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3/00 Zeleski State Forest "Arise, walk through the land in the length of it and in the bredth of it;" Gen 13:17 Day 1
"A Grveyard Along the Olds Hollow Trail" This weekend was one of those weekends when my plans change about 20 times. I planned on doing the south loop of Shawnee but opted for a weekend trip to Indiana to meet some of the other members of The Escape Club [Now defunked]. Those plans fell through at the last minute. By this time it was noon on Friday and I said, "Screw it, I'll go do Zeleski." I was rushed and very frustrated by my late start. I like to be on the road by 10 AM. Today I'm leaving at 1 PM. I made great time getting here. Better than usual. I was on the trail by 3:40 PM. I took the Olds Hollow loop that is about 1.3 miles and wanted to do this side trail again as I've only done it once years ago. I took a lot of pictures of the gravestones at the small graveyard along the trail. Actually the Olds Hollow Trail seams to be easier than the main trail. I barely feel the hills and am loving the 50 degree temperatures. I finish the 2-2 1/2 miles to the first camp in an hour. Just like clockwork! I can always count on my natural pace being right on 2 MPH no matter what kind of load I'm carrying. I could tell time by my pace. I farted around camp at a leisurely pace because I got into camp by 5 PM. I tied the guy lines on the new sil-tarp. I think this tarp is going to be a real winner. I set it up in an A frame style but pitched it so it is 10' long instead of 10' wide. It seems perfect. This way if I need more headroom I can tie lines onto the two side loops and guy out the sides ala Jardine. I seem to have a lot of crap with me on this trip. It's not much but more than I like to mess with. My pack must be about 25 LB. with winter clothes and beer. I barely felt it getting here though. I puttered around getting firewood and water until dark. Then I started my small fire. I am continually amazed at how little it really takes to entertain me. I go from having a stereo, HBO and the internet all going at the same time to nothing but a small cooking fire and a journal. Just looking at the stars is enough! A few Boddingtons Ales and some soft jazz on the radio and I'm almost ODing on entertainment. It's nights like this that I think back to all the solo journeys I've done and felt lonely. I laugh now and take joy in my solitude! On these perfect trips I wonder if I could carry on this solitaire lifestyle for, say, five months in order to do the PCT or the AT. I think the AT would be no problem solo but the PCT is a whole other animal. While I love my time alone I do recognize my need to have others (especially Kelly) around. Day 2 I slept fairly well last nigh despite the fact that these designated campsites are so overused that the ground in camp is harder than concrete. I hate that! The tarp worked great but I had the thing pointed right into the wind in stead of against it. It felt very cold this morning even though it was 30 degrees. I'm too used to the warmer weather we've been having. I started the day at 8 AM and the trail is great! There is a great overlook at point #2 on the map. Before I got to Point #3 I bushwhacked my way to the abandoned railroad track that lead into Moonville. I've always wanted to find Moonville and the Moonville tunnel. It was maybe a mile south-east to the tunnel and there were two river crossings. Seeing the tunnel was cool but I found no sign as to where the actual town was. It was a nice side trip. "The Haunted Railroad Tracks and the Tunnel Leading to the Ghost Town of Moonville" When I got back to the trail I met a group of Boy Scouts. Their leader said there would be a lot of them around this weekend. Little did I know there would be 60 of them and they were all headed for the same designated sites as me! I spend the whole day leapfrogging scouts on the trail and I was forced to hike faster than I like because I wanted to make sure I would get one of the designated sites. I should have just cut the day short and stayed at the other camp. From the moment I got into camp at about 4:30 PM they have been filtering in behind me. They are chopping EVERYTHING in sight with hatchets, yelling, and screaming. I have come to wonder what the hell has happened to the BSA? I never see good examples of scouts. Here it is 7:30 PM and they are still yelling and screaming. I thought scouts were supposed to be respectful? I think the simple fact that there are 60 of them is a bit out of touch with what scouting is supposed to be. Come on! 60?! Do they realize the impact that many people has on a small area? They sure as hell aren't practicing LNT with their hatchets and bon fires! "It's just one troops bad judgment." one would think but these are troops from all over Ohio. This is not an isolated incident either. When I was at John Bryant last month there were scouts there in big cabin tents with blue tarps wrapped around them with rope. They were putting straw down on the ground for insulation, burning whole Christmas trees for a fire and making a huge mess. When I went for a hike at Lockington Reserve after a nice snow there were scouts there camping. They had taken over one of the shelters and wrapped the whole thing in tarps and rope, and fired up propane heaters inside. Now what the hell does that teach the scouts? How to be slob campers? I know it's a lack of quality leadership and unless I'm willing to give my own time to better the BSA I should just shut my own trap...blah, blah, blah... And if Bill Clinton sucks does that mean I have to run for president before I can bitch about him? I did a total of about 12 miles today and I'm refreshingly dogged out. I had a couple of tortillas with Moose Goo, a Cliff Bar, and some Earl Grey tea to wash it down. I'm not very hungry and don't want to cook anyhow. The corn pasta elbows I had for lunch were great. I could tell a difference after eating it. I think I will try a 'no cook' trip this summer. It's not so bad. I hope to be up and on the trail by 6:30-7 AM tomorrow. Day 3 I was up at 6 AM to get a head start on the hike out and so were the scouts...still being loud. Do these people only have two set volumes, loud and off? I don't even hang around long enough to eat breakfast. I eat a Cliff Bar on the go. The morning passed quickly and I'm glad to be going home and get some peace and quiet. A great weekend nonetheless. Total Miles:16 [I took a lot home with me from this trip. Mostly resentment for scouts. I now know that I can not let other's action dictate my reactions and thinking. The greatest thing I learned from this experience is that I have now become a devout "gorilla camper". To find out what the heck this is check out my "Hiking Technieques" page. CT] |
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