Sunday Shredding Trail Day With The Hiking Machine!

Hell yeah! The Hiking Machine is back and crushing trail! I dragged the Lummox out of bed and to Laurel Run Park. See, he had first-aid/CPR training on Sunday. Since it wasn't until after lunch I said "we're hiking!" The Lummox was still dragging from AT trail work. I was ready to go...Thursday afternoon. Anyway, while I shredded trail he got to look at wildflowers and crash his drone...LOL! Well, with that, there is only one more thing, I'm out...BITCHES!

First Post COVID Trail Work Day With Carolina Mountain Club

Since having COVID, I have slowly been getting back to normal. Whether it was my first hike or getting my taste back. One more thing I had to get back on the horse for was doing trail work. So, on Thursday, I headed back out with the Carolina Mountain Club and to where I had worked before the Appalachian Trail (AT) reroute near Log Cabin Road near Allen Gap.

Cemetery near our work site...

A bridge under construction from Dec. (L), Jan, (R) & Cover Photo after its completion.

A Wood Booger leans Grip Hoist (Dec.), heading out (Jan.) & Thursday...

This is the third time I have been out with my fellow club members and every time has been working on this trail relocation. For most of these times, I have done the same job...stump pulling, and that is what I was doing today. It isn't easy, and one particular stump was a pain to remove. 

I tried to pace myself, but I was operating the grip hoist, I was digging out around the stumps and chopped roots with a Pulaski. I will admit that after lunch, I was pretty gassed and took out early. While a hard day, it was good to be back out. Also, Pete was happy just to be on the AT...( Photos of me by Kit Ogburn).

The group gets finally instructions.

Some of our hard work.

Sawing Trees.

(Above) Removing stumps! (Below) part of the new reroute (L) & old AT (R).

SmugMug Photos

The Hiking Machine Is Back In The Saddle Again!

Finally! The Hiking Machine is back in the saddle and back on a trail! While it was just a trail over at the Cabin, I will f***ing take it! I know all the Peteoholics are having withdrawals from not reading of my exploits. Well, there is a reason I haven't had none! If you have seen the posts and blogs from the blockhead known as the Lummox, you will know that the idiot caught COVID from a bunch of mouthbreathers! Now, besides the fact I continue to mask (yes, I have questioned the Lummox about his masking habits), my constitution is just too strong for the virus to take hold, unlike the weak and puny Lummox. So, I have been on the sidelines chomping at the bit while that wuss recovered. Finally, this past week, we finally got out in "Fort Blackmore" and I finally could get some trail time in. I wanted to go up my Knob, but the Lummox was too weak. If I had let him, we would have just gone to the barn and back. So, we compromised on the Superloop, but the hard direction (down the road and back). While I was fine shredding trail and crushing the miles the Lummox, predictably, the Lummox struggled. I thought I would lose him at the other barn, and we still had the big climb. Let's just say I had a sore back. We got a break when we got to the top of (Wood Booger) Ridge as he wanted to run the drone. If it gets him out on the trail then I'm fine with the damn thing. It also made my trip back easier because the Lummox wasn't all the dead weight after the break. 

After we got back, he relaxed by the fire, and I thought about my next outings. Oh, I forgot there were some guys putting in fiber optic or something like that. The Lummox asked about the internet, and I was like, "HELL NO, I will never get him on the trail." Well with that there is one more thing...wait for it...I'm out BITCHES!!!

The Post COVID Clock Was Ticking On Getting Some Maple Syrup Done!

Do you remember when I tapped trees back in early February...I didn't either and the time arrived to cook it down to Maple syrup. Actually, it was past time. I pulled the taps the day before I was diagnosed with COVID. So, my plan to cook down the sap was delayed because of being sick & then getting a "RONA" Rebound. After three weeks that meant the clock was ticking on the sap, I gathered (not to, also, mentioned what I had frozen last year). See, sap does go bad eventually. Since I already had sap in the freezer I didn't have room for more and it needed to be used eventually. 

So this weekend it was time...and I mean it takes a lot of time to make Maple Syrup. I started at 9 am and finished around 8 pm, that's 11 hours. At that time it is mostly about the gathering of wood and feeding the fire. For the first six hours, I had two pots, to which I add sap before boiling it off. Finally, I get it to one pot for two more hours. 

Around 6 pm it gets to the point where I need a more controlled boil and move it to an induction burner. Then it is 500° before it gets down to that final hour where I reduce the temperature and watch the candy thermometer get to 219° which time it is done. I always ask if is it worth the work? I keep doing it so I guess that is the answer...

Finally After Three Weeks I'm Negative!

Just an update on my blog from Friday...I finally tested negative for COVID! While I have been feeling better it is great to get the negative test...

After Three Years The RONA Finally Caught Me

It's March and I was hoping to blog about reaching the three-year mark COVID-free. Well, the "RONA" had other ideas as somehow I became infected in late February. I took paxlovid so I wasn't surprised when I got COVID rebound. The last few days have I felt I'm past the worst (as of writing I'm still positive). I had all the COVID shots and boosters, and I still masked, used hand sanitizer, and avoided crowds for extended periods. That is why I think I must have picked it up at a car dealership in Kingsport. Dad and Terry went to pick-up a new vehicle and I sat in the lobby of the dealership, except for an Asian couple, it was a room full of mouthbreathers. Anyway, how I got it was immaterial because I got it.

It was a long three years as this week was when the world was turned topsy-turvy by the coronavirus. I'm thankful it was three years late with vaccines and treatments, unlike those dark days of March 2020. But I'm going to add that even taking paxlovid I was still pretty sick and I don't want the RONA again! Oh, and Pete has been impossible...