It is finally spring

 I am so glad that spring is finally here and all the trees are budding and the wild flowers are blooming.

I just love getting outside and taking hikes in the wild woods and see the new life take over the dreary winter scenery. Of course after being lazy all winter and then getting out,I feel so tired but refreshinging like a bear coming out from its winter sleep.

 Yesterday, I took my kids for a little walk on my farm and while the kids played in the creek,I was looking for wild plants to make a salas and or tea. But, I warm sun and reading my plant book,I got sleepy and took a little nap and thus I ran out of time for salad getting stuff. so I had to settle for spice bush tea for a snack.

Spice bush tea is so easy to make and only need very little bark/leaves/branches to make a decent 2-3 cup of tea. Just add about  2-3 cups of water and slowly simmer for about 10-15 mins and either drink it hot or cold and you can add sweetner,but I perfer mine plain.

I always have enjoyed walking in the woods and now even more now since the kids are older and can ask questions and can explain things better to them. Boy, are they like sponges and gather up the info and I can tell that they enjoy it being with Dad in the woods and hopefully they can take their kids in the woods and share the same experiences.

Today, is another beautiful spring day and maybe another walk in the woods after playing homemaker/yard caretaker. maybe some sassafras tea for a after walk drink.

Spice Bush Tea

 One of the best and easiest found bush that can be used in any season.

 I usually get a decent handfull of leaves/bark/stems/branches in break them down to fit my pan and put in about a cup of water and simmer for about 10-15 minutes. You might need a wat to strain the material when you pour your tea in the cup. Drink it hot or cold and sweeten to your liking. I usually perfer mine plain.

Bees, Bees, and more Bees

 I sure in the heck don’t know how I missed not know there was a yellow jackets nest in my garage. The nest was located behind my electrical panel,right behind the electrical box,plugs and light switch and were flying around like mad. It is so weird that I never got stung since it was right beside my car door.

 I found them last night,after coming home from work and the day was humid and raining and when I got out of the car. I saw them at first and was thinking,boy there is alot of flies flying around. It was on my second trip to the car when I relised that they were yellow jackets and then I got scared.

 Yes, I hate bees and any kind of bees. Because when I was younger. My family used to raise honey bees and I always respected them and stayed away. But, one day we decided to move a bees box and there are thousands of bees in a box,and the box shifted and I end up with bees crawling and stinging me everywhere. I got stung so bad that I looked like a swelled up pincushion and got really sick.

 So, last night I waited until dark and used a whole can of spray on the mean little buggers and spread behind the electricial bos as best as I could and I don’t think I got em cause this morning they were still flying around. So,it looks like my car won’t be parked in the garage anytime soon.

 In a way they are interesting to watch them fly around and seeing them to go into protecting mode,but I just hate them when they are around me. I am so used to see them build their nest in the ground and was surprised to see them off the ground.

 It is truly amazing that nobody got stung cause the kids use the garage as their playarea/hideout when there is no cars in the garage.

 The only fall part I hate is when the bees know that winters a coming and they get so defensive and mean they will attack anything and me included.

Fall Hiking Season

 Here it is,The kids are back in school,I am back into classes myself, and fall season is right on our backdoors.

 I was just sitting here thinking of my trip earlier this year(Quehanna Trail Pa) and was thinking how beautiful the same hills and valleys would look with the fall leaves and the bright blue skies,no clouds, and the sun is shining full force,with the air cool and crisp.

 I just love hiking in the woods and hearing the crunching of leaves under my feet and the sounds of wildlife doing their thing,getting ready for the long and cold hard winter that is sneaking upon them also. The Buck whitetails grunting for a challange from the other males and seeking a mate is awesome.

 I had many wildlife just come right up to me like the squirrels(they are so funny watching them chase each other),Turkey’s waking up from their night roosting and all with the golden morning sun coming up with a hot coffee in hand,Life doesn’t get better then this.

 One of my favorite things as a kid, My family would get up very early on Saturday Morning and we drive for hours and by the time the sun was coming up we already be in our favorite section of West Virginia just gathering up the beautiful scenery and visit many small farmer markets and the usual tourist trap and we might stop somewhere and get hot apple cider and on of my favorite places to go was Spruce knob Mountain Wv and when we get to the top it looked like you could see forever and up there you can see several states from up there.

I kinda have a hard choice.

 As I already done part of the Quehanna Trail,Pa which I have completed forty miles of the 75 miles and I want to go back as soon as possible to finish up the loop.

 I have another hard choice to make and its hiking the Seneca Creek Backcountry near Spruce Knob Wv and its only about 25 miles and its with a decent size group

 Here I am torn in deciding what I really want to do since I want to do both and with school right around the corner and getting dark sooner. I have the feeling that my hiking season is closing fast and I am running out of time.

 I also hate leaving unfinished business hanging,knowing full well I mean to finish it but don’t and do something else. I am having a hard time finding a hiking partner to finish the Quehanna Trail and I don’t do solo,since I don’t want my family getting too worried and not finding me if needed in an emergency.

 How do I decide in what to do and both Trails are so gorgeous and the scenery is so awesome? Believe it or not they both are about the same distance from my house. What a hard choice to decide which is better? Any hikers have the same problems?

Hiking with Dogs

 First, I don’t have a dog that hikes with me for she is getting up there in age and I know she wouldn’t handle the trails. But, I have walk a trail with another hiker’s dog and he was a boxer and was very friendly and listen pretty well and stayed with us pretty decent. But, I have seen other people ,who have let their dogs run loose and it can be quite frighting to have a strange dog,just come right up to you and jump on you. I wouldn’t mind if the dogs owner was right there and in full control.

 I have seen dogs run wildlife. Its not only makes the wildlife skittish but it can do the animals harm or death,if the animals were force to flee for any distances. I like to be able to see wildlife in their natural habitat and hearing dog barks just dosen’t seem natural in the woods.

 I am not condoning dogs on the trails,but I just wish the owners take a little responsibility in controlling their dogs by leashing them or have the dogs come and sit by the owner,until it is safe to pass by and if the owner don’t mind then you can pet the dog. I have been chased by dogs on the trails and felt a little apprehensive in what to do.lucky for me,I have yelled at the dogs and they either run away or stayed a safe distance until i passed the owners or the dog has lost interests.

 I have seen dogs chased deer on my farm and the deer were so exhausted and paniced so much that they done things like running into barb fences and running into cars just to get away and have been killed or injuried. I really can’t blame the dogs,just the owners in not controlling the dogs and teaching the dogs what is right or wrong.

 So, If I ever walk a trail with any dogs. I hoped that I can enjoy seeing the scenery without hearing and seeing the dogs doing things that would ruin a good day. I hope that the owners would ask first to see if it ok to have a dog with the hike.

Freezer Bag Cooking

 I finally got this book and the recipes in this book should whet your appitite. I just quickly skimmed over some of the recipes in the book and they look pretty easy to prepare and make.

 Sarah Svien Kirkconnell sure has outdone herself on this book and it looks like I am going to get more of her books. I have talked to her and she is one of the nicest people to talk to and if you have a special diet that you need to follow,just contact her and she will give you advice and some more recipes to try.

 This book should help me to better plan my meals for the trails and hopefully help me to reduce space and extra weight. I always tend to pack too much food,when I am on the trail.

What I learned on the Quehanna Trail Trip

 After my trip and finally got to spend time reflecting on what went wrong and the success of the trip.

 First the positive note. The trails were easy to follow,well blazed and plenty of water (usually with 6-9 miles apart). There were a variety of wildlife habitat like the creeks,bogs,swamps,pine forest,hardwoods,and even a tundra type area. The wildlife were plentiful either I saw them or there were plenty of tracks or scats around. There were alot of homemade bridges and alot of well built bridges in the hollows with a few footcrossing of streams.

 The negative part of the trips were when it rain it poured,(You can’t control Mother Nature)but my equipment failure were rain jacket tore(I need a sturdier jacket)(pack cover tie down where in my way of the shoulder straps(Find a better one)Boots,even thou they were goretex,but when it rains it ran from my legs down to the toes(checking out gaitors for this problem) and maybe my fit wasn’t right( blisters on top of toes and on side of toes) looking for a proper fitting outfit and my socks were wet all the time(wring them out every time they squished) and put on moleskins(probally should’ve used duct tape also).

 I also found out that I was hauling too much water over a quart and the pack weight might of been a little heavy with the extra food weight.

 I also learned that I need to work on the uphill walking(do more gluts and thigh exercise).

  If you can think of anything else that I can improve on let me know. I can that any constructive criticism well. This is a beautiful area and you will enjoy it as much as I did,just don’t make the same mistake as I did and I learned from my mistakes and will get better gear.

Instant tater/onion/bacon soup

 Here is a quick meal after hiking all day and want to fix a fast meal.

 First, you need to portion your instant potatoes in place in a quart ziplock baggie. Then take about a teaspoon of dried or powered garlic and dried onion flake or the powered kind,Then throw in some bacon bits,Pepper to your taste.

 Then when get to camp add about 1and a half of boiling water in the baggies with a tub of butter. Then mix well and eat up.

Quehanna Trail,Pa

 I left for vacation on the 28 of june,2008 and arrived at the Parker Dam State Park. As I drove around the park and noticed the trailhead was full of cars so I went ahead and set up camp,before a major T storm hit at the public campground,so he could find me.

 Day 1,Jeff and I started on a bright and beautiful sunday 29 of june 2008 at the trail head about 7:30 am and went counterclockwise. We cross several roads and seen some vistas (which were growing over) and lots of newts.We chased a flock of turkeys out of our way also. The Terrain itself wasn’t too bad. But about 2 miles from camp it just poured and poured and we were soaked. Finally got to camp and we gathered some firewood and tried to dry our boots by the fire. with no such luck. The day put us at 15 miles. near the old log splash dam.

 Day 2 june 30 2008. Mon morning we get up eat a big breaksfast and put on moleskins on our tenderspots before hiking the trail. The trail wasn’t to bad at first ,but it got so annoying that i had to stop and wring out my socks and keep replacing moleskins. I guess Jeff was having the same problem cause I finally caught up to him near wild cat rocks ( a spot were three wildcats were shot in1916). We met for lunch at the fisher rock area at an established camphouse. I was glad the owners weren’t there. We was alittle confused cause of the two bridges that were close by but we went on and that hill coming out of that hollow was a pain in the arse. Butt cramping,legs wobbling,and sweating like a pig. Of course Jeff went on ahead to replace my map that I lost on the trail and of course were none. After going through several miles of open and dense woods, It was nice being able to see a valley even if it was a power line. We get about 2 miles from camp and guess what? It rained. This area is were I saw a black bear running up the power line. Of course going throu thick laurel and blueberry patchs, I was singing to him to let him know where I was’. We finally made it to piper reserviour camp. a nice place along the dam,just to watch the fish swimming around. We almost had our boots dried.

 Day 3 The Hill from hell first thing in the morning. Butt cramping,legs wobbling,and just gasping for breath mad up that hill in about 45 miles,finally made it to a clearing and that reminded me of the canadian tundra area. Elk Tracks were everywhere. and a remains of an old stone log home. Climbing up three springs hollow my feet were getting so freaking sore and I was totally getting bummed out,knowing I will not be able to finish the trail and going up the last big hill before the sinneahoning trail. I kept falling and slipping and knowing this is not safe. So the decision was made to call the trip off. I finally make it to the 40.2 mile mark   and lucky the forestry people were happening by and ask us were we were heading and they said thats along ways to go ,hop in and we’ll take you back.

  After a long night sleep and some food in the belly besides dehydrated food I finally feel better morally. Even thou I am disappointed in not completeing the trail,but I did get 40 miles with horrible blisters on my feet and some of the hollows were steepier then I thought they be. Overall the trip was geourgous and only saw three people at a trailhead on the whole trail. I am difintily going back to finish the last 32 mile.