Fudge Stallion and the Search for the Perfect S'more

Shenandoah National Park 4/20/2012

The Adventurers:

 Tim Dixon

 Andy

 James

 Brian "Bee-rye" Clark

Radar

We set off with a simple objective: To find the ingredients for the greatest smore ever made. Morgan Freeman, who was whittling a banana on top of a mountain, told us to go to Virginia to find what we seek. So we set off...right after Radar decided to take a huge dump that he had been holding until the precise moment we were ready to leave, as usual. Friday night we tried to stargaze, but the collimation of my Newtonian Reflector was off, so we called it a night. Saturday morning we set off for Stoney Man after a hearty breakfast, the healthy way to start any adventure. After a short hike and a battle with the Crazians (crazy Asians) we arrived at Stoney Man (Johnny Man for those in the know) to take in the beautiful view.

While most of us relaxed on the rocks, Bee-rye started doing random things as usual.

"Do the kick?"

"Miyaaaaagi!"

"Whatcha doing?"

"Just Bee-rye stuff"

At this point, James broke an item which was imperative for our quest for the Ultimate S'more, so he had to do some McGuyver shit to build a new one out of a Pen and what I think was a whistle. We continued our quest to Little Johnny Man which is lower in elevation, but has much more of a sheer vertical drop. I definitely felt uneasy sitting on the edge of these rocks.

Lens comparison: Nikon 18-55 (top) vs Tamron 10-24 (bottom)

After hiking back to the car, I gathered firewood for the S'mores, Andy fought a battle with the ground and lost, and the others raced on their longboards. That's when I realized the recipe for the Perfect S'more:

First you start with the regular ingredients: marshmallows, graham crackers, and Hershey bars. Then you add:

Chocolate chip cookie, chocolate fudge, chocolate/coconut haystack, and peanut butter explosion fudge (peanut butter fudge with chocolate and marshmallow). Combine these and it makes a pretty damn good s'more, but something seemed to be missing. After trying multiple combinations, I  had found the crucial ingredient for the perfect s'more:

Shrimp!

So to celebrate a quest completed, we drank some, listened to some tunes, and tossed some disc.

Unfortunately our victory party was soon interrupted by a thunderstorm which also brought a lot of fog with it

...and murderers

"I wonder what normal people are doing today."





The Search for the Pennsylvania Elk

Over Easter Weekend, I decided to hike a portion of the Elk Trail which starts in Benezzette, Pa. My mission: To find and photograph the Pennsylvania elk herd in it's natural habitat. The trail is 15 miles one way and can be done as an overnight or a day hike. The ranger who was at the trailhead said that it was an excellent trail to see wildlife in addition to the elk, as there are a lot of bear and rattlesnakes in the area. I got very excited to see both of those. So I set off with the intention of walking as far as I could before turning back.                                      

 At about a mile into the hike,  right near the coal bank, I decided that I would have more luck seeing wildlife if I went off trail. I  chose a direction and started hiking through the brush. Along the way I  encountered a nice camping spot that some locals must use on top of a hill. The spot had a nice view and offered an open area with a firepit. I wouldn't mind camping out here.

 I ate my lunch at this spot and then at the bottom of the hill, found a game trail that had a lot of signs that elk had been through the area.

 There were tracks pictured above, and skat pictured below. I followed this game trail hoping to catch a glimps of the elk.

 I soon arrived at a huge meadow area which would be a perfect place. Conditions were perfect as I  was downwind of the meadow. If there were elk here, they wouldn't have smelled me.

 I eventually climbed to the top of the hill, which was much higher than it looked for a commanding 360 degree view of the surrounding forests. Sadly, there were no Elk, and I had to leave shortly for Easter dinner. Finding my way back was a little fun as there were a lot of forks in the gametrail I was following with no blazes telling me where to go. My phone app said I had hiked 4 miles off trail at this point, so I used some landmarks to orient my hike back.

 On my drive away from the trailhead, I  literally almost ran into a heard of Elk right at the side of the road. Even though I was hoping for a wilderness encounter, it was still nice not to go home empty handed.

 In closing, I would really like to do the Elk trail in full someday, preferrably during rutting season so the bulls will have their antlers and I will have the chance to hear them bugle. Overall it was a good time.

Tim travels through time and faces his nemesis.

I was having a rough week, so on Friday after work, I decided to go on a solo adventure. My destination, Hocking Hills State Park in Ohio. Little did I know this would lead to a trip through time. The drive out to the park was during a very powerful thunderstorm with lightning bolts that filled the sky. I arrived at 2 in the morning, set up my tent, and passed out. The next morning I set out early on a hike. My plan: start at Old Man's Cave and hike 4 miles to Cedar falls, then return. This hike is definitely one of the top day hikes in the whole country. It works it's way through a very intense gorge with numerous waterfalls and very inviting swimming holes (swimming prohibited).

 Soaking wet feet and a broken tripod on a cool idea, but failed attempt of a picture.

 The broken tripod reminded me of the time Carlos intentionally threw his tripod off of Ash Cave after breaking it. He got asked approx. 253 times whether his camera was on it at the time by random people. Now I was messing around with the settings on my camera all day and unfortunately I could not get the lighting where I wanted it on most of the pictures. For my photographer friends, please give me pointers.

 The above picture reminds me of the first time we went to Hocking Hills. Andy, Carlos, and I were hanging out on that ledge that sticks waaay out in total darkness without even knowing how trecherous it was. The next morning we went into the gorge and realized where we were.

 Part of what makes this whole hike awesome is the layout/design. The bridges are unique and they cut holes into the rock to make tunnels you walk through. It really gives you a sense of adventure when you are hiking it. I really like this bridge but unfortunately that dark picture is the best one I have. Here's another perspective:

 "Oh, so that's how they make the water like that. I can't wait to overuse this!"

 Ok, this part of the trail is a little tricky. You have to go into this cave and defeat a dragon before continuing on to the next part. I reccomend at least being level 30 before attempting. Use the save point you just passed.

 Old Man's Cave. Once again the lighting is not being kind.

 Now it's about this time that I realized that I had travelled back in time. I was messing with the time feature on my camera, which I thought was for time lapse photography, but apparently my camera is also a time machine. This is Pierre, a french soldier tasked with a covert mission during the American Revolution in 1777. Great Britian had found an ancient Aztec artifact which could win them the war. Pierre's group were tasked with intercepting the British and destroying the artifact. I decided to help. Sadly, Pierre and his men did not survive the mission, but I saw it through. After messing around with my camera settings some more, I managed to get back to 2012 and finish my hike.

 Lower Falls. My second favorite spot in the state park.

 Ok, everyone should know by now that boardwalks are my weakness. Combine a nice smooth wood surface with a little bit of moisture and you have an ice-like surface that will fuck you up. Wack knows what I am talking about. In Maine he took quite the tumble, but surprisingly never dropped his beer. I cannot say the same as my boardwalk accident landed me in the ER with broken ribs and a dislocated shoulder. This boardwalk had a stream flowing directly on it.

 This is my first time hiking past Lower Falls down to Cedar Falls. Normally we just drive to Cedar Falls and see it from there. I am glad I finally did the hike as it was very beautiful. Filled with cliffs and waterfalls. This next one was very awesome, much like Ash Cave.

 What a beautiful area with a 70 foot waterfall. Wait a minute...

 What the FUCK Ohio?!

 Walking under this fall would be an awesome idea if it wasn't 49 degrees out. Maybe on the return visit.

 Another unnamed waterfall. Most of these are probably only seasonal so I was lucky to time this after a thunderstorm.

 Finally I arrived at Cedar Falls, the most impressive waterfall in the area based on volume of water. Shortly after arriving, tons of people started flocking to the spot as it was now 11 am. To get some peace and quiet, I climbed to the top of the falls using a route we found on a cabin trip.

 I was the only one up there so I had a lot of fun just chillin....

 and creepin on the wedding that showed up in the meantime. I thought it was cool how the bride and groom just got eloped and a spot that they liked with just one bridesmaid and a best man. They didn't seem to have anyone else with them, the others down there were hikers, which all gav the applause when they kissed. Also whle I was up there, two guys grabbed a log and walked under the waterfall as everyone screamed (mostly them as I  assume the force of the water was very painful).

 I hiked back as quickly as possible and started up the rediculous stair climb next to Lower Falls. One flight from the top I jumped off trail...

 Inched my way around this ledge with my back against the wall...

 And arrived at a secluded mini-cave 200 feet above the gorge floor to eat some Sharkies and Haribou Bears for lunch. Afterwards I had just one more flight of stairs to climb. Unfortunately it was through another Dragon's lair.

 This lair had two dragons, one with a railgun.

 Next I went to Ash Cave. At first there were tolerable levels of people, but then a group of kids ages 6-12 poured in from the depths of hel to ruin the spot, so I retreated. That night I had a campfire and grilled some sausages on a stick courtesy of everyone's favorite spot, Grandma Faye's, where "customer satisfaction" is a sentence fragment.

I should note that the sausages I purchased and consumed were expired 3 days ago (didn't notice till after eating) but since I built up a tolerance from their moldy jerky and no special orders disgusting soggy cheese sandwiches, I was fine. The next morning at sunrise, I headed to Ash Cave again. Sunrise hiking is my hiking pro tip if you want to be alone and away from screaming kids. I tried to use my 10-24 lens to show the sense of scale of this spot but it still doesn't do it justice. You have to go to know.

 After Ash Cave I decided to do one more hike before heading home. This brought me to Conkle's Hollow. It was early so once again I  had the whole trail to myself. I have to say that Conkle's Hollow is actually my favorite spot in the area now. The cliffs surrounding you are so tall and sheer that they remind me of Yosemite. The interior of the valley is very green with moss and vegitation, reminding me of the Hoh Rainforest. And in the final leg, the walls close in and you get a unique feel to the area. If you stay on the trail you will miss most of the beauty of this area as the vegetation blocks your sight, which gives the place a mystery aspect. Also the biggest reason I like this area, the boardwalks have a metal mesh-like tred added to them:

 Finally someone gets it!

 I remember hanging out in this cave with Andy and Carlos for a while and having a great time. I don't remember what we talked about, but I bet we had a few laughs.

 This spot reminds me of the first time we were here. There was a huge double ice pillar on the left side. Carlos, Andy, and I had been smashing icesicles all day and we made it our mission to destroy the pillars. After trying endlessly without success, I walked up to the pillar and gave it a tiny kick as a joke. We all started to walk away when CRASH!. The pillar had fallen. It was one of the best examples of perfect timing I have ever seen. I am glad that I have had the fortune to spend a lot of time in this beautiful state park, and I hope to go back soon to make more memories.