Two Trips - One Entry

I've been slacking. The Fall has been wet, wet & wet. I haven't been able to get out much and when I did it was for a short little journey traveling over familiar ground. This first trip was about a month ago. Elizabeth and I took off on a Sunday afternoon as the weather was cooperating.


It wasn't raining but it was cold. I remember my eyes tearing throughout the trip and Elizabeth commenting on the salt lines coming from my eyes when we got back to the house.

We rode down to the dam and went for a walk along the shore for awhile.

I was seeing how close I could get to a gray haron, which wasn't very close. I disturbed him from his hangout and he flew to the shore we had just come from. When we walked back he flew off and went right back to his spot under the tree.





The second trip was a couple weeks ago with Dylan. The weather had broke and it was warm enough for me to leave the leather at home (although by the end of the trip I wish I had worn the jacket anyhow - it got cold).


We rode through LaGrange and down to Warm Springs and walked around with the hundred or so other bikers who were taking advantage of the day. The day was perfect. I picked up a face mask and neck warmer at Xtreme Leather for those cold morning rides to work.



After Warm Springs, we rode down to, and through, Pine Mountain. From there we went over to West Point, across the dam and back home through Alabama. The mileage counter hit 100.0 as we coasted into the driveway. All for now.

Cave Creek Trail in Cheaha State Park

After dropping Jessie Ann off at school, Elizabeth and I hopped on the Harley and headed North West toward Cheaha State Park. It is about 75 miles away and the roads are beautiful. I did have to zip by a tracker trailer because it was kickin' up dust and I felt like my face was being sandblasted away - so much for my youthful appearance.


This trail wins the award for best entrance. The stones had impressions of leaves and footprints that you can probably see if you click on the picture, thus making it larger. I chose this trail because its length of 3.3 miles seemed reasonable. When we looked at the sign we realized that it was 3.3 miles one way. It has been a long time since we've done a hike over 5 miles but here was an opportunity.


The trail was close to the top of the mountain and had lots of gnarled dead trees that I found really cool to look at but hard to properly capture in a picture. They were very Burtonesque - if that could be a word.


We came across this fungus along the trail and it speaks for itself. Honestly, look at this stuff. I did a google search for coral fungus and wasn't surprised to find that is its name. Who would think that fungus could be so beautiful.


The path was very easy. It was pretty much clear and relatively level. It made the distance very doable. I don't even remember there being many roots or rocks on the path.


We were on top of a mountain but there were very few views available to us. We did find one spot where could climb out on a rock and see into the distance. Unfortunately the view was still greatly hampered by trees and didn't make for a good picture.

We did stop for a snack and designated it as our location for lunch on the return trip.

The trail was called 'Cave Creek' because of the creek, or creeks, that we often crossed along the way. There aren't any caves and I read why it was still given that name, but I forget the reason.


I have found it very difficult to take a good picture of a mushroom. Because they are small, I use macro but that makes it very impossible to bring the whole thing into focus. I took a few pictures; each with a different part being in focus. I chose this one because of the intricate edges of the top of the mushroom. It reminded me of homemade paper.


We didn't know how long it would take us to hike 6.6 miles, so we decided to turn around after an hour and a half if we didn't reach the end by that point - it took us an hour and 25 minutes. The return went quickly and we were anxiously awaiting peanut butter and jelly on the rock (it was all we hoped it would be).


I love snakes. I am fascinated by venomous snakes. My favorite is the copperhead. My first hike in Georgia was on September 16th 2005 and Elizabeth and I found a copperhead hanging out across the path. I was in glee and Elizabeth was ready to say goodbye to the trails. I was mournfully commenting on how we haven't seen a venomous snake in the woods since that first encounter.


We were anxious to get back to the bike and were cruising along at a pretty good pace. About 5 minutes from the end of the journey, I stopped quickly, back pedaled with Elizabeth behind me at the site of a gorgeous copperhead chilling out across our path.


I'm going to geek out here. The colors were beautiful on this critter. I saw no scars and it's eyes were bright yellow with that vertical slit. I assume it had shed in the not so distance past. I've read that copperheads will freeze if they encounter danger and will only bite as a last resort. This one froze and didn't move the whole time we were there. I took advantage of the lack of movement and took lots of pictures and got closer than I probably should have.




I've included about half of the pictures I took. Isn't she beautiful. I have often wanted to keep one in the house, but the more sensible occupants do not share my enthusiasm.

This one was about 4 feet long, which is a good size considering the average size is about 3.5 feet.

We also saw a little ringed neck snake on the way out (non-venomous). They are very tiny and Elizabeth was the one who spotted this one. The ringed neck snake does not freeze at danger and did not result in any good pictures. They are black with a orange underside and an orange ring around their neck.

Before heading back home we stopped at the lake at the base of the mountain for the facilities and a photo opportunity.

The ride back was beautiful. The sun had come out and it was just perfect. I did catch a rock in the forehead by the mowers on the side of the road - no blood but that'll wake you up. The total trip was 148 miles on the road and 6.6 miles on the trail. We were spent and were looking forward to sitting on the porch with our mugs of coffee - which was as wonderful as expected.

Mountain Creek Nature Trail Loop

Elizabeth and I planned a wonderful family hike down in Pine Mountain on Sunday(10/4/2009). Due to lack of family support it turned into Harley miles with my Honey.

They did call to give us support prior to the hike - or it might have been for mediation regarding who is on the computer and for how long.

The trail interwove through streams and pools of water, which were all prospering due to the abundance of rain that we've been having this Fall.

The path had some nice bridges over various stream which afforded us the opportunity of using the timer.

This seems to be a recurring picture as of late. I love a road with thick woods along the sides and a trail being engulfed by the surrounding landscape. The unencumbered narrow passage through an impassably environment and the short distance of clarity with the light indicating more beyond what we can see.

We didn't see much wildlife on the hike but the various trees, paths and streams were full of character. Next time we are going to highly encourage all the kids to come along with us.

Except for the end, the trail was well marked. We lost the trail once it exited the woods and went in a few circles trying to relocate the bike.

When we got back to the Trading Post, we took the citation off of the bike and had lunch. I didn't see a place to get a parking pass and got busted for it. It wasn't a big deal, I just paid for the parking pass and all was well.

There was a small lake/pond right next to the campground where we took the hike.

The actual ride was uneventful. It was a little cooler than I expected but not too bad. I did make a U-turn at one point and didn't think I was going to make it. The shoulder was pretty steep and it wouldn't have been pretty.

Sprewell Bluff State Park

This could also be called the "Mist Tent Morning Ride" or "The No Wave Ride."

Elizabeth and I had not been out on a ride for several weeks and we were itchin' to get out there. I was on call this weekend so Friday morning was our only chance, unless we wanted to wait another two weeks. It has been raining all week but weather.com told us that there was very little chance of rain early in the day. Even their radar maps were void of green blobs.

I've been running a little hot lately. My temp was up there the evening before, all night and into the morning. I was looking for a good cool down, so I left the jacket at home. I had a t-shirt on and was looking forward to getting chilled to the bone. I wasn't disappointed as I was shivering, sneezing and jaw chattering by the time we got there - and it was good.



The start to the ride was great. It was cool and kind of dark because of the cloud cover. I was just enjoying being out there instead of being in a building. I passed one of my co-workers on the way to work while I was headin' out and it made me more thankful for the opportunities to take Fridays off. About 45 minutes into the ride we hit a heavy mist - not rain but also heavier than riding through a cloud or Georgia morning humidity. It was at this point that I took my first wrong turn - add 20 minutes to the ride and a heavier rain. We got back on track and had a horrible time finding the unmarked road that we were looking for. We ended up going back and forth down the same road three or four times. The cattle and horses would just watch us pass each time. Eventually we just turned at the 4.5 mile mark and that worked.


The road to the park was way off the beaten path and we enjoyed riding up and down some nice hills and leaning through the curves. Once in the park, the road ended near the Flint river and I made a mad dash to the bathrooms up the hill while Elizabeth soaked in the scenery. There wasn't any parking down there so we doubled back to a parking lot we had passed on the way in.


Once, parked we poured a cup of coffee to help us warm up. My shirt was pretty wet at this point and my pant legs were soaked through. Elizabeth, who had the jacket, was dry.


The paths weren't marked really well so we just started walking and tried to remember our turns - right, right, right. The path we took brought us to a parking lot which ended up having a Harley that looked just like mine. After realizing the circle we went in, we choose a different direction that brought us down to the river. The walk was peaceful and we stirred up several deer during our hike.




Saw lots of mushrooms on the hike. They were pretty big and I tried to get a good picture, but wasn't pleased with the way these turned out. It was hard to get a close picture and keep everything in focus.



The hike ended up taking us along the river. We saw no one else out there and it was very peaceful with the water on our left and open woods on our right.


This was back up in the parking lot. A fog was rolling through and was gone right after the picture was taken.


After the hike, we broke out lunch and enjoyed our daily PB&J followed by an apple. Once fueled we hit the road, still wet from rain - and sweat - but warm. The warm quickly went away once out on the main road, although I didn't get cold. It was actually very comfortable.

The ride home brought more mist and ended up in rain once we got closer to LaGrange. We were passing cars with their lights on and windshield wipers going. There was something about being out there in the rain cruising down the road that spoke to me on the way home - that is probably the Zen we speak of while riding. As I ride through more rain, I am finding that I like it more and more - you are just kind of out there experiencing it instead of being protected from it.

When we got home we both agreed that it was a great ride and a great morning. The next adventure should be in two weeks.