Zaleski North Loop
Tried the north loop for the first time. It measures 14 miles and does a figure 8 back to the parking lot. I planned on passing the parking lot and hitting the first camp. Within 2 miles I noticed my shoes were a little loose and rubbing a little on the heel. Too late , as I had half dollar sized blisters on my heel. I stopped at about 4 miles to apply moleskin and found I had left my medkit in another bag. Compounding the problem was I was trying out my new Kahtoola KTS aluminum crampons.
I probably only needed these a total of 1 mile but used them a total of 12. The lightweight aluminum crampons weight in at 1 lbs 10 ozs with a bag (not included) and their lightweight version of anti-balling plates worked fairly well. These fit virtually all footwear and don't require mountaineering boots.
The Aluminum wears fairly quick when moving over rocks and mud , so the steel would work better in these situations. My feet hurt so bad at 12 miles these had to come off. It didn't help , the damage was already done. I'll have to rethink my footwear with crampons , maybee a sock liner will help.
Another piece of gear I tried was the Mountain Laurel eVent rain mitts.
These worked awesome in freezing rain and sleet. The eVent kept my hands from sweating @ 32 degrees Fahrenheit. A lower temperature my have required lightweight gloves.
Ice cave towards the end of the hike. After hitting the parking lot I didn't have enough will to hike another 2 miles and headed home. I'll probably do this again with proven footwear.
Zaleski South Loop
I took a quick day-hike to take advantage of the cool morning and changing leaves. I took a challenging shortcut that ended up not being any shorter. 10.4 miles in 4.5 hours. 2.3 mph moving average. Taking a slower pace allowed me to hear some deer over a ridge and allowed me to get within 30 yards of their crossing. Stealthy I moved towards that point , and a minute later I was faced by a large buck. This deer must have thought I was a tree , it walked straight towards me. Within 10 yards as I stared directly into it's eyes, I raised my hiking poles as a defensive posture. The big buck fell over loosing it's footing trying to make a quick 180 degree jump. It was more afraid of me , as I was of it. Curiously it stopped 50 yards away, looked back bewildered , snorted and bolted over the hill.
On overlook
Ginseng ?
Old school telegraph lines.
Pond View.
Zaleski South Loop
Took an overnight trip for the first hike of the summer. I only managed 12 miles in about 8 hours between the 2 days. The second day I abandoned the planned hike of the north loop due to sore calves and heat.
An overlook about 4 miles in.
The same cliff at another angle.
An overgrown pond.
A slightly nibbled on mushroom.
Another trip to Zaleski
Did a quick overnight @ Zaleskis south loop. Walked in 2 miles in the dark through a thunderstorm and made camp. I'm in process of reviewing and testing out a new Garmin 60cx GPS. It has a cool feature of calculating distance and time. My trip was 11.3 miles , moving time 4 hours and 30 minutes. Moving average 2.4 miles an hour. Stopped 1 hour 26 minutes overall average 1.9 miles an hour. This did not include camp time or lunch. I did stop a few times and go off trail looking for produce.
Picked up some ramps and 2 measly dried out morels.
RECIPE ?! Rays down and dirty ramp soup.
Ingredients.
Ramps cleaned , roots removed.
Morels , preferably more than 2 shriveled up , soaked in brine.
3 cups of Beef broth
Vegetable oil
Salt and pepper to taste
Cut up ramps as desired, I like to keep the bulbs intact , dicing the stems and some of the leaves. Julian morels.
Heat vegetable oil in cast iron skillet. Saute leaves , stems and morels. I leave bulbs out to get a firm , almost raw bite.
Deglaze with beef broth and add bulbs. Serve and enjoy. Total cook and prep time 10 minutes.
A few things that would have made this better. A slice of bacon and rendered grease to saute. A few cloves of garlic. Homemade broth ( I used Tones beef base and half a cup of cheap beer).
Zaleski South Loop
Hiking the south loop with minimal gear. Nothing is really new to review , just putting old gear through the paces. The Tarp Tent Squall 2 did good job with 50 mph gusts. I plan on doing the whole north and south loop in 2 days sometime before the heat of summer. Total weight is 21.5 lbs , including food and water & 1 PBR.
Old charcoal furnace used in the production of iron during the civil war.
Swamp at the start of the south loop.
Backpack is taking a break in a cave.
Terry on top of a cliff.
Worlds best energy drink after an 8 mile hike.
Zaleski Backpack Trail
The first hike of march allowed me to test out a lot of gear.
Tent with Neo Air under inflated inside.
Tarptent Squall 2 is impressively light and packs down small. It sets up pretty easily with either 1 or 2 hiking poles and 4 stakes. It affords enough room for one and gear , or possibly two tightly. This will probably be my main packing tent for a few years. Tarp tent products
Sleeping Pad shown with 24 OZ Bud Ice and Tarptent
Therm-a-rest NeoAir is a new ultralight product that's ridiculously light and packable. I have a few reservations about it's durability so treating it delicately may prolong it's usage. I slept very comfortably on snow with a 1/8th Gossamer Gear Thin light foam pad beneath it. 15.5 OZ with stuff sack an patch kit
Camera Mount.
The Stickpic is a simple camera mount that allows you to take pictures from the end of a hiking pole. I'm not sure how much I'll use it , but it's kinda nice to take pictures of yourself from a distance. http://thestickpic.com/