Log 2014090301

I was in Lancaster of Fairfield County resupplying and overnighting at a hotel.  My Nishiki Colorado mountain bike has new handle grips, road bike grip tape on my extension handles and a battery bag that mounts within the top back corner of my frame.  The new bag carries my external cell phone battery.

I also got a new machete. This one is curved and I think of it as a Arabic sword.  Two additional 946mL water bottles have been procured.  The reason is that I though I could save one of my 1L bottles, but it turns out that with the high humidity, higher temperatures in southern Ohio (as compared to NE Ohio) and the fact that some of the trails aren't very well maintained, I've determined that my consumption is going to be higher than I originally predicted.

With that being said, I've established myself at Basecamp C again because I did not want to attempt a roadside camp in the Athens Unit - Wayne National Forest when we had a storm 3 days ago.  I'm just not confident that I can park The Cramper in a way that won't get stuck in 3" of muddy top soil.  So the upcoming and remaining hikes on the New Straitsville Section - Buckeye/ North Country/ American Discovery Trail will have to be staged from the campground Burr Oak State Park instead.  And that means that my fuel consumption will go up a little.

I got reports last week that the portion of trail from Tom Jenkins Dam through Murray City area was overgrown.  Last year, I performed maintenance on the New Straitsville Section and based on experience, I think I know what I'm getting myself into.

High grasses can make a opportunity to get ambushed by a venomous snake.  I learned in years past that if I place my retractable hiking poles in one hand in an "X" formation, I can "blast" through those trouble areas, but that makes for an aggressive hike. And then there's the machete...

Log 2014080901

I finally made it into Basecamp C at Burr Oak State Park and got to sleep in the front seat of my car at about 0530hrs this morning.  Burr Oak doesn't have any sites where campers can arrive after hours, set up and camp for as long as they need.  Instead, they publish a list of vacant campsites and the user has to fill out their camper registration and, well... pray that nobody else is scheduled through that time.

I did that.  And 0830hrs this morning, I got a knock on my window from one of the park staff, telling me that I had to move.  She's so lucky that I awoke then as I was 5hrs from my required 8hrs of sleep.  I was in somewhat of a daze when I had to get up and couple the trailer.  I'd say it was barely in the relm of being a safe thing to do.

She told me to move about 4 sites over and I did.  But when I left, I remembered that she did not tag my new site.  So, I tried to contact the campground, but the only phone number that i have is for a collective of 3 state parks.  It was automated and I left a message.  So far, it's been about a few hours since I did that and nobody there has returned my call.  Burr Oak's west campground is popular and I know that there is a staff member there.

Today, I got some much needed shopping done.  I purchased some knobby tires because the I don't trust the chubby's on some of the backcountry dirt roads that I believe I'm going to put them on.  I want more traction to deal with thick, loose, pasty dirt with flood channels chiseled through them and small boulders embedded in the surface.

Days ago, I found that in the electric camps, I'll want to use the USB powered hub, which is located on the stem of the laptop mount in the front passenger's side of the car.  So far, I have a conventional 7ft indoor extention cord and an DC to AC converter.  But I forgot to get a universal AC adaptor for it.

- pouch for the external bike/ smartphone battery was procured.  When I use the USB generator, it only makes power when I pedal.  And the smartphone is so power intensive, that the best thing that I can do these days is slowly drain it, instead of keeping the power level the same, or charging more than I need.