Gary on Hawksbill Crag (Whittaker Point), Arkansas
Today I had an easy day’s hiking in Arkansas with a couple of friends.
Bluffs on the Buffalo river near Ponca, Arkansas
I left my pedometer behind, but a rough guess is that we hiked just under 7 miles altogether.
Campsite near Hawksbill Crag, Arkansas
After dark we were interrupted by the arrival of a party of students who were hoping to spend the night under the ledge. They were very polite, and fortunately had a better knowledge of the area than we did, as they spent the night under a smaller overhang, that we didn’t know existed, a hundred yards further along the bluff.
Just to finish off the day we revisited the crag around midnight to enjoy the scene in the moonlight. Given the huge drop offs perhaps that wasn’t the most prudent of ventures – especially as my headlamp batteries decided to go into terminal decline on the way back.
Gary on Hawksbill Crag (Whittaker Point), Arkansas
Gary on Hawksbill Crag (Whittaker Point), Arkansas
Steve, Gary and Kirby on Hawksbill Crag (Whittaker Point), Arkansas
Our campsite near Hawksbill Crag, Arkansas
Our campsite near Hawksbill Crag, Arkansas
Bluffs on the Buffalo river near Ponca, Arkansas
Bluffs on the Buffalo river near Ponca, Arkansas
Bluffs on the Buffalo river near Ponca, Arkansas
14 October 2011 | 365:287 | 365 Days blog | Copyright © 2011 Gary Allman
Trying to get out of the parking lot on the way home from the symphony
It took nearly an hour to complete a ten minute journey.
Ginger took Lanie down to church to help with the ‘Cider Days’ parking lot fund raiser, and Katie clothes shopping in a hunt for some classic clothes in the down town flea markets. The fund raiser got washed out, but the shopping trip was a success, and I was treated to an impromptu fashion show when they got back.
John and Marsha are on vacation and very kindly gave us their tickets to this evening’s symphony concert, so we had a Beethoven treat night. I had planned on taking today’s picture either just outside or inside the auditorium, but the light was horrid inside and it was frightfully busy outside.
After the concert we got stuck in traffic trying to exit the parking lot – apparently a rodeo just down the road had finished at the same time, so we spent 50 minutes just sitting in line. I decided to take a safety shot while we were waiting.
We were a bit concerned about our back tyre which currently has a number plate screw, complete with washer, buried in it. It’s been raining heavily all day, and I didn’t fancy changing a tyre in the wet, so we left it in place. It can stay there, probably until after the school run Monday morning if I can get away with it.
17 September 2011 | 365:260 | 365 Days blog | Copyright © 2011 Gary Allman
At the end of the evening
UK June 2011 – Day 5. A late night family picture of the stragglers.
We were up fairly early to go to church – I wanted Ginger to see what has become the family church – St Margaret’s. I say family church because I and both my kids were Christened there, my parents funerals were held there as was my first wedding and come to that my brother got married there too. We picked a good day as it was the church’s feast of dedication and the Bishop of Portsmouth was visiting too. We were made to feel very welcome. I saw someone I knew, and was introduced to a former neighbour who was under the impression I’d emigrated to Canada.
My brother graciously agreed to host a family get together, notionally in honour of my birthday. What with church in the morning and then trying to buy stuff we managed to arrive late, which isn’t in the best of good manners. We had a great barbecue, lots of drinks and catching up.
In fact we are having far too much fun catching up to take pictures, so it’s just a last thing in the evening picture, with the stragglers that didn’t have to be off home earlier. Note the Bass Pro tee shirt I’m wearing. I bought it (and brought it) just for this occasion.
19 June 2011 | 365:170 | 365 Days blog | Copyright © 2011 Gary Allman
Windy day
UK June 2011 – Day 4. Gary and Ginger standing in the wind outside Southsea Castle.
Mick treated us to a hearty English breakfast before taking us back to Robert’s for a small family get together, after which we decided to go out and blow away the cobwebs with some fresh air and a look at the sea.
It was very windy so the cobwebs didn’t stand a chance. While we were out I took this quick Self Portrait as we attempted to hide from the wind in the entrance to Southsea Castle.
18 June 2011 | 365:169 | 365 Days blog | Copyright © 2011 Gary Allman
An evening with Mick
UK June 2011 – Day 3. To be more precise a whole day with Mick.
Despite changing time zones we had to be up early to get the broken camera lens to the repair shop before my childhood friend Mick arrived to take us to meet up with his parents, who I’ve not seen in many years.
We had a great time talking about things past, and I was spoiled rotten with a surprise of a whole plate stacked with pork pies. The day finished back at Mick’s place picking up where we left off when Mick visited us in Missouri last July – by drinking whisky.
Today’s extra
A huge and very tasty selection of pork pies was laid on by my friend Mick and his parents. What a fantastic gastronomic surprise!
17 June 2011 | 365:168 | 365 Days blog | Copyright © 2011 Gary Allman
Lego
UK June 2011 – Day 2. Here I am once more in the land where the plural of Lego is what it should be -
Lego. We arrived at London Heathrow on time, just after nine am. I was disappointed that the UK immigration chap-ess didn’t bother to say “Welcome to the UK” but heigh ho. My brother was waiting in arrivals to take us to Portsmouth though he was too busy playing with his Blackberry to notice that we had arrived; giving us the chance to creep up and surprise him.
On the flight over I’d come up with a plan of action to deal with the broken lens. Once back at Ian’s place a quick Internet check confirmed my recollection of the location of a camera repair shop, so tomorrow we can drop the lens off, and hopefully it will be repaired before we head off travelling.
It’s quite strange being back in the UK – the most striking thing (apart from the cars being on the wrong side of the road) is the very funny accents all the people have here, my ear is obviously thoroughly tuned to the American accent, and apart from my family everyone sounds like they are from some parody of a south London suburb.
We got to go and get my nephew and niece from school before being dropped off at my son’s flat. It was a struggle to stay awake until eleven pm to reset our clocks to UK time but we managed it – just. We were about to get into bed when I realised I’d not taken a picture for the day, so here I am, last thing at night with some of Robert’s Lego models.
16 June 2011 | 365:167 | 365 Days blog | Copyright © 2011 Gary Allman
Layover at Chicago
UK Vacation – Day 1. The day was going well until I checked on my camera
Our friend Tim arrived promptly to take us to the airport, we’d already run the gauntlet of the American Airlines online check-in system so all we had to do was hand over our bags. I had managed to squeeze all my clothes into my carry on bag, and fitted our tent and my backpacking stuff into my hold luggage. The only thing we didn’t bother to pack was a stove; we decided to buy a small gas stove once we got to the UK.
The only other bag I had was my messenger bag, which I use to carry my cameras around, and for the trip it was also carrying my netbook. I like the messenger bag for carrying my camera stuff, it doesn’t shout ‘expensive camera gear’ to any nearby opportunists the way a camera bag might. It’s also very practical as you can get at the contents very easily.
We got through security with no problems, I had to run my netbook through the machine separately, as I returned the netbook to the messenger bag with my camera I noticed with a sick feeling in my stomach that the Nikon’s body and lens were no longer a single item; the lens mount on my brand new camera/lens had broken. That’s two broken lens mounts on two cameras in as many months. What a great thing to discover on the first day of a month long vacation. To say I was now in a foul mood would be an understatement.
I hadn’t packed a lens end cover or camera body blank, so we scrounged a couple of plastic bags from one of the airport shops, and wrapped the lens in one and bandaged up the body with a bag and bandana to try and keep the dust and dirt out.
There was nothing else to be done except enjoy the flight, if you can ever enjoy a long international flight. We had a seven hour layover at Chicago before flying to London. I really don’t like Chicago airport, there’s little to no seating except at the gates, which is not very helpful for anyone on a long layover. While we were wandering around passing the time I took a quick safety shot on my compact camera. This was just as well as it was the only picture I took.
I’m glad to say the flight to the UK was uneventful – which was just how I like them!
15 June 2011 | 365:166 | 365 Days blog | Copyright © 2011 Gary Allman
Waiting and Writing
Sitting waiting in the car is one of the few places and times I get a chance to stop and think
We’ve spent the past couple of days researching a replacement camera for my currently defunct Nikon. It’s come down to the Nikon D7000 and Canon 60D and it’s been a very tough (and long) decision process. I must have spent 20 plus hours reading reviews and studying pictures. I think I’ve now come to a conclusion, and I’m going to sleep on it before going out and splashing the cash.
In a masochistic attempt at relaxation I agreed to take Katie to the mall and then out for a driving lesson. While waiting at the mall I relaxed, wrote some notes and took my daily picture. The driving lesson couldn’t be classed as relaxing. I didn’t realise teaching a fifteen year old to drive was on my list of step-fatherly duties when I signed up. In the UK we have driving schools, you can’t drive until you’re seventeen, and ‘L’ plates to save parents this sort of trial.
Today’s alternate shot
Gary - Waiting and Writing
10 June 2011 | 365:161 | 365 Days blog | Copyright © 2011 Gary Allman
Geek Glasses
While Lanie’s away we’ll go have a double dip cone with the big kids,
and steal their glasses for a photo opportunity. Lanie’s away at camp, so we took the big kids out for a treat without the distraction of a bouncy middle schooler.
Extras
Katie and Alek enjoy their ice cream
Katie and Alek enjoy their ice cream
We thought we'd try staring Katie out.
9 June 2011 | 365:160 | 365 Days blog | Copyright © 2011 Gary Allman
Stress Relief
Vodka, tonic, and Indiana Jones.
That’s just what was needed to relax at the end of a stress filled day.
8 June 2011 | 365:159 | 365 Days blog | Copyright © 2011 Gary Allman
Shopping Day
It’s time to make a new batch of breakfast cereal.
So here I am in Mama Jean’s where I diligently hold the plastic bags while Ginger scoops in the various ingredients of our home made breakfast cereal. Somehow $50 for breakfast cereal (not to mention the hernia inducing weight) seems a bit over the top. However, the supplies last 3-4 months so it works out about the same as shop bought cereal – only a whole(grain) lot better.
We also went to Bass Pro to find clothes for our trip to the UK, and Ginger found some shoes. As schools finished Lanie came too, I think we even bought her a cookie. My generosity knows no bounds.
7 June 2011 | 365:158 | 365 Days blog | Copyright © 2011 Gary Allman
My legs and two cats
Carefully framed to remain family friendly,
and no, there are no outtakes. Today I’d actually gotten into (well onto) bed before I remembered I’d not taken a picture. So here’s a hurried shot showing the conditions I have to try and sleep in, with the immovable Getzger glued to the bed.
The temperatures here have been abnormally hot, so I gave in and fitted the window are conditioning units – very trailer trashy, but the house AC broke down a long whiles ago, and can only be fixed by installing a complete new AC and furnace unit. $400 for some window units vs $7,000 for a new furnace and AC ? No contest.
6 June 2011 | 365:157 | 365 Days blog | Copyright © 2011 Gary Allman
Wall + Gary = Today’s picture
Don’t ask,
because I don’t remember.
5 June 2011 | 365:156 | 365 Days blog | Copyright © 2011 Gary Allman
Breakfast at Anton’s
Time for a ‘Hungry Student’ and lots of coffee.
Today we ‘did’ a few yard sales and treated ourselves to breakfast.
Today’s alternate shot
Breakfast at Anton's Coffee Shop
4 June 2011 | 365:155 | 365 Days blog | Copyright © 2011 Gary Allman
Van Repairs
A few days ago the van’s AC went on the blink again.
This time it’s jammed on, which is better than it not working at all. It blows air even when the fan’s turned off. Google came to the rescue, after some quick tests I paid $80 to the dealer for the new part, and I fitted the new fan controller.
I also went and got the the punctured tyre fixed today.
Today’s alternate shot
Only in the bible belt will you find a copy of the ten commandments in the waiting area of the tyre repair shop.
3 June 2011 | 365:154 | 365 Days blog | Copyright © 2011 Gary Allman
Pumping Gas
Is no longer a gas,
it’s darned expensive, even though the price has now dropped back slightly to $3.53 a gallon.
I took this on my way back from a meeting at church. The rest of my day was spent in preparations for our upcoming trip to the UK.
I managed to spend some time on the ‘phone to my son Keith, whose birthday was over the weekend while we were away. It was nice to chat. That and the preparations have put me in a better frame of mind about the trip, which I admit I have quite mixed feelings about.
1 June 2011 | 365:152 | 365 Days blog | Copyright © 2011 Gary Allman
New Gloves
I guess there’s no need to explain why.
I found these in a very nifty Farmers shop we visited today. It had all sorts of farm related goodies.
31 May 2011 | 365:151 | 365 Days blog | Copyright © 2011 Gary Allman
Waking up
For once we didn’t hang around too long drinking coffee and eating breakfast,
Along the way we saw a very large black snake sunning itself. This was obviously the weekend of the ticks, mosquitoes and snakes. Just before we arrived back at the trail head, I’d decided I’d had enough and it was about time the hike stopped, so my timing was quite good. We chatted for a couple of minutes with a guy who had three horses out on the trail, and then it was time to pack up and leave. Well if we hadn’t got a flat tyre we would have left. I couldn’t be bothered to swap the tyre, so I got out our portable compressor/jump start machine which Jim and Carol had given us for Christmas with just this sort of eventuality in mind.
It put air in the tyre alright, but it took a long time. The motor overheats and cuts out after a while, so you have to let it cool down before proceeding. It took 30-45 minutes to get the tyre up to pressure. It was nigh on one pm before we finally left the trail head.
Distance hiked: 15 miles and a total of around 1,000 feet of elevation climbed.
On our way to pick up Lanie from her grandparents we went to Theodosia to see the Bull Shoals lake. The campsite and buildings there were completely under water, which was just a foot or so short of the bridge deck. very impressive.
Today’s alternate shots & extras
Waking up in the tent without the fly sheet set
At the end of the hike
Ginger enjoying her blow up pillow
Missouri Primrose
Flat tyre - Tower trail head, Hercules Glades
Highway 160 Bridge at Theodosia, Missouri
30 May 2011 | 365:150 | 365 Days blog | Hercules Glades | Copyright © 2011 Gary Allman
Lunch by the bluffs on Long Creek
Today was hot,
We stopped for lunch by the bluffs on Long Creek, and decided camp at the western campsite at the falls if it wasn’t occupied. All we had to do was get there. We hiked the Rock Spring trail back to Long Creek trail. Near where the East Devils Den trail meets Rock Spring trail there’s an old stock pond, which had frogs that sounded like electronic sheep it. I named them ‘Sheep Frogs’. Back home we discovered that there are indeed frogs called sheep frogs – because of their bleating call.
Along Rock Spring trail we tried to spot the place where theres an old stock pond, spring box and small decrepit hut. But we couldn’t spot it. That’s twice we’ve failed to find it. Neither the spring, stock pond or building are marked on any of the maps.
Back at the falls the upper campsite was occupied so we stopped and enjoyed the view for a while. Sunning itself near the falls was a large 4 foot plus Midland water snake. Very pretty, looking in the falls we saw another three much smaller snakes swimming. I’m glad I didn’t spot it yesterday when I was frolicking in the water. We decided to camp at the site we’d spotted yesterday a mile or so up Long Creek. When we arrived we found the site had been used the night before, but it had been left if fairly good condition. Search around for access to Long Creek we found a second campsite further back in the brush. The creek here had an overhanging shelf to the West and a small set of foot high falls to the East. We set up camp, picked up our dinner, stove and chairs and went down to the creek to refill our water, bathe, eat dinner and sit and enjoy the view.
It wasn’t long before the voracious mosquitoes got the better of us and we headed back to the bug free haven of the tent. I was already covered in large welts from earlier encounters with the beasts. Again we didn’t set the fly, it was just too hot.
Today’s alternate shots & extras
Two baths in as many days, that's a bit excessive. It was darned cold again too.
Relaxing by the creek after dinner
Midland Water Snake
Keeping the water cool in my water bottle
Long Creek, Hercules Glades
29 May 2011 | 365:149 | 365 Days blog | Hercules Glades | Copyright © 2011 Gary Allman
Just before I stuck my head in the falls behind me
Invigorating was one word for it,
I don’t have a picture taken after my encounter with the falls; I am trying to be a bit more careful with the camera around water nowadays. Especially as we currently only have one working camera between us.
Despite our best efforts we lazed around over our morning coffee and breakfast and didn’t get going until gone ten.
Our efforts to lighten our packs have paid off. Ginger’s weighed in at 27lbs and mine at 29lbs both including food and water. We took Pole Hollow trail down to Long Creek. The trail started easily enough in glades but the lower end was very dense with vegetation and some fallen trees were blocking the trail. The trail, in common with most of the trails we walked (with the exception of the popular long creek trail) didn’t appear to have been walked much recently. Away from long creek, the trails seemed almost deserted, we saw four people on horseback on our first day and that was it.
We both picked up loads of ticks along the way. This set the scene for the entire trip. We lost count of the number of ticks we removed, both attached and running free. There were small seed ticks, deer ticks and the aptly named lone star ticks. Deet didn’t seem to discourage them much. We were both wearing shorts which at least made it easy to spot the darned things before they could go too far.
Poison ivy was also prevalent along the trails, mainly in forested areas in patches where the cover had been cleared. Hiking in bare feet and shorts I worked on honing my poison ivy spotting skills. Though primarily I avoid contact with any triple leaved green thing. I must be doing something right as over the weekend we bushwhacked a fair way, and encountered a lot of poison ivy, and I didn’t get afflicted by it.
The lower end of Pole Hollow Trail has moved a few hundred yards to the west of the route shown on the trail head maps.
Once on Long Creek Trail we headed west to the falls. About a mile from the falls we spotted a campsite just off the trail, which we noted for future use, knowing that the falls area is very popular and tends to get more than a bit gross. With all the recent rain Long creek was running well, and has to be crossed several times. With all the new growth in some places it was quite tricky to spot where the trail picked up on the opposite side of the creek. At the falls both camp sites at the falls were occupied, our plan was only to stop for lunch so we sat out by the falls which were running quite well. I used the wood burner to boil water for lunch (slow but successful), and took advantage of the deeper pools to bathe. Gosh it was cold! And that was where today’s picture was taken.
We filled up with a massive (and heavy at over 12lbs) 6 litres of water as we were headed North behind the Upper and Lower Pilot knobs for the night and we weren’t sure if we’d find water there.
After lunch we rearranged our packs so I wasn’t carrying too much weight, headed back along Long Creek Trail and then up Cedar Trail, which was quite rocky going, the recent rain has cleared out any loose material on the trail. It was a nice hike uphill through a fairly densly wooded area. Once back up on Pilot trail we headed West, finally camping well off trail to the North near the junction with West Devils Den trail.
After dinner I tried using the wood burner as a campfire with mixed results. We decided not to set the fly, spending the night under the open sky.
Today’s alternate shots & extras
Gary boiling water for lunch on the wood burner
Cairn at North end of Pole Hollow trail - Hercules Glades
13 year periodic cicada
Ginger Crossing Long Creek - Hercules Glades
Creek crossing, Long Creek, Hercules Glades
Rock shelf by a creek crossing on Long Creek, Hercules Glades
Typical Hercules Glades trail
Long Creek falls, Hercules Glades
Ginger filtering water at Long Creek falls
28 May 2011 | 365:148 | 365 Days blog | Hercules Glades | Copyright © 2011 Gary Allman
Off backpacking for the weekend
I don’t know where my head was today,
Have I mentioned that the Van’s AC has packed up again? It’s not quite so bad this time as the fan is jammed on, full on. Even when the AC is turned off it runs full blast. At least this means we still have AC which is a lot better than last year. Ginger had done some research on the Internet earlier in the day. Pulling out the glove box she managed to reach inside and disconnect the wires leading to the running amok blower. This enabled us to enjoy the drive without a gale blowing at us.
It was gone seven pm by the time we’d finally arrived at our destination, the Tower trail head at Hercules Glades, which is where today’s picture was taken. We were finally ready to start our weekend’s backpacking. Well almost. I left my pedometer on the back bumper of the van, and had to go back for it. We hiked around a mile along Pilot trail. Just before the point where Pole Hollow trail joins we went a short distance off trail to find a nice quiet camping spot. By the time we’d finished putting up the tent it was dark. Just time for dinner then bed.
I took three luxury items on this trip. A book, my wood burning stove and it’s pot. I wanted to give the stove a try out on the trail. Tonight though we used the good old Coleman Exponent stove. It’s a tad heavy but is proving to be very reliable and easy to use.
27 May 2011 | 365:147 | 365 Days blog | Hercules Glades | Copyright © 2011 Gary Allman
Lights, camera, inaction
This was going to be another of those late night leaning against the wall shots,
I was up at five am and on the ‘phone to my bank in the UK. Apparently there is a $2,500 hold on my account, so that explains why my card was declined in Walmart last night. This sum coincidently matches the cost of the tickets for our trip to the UK. This might be understandable except for the fact that the tickets are already paid for. The bank says it’ll take up to seven days before the hold will clear if the transaction isn’t processed (WTF!). Well at least my card details don’t appear to have been stolen.
To cut a long story short, it appears the American Airlines website’s back end processing sucks. They’ve managed to put a hold on my account and also charge me for a pair of return tickets to the UK. Unless I put more money into my account to cover the nonexistent deficit I can’t use my bank card until it resolves itself. Great.
25 May 2011 | 365:145 | 365 Days blog | Copyright © 2011 Gary Allman
Return
Second day at the computer working on websites.
It seems we have a hand / finger theme developing this week. Vittles were getting low requiring a trip to Walmart, which was blessedly quiet after ten pm. All the aisles were chock full of palettes for restocking, blocking access and imposing long detours for life’s essentials such as kitty food, kitty litter and vodka. To top the experience off my debit card was declined.
Back home, while tasting the just purchased vodka, I checked in on my bank account. Despite there being ample funds it was showing an ‘available balance’ in the ‘you are about to get a threatening letter from your bank’ region. Expletive deleted.
24 May 2011 | 365:144 | 365 Days blog | Copyright © 2011 Gary Allman
Late night glass of water
Well, it is a picture, and I took it today.
The day was spent on web development. I updated the church website with information about the Joplin tornado relief effort and sent out an e-mail updating people. I finished the day working on web pages for a customer. The latter is paid work, but with some scope creep it doesn’t pay enough.
24 May 2011 | 365:144 | 365 Days blog | Copyright © 2011 Gary Allman
