Log 2015021301

I'm getting ready to sew my patches on my convertible coat that has about a 17°F rating.  So, I purchased 4 - 500K, 3 - 100K and 1 - 10mi patches, which when sewn on will get me to as close to displaying 2,324km, or 1,444mi as the Buckeye Trail was officially measured as when I started hiking it on October 28th, 2009.

A "trail crew" is different from performing typical maintenance as an adopter.  Usually, trail crews are the ones who build the off-road trail.  And at 5 hours of service, those volunteers are entitled to the "Volunteer" patch.  I got mine about a year or two ago while volunteering on the crew that was building 18 additional miles of trail around the Michael J. Kirwan Reservoir in the West Branch State Park.  I mostly did what's called "benching."  When the trail goes along the side of a hill, the pitch of the terrain is going down (from left to right) as the trail is routed across (straight).  "Benching" is the process of digging out the hill to level out that pitch so that hikers aren't traversing the route on a slanted surface.  Otherwise, it might unbalance some of our loads, or cause one of our muscles to compensate for the other and fatigue in a way that is not uniform.

This is not a patch that one can order from the BTA Store, so I made an inquiry today regarding the purchase of 3 of them.  The one that I was given was in a hair band on my former wicker cowboy hat that I lost in Sandusky.

Log 2015020701

Currently still, I'm the trail adopter for the Norwalk Section - Buckeye Trail between US-250 and OH-58.  So, when it comes to the annual Winter Hike at Findley State Park (which is on OH-58 and BT's Medina Section is routed off-road there), I'm the guy next door.  You can see Findley's reclaimed forest from my east terminator, about   And until today, I've missed this event every year since I became a maintainer in November of 2010.  Well, I've been feeling pretty guilty about that.

I had trouble sleeping last night and when my alarm went off, I touched the "off" button instead of the "snooze" and fell back asleep. Then I woke up late and had to stop by Dunkin Donuts so I could be an "agreeable" person when I got to the park. They didn't have the double chocolate donut that I really like.  That donut is a part of my pattern.

Well, I got to the picnic shelter at Findley State Park about an hour late.  Then I had to get a few things out of the tailgate and fix my YakTrax to my boots.  That took another 1/2 hour.  I was lucky to enter the course and earn my patch.  I've bought it a few years ago and after missing the event a few times, I was just keeping it was just keeping it warm (I guess).  Now, it's ready to sew on.

Log 2014090901

Today, I hiked about 8 miles clockwise on the New Straitsville Section - Buckeye/ North Country/ American Discovery Trail from the Village of Murray City in Hocking County to just south of the Tecumseh Park in an area outside of the Village of Shawnee in Perry County.  Once I was done, I intercepted my pre-positioned bicycle and rode roughly the same mileage back, but on a slightly different course.  I had difficulty determining where the trail progressed on about three different occasions.  But I also know the maintainer and I'm certain he's busy at the moment.

On the way back, I had dinner at Ma N Pa's Pizza in the Village of New Straitsville of Perry County.  I had my car and trailer parked at the village park in Murray City.  Because New Straitsville Section, Pt. 27's status is unclear, I decided not to camp there.  Anyways, I have auto parts to pick up in the City of Athens tomorrow, so I'm here for another night at the motel.

The good news is that tomorrow's route is only about 11.5mi long.  The bike will be in Tecumseh Park at pt. 22 and the car will be parked at pt. 27.  This will be a CCW, or counter clockwise hike.  Because of local maintenance, I don't anticipate a flawless hike, but I think it will be quicker than the ones before it.

I intend on performing maintenance on the Chevy's rear brakes at pt. 27 when I get done, then I'll drive south to the Class A campground at Tar Hollow State Park afterwards where Basecamp E will be.  This basecamp will be about 23mi from the City of Chillicothe in Ross County, which is the nearest city with a full range of services.  And it will put me in range of the next hike, which is Old Man's Cave Section, pt. 26 through Scioto Trail Section, Pt. 5.  OMC 26 is the Southwest Lawn of the Pretty Run Property and ST 05 is Tar Hollow.

If everything goes as planned, the New Straitsville Section will be my 21st and the Old Man's Cave will be my 22nd out of 26 sections completed.  Currently, the New Straitsville, Old Man's Cave and West Union Sections are in progress.

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 2014082301

Basecamp D was set up at Hocking Hills State Park near Old Man's Cave Section - Buckeye/ North Country/ American Discovery Trail today.

Log 2014072801

Basecamp A for 2014 is at Hueston Woods SP in Preble County. 

My rig is deficient in a few minor areas, but for the moment, everything is functioning fine. Any kind of signal at Basecamp A is very poor. But there is a wi-fi hotspot about 0.6mi from Basecamp at the nature center.

The camp office is supposed to have one, but a staff member tells me that the T1 line is down and will probably stay that way until later this season.

Log 2014051201

I drove my car down to the Cuyahoga National Forest today to acquire a free map at Happy Days Camp.  On my way back, I stopped at a local gas station and just before I got out of the car, the emergency sound played on my smartphone Weatherbug Elite app, alerting me that I was in an area declared to be in a tornado warning.  The gas station clerks quickly shut down the station and reluctantly, I had to drive another 3 miles in to the nearby City of Hudson.  I stopped at a local McDonald's to prepare to take shelter.

The point that I want to make is that I was rather impressed with the way that app worked under the circumstances.  My AM/FM head unit wasn't on at the time.  Also, I got emergency text alerts from Verizon Wireless as well.  Weatherbug played the emergency weather sound again when the app changed over to another county.  That's something that the text alerts didn't do, but they probably work on a much wider area, whereas, the app goes from the nearest weather station to the next one based on my GPS position.

They are probably more frequent, but I'm not sure if that makes the text alerts inferior?  Right now, I'm going to reserve judgment on that.  Weatherbug is inferior to the text in the way that I won't get its updates if I don't have any data signal.  But the texts will come in if I have so much as one unstable bar of roaming.  As for today, it's good to see this get a test.  It wasn't even on my list of things to experiment with and I'm glad it happened.

My back sprain continues to become more minor

Log 2014041001

At 133,975 miles on my 2008 Chevy HHR, I noticed that the USB cigarette lighter adapter was powering up and down while I was driving and the adapter and 3 port splitter's rocker switch was no longer lighting up. Furthermore, I don't remember turning it on to begin with.  So either it over heated, or took a surge? Either way, they need to be replaced this month if I leave for my 4 day cycling trip.

I took some tracks along the Valley Bridle Trail in the Everett area in the Cuyahoga Valley National Park. Two days ago, I was tracing some trail on Google Earth for an amenity spur on the Ohio Transit Hiker's Resource - 2014 Edition. And the application was giving me some conflicting readings.  I've noted in the past that the NP doesn't always upload every one of their trails to Google.  And I think I saw something that I could use in the imagry,  but I didn't realky know what it was. So, I went down there today to find out just that. Some times, you can't do it all from behind the desk.

For instance... there's a new map update for the Old Man's Cave Section in South Central Ohio.  Because some of it takes place on an off-road bridle path in a heavily forested area (impossible to determine a trail's course in places like this from the desk), unless the BTA updates it's tracks, I won't have any new data until I'm there to get it myself.

Work on OTHR's guide is progressing.  I only have the Akron, Road Fork & Whipple Section's left to do. The latter two are easy, they're just I'm putting the information on the county lines. The Akron Section. .. I'm about a 1/3rd through inputting it's information, but I needed to stop to get that GPX data today in the NP and in person.

Log 2014013003

I checked in at the Hueston Woods Lodge & Confrence Center at about 1745hrs today. And on the way in, I spotted a hunter in artic camo, who was carrying a compound bow, which was also camouflaged. And I didn't bring my orange vest... that is in storage.  So, I took a trip to Super Walmart today and got a 47L orange rucksack and some hardware to help me mount my snow shoes in case I have to take them off in mid-hike tomorrow.
When I got back, I got my Hueston Woods State Park map and and "got the itch." I'm down here because I'm on a mapping mission. I own the American Discovery Trail's GPS Data for Ohio & Kentucky. But it's only waypoint data and it didn't give me enough to write a track for its route in Hueston Woods SP.
The trails depicted in Ohio State Park maps are sometimes imprecise.  So, I knew that this was going to be an adventure. Well my adventure started with parking the HHR in an icy, downhill parking lot.  Because I knew that I'd never get it out of there, so I put my hazard lights one and parked on a spot of visable pavement on a kola-sac in a way that would give me enough traction and a straight enough shot to get back up hill (also on a slick) and out there.
On foot, it was night.  And my last optometry exam came up a perfect 20/20 for the first time since I was 15 years old. I didn't use a flash light, but my natural night vision was just as perfect.  But American Discovery isn't marked like the Buckeye, or North Country Trails.  They don't use painted blazes.  Instead, they use their logo, which is shaped like an arrowhead and it points you where to go from one intersection to another.
Well, some of those stickers are old.  And one did not point correctly.  Also, the trail is routed through a birding area and I was following a lot of dead ends, looking to see if it continued on, but was lesser maintained?  My goal was to map the ADT from Hueston's archery range to the trail's last known (to me) on-road position at the state highway to the south of the park. I now have enough data to start writing the GPS track when I get back home. Tomorrow, I'll map the remaining trail.
Meanwhile, a passing hiker called my car in as suspicious.  When the ranger got there, they also found it suspicious.  And they called in back-up from the local police department to help look for me in the forest.  Also, meanwhile, they put a call in to the Lake County Sheriff's Department, who apparently told my parents that I might be missing.
To those who read this... the one thing you should never, ever, ever do is give your family any more reason to worry than they already do.  When the ranger told me that they got the deputy in Lake County to knock on their door, I thought "OMG... I just confirmed somebodies worst hypothetical scenario regarding me."
I can prevent this next time by leaving a letter in a plastic Ziploc bag pinned to my windshield that explains what I was doing and why the car was there.  Normally, this procedure is only necessary when parking on-road. With the hazard light and the slippery, unmaintained state park road, I'd of thought it'd be natural that it looked like I was going to attempt to make it back up the hill again.  The ice is so thick in that parking lot along the hill side, that I would have needed studded tires to get out of it.
But the ranger and officers seemed like they were following sensible, and probably standard procedures. When was approaching my car, there were 3 cars parked.  And there were flashlights beaming around the woods.  When I got closer, I could see that they were police interceptors and that's when I realized that they were looking for me. 
I think there was a time before the flashlights that I thought that I arrived just in time for them to tow the Chevy to the impound??? Considering what happened today, I think I wish they did. A 20 mile hike and $193 later, I'd have my car back and I'd be back in Lake County like nothing happened. What happens in Oxford, stays in Oxford. But apparently not.
Out of everything that I've ever been taught in the last 4 years, my experience could not have made this better. This type of lesson is so exceptional. I've never heard of this happening, but I've never heard of anybody having to park like I did.  And this is probably my 4th encounter with law enforcement so far. In fact, I think that a buddy of mine has used one of them in his trail presentations that he gives before the public.
On another note, I will say this... this lodge is the nicest lodging establishment that I've ever stayed in.  I got it for $78 a night. It's on the 2nd floor with a balcony overlooking Acton Lake, which is completely frozen right now.

Log 2014013001

Leaving Concord for Hueston Woods SP.

Log 2013101701

I just checked out of Basecamp Foxtrot. I'm now setting course to Basecamp Alpha at Wolf Run State Park in Noble County. 

Log 2013101301

Today, I packed up Basecamp Hotel.  Whiled doing so, I spoke to two law enforcement officers from the Ohio Department of Natural Resources - Division of Wildlife about a portion of towpath that is routed through one of their reservations at Six Mile Creek that I maintained.  One of whom was concerned about ATV's.  I informed him that the towpath's width is set by ODNR's Division of Engineering and that logistically from a maintainers standpoint, it wouldn't be too difficult to make the trail narrower. We would just need to have the proper authorization to do it.
I'm now back in MJ Thurston SP at Basecamp Foxtrox.  When I was gone, the park office was at work trying to honor my 14 day request.  My campsite is the one I was at before.  It's double wide and they were trying to get me to share the electric another camper who reserved the site.  But I was at Hotel for the weekend and I "weathered the storm" through the Apple Butter Festival crowd that booked Thurston completely.  I'm greatful for the people in the office.
As a follow-up to a previous post regarding the amenities in this park... The park manager informs me that they will be conducting upgrades to the electric sites and installing 14 more, probably begining next month.  If they get a shower house, it might become one of my favorite campsites. The view that I have of the Maumee River is second to none.
Right now, I have 4 days and a wake-up to finalize the lower Defiance segment.  The way that's going, it's an attainable goal. Finally, I attended the Apple Butter Festival in Grand Rapids of Wood County today and I'm glad that I did.  The crowd was much like the ones at the Geauga County Fair.

Log 2013100401

I haven't written a log in 6 days.  With out looking, I'd say my entries have probably been sparse.  I check out of Basecamp Golf and am now checked back in at Basecamp Foxtrot at Mary Jane Thurston State Park in Grand Rapids of Wood County.  There is some question as to how long I can stay here because the park is scheduled to fill up sometime around the Apple Butter Festival on 13 October.

I may be loosing brake fluid in squirts.  I noticed this on gravel when I pulled in to a parking area earlier.

On my way down from Harrison Lake, I stopped to reinspect the lower Defiance segment of the Defiance Section. This is some road and three portions of off-road along the old Miami and Erie Canal.  I've done a bunch of work on it already, but with those 9 fallen trees in the way and having to cut them with a hand saw, it's making the work come out to be a bit lengthy.  And like the work done in the Athens Unit, it's difficult to plan and prioritize the work load in a way that I can perform it in one sweeping motion.  Today on the Lower Defiance Segment,  I made a note of every thing that still needs to be done and I hope that I can do it more quickly.

I think I have about 5 downed trees left.  A couple days ago, I groomed the on to off-road aperture.  There was two or three young growth apple trees, whose canopy's had crashed and impeded the trail's 7 foot ceiling.  I had to clear quite a bit of them.

Otherwise, I'm seeing pruning and blazing on about two miles or so of the off-road Buckeye/ North Country National Scenic Trail.  The north portion looks the best.  It's worst is about 0.5mi of overgrowth in the center. 

Log 2013090501

There's a couple sources of light polution, but so it seems like all the stars are clustered over my head.  Like someone put it there as chandelier. The big dipper is directly north across the Maumee River just above the horizon.
I established Basecamp Foxtrot today at Mary Jane Thurston State Park.  I think this is my second time here. And amenity wise, it's more like my least favorite campground so far. There are porta potties and one outdoor shower. I guess I can consier myself lucky to have electric at all.  But it has a great view of the Maumee.
I set the tent up, but I'm really not liking how the poles have no side clips and the bow when I try to put the rain cover on.  I have plastic steaks at the moment and they're not doing a good job at keeping the tent walls straight. And even when the poles are through their sleeves, the top tie must be secure before they  stabilize.
I drove to the unincorporated community of Junction in Paulding County to an intersection known as Defiance Section - Buckeye Trail, pt. 1 and started using my smartphone to plot waypoints for opportunities to park my car and trailer. 
So this is upcoming on my addenda for the next 9 days... First is to fix my GPS Records and organize them for upload.  The Defiance Section has just recently been rerouted.  So, I have adjust its point numbers and hand draw the trail on my paper map.  Second is finish 20 miles of the near by North Country Trail on its way to Michigan.  Once I get that done, when I sweep the BT, which the portions remaining are NCT concurrent, I'll get my BT Circuit Hike and North Country Ohio patch.  Right now, the plan is for that to happen in Mt. Orab of Brown County.
The third is to maintain 40 miles of the Defiance Section. I'm not sure if I'll get all of it done, but I'm authorized to perform mantenance in Defiance and Henry Counties on said section.  Now, I've been advised to stay out of Lucas County.  Apparently Toledo Metroparks doesn't let Buckeye maintain the trail through its jurisdiction without supervision from one of their employees.
The Defiance runs almost entirely off-road on the heel and towpath of the Miami & Erie Canal.  They are not within the jurisdiction of the Miami & Erie State Trail (MEST).  Who actually owns these... I don't know.

Log 2013081301

4lbs of ground beef yeilded 13 meals in Mason jars.  I placed two bags of egg noodles in freezer bags and they'll remain there until I go to make a soup.  I still have 3 green peppers and 4 onions left.  I won't go into Wellington until tomorrow and after I get done with my trail maintenance.
I've been canning today.  It always makes a mess. The wheel barrel has been converted into a dish washing tub.  Since I've had to refil the 26L Aquatainer multiple times and carry it back, my abdominal muscles are feeling sore.  It will have to be refilled once again before the night is out.
A member of the park staff came by my campsite today.  When I took over my segment 2 1/2 years ago, I introduced myself to them and she recognized me after all this time.  Seems that the Buckeye Trail has a irrigation problem and the park would like the BTA to produce the labor to fix it.  They're willing to contribute the supplies.  I then referred her to the segment's maintainer.

Log 2013073101

The second green propane canister just ran out today, which is the 41st day The Cramper has been down trail.  For some reason, it's been the biting flies that have come out here in Punderson this morning.  I lit my last remaining citranella candle at breakfast.
An old friend from high school passed away a few days ago.  My Facebook news feed is feeling a little empty right now.  And the last of the Christmas in July people moved out of the park on 2 days ago. I am starting to feel alone.  I came for the distance, not the solitude.  However, as a solo hiker, the one sometimes comes with the other.

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 2013072801

I've started work on the cell signal repeater.  A picture should be attached.  I found the tablet that has its manual on it so low on batteries that the operating system wouldn't start up.

Log 2013072601

Smartphone Battery C is going critical.  On the other hand, I think it might be the phone's usb port that might have too much play it it.  Both are known to have their problems.  Today, Battery C failed and interupted the upload of a 22 minute video to the Buckeye Trail Association this evening.
There's a first aid kit that is down by my car battery and spare tire. But once The Cramper is set up, it's not very accessable due to everything's weight.  So, I cooked this evening and got to use the washing tub and grey water for the first time. And I scratched my left index knuckle while drying my pocket knife (has a can opener). So, I went searching for my First Aid kit in my black bag (18L Camelbak backpack, 1.5L water bladder, short range bag).  I'm not sure it even has the consolidated mini first aid kit that its supposed to.  Oh well, I licked my cut. But those kits need to be found.
It's Christmas in July here at Punderson this weekend, so there's a few more campers here.  There's been some curiousity about The Cramper. I've also told others that unless I go into buildings, I'm refusing to wear a shirt this weekend.
I visited Crystal Thompson at her home in Newbury today.  I've known her for 14 years.
One of the hinges on my new cooler did not have its lid completely screwed in. I noticed that it was taking on water and molding back at Burr Oak.  The best way to completely clean it out is with bleach on the 1st when I can purchase replacment groceries.  Until then, I'm trying to unload the cooler every meal that I eat.  The first is 5 days and a wake up from now and I don't think I'll eat it all.  Needless to say that food isn't going to be a problem in the meantime.
Everything is holding up well here at Basecamp Delta.

Log 2013072301

I woke up at 0230hrs this morning, had some cerial and laid back down for a while.  After watching several hours of Star Trek, I started doing some final packing and loaded items in my car. 
The trailer is getting heavy and I normally have to pick it up and slam it down for the hitch coupler to lock.  Well, the driveway was down hill and one of the wheels must have drifted out and I missed the mark.  That brought the trailer's tounge down to the cement where it pinned my left ring finger against it and my chains.  Luckily, I was able to lift it off with getting only a scratch.
The new rear struts did nothing to lift the car when hitched.  So far, the back end still sags.  With the hitch receiver being so extended, I still have to be very careful when coming up or down curbs, or a part in the road that suddenly drops.  The car still maneuvers around turns like it's top heavy.  That could be due to the gear in the roof bag, which is a recent edition.
I ate breakfast at Bob Evans this morning where I had an omlet, home fries and orange juice. Afterwards, I got to the VA an hour and a half early.  Parking the trailer was easy as I found two spots, one in front of the other on the 3rd parking deck.  Normally, I have to park on the 4th deck by dropping the trailer in one spot and parking the car next to it.
I think some people would ask me if I trust my gear there?  I do.  In a 1.7 mile block, there are 5 police departments.  The VA and University Circle is probably the safest place to be in Cleveland.  I like to call it an "oasis."
After having a medical appointment, getting a prescription filled, making an optometry appointment and having lunch, I was out the door. And bound for Base Camp Delta at Punderson State Park.
Because the VA in Cleveland's Wade Park closer to the center of the city's eastside, the quickest way to Punderson was to take Mayfield Road through Little Italy, Coventry, South Euclid, Lyndhurst, Mayfield Heights, Gates Mills, Chesterland to Sperry Road, then OH-87. I'm familiar with the route on Mayfield, it was part of my 21 mile hike from the VA to Lake County this past winter.
I'm in Punderson now. It's a beautiful campground, probably the 2nd best that I've ever been to.  I believe that I'm 2.7 miles from the Burton Section - Buckeye Trail.  Punderson isn't directly on it, so I'm not sure.