I have repeated many hikes over the years, but usually it is after the passage of considerable time. I had planned a hike with two young couples, one of whom asked that we go to The Channels because she heard that it was cool. Off we went. I have still not gone up from the Gap, however. For even though we got there reasonably early, there was no parking spot. So, I knew the trailhead on the other side of the mountain, and we made our way there, hoping the gates were open. They were. One advantage to this side is that we only saw one other couple on the trail. I hope that you enjoy the pictures of our hike at “Channel 2“.
Archive for the ‘Exercise’ Category
Return to The Channels
Posted in Exercise, General, Hike, Nature, Outdoors, tagged Hike, Nature, Outdoors, The Channels on September 24, 2025| Leave a Comment »
Challenging, Inspiring, Tiring
Posted in Camping, Exercise, General, Hike, Nature, Outdoors, Vacation, tagged Church Fellowship, Hiking, Nature, Outdoors on June 25, 2024| 2 Comments »
I just had the privilege of going on my first vacation in several years. Oh, I’ve taken a weekend here or there, but this trip was 10 solid days. The title represents how I have been describing it when someone asks how my vacation went. Each of those words has a double meaning to me.
Challenging can be good or bad, and it was both. I enjoy being challenged by a strenuous physical activity. I climbed two significant mountains and did other hiking. Conversely, I drove many miles and endured black flies in Maine.
The beauty of God’s creation always inspires me in two ways. We are drawn to beauty, variety, order, bigness, in a word, grandeur. The reason we are drawn to beauty is because it points us to God’s beauty, power, knowledge, creativity, and supply for us. That in turns causes me to want to worship and serve Him more and better.
Most people I talk to want a vacation to be relaxing. I smile to myself and think of the Norman Rockwell painting of the family in the car on the way to and from vacation (1). I choose to embrace the tired and take on some bucket list challenge. Afterall, you come home in order to get rest from vacation, right? My definition of vacation is an enjoyable change of pace that puts you mind at ease. That may be relaxing or strenuous, depending on your personality and physical, mental, and spiritual state. On the vacation that I am beginning here to detail, it was tiring for two reasons. I hiked 38 miles in 8 days. For an AT through hiker that is two to three days, though I say even most of them have trouble with 21 of those miles that I did. Secondly, I drove 2650 miles to get to these hikes and visit several friends and family members along the way. Being somewhat of a stats guy, that means that I drove 70 miles for every one mile that I hiked. That probably means that some of you are questioning my sanity (yes, including you, BST!), but when you have certain limits, challenges are increased. There was also a heat wave in the NE that pushed me to beat the heat with early rising, 4, 4:30, and 5 AM.
With that thorough introduction, let me begin the story of my 2024 trip to New England by you clicking on “Lackawana to Smuggler’s Notch“.
Thanksgiving 2023 Reflections
Posted in Blessing, Exercise, Family, Grandchildren, Nature, Outdoors, Photo, Thanksgiving, tagged Family, Grandchildren, Hike, Nature, Outdoors, Thanksgiving 2023 on November 28, 2023| 2 Comments »
The link does not include pictures or descriptions of the night before soup dinner, the flag football game, or the other meals and late evening discussions, but it does include details on things that I directly participated in and could take pictures of. I went hard at the flag football game and have the sore muscles to prove it. I realized that I am the last of my generation to be playing, the next oldest being in his early 40’s. I am thankful to have an active life. Check out my pictures and commentary at “Active Thanksgiving.”
Why Hiking?
Posted in Connotations, Delights, Exercise, Experience, Exploring, Hike, Nature, Outdoors, tagged Creation, Hike, Hiking, Mountains, Nature, Outdoors on August 27, 2023| Leave a Comment »
I was talking with a man who I had just met at church today. While sharing various things about each other, we agreed that we like mountains. I mentioned that I like hiking in the mountains. He responded, “Why do you like hiking?”
I paused, not because I had to think why, but because as I momentarily replied, “How don’t I like it?” I could go on and on. The list that I gave him was brief but suggested the deep variety of my reasons for liking to be in the woods. It was fun to make and a to z list of why I like to hike:
-availability: usually at no cost other than the gas to get there and ready whenever I
have the opportunity to avail myself
-challenge: pushing myself, exercise, distance, steepness, bushwhacking,
negotiating difficult terrain
-colors: leaves of early Spring, deep greens of Summer; Fall’s polychrome; the
bronze buds and hues of grays and browns of winter bark; the many faces of
sky and water per season, weather, and time of day
-conversation: with God and with a hiking partner
-exploration: finding new, rarely visited, unique, beautiful spots
-flora: trees in every season and species and shape and maturity; shrubs
from Flaming Azalea to Doghobble to Rhododendron to Sweetbush;
herbaceous varieties in bloom and sprouting and full foliage; fungi, lichen,
mosses, and liverworts
-geology: types; landforms in rock and soil, especially cliffs; random rocks- shiny,
unique, unexpected
-glory: Due and seen for the infinite, beauty-loving, intelligent, personal Creator
-growing: alive, flourishing, productive, resilient, reproducing
-health: to body, mind, and spirit or trying hard and resting in emotion
-invigorating: Am I beginning to be synonymously redundant?
-memories: of more than 50 years of consistently being on the trail
-promoting: curiosity, knowledge, scientific and Creationist thinking
-sharing: seeing one or two others’, only rarely with groups, pleasure at things I
show them
-solitude: alone (I do like to hike alone sometimes.), quiet, space for thinking, lack
of people, distance and exclusion from development
-topography: Folded mountains particularly, I guess since that is what I grew up seeing.
-trails: smooth, rough, steep, flat, lightly traveled, leading somewhere or to the
known goal
-variety: Just look at this list!
-water: streams flowing and falling and frozen, ponds, sloughs and bogs, rain,
clouds, humidity and fog, snow and sleet and ice
-weather: anticipation, arrival, artistry, animating
-zoological: mammals from bears to bats to mountain boomers, deer
birds- song, raptors, water, gliders, woodpeckers owls; reptiles- lizards,
snakes (I don’t seek out the poisonous ones but they do bring and adrenaline
rush.); spiders and other arachnids, insects (not mosquitoes or gnats),
millipedes and centipedes; fish in the streams; crustaceans- snail and crayfish (We call them
crawdads.); amphibians- frogs, toads, salamanders
I wonder what I left off. I am so blessed and thankful to God for the opportunity and love of the mountains. They so speak of His loveliness and power and creativity and sustaining hand.
Playing along the line
Posted in Climbing, Exercise, Nature, Outdoors, Photo, tagged Biking, Bouldering, Exercise, Nature, Outdoors, Tweetsie Trail on May 15, 2023| 1 Comment »
One way I keep my little exercise outings fresh and real is to change them up and mix and match. I recently did that by way of mountain biking along the Tweetsie Trail in Johnson City with my bouldering pad on my back. This arrangement allowed me to try out some small outcroppings that I had seen and thought good for climbing when my son and I were there a week before (See that outing at “A Few Quick Miles“.) but would be beyond walking distance. The Tweetsie Railroad, begun in 1866, “the ET&WNC line… was to operate from Johnson City, Tennessee, to the iron mines just over the state line at Cranberry, North Carolina. (1)
On the way back from riding and climbing I took some pictures which you may see at “Tweetsie Special.”
A New Little Corner to Explore
Posted in Ecology, Exercise, General, Hike, Nature, Outdoors, tagged Mountain Bike Park, Mountain Biking, Nature, Outdoors, Tree varieties on May 10, 2023| Leave a Comment »
For various reasons I am not able to explore big and faraway places, so I content myself with exploring little nearby places. When you find one within a mile from your workplace convenient for a lunchbreak jaunt, that is even better. Right in the middle of the industrial part of town arises a 200-foot hill that is about 3/4-mile long. Half of it has two steep streets with a few scattered houses clinging to the slopes and a large water tank in the middle. The far end is narrow and very steep sided, very impractical for housing. Someone had the insight to make it into a Mountain Bike Park. Hiking is also allowed on a few of the trails.
One lunchbreak recently I walked two of the trails to see how difficult they are. I was pleasantly surprised by the good variety of trees and wildflowers, the visual seclusion of the site with occasional machinery interrupting sounds, and the utter steepness of the slopes. I invited my son to come ride a few of the trails with me. Both were pleasant days. Check out my walk and biking pictures at Tannery Knobs Mountain Bike Park.
A Few Quick Miles
Posted in Exercise, Family, General, Grandchildren, Nature, Outdoors, Photo, tagged Covered Bridge, Exercise, Family Time, Mountain Biking, Tweetsie Trail on April 19, 2023| 2 Comments »
A little too quick and more than one or two miles. My middle son and I went mountain biking this morning. Because there are several public trails nearby and one under the main road 1/2mile from his house, it is easy to get on multiple and various surfaces. This is the second time I have ridden with him. I have been trying to get into shape by riding a steep hill behind my house. It has increased my power, but riding with my son involves endurance. I am always lagging behind. So, I guess we keep it up and I will build endurance, too. If you can endure my pictures and commentary, check it out at Multiple Surfaces.
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