Just a report on our great family camp and hike at Bear Lake. We took off Monday 12/29 and just got back today 1/1/09. It was great. I had a great time interacting and teaching my children about the wonderment of the great outdoors. It was a sacrifice for my dear wife who spent most of her time tending to our 3 month old, Andrew who doesn't like it when Mom is away for very long. I think all had an enjoyable time. It was excellent. A few highlights. . .
> First the wild life report: We got to see several bald eagles hunting over bear lake during the final 2 days. There were also several species of wrens hanging around our campsite. We saw several dozen cormorants. Caroline got to identify it from a bird book from its close relative the native anhinga. She could tell it was a cormorant as it dried its wings in the sun based on the color of its feet (black not yellow) and the shape of its beak (hooked on the end not straight). They were up close and in person with grandpa's high end pair of binoculars. We also saw herons and jays and a few others. A few other wildlife highlights: Sterling and I were fishing and being very patient when Sterling reached down into the mud and snatched up a painted mud turtle that he named Shell. He let him go today before we left in a swampy little spillway area of the lake. It was tough, but I figured the turtle probably couldn't survive too many more days in his left pocket or in his hand before he would croak. We are in "no pet mode" right now because of the new baby. Maybe when he gets a few years old. Caroline and I did a 6 mile hike. We started at dusk and saw 2 white tail deer 1 buck and one doe darting through the woods. We also saw a buck rut/scrape. Another neat thing was during that night hike we discovered that our headlamp illuminated the eyes of every spider that was on the trail. This was a phenomenon that I had for whatever reason never seen! It was 1 part creepy and 5 parts cool. They were rarely more than 10 yards apart and those were the ones that were facing us! I could literally see a spider 1/4 inch in diameter from 15 yeards away and walk right up on it. It think it must have had to do with our new ultrabright LED headlamps. Their eyes looked like little twinkling raindrops in the sun even thought it was pitch black. That was a new one even for me. While on the same night hike we smelled a pretty foul smelling skunk spray. Fortunately we were not the victims of said spray.
> Now to the hiking mileage and details. Day 1, we all hiked 4 miles around Bear Lake then at around 4:45 Caroline and I left to do our 6 mile night hike. It was fantastic! I had forgotten how awesome it is to hike through the woods at night. We were just enjoying eating up the yellow blazes one by one. The experience was invaluable as far as preparations are concerned. We were reminded that night hikes are great but they are better if you have a map. We had glanced at the map last week but at one particular junction the trail took an abrupt turn in an unexpected direction. On top of that, the sign was on the ground so I wasn't at all sure if the arrow was really supposed to be pointed left because we failed to bring our simple map. Not very smart on my part. I just thought, "Loop hike, follow the blazes how hard can it be?" The earlier hike had been well worn because it was shorter and easier. A few times we veared off and Caroline was quick to say, "Daddy I don't see a blaze." I was very proud of her and how she passed the trial so well. I know she'll do well on the AT. We will continue to train and practice. It was nice since Bear Lake is less than 25 miles away. In addition to that The Florida Trail can be picked up just 7 miles south of my house. The only catch is that I will need to get Eglin AFB access to trek out there. It would allow me to go run any time I wanted the exercize without having to go too far. Caroline's only complaint was that her feet hurt. I told her to get use to that. We talked about conditioning our legs and feet for the punishment of 10 miles a day up and down mountainous terrain. Her feet were a concern too since our florida trails are very smooth, flat and sandy. Sand in my shoes was my biggest complaint. Any rocks you see have been intentionally put there like regular gravel and chat. I know from living in the midwest to expect the AT to be a rocky craggy thing that will poke and bruise her tender feet if she's not careful. So I will debate on which shoe to bring her in. Everything I have read says send them in a running shoe but . . . maybe I can find something of a trail runner for her.
All in all she logged 20 easy miles in 3 days which was our goal. I did about 18 miles. I was able to test out some of my gear as well. I used my cooking gear and picked up a few things such as take a simple quarter piece of scratch pad for doing camp chores, dishes and even scrubbing the grime off of your hands. We used the first aid kit. Sterling cut his hand on a machete while hacking his way through a 6 inch piece of white cedar. I also blistered up my hands chopping on a stubborn piece of pine wood that we wanted to use for fire wood. The blisters popped and my hand was bloody. Office hands! Not used to swingging an axe or maul. I think my hands as a 10 year old farm hands were tougher than they are now! I guess that's the idea behind going to college (i guess). I carried my intentionally overweight 45 pound north face brand pack. It was comfortable, but lacks a few essential features. I would like and maybe I'll add them myself 2 water bottle holders or a water bladder set up. The pack is 15 years old and does not have either feature. I prefer the bladders since they require so little to drink on the go. It does have a nice slack pack detachable fanny pack though and that is nice. We had some Swiss Army trekking poles $16.95 at WalMart. Junk. Didn't work. We went to adjust them and didn't end up using them once. My hiking boots were great for this trip. They kept my feet warm and although they are brand new didn't blister my feet much. I had two little blisters on my two big toes. But the construction of the heal box is tight and there is a noticable lack of seams on the inside of the boot. My only concern is that thy will be too warm next August on Springer. I am happy with the boots just need to keep breaking them in and maybe look for a cooler trail shoe. I still need some better cloths for myself and Caroline. I have cotton shorts and shirts. Based on this hike I need decent underarmour or warming clothing. I need breathable trail clothes that don't retain moisture like cotton. I also need a decent sleeping bag. I froze! To top it off we have 4 sleeping bags and 7 people in our family (notwithstanding 1 is in heaven and 1 is only 3 months old). I will have to acquire some of this stuff over time.
All in all it was a great trip!
> First the wild life report: We got to see several bald eagles hunting over bear lake during the final 2 days. There were also several species of wrens hanging around our campsite. We saw several dozen cormorants. Caroline got to identify it from a bird book from its close relative the native anhinga. She could tell it was a cormorant as it dried its wings in the sun based on the color of its feet (black not yellow) and the shape of its beak (hooked on the end not straight). They were up close and in person with grandpa's high end pair of binoculars. We also saw herons and jays and a few others. A few other wildlife highlights: Sterling and I were fishing and being very patient when Sterling reached down into the mud and snatched up a painted mud turtle that he named Shell. He let him go today before we left in a swampy little spillway area of the lake. It was tough, but I figured the turtle probably couldn't survive too many more days in his left pocket or in his hand before he would croak. We are in "no pet mode" right now because of the new baby. Maybe when he gets a few years old. Caroline and I did a 6 mile hike. We started at dusk and saw 2 white tail deer 1 buck and one doe darting through the woods. We also saw a buck rut/scrape. Another neat thing was during that night hike we discovered that our headlamp illuminated the eyes of every spider that was on the trail. This was a phenomenon that I had for whatever reason never seen! It was 1 part creepy and 5 parts cool. They were rarely more than 10 yards apart and those were the ones that were facing us! I could literally see a spider 1/4 inch in diameter from 15 yeards away and walk right up on it. It think it must have had to do with our new ultrabright LED headlamps. Their eyes looked like little twinkling raindrops in the sun even thought it was pitch black. That was a new one even for me. While on the same night hike we smelled a pretty foul smelling skunk spray. Fortunately we were not the victims of said spray.
> Now to the hiking mileage and details. Day 1, we all hiked 4 miles around Bear Lake then at around 4:45 Caroline and I left to do our 6 mile night hike. It was fantastic! I had forgotten how awesome it is to hike through the woods at night. We were just enjoying eating up the yellow blazes one by one. The experience was invaluable as far as preparations are concerned. We were reminded that night hikes are great but they are better if you have a map. We had glanced at the map last week but at one particular junction the trail took an abrupt turn in an unexpected direction. On top of that, the sign was on the ground so I wasn't at all sure if the arrow was really supposed to be pointed left because we failed to bring our simple map. Not very smart on my part. I just thought, "Loop hike, follow the blazes how hard can it be?" The earlier hike had been well worn because it was shorter and easier. A few times we veared off and Caroline was quick to say, "Daddy I don't see a blaze." I was very proud of her and how she passed the trial so well. I know she'll do well on the AT. We will continue to train and practice. It was nice since Bear Lake is less than 25 miles away. In addition to that The Florida Trail can be picked up just 7 miles south of my house. The only catch is that I will need to get Eglin AFB access to trek out there. It would allow me to go run any time I wanted the exercize without having to go too far. Caroline's only complaint was that her feet hurt. I told her to get use to that. We talked about conditioning our legs and feet for the punishment of 10 miles a day up and down mountainous terrain. Her feet were a concern too since our florida trails are very smooth, flat and sandy. Sand in my shoes was my biggest complaint. Any rocks you see have been intentionally put there like regular gravel and chat. I know from living in the midwest to expect the AT to be a rocky craggy thing that will poke and bruise her tender feet if she's not careful. So I will debate on which shoe to bring her in. Everything I have read says send them in a running shoe but . . . maybe I can find something of a trail runner for her.
All in all she logged 20 easy miles in 3 days which was our goal. I did about 18 miles. I was able to test out some of my gear as well. I used my cooking gear and picked up a few things such as take a simple quarter piece of scratch pad for doing camp chores, dishes and even scrubbing the grime off of your hands. We used the first aid kit. Sterling cut his hand on a machete while hacking his way through a 6 inch piece of white cedar. I also blistered up my hands chopping on a stubborn piece of pine wood that we wanted to use for fire wood. The blisters popped and my hand was bloody. Office hands! Not used to swingging an axe or maul. I think my hands as a 10 year old farm hands were tougher than they are now! I guess that's the idea behind going to college (i guess). I carried my intentionally overweight 45 pound north face brand pack. It was comfortable, but lacks a few essential features. I would like and maybe I'll add them myself 2 water bottle holders or a water bladder set up. The pack is 15 years old and does not have either feature. I prefer the bladders since they require so little to drink on the go. It does have a nice slack pack detachable fanny pack though and that is nice. We had some Swiss Army trekking poles $16.95 at WalMart. Junk. Didn't work. We went to adjust them and didn't end up using them once. My hiking boots were great for this trip. They kept my feet warm and although they are brand new didn't blister my feet much. I had two little blisters on my two big toes. But the construction of the heal box is tight and there is a noticable lack of seams on the inside of the boot. My only concern is that thy will be too warm next August on Springer. I am happy with the boots just need to keep breaking them in and maybe look for a cooler trail shoe. I still need some better cloths for myself and Caroline. I have cotton shorts and shirts. Based on this hike I need decent underarmour or warming clothing. I need breathable trail clothes that don't retain moisture like cotton. I also need a decent sleeping bag. I froze! To top it off we have 4 sleeping bags and 7 people in our family (notwithstanding 1 is in heaven and 1 is only 3 months old). I will have to acquire some of this stuff over time.
All in all it was a great trip!
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