The ice will be gone but I ordered my Micro Spikes

Todays hike on 2.9.2025

 

Don’t worry, after today’s ice capades I will be purchasing micro spikes for hiking ice.  I had to hug the shoulder of the trail most of the day today. The short climb out of the valley was less than optimal. Lol

You will hear in one of the videos me rethinking aloud my choices today!

I had planned a nine-mile hike today, but mother nature reminded me how I was not prepared for the treacherous footing today. I did three miles and had to really work for every step.

I hope you enjoy the artwork.

Sonder

2.9.2025 I will head out for a hike

 The plan is to complete a 9 miler tommorow.  We will see how this goes.  The freezing rain has plagued most of the northeast part of the state.  

So, stay tuned folks

Sonder

2.1.2025 Todays Adventure

Good morning, folks,

I am going to head out today to see if I can catch some water falls at peak flow. Now they are most likely muddy, but I hope the creek is wadable. Well, we will see. I am back packing my waders in and changing out in the field. The footing is going to be a mess because of all the snow melting and rain.

I was out here about a month ago and I could hear the water fall or falls. We will see how this works out.  The Grand River right now is approximately up two feet from where she was last night.

Her tertiary streams are running hard, but they should be wadable. The snow melt will still be fully affected. The rain has stopped and that will help.

These waterfalls I am looking for are always there, but you need a runoff event to show them in full glory.

I am going to make breakfast here shortly and head out.

I just popped my head out of the house, and everything was frozen. Now I will need to delay my departure from the house.

My footing while traversing the slopes will be tougher than I would have anticipated with this overnight freeze fest.

Stay tuned folks,

Sonder

 

I have returned from the hike. My goal was to find the creek that is in the park. With all the rain we had received over the past few days I was hopeful it would allow for the ice to push downstream.

I hiked into the park with my 120-liter Sealine backpack loaded. I had my waders, boots, wading belt, and camera equipment.

The morning temperatures were in the 20’s. I could hear the water moving in the creek, but it still had a lot of ice in it.  I looked at the falls on my way down and it was heavy with ice.  All the work I would have needed to do to make it to the falls would have been epic.

I also needed to worry about safety. Being down in a small ravine there would have been no escape if the water began to rise and all the debris came with it.  I would be caught in a littoral human washing machine.

The more I thought about it the worse my thoughts became lol so needless to say I chose to hump my pack and me along the shoreline of the Grand River.

As I ventured into the swampy abyss of the lowlands, I realized the beavers had been very busy. They had created huge beaver ponds.

Some of the depths I measure with my walking sticks being over 3 feet deep.  Beavers always surprise me with their engineering feats.

On a side note, I don’t know what the name of the thorn ridden plants I always see in these types of areas, but they were so thick you needed a flame thrower. Side note I will not be here in the summer because the thorns would be so bad so bad!

It was a short hike and making it through the field snow with a heavy pack it was time it call it a day.

 

I hope you enjoy the art work!

Sonder

I will be chasing waterfalls today!

Stay tuned folks as I make breakfast and then I will head out.

Be well,

Sonder

01.25.2025 Winter Hike

On 1.25.2025 it was supposed to get up to 30 degrees! Lol if it was 30 degrees it wasn’t after I got out of the woods today.

I went to finish my second leg of the winter hike of Paine Creek there in Leroy Township, Ohio.

I made breakfast and headed to the creek around 8 am.  I was curious to see how easy this access would be.  I know the main road was closed and their would be a hill to contend with going in and coming out.

I saw a jogger with his dog right off the bat.

Then once I got past I-90 it was all coyote tracks and deer scrapes looking for acorns.

The creek was flowing normally this time of year. The shale creek is mostly featureless, but you need to be wary, and I will show you why later.

It was nice to get out and make coffee on the bank of the creek.

Overall, I hiked 5 miles and slowly I will get in better shape.

Enjoy the artwork,

Sonder

I am going to head out on Saturday

 ..looks like shes going to be above 30 degrees on Saturday! 

Stay tuned folks!

Morning folks,

With these single digit days and nights with the windchill I will be taking a little break. As soon as the day is 30 degrees I will be headed out for an adventure.  

The reason for this is that I really enjoy creek crawling in the winter. This means going in and out of the water and in these temperatures that is a recipe for disaster.

Be well and stay warm,

Sonder

Paine Creek Ohio Winter Hike

It’s been a minute, and my body was telling me we needed some to get some exercise. I decided to take a hike along Paine Creek in Ohio. I was hoping the center channel was open, but as you will see in the videos in some places it was open and some places well it was closed.

 The field snow was all fluff and about 10 inches deep. The daytime high was supposed to be 30 degrees. The sun would poke its head out from time to time. It was a great day to be out, and the Park was void of ppl.

I hope you enjoy the videos and be well.

 

 

 

Merry Fishmas 2024 is in the books

I wanted to fish in NY but the water levels on the Cattaraugus (Catt) were just too sketchy.  You could not cross it because of the volume of water she had in her.

I decided to fish more locally. I chose two of our major tributaries to Lake Erie.

I chose the Gordo River and the Jawbone River.  The Gordo River sees decent numbers of steelhead, but where I fished her last that area fishes better in the spring. The higher you go the less people you will see normally this time of year.

The Gordo River had a solid 24” of visibility. She was running strong and there was no way, as you can see, that anyone was crossing that river today.

The Gordo River has a healthy population of naturally reproducing muskies.

I hiked into a few locations and swung my flies and did not get any grabs. It was good to get out and hike and fish.

After the Gordo River I was going to go to the Chagrin, but she was coming up all day and her visibility would be nearly zero.

I headed to the Jawbone River and there I would find no anglers too.

I walked into the river like I normally do to avoid detection lol. This river saw its first steelhead plantings this year. In three years, the fish will return to this river and so I wait.

The Jawbone River has issues between the sand, silt, and water quality issues.  She’s made great strides in being a cleaner river, but she’s still got a long way to go.

I only hiked 5.7 miles in total. I hope you enjoy the videos and the write-up. I am going to try and get out tomorrow.

 

Be well,

Sonder

Merry Fishmas the Grand River, Chagrin River, and Cuyahoga River

Will be on my Fishmas list tomorrow.  Hopefully the overnight flows holds true.  New York is to high to cross the river I want to fish.  

Ohio should be prime in some locations.  

We shall see how it pans out.  

Brandywine Falls - Cuyahoga Valley National Park

 I hope you like the artwork. It was a nice day to put on my waders and take a walk up Brandywine creek to the falls.

To cold to swing flies but not to cold for photos.

This upcoming weekend I gotta get outside! I am going to take a short hike in my waders. I am going to creek crawl and get some interesting photos.

Stay tuned,

Sonder

Steelhead fishing this weekend

 The weather is not going to let up for this weekend. The overnight lows will be well below freezing and with the winds jack frost will create slush in the rivers.

Looks like another weekend of fresh ground coffee, baileys, bourbon, pulled pork, and tying flies!

I was really looking forward to getting on the water. Be well friends and stay warm.

Sonder

Fishy Weather!

Looks like mother nature is going to give me a small window of opportunity! We will see how much rain falls and see if anything is fishable for next weekend.

Stay tuned,

Sonder

Rainfall amount

Brr it is cold outside

Until the overnight lows are above freezing and the winds are less than 9 mph I will not be swining flies. Hang in their folks. 

Happy Holidays

Headed home on 12-1-2024

 After an amazing and greatful trip to Chicago to spend time with my cousin I'm headed home tomorrow.  

Happy Holidays

 

I'm here in Chicago with my cousin celebrating Thanksgiving.

Hang in there folks!

 The lack of water in our rivers has had me not fishing lately. I might sneak out this saturday or sunday, but time will tell. If I dont get out I wont be fishing until I get back from Chicago after Thanksgiving.

I remained hunkered down and wont be fishing until I get back from Chicago. To all my friends have a safe and great holiday.

Be well,

Sonder

Cuyahoga Valley National Park Hike 11.09.2024

Sitting here sipping coffee this morning and doing some self-reflection. This simple act can do the soul good, and I highly recommend it.

Fall is in full effect and there are signs of jack frost grip from time to time in the morning.  It’s been extremely dry the last 4 months.

Up to my Maine vacation I had not swung a fly in months because of it and now with the low water I will not fish for our Great Lakes anadromous fish either.

With the low water comes the lack of oxygen in the water. Then we have the fish concentrated in holes that are gin clear.  Then you have the stress that’s put on these fish while they are penned up like they are at a hatchery.

Around here it’s a catch and kill mentality for a lot of folks. Hey, if you need to catch a fish to eat, please do so. If you’re not fishing to survive, please leave these fish alone!

Let’s talk about yesterday’s hike. I chose one of my favorites today. It’s nearly 10 miles long and has enough elevation deviation to make it challenging. This is also a favorite trail runners. This trail is also shared with pasture puppy’s aka horses.

I am still working on getting comfortable with the GoPro13 and I am getting there. Please excuse my breathing because of my sarcoidosis it will never be quiet.

 

Also, if you like here is my YouTube Channel (click Channel)

Random GoPro Hiking Videos

 

The weather, Fly Fishing, Camping, and Hiking in the Forbes State Forest, PA

 So, the weather is crap here on the great lakes. Everywhere you look you can see the signs of our long-standing drought issues.

Here are some examples and I will let the following graphics paint the picture.

Website Link

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Drought Conditions Website

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Ohio Department of Agriculture Website

With the lack of rain well its made leaf beds out of many of the rivers and creeks in the great lake’s region.

So, with a drought comes good camping weather! I decided to find a place to camp on the map.  I choose somewhere in the Allegheny Mountains.

I also saw at first a Mason Dixon line survey monument and wanted to see it to tell you the truth even why I chose this area.  Here are a few webpages explaining the line. In this area it’s the state of Pennsylvania and West Virginia state line boundary.

https://www.britannica.com/place/Mason-and-Dixon-Line

https://www.risingsunmd.org/department/division.php?structureid=51

https://www.asce.org/about-civil-engineering/history-and-heritage/historic-landmarks/mason-dixon-line

Yes, I got my nerd on over it and here are some photos of the stone set in the year 1885.

Then came the search for a place to stay. I found the Tall Oaks Campground here is the link I camped in a tent for 16.00 dollars a night and it was just what I needed. For 50 cents per 7 min, you can have a hot shower. They have firewood you can purchase on site and a mini on-site general store.

The camp is managed by a gentleman well I will call him R. He is a great person and has many jaw dropping stories of his life to tell. All in all, it’s a great place to camp. As you can see from the photos.

Since I was going to be in the Laurel Highlands of Pennsylvania, I wanted to see what off grid hiking was to be had.

I found that Devies Mountain was in the State Forest with no established trail network.  This would be my goal to summit the mountain.

I laid out a trail and using my Garmin 64sx I would go up one side of the mountain and down the other side.

I do need to admit I did not look at the local GIS to make sure I was always on State Land. Coming down the north face, “it’s no excuse”, but I went onto private property. If I had seen a private property sign, I would have turned around. It’s very important to know if your route is all on public property.

I was lucky or others saw me and just called me lost!  I was never approached when I got onto the windfarm roads.

Again, it does not clear me of my error, but I want to make it clear that we all need to do a better job of not willfully trespassing.

The yellow path was my route. 

The red area is the easterly inclusion zone of the Forbes State Forest. This information is from the County Assessors office.

The red area is the westerly inclusion zone of the Forbes State Forest This information is from the County Assessors office.

I saw plenty of dear and bear scat. After I came to the first valley I began my hike to the summit. After making my own small switch backs, I made it to the summit. 

A few deer where not happy with me. I found the footing sketchy because the lack of dirt under the rocks made them extremely prone to movement.

It was going to be a slow go back down the mountain. I pulled out my trekking poles to give me stability down the steep slope.

I worked my way down the slope to a dry stream bed and found a nice resting spot next to a huge boulder.

I sat down and up to this point I had been very quiet. I sat down and a stick snapped under my foot. Then my world temporarily spiraled out of control.

I bear huffed at me when I snapped the stick. I have always thought this was a warning sound to the being it was directed at. I said sh!t it’s a bear to myself and pulled my bear spray out from its holster on my belt.

At the same time, I reslung my pack. I then walked backwards facing where I thought the sound came from. As soon as I broke the edge of the opposing side I saw a large outline of its body and the bear huffed at me again. A light breeze was at my back and would be into its face if I had to spray the bear.

Under the mountain laurel it was resting, and I woke it up. The overnight low was 28 degrees and that was at 0700. It had only been maybe two hours since I started this hike.

So, the bear by my calculations was still drowsy from its nap. I walked backwards in the direction of my azimuth to get me to my access point to get back to my car.

I walked confidently as I could backwards keep my eye on the black pile of bear under the mountain laurel.  I was sweating, my heart was racing, and I think every hair on my body was sticking straight TF up!

It felt like an eternity but in reality, it was about 150 feet walking and stumbling backwards. The boulder was out of my site. I walked briskly for about ½ of a mile.

Then I saw an old ATV trail and hopped on it for a bit. This time of year, it is also rut for deer and then mother nature said watch this!

I still had my sweaty hand around my bear spray and a huge deer stepped onto the trail. Then I thought to myself son of a buck and there he was. He had a massive rack of 12 points and as broad as a barn door. He actually squared off at me and I thought I really don’t have time for you.

I gave him a small toot of bear spray. He was 20 ish feet away from me at this point. He did not like that bear spray and decided to take off.

I like ok mother nature you made your point. Lol

I hiked down the well-groomed gravel roads and the more I thought about the more I worried I was trespassing. I picked up my pace to get back to the public road. I did pass a gate that was open, but never saw any no trespassing signs.

I got back to the road and continued to hike back to my car.

I passed some puppies that must have been younger than 6 months old. They wanted to follow me, but I yelled at them “but really wanted to pet them”. They were not mine and the owner may have got upset so I kept rolling to my car.

Well, by this time my heart rate had returned to normal. My hat was soaked from sweat from the hike and from the wildlife encounters.

I rested and had a few snacks and headed for basecamp.

Forbes State Forest, PA

 There is a lot to write about and artwork to be done. It will take me a better part of a week to do it all, but here are some pieces and parts from the trip.

Enjoy,

Sonder

Headed to the Allegheny Mountains over the weekend

 

The above photo was atop of Mount Mitchell, NC 2023

Hello folks, I am headed into the Allegheny Mountains for next weekend. I am going to be taking my GoPro and my Olympus TG-6.

I am going to be hiking up a mountain and seeing what I can see. I do know I should be able to get some great sunrise and sunset photos on this trip because of the mountain range I will be in.

I will be wearing my high viz pack cover and one bear bell. The bear bell is so that any hunter will know I am not a deer!

Be well and see you when I get back,

Sonder