Flip Flop Hikers: fog

Showing posts with label fog. Show all posts

Sunday, September 25, 2016

Sprout Day 182 (Sunday, September 25, 2016)

We got to the campsite late last night and I didn't sleep the best. Our tent was on an incline and the people at the shelter were loud. On the weekend a lot of people go out and camp around McAfee Knob because it is such an iconic place and because it's only about 4 miles from the trailhead parking lot.

We woke up early today. My alarm went off at 4:45 and I got up and started to pack my things. The whole game plan was to get up to Mcafee Knob for the sunrise. We didn't get much of a sunrise because the fog was so heavy. We had a great time but there were so many people up at the Knob by the time it was light it was a little crazy. Someone got engaged up there and a lot of their friends hiked up for that and also a lot of day hikers were there. The weather was perfect for hiking so I couldn't blame them for wanting to get out for a hike.

Once we got down to the parking lot at Route 311 we called the Four Pines Hostel and they sent the dragon wagon to come get us. Blank, the driver, was at the hostel doing work for stay. The dragon wagon is an old astro van with a huge dragon painted on the side. Blank was nice he took us through the gas station before we went to the hostel.

Four pines has been great. When we first got there we got our laundry together and took showers, it felt great to take a shower and we really needed one after the hot and humid week.

We went to a restaurant called Home Place and it was the best food I've had in a long time (probably one of the best restaurants I’ve ever been to). I wasn’t sure what to expect because it just looked like a huge house with a parking lot. It was an all you can eat southern cooking family style restaurant. I heard the fried chicken was the best around. We didn't have to wait too long for a table. We all had to decide what to get - the choices were two meats and a bunch of different sides to choose from. We ended up getting fried chicken and ham for the meat and mashed potatoes with gravy, green beans, biscuits, apple butter, and an apple cinnamon side. Everything was delicious but I will never forget the fried chicken, The fried chicken was so good it melted in your mouth and the sides were delicious. We also got cobbler and iv cream for dessert it was so good.

Day: 182
Miles hiked: 4.4
Total Miles hiked on the trail: 1486.6
Baby Bear: 1
Bald Eagle: 1
Bluegill: 2
Butterflies: 8
Chipmunks: 3
Cows: 24
Crawfish: 1
Deer: 20
Donkeys: 2
Grouse: 1
Horses: 15
Hummingbird: 1
Inchworm: 1
Really Big Dog: 1
Mice: 2
Moose: 2
Nest of bugs: 2
Newts: 2
Owl: 1
Rabbit: 1
Red Squirrel: 1
Skunk: 1
Snail: 1
Snake: 3
Squirrels: 12
Toads: 3
Trout: 2
Turkeys: 4
Turtles: 107
Vultures: 6
Woodpecker: 1

Friday, July 8, 2016

Flying Dutchman Day 13 (Friday, July 8th, 2016)

Today we get dropped off at Kinsmans Notch and continued our hike through the Whites. Smudgy Cheeks stopped at the Eliza Brook Shelter. I should have stopped with him but I really wanted to keep going so that I could tackle South and North Kinsman Mountain.

On my way to the top I encountered several beautiful water falls. On top of the South Kinsman Mountain it was foggy and it started to get dark. I still had over a mile until I stopped for the night so I did a bit of night hiking. I stopped at Kinsman Pond Shelter and snuck into the shelter while other hikers were sleeping! I realized that I should have just stopped with Smudgy Cheeks at Eliza Brook Shelter! It's dangerous to hike the Whites in the dark! Lesson learned!!

Trees growing on the side of a mountain

Peace on the trail

Eliza Brook

Harrington Pond

Not much a view on South Kinsman Mountain due to fog

Cairn on a mountain

Selfie while hiking

Day: 13
Miles hiked: 11.5
Total Miles hiked on the trail: 149.6

Tuesday, May 3, 2016

Smudgy Cheeks Day 37 (Tuesday, May 3) 277.4 miles total

I hiked 15 miles of very rocky trail. My feet and ankles are sore. The landscape is beautiful and has just been awesome. It was a long day of hiking. I'm happy that I'm now at the shelter and it's time to relax for the rest of the day. I'm going to put my feet up and rest them and my ankles.

So happy to see this sign with only 2 miles to go!

Cloudy skies today

What would cause this tree to bend in this way?

This would look great if it wasn't so foggy!

This shelter was supposed to have a look out. This is it. If it was summer time I wouldn't have been able to see anything!

Monday, May 2, 2016

The Sprout Day 36 (Monday, May 2nd, 2016) A blog in pictures

Another foggy day

Newt on the trail

Bubbles and Sprout

Hopefully there are no cars coming, it's kind of hard to see!

Foggy trail again!

Boulder fields on the trail too!

Inside the 501 Shelter

Another pup on the trail.

Outside of 501 Shelter

Day: 36

Miles hiked: 4.1

Total Miles hiked on the trail: 331.8

Bears: 0

Butterfly: 8

Chipmunk: 2

Cows: 24

Crawfish: 1

Deer: 20

Horses: 12

Inchworm: 1

Really Big Dog: 1

Mouse: 2

Nest of bugs: 1

Newt: 1

Rabbit: 1

Skunk: 1

Snail: 1

Snake: 1

Squirrels: 11

Toad: 1

Trout: 2

Turkeys: 4

Turtles: 107

Vulture: 6

Woodpecker: 1

Bubbles Day 36 (Monday, May 2)

We only hiked 4 miles today, but I need a little break from the rocks. It's a lot better having trail runners, but my feet are still bothersome. Sore soles and achy feet are just part of the game. They say, "No rain, no pain, no Maine." Whoever said that is absolutely correct. I've been in pain almost every day, but I wouldn't change anything. My experience has been amazing. As for the rain, it is just another reason to be thankful for the sun. I don't want to sound like an annoying overly positive person, but I've sort of enjoyed the rain. It's been refreshing. The plants and trees need it and it makes the forest floor look so different and vibrant. The forest was extremely foggy and had a very eerie feeling. I liked it. It was chilling and looked like something out of the movies. I even saw a little newt today. The rain brings out different animals and makes the plants look different.

Newts are so cool!

I might be obsessed with the newt

Kind of slippery on these rocks

Nope, doesn't hurt to walk on these at all!

When we got to the 501 shelter we were so excited to order pizza that one would have thought we were starving. Much to our dismay, we learned that the delivering pizza joint was closed on Mondays. What a cruel joke to play on always hungry hikers. Hikers are hungry on Mondays too. :( We survived. Robby and Jeff got a ride into town and picked up some food. We crushed McDonalds like it was our last meal before the electric chair. Everything tasted so goooood.

We met a guy from Jersey who was very friendly and easy to talk to. Cable is what he going by on the trail. He gave us all oatmeal cream pies and they were delicious. He could have fooled me and said he got them from the finest bakery this side of the Mississippi and I would have believed him. I'm pretty sure they were just little Debbie's brand. Hahahaha.

We also met a couple from Switzerland. They were so friendly and sweet, it made me want to stay up all night just talking and laughing with them. Karma had a contagious laugh. And she laughed a lot. Which obviously made me laugh a lot and it made my heart happy. What an incredible person. She is the type of person that when you are around her you can feel her good energy and happiness. I feel fortunate to have met her. Her partner's name is Mountain Man and he had a very happy smile that spread right up to his eyes. He didn't speak nearly as much as Karma because he said his English wasn't as good. I thought otherwise. I could understand everything he said. Kudos to you Mountain Man! They told us about their first experience at Walmart and I LOVED hearing about it. In Switzerland if you need medication you go to the pharmacy. Even for medicine for a headache. I thought that was very interesting and made me think how you can get cough syrup at the gas station. Pretty crazy! They also talked about the people and that made me laugh. People watching at Walmart is great. I hope their image of the USA isn't tainted by the hillbillies they must have seen. I really hope we run into them on the trail again because they are amazing and I want to get to know them better.

With full bellies and happy hearts we all got toasty in our sleeping bags. I hope that tomorrow is as grand as today was.

501 Shelter isn't much to look at but it's so cool on the inside!

Sunday, May 1, 2016

The Sprout Day 35 (Sunday, May 1)

A sign on the trail today

Interesting information about the Rausch Creek

Woke up early to the sound of rain. It actually started raining soon after we went to bed. The inside of the tent stayed pretty dry and we arranged our packs on the side of the tent under the rain fly so everything stayed dry. I also have a heavy duty trash liner inside my bag. I took that out and put my whole bag in for extra waterproofing.

We would've stayed in the shelter but there were so many people on the trail this weekend and the shelter was packed. We had a nice secluded spot, probably because no one wanted to sleep in the rain, so the spot was all ours!!

The good thing about this is that we now know that the tent can make it through an entire night of rain! And it wasn’t just sprinkling, it was storming!

The hike has been super rocky. The crazy thing is that the “real rocks” start AFTER the shelter we are staying at tomorrow (501 shelter)! It must get CRAZY!!

Our hike today was a cold, wet, and gloomy. There were still some beautiful views through fog. We also walked through an old graveyard. The stones were so old. It makes you wonder about the people who used to live in these areas over 100 years ago!