alone.

But, if their behavior is inconsistent with what is normally expected then the situation might be dangerous. They may feel threatened and cornered, they may have young to protect, or they may be sick. In those cases, any animal may hold its ground or even attack.

When outdoors, keep your eyes and ears open for animals. If you notice any strange behavior, give ground and move away, probably back the way you came. Keep your eye on the animal. When the aggressive behavior stops or you feel you are a safe distance, watch the animal and make a plan. If you wait long enough, most likely the animal will move off the trail and you can continue.

OK, I just couldn't pass commenting on this totally fun way to tie Halloween into hiking.
In Louisville, KY their Metro Park is having a Zombie Hike on Oct. 22 where folks can dress up to participate in a costume contest, hike through their 'undead forest', stay for a campfire and s'mores, and even watch 'Night of the Living Dead'.
I expect the movie crowd will be older, but what a fun and scary evening combining some exercise with spooks.

Woodstock IL, Fond du Lac WI, Garden City NY, Glen Rose TX, Westland MI are just some of many communities holding similar Halloween Hikes around the country.

I bet there's probably an opportunity in your community to get out and hike, besides just walking house to house asking for candy. Check your local Park & Rec, community center, or town hall.

Hike On