Eight Point Buck

While waiting to go out to a nice dinner with my wife, brother and sister in law, I saw this guy moving along the woodline behind my house and was able to get this one picture before he bolted into the woods. We see does and little ones constantly, but rarely a buck in daylight. This nice eight point white tail is the biggest I have seen from my deck...

He was trailing a small group of at least two or three does and several of this year's young, which still have their white spots and look like something straight out of a Disney movie.

Book Review - Point Omega

Over the course of the last day or so I breezed through Don DeLillo's latest novel, Point Omega. At 117 pages, it's a thin little book, and it was an easy read, but I have to admit that I'm not sure I get the point. There's an odd 15 pages at the beginning, and an odd 15 pages at the end, sandwiching a brief and bleak story in the middle. The story was well written, with some beautiful if stark passages, but it didn't have much of a soul. The characters' motivations were not apparent to me, and the plot, such as it was, just kind of fizzled out. There were some interesting bits of philosophy mixed in, and comments on the nature of time, but not enough to hang even a small book on. I suppose this is one of those "making a point" books that is not meant to be plot or character driven, but I'm honestly not sure what the point was that it was trying to make. Obviously, there were some points being made about the Iraq war and post 9/11 America, but they were so obliquely made as to be ineffective to me. It felt more like a point of view was starting to be made about these issues and then just fell by the wayside without ever being drawn to a conclusion. That being said, I am sure there are those out there who would make the case that I just didn't get the book, which I readily admit is possible if not likely. As always with DeLillo though, there were some great bits of writing.

"...I'm not talking about secrets or deceptions. I'm talking about being yourself. If you reveal everything, bare every feeling, ask for understanding, you lose something crucial to your sense of yourself. You need to know things the others don't know. It's what no one knows about you that allows you to know yourself." [p. 66]

It's hard to give this book a rating at this point, but maybe 3.5 stars out of 5. Maybe a little further thought will provide more clarity. Maybe not.

Books read in 2010: 15 [totalling 3,207 pages]
New authors: 9
Books published in 2010: 7 [including this]
Classics read: still 3

I haven't decided what to read next.

Midyear Goals Review

I was reading back through some old posts last night, and it occurred to me that I should go back and check on what I had hoped to accomplish this year, and see how I was doing against those goals. Without having actively tried to address these, I was pleased to see that I have done a pretty good job of accomplishing them. If that tells me anything, it is that what I selected as goals were things that actually mattered to me..

• Fishing - Good. I have been out several times this year with the family, and will get out more.
• Canoeing - Bad. Have not done this yet again, but did go kayaking once on the Sassafras with Dave, so that counts a little bit I guess.
• Hiking regularly - Good. Have been out a number of times, primarily on my own, and often as part of geocaching outings. As the heat of summer fades, I expect to get out as much as possible.
• Fight my inner introvert - A work in progress.
• Wargaming Napoleonics - Pretty good. I think there is light at the end of the tunnel on getting involved in this period again. We played a game of LaSalle a while ago, and it went well. It seemed to meet what I was looking for in terms of a nice balance between playability and proper period feel. It was fun enough that I have begun to purchase more figures for the period and re-basing much of what I have.
• Not get hung up on hobby planning - Hard to answer this one. I haven't gotten hung up on "what I should be doing", but part of that is because I have not been very active in hobby stuff at all over the last few months. Summer is always difficult with family commitments and outdoor stuff. Historicon was energizing, and I do want to get back to painting soon. Historicon also made me appreciate Day of Battle again, as the game I ran was a lot of fun, and I hadn't played it for a while.
• Live in the moment - doing ok, but a work in process. This is another one of those goals that is a reminder, but not something you ever really finish.
• Take a real vacation - Haven't done this. Need to think about it.
• Overnight backpacking trip - Accomplished this (and blogged on it ad nauseum).
• Dedicated painting area - Done. It is nice to have this, and it does help in providing the flexibility to steal a couple of minutes of painting here and there which might not otherwise be easy to do if constant setup and take down were required.
• Painting itself - I did not really have a specific goal for actually painting itself, but if I did, it would be a dismal failure. I have not touched a brush in months. I am fine with this, as there has been a lot of other good stuff going on. Painting for me is almost always more of a non-summer activity anyway.
• Simplify my life - Hmm. Maybe life just isn't meant to be simple.

I also had a set of fiction reading goals that are simpler to measure:

• Read 10 books by authors new to me - Good. I have 9 already.
• Read 10 books published in 2010 - Good. I have 6 so far, and am halfway through a 7th.
• Read a couple of classics - Done. I have read 3 by Hemingway and Fitzgerald. Anything else is a bonus.
• Read 30 books - Pretty good. There was a reading binge in the spring followed by no real activity in the summer. I have read 14 books to this point, which would put me in the low 20's and well off my goal, but books do come in bunches for me, and this was directional - it's not about hitting a number.

So, two-thirds of the way through the year, that's where I am...

Book Review - What is Left the Daughter

After a three month fiction hiatus, during which time I've read a lot of history, I finally got around to another novel; What is Left the Daughter, by Howard Norman. I picked this one up as part of my ongoing desire to read more good fiction books as they are published, and got this on the strength of good reviews on Amazon. I haven't read anything by Norman before, but his earlier books have been well received, and I certainly was not disappointed. Reading the synopsis, I thought I would enjoy the book, as it sounded like the kind of subject matter that would interest me.

I won't go into a long plot review or anything of the sort (that can be seen by following the link above). The story, in a nutshell, is told from the point of view of a man writing a long letter to the daughter he hasn't seen since childhood. Most of the book takes place in the eastern maritime provinces of Canada during World War II and the years immediately following. For whatever reason I gravitate towards books that most would probably describe as melancholy; lost loves, people dealing with tragic events, all that cheerful kind of stuff. This book certainly has that. Concurrent suicides of the man's parents, who both fell in love with the same neighbor woman. The murder of an innocent. A child conceived out of wedlock where the woman was the love of the man's life but the opposite was not true. The mother and daughter moving to Europe. Loves complicated by distance, time and events. But despite the trials and tribulations, the tragedies and loss, a hopeful ending. Which is how it should be.

Norman's style is an absolutely effortless read. The pages fly by. I liked and sympathized with the characters, the plot moved along, and I was thoroughly engrossed; the 243 pages went by in 3 evenings.

"Friendship is provisional...you have to keep earning it. Back and forth, give the gift that's only each other's to give." [p. 79]

"It's common wisdom, but a rare actual experience in life, that if you find someone you can truly talk with, you can love that person." [p. 215]

4.5 stars out of 5. One of my favorites so far this year.

Books read this year: 14 [totalling 3,090 pages]
New authors: 9 [Norman is new]
Published in 2010: 6 [includes this]
Classics: still 3

Next up...I don't know. But I have to start another novel tonight - this one has energized me!

...a Minor Addition

The one thing that the Wikipedia entry on Derek Trucks forgot to mention is that apparently in and around a very busy touring and recording schedule, he did manage to find time to fight in the Battle of Helms Deep in the second Lord of the Rings movie. He didn't have all that much screen time in this movie (or the first one, in which he also appeared), but he did have a great death scene. ;)

Derek Trucks

I have discovered (for me at least), a new musical act I just can't get enough of. I used the term "man love" to a friend, which was met with a healthy burst of laughter (understandably), but I fear it's true. I have to admit, I have a thing for Derek Trucks. And I'll tell you how it happened...

I have always been a huge fan of Eric Clapton. I really like the blues-rock stuff that Clapton has done, and as he has gotten older and the idea of commercial success seems to have become less and less important to him, he has delved deeper and deeper into the blues influences that are so important to him. This has been reflected in the lineups of acts that have been a part of the benefit concerts that he has done in 2004 and 2007 to benefit the Crossroads Center, a non-profit addiction center he has been a part of. Crossroads 2004 was in Texas, and Crossroads 2007 was in Chicago.

Recently, my wife spotted an ad for Crossroads 2010, which was held in Chicago in June 2010. A DVD of the concert (I have the other two) was set for release in the Fall, but a 2-hour highlights version was going to play in a limited number of theaters nationally for one night, for one show. [It is interesting how an 11 hour concert can turn into a 4 hour DVD, which can in turn be abbreviated to a 2 hour movie...]. We got together with a neighbor couple and went to see the show, which was great to see on a large screen and a good sound system.

The show itself could be the subject of a post by itself, but the single best song in the theater version of the concert for me was Derek Trucks and Susan Tedeschi performing a song called Midnight in Harlem. I left the theater captivated by the guitar line, as simple as it was, and the haunting melody. At this point all I knew about Derek Trucks was from brief conversations with brother Dave. Having had the previous Crossroads discs playing in the background at various times around the house over the years, I knew that the blond ponytail guy in the background of some ensemble numbers was named Derek Trucks and that according to Dave he was a guitarist for the Allman Brothers Band. When I got home from the Crossroads 2010 show, I needed to know more.

As with Carole King a few months ago, I was amazed at what I learned when I started to do a little research. I won't go into a whole biography here (as usual, Wikipedia has a good one...). To summarize, Trucks bought his first acoustic guitar at age 9, was playing in travelling bands at the age of 10 (yes 10), formed the Derek Trucks Band at the age of 15, and currently at the ripe old age of 31 is considered by many to be one of the greatest living electric slide guitarists. He has had his own band for 16 years (and a bunch of albums), is the main guitarist for the Allman Brothers Band, and has toured with all sorts of people, including a 2006 tour with Eric Clapton. The Derek Trucks Band is currently on hiatus, and he has a new band with his wife called (creatively) the Susan Tedeschi and Derek Trucks Band. Go figure....

My descent into temporary madness can be tracked from Midnight in Harlem on Crossroads 2010, back through Anyday on Crossroads 2007, to an Amazon purchase last week. Anyday has always been a favorite song of mine off the Layla and other Assorted Love Songs album by Derek and the Dominoes (Eric Clapton). I think I like DT's version from CR' 07 better than the original. Poking through some reviews and seeing what was readily available, my Amazon purchase consisted of 1993's Joyful Noise, 2009's Already Free, 2010's live Roadsongs, and the 2006 live DVD Songlines Live.

Joyful Noise is a good album if a bit raw (which is a good thing). Roadsongs and Songlines Live are absolutely terrific. But the gem here is Already Free. This album is a magnificent blend of Blues, Blues-Rock, World Music, Jazz Fusion, and bits of all sorts of other things. 8 out of the 12 songs were co-written by Trucks. The remainder are a nice choice of selections from others, including a cover of Bob Dylan's Down in the Flood. This CD hasn't left the CD player in my car since it arrived in the mailbox and I played it for the first time. If you think you would like a guitar virtuoso playing this kind of music (and brother Dave, I do mean you...), if you do nothing else I ever ask of you...BUY THIS ALBUM. You won't regret it. I promise. Watch the YouTube video I have linked in above for Midnight in Harlem. If you like this even a little bit, trust me...

Pardon the fawning, but I love music of all sorts, and finding something new (for me) that I like this much is an exhilarating feeling. It doesn't happen all that often, but when it does, I have to share it...

Book Review - The Art of War in Italy, 1494-1529

Over the past couple of weeks, I have read the book The Art of War in Italy, 1494-1529 by F. L. Taylor. I have the Classic Reprint Series edition by Forgotten Books, published in 2009, which is a facsimile reprint of a work originally published in 1921.

As I have noted in a prior post, I have a growing interest in this period, but know very little about it. With that in mind, I need to find some books to read through to expand my very limited knowledge. This seemed like a reasonable place to start, as I have seen this book mentioned elsewhere. Overall, I think it served as a useful overview of warfare in the period, and did a pretty good job of describing the changing roles of infantry, cavalry and artillery, especially with respect to the ways in which the French, Italians, Germans and Spanish took different approaches to things. Varying strategies and tactics of the various nationalities were reviewed, and a number of different battles were summarized. As a follow on to my very limited readings to date (Osprey Campaign series books on Fornovo and Pavia and their Landsknecht books, as well as Arnold's Renaissance Warfare book), I thought this was a good next step.

The one thing that concerns me a little bit about this book, and only time and further reading will tell, is that my lack of knowledge prevents me from knowing whether the fact that this book is 90 years old has rendered its interpretations and conclusions flawed or out-of-date. Perhaps modern scholarship has invalidated some of what Taylor lays out in this book; at this point I have no way of knowing whether that is true. I guess there is only one way to find out - read more!

Landsknechts

Having gotten through most (or at least a lot) of my unpainted lead piles for the Hundred Years War and the Wars of the Roses, I need to figure out what to tackle next. The two periods for which I have sufficient figure stock to keep me going for a while are the Seven Years War and the Great Italian Wars of the Renaissance (1494-1529).

I am strongly leaning towards the Renaissance at this point, as I have a good number of beautifully painted Landsknechts that need company. I have stands of pikes, halberds and arquebusses, but nobody for them to play with. No friends and no enemies, other than 4 or 5 stands of artillery. I can send most of the foot overseas, and can play around with painting the cavalry myself. That should be fun. As colorful as the period is, you can pretty much go completely bonkers and still not have gone over the top.

I'll make a final decision soon.

And yes, these figs are some of the many that need proper basing.

French Napoleonic General

Just to dispel the popular notion that I never paint anything any more, here is a 25mm Old Glory French Napoleonic General, commanding a 12 lb cannon and crew of line foot artillery.

I have no plans to do Napoleonics in 25mm, but I do enjoy painting the odd figure every now and then. I love the Napoleonic period, but I game it in 15mm and dont like painting 15mm figs. Oh well... As can be seen, these are two more of the many many bases of figures that need to be finished properly.

Wargaming Entropy

My miniatures stuff is a mess. Disorganized clutter. Half finished projects. An abundance of partially painted figures. And it has gotten to the point that it is difficult to sit down and accomplish anything because of the mess.

Going to Historicon a couple of weeks ago was energizing, as it always is, and I came home wanting the dive into some painting. But with all the clutter, it's been hard to get started. So I have made a commitment to myself - I need to spend as much time as required between now and the end of July clearing the decks and getting organized. The single biggest thing I need to do is base figures. I have a couple of orders back from Sri Lanka that have been mounted on bases, but the bases are either not painted at all (bare wood) or have been painted but not flocked and finished. I also just got a batch of 15mm Napoleonics back that are still in baggies. And a bunch of 15mm Napoleonics from GAJO that I bought at Cold Wars and glued to bases but never finished. If I can get these all based properly and then packed away neatly, then maybe all the horizontal surfaces on my gaming table and painting table won't be covered by boxes and trays of "in process" figs. Then I can get back to something fun.

I really don't enjoy basing figs, but they aren't going to finish themselves. At least it doesn't look like they will; I've been waiting for months and it hasn't happened yet...

Historicon 2010 - Hundred Years War game, Part 2

Continued from Part 1.

Having been playing in part of the game, and therefore focusing on a smaller piece of the battle, I don't have a great memory or overview of parts of the game, and so it is difficult to do a very good battle report. The English position stabilized quickly after Warwick's initial disaster, and Chris did a very good job of putting Clermont back onto his heels. In the center, Edward's attacks against the Dauphin were largely ineffective. On the French right, the Captal de Buch did a better than expected job of holding their own against Audrehem's qualitatively superior knights.

On the right, English and Gascon knights bring the fight to the French, pushing them back up the hill. Cheshire longbowmen in their green and white tunics can be seen at far right.

Edward and the Dauphin go at it in the foreground while Clermont and Warwick continue their fight in the background.

Situation toward the end of the game. The English have made some headway, but not nearly enough.

Edward is held back in the center. Warwick rallies and holds off Clermont.

Captal de Buch continues to do well against the French nobles on the right, driving them further up the hill.

I think that every figure on the table was Old Glory. Flags are by The Flag Dude (the nicer ones) or by me off the internet. Painting was split between myself and Fernando Enterprises in Sri Lanka. I did every mounted figure and maybe half the foot figures. The Pros did the rest.

The game was a success insofar as it went, and everyone who played in it had a good time. I committed to running the same scenario again at Fall In in Lancaster over the Halloween weekend. Maybe we'll see you there!

Historicon 2010 - Hundred Years War game, Part 1

Day of Battle, 1356
King Jean II vs Edward of Woodstock, the Black Prince

I ran one game at Historicon this year with the assistance of my nephew Ryan and Chris Parker, author of the Day of Battle rules. 3rd edition Day of Battle were the rules we were using, and the battle was a "Poitiers-ish" 1356 battle between the French and English in the Hundred Years War. The game was published incorrectly in the Event Listing book, saying it was 90mm instead of 25mm, and this error probably scared away some people who look at the very large scale figures as toys. (Yes, even in a niche hobby, we still have snobs). As a result, we were expecting few if any people to show up for the six player slots for a game that was scheduled to start at 8pm and run until midnight. As a result, Chris, Ryan and I began the game just the three of us playing, and were joined a bit later by two players. So it ended up being an enjoyable game with all three gamemasters playing.

The overall situation was a different spin on the historical battle of Poitiers, but a "what if" that had a reasonable basis in the realm of possibility. In our version of the game, part of the French army under command of the Duc de Normandie (the Dauphin - the eldest son of the King of France), was able to get in front of the English army as it headed south to get back to friendly territory. Also in the Dauphin's army were two cavalry wings commanded by the two Marshals of France, Clermont and Audrehem. In our scenario, the entire English army would fall upon the French force, and would have to try to drive them off and get across the river safely before the remainder of the French army, under the King himself and the Duc d'Orleans arrived. Because of the shortage of players, we played with a partial English army and no French reinforcements. Chris played the Duke of Warwick's battle, Ryan played Prince Edward, I commanded the French (and was joined by 2 players who would each take control of one of the Marshals).

Initial dispositions. Marshal Clermont is on the French (near) left, with the Dauphin's large battle in the middle, and Audrehem's cavalry was on the right flank. The Duke of Warwick has begun advancing in the left distance, with Edward advancing in the center and right distance.

Edward (Ryan) boldly surges forward, attempting to get his longbowmen into range as quickly as possible. The French wait, with Genoese mercenary crossbowmen sheltered behind their pavises manning the front line.

The English are coming! The English are coming! A small English mounted wing under the Captal de Buch, a Gascon noble, advance on the right in the distance, facing off against Audrehem's elite knights.

The battle lines, after trading missile fire for a while, are about to clash. On the French left, Warwick's men have advanced very close to Clermont's knights. The French Marshal spurs his horse forward and sounds the charge.

Clermont's first charge was devastating, breaking through the first line of longbowmen and crashing into the English dismounted knights behind them. As a result of the flight of the first English line, two supporting units broke and fled as well. The three fleeing English units can be seen in the distance, milling about in the farm fields in confusion. In one charge, fully half of Warwick's battle had fled the field. Not an auspicious start for the English...

...to be continued.

Historicon 2010 - Duke Seifried's Display Games

One of the venerable and colorful characters in the miniatures gaming community is apparently in poor health and chose Historicon 2010 as a last hurrah to bring together many of his famous display games from throughout the years together in one place. These games are typically on tables that must be about 6 feet wide and 20 feet long with thousands of figures. It was impressive to see a life's hobby work on display. There were 14 such games. Pictures of them could fill a book by themselves, but here are a few of my favorites.

British vs Zulus at Isandlwana and Rorke's Drift.

British and Sepoys vs Afghans and Pathans on the Northwest Frontier.

Romans and Carthaginians.

Inspirational stuff to say the least, and the pictures barely do them justice.

Geocaching - Maryland Eastern Shore Roadtrip

My friend Ellen was back up to see her parents and was able to make time to get together for a day of geocaching, so we met in the morning and spent most of the day driving in Maryland and collecting new counties.

It was a very fun day, and a different kind of geocaching than I have done to this point. We didn't find very many caches, but we found them in 6 new counties all up and down the eastern shore, and put about 250 miles on the car doing so. There were also a few DNFs (did not finds) that kept our success rate down. That and the fact that the planning for the trip was left to me. Oops. Probably shouldn't let the new guy plan things... good intentions but not enough experience.

I love the Chesapeake Bay area, and want to get down that way again to get the remaining few eastern shore counties all the way down by Ocean City. Those could probably also be done as part of a more ambitious trip that would cross the Bay Bridge and do the Annapolis area as well.

I also liked the kind of geocaching that we did to day - the road trip. Sometimes going for quantity is fun, but sometimes going for a specific kind of cache can be fun, or in this case, covering some new geography. The possibilities for road trips in this area are countless... Pennsylvania counties, Maryland or New Jersey counties. Or if you wanted to be more ambitious, New England states, or Virginia/West Virginia. As I said... the possibilities are almost endless.

Sassafras River - Fourth of July

I took the girls down to the River for the afternoon on Sunday 7/4 to spend a few hours fishing. The grandparents were there, and Dave and Lori were going down for the afternoon as well.


It was another day of small panfish off the wall with only one catfish. But the catfish was a great one. Grace, fishing in 12 inches of water about 12 inches off the bulkhead, hooked this nice one. This is the fish of the year so far, a 21 inch channel catfish weighing in at just under 3 pounds. I brought this fish in because it would have pulled Grace's little ultralight rod out of her hands. Fighting a fish this size on a tiny rod with 4 lb test line is tremendous fun, and it was touch and go as to whether I was going to be able to land the fish. It fought hard for quite a while, and I was just hoping that I could get it up off the bottom so we could see it before it snapped the line. Fortunately, with Dave helping out with the net, we were able to get it in. You can see the size of the fish versus the size of the pole...

On the road coming into the neighborhood, there is a nesting platform on top of one of the telephone poles. This year, a family of Osprey are calling it home. There are three little ones, although as can be seen here they are not so little any more. At least two adults are also here, bringing fish back to the kids. When one of the adults shows up with a fish in its claws, the little ones go nuts and start making an awful racket of squawking and crying out.

It is nice to have a chance to see these beautiful birds right out the car window.

Pinchot Trail - Camping Gear Review

Since this was my first time out overnight, I had a lot of equipment that I was using for the first time. Overall, I was extremely pleased with my gear. I think I did the right amount of research, made good choices, and everything behaved pretty much exactly how I would have wanted it to.

Tent - Eastern Mountain Sports (EMS) "Velocity 1" with matching footprint. I absolutely loved it. This seems to be a very good design. It was as easy to set up in camp as it was to set up in the basement. The way the basic mesh tent, rain fly layer and footprint all clip together make for a very stable end result. There was room in it for my boots at the foot end, and a number of smaller items like valuables, water bottle, headlamp, journal etc to be placed up above my head, all without ever feeling cramped at all. It rained pretty hard at times our first night out and I never felt a drop of it. Everything stayed bone dry.

Backpack - Gregory "Baltoro 70". I loved this also. Good capacity, easy access, nice amount of side pockets, and most importantly it was extremely comfortable. Considering that this was my first time carrying a heavy load like this, I never felt any substantial discomfort in my shoulders, hips or anywhere else. I ended up with the expected minor tender spots, but no "hot spots" or painful points.

Sleeping Bag - Mountain Hardwear "Phantom 32" 800 goose down bag. I can't rate this yet. It was warm enough that I slept in my bag liner and only used this as a blanket over the lower part of my body. I never needed to get into it.

Sleeping Bag Liner - Thermolite "Reactor". This is what I slept in due to the warm weather. It was perfect on its own for giving just a touch of warmth. I need to have something covering me to sleep, no matter how light, and this fit the bill. Very compact also, as it compresses down to the size of a baseball and weighs virtually nothing.

Boots - Merrell "Mid Moab". These were exceptionally comfortable right out of the box, requiring no break in period at all (although I had worn them on a few earlier shorter hikes to make sure they were comfortable). Even on the long day when persistent rain soaked through my socks and penetrated the boots they remained comfortable. Squishy, but comfortable. I ended the trip with no blisters or sore spots. They were also very light, to the point that it was easy to forget that I was wearing boots, but still had enough stiffness in the sole to make the rocky stretches comfortable.

Water Filtration - Platypus "CleanStream" 4 liter gravity filter. This was easy to use and worked like a charm. It was easy to assemble and disassemble, and filtered a full 4 liters of water in a matter of minutes. Leo's Steripen was great for bottles of water, but this was perfect for quantity. What remains to be seen is how the performance on this holds up over time. Some negative reviews of various filtering systems (including this one) are that they are fine to start but quickly become clogged and harder to use. Only time will tell on that.

Headlamp - Petzl "Tikka Plus 2". A terrific little lamp for general use around camp. Very light and comfortable, with multiple beam settings, red light mode, and was easy to use.


Cooking - JetBoil "Flash" cooking system. This was Leo's not mine, but I used it and so it is worth reviewing. It was easy to use, compact, and did its job quickly and efficiently. Turn the fuel knob, press the ignitor button, wait a couple minutes, and you had boiling water.

Starbucks "Via" instant coffee. Given the limitations of what you can expect for a quality cup of coffee out in the woods, this was surprisingly good. It was the first time I have had it, and it was by far the best cup of instant coffee I had ever had. I should probably try it at home and see how much of that was because it really was good, of how much of it was because it was really nice to have a cup of coffee out in the woods.

Pinchot Trail Backpack - Reflections

Wow, looking back, I am amazed at the quantity I have written on this trip! I guess I was pretty excited, huh? I would imagine future trips of this kind will have the same desire to get in a lot of pictures, but probably not as much verbage.

When all was said and done, we covered 19.7 miles in 3 days and two nights, divided as 1.0 miles Sunday, 12.0 miles Monday, and a final 6.7 miles Tuesday. Our pace was somewhat leisurely, with stops and photo-ops whenever we wanted. We were in no hurry and knew we had plenty of time to cover the ground required. For actual hours on the trail compared to distance, we had an effective pace of right around 2 miles per hour, perhaps a little less.

Two main things occur to me as I look back on this trip. First and foremost, hiking is hard work. I don't care if the trail is rated as "easy" in a relative sense; any backpacking is difficult. Second, despite the effort involved, the worries, and the painful moments (or hours), this was a LOT of fun.

In retrospect, I planned too aggressively on what we could realistically do on day 2, especially with the rain we got. Under the best of conditions, 12 miles is probably a couple of miles farther than I would want to plan to do in the future, and wouldn't feel like it was a cop-out to do even less if the terrain were more difficult.

Preparation served me well. In the lead-up to this trip I spent many hours with books, reading articles on websites, talking to people with experience, and understanding my gear. Despite never having done this before, when I was actually on the trail or in camp I never had the feeling that I didn't know what I was doing. To the contrary, I felt like I had things pretty well under control and with Leo and Dave's assistance, I think I did.


I also have a better idea of what I would look for in a next backpack jaunt (and there will be a next one). Racking up sheer mileage is of absolutely no importance to me. I would want the trip to be planned around a destination or series of destinations. This could mean a lake with nice camping, or a place to fish, or just a series of good scenic spots to visit. This trip was a nice walk in the woods and a good training experience (which was my main goal), but there were very few "wow" moments from a scenery perspective. There was a lot of nice stuff, but little that was extraordinary. In the future I would be looking for those "wow" moments.

Lastly, and perhaps most importantly of all, I know now that I can do this. I also have a better feeling for my limits. My day 2 knee issues might have been more specifically related to a single body part, but Dave and Leo seemed to have their moments of struggling with sore feet, general weariness and the like just as much as me. My suggestion to shorten the day 3 loop didn't seem to disappoint anyone. In that regard, I feel like I held my own fairly well.

And I had fun!!!

One correction to my earlier posts, for which I am too lazy to go back and find all of the places I was wrong... My references to the large evergreens we saw throughout the trip, primarily in some of the shadier and wetter low lying areas, were not spruce of any variety; they were in fact Eastern Hemlocks, the state tree of Pennsylvania. I brought a sprig and a cone home with me and confirmed that fact.

Homeward Bound

Completing the Loop
The Pinchot Trail Chronicle, Part 15
Tuesday June 29, 2010

9:30am - We are climbing the long gradual ascent out of the Choke Creek valley, and we come to the intersection of the Choke Creek Nature Trail (which heads north) and the Butler Run Trail (which heads off to the southeast). The Butler Run Trail is the Pinchot Trail, which we had planned to follow, but we depart from the original plan at this point and head north up the Nature Trail.

9:48am - Having crossed swampy little Butler Run, we arrive at the place where the Nature Trail becomes a grass forest road. We will be following this kind of grass road for a total of about the next mile, which will make the going easier on my knees, which have settled into a painful soreness, but this is what I expected. It's not all that pleasant, but I have grown accustomed to it and have no doubt I can finish up the modified loop we have planned. We take a pack break at this junction until 10:02am.

10:17am - Still on grass forest road, we cross the dirt and gravel Tannery Road and skirt the Spruce Swamp Natural area on the west side. On this stretch of grassy road, we pass the third and final clear evidence of bears. Bears do indeed...in the woods. In some quantity, apparently.

10:29am - At the far side of the Spruce Swamp Natural area, we rejoin the Pinchot Trail, which is named the Sunday Trail at this point, and which becomes the Stone Lookout Trail as we turn left into the woods. We begin a modest climb around the eastern shoulder of a rocky hilltop, coming out into a clearing on top at around 10:45am, and see the so-called Stone Tower ahead of us. This plateau at the top of the hill is beautiful. There are large stretches of flat exposed bedrock, and everywhere else is covered with a profusion of wild blueberry bushes.

The descent down the western slope of the Stone Tower hill is painful, as are all down grades.

11:10am - We pass the sign indicating that we are now on the McClintock's Gate Trail, the final named trail section, which means we have less than a mile left to the blacktop road. My knees are extremely sore, but not so much so that I cannot appreciate the sights that we see as we pass by. Because of the bright sun, blue skies and puffy white clouds, some of the open meadows of mountain laurel that we pass through are the nicest of the trip.

The field shown below was one of my favorite sights of the entire trip - a beautiful sky framing the trail as it passed through acres of mountain laurel, some of it in bloom.

11:47am - We come out of the woods onto the last stretch of the dirt and gravel Tannery Road, and within a minute are at Bear Lake Road, the blacktop road that bisects the State Forest. Half a mile to the parking area. As we hike along the shoulder of the road, the combination of level ground, smooth surface, and the thought of having survived the day make the pain in my knees disappear for a while.

11:57am - We hike past the sign for the Pinchot Trailhead Parking area and are back at the car. A trio of mountain bikers are kind enough to snap our picture for us, and then we gladly drop packs and equipment in a pile on the ground. I have never been so happy to peel off a set of sweaty wet clothing and get into a nice soft cotton t-shirt and shorts.

We did it. It was not exactly as I had imagined it, but it was great fun, and I can't wait to do it again. After my knees feel a little better that is.

Next...Aftermath and a Recap

Along Choke Creek

The Pinchot Trail Chronicle, Part 14

Tuesday June 29, 2010

[The track on the map in magenta shows the route we took. The part of the trail in yellow is the piece of the actual Pinchot Trail that we did not do. By cutting across part of the loop, I would estimate that we shortened the loop by 2 miles.]

Journal, 6:32am - Been awake for a little while but Leo just got out of his tent so I am up too. Critters in the night, one scratching loudly and persistently on something plastic. Knees a little sore. 2 more Advil.

Everyone got a good night's sleep and seems to be feeling pretty good. We look at the map again and there is no talk of bailing out completely but we do agree to shorten the loop by a couple miles by cutting across the eastern part of the loop. Since there are no specific scenic wonders over there, we don't think we'll be missing much by taking out two miles of the same forest we've been walking through. My knees feel sore, but not alarmingly so.

The day itself looks like it is going to be beautiful. Blue skies with puffy white clouds. The scattered showers that have followed us for the last day and a half seem to be gone for good. Temperature is mild; probably still in the low 70's in the mid-morning.

Final Journal Entry, 7:25am - Camp is now broken down. Need to eat something, fill water bottles, and then get out of here. Heard a few very brief showers in the night but we stayed bone dry in the shelter of our huge evergreens. Nervous about the walk out. We are shortening the day to an inner loop, but it will still be about 6 miles, best guess. If I had to guess, I would say my knee will feel stiff for a little, loosen up for a little, and then settle into just being sore. Probably very sore.

So we take care of our remaining business at camp, like water filtering and breakfast, and get ready to leave. I am nervous. I don't want to ruin the day, or have such a bad experience that it takes the fun out of everything and makes the whole trip an unpleasant memory. I doubt that will happen, but you never know. The term the group uses for the worst case hike-gone-bad scenario is a "death march." I am hoping strongly that this doesn't become a death march.

8:45am - Everything is done. We shoulder our packs and set off through the forest along Choke Creek. As I suspected, my knee is stiff to begin with but does loosen up and actually feels ok. I am encouraged. The track itself along the creek is part forest, part creek side meadow, and goes through small stands of very large spruces. It is very wet in places, and the footing is treacherous in spots.

8:55am - Hmm. We have gone only about a quarter mile along the creek, with the trail following its banks very closely, when we come upon something very interesting. A fourth camp site. This site is much larger than the one we spent the night in, is at a place where the creek veers right through a bunch of boulders, and is in a large spruce grove right on the bank on the creek. A very pretty spot, especially compared to ours, which was ok but nothing spectacular. We look at each other, curse a bit, and realize that there were now four campsites along the creek, not three as the guidebook said (it is several years old), and that this was the beautiful camp site we were looking for. Oh well, nothing much to be done about it at this point. Leo is standing at this site in the picture below.

This stretch of trail along the creek is very very pretty and I am enjoying it very much.

8:55am - Hmm. We have gone another quarter mile along the creek, near the spot where the trail will leave the creek for good, and find something very interesting. A FIFTH campsite! And this one is gorgeous. It matches the guidebook description exactly. It is a large spruce grove with many tent sites overlooking the creek. There is a very pronounced rock ledge rising 5 or 6 feet straight out of the water. An absolutely gorgeous spot. We curse some more, and agree that this kind of camp site is a destination site; the kind of place you would hike to just to spend the night. Which we all agree we might do sometime in the future.

In retrospect, I am not sure that we could readily have done the extra half mile to get to this site from where we did end up camping, but I would have liked to have tried.

Muttering, mumbling and shaking our heads in disbelief, we shoulder our packs and head north, uphill and away from the creek.

Next...the End.

Choke Creek Camp

or, I May Never Get Up Again
The Pinchot Trail Chronicle, Part 13
Monday June 28, 2010

3:15pm - We come out into the sunlight and the meadows on the banks of Choke Creek, and we all seem overjoyed to be there. The guidebook says that in the direction we are going there are three campsites, and the third and final one is the nicest. A grueling last 10 or 15 minutes should get us there. We stumble on.

We come to the first camp site, which is in an open clearing on the banks of the stream. Very nice, but too exposed to the rain that is forecast as a possibility for tonight. We have been rained on off and on all day. The campsite we are going for is described as under a nice stand of spruce trees on the banks of the creek at a spot where the creek veers right at a rock ledge with boulders. That sounds perfect, and protected. It is marshy down here, and a few minutes later we pass another exposed campsite. That must be 2 of 3, so the next one will be ours. My relief knows no bounds. I am in serious pain by now and every step burns.

3:35pm - CAMP! We come to a place where the creek turns right among some boulders, and the trail goes a little bit left into the shade of a pair of huge spruce trees. We have flat ground, a fire pit and a nice dry area. It isn't quite what was advertised in the guidebook, but at this point I couldn't care less. It's not a large site, and isn't directly in view of the water, but all I want to do is drop my pack, get my wet boots off, and sit down. Or lie down. Or just collapse. So that's what I do.

The first order of business after a bit of a rest is to set camp up, and lay out as many of our things as possible in the hopes that we can get as dry as the humid air will allow. Our boots are soaked, and feet are sore. No major blistering on anybody which is good, as that could make for an uncomfortable day 3.

My main hobby is wargaming, and in wargaming terms, I have failed my morale check. Pretty badly.

Journal, "In Camp", about 4:00pm - Scattered showers started at the Pine Hill Trail junction and made it impossible to write notes during the day. Knee started becoming a little sore on the White Line Trail. Pretty darn sore by the time we were descending to Choke Creek. Got the nice camp site under some evergreens. Should be dry even if we get rain overnight. Leo and Dave are fetching water to filter and then use the Steripen on. I would walk to the creek but my knee is killing me. I am very worried about the walk out of here tomorrow. From this point, which is pretty far from the parking lot, the shortest route out is about 5 or 6 miles, although it looks like you can get to a drivable road in 2.5 or 3. Hopefully it won't come to that as it would be pretty embarrassing. On the bright side, the CleanStream filter did 4 liters of water out of the creek in just a few minutes.

A Note on Cedar Water - The water in Choke Creek was a brownish red color not unlike a strong cup of tea. The color comes from the evergreen forests that the creek runs through and isn't unhealthy, but it sure looks odd. Leo says this is what water in the Pine Barrens is like, and that in olden days sailing ship captains used to call it sweet water because it stayed better longer in the ships' water reservoirs for long trips at sea.

Having been in camp for a while we make dinner, and with some rest my spirits improve. I am still worried about tomorrow, but I can fight my way through the pain. We all look at the map, and agree that there are a couple of different ways to shorten the loop tomorrow if choose to. I know that no matter what I feel like in the morning, my vote will be to shorten the loop. The quickest way out would be to backtrack, but there is no way I am going to give in to that. I know that is not what anybody else wants either.

Journal, 6:45pm - Took 2 Advil and feeling better for the moment. Needed to do some bathroom business for the first time out here which always feels very strange. Not much appetite but I know I should eat. More thirsty and tired than anything.

Dinner was a dehydrated Chicken Risotto from Backpacker's Pantry, which was pretty good. Looking at the GPS track, we saw that we had done exactly 12 miles today. We were all sore and tired, but we were also pretty proud of our accomplishment. It was a good evening, but honestly, I am a little fuzzy on the details. I know we talked for quite a while and had some good laughs. We talked about other hikes we could do, places to see, and how we had perhaps stretched ourselves a little too far today.

Journal, 9:18pm - Bedtime. Exhausted and should sleep well, even with the thought of mice running around outside. We have seen several, and they are bold. Leo seems to have adopted one as a pet.

We hung the food and packs again, and went to bed. I slept very well overnight, but did wake several times. Once I woke to the sound of something padding around our camp. Larger than a mouse for sure; something the size of a raccoon or possum I would say. It could also have been a fox, porcupine, skunk, or anything of that general size. I heard it pawing gently but repeatedly at something synthetic sounding, like the side of a tent (not mine) or a backpack. My rain fly was on but open, so I turned my headlamp on at one point to try to see if I could see what it was or scare it away. I didn't relish the prospect of coming face to face with whatever it was through the mesh of my tent, 12 inches from my face, especially if it was a startled skunk. I didn't see anything and before long I didn't hear it anymore either.

A couple times during the night I heard a little bit of light rain in the tree tops, but not a drop made it through the spruces to our tents.

Next...the long walk home.