Log 2015032801

Today, I went to my brother's house and hitched my Harbor Freight & Tools 4x8 Utility Hauling Trailer.  Since I had the car's side of the wiring harness uncapped and exposed to the elements since October, one of it's ports was corroded and I was afraid that it would not make contact with one of the trailer's connections.  But it did and everything works just like it should.

I drove over to Storage B today and started moving things over to my new storage location at in a relative's shed.  Considering that I'll be on the road with most of that equipment, there won't be too much that will be stored there.  And that which remains shouldn't be there too long.

One of the first things that I plan on doing once I'm in the Marietta area is getting another storage unit, this time smaller.  All I need it for is to stage my gear so that I don't have to transport all of it, which all of that really taxes the weight capacities (in cab and the hitch) on my 2008 Chevy HHR LS.  My plan is to sleep in The Cramper for at least a month before I rent a house or apartment in the area.

I now have a 30.3gal (121.1qt) Yeti Tundra 125 bear resistant cooler that I purchased from Cabellas in Tridelphia, West Virginia for $582 out the door.  I've always known that I've needed this, but it's price has always been cost prohibitive.  Nonetheless, I believe that it's a 20qt improvement over my previous Coleman cooler, which frequently ran out of space, it never sealed right, the screws stripped days after I bought it and it was never bear proof.

Years ago, the Whipple Section - Buckeye/ North Country National Scenic Trail was off-road between Cow Run Road and the Hills - Hildreth Covered Bridge.  But enough property was purchased by one owner to necessitate shutting down a township road in the final leg that the trail was dependent on.  As a result, the BT was re-routed to the north and according to Whipple's map, North Country remains rated on a truncated path to the Lane Farm Campground in the Wayne National Forest - Marietta Unit via a ford across the Little Muskingum River.  I now have authorization to reestablish that footpath and white blaze it's route.

When you look at a national forest on a map, that which I call the "green blob" is it's administrative boundary.  What most people don't know is that there's private property in there.  But I have Global Imaging System (GIS) shapefile data displaying what the federal government actually owns.  Without a guide, the spur to Lane Farm (as displayed on the map) is about 2 1/2 miles long.  We have federal property well before that where hikers can disperse camp.  This is where in the forest, camping is permitted 150 feet from the trail.  So, with the BT/ NCT going in a new direction, the only thing I could see Lane being much good for is parking and campers.

But the problem with the ford is that governmental agencies aren't probing the Little Muskingum's water temperatures and publishing them in real time to Internet.  But the nearest information that I can currently find on water temperature is the RECR8 Ohio River Report for the Meldahl Segment near Cincinnati.  The more local reports only cover things like the flood stage, which I'm not too particularly concerned with considering that the river can be seen from multiple point on the spur and rather early along it.  In person, it's the first thing that I'd recommend looking at. 2 1/2 miles is a long way to go to find out that it's not safe to ford.  And this really only affects hikers in the clockwise/ westbound direction.  According to Whipple's 10/2010 map, they're routed on the edge of that river about 5 miles prior to the Lane Spur (unofficial, that's my own name for it).  On this map, the spur is marked in red diamonds.

Log 2013080903

The screws that secure lid to the body of the long cooler are stripped.  It will need to be replaced in the upcomming weeks.  And the cooler will need to open with the hinges towards the back of the trailer in the future.

Log 2013073001

This is The Cramper's 40th day down trail.  So far, the stove burners are working well, but I went through a green canister of propane in this time. At first, I wasn't sticking to just one, so, it could be as much as 1.25 canisters. The cooler has lost 4 of its 12 hinge screws.  If I don't fix it soon, it will completely fall apart.
I have gatorade that is sealed in a zip loc bag.  It handled the rains and I just had some today. The  mosquitos continue to be terrible here in Punderson.  Other than that, I hiked around Stump Lake.  The maintenance crew pulled up in a Gator and asked how I liked the trail.  Personally, I have mixed feelings about the trails being cut to 60".  As a distance hiker, that's what we call a "boulevard."  And boulevards are undesireable. 

Log 2013072802

I don't think I slept well last night.  I must have had disturbing dreams? I suppose that I can still be affected by them even if I don't usually remember my dreams.
Today, I attempted to configure the cell phone repeater, or cell phone booster.  But Punderson has too much regular service and to tune this thing, I might need to go somewhere there's none.  Right now, the device could have taken on moisture in the back of the trailer, one of the cables could have been kinked, or pinched, or I have the wrong antennas?
A new shift knob was installed today.  The old T-shifter had a stripped screw hole and wouldn't grip the shaft after so many turns. I had to replace it with a $5 set that came with the shift knob, pedal and valve stem covers.  I moved one of the stock valve stem covers over to the bicycle.  I can't believe that it came out of Century Cycles like that.
The platform for the batteries on the trailer tounge was hand cut from 3/8ths ply today.  It just needs to be drilled and mounted.  Days ago, I thought that the wireless keyboard may have "bit the dust."  But I was actually right about my NiMH batteries all being dead.  They were probably last recharged on 28 May. When I inserted alkaline batteries into it, it responded immediately.
The cell signal repeater and surge protector were mounted in The Cramper today using 3/4" screws.  Mold in the cooler continues to grow.  Several screws in it's hinges were not secured correctly, causing water to seep in during previous storms.  Food containment has not been breached and I am confident that they will last until the 1st.  That will be the first opportunity I'll have
When I'm outside The Cramper, I'm having to use Off Deep Woods around the clock. So far, the plan is to hike every other day.