Cascade Waterfall — an FDR favorite

Living near Columbus, GA doesn’t offer a lot of hiking options, but the 23-mile Pine Mountain Trail in FDR State Park is certainly a good option when you are looking to get outside (about 30 minutes north).

It’s even worth a day trip from Atlanta and can be coupled with a side trip to historic Warm Springs and FDR’s Little White House.

My favorite hike is the 6.7 mile Wolf Den Loop which offers great views, varied terrain and three separate waterfalls. FDR apparently enjoyed the waterfalls, especially the one known as Cascade Waterfall. Not exactly sure how he got to it, though. 

You can choose to hike the entire 6.7 mile loop or just turn around after hitting all three waterfalls (about 4 miles total). The hike isn’t terribly strenuous, but it is a nice way to get out, get a little muddy and clear your mind. The trail is safe for leashed dogs as well.

On the weekends, expect to share the trail with runners, families and other pets. Get there early for the most solitude. See the trip report for directions and more details.

Kennesaw Mountain.

I’m in Atlanta for business regularly and am often looking for a quick hike that I can make either before or after work. Stumbled upon Kennesaw Mountain when driving through Marietta and have since been back a few times to make the 5.4 mile round trip hike up and down Big and Little Kennesaw mountains.

It’s a bit of burner since the uphill climb is relatively steep and takes place within the first mile or so. You get rewarded with great views of Atlanta and plenty of Civil War history. In fact, the mountains are part of a large national battlefield which was the site of a famous battle. During the hike, you’ll pass cannons, rifle pits and artillery embankments. Some wildlife, including deer and hawks are often seen.

Once you climb both mountains, you’ll make a slow descent back down and through the park as you loop back to the parking area and visitor center. See the following trip report for directions and specifics. The battlefield offers a total of 17 miles of trails — many of which are good for trail running. Definitely worth checking out if you are in the area and want to get some exercise outdoors.

My previous post covered the SPOT GPS Locator which I believe is a critical piece of hiking equipment, especially for the solo hiker.  I had it with me on a hike to Steamboat Peak in a remote part of Montana last fall. While I was near the halfway point of 14 mile hike, I took a break to take some pictures and get some water. I apparently didn’t realize the SPOT became dislodged from my backpack until it was too late and all I could do was watch the device fall a few hundred feet off the cliff.

I figured it was gone for good as it seemed that it was too difficult to get down to grab it and get back to the car before sunset. Upset with myself, I made my way back and ended up buying another device a week or two later.

About a week later, I received a call on my cell phone from SPOT  representatives who informed me that a hiker not only found my device, but called the company to see if he could locate the owner.

As you can imagine, I was surprised that not only did someone find the SPOT, but that he was nice enough to take the time to call the company and then mail the unit to me. I have had a few nice conversations with the fellow hiker and plan to take him out for a beer next time I visit Montana. It’s kind of sad that the hiker’s act was so surprising, isn’t it?

Those of you who know me have most likely heard me rave about my SPOT GPS Locator. As a solo hiker, I believe this device is an absolute life saver. If you are unfamiliar with the device, it basically is a satellite messenger and GPS tracker that allows:

-You to send pre-developed “ok” and ‘check in” messages friends and family or even rescue specialists/local authorities if you get stuck in a bad situation.
-Friends and family to track your location when you are boating, hiking, flying, etc.
-You to keep track of your travels and share them with others.

The SPOT is small and lightweight and the batteries will last for quite a while (up to 7 days), even with active tracking on. As long as you keep the device pointing upward and have a relatively clear view of the sky, you will be in good shape. The device itself costs roughly $150 and annual service plans will run from $50-100+ depending on the options you choose.

I won’t go on any kayak trip, offroad journey or hike without it.

Mt. Ajo, AZ

Recently finished a hike up Mount Ajo in Organ Pipe National Monument just north of the border of Mexico in Arizona. I had been looking forward to this hike/climb for a while and was completely prepared for the 7.5 hour trek. Or so I thought.

The trip was pretty brutal and the loose, sharp rock and rugged terrain absolutely shredded the tread on my Merrell Outbound hiking boots. This was particularly surprising and disappointing because these boots were extremely comfortable, only 6 months old and had less than 130 miles on them (through Montana, Utah, Georgia and California). I finished the hike with relative ease, but the boots were done. This didn’t seem right — and a call to Merrell confirmed it.

Based on the recommendation from the Merrel rep,  I spoke to store associates at REI when back in Atlanta. After a quick look at the boots, a customer service rep took them back and offered me a refund and the 20% off coupon I had used to purchase them originally. Minutes later, I had another pair of boots and paid very little out of pocket. I really realized the value of being an REI member and spending a little more to purchase from them. Don’t know many retailers that would make the return process so easy.

While I still like Merrell products and stand by the boots I had, I decided to go for a pair of Asolo Flame GTX hiking boots. The brand and model had great reviews and seemed very supportive and sturdy.

Tried them out for the first time on an 8 mile hike up Blood Mountain in northern Georgia. Didn’t require much break in at all and held up to the mix of ice, mud, water and rock that I encountered.

We’ll see how long they hold up.

Since day one, my iPad has been a constant companion — at work, on the plane, in the car and even on hikes. It’s relatively small size and light weight makes it an ideal addition to a pack for a number of reasons.

The device allows a hiker to:

1. Store and view PDFs of the trail and location guides, maps and topography charts (I use Trails.com)
2. Access first aid and survival books through iBooks or the Kindle app
3. View weather data and forecasts if 3G signal is available (I’ve been surprised where I can pick it up)
4. Play music or games or read almost any book (especially useful as a solo hiker)

The most important features to me are the first two, but I can see a lot of value in having the device for other reasons, especially on overnight trips. I have tried the same with an iPhone, but the larger screen of the iPad has its distinct advantages. I doubt I will ever see a lot of hikers take the iPad with them, but for me, it has been a valuable tool to ensure I stay safe.

I encountered some issues today when installing Windows 7 on my 27″ iMac i5 via Boot Camp. Thinking that some of you may also encounter these issues, I wanted to inform you that ATI graphics drivers can be the culprit. After searching for resolutions to my “black screen” issue I found out that the ATI graphics drivers that are installed as part of the setup are often not compatible with the iMac’s card. Here is the solution from a blog I found:

1. Install and blue/black screen!
2. Re-boot but from the Win 7 install disk – seems to work if you hold alt on boot up and select the disk to boot from!
3. When you get into the Windows installer, click past the language selection. Then click “Repair your computer”.
4. Windows will scan for installations and prompt you with a list. Select your “C” drive and click Next.
5. You should be presented with a windows titled “System Recovery Options”. At the bottom of this list you should see “Command Prompt”. Select the command prompt.
6. When the console opens, you can delete the offending driver using the following command:
DEL C:WINDOWSSYSTEM32DRIVERSATI*.SYS
7. Close the command prompt window and click the Restart button. This time, boot from your hard disk. You will complete the install with no Blue screen.

Trust me, this will save you a LOT of time…

P.S. Make sure you have V3.1 of Boot Camp or download it once you have Windows up and running. This will ensure everything runs smoothly.

After settling into my new job at Aflac, I was finally able to take some time away this year to visit Arizona once again. On this trip, we visited Organ Pipe National Monument and Cabeza Prieta National Wildlife Reserve in Southwest Arizona.

This was my second time to the area and it didn’t disappoint. The weather on the first two days was absolutely amazing with highs in 60s and beautiful and clear skies.

We were able to hit Organ Pipe for sunset and Cabeza Prieta for sunrise. Be warned, Cabeza Prieta requires a permit for access and you should be aware that a 4X4 is absolutely required there are no services, no cell phone service and usually no other people. It also borders an Air Force range and is close to the Mexican border (you’ll see plenty of warnings about that).

If you can overlook all of the warnings, you will find an adventurer’s and photographer’s dream with miles and miles of unspoiled desert, abandoned mines and villages, great off-roading and even ancient petroglyphs. You’ll also have a good chance at capturing some great wildlife there too. We could have spent days in this area if we had the time and I plan to go back soon.

To get the permit to access Cabeza Prieta, you’ll need to visit the visitor center in Ajo to sign the forms (warning you about falling airplane parts and unexploded ordinance that could be encountered) and to get the permits. The center is not open on weekends, so make sure to get there during the week or call ahead.

This trip also gave us the opportunity to try out the SPOT 2, our new GPS locator. I highly recommend this device and will write about it in more detail in a future post. The trip report from the SPOT device follows:

Arizona Adventures

Widget powered by EveryTrail: GPS Geotagging

When I found out I had to travel to Phoenix and Tucson for a business trip, I immediately started looking for places to hike and photograph. Having never been to Arizona before, I began at my usual starting place: Google Maps.

Parks and nature areas are clearly shown on these maps and it is easy to spot parks — especially some of the large ones like Sonoran Desert National Monument and Coronado National Forest. However, I was also interested in a large park located on the border with Mexico: Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument. After reading up on this park and learning that it is less often visited and offered a variety of terrain, trails and hiking options, I knew it was for me.

There isn’t a lot of information about how to get to the park, where to stay and what to do, so I wanted to put this guide together for any of you interested in visiting. I will discuss the hiking, driving and photography in a separate post.

Getting There

The park is only about 150 miles from Phoenix, but plan on the drive taking 2.5-3 hours to get there You’ll also be driving on a two lane road (AZ-85) for a majority of your trip. Once you get onto AZ-85 from I-10, there aren’t a lot of places to stop and get supplies or gas. Only three towns are in between the highway and the park (Gila Bend, Ajo and Why), so a cooler and a full-tank of gas are a necessity.

You’ll pass by some beautiful desert landscapes on your way to the park as well as some interesting towns and the Barry Goldwater Air Force range. I was lucky enough to see planes doing practice bombing runs while driving.

Lodging

The cities of Why and Ajo are within 10-20 miles of the park and only Ajo offers substantial food and lodging. I would recomment staying at the Ajo Las Siesta Motel since it gets fairly good reviews, is clean and inexpensive. Rooms or cabins are about $50/night. Don’t expect a lot of frills, but there is cable and telephone, along with a pool and hot tub.

Food

There aren’t a lot of options for food in Ajo and Why. Pizza Hut is the only chain restaurant I saw, but I recommend going to Marcela’s Cafe. It’s a locally-owned Mexican restaurant with good food and service. It closes at 8 p.m., so make sure to get there early. There is also grocery store if you are looking to get supplies or cook for yourself.

Entering the Park

AZ-85 runs North to South through the middle of the park, so you can’t miss it if you stay on this highway. There is a great visitor center on the right side of the road about 15 miles after you see the sign to enter the park where I recommend stopping first.

If you continue on AZ-85 for just a few miles, you will pass Lukeville, which is simply a truck stop and then you’ll be on the border of Mexico. Because this is a border area, expect A LOT of border patrol vehicles and check points.

Note: This can be a dangerous area because of the promimity to the border, but I didn’t see anything out of the ordinary while I was there.

In the next post, I will provide information on the two scenic drives you can take and a few of the hikes I tried. In the meantime, you can see some of my pictures from the visit on my personal site and on Flickr.

If you’re interested in viewing nature up close like I am, then kayaking is a great way to visit wildlife in a relatively non-threatening way in their own habitat. I am always amazed that you can get so close to very skittish birds when you approach them at their own level.

Naturally, this is a wildlife photographer’s dream. But the idea of kayaking with thousands of dollars of photography equipment hasn’t been all that appealing to me. How do you protect the gear from water, damage, etc.? After searching the internet and consulting a few friends, I discovered that the most feasible option is to use a dry bag along with a few towels for padding and protection.

When choosing your dry bag, any one should work, but make sure your dry bag is long and wide enough to accommodate your camera and lens plus a few towels. Other options for camera protection include Camera Armor or even waterproof covers by companies like AquaPac. While these can be good solutions, they may make it more difficult to operate your camera and ultimately may be more hassle than they are worth.

Choosing your gear
When you have your dry bag and towels ready, it’s time to consider what gear you want to bring. I can’t stress this enough — bring only what you really need. One camera and lens is your safest bet. I’ve thought about bringing a telephoto and wide angle lens on my trips, but realized that switching lenses is what could cause major problems. As far as other accessories, I would leave them at home too.

Out on the water
I have found that leaving the dry bag in an open compartment of the kayak is the best way to travel to the area where you will be photographing. It keeps it out of the way and protected. However, once you see wildlife you want to shoot, I recommend moving the dry bag to the main compartment and keeping it between your legs. This way you can take the shots you want and quickly put the camera back in the dry bag and close it.

After a lot of thought and preparation, I can say that kayaking and photography can mix — and with very good results. The key to success is the right gear, careful use and good technique (we’ll discuss that in an upcoming post).