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kevinumberger 
Group: Members
Posts: 3632
Joined: Dec. 2005
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Posted on: Dec. 24 2012, 2:23 pm |
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wasnt able to make it out this past weekend----and cant make it out this upcoming weekend........makes 3 weekends in a row not in a tent.....
i'm jonesing to say the least....
so in the meantime---here's my year in review....
Highlights----finishing off the Park; buying canoe and seeing places not accessible
byfoot; night hike to LeConte; exploring other areas
Lowlights---losing canoe; one bear sighting; dumb fucks who wake me up on balds
January 4 Saturday—slept Sunday----dudley horse trails
January 14 CS 66
Noland Creek Trail>CS 66>>Noland Creek Trail
January 21 Davenport Shelter
Road>AT>Shelter>>AT>Chestnut Branch Trail
January 28 CS 113
Twenty Mile Trail>AT>CS 113>>AT>Intersection at Doe Knob>AT>Twenty Mile Trail
February 4 Rained Out/Hockey Game
February 11 Cold as ****/Hockey Game
February 18 Keller in Asheville
February 25 CS 57
Deep Creek Trail>CS 57>>Deep Creek Trail
March 3 CS 6
Schoolhouse Gap Trail>Scott Mountain Trail>CS 6>>Crooked Arm Ridge
Trail>Rich Mountain Loop Trail
March 10 Mount Collins Shelter
AT>Shelter>>AT
March 17 ABB NYC
March 24 ABB NYC
March 31 CS 55 and CS 53 Fork Ridge Trail>Deep Creek Trail>CS 55>>Deep Creek Trail>
CS 53>>Fork Ridge Trail
April 7 worked/dayhike
Goldmine Trail>Cooper Road Trail>Cane Creek Trail> Park Boundary>return trip
April 14 CS 34
Maddron Bald Trail>Gabes Mountain Trail>CS 34>>
Gabes Mountain Trail>Maddron Bald Trail
April 21 Wanee Music Festival
April 28 Kephart shelter
AT>Sweat Heifer Trail>Shelter>>Grassy Branch Trail>
Kephart Prong Trail
May 5 Walker’s Knob, Montreat, NC Greybeard Trail>Walker’s Knob Trail>Walker’s Knob>Walker’s Knob Trail>Tent near shelter>>Greybeard Trail>Greybeard Mountain>Greybeard Trail>West Ridge Trail>Big Piney Ridge
Trail>road>car
May 12 canoe on Saturday/worked on Sunday
Abrams Creek Launch>
May 19 CS 73 and CS 72
Wilderness Launch>Canoed to CS 73>>Canoed to CS 72
May 26 CS 97 and CS 96
Boat Shuttle>Lakeshore Trail>Eagle Creek Trail>CS 97>>Eagle Creek Trail>Silers Bald Shelter>Eagle Creek Trail>CS 96>>
Eagle Creek Trail>Lakeshore Trail>Boat Shuttle
June 2 CS 87
Fontana Marina>Canoed Over To CS 87>>Eagle Creek Copper Mine>Fontana Marina
June 9 CS 77
Cable Cove Launch>Canoed Over to 87>Eagle Creek Copper Mine>canoed to pilkey creek along lakeshore trail>hiked to 77>77>>hiked out to canoe>canoed back to cable cove
June 16 Yellowbranch Campsite, Nantahala National Forest, NC
Cable Cove Launch>cemeteries on park side>yellowbranch campsite>>Cable Cove Launch
June 23 Friday Phish/Saturday drove back/Sunday worked
June 30 Phish Friday night/drove back Saturday/slept sunday
July 7 Campsite on Forest side across from daymarker 3
Cable Cove Launch>Campsite>>Cemeteries on Park Side
July 14 CS 78
Cable Cove Launch>CS 78>>Cemeteries along Lake>Cable
Cove Launch
July 21 All Good Music Festival
July 28 Panther Creek Saturday/worked Sunday Abrams Creek Launch>Canoed To Panther Creek>Panther
Creek Manway>Slate Car>Panther Creek Manway>
Canoed to Abrams Creek Launch
August 4 Allman Brothers weekend
August 11 CS 69
Clingman’s Dome Bypass Trail>AT>Welch Ridge Trail>
Jonas Creek Trail>Forney Creek Trail>CS 69>>Forney Creek
Trail>Forney Ridge Trail
August 18 Russell Field Shelter
Anthony Creek Trail>Russell Field Trail>Shelter>>
Russell Field Trail>Anthony Creek Trail
August 25 Phish Saturday and Sunday/drove back Monday
September 1 Big Schloss campsite up near overlook
Little Stoney Creek Trail>Tuscarora Trail>Mill Mountain Trail>
Big Schloss Trail>Campsite>>Big Schloss Trail>Mill Mountain
Trail
September 8 Sherando Lake car camp
Canoed Around Sherando Lake
September 15 Cosby Knob Shelter
Low Gap Trail>AT>Shelter>>AT>Snake Den Ridge Trail
September 22 Mt. LeConte shelter
Alum Cave Trail>Boulevard Trail>Myrtle Point>Shelter>>
Boulevard Trail>AT
September 29 AT between Carver’s Gap and 19E
AT>Little Hump Mountain>>AT
October 6 CS 52
Newton Bald Trail>CS 52>>Mingus Creek Trail>Intersection with Thomas Divide>Mingus Creek Trail
October 13 Old CS 88
Canoed to CS 90>Lakeshore Trail>Eagle Creek Trail>
Pinnacle Creek Trail>Old CS 88>>Pinnacle Creek Trail>Eagle
Creek Trail>Lakeshore Trail>Canoed back to Marina
October 20 Double Springs Shelter
Clingman’s Dome Bypass Trail>AT>Shelter>>AT>
Clingman’s Dome Bypass Trail
October 27 rained and slept/washed down bag
November 3 Icewater Shelter
AT>Shelter>>AT
November 10 CS 56
Deep Creek Trail>CC 56>>Deep Creek Trail>Pole Creek Trail>
Noland Divide Trail
November 17 Joyce Kilmer up near Stratton Bald
Hangover Lead North>Haoe Lead>Stratton Bald>
Slickrock Creek Trail>Big Fat Gap Trail
November 24 In Maryland visiting folks
December 1 Joyce Kilmer Jenkins Meadow Trail near spring
Jenkins Meadow Trail>Intersection with Haoe Lead>
Jenkins Meadow Trail
December 8 Joyce Kilmer Slickrock Creek near Ike Branch
Windy Gap Trail>Nichols Cove Trail>Ike Branch>Hangover Lead North
December 15 Warren Haynes Xmas Jam
December 22 dicked around house/worked
December 29 in Maryland
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bad knees
Group: Members
Posts: 2381
Joined: May 2007
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Posted on: Dec. 24 2012, 6:09 pm |
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you STINK 
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There's a story behind that!
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| Post Number: 3
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bad knees
Group: Members
Posts: 2381
Joined: May 2007
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Posted on: Dec. 24 2012, 6:14 pm |
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Here's one fer ya Kev. Mt Washington viewed from Mt Agamenticus. A long ways away. Darn tooting cold too.
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There's a story behind that!
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| Post Number: 4
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kevinumberger
Group: Members
Posts: 3632
Joined: Dec. 2005
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Posted on: Dec. 24 2012, 11:38 pm |
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One d these daze, id like to trip the light fantastic in the presidentials.......
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CajunHiker
Carnival Time!
Group: Members
Posts: 22559
Joined: Jun. 2006
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Posted on: Dec. 25 2012, 12:17 am |
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I'm impressed that you can recreate your year so precisely! Mine is something like, I went to a few places in the U.S., took my first trip to Europe, I hiked a little, watched a little football, went to some school activities, and attended a couple of Mardi Gras balls and a few parades.
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"Mardi Gras is the love of life. It is the harmonic convergence of our food, our music, our creativity, our eccentricity, our neighborhoods, and our joy of living. All at once." - Chris Rose
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| Post Number: 6
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kevinumberger
Group: Members
Posts: 3632
Joined: Dec. 2005
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Posted on: Dec. 25 2012, 12:28 am |
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I cheated.......
A few years ago, i made up a bunch of various spreadsheets and documents in order to satisfy the question of "when did i do that?"....
It mainly started with me documentiing all grateful dead and various other band concerts i had attended....
Aftter that----it has evolved into keeping track of my weekends, along wiith any hotels ive stayed at, sports ive gone to along with what concerts i do in a year......
Next year---thinking of adding a new catgory of books ive read.......
And with keeping track of the weekends---it was the ole "when the hell did i do that? April may or september?"
And one thing that this has taught me----im.kinda ****** in the head.......in a good way.........
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CajunHiker
Carnival Time!
Group: Members
Posts: 22559
Joined: Jun. 2006
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Posted on: Dec. 25 2012, 12:48 am |
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Ha! It's just impressive! I can usually recreate timelines by my work calendar (where I mark my outside activities) and by pictures, which I usually upload very promptly, but it would take some work to put it all together. Your list is impressive! (even if you *did* use spreadsheets to help you keep track) 
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"Mardi Gras is the love of life. It is the harmonic convergence of our food, our music, our creativity, our eccentricity, our neighborhoods, and our joy of living. All at once." - Chris Rose
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| Post Number: 8
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kevinumberger
Group: Members
Posts: 3632
Joined: Dec. 2005
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Posted on: Dec. 25 2012, 12:52 am |
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My photos on the other hand are in complete disarray...........
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Owen571
Group: Members
Posts: 536
Joined: Apr. 2011
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Posted on: Dec. 25 2012, 2:23 am |
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Makes me want to keep a calendar, though I'm out pretty much weekly unless my back is acting up. My mother keeps one, and makes notes when I tell her where I'll be. She commented the other day that I'd spent 7 nights at Cheaha, plus 5 or 6 on the Pinhoti. I know I did two night hikes, and several dayhikes around there, too. I guess Cheaha and the Pinhoti alone account for about a third of my hiking for the year.
Aside from taking my dad to NV and UT, playing tour guide at Bryce, Zion, Valley of Fire and Red Rock, last week's trip to Big South Fork NP was probably the high point, since I postponed my other trips out West.
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chief1
Labeck
Group: Members
Posts: 1267
Joined: Feb. 2004
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Posted on: Dec. 25 2012, 9:53 am |
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merry Christmas.
great job kevin. wish I could have joined you on some of those treks.
BTW: I have been keeping a trail journal since the age of 15 and can account for every trip and mileage into the backcountry it can bring back some vivid memories from the past.
i'm looking forward to 2013 to create more new memories to my trail journal.
owen just toured the valley of fire myself . great place that not to many people know about.
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The Best thing to do behind a Friends back is to Pat it.
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| Post Number: 12
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HikerDude73
Group: Members
Posts: 63
Joined: Nov. 2012
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Posted on: Dec. 27 2012, 10:51 am |
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Nice year in review. I think it's fare to say you do your fair share of hiking.
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OutdoorCanvas Blog
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ashepabst
Group: Members
Posts: 1006
Joined: Jul. 2008
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Posted on: Dec. 27 2012, 12:50 pm |
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ah, now yer just showin off.
my year's been pretty light on the tent nights, unfortunately.
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| Post Number: 14
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Kayman
Group: Members
Posts: 309
Joined: Jul. 2003
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Posted on: Dec. 28 2012, 8:33 am |
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You LOST your canoe?
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| Post Number: 16
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kevinumberger
Group: Members
Posts: 3632
Joined: Dec. 2005
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Posted on: Dec. 28 2012, 9:18 pm |
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QUOTE It is interesting now to go back and almost relive every trip with the memories of the adventures with my son"s as they grew up
not that i have kids yet---but this was one big reason to keep track......
after i moved down here the first time---i kept a written logbook with hikes, but for all the other activities (mainly the concerts though) i wanted to keep record cause it would settle a bunch of arguements.........such as, with friends, going "no---that show was in 05 and not 04"......and because i had wanted to see how many concerts i had been to.....
with the written logbook, after i moved to knoxville the second time, i got lazy with it.....i was going through a bunch of health problems, and that took a lot outta me and i became lazy with the logbook....
i slowly moved the written logbook over to electonic form, but am slowly trying to fill in all the back dates......
and, this year, i got real lazy with it and around early summer, i was not really writing it all down in the logbook form........i was filling in the calendar and campsites spreadsheet, but for the actual details of the trip, i wasnt recording into the log...
and now, i'm up in MD at my mom's house, and in between other small tasks (such as backflushing my filter), i'm trying to update it..,..
i've also tried to do written journals while on trail and in campsite, but these don't (to my shame) work out..........i'll start one, and 4 trips later, i'll forget about it...one reason, is that i enjoy and good fire, and i'll get busy with that by cutting logs and whatnot, and then just sit back and watch it for hours........clears the head in a way..........and i have a tendency to stay up late, and once i get into tent, it's really just a matter of passing out.......
maybe that should be my new years resolution.....
but, one of these daze my memory is going to slowly fade, and i'll be glad i kept a record..........
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| Post Number: 19
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kevinumberger
Group: Members
Posts: 3632
Joined: Dec. 2005
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Posted on: Dec. 29 2012, 1:24 am |
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QUOTE You LOST your canoe?
yes...............but did find it..........
for those who don't like to read my ramblins---the short story if that i didnt have it tied up securely enough on a tree while it was windy, and it blew away.......
ok............for the ramblin version.........and basically a trail report of the trip........
earlier this summer, in the quest to knock off all the campsites within the Park, i bought a canoe so i could access the boat only site, such as campsite 87 which is an island.....
one of my concerns when buying the canoe and thinking of the logistics that go into this type of trip was how to secure the boat........one concern would be how to secure it, and then go into the woods for an overnighter and the other concern was making sure i had the boat, if i wasnt tying it down, up on the bank far enough so it wouldnt slide back into water......
this concern came up on my first initial trip, two days after i had bought it.........and it was just going to be an easy trip, as i hadnt been in a canoe in a few decades, so that i could get used to paddling and stability......
on that trip, i went to the mouth of abrams creek where it hit chelhowee lake, and launched from there...........went up abrams creek, as i figured i would kill two birds with one stone and look for some manways in that area----mainly the panther creek manway to the slate mine.....
up the creek i went (yup, pun intended), and every now and then i would get out along shore and check out the lay of the land, and some homesites and artifacts up in that area....
at one point, the shoreline was steep, and i thought (famous last words) that i had pulled boat up on land so it would be anchored......
up into the woods i went, and about oh, maybe 100 yards, i heard a distinct sound that perked my ears...........i wasnt going to turn around and check, but i had a hunch it was the sound of a canoe sliding along land and going back in the lake.....
and yup, turned my head and saw canoe going down bank and hitting water............bolted down hill as fast i i could, and thankfully, it was only about 5 feet out in water, as i hit water to retrieve it..........
i'm not the strongest of swimmers and i would have been f*cked to say the least if i needed to go to far/and or it current would take it away......
gave me quite a scare, and took me a minute to get composure as my mind was racing to slave off future encounters like this one........duly noted for the future....
ok.......enough of that one and back to the initial story of the lost canoe (i know....i know.....yer saying about danged time, but i'm at my moms house relaxing amongst other tasks and have time to kill so my fingers are going nuts on keyboard)...........
so after i bought canoe and had this initial scare, i grabbed my cheap ass bike lock----and put it in with gear for a canoe trip........
back on the weekend of june 2nd, i set out for campsite 87, which is the island that sets in the mouth of eagle creek, shortly up from dam, and right around corner from marina......
i had been to islands 73 and 72 the week earlier for my first canoe overnighters, and both those spot, i could pull canoe up on land easily and within site of tent so i wasnt worried at those ones....
my plan for CS 87 was to canoe over to the island, scope out where campsite was, see if there were bear cables strung (there werent any cables at 73), then set up tent........after getting camp set up, i had wanted to paddle up eagle creek and try to find the copper mine.......
it was a beautiful day as i set out from the marina, and i was slowly getting use to the canoe and how to handle it, especially with gear.....
its a short easy (unlike this story apparently) paddle over to 87 and i found the campsite and prepared start getting set up.....
the campsite is up hill, along a ridge of the island, and not within a good view of where i had landed on shoreline........i had found a tree near bank, and used my rope to tie boat on.....
i took the mininal amount of gear outta boat, and left things like my cooler as i would need it later for the copper mine paddle.....
and just because i overthink---i made sure to grab set of keys from the float box thingy.......
one quick note that was critical at this juncture of the journey---yes, i said tied canoe to tree.........not wrap cable lock around canoe and tree........yeah....keep that in mind.....
hauled gear up to campsite and picked me a good ole spot to put tent and scope out the rest of the area.........made sure gear was kept outta sight and tent zipped up as i figured i'd be out for a few hours in search of the copper mine.....
after feeling satisfied that camp would be alright while i was gone, i went down the hill back to canoe....
along the way, i saw a nice little grass spot and thought that would be a good place to pull boat onto when i came back to spend the night....
and from that grass spot, my eyes went up the trail to look out on lake and noticed that by golly, the canoe wasnt there......
i reallly thought it was a joke......a real bad joke......
i started FREAKING out........as i was on an island by myself, and not much boat traffic on fontana lake........and i hadnt seen or heard any boats in the immediate area, as boat traffic was generally light that day anyways, and figured nobody had been by it to steal it.....or at least i hoped not.....
did i say i was FREAKING out? Cause I was..........FREAKING OUT....
i ran up back on forth on the steep shoreline that also was blessed with a bunch of briar bushes that were cutting my legs up........
i figured if canoe was within sight, as much as i am not really a strong swimmer--- i could attempt to swim and retrieve it..........i did have a personal floatation vest so this could help with the swim.......or theyd find me bobbing in vest......
another option would be to stay night at campsite and hope boat traffic on sunday would be greater and a search could be done...
i had tent and sleeping bag up at campsite, but some of my other gear----like my cooler full of food----was on the canoe.........
i could last the night so thats the only thing i had going for me at this point....
after a few minutes of running back and forth and not finding anything----i had to get my brain under control and mcguyver my way outta this bad dream.........
there was one boat...........way......way.......way off in distance that i frantically tried to get attention by screaming and waving arms......
but, they were way off in distance and i knew it would be a general bad attempt to get help....
and yeah....i was freaking out....
my mind was racing as what to do and also what to do about future trips along lake as there were other island campsites to hit up......along with the canoe not being paid off yet.......freak out....
twenty minutes later, i heard an engine of a boat...
a boat named the miss hazel creek............
i just had to wait til it rounded closer to me and then start waving and screaming........
and thats what i did when i saw it flying into view....
i wasnt sure if they had heard me as they kinda kept going in direction of marina.......and if figured man, i'd be more f*cked if that happened on top of the already f*cked point i'm at right now...
catching glimspe of the water changing direction, the boat followed suit....
as they pulled up--- i tried to get my freak under control......as i still wasnt outta this mess all together..
when they pulled up, in my best non freak out voice, i politely asked them if they happened to notice a canoe floating around.....
and just to add to my freak out----the boat was loaded down with a group (non hikers) that was getting a tour of the lake......a big ole family of them........
captain said no.......but he would make a swing around the east side of island as that's the way the wind was howling at the time......
few minutes later---i heard the miss hazel do a u turn.....
this could be either really great news............or really bad news......
it was so so news........captain said that they didnt find it, but would come back after dropping his passengers off to make a search for it........
i thanked him profusely and started to get my sh*t together......figurately and literally......
in the interest of not knowing how long it would take someone to return, i bolted up the hill back to campsite so i could get my gear together.......
i figured if canoe could not be found, at least i could get off this island (it would have been a hell, hell of a swim back) by using them to shuttle me back........
i packed up gear as quick as i could and hauled ass back to shoreline......
waiting........waiting........still freaking out a little as i really wasnt sure if they'd come back (got to think all situations though)...........waiting......
twenty ish long mintues later, a smaller pontoon boat pulled up with a guy named david...
we exchanged pleasantries, as i put my stuff in his boat....
oh......and to offset my freak out.......he was calm as a cucumber.........
almost too calm......it kinda scared me as he was so laissez faire about the situation at hand.....
this served to be a good thing, as it counteracted my freak out....
his nickname was lone wolf and that being his boat name along with his compound on the lake.......turned out he had one of those floating boats over by the marina and was just hangout out and heard from the miss hazel captain about what was going on over on the island, and figured he was up for an adventure......
he also elected to go in direction of wind and after going up the first little drainage and not finding canoe----i thought this was going to be a long, long search......
he still was calm and i still was freaking out....
rounding another drainage, and my eyes had missed it, but bingo, lone wolf spotted the red amongst a blowdown on the far shore....
i freak out as my freak out could finally end and a surge of relief entered my worn out body........
towed canoe back to island 87 where along the way, i thanked lone wolf over and over and over........
now it was time to savage the rest of the day, and after locking (fool me once shame on you.....fool me twice shame on me) the canoe to a tree, i went up hill to reestablish camp......
i did make the decision to just call it a day and not go to copper mine as it was late in the afternoon, and i was exhausted from the freak out.....
the rest of the night was par for the course for me.......good fire......nice steak.........a pleasant evening that took me til about 5 am to crawl into tent as i was still jacked up on the whole thing and reliving it in my head over and over and over....
so......there ya go....
yup.....i lost a canoe......
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| Post Number: 20
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kevinumberger
Group: Members
Posts: 3632
Joined: Dec. 2005
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Posted on: Dec. 29 2012, 1:30 am |
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QUOTE That's a scarey thought Kevin.....
I figure we're both pretty lucky to be able to enjoy the outdoors as often as we do.
yeah.......i was just teasing you but was impressed by yer list that you had posted a few weeks ago.....
the luck of living in an area that is so accessible to various outdoor adventures is such a plus........
QUOTE If the weather is decent we're going to be on the trail somewhere
yeah.......likewise.........and in a weekly routine.....do laundry monday night.....start packing tuesday......stuff sleeping bag in bag on thursday......final preps on friday night......saturday am---kroger for steak and turn on cartalk and wait wait dont tell me for the drive to trailhead.........repeat weekly.....
QUOTE Also Kevin, I've got a scrap book with many ticket stubs from concerts I went to starting back in the 70's and going forward.
all the more reason to share a campfire one night....
i figure i'll run into ya down in the cohutta/big frog area one of these weekends.....
i've run into a few others from this forum, mainly in Park, but also ran into tipi in joyce kilmer.....
if it's a planned meeting----i'll bring a filet for ya.....
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| Post Number: 22
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cgaphiker
Hen Wallow Falls
Group: Members
Posts: 11005
Joined: Apr. 2006
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Posted on: Dec. 29 2012, 12:16 pm |
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Awesome story of the lost canoe. That would suck.
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| Post Number: 23
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| Post Number: 24
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Survival Skills 101 • Eat Better
