PTSD Haven Independence Day Festivities NEGATIVE

The question of whether the Road Fork Section - Buckeye Trail (North Country concurrent) is remote enough for PTSD war trauma during Independence Day festivities is negative. It is not a haven for them.  But, I was hoping that it was.

Reserve 5 Gallon Jerry Can

- I emptied the Jerry Can into the HHR. It didn't really need it, but I filled the can on May 7th and it's just getting to be time to fill it again.

- I got 100 copies made of Adventurer's Project's sign up sheet. I have no idea what this is really going to take? I've never asked, but in the last 3 years, nobody has ever volunteered this logistical information. We're possibly going to "perform" before 15,000 or more people?

Backdrop Materials, Metropolitan Area

I believe that I completed typing Adventurer's Project's backdrop materials. I just have to get them printed and laminated.

I know that I need to get some multipurpose sign up forms printed.

There's about 60k residents in Washington County, Ohio. But from a rough estimate, I'd say that the majority of them live in unincorporated areas. And that might remain true for the rest of the Parkersburg - Marietta - Vienna Metropolitan Stastical Area?

Camera Battery Charger Found & Geotagged Photos

I just found my dedicated digital camera and the battery charger for it. We're now set to take magnificent photos to stock for Adventurer's Project and supply geotagged photos for the Buckeye Trail Association's (BTA) Trail Management Team (TMT)

The dedicated unit can geotag photos using a bluetooth connection to my smartphone. My smartphone can do this, but with my last unit, the dedicated digital camera took them at a higher quality. I'm hoping to have the BT's first 360 view shot.

One thing that I have for my dedicated unit is a camera tripod. With its legs folded, it will just be a stick to steady it. Now what I need for the TMT is a trail that is in ideal condition. These are reference photos. It's so that if they plan to do maintenance here, they can see where they plan to do it and get accustomed to it.

As a volunteer section supervisor, the TMT is my immediate superior in the hierarchy of the BTA. They work with the entire trail and can originate from anywhere in Ohio and surrounding states.

Back at Lane Farm Campground, Charging Batteries, Upcoming Trail Promotion & NFS Map Compatibility

I'm back at the Lane Farm Campground near Marietta, Ohio. Today, I'm charging my auxiliary batteries and devices with the motorhome and car engine.

The auxiliary batteries were at 11.8V. I started charging them and realized that I needed to go to the store. When I got back, I started charging them again, but the motorhome's engine was running a little funny. After about 10 minutes, it was normal. My theory is that I'm jumping the cab batteries spread its power out to the weaker auxiliary batteries and after I took off the clamps from before, I should have let the cab batteries get to full charge.

Right now, it takes about 90 minutes to recharge the auxiliary batteries from a partial depletion with the 2 gauge, 20ft jumper cables on.

Right now, I'm looking at having a good day on maintenance tomorrow. Yesterday, I simplified my back drop for this upcoming trail promotion event. I called the Wetzel County CVB to confirm it, but haven't got a response yet. Basically, I'm only going to display their interpretive and general maps on their respective panels. As for Adventurer's Project's panels, I'll be displaying our volunteer needs for the most part.

Last night, I compared the forest map for the Marietta Unit of The Wayne to latest editions of the Whipple and Road Fork Section. Adventurer's Project will have map support for the 2003 edition of the National Forest map from Road Fork Section - Buckeye Trail, Point 18 to the Whipple Section, Point 07 (both sections are North Country concurrent).

That means that the locations as stated in our media will use both the points and locations such as road names, landmarks and communities. However, beyond what the forest accurately maps, it will depend mostly on Buckeye's map points.

Flooding Conditions at the Lane Farm Campground

Its 9:36pm and I'm up listening to the Weather Band. Its saying that the area has a flash flood watch, but this time it's not quoting the Bloomfield flood gauge, which is about 15 miles up the Little Muskingum River. I may have to stay up until 2am when its expected to expire. I'm coming up with a contingency plan. I wish this thing was better on dirt. I'd have it in a roadside campsite on higher elevation.

I might have enough surplus wood for longer parking boards? There are some sites that are big. And if the boards are long enough, I might should make it out? I could store them in the supply depot until their needed.

My mountain bike is something like a 24in. I got it out of the trash one day. I'm 6'6, so its uncomfortable to ride for any given point of time. My 61cm road bike is in the supply depot. It needs every spike replaced and I'm really thinking about having it done by the Marietta Adventure Company next month.

The shop still has my weed whacker. It's been there quite a while. I should check on it soon.

Accidental Emergency Call & Cell Signal Booster

I upgraded to a new smartphone recently. And it has some new features. I believe that an event popped up while the the screen lock was on and in my pocket, then the impulses in my leg tapped on the "Emergency Call" button. I caught it when I pulled my phone out and I don't think that it actually made the call, but I'm not entirely sure? I didn't hear any voices, that doesn't mean that there couldn't have been any?

I don't trust the belt clip that I got with my Otter Box case for my new Samsung Galaxy Note 8. It's not as well built as the one for my previous Note 3. In fact, I would call it "flimsy" as anything could get the smartphone to pop out. That's why I carry it in my pocket. But these days, I try to carry it in with the screen facing outward from my leg.

I downloaded the manual for my Weboost cellular signal booster. I think that it has a 3mi range? Right now, I don't have a DC cable with an end wide enough to plug it in my 12V sockets. The last time that I used it, there are four LED lights and two of them were blinking red.

The manual states that the two antennas must be 20ft apart. The distance between the chassis table and the back window are less than that. So, I'm going to have to design a pole for the outdoor antenna.

Motorhome Getting Stinky

Either I got my last mouse to die inside my motorhome or without air conditioning for the last 4 weeks, I've stunk up the place sleeping and with uncovered laundry?

Importing Mapping Data to Locus Maps on New Device

Weeks ago, my Samsung Galaxy Note 3 NV-900 was getting so sluggish, the battery was charging very slowly that I stepped into the Verizon store and found out that I have a warranty.  And I got it exchanged for a refurbished Note 8 that I like very much.  It's bigger than the 3 and I like big smartphones.

Well, I'm in the middle of loading it's Locus Maps app with data.  One thing I believed I mentioned to a partner of the Buckeye Trail Association is that things have to be loaded one by one.  And for new people, this took the better part of day before.  It only took me a few hours, but it had to be imported one thing at a time to make sure that the items get organized in the correct folders.

Somewhere in my data are image overlays for obsolete cellular signal coverage maps.  I couldn't figure out how to turn them off, so I exited the app, closed it in the recent apps, restarted it and it's back to normal now.  I think I have everything the way that I need it.

Washington County Historical Society Tour - Orange & Blue Routes

All I can tell you is that trail maintenance, promotion and chapter setup is getting hard.  I was GPS mapping the Orange and Blue Routes of the Washington County Historical Society's automotive tour.  In the course of it, I determined that I shouldn't have been doing it because it's not a priority.  This really should wait until at least September.

Hike Ohio Rack Cards and Local Economics

The Hike Ohio rack cards are now posted inside and out of the Tourism Cabin in Caldwell of Noble County.  I'm from up near Cleveland and I wish that I had somebody from one of the chambers of commerce tell me about every factor that is economically adverse to this part of Southeast Ohio.  I've got the feeling that the trails in this area are going to be very tied to that situation.

I've been mulling over the situation in Monroe County some.  The Wayne leases hunting land.  I'm not sure about the scope, but lets say that it's to two or three dozen hunters?  Economically speaking, most of them might be local?  Out of all of them, they might require services in Marietta, Newport, New Matamoras of Washington County and then Woodsfield of Monroe County.  That's spreads them out and they probably gravitate to Marietta?

The mountain bikers don't come any further north than the Archer's Fork Loop.  That puts them as far north as New Matamoras of Washington County and they likely gravitate to Marietta.  North of there, I do no know of any ATV or Jeep networks, so that leaves Buckeye/ North Country and two NFS campgrounds in part of Monroe County.  From the adventurer's view point, The Wayne's federal property is too fragmented.  From what I understand, that's the biggest contributing factor to it being (at least in my opinion) an under performing forest.  But from the local's view point, the forest has a massive presence where the federal government has acquired good farm land to expand itself.

Buckeye/ North Country in the area has always been "disadvantaged."  But it's hiking numbers have been bottomed out for a long time and we have nowhere to go but up from here.  I just commented on the Crooked River Chapter of the Buckeye Trail Association's Facebook group that we have "so little to loose and so much to gain."  Even if it's just by trying?

Mission Accomplished

The estimated amount of concrete, asphalt and tarred roads on Road Fork and Whipple Sections - Buckeye Trail (North Country concurrent) has been measured, but not tallied. From here, everything else either has a gravel, or natural surface and can be determined from the desk.

The ultimate goal is to produce a statement on Adventurer's Projects upcoming Web site stating it's surfaces in precent. It will be both sections combined and seperate. What I'll have to do is record a new track in-person on Road Fork's off-road between Points 27 and 28 to get my map repository up to date. At that point, I can produce a unofficial total for both sections. The re-route in question is probably off from my records by 0.1 miles, or just in the ballpark of 528ft?

Whipple

Last year, the thru hikers on the Buckeye Trail told me about Buckeye Trail's estimated off-road footprint and how they were confused by the statement because it includes anything that is "off-road." It could be paved multi-use trails, so it's not necessarily footpaths.

Adventurer's Project's upcoming website has an "About the Trail" section and it needs a more broken down estimate. So, I drove most of the Whipple Section's roads and started tracking the pavement with my smartphone's GPS. It was a good day in the sky and since nobody is probably going to need to navigate with it, I have a windshield mount and out of convenience, I choose to do it with the smartphone. Afterwards, I can edit it in Google Earth sometime and send the records up to the BTA.

I did not track the on-road portion between Whipple 02 - 03 (10/2010 map & guide). But I drove through the backcountry for 42 miles and only used about 3 gallons of gasoline in my Chevy HHR.

I was expecting to have used much more. The roads on this section weren't in "awful" shape today with the exception of Kohl and Tittle Run. But that's their usual pattern anyways and I still got over their rough spots. I'll get to Road Fork sometime. But I really have to get some trail maintenance done.