A change of scenery

I have been hitting Hanging Rock State Park as much as i can and also threw in an 11 mile hike on the Mountains to Sea trail near my home, The MST nearly turned into disaster when i fell crossing a small creek, slipping on a wet rock and crashing to the ground, My little finger went between 2 rocks and bent backwards, At first i thought the worst but it was just badly bruised as was my arm, For the first time in 3 months i managed to get a weekend off of work so after work on Friday i hit the road heading for Roanoke in Virginia, I stayed in a motel for 2 nights and early Saturday i went to Highway 311 and hit the Appalachian Trail, A 4 mile hike up to McAfee's Knob, From the car park you cross the road and then hike steeply upwards for 5 minutes, The ground then levels out and a couple of minutes later you can see an info kiosk to your right, I did not know but you should take a right there to get on the AT, I carried straight on which is the fire road route, An easier and slightly shorter route, The place is very very busy and there were about 10 cars in the car park at 6.45am, I made it to the top by 8.12 feeling good about myself until i was told i took the easy route, I took some shots of the famous and most photographed landmark on the AT, The light being behind me was not ideal and evening shots would be better, I hung around for a couple of hours talking to lots of people including a couple who thru hiked last year and a woman who had completed it in sections last year, My hats off to them as its an epic undertaking, I made my way back this time on the AT trail and yes its way different to the fire trail, I felt i spent more time going up even though i should have been descending, I made it back to the car and then back at the hotel went through the images, It was a pretty hot day, I was back at the car before mid day and it was already in the 80's, I have been using Oboz hiking boots and they have been brilliant for these hot temperatures, So far no over heating of the feet and no blisters or hotspots, I use these with Wrightsocks and its been a winning combo, I carried my backpack with around 20lb of gear to make sure i get a good workout,
The images i took were OK but one bugged me where i had cut my feet of behind a part of the over hang, I guess only a photographer would notice but it stayed on my mind all day, Sunday i had planned to head along the Blue-ridge Parkway and photograph Mabry mill which i had done a few months before in not great weather i.e sunny with shadows but as the day went on i realized to clear my head i would need to hike back to the outlook and re shoot, Here is the image in question

Its not a bad image especially as the sun is high up and behind me but the feet and i forgot to put my backpack on for the ultimate selfy-DOH

I made it back into the car park exactly the same time on Sunday but there were now over 30 cars, Why are these people not in church i thought, It seems a lot of people camp out up there and i walked past nearly 30 people heading down on my way up and was very surprised to see only a couple of people there when i arrived, The sky was clear and blue which was not what i really wanted, I guess next time i will camp up there and get the light early and late and enjoy the spectacular views with the stars above, Cant wait

Here is the new image with feet showing

Its the classic Mcafee image that you see everywhere including the 'walk in the woods' book and movie, By the way i have dreadful vertigo and did not suffer one bit there for some reason,

I took my new tiny carbon fibre tripod that i will be taking to Everest and it worked fine, The D800E and 24-70 triggered by a Hahnel remote release.

Here are a some more images taken this weekend

The actual Appalachian Trail, Narrower than i expected and a mix if hard trail, Very rocky and with areas of sand

A pano showing the amazing views, Click on images to make them larger

Its been a great weekend and i have had a good workout, The few sessions at the gym are starting to pay off, The clock is ticking but so far i am happy with the way i am progressing although everything is hanging off me as i am now around 23lb lighter than when i started

Dave

3 months and counting

Well its been an age since i last blogged and there are reasons, Firstly i have a new job which unfortunately for me gives me 1 day off in 8 and sometimes 1 day off in 9, Leaving little time for anything, Most weeks when i can after work i drive straight to my nearest mountains and camp overnight, The next day i am awake early and hike around the area, up some very steep inclines, I stay at a place called Hanging rock state park, There are 5 peaks in the area and on a good day i can do 3, Last week when i was there i nearly bumped into a black bear in the camp sight, The area is very scenic with 5 waterfalls, Some nice foliage and plenty of wildlife,
Secondly i am still plagued by the rash that i have had since my shoulder operation last October, its not getting in the way of my plans but i have had various tests which show nothing positive that is causing it like an allergy and then the trips to the dermatologist which eat into my free time,
On a positive note i have plenty of new gear, I now have a great tent from Big Agnes, Its a 2 man super light weight with built in lighting, Will be great on the Appalachian trail, It only takes a couple of minutes to put up which is great as it rained last week and every time i use it there is some design feature that impresses me, I also bought one of their sleeping pads but after a few uses i sent i back as i was not happy with its performance, After checking it out they sent me a new one which is the latest version which is a huge improvement, I have to say that i can highly recommend products from Big Agnes, A small company but the people who design the products obviously know what they are doing, My wife got me a new sleeping bag for my birthday especially for the Everest trip, Its a North Face Inferno rated at -20, I wish i had it a few months ago on my first camping trip to Hanging Rock as it was bitter, It even snowed and at night there was no way i could get warm, It will get a lot of use that's for sure, Last week i purchased 2 pairs of the Northface's hiking pants that zip off at the knees, These have a new stretchy material and are slimmer in the leg than most convertible trousers, They are very comfortable and will go into the Everest boxes until the big day,
I have booked my Trek with a company called Ian Taylor Trekking, There are a lot of companies doing Base Camp treks but Ian's stood out for various reasons, Firstly he has a 99% success rate, He doesn't take just anybody and you have to fill in paperwork with previous experience, He has some very good video's on his site about preparation and what you will need and he can be contacted 5 days a week on Skype and lastly his trek has a 1 night stay at Base camp whereas most trek there from Gorak Shep (the nearest accommodation) and back without staying over night at the actual camp
One thing is for sure and that this will be the hardest thing i have yet done but i am sure it will be hugely rewarding,
So the deposit on the trip is paid as is the accommodation in Kathmandu, I have a couple of spare days before the trek to get over jet lag and do some touristy stuff in the city, The travel insurance is sorted and covers me up to 6000m of which i should be around 5545m tops at a place called Kala Pattar where we should get the best views (and images) of Everest
The one thing still to be sorted is what to take Camera wise, Nikon D800 plus a couple of lenses or get a Sony a6300
I have had very little time to start raising funds for CRI or the Cancer Research Institute and have a long ways to go so Please dontate what you can, Every dollar/pound/euro etc is greatly appreciated, Donate direct through our webpage www.walkingforacure.org, Every single penny goes directly to CRI

Here are some images taken on my treks at Hanging Rock State Park in North Carolina

My Big Agnes tent is dwarfed by my friends 8 person tent

 At the top of Wolf Rock

 Hanging Rock peak

 Even the waterfalls are a work out for the legs to get to

 A bitter first and second night

 Eastern spotted newt

 Mist rising at Moores wall loop peak

I hope to be able to blog on a more regular basis in the future, More trips to Hanging rock SP are planned as well as Mount Mitchell which is the tallest mountain this side of the Mississippi

Dave

Cash Abroad-Charges

I hit the trails the other day-Literally, I decided as the weather was nice and cool i would walk a 10 mile trail, the trail was very boggy in places, This meant i could see the foot prints of others , The trail is hardly used and i could only see one other set of tracks and his/her dog, What i did see was a large pad mark with claws, Way too big for anything else than a bear, I had seen a large pile of scat a few weeks before and wondered if a bear was in the area or just passing through, Seeing the pad mark put me on my guard and i walked along looking through the trees just incase, By doing this i wasnt taking much notice of my footing and my ankle went over sharply on a rock, I did not take too much notice of it until i was at the 5 mile marker, It was twinging and by 7 miles was getting painful, I decided to cut through the trees and get on the forestry road which is has very steep hills but has no roots or rocks, I only saved half a mile and limped home, I have spent the last few days resting my ankle and it now seems 100%, I have to be careful with my left ankle as it has a pin and screw in it from a motorcycle accident many years ago.
So sitting here i thought about discussing one of the things that most of us take for granted and that's getting cash out of banks, When you are out of the country and use the ATM's you will hit with excessive charges, This was something i looked into before leaving for the Camino De Santiago in Spain, I did not want to walk around with a big pile of cash, I found out that if you open a checking account with Charles Schwab you will get ALL your charges back at the end of the month, When you open the account they will offer an account for shareholders which you do not have to take, The people at Schwab were very easy to deal with and extremely helpful, I have kept the account open and will use it when i travel to Nepal later this year

Dave

Welcome 2016

I hope everybody has had a good Xmas and welcomed in the new year, Only 10 months before i head to Nepal and Everest base camp, I wonder how many people like myself asked for some outdoor gear, I have pretty much most things i need but there is always room for more and there are new products arriving all the time, I love gadgets and new gear, This Xmas i managed to get a new North Face Fleece and North Face reversible beanie hat, Both will come to Everest with me, The fleece will probably be for the evening as i wear my Eddie Bauer Pro Fleece for everyday walking/Hiking, I have had it about 2 years now, I took it on the Camino De Santiago and it gets worn every week and its still like new, Its not a heavy fleece but makes a perfect mid layer and washes and dries quickly, If you wait for the sales you can pick them up very reasonable, The weather in NC over the Xmas period was dire, Lots and lots of rain and very warm, Most of the trails are boggy or flooded which means road walking, Today i did my first walk of the year, Exactly 10 miles, Its my first walk for 3 weeks as my wife had an operation on her neck, I should have done a smaller walk as i did get some groin strain, Start short and build up, For road walking i use a pair of New Balance trainers, I have walked hundreds of miles in them, They have seen better days but i have never had a blister or even a hot spot in them, I mentioned in a previous blog that i had purchased a new pair of Zamberlan boots, Well i have walked on various trails in them and they now have over 60 miles on them so i guess you can say they are broken in, although they were comfortable from day 1, Very pleased with them and am sure they will last a very long time,
I do not normally make new years resolutions but this year i would like to climb Mount Mitchell, North Carolina's highest mountain and hike some of the Appalachian trail, Just day hikes like Mcafees knob in Virginia and parts of the Smoky mountains, Walking the same trails can get tedious so breaking it up helps with training

Until the next blog

Dave

Training

Apart from moving to the mountains (above 10 000 feet) there is no real way to train for the trek to base camp Everest, North Carolina where i live is as flat as Belgium, All i can do now is to walk enough to loose weight, I am currently around 200lb so a 20lb drop would be nice before i leave, Its always nice to have a record of what you have done and where, I have been using the Runkeeper app on my cell phone for the last couple of years, Its free and works great giving pace, distance, calories burnt etc, It works via GPS so is very accurate, You can set it so that it gives you information every 10,20 minutes etc, By having the info given at set times you can challenge yourself to get personal best times or distance, I will continue to use the app as i can also claim money back from my wifes health insurance who have access to my data, Its a win win
I have been searching the web to see how others train for high altitude, There are a couple of ways that can help, The first is a face mask with valves which restrict air flow, Whilst this may help to increase lung capacity it will not make you increase your red blood cell count that is needed, You can hire a bed chamber which will give you all the effects of altitude but at around $700 a month it does not come cheap

Dave

Why Everest?

This trip has been a long time coming, It was in late 2012 that i told my wife that i wanted to walk the Camino De Santiago and she asked why? I jokingly told her that i was too old to climb Mount Everest and this would challenge me, When i came back from the walk my friend and neighbor Chuck asked what was next, I told him that since 2000 i have wanted to hike to Base camp on Everest, Chuck has been on the summit of Everest twice and said that both he and his wife Eden would like to go there and the plan was formed, In 2000 my wife and i traveled through South East Asia, We spent 3 months in India and then traveled for the next 3 months covering Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore and Sumatra, The trip was mainly wildlife focused and we were very fortunate enough to photography Tiger, Elephant, Rhino and Orangutan in the wild amongst others, It was really a trip of a lifetime and one we still talk about today, When you become a traveler you get a nickname, Mine was Tiger man and wife was project tiger lady, We met 'china man' a young guy traveling on his own, I think he was American and got the name as when we met him he had just traveled across China and mentioned to me that he had been to base camp on Everest, It hit something deep inside and has remained in my thoughts, When walking the Camino De Santiago i also met with a group of young Americans, One of the girls had also just hiked to base camp, Something was telling me it was time to do it,
 Last week was the first week that i managed to get some miles under my feet, Nearly 30 total, I did 2 10 milers and a couple lesser amounts, I am pleasantly surprised how easy i walked the 10 milers and in good time as well, I am still getting over shoulder surgery so the walks were on pavement, It will be another 3 weeks before i attempt using trekking poles and walking more technical routes but i am pleased with how things are going so early on,

Some images from back in the day traveling around Asia

All images were taken on slide film that had been carried around Asia for 6 months in heat and humidity, I am surprised how well they came out, Would love the opportunity to do it all again with today's digital cameras

Dave