Project Choose Your Own Adventure

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Project Choose Your Own Adventure - Printable Version

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RE: Project Choose Your Own Adventure - ScottyB - 08-04-2020

(08-04-2020, 11:24 AM)Senor_Taylor Wrote: No mention of how you're GRM famous????

wasn't gonna, but yeah that was pretty cool. i started a thread about it on their forum (essentially just copy/pasted this one) and it picked up some steam apparently. seemed like the kinda down and dirty DIY project those guys would identify with.

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some people got a kick out of it, which is all i really hoped for. if it helps someone else have some fun then i did something right.

RE: Project Choose Your Own Adventure - ScottyB - 09-14-2020

took a ride north to South Mountains state park in NC, sort of between Charlotte and Asheville. we were desperate to get out of the heat, pick some apples, and enjoy some mountain scenery after a long hiatus over the summer. the ride up went without a hitch, although the super haggard SC roads had me a bit nervous that the camper was going to shake apart. we made it to an orchard just north of the park right before closing and were rewarded with the most intense crop of apples i've ever seen. the branches were so laden that just picking an apple would shake about 5 right off onto the ground. a bit hot, but worth it.

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personally i showed up for these guys. cider donuts straight out the oven. DAMN.
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set up camp. highly recommend this place, excellent facilities, strong ranger presence (in terms of helping with info, cleaning, and maintaining the sites) and quiet. there are only 2 "RV" sites where you have electrical hookups. we got the only one left, right on the river behind our tent pad.
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next morning we set off on a hike to see High Shoals Falls. from our site its about 3-3/4 miles out and back, and its graded as "strenuous" and they are not screwing around. very flat an easy until the last half a mile and then its STRAIGHT up the rocks. i'm talking like the secret stairs in lord of the rings. even more alarming were the condition of the people who were attempting this as it began to rain. tourists in flip flops holding their infants with both hands, i don't even want to imagine what could happen if they slipped. people are stupid.

beautiful trail though.
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doggo ain't care
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made it. the whole observation deck was packed with people trying to take selfies for their insta-clout and generally not giving anyone any space but we were able to get through and enjoy a minute of seeing this awesome rock face.
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hooked up on this lil ripper on the way down. amazing how these guys will flourish in the smallest pools thanks to such high quality water and lots of food sources. he went back to fight again.
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it opened up on the way down, i mean full soak right through the rain jackets. we rolled with it though and just kept having a good time. the downpour cleared but unfortunately from here on out we had heavy fog and things never really dried out, which was annoying for trying to get our clothes not-soaking.
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got back and Link was like...listen pal i'm not in the mood for your crap and i'm going absolutely nowhere
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we did get nice weather that evening though, so time to get the fire going. i sat in the awning room and honestly, just sitting there listening to some drops fall on the roof, hearing the river going past, staring at the woods with nothing else to do was wonderful. kinda like in Office Space...."i did absolutely nothing, and it was everything i dreamed it could be"
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retired sore, worn out and with burger bellies early. kiddo read his book, then we all played cards. camper got its leak test for sure and we haven't seen any problems yet....
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hit the road Sunday at lunch after a pretty relaxed, but wet pack up session. hit the visitor center on the way out for the requisite sticker to put on the cooler. 4Runner worked great considering i was holding it in 3rd and 4th up many of the grades on I-26 both coming and going. if you're OK letting it rev, it'll move out of its own way pretty well.
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another good one in the books. we're seeing if we can fit one more trip in this fall before calling it a year.

RE: Project Choose Your Own Adventure - CaptainHenreh - 09-14-2020

nice.

RE: Project Choose Your Own Adventure - Senor_Taylor - 09-14-2020

Very nice. Great photos as well!

Project Choose Your Own Adventure - JPolen01 - 09-14-2020

Looks like a good time! What's this donut out of the oven nonsense? You mean the fryer right?

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

RE: Project Choose Your Own Adventure - ScottyB - 09-14-2020

thanks guys

(09-14-2020, 04:36 PM)JPolen01 Wrote: What's this donut out of the oven nonsense? You mean the fryer right?

yes, forgive me. donuts out of the oven are bagel bites. real donuts are fried.

RE: Project Choose Your Own Adventure - davej - 09-15-2020

A+ memories right there, looks like an awesome trip!

RE: Project Choose Your Own Adventure - ScottyB - 11-05-2020

As most campgrounds in the southeast are now in a state of closure after Halloween with the dropping temps, here's our last trip of 2020. we got our final round in a few weeks back over the weekend of October 16 at Unicoi State Park in the little alpine town of Helen GA. COULD NOT have asked for better weather. after a sweltering Sept and early Oct here in Augusta i seriously felt like i was back in my element with the nighttime temps dipping into the high 30's and a distinct lack of humidity. we had planned to camp further away from people given the insane leafer/octoberfest/harvest season tourists that always plan their mass exodus from Atlanta in autumn, but as it turns out, you can't wait until the last minute to reserve a campsite in the fall like we somehow did, and by pure magical timing we managed to grab a great spot at Unicoi that someone must have cancelled on. amazing luck!

picked up the kiddo after school on Friday, and towing was a no-drama affair but we got in after dark that night. getting settled was a bit of a PITA because our site wasn't level, but as it so happens i keep a grungy collection of bits of lumber in the underfloor storage for leveling and we were able to park the camper on top of those to jack it up to the necessary heights. we brought a ton of blankets to prepare for the cold, and it turned out our insulation was good enough to keep us nicely cozy even with the windows open. we were greeted with a blast of sunlight in the morning as it rose over the mountain range.
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here's a view of the galley mid-breakfast. we carry 2 water containers that store 2-deep into the cabinet; one is "potable" the other is "filtered". we keep the potable on our picnic table as a wash station, the other stays in the galley for cooking and tea/coffee. the Yeti makes a pretty handy prep counter and our go-to breakfast is hot ham + cheese on a toasted english muffin (you can make the whole thing in the skillet). i know its sacrilege but i prefer ham over bacon when camping, its way less messy and you get more meat out of it.
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next up, hiking! did a 3 mile loop down to the Smith Creek. i love the crunch of leaves underfoot with a clear October sky above.
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unfortunately, after seeing that water Jen and i cannot deal with keeping the fly rods dry. after lunch we geared up, and went up to a different spot and fished until sunset. ideal conditions.
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wife landed a great looking trout nearly as long as her forearm (no shot of that unfortunately). my trophy was of a different sort; Sam is too young to have his own rod outfit yet but he is super interested and has his own waders. so, i've promised him for some time that whenever i hook one, i'm letting him land the fish. last time out we got nothing, so the pressure was on for me to deliver on my side of the bargain. i sent a cast right to a nice, deep cut that i just KNEW had something in it. cast after cast, i was off just enough that i knew i wasn't presenting the fly right but stayed glued to the spot. after about 8 casts i got my drift just right and with a silver flash deep in the water, the rod tip started dancing wildly. i quickly passed it back to Sam and let him play the fish into the net. he was so overzealous that he ran the line up under a rock and it got stuck; i felt awful for him as i was certain the fish had freed itself at this point. i reached down to unsnag the line and sure enough the line went alive again, fish on! we were able to net this modest little guy but neither of us could care less about the size, it was "his fish." we admired it briefly (they are amazing animals, superbly adapted and very colorful up close but disappear in the water) and like nearly everything we catch, sent it back home after dislodging the delicate barbless hook.
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phew. after all that bushwhacking to get up and down the stream, i had to kick back a bit after some burgers. one of the great rewards of fall camping is being able to warm up next to a fire as the night air cools off. no bugs, no sweating, and your beer stays colder longer! This weekend's flavor was Sweetwater "Guide Beer." make that 2, bartender.
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another glorious cool night and clear skies. doggo slept next to me both nights in the camper to keep him warm. woke up and headed to the north end of the park for a short, but beautiful hike up to Anna Ruby falls. a little crowded for my liking, but i'll pay that price to see something like this.
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after lunch we called it a wrap and headed out. on the way out though, we hit up Unicoi's archery range. Jen is an experienced shot (who just got a new bow for her birthday) and Samuel is picking it up too, so we couldn't miss it. their facility is awesome! standard target lanes + full 3D gallery with a raised platform. nice bathrooms and everything. met some super nice people there as well.
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this is why i need to keep my head down around my wife. she's deadly! the circled part are the feathers of the arrow as it flies to the target (a pretty good shot it turned out to be)
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you can see Sam working out the range of his bow as he walked a dozen arrows to his target

top 2 came from my wife's bow.
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Link didn't want to leave...
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leaving town was a disaster - traffic was so bad due to Octoberfest, it took us almost an hour to go about 2 miles. i should have known better but, deep down i didn't want to go home anyway. we packed a lot into 2 full days and had the ride home to really think about the adventures we went on this year.

we had planned for maybe 2 or 3 trips this year but turned out to be 5, as the wild events of this year forced us to pursue the only options we really had for socially distanced family time - being in the great outdoors. we never thought we'd end up on all these adventures this year, and we're certainly grateful for it in light of so many other social things being denied to all of us these days. from the mountains to the coast, we had a unique experience each time and we've really started to perfect our setup now.

i have a few small projects over the winter: some better fastening on the fenders, better waterproofing over the hatch hinge, and keeping an eye on the frame around the tongue (more in-depth story on that another time). i'm also preparing for my inevitable eviction from my nice mattress onto a cot in the awning room as my son outgrows his bunk in the next year or two. probably temporary though since he'll want his own camping space as a young teen as mom and dad become seriously uncool.

anyway, hope you enjoyed the adventures this year. next year...let's go west!

RE: Project Choose Your Own Adventure - Apoc - 11-05-2020

I would have never guessed campgrounds in GA close for the winter. We have some that close, but most are open.

I'm jealous of the activities you do while camping, especially fishing. I'm really looking forward to when my kid is old enough that our hikes aren't limited to <2 miles and we do something that involves an actual hobby.

RE: Project Choose Your Own Adventure - ScottyB - 11-05-2020

(11-05-2020, 02:03 PM)Apoc Wrote: I would have never guessed campgrounds in GA close for the winter. We have some that close, but most are open.

i should have clarified - the big campgrounds are. the primitive sites are still open.

they shut the big ones down because they cut off the water due to pipes in the bathrooms and taps freezing.

(11-05-2020, 02:03 PM)Apoc Wrote: I'm jealous of the activities you do while camping, especially fishing. I'm really looking forward to when my kid is old enough that our hikes aren't limited to <2 miles and we do something that involves an actual hobby.

screw that, if your back can deal with it, take him with you.

we said we were going to include Sam come hell or high water. turned out to be water in this case.
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easy for me to say though, since i have a lot of experience walking on slippery creek beds.

RE: Project Choose Your Own Adventure - Apoc - 11-05-2020

Campgrounds here stay open, they just turn the water off so pipes don't freeze. So, I guess it's fair to say all our primitive sites stay open too... it's just that non-primitive become primitive.

At barely 4 years old, my kid is nearly 4' tall and 50#. A hiking backpack at Monza two years ago was the last time we carried him anywhere. That was BRUTAL.

RE: Project Choose Your Own Adventure - D_Eclipse9916 - 11-05-2020

(11-05-2020, 02:49 PM)Apoc Wrote: Campgrounds here stay open, they just turn the water off so pipes don't freeze. So, I guess it's fair to say all our primitive sites stay open too... it's just that non-primitive become primitive.

At barely 4 years old, my kid is nearly 4' tall and 50#.

4' tall and 50lbs? Tighten up those bootstraps son! 3 miles should be easy!

RE: Project Choose Your Own Adventure - Apoc - 11-05-2020

Not when you've got two discs that have degenerated to almost nothing in your back. Dodgy

RE: Project Choose Your Own Adventure - D_Eclipse9916 - 11-05-2020

(11-05-2020, 03:59 PM)Apoc Wrote: Not when you've got two discs that have degenerated to almost nothing in your back.

I meant the kid (cue the old people bootstraps comment)!

My 2.5 year old did 3 miles hiking state parks................ if you count me carrying him the last 1/2 mile hahaha.

RE: Project Choose Your Own Adventure - Apoc - 11-05-2020

(11-05-2020, 04:05 PM)D_Eclipse9916 Wrote:
(11-05-2020, 03:59 PM)Apoc Wrote: Not when you've got two discs that have degenerated to almost nothing in your back.

I meant the kid (cue the old people bootstraps comment)!

My 2.5 year old did 3 miles hiking state parks................ if you count me carrying him the last 1/2 mile hahaha.

^ therein lies the challenge. my kid can do 2+ but neither of us wants to push our luck and have to carry his ass any distance when he finally throws in the towel.

RE: Project Choose Your Own Adventure - HAULN-SS - 11-05-2020

Looks like a good time! How far are you from far southwest virginia? Best trout streams in the state around the Grayson highlands, plenty of campgrounds. Might be worth a drive if you can do it in half a day or so?

RE: Project Choose Your Own Adventure - ScottyB - 11-06-2020

(11-05-2020, 10:17 PM)HAULN-SS Wrote: Looks like a good time! How far are you from far southwest virginia? Best trout streams in the state around the Grayson highlands, plenty of campgrounds. Might be worth a drive if you can do it in half a day or so?

far, like an easy 5-6 hours from here in Augusta to the VA line. my folks live in Roanoke though, so i've done that drive 100 times. if i went up there it'd need to be a long weekend at the least.

my top 2 streams (in terms of scenery, fish, access, and stream quality) i hit in VA are the Cascades just west of VT and Mossy Creek just south of JMU near where Rex lives. went to Whitetop Laurel once down there near Grayson yeaarrrss ago and it was gorgeous but i found it really hard to fish, thick mt. laurels and the fish spooked super easy. that was pretty early in the hobby for me though so i definitely wanna go back. Big Horse Creek just over the border near Airy is apparently a super productive watershed with big fish...i need to get there soon as well.

would love to properly see the Grayson highlands though, and i've already passed the idea by Jen for camping at Hurricane Campground outside of Troutdale/Grayson to make our stay there a long one. we'll see when that happens though since its hard to be near home and not get roped into just staying at the houses with the family.

RE: Project Choose Your Own Adventure - HAULN-SS - 11-06-2020

Hurricane Branch campground is close enough you can hit Helton, Fox, Whitetop Laurel, and Wilson creeks with relatively short drives from camp. The stockings vary, but usually 11-14" brook, rainbow, and brown trout. If you're into bike fishing - get on the creeper trail and follow it all the way down to Glen Cove, and fish around some of the 20+ tressels going over the creek.

RE: Project Choose Your Own Adventure - ScottyB - 11-06-2020

(11-06-2020, 08:25 AM)HAULN-SS Wrote: Hurricane Branch campground is close enough you can hit Helton, Fox, Whitetop Laurel, and Wilson creeks with relatively short drives from camp. The stockings vary, but usually 11-14" brook, rainbow, and brown trout. If you're into bike fishing - get on the creeper trail and follow it all the way down to Glen Cove, and fish around some of the 20+ tressels going over the creek.

good info thanks, and bike fishing is a dream i'd love to do when Sam's old enough. Jen has bad knees and can't do big miles with me, and if i went alone they'd both hate me for leaving them Big Grin

RE: Project Choose Your Own Adventure - .RJ - 11-06-2020

cycling is great for people with bad knees, and rail rails always flat