Beer Thoughts - Stone/Sierra Nevada NxS

Stone/Sierra Nevada North by South (maybe)

Barrel-Aged Double IPA

Bottled: 11/21/15

Disgorged: 12/31/15

ABV: 8.2%

    The official bottle-front description for this beer is "A DRY-HOPPED INDIA PALE ALE BLENDED WITH AN INDIA PALE ALE AGED IN RYE WHISKEY BARRELS AND GIN-INFUSED BOURBON BARRELS". What else do you need to know?

    Long story short. A damn good beer. While it may nose like your run of the brewery IPA, this beer is far from boring. Citrusy hop feel up front. The limeyness balances nicely with any gin flavor you may pick up. I get a little every other sip. A little sweeter than straight IPA, and I think the aged portions have added a little savory-ness to the whole frame. Subtle spicy, this beer feels complex, without blowing out the palate in one direction. Slight lingering glow for a minute.

    All together; a very well rounded beer topped off the almighty hop. Maybe not $10, but it seems someone put a lot of effort into brewing, aging, and blending this beer. So take the ten dollars, its yours. 

Beer Thoughts - Long Trail Space Juice

Long Trail SPACE JUICE

Double IPA

Canned: No Idea

Consumed: 12/12/15
ABV: 8.7% 82 IBUs

    I am drinking this one from the can, as a personal policy on 16-ounce double IPAs.

    Not the propulsive hop explosion I had envisioned. Melon, honey, and light citrus notes. Real smooth, the 8.7% really doesn't seem to jump out and bite at all. This seems to be a pretty dangerous can. It used to be that an IPA of this caliber would let you know the alcohol was coming with a burn or an unrelenting hoppy bitterness to mask it. Now-a-days with beers like Sip and Heady, the precedence has been set that these strong IPAs no longer have to warn you. This beer certainly falls into the category of deceptively smooth doubles.

    I think this is a great beer. My only criticism is that it could be a little more hop forward to compete with other DIPAs, though it seems incredibly well balanced. Then, on a personal note, I am not a huge fan of this melon-y bit, I like my hops piney with some citrus.

Beer Thoughts - Allagash Hugh Malone

Allagash Hugh Malone

Belgian Style IPA

Bottled: 7/23/15

De-Bottled: 11/14/15
ABV: 7.3%

Pours slightly opaque into a Lenox pilsner. Moderate hoppy bitterness hits first. Not overwhelming, very pleasant and manageable flavor. these hop flavors trail off into a slightly sour, bitter finish. One of my favorite beers of this summer. I had the opportunity to try fresh a few months ago and I am still just as excited about this beer now. Tastes wonderful.

Beer Thoughts - Founder's Backwoods Bastard

2015 Founder's Backwoods Bastard

Bottled: 10/06/15

De-Bottled: 11/12/15

11.6% ABV

Definitely a bit of oak in this one. Raisins right off the front. Warm finish for a minute or two. There is a bit more of the bourbon flavors on the finish. I was drawn to the beer really on labeling alone. Sort of a mysterious hermit character with a double bit. I'm not hugely for or against oak-aged beer, I have had good and bad examples. The backwoods bastard is great. High drink-ability, appropriate bitterness, balanced by tart fruit flavors.  I have a lot of faith in Founder's ability to release great beer. This beer is  no exception.

Virginia, Appalachian Trail - May 14th, 2014

Virginia, Appalachian Trail - May 14th, 2014

Virginia, Appalachian Trail - May 14th, 2014

Virginia, Appalachian Trail - May 14th, 2014

Lesson in Funk - 1 Mothership Connection

Lilacs near Watchaug Pond, May 13th, 2015

East Hills Update - Halfway House roof gets patched.

This past weekend bits of the family gathered at East Hills to tackle some spring cleaning project. While Mom and Jo tackled some garden rejuvenation, Bob, Dad, and I focused our attention on the Halfway House roof.

Tarped, Finished for the weekend.

Since this is the bathhouse for the cabins, re-waterproofing the roof was the most pressing job at camp.

Assorted flesh wounds

Demolition is always satisfying. For $10 and a small chunk of your soul you can buy a made in China shingle/nail puller tool from Home Depot. Day one was spent pulling everything except flashing of the roof, and it was made possible by this tool.

We diagnosed areas where the tree had punctured the roof for patching. With matching thickness ply we cut out two four foot by four foot sheets to cover the main faults on the upper level. Using a claw hammer and chisel to Painstakingly clean nails from the path of the circular saw. We also spliced one of the main roof joists that had taken the brunt of the impact.

Where Mr. Tree connected with Mr. Roof

Splicing the ol' main brace. Ply sheet cut away to be patched.

Spliced Joist close up

Day two was spent finishing the patching and other prep. Two 4'x4' patched where used on main damaged areas. The covered porch roof had a few holes all within a twenty seven inch area between two joist so it made an easy patch. Three holes in the section of roof over the mechanical room where cut square and patched using two sheets of 5/8ths ply. One to match the size of the hole and sit flush with the roof and another slightly large to act as a plate underneath it. This method is good where you don't care what it looks like from the inside. It also retained a lot of the rigidity the 4x8 sheet of ply originally gave the roof. The larger patches, though securely fastened to joists will eventual represent a less strong form than the original 4'x8' sheet that it patched.

Much time was spent fixing the fascia that had been crushed. A new engineered wood fascia was put up. The soffet presented a larger challenge as it required replacing nails, trim boards, caulking, and re-attaching.

We had just enough time at the end of the day to attach the bottom drip edges and lay down all of the underlayment.

Watchaug Pond - April 27th, 2015

Tinker Cliffs - AT - April 26th, 2014

After a night at Four Pines with dinner at the Homeplace restaurant. I hiked over the 700 mile mark. My sister called and stopped her roadtrip to meet up with me and any hikers around for some trail magic. 6 packs of PBR tall boys and Nutella rice crisp sandwiches. DAn, L-n-L, Blink, Tree and I convinced her and friend Naomi that the 3 mile hike from here to McAfee's knob would be worth it. Impeccable timing on their part. It was very nice to hike with my sister and catch up. It'd been a few months since seeing anyone from my home life. Naomi gave Dan a personal slackpack most of the way up McAfee's. 

After the obligatory photos, we said our goodbye and proceeded on towards Tinker Cliffs for the night.

Somewhere near Catawba, VA - AT - April 25th, 2014

Advanced entropy generation, RI - April 24th, 2015

Anvil/Vice - April 23rd, 2015

Ridges to Come, AT - April 22, 2014

April 21st, 2015 - Watchaug Pond

AT - April 20th, 2014 - Between mile 609 and Woods Hole Hostel

Color Theory Tree, 2015

Watchaug Pond April 14th,2015

Watchaug Pond, April 12th, 2015

April 19th - 46 - Helvey's Mill to The Mile 609 Camp.

In our conversation last night Dan and I discussed the idea of 15 miles a day with no zeros putting us at a finish date of August 7th. The idea of no zeros was clearly out of the question, and Dan wanting to finish in the end of July, the pace had to be quickened.

Feeling pretty exhausted and beat up after yesterday's mileage, this morning is slow. All the sectioners are long gone by the time I am finished eating and on the trail at 9:30. My journal says very little about the hiking today. Grease and Live-n-Learn caught Dan and I around lunch, which apparently took place at Jenny's Knob Shelter. I can only assume that the hiking was easy and care free. HAHAHA.

Bridge over the creek Kimberling

Around five, Live and I reached a bridge and a road. AWOL's guide informed us that Trent's Grocery  (a must stop for thru hikers) is only a half mile away. After a short walk I indulged myself to two cheeseburgers from the short order menu and a 6-pack of PBR to go.

The grocery has showers, laundry, and camping on site here but we consensus to hike a few more miles down trail. This plan soon becomes a night hike and what would turn into revenge of the "Freaks Comes Out at Night" headlamp strobe party. The popular 1980's hip-hop song was some becoming our night-hiking anthem.

At a quiet footbridge near mile 609, Sunbear, Grease, Handsome Dan, Live-n-Learn, and I found a flat spot to camp. We had a small campfire enjoyed our warm packed out beers, listened to music, and discoursed on the problems facing our planet until midnight.

Rusty Crossholes

April 18th - 45 - Chestnut Knob Shelter to Helvey's Mill Shelter

It was such a beautiful night I slept out under the stars, I slept well enough not to keep the fire going but still managed to hear all the coyotes about. The sunrise accompanies me while I cook and eat my oatmeal. The plan is to get on it a do some big miles.

The morning is still, hiking through the forest I spook a dozen or so deer and we have a staring contest when they reach a safe distance. Its ten miles of classic Virginia ridge walking and a large decent to Jenkins creek. There's a flat spot by a bend in the creek where Dan and I stop to eat lunch, most of the hikers present last night stop in.

The trail head back up to a ridge and follows an old road bed for a while. these road beds fascinate me for some reason. At some point in history they were used for model A fords, or horse and buggies, or just horses. In a lot of places the care and work that went into creating these roads are evident. on the downhill side of a path occasionally the stone-work retainment is still in tact. The Great Smoky Mountains had some of this too. Someone at some point in history put in a  lot of effort to put  this road here, and I thank them. This is some of the nicest hiking I will do on the trail.

Some rather choice hiking on old road bed.

I am completely exhausted by the time I reach Helvey's Mill. to throw salt in the wounds, the shelter is a half mile off trail. For good measure the water source is 0.3 down a real steep hill. There is also a pile of sectioners here. Canadiaah is the only other hiker from last night to come all this way. Dan and I manage to snag the last two spots in the shelter. Laziness governs all when you've hiked 24 miles. We plot out our current pace and distance left to gauge and end date, but these estimates are doomed.  The AT is too much fun to try and schedule it all out.

DIY Floyd Leg

A while back, somewhere deep in an internet hole, I found this furniture design that caught my attention. Now, ordinarily I am not researching furniture, but anything with an innovative design aspect regardless of subject, I get interested. The Floyd Leg is at its basic level is a clamp on table leg. Looking more into the design objectives, it is a non-permanent solution to big heavy furniture in a nomadic living arrangement. It can be used on almost any table surface, and when you need to pack up and move, just un-clamp and go.

I was morally offended when I found out these legs go for upwards of 200 dollars a set, almost 300 dollars for a set that doesn't wobble if you use the table for anything more than a decorative piece. At this price one could move ten times and just source thrift store or craigslist tables at $20 a pop.

Then again I can't get over my intrigue for these legs. Solution: DIY. (really the solution to everything).

I found some steel bed frame rails for zero dollars. These provided all of the structural material I needed. Next the clamping apparatus. After a bit of internetting I found who I imagine The Floyd Leg company sources there bits from. TE-CO make precision machining components and the sell these clamping screws for custom machining jigs. TE-CO Swivel Clamp

Bed frame rail before getting chopped

I spent close to $50 on Amazon for three pairs of these clamping screws. An even cheaper alternative would be to buy some large eye-bolts and weld a plate onto the end after threading it through your leg. This would be more permanent and could be modified so it could be taken on and off. These swivel head screws just provided a nice clean solution, so I spent the money.

Legs cut to 29.5" (common table height)

Potato quality engineer weld.

Hardware: Swivel Head screws from TE-CO,
1/2-13 & 5/8-16 Nuts from local hardware store.

Drilling plate to hold screw

Variation: The Floyd Shelf

Ready for paint

I set up the legs on a piece of 3/4 ply and it worked well. The top angle deflected a little when the clamp is really tightened down. And the table wobbles a bit too much for my liking. I plan on welding in the corner to help the deflection, this should provide a little more rigidity to the whole structure as well. I also plan on painting the legs. Ill upload part 2 when that happens.

April 17th - 44 - Knot Maul Branch to Chestnut Knob

In a great stretch of communal hiking tonight is the culmination.

I wake up early and lower the bear bag. Mama Bear is the only other person up this early. I cook and eat breakfast and watch the sunrise. I start hiking around 8:30. At lick creek I break, Grease and I fool around and take an un-necessary foray over a log bridge close to the trail.

A white blaze on chestnut knob.

I took lunch by a spring fed pond on the way up chestnut knob. The water source looked bad, but if you circle around to the back of the pond there is a piped spring. The weather is gorgeous, sunny, warm enough to sit and lounge without getting cold. After lounging about for an hour or two, almost every hiker I can name on trail today is here. Slowly we pack up and keep moving. Not very far though.

Sunbear hiking up a bald on chestnut knob.

After a short 2-ish mile hike across the top of Chestnut Bald, I reach the shelter. It is a completely enclosed shelter, the first I can recall (Fontana Hilton has no doors). It is rather nice except for a slight stale smell inside. Hawk, Yo Teach!, Birdamn, and Mumbles keep hiking on. But as more and more hikers arrive here a consensus is made. It is far too nice up here to keep hiking.  Mama Beear volunteers to go fill water for many of us. The source for this shelter is almost half a mile back south on the AT, almost a deal breaker.

Sunbear and Grease scout out flat tent spots.

The view out over the valley is easily top ten for the whole hike. as the sun sets behind me I watch the shadow of the ridge move out across the valley. More friendly faces come in tonight including One Day, Fun Size, Canadiaah, Youngbeard, and Sunshine.

Sunset over a bluebird valley.

Many thru-hikers sit about and converse til after dark. Tonight is one of the nights where you sit back and think about how lucky you are to be sitting here. at this place, at this moment, with these people. And how you would not trade it more any amount of money, fame, or time on this earth. It reminds me that happiness lies not in money or fame, but in the human experience.

Sunset and a campfire.

April 16th - 43 - Atkins, VA to Knot Maul Branch Shelter
The first thing I note in my journal today is that I crossed the mathematical one quarter point of the AT. I guess this was important to me at the time. Or more realistic is that when you are hiking you spend a lot of time thinking. So maybe I just thought a lot about where I was on the trail.

It was only 13.9 miles of hiking today, but that really doesn't matter giving the solid group of hikers that I am with. Imagine being 6 years old again and having a sleep over party with  10 of your closest friends. Now make those people interesting, varied in background, with a common albeit far off goal of hiking a long trail. Now stretch that sleep over to one hundred and fifty days.

Grease hiking out in front of me across a lovely open meadow. 

Off of the road the trail weaves up through some old fields. There is barbed wire and abandoned equipment adding to the ambiance. The trail for the next few day would cross these old fields, still to this day one of my favorite parts of hiking in Virginia. The air is perfect, cold at night, crisp in the shade and the perfect amount of warmth provided by the sun. 

Does this really need a caption?

Handsome Dan after vaulting one of the dreaded fence stiles.

Holston Branch, great place to eat lunch and cool of your dogs.

Dan and I stop for a snack by the Holston Branch. Half Moon is here nursing a rolled ankle. I follow suit and put my feet in the water. This is a great idea for any long distance hiker. At the very least take your shoes off during longer breaks. Not only does it feel good, but it really does help the pain inflicted on the feet by hiking all day everyday. 

At the shelter there is a great communal atmosphere. Sunbear, Grease, Blink, Rambo, Halfmoon, Dan, Mama Bear, Hard to Kill, Sunshine, Youngbeard are here. There is a fire going (a rarity for my hike), Hard to Kill surprises us all by cooking brownies over the fire in his cook pot flipped upside down. We hang a collective food bag that by our estimates is in excess of 100 pounds. Some whiskey is passed around, and good times are had by all.

April 15th - 42 - Partnership Shelter to Atkins, VA
Took the shuttle back down to Marion with the hikers that came in last night. I couldn't resist getting more snacks and another round of fast food. I a cold drizzle hikers walked about Marion resupplying. the shuttle took us all back up to the visitors center and I was hiking by noon. The eleven and a half mile hike to Atkins was cold and rainy to begin with, the weather switched to snow for a period, and the sun finally creeped out as we approached the road. Dan and I split a room and the Relax Inn as does the rest of the hiker hoard and we head up the road for some grub. The barn restaurant here is a renowned hiker stop, complete with a mail drop resupply and hiker box. I order the 16 ounce hiker burger as more and more hikers pile in. as more show up we arrange the table into one long community dining table. Those present include; Dan, Blink, Rambo, Sunbear, Grease, Hard to Kill Phil, Mama Bear, Half Moon, Sunshine, Young Beard, Hawk, Achilles, Yo Teach!, and Birdman. After dinner I stop and buy a Miller 40 ounce at the gas station and watch modern family til 11pm, well past hiker midnight.

A strange phenomenon happens on the AT. the longer you stay on trail the better and better days become. as winter turns to spring and spring turns to summer, the hike becomes easier and harder. one thing remains, every day is better than the last.

April 14th - 41 - Zero Day #2. Marion, VA

There is a shuttle that runs from the Mt. Rogers visitor center here down to Marion. I have a mail drop waiting at the post office and I need a fuel canister. Flex, Bluesky, Coconuts, Spice Kit, Grease Spot, Wiffle, Tuesday, and I take the shuttle down to resupply.

Marion's claim to fame seem to be that Mountain Dew, the liquid cavity juice was formulated here. The town has clearly waged war on enamel,.. and fuel canisters. After a walk across town, the Army/Navy store back across town is suggested as the place with the isobutane. Success, at a slightly inflated price for some off brand gas I can cook for the next two weeks. On last stop at the Virginia ABC store and we call the shuttle to arrange a ride back up the mountain.

Everyone is hiking on except for Grease spot. I head back over to the shelter to sort through my maildrop and pack up. At about 2pm Mama Bear rolls up to the shelter and informs me of all the people headed this way. Rambo, Blink, Wrong Leg, Half Moon, Sunbear, and Grease. I decide to stick around and reunite with these awesome people. Achilles, Outlet, Sunshine, Youngbeard, and even Handsome Dan shows up. Night two of the Partnership Pizza extravaganza is underway.

April 13th - 40 - Hurricane Mountain Shelter to Partnership Shelter

Woke up and watched the sunrise while I cooked and ate. Its the warmest morning so far on trail I wrote in my journal. when you wake up early and exit a shelter you try to make as little noise as possible. for some reason whenever I try to do this it almost never works. This morning I drop my canister, pot, and lid on the hard dirt floor. I cook on a hill 20 yards from the shelter so I can think out loud whilst I eat and pack.

Nothing like that food-bag dawn.

I am hiking at 8 am. Waking up early and hiking hard until noon would become my ideal hiking day. those hours don't count really, and you generally don't get bonus hours at the end of the day.

As I sit for a break a few miles later, a whistling Mr. Bluesky comes arround the bend. I am not sure how he got his named, but if I had to guess, it may have something to do with his ever sunny disposition. He hikes on through and I don't catch up to him until lunch. At Trimpi shelter I chill with Bluesky and Flex, Bluesky is finishing his 13 thru-hike tomorrow in Atkin, VA but I would see Flex on and off until Katahdin.

One of my favorite parts of Virginia is crossing the fields between ridges.

Just before a dirt road, there is a tent set up with some coolers underneath. Its pretty warm out at this point so I sit underneath. I find a luke warm root beer. In any other scenario most people would turn this down without a flinch. For me, a welcome treat. Ill take all the sugary boost juice I can get, but really just one, so others can enjoy the warmth.

Trail Magic!

I reach Partnership at 4:30. The shower hasn't been turned on for the season yet, but a compensation pizza is ordered from the Mt Rogers visitors center.

April 12th - 39 - Cove Mtn Shelter to Hurricane Mtn Shelter

"Woke up around dawn and cooked my last home mixed oatmeal until my next mail drop. Packed and  L-N-L and I headed north towards fox creek by 8:50." We hike very quickly stopping only momentarily at Old Orchard Shelter. Live's parents are picking him up from Fox creek campground supposedly around 11. We arrive and wait around until 12;30, when they show up. I twas nice there are trash cans and port-a-potties here. Noodles and Biscuit are here eating lunch as well.

Back on the trail, I hike up to Hurricane Mountain Shelter. A German couple is here and we have the cursory hiker interaction. Its ten miles to the next shelter so I decide to chill here for the night. Its early yet and no one else comes in. I fear this will be my second night alone on trail. I head down to the creek and take a hiker trash shower, I even get to my hair. The rest of the day I lay in my sleeping bag drawing and contemplating life. It was sunny and 70 today be its starting to get a little chilly now.

Doodle for the day

I doze off and get startled by voices in the distance. Mr. Bluesky, Flex, Mr. Coconut, Spice Kit, Vegemite, Owl, and Dr. Scrambles show up and my worries of being ambush by a pack of rabid grizzly bears with no one around to hear my screams are alleviated. This is a great group of hikers, most of whom this is my first time meeting.

East Hills Update - Halfway House Fiasco

Had a big dirty old white pine come down on our bath house last week. Judging by the snow on the side on the trunk it came down before Friday's storm. The damage was pretty minimal, only one structural beam cracked. That should be easily fixable by patching in a section of 2 by 10 onto it. The tree came down with such force that the top beyond the building sheered right off. It punched 4 inch diameter branches right through the roofing. the post and beam construction held up surprisingly well. We are lucky it wasn't an oak that came down, the results would be much different. I knew i was spending my Sunday in the woods with a chain saw, I didn't think I would spend part of it on a roof dealing with white pine.

The bath house stood up surprisingly well considering.

Top section sheered off upon impact.

The only damage to a structural element, roof joist where tree connected with house.

Branches punched through the roof.

Crest of the roof where tree hit, after cutting the tree off.

Holes left by the branches.

We took a large tarp and covered the whole roof to wait until warmer weather to fix.