I can't just ride all the time. I love to be outside and get a lot of riding in but I need those backcountry,camping,flyfishing,lost in the woods adventures just as much as riding. A pack of coyotes blasting through camp in the middle of the night will really get the blood flowing.

I hate a riding slump. No. Urge. To. Ride. At all. Weather is overcast and 40F right now; not bad at all. Bikes are good to go. Well, gotta swap a tire and do some brake work on one, but no biggy.

Meh. Just don't feel at all like doing a damn thing today.

I hate that.

I'll relay this great little story about the trip Hambone and I just took.We packed many miles to get away into the wilderness and really didn't see anyone else the whole day hiking in. We set up camp in a place called Deep Gap and then went to the summit of Cold Mtn.We get back fix up a little food and right before dark these two couples come up the trail.One guys says "hello" and drops his pack. The next thing we know they are setting up camp about 20 feet away from us. Now Hambone takes the nice route and strikes up a conversation and lets them know there is another nice campsite about 5 min. down the trail....the guy just stares blankly at him. I'm getting ticked so I go over and tell the guy that they really shoud check out that other site.......he just grunts and nods and then continues to empty his pack. These people had all new gear,and looked liked a group of yuppies that were sooooooooooo clueless it really was sad. I'm kinda glad they stayed now becuse it was better than reality TV. One guy tried to light his stove and just about started a forest fire. I just about fell out of my hammok laughing at these idiots trying to put that stove/fireball from hell out. When a bobcat sounded off about midnight the girls(we named Buffy and Fifi) about freaked.....cue loud cackling from the Hammok crowd. It's reall amazing how rude and cluless some folks can be,but as Hambone helped me see it can also be some of the funniest stuff you'll ever witness.

http://i173.photobucket.com/albums/w...ColdMtn039.jpg

Dude! That sucks. Like the stove bit.

Snowshoe backpacking season is coming for me! Empty trails, no bugs, and it's nice and quiet. :thumb:

Didn't do a trip last year, but am itching to do a couple this winter. I'm just a bit south of the Adirondacks and the Catskills, and really close to being able to hop onto part of the A.T.

How are the hammocks? I've always used either a ground bivy or a solo tent. The hammocks sound awesome, especially since I'll be in spots with plenty of trees to hang from.

I hope to never sleep on the ground again.The Hammok is the way to go.I cold weather make sure to use a good pad under you in the hammok or you get cold on the backside.
It takes a few trips to get the "hang" of it but it's a lot better than a tent.
Some good info here......
http://www.hammockforums.net/

I'm getting the strange feeling that a trip to Pisgah does not involve a Bed & Breakfast.

No it doesn't, Buffy. No it doesn't.

It does if the wife is with you!:)

Well, as long as I can wander over to the local Starbucks 2 or 3 times per day, I think I'll be able to manage.

Uh-oh...I don't recall seeing any Starbucks in Pisgah Forest or Hendersonville...but there is a coffee shop right across from Sycamore Cycles. Have to ask 66 about the quality of the coffee though...I didn't have any.

I'm sure it won't be up to the standard of such a man as Santiago. I'm not sure if he can survive in the wilds of WNC.

If he brings his own bag of beans, battery-operated grinder and French press he'll be good. I might be in line behind him impatiently waiting for the water to boil.

Hambone whipped up a tasty coffee treat this weekend and I thought of the great canadian Santiago as I relaxed in my hammock. I was given to much thought about how a great explorer such as he would bring the finer side of life to such a remote place...........

Quite true - - look at the opulent backcountry lodges they put up when the CPRR punched through the Northland.

All hail the great Santiago!

Dont get me wrong, I enjoy hiking (We hike a fourteener every year in colorado), but I just like biking way better.

^^Besides that, the best fishing is always where the blowdowns are scattered like jackstraws, the mosquitoes are the size of pterodactyls capable of carrying a grown man and the underbrush is chest-high and grows thick all the way to the shore - - definitely hiking-only country. ;)

That's what I call roughing it.

http://www.legendarytravels.net/assets/LakeLouise.jpg

I should have played hooky from work for another week!

:bang:

Ya sure.

http://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t...f/IMG_0358.jpg

From the terrace:

http://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t...f/IMG_0356.jpg

Try playing through that on the back nine:

http://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t...f/IMG_0380.jpg

http://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t...f/IMG_0421.jpg

That's in my backyard 66...when are you coming out here?!?!

I tried to get you to stay!

This could have been you, but nooooooooooo...............
http://i173.photobucket.com/albums/w...ColdMtn030.jpg

And that's even closer than Lake Louise.

Soon, I hope. You still have that room for me?