Mountain Bridge Wilderness Area trail maintenance hike
Bill Kimbal trail blaze refresh
Greenville County, SC
Monday, September 28th, 2020
On Monday I volunteered to freshen up the blazes, and add some additional blazes to several confusing sections) along the Bill Kimbal Trail in the Mountain Bridge Wilderness Area of South Carolina. (Jones Gap and Caesars Head State Parks)
Brenda Wiley joined me for part of the hike to help blaze the way up the Bill Kimbal.
Brenda along the Jones Gap Trail at the base of Toll Road Falls
I usually don't bring the camera along on my trail maintenance hikes, but did snap a few cell phone shots along the Jones Gap Trail.
plus some back road scenes along our drive to the airport
Somewhere along the back roads of Washington State
photo by Amy Thyen
Way back in January, before the Covid-19 Pandemic and the flooding of our home, Amy and I took a trip out to Washington State.
I finally got around to going through the last of the photos.
For our final day in Washington, I got up early to enjoy a rainy morning stroll around Cap Sante Park and the Anacortes Marina near our hotel in Anacortes, WA
The Anacortes Marina from Cap Sante Park
View from Cap Sante Park - Anacortes, WA
Cap Sante Park - Anacortes, WA
After checking out of our hotel, Amy and I decided to mostly stay off the interstate and took a much more scenic (and less traffic!) route back to the SeaTac airport.
Somewhere along the back roads between Anacortes and Seatac, WA
My complete set of photos from our final day in Washington State are posted here:
I joined Brenda on a hike along one of her favorite sections of the Mountains to Sea Trail. At over 5,000 feet in elevation it was a bit chilly at the start with a light frost on the ground and a blustery wind.
I've been looking forward to the cooler weather for months and it felt wonderful! It was the perfect day to be up in the mountains of North Carolina with my friend Brenda!
Professor
Scott Burns, Captain John Podlewski, and I have been talking about
hiking to High Rocks in the Smokies for several years now! We
finally made the 20 mile round trip trek to reach this remote and
magical spot in the Smokies!
It was perfect hiking weather, but the
Smokies lived up to its name by fogging in any potential views from High
Rocks. It was still a wonderful day full of laughter and fun with some
great friends. And one heck of a workout! (20 miles round trip with over 4,000 feet of elevation gain)
Roadside view from the Road to Nowhere
Three Went In! The Tunnel to Nowhere!
John and Me at High Rocks
Checking out the remains of the High Rocks Cabin
Some Shenanigans at High Rocks
The
professor Scott Burns reading about High Rocks from George Ellison's "Permanent
Camp; Poems, Narratives, and Renderings from the Smokies". The
illustration on the left is of High Rocks (back when there was a lookout
tower) done by George's wife Elizabeth Ellison.
In this video below the Professor takes seat on the iconic High Rocks stool to read a short excerpt about High Rocks from author and
poet George Ellison's "Permanent Camp - Poems, narratives, and
renderings from the Smokies"
The Captain in the High Rocks Cabin
The Professor checking out the High Rocks Cabin
The Captain and the Professor and something about a 12-step program
The Professor and the Captain after a visit to High Rocks
Taking a little break at Campsite #75
Enjoying a fine post hike Pale Ale with my amazing friends!
Once of the things I have wanted to get more involved with is trail maintenance. My good friend Darrin has been doing volunteer trail maintenance for years. I decided to join Darrin on one of his trail maintenance hikes along the Rim of the Gap Trail.
The Rim of the Gap is one of several trails that connect Jones Gap and Caesars Head State Park. Our main goal was to refresh the blazes and possibly add a few more in certain areas where people have gotten confused.
You end up with paint on your fingers when refreshing blazes, which makes photography difficult. I did snap a few cell phone shots before the rains arrived.
Rim of the Gap Yellow!
Darrin's Sons both have built bridges along the Rim of the Gap Trail
