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.

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

The Cuyahoga Valley National Park - Part 02

The Cuyahoga Valley National Park - Part 01

I need to keep myself moving and take a hike. I need to keep moving because winter will be here soon. While I will hike through winter as long as the temps are not too terrible.

I went on a 4.8-mile hike today in the Cuyahoga Valley National Park. It was the plateau trail.

I took several GoPro videos and I made some new friends! These floofs were very well-behaved and I of course asked the owners permission to see if I could take a photo of them!

So, please excuse my breathing I can hear it in the videos lol After surviving sarcoidosis it’s never been the same “quieter”.

It was nice and cool out today and a lot of people where taking advantage of our warmish weather.

 

In search of fish

 I climbed into my car and headed to the river today. I did not hook a fish, but I had a few grabs.

The water was low but atleast it was moving.

Allegheny National Forest - Fall Photo Journal 02