NC04 — Cataloochee

Ingrid's brother Ron is visiting for a few days, up from Acworth, GA.  He's been everywhere, it seems, including thoroughly visiting this area of western NC.  On his recommendation, we traveled to a lightly visited corner of the Great Smoky Mountains NP known as Cataloochee.  It was a successful and remote settlement for about a century (roughly 1830 to 1930) before becoming part of the new national park.  There are a few remaining buildings from that era, well preserved.  The highlight of the day was a long loop hike around the Boogerman Trail and the Caldwell Fork Trail.  The forest was in full early-summer green.  The Boogerman Trail rose up from the valley floor in a long gradual ascent on a duff-lined path that made for easy hiking.  The Caldwell Fork Trail was buggy (but not too bad on that count) and included six knee-high fordings of the river (plus several more across log bridges).  Although Ron and I dutifully took off shoes and socks to cross barefoot for the first several crossings, by the end, we were all resigned to walking in wet shoes.  

NC03 — Blue Ridge Parkway S

Two stops today: the North Carolina State Arboretum (photos 1-2) and a climb up Mt. Pisgah (the other photos).  The weather has been spectacular!  The Arboretum was pleasant enough.  The hike was better.

NC02 — Blue Ridge Parkway N

After the tiring trip here yesterday, we got off to a late start this morning.  Once on the road, we began heading toward the Arboretum, but then ended up on the Blue Ridge Parkway heading N, rather than S as we had intended.  We followed this unplanned beginning to its logical conclusion: driving about 55 slow miles N and then S on the Parkway.  This quasi national park is constantly lovely, with interspersed bits of spectacular.  The scale demands patience: the entire length exceeds 460 miles and one cannot travel consistently as fast as the posted 45 mph speed limit.  Our extent of travel today was from the Arboretum at about mile 395 in the south to Crabtree Falls at mile 340 in the north.  The outing included two short and nice hikes, to Crabtree Falls and to the lookout at Craggy Gardens.  The posted photos are from these two hikes, with one extra (the 5th) from an impressive roadside overlook.

NC01 — Eno River State Park

We never hike in the early morning.  But we did today.  Our red-eye flight landed at RDU before 6 AM.  Our check-in time in Arden was at 3 PM.  The drive would take less than 4 h.  So, we found a nearby state park with a gentle 5 mile hike along a river and through thick deciduous forest.  We were surprised to encounter cool temperatures. Wildlife sightings included a frog (on the trail) and a large turtle (on a rock in the middle of the river).  Birdsongs were a nice addition, too.  

Las Trampas (is) Wilderness

We did a featured "challenging" hike from the East Bay Regional Parks District annual "trails challenge."  The hike started from the Ringtail Cat staging area in Alamo.  It was advertised as an 8.25 mile loop with 1447 feet of elevation gain.  The description does note that the trail system in this regional wilderness "allows hikers to enjoy its remote and rugged areas."  The loop included sections of several trails: Ringtail Cat, Madrone, Las Trampas Ridge, and Corderoy Hills. The verticals were steep, generally straight up and straight down the hills without any benefit of switchbacks.  Navigation was slightly challenging in the parts closer to the staging area, but became clearer once we got into the core of the park.  The scenic views were great, especially of Mt Diablo to the east and of the nearby hills and valleys.  There were also abundant wildflowers, including an orange one I've never seen before.  Wildlife sightings included several buzzards, a small snake, and a (dead) opossum.  We completed the hike in 4.5 hours (total elapsed time).  My pedometer recorded 9.75 miles (higher than advertised because of short steps on the steep hillsides).

Bicycling to Santa Barbara

We've just returned from an 8-day ride to Santa Barbara.  We first did this ride four years ago (see post here).  The day-by-day details from this year's ride can be found at my other blog site.  Here, I'll record the route outline, summary statistics, and some of the best photos.

Alison did the organizing, route planning, and led the navigating throughout.  Her experience is oh-so-valuable!  (And thanks to her also for several of these photos!)

The daily riding segments were almost equal in length, ranging from 43 to 52 miles.  Our start time for each day followed a steady pattern, departing after breakfast between 8:45 and 9:15 each morning except the final morning when we pushed off at 8:00.  Ride duration varied, mainly according to the challenges in riding (how much climbing) and navigation.  Our longest were days 3 through 5, running 7 h to 7 h 45 min.  The final two days were the shortest, running 5 h 20 min and 5 h 40 min.  These had the least complex navigation, not too much climbing, and we were also in better riding shape.

My daily riding time (measured with the bike wheels spinning) varied between 3 h 30 min and 4 h 40 min, with an overall daily average of just below 4 h.  The total distance of 374 miles and the total riding time of 31.7 h combine to produce an average speed of 11.8 mph.  (Our overall rate of progress, including all the riding stops from morning departure to afternoon arrival, averaged 7.3 mph.)

Weather is always an important feature of riding.  On this trip, temperatures were consistently cool, and the skies were mostly cloudy, sometimes heavily so.  For a few days in the middle, I don't think we saw the sun at all.  We were very lucky with rain.  For many days along the ride, the forecast for day 7 was for rain.  As it turned out, we only had a sprinkling on us.  But we rode through about a 10 mile stretch (near and up the Harris Grade leading to Lompoc) where the roadway was very wet from what must have been a very recent downpour.  The road spray covered my bike in silt.

All three bikes made the journey without issue, but with an odd twist.  Both Alison and I arrived at the Santa Barbara Airport with flat tires.  Quite literally, we both rode to the end point of the ride and could not have pedaled any further without repairing the tires.

Here are our eight riding days (distances and climbing amounts).
Day 1 — Colma (via BART) to Pescadero (43.5 miles, 2910 feet)
Day 2 — Pescadero to Capitola (45.4 miles, 1800 feet)
Day 3 — Capitola to Carmel (47.6 miles, 2460 feet)
Day 4 — Carmel to Lucia (51.7 miles, 4290 feet)
Day 5 — Lucia to Cambria (46.5 miles, 3075 feet)
Day 6 — Cambria to Pismo Beach (47.9 miles, 1750 feet)
Day 7 — Pismo Beach to Lompoc (45.4 miles, 1950 feet)
Day 8 — Lompoc to Santa Barbara Airport (46.3 miles, 2020 feet)
Total distance: 374 miles; total climb: 20,300 feet

Riding into Pacifica

Devil's Slide

Leaving Pescadero along Hwy 1

Along Devil's Slide.

Entering Santa Cruz.

Lunch stop at Moss Landing.

Leaving Fort Ord on the way to Monterey.

Beginning the rugged ride near Big Sur.

Looking south near Garrapata State Park.

Our room at Lucia.

South of San Simeon

The world's best cinnamon rolls are in Pismo Beach!

We dodged a storm on our ride to Lompoc.

Climbing Harris Grade.

At the top of the fastest descent.

At the freeway rest area at Gaviota.