• Our grandcat is visiting

    Richard being cute – Dick (our grandcat) complementing the color of our furniture. Copyright © 2023 Gary Allman, all rights reserved.

    Dick is staying with us for a couple of months while his mother is off traveling.

    Why Richard (Real name Dick Cheney)? Why not (Our other grandcat is called Donald Rumsfeld). It also gives our daughter the opportunity to tell everyone she is sending out ‘Dick Pics’

    ¯\(ツ)/¯

    Richard being cute – Dick (our grandcat) complementing the color of our furniture. Copyright © 2023 Gary Allman, all rights reserved.

  • Journal: Four days hiking the Big Piney Trail, Paddy Creek Wilderness, December 2023

    Finally, I found a spring with lots of water — Backpacking the Big Piney Trail, December 2023. Copyright © 2023 Gary Allman, all rights reserved.

    I spent four days on a hike of the 16-mile loop of the Big Piney Trail in Paddy Creek Wilderness. I’ve got a new camping spot to explore, and I want to see the Big Paddy Creek Scenic Overlook in winter, making this a follow-up to my trip back in May.

    For details of my trip

    Journal & Photos
    Photos

  • Paddy Creek — Day Four

  • What? No end of hike selfie?

    What a scenic overlook looks like from the trail. Backpacking the Big Piney Trail, December 2023. Copyright © 2023 Gary Allman, all rights reserved.

    Nope. So, this will have to do. It’s a scenic overlook on Little Paddy Creek, taken on my hike out.

  • Snake on the Trail

    This snake was sunning itself on the trail — Backpacking the Big Piney Trail, December 2023. Copyright © 2023 Gary Allman, all rights reserved.

    I was not expecting to find snakes out in December, so I’m glad I spotted this one. We’ve not positively ID’d it yet. It doesn’t look dangerous, but when it got fed up with me watching it, it coiled ready to strike and it had a diamond shaped head. But it didn’t have viperous eyes. I left it alone, it wants to sunbathe in December, good luck.

    Snake on the Big Piney Trail, December 2023. My best guess (so far) is that it is a Western Rat snake (Pantherophis obsoletus). Copyright © 2023 Gary Allman, all rights reserved.

  • My quilt got a little frosty

    My quilt got a little frosty, though according to my notes it was only 30°F. Backpacking the Big Piney Trail, December 2023. Copyright © 2023 Gary Allman, all rights reserved.

    Day Four

    The place I planned to stop at didn’t offer any good hammock camping spots, so I crossed Little Paddy Creek in search of somewhere better. I settled for this very scrubby spot because it was starting to get dark. If I’d carried on for another one hundred yards, I would have found a great place to camp.

    Oh well, I have that option stored away for another trip.

    My quilt got a little frosty, though according to my notes it was only 30°F. Backpacking the Big Piney Trail, December 2023. Copyright © 2023 Gary Allman, all rights reserved.

  • Paddy Creek — Day Three

  • What is that I spy up on the ridge?

    What is that I spy up on the ridge? Well, I’ll be … I’d just crossed Big Paddy Creek, and I was taking advantage of the lack of Foliage to try and find the Scenic overlook, and there it is — center frame. Backpacking the Big Piney Trail, December 2023. Copyright © 2023 Gary Allman, all rights reserved.
    Scenic Overlook from Big Paddy Creek — and here it is at the max zoom of my phone. Backpacking the Big Piney Trail, December 2023. Copyright © 2023 Gary Allman, all rights reserved.

  • Looking down Big Paddy Creek

    Looking down Big Paddy Creek — not a lot of water flowing. No surprises there. Backpacking the Big Piney Trail, December 2023. Copyright © 2023 Gary Allman, all rights reserved.

  • A selfie for the folks back home

    A selfie for the folks back home. I actually had some cell service here! Backpacking the Big Piney Trail, December 2023. Copyright © 2023 Gary Allman, all rights reserved.

  • Scenic overlook on the Big Piney Trail — Looking Northwest

    Scenic overlook on the Big Piney Trail — This was the reason for my trip. I’d seen this vista in the spring and I wanted to come back and see it in winter. Backpacking the Big Piney Trail, December 2023. Copyright © 2023 Gary Allman, all rights reserved.

  • Scenic overlook on the Big Piney Trail — Looking Southeast

    Scenic overlook on the Big Piney Trail — This was the reason for my trip. I’d seen this vista in the spring and I wanted to come back and see it in winter. Backpacking the Big Piney Trail, December 2023. Copyright © 2023 Gary Allman, all rights reserved.

  • Scenic overlook on the Big Piney Trail

    Scenic overlook on the Big Piney Trail — Backpacking the Big Piney Trail, December 2023. Copyright © 2023 Gary Allman, all rights reserved.

    This view was the reason for my trip. I’d seen this vista in the spring, and I wanted to come back and see it in winter. I’m glad I did.

  • Making lunch

    Making lunch. Backpacking the Big Piney Trail, December 2023. Copyright © 2023 Gary Allman, all rights reserved.

    That’s the objective of this trip achieved, I’m at the Big Paddy Creek Scenic Overlook. It is time to make lunch and enjoy the view.

  • Signs of civilization

    Signs of civilization — The yucca plants appear wherever there used to be an old homestead. Backpacking the Big Piney Trail, December 2023. Copyright © 2023 Gary Allman, all rights reserved.

  • Frosty Morning in Paddy Creek Wilderness

    Frosty Morning — The temperature dropped to 19°F (-7°C) overnight. The predicted low was 28°F. I was glad I changed my mind and packed my bigger and heavier 10°F quilts. Backpacking the Big Piney Trail, December 2023. Copyright © 2023 Gary Allman, all rights reserved.

    Not that it is easy to see the frost in this picture, but it is there!

  • Running Repairs

    Running Repairs — Backpacking the Big Piney Trail, December 2023. Copyright © 2023 Gary Allman, all rights reserved.

    I’ve always had a plan for dealing with broken shoes on the trail. But … that plan reckoned on the toe post breaking not the side posts. I did a bit of head scratching before I came up with this solution which lasted me the ten-plus miles I needed to hike to get back to the car.

  • Frosty Morning in Paddy Creek Wilderness

    Frosty Morning — Backpacking the Big Piney Trail, December 2023. Copyright © 2023 Gary Allman, all rights reserved.

    Day Three

    The temperature dropped to 19°F (-7°C) overnight. The predicted low was 28°F. I was glad I changed my mind and packed my bigger and heavier 10°F quilts.

    It was a bit chilly when I rolled out of bed in the morning — The temperature dropped to 19°F (-7°C) overnight. The predicted low was 28°F. Backpacking the Big Piney Trail, December 2023. Copyright © 2023 Gary Allman, all rights reserved.
    Frosty Morning — The temperature dropped to 19°F (-7°C) overnight. The predicted low was 28°F. I was glad I changed my mind and packed my bigger and heavier 10°F quilts. Backpacking the Big Piney Trail, December 2023. Copyright © 2023 Gary Allman, all rights reserved.
    Frosty Morning — The temperature dropped to 19°F (-7°C) overnight. The predicted low was 28°F. I was glad I changed my mind and packed my bigger and heavier 10°F quilts. Backpacking the Big Piney Trail, December 2023. Copyright © 2023 Gary Allman, all rights reserved.

  • Paddy Creek — Day Two

  • Spring with pools

    Finally, I found a spring with lots of water — Backpacking the Big Piney Trail, December 2023. Copyright © 2023 Gary Allman, all rights reserved.

    I camped a short distance downstream from here where the hollow widened out letting me set up my hammock well away from the water sources.

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