A typical scene on College Creek.

We went out to the James, and landed on a sandbar which was occupied by gulls.

Muskrat lodge, these are used by many creatures for many purposes, including as a nesting site for Canada Geese.

Easter Weekend

Saturday morning - Hooked the dogs up to the bike and went for a 3 mile ride.

Saturday afternoon - Met Cliff at a creek in Williamsburg area, we took the canoe out for a few hours. College Creek is tidal, shallow, and varies greatly in width as it winds it's way to the James River. Check out the pictures above. For a while we watched a flock of Tree Swallows (often mistaken for Purple Martins, which I thought they were) feeding all around us. Apparently they were on there way to their breeding territory. And we watched many other birds, checked out some Muskrat lodges, watched an ultra-light plane flying overhead...

Sunday - We went to First Landing in VA Beach. While we saw many birds, perhaps the best and rarest sighting was a Bald Eagle.

My latest truck accessory, sitting on top. 

Gear of the Week: Canoe

Bought a canoe Friday after work! It's a 17 ft Old Town Allagash, a touring canoe made of fiberglass, which can carry over a half ton! I can put it on and take it off the truck without any assistance.

Saturday, the dogs and I, met Cliff at the park and we paddled around for several hours. We even worked our way a couple hundred yards into the swamp. Both the dogs were a little nervous at first, but Duncan settled down quickly (as a "Watcher" he was quite content) Alexis was fidgety though, but I think with some patience and understanding, she'll be fine, and it's not like she didn't enjoy herself at all.

I have a new camera (Courtesy of my brother Mike's Christmas gift which was an Amazon gift card) that I am slowly learning to use, so I will be taking some new, current pictures.

Hazeltop and Hoover Camp

Cliff, dogs, and I were on the road before 6. I texted Steve 1/2 hour later. He decided to meet us at Hoover Camp. We had some difficulty working out a plan to meet, because of poor cell coverage, but it worked out. Parked the truck at Booten's Gap, proceeded over Hazeltop.

I hiked this area last winter. Then the top of Hazeltop was relatively clear of snow, as opposed to the lower elevations. It was a blast going downhill, because the heavy packed snow made it possible to run down the mountain with little effort - the dogs at times couldn't keep up because they couldn't break through the crust.

This time, most of the snow was up high, we plowed through 2 feet of powder on the AT for 3 miles. Cliff thought it was the greatest thing and wants to do more of the same.

Arriving at Milam Gap, I noticed Steve's truck in the parking lot, he actually beat us there with no notice until that very morning! 2 easy miles down to the Rapidan River and we were at the camp, and met Steve and Jesse (Beagle/Bassett). We hung out on the porch of the President's cabin, checked out Churchill's cabin, and generally explored the whole development.

Eventually we headed back up to Steve's truck, and he gave us a ride back to our truck. It was a quick and easy trip, but we deserved it because of how rough the last one was.

Gear of the Week: Boot Treatments

Stuff to put on your boots so they will keep your feet dry.

Any boot that is made of leather can use some kind of waterproofing treatment, that includes Gore-Tex lined boots - because, while the waterproof liner may keep your foot relatively dry - all that water that has soaked into the leather will add a substantial amount of weight to your boot. Lately, I have begun to believe that a properly treated full grain leather boot provides superior comfort to boots with the waterproof/vapor permeable membrane, because I think they breathe better while offering a high level of water protection. Some leather boots are waterproof right out of the box, but will require treatment after being exposed to wet conditions 4-5 times.

Over the years I've used a lot of different products. Originally I used mink oil, which I successfully used to make some cheap general purpose boots waterproof. I put it on heavy and worked it in to all the seams, and I would be able to stand in 5 inches of water for a minute with no leaks. Apparently mink oil is no longer reccomended because it is an animal product which means it hastens the destruction of leather (the tanning process removes the animal oils in the interest of preserving the leather, so adding another animal oil would seem to reverse that process). Beeswax, such as Sno-Seal, is a better choice and I have had it reccomended by boot sellers for full-grain leather. The first step, as always, is to clean the boot. Then get a soft cloth, dab it into the can, and apply to a small area of the boot with the ubiquitous circular motion. Pay particular attention to the toe, the seams, and the welt (if applicable). I like to warm up the leather with a blow dryer before, during, and after application - to help with distribution and absorption.

There is a high tech solution provided by Nikwax . The main active ingredient is a polymer which is (theoretically) carried deep into the leather in a water based solution. It makes sense to me - if it's dissolved in water it should go to wherever that unwanted water will try to go later. Wetting the boots first will help get the good stuff in there, and I use the blow dryer after application because there is a waxy component to this stuff. About a year ago, I treated my medium-heavy hiking/backpacking non Gore-Tex boots with 3 applications of the Nikwax and two applications of beeswax. The boots are just now losing there ability to bead water and are beginning to absorb some. If you do a combination deal like this, apply the water based stuff first as the beeswax would block its absorption (also, you may not be able to effectively apply Nikwax to out-of-the-box, factory treated shoes for the same reason).

The best kind of leather for wet conditions is full-grain (smooth) leather. Split leather and suede are great for the lighter weight and breathability, but the greater surface area of the rough leather can soak up moisture like a terry cloth towel. But the silicone type aerosols and liquids are very convenient to use. They can keep your feet dry after a dozen stream crossings or a little bit of walking through wet brush, but that's about it. The treatments that are typically used on full-grain leather can be used, but they will change the appearance of split leather and suede - the leather will be darker for sure. The light weight silicones should be OK for a quick touch up on full grain leather, and it works on the nylon parts of light weight hikers too.

Some Owl Calls

Can't say I've heard all of these! Also, owls can make a lot of different sounds, depending on what they're trying to communicate, and females make different calls than the males do, sometimes. These owls live in VA at least part-time. There's more at The Owl Pages.

Great Horned Owl (the one that I'm most "familiar" with):

Northern Saw-Whet Owl (winters here):

Short Eared Owl:

The Past Weekend

Didn't get into the woods 'til 4:30. It had been snowing for a couple of hours, temp was high 30's and dropping. As we were walking along the swamp, about 5:45, we were spooking herons that were hunting near shore. Duncan found some heron crap to rub the side of his head in, so I washed him off with some drinking water, wasn't as bad as usual, fishy but not rotten. I guess it's the Golden in him. Anyway, all these herons are flying away, but one flies towards us and perches atop the trunk of a nearby tree, and then it's partner comes up and lands on the only branch. Seems these 2 could care less, or maybe they're as curious about us as I am about them, so I watch them for a while and eat some sunflower seeds. After we get going again, I'm looking towards the swamp, as we're walking by some old Confederate earthworks, and I think I see someone in a dark coat and blue pants. I stop and back up and look around again but there's nothing but trees, some of them might be a little bluish in this light but not like what I believed I saw. Maybe a Union soldier was making sure I was showing proper respect, but more likely the mind is playing a trick. Walking along and we're going up a little ridge above the swamp and I hear a loud splash - more like a smack - and I know we've been spotted by a beaver, so we leave the trail and head down to the water's edge. Eventually we spy a small (3 ft overall) beaver swimming back and forth in a pool surrounded by trees, it appears to be agitated, and we can hear it snorting. We watch it for a couple of minutes and as I'm thinking of moving on it smacks the water again and swims away. The dogs didn't go after this one, they have done so before.

8 years ago, I went to the mountains for 2-3 nights, it was Alexis' 1st backcountry camping experience (that I'm aware of). Leaving camp for a day hike, we're following the run down to the trail, and I see a big splash 100 yds away, and then another. I thought some dummy was throwing rocks in the water, but when the next splash happened I realized it was being caused by something in the water, either a beaver or a huge fish. It turned out to be a big beaver, about as long as I am tall. Alexis went down for a closer look, I wasn't too concerned because she hadn't shown any interest at all in swimming, up to this point. So of course she dove in after it, swimming her hardest she was briefly as close as several feet. I think I was a little stunned. I thought about a story that I read as a boy about a beaver that killed a wolverine that went into the water after it. I called her back in a tone that I meant to sound very worried, and she came right out of the water.

Before we got back to the truck, about 8:30, we hadn't seen much else, but we were "HOO"ed at by an owl (OK it probably wasn't talking to us). I don't know my owl calls, but I'll try to find a link on the net. It was single loud HOOOOO!s that it was calling out, so I don't think it was a Horned Owl.