Everything backpacking: our gear, trip write-ups, and individual pictures.
Journal: Three days hiking the Big Piney Trail, Paddy Creek Wilderness, March 2024. I spent three days hiking the sixteen-mile loop of the Big Piney Trail in Paddy Creek Wilderness, which I managed to extend to twenty-two miles. I also managed to break some more gear and, at the end of the hike, needed to call out a tow truck to get me home. Journal: 10 45
Postscript. It was at this point I discovered that the factory-supplied tire iron did not fit these lug nuts — It took three hours to get someone to come out with the right tool to switch the tire.
End of hike selfie — I Hiked over twenty-two miles in two-and-a-half days. I’m happy with that. Three-minute read, +1
Old signpost — the sign itself is long gone, and I’ve no idea if this was for the trail or something else.
Big Dog! By eleven -twenty I was back on the trail. After the (very) short hike to the Short Cut trail junction, I concluded that I was fit enough for the longer — around seven miles — hike out via the North Loop.
Heating water for breakfast.
Morning Coffee, camped off of the Big Piney Trail.
Finally, the sun reaches inside my hammock.
Enjoying the view from my hammock.
Day three, sunrise from my hammock — Well, I’m still alive! That’s a good thing. My AFIB has abated, and if I’m feeling okay, I’ll take the longer more arduous route back to the trailhead.
Enjoying the view from my hammock.
Hammock set up at ‘Paddy Creek Trolltunga’ — It’s good to be back, I had to put in a long hike (with AFIB) today to get here, but it is such a great place to set up camp.
Uh oh! — Pills out on the trail can only mean one thing. Yup, the dreaded AFIB has struck again. Going as slow as I could and taking a rest at what seemed like every few yards, it was still a struggle to bring and keep my heart rate down, and impossible to get it to settle into a regular rhythm.
I don’t want to lose another pencil — As I was taking gear pictures, I thought I’d also take a picture of my solution to losing my pencils while backpacking. +1
Lunch stop, and time to filter some more water. +3
Virginia Bluebells by the trail — Three quarters of an hour later and I’m quite possibly near to where I’d land if I miss-stepped and fell off the scenic overlook. Though more likely I’d be impaled on some tree somewhere on the way down. Probably best to not dwell on that.
Long way down.
New hiking Sandals — I’m not sure when they stopped calling shoes like these huaraches, but sandals seems to be the current nomenclature. These are Bedrock Cairn Evo PRO Sandals. So far, I am much preferring these to my Luna sandals.
Running Repairs — Last night I cobbled together a repair of my broken hiking pole. Hopefully it’ll last the ten-plus mile hike and various creek crossings on my way back to the trailhead. So far, so good.
View from the Scenic Overlook — looking northwest. Clear skies and a higher sun made it a lot easier to see the lie of the land.
View from the Scenic Overlook — looking southwest. Look carefully and you can see the two roads I still have to cross. But first I have to get down off this ridge and cross the creek.
View from the Scenic Overlook — clear skies and a higher sun made it a lot easier to see the lie of the land.
So that’s what happened to the “No Motor Vehicles On This Trail” sign. +1
My new Hammock Gear Circadian Hammock — My first impressions are that it is wider, and the structural ridgeline is slightly shorter than my Chameleon’s. That appears to result in my being able to lie flatter, and I’m not bashing my head on stuff hanging on the ridgeline when I get in and out of the hammock.