Long Hunter X

Day One; 6.9 miles                                                      Outcast Total Miles: 1822.33
Day Two: 5.7
Total Miles: 12.6

Well we started our hiking season with a rain delay. We were on the trail before lunch and all went well. Our wildlife consisted of a turtle,  and lots and lots of deer. We heard owls and coyotes during the evening hours.

It turned out to be a great day for hiking after the rain left. We had the trail to ourselves for the day other than the fishermen on the lake and the one barge working on the underwater gas lines. This year we stayed at campsite #2.

We got camp set up and collected firewood. We all went to the lake shore to see the sunset across the lake. Afterwards we ate and spent the evening telling lies around the campfire and taking cough medicine. We got a few sprinkles overnight, just enough for me to put my tarp up and then it stopped.

The next morning we hiked out and saw our only other hiker, an older gentlemen that was getting in shape to hike the Continental Divide trail in a couple of years when he turns 80 years old. We had a nice visit with him and then headed out.

A good start to a new season.

Pictures:

Long Hunter IX

Day one: 5.5 miles...........................................Outcasts Total Miles: 1670.68 
Day two: 5.5 miles

The Outcast Hikers have officially started there eighth season. They picked the annual hike of Long Hunter to start with once again. Craig started the season off with an injury and could not make the hike.

Troy, Marco, and Travis got to the trailhead to find that they had changed the beginning of the trail this year.  It is a good change as the old gravel road it used to follow was usually a little overgrown. There was no hikers on the trail today so they had it all to themselves. They saw deer and turkey on the the way to there camp.  This is the first time that they used campsite #2.  At the office they said that someone else was at campsite #1, but they never saw them.

This was a time to try out new gear.  We all have new tarps and new set ups for our hammocks. Troy tried out his new backpack. Everything checked out good. They collected firewood and headed out to the point to see the sunset. Another great night around the fire taking cough medicine and telling lies.

The next morning they got up and enjoyed the morning.  They made it back to the day loop before they saw the first person.  Then they saw lots of people.  One man was walking his Pitbull puppy.  A few minutes later they heard a lot of yelping and barking and the dog come running back with leash in tow.  The leash wrapped around a tree so Travis got to catch the dog for the owner.  He came running back down the trail all out of breath.  They found out that the man had tripped and dropped the leash.  It had a automatic rewind, so it rewinded and hit the dog in the back of the head.  The dog got scared and ran off.  Entertainment for all.

Another great start on another great season!

Pictures:

Long Hunter VIII

Day one: 5.9 miles...........................................Outcasts Total Miles: 1441.28 
Day two: 5.5 miles

As we start out our eighth year of hiking together we did our annual hike to Long Hunter State Park.  As we signed in at the office we saw our first three deer and a Genie.  It was good to see that our State Government is better than the Federal Government and we are still up and running.

Marco decided to use his fancy phone this year to find out exactly how far we hike here.  We have been going from the park mileage and some guessing in the past.  Basically they advertised the Volunteer trail as a six mile trail and the day loop as a four mile trail.  We estimated it at eight miles in the past one way.

We took the usual route going the lake side of the day loop to the Volunteer trail.  When we got to our break spot which is the bench at the Northern most point of the day loop trail, we met Don Haynes.  Don is an active hiker and we had a good visit with him.  Just as we got started again we found a box turtle with a hole in the top of his shell.  He was moving right along, so it took me a few pictures before I got a good shot.  I figured it was a pocket for his cell phone?

When we got to the kiosk on the Volunteer trail Marco had us at 2.4 miles.  It was looking like we were going to be a bit shorter than we thought.  We ate lunch there and then headed on.  It wasn't long before we came across a mileage sign which they have never had before.  We figured that someone else had the same idea.

We saw many more deer on the way to camp.  When we got to camp we saw the mileage sign stating 5.5 miles so they have cut the trail by .5 miles.  Marco came up with 5.9 miles of course that was with the day loop in it.  The trail was more grown over than it has been in the past and they still have not repaired the two bridges that floated away in the 2010 flood.  There are a few very large trees down too.

Campsite #1 was upgraded with three long Ceder benches on blocks and the fire pit in the middle was mortared stone.  We set up our hammocks and collected fire wood.  Soon afterwards I was swimming in the lake.  It was hot and muggy so I needed to cool off.

We had a calm night listening to the owls and coyotes.  We sat around the fire taking cough medicine and telling lies.

The next morning we hiked out going with just the Volunteer trail at 5.5 miles.  Yes, we had our Waffle House meeting afterwards.

Pictures:

Long Hunter VII

Long Hunter                             Trail Rating                          Outcasts Total: 1339.19 Miles 
Volunteer Trail     6.0 Miles       Easy
Day Loop            2.0Miles        Easy
Volunteer Trail     6.0Miles        Easy
Total                14.0 Miles

The season has officially started.  Troy, Marco, and I headed out to Long Hunter State Park for an overnight hike.  This starts our seventh year of hiking together.  After seven years of hiking this trail, we got off trail for the first time and we did it going and coming back.  How did we manage this I do not know.  I do know that I am glad we didn't hike off a cliff because we would have all hiked off it.  Following each other and not paying attention to the trail.....basics!  We were busy talking and getting caught up on things.

The weather was great and the colors were in mid changing.  We enjoyed the views of the lake and the easy rolling hills of the trail.  There were lots of boats out and we did see a couple of hikers. 

After we got to camp we saw a crow chasing a hawk over the lake.  We set up camp and got to work. The fire pits were large piles of ashes as usual and there was no wood to be seen. We headed out through the woods to collected our usual stack of wood for a winter fire and got a fire going that you couldn't sit by if you had to. Life was good.  The wind was blowing a little to cool with the water temperature to do any swiming, but I did get to soak the feet a while.

For dinner we got to try out some other dehydrated meals that Troy brought along to test.  At sunset we hiked out to the end of the cove and got some great pictures.  We sat around the fire telling lies and taking cought medicine until we faded out one by one.  We got to hear an owl in the night talking.

We took an easy morning and then hiked out.  Troy who was suffering from an impacted tooth, was now suffering from a sinus infection.  When we got to the day loop that we usually take, we just hiked on out.

Another great hike and new beginning. 

Pictures:

Long Hunter VI

Long Hunter...........Trail Rating......Outcasts Total: 1118.04Miles
Volunteer Trail...6.0 Miles.........Easy
Day Loop............2.0Miles..........Easy
Volunteer Trail...6.0Miles..........Easy
Day Loop............2.0Miles..........Easy
Total………………16.0 Miles

We have started again! We did our usual pilgrimage to Long Hunter State Park as our first hike of the season. This is the start of our Sixth year of hiking together. Our partner Greg couldn't make it this year as he had scheduling conflicts.

This wasn't much of a warm up since our next hike is 100 miles at Land Between the Lakes. There was talk of the weather being this warm on that hike.....yea right! We were a little off this year as we are not used to hiking without the freezing rain and snow. Kinda like a culture shock.

We left straight from work and headed to the park. We were laughing about our pack weights and being so light with the lack of cold weather gear. There was one camper on the trail, they told us when we signed in. Troy whipped out the famous fried chicken and handed each of us a half a bird. We headed out down the trail looking through tears of happiness.

We had some great weather for walking and we got to see a lot of deer. Lots of different birds too. We saw one lady walking her dogs on the day loop and then passed our camper on the overnight trail. He was a Hero who hikes back and forth during the day and sometimes stays out here a week at a time. He didn't have any campfires and lived off the wild. I added that "Live off the wild myself." Sounds even better. He didn't know if he would be back tonight or not. OK?

We set up camp and gathered firewood. I set up my hammock and while I was checking it out something happened. I woke up an hour later thinking "WOW" I slept through the day. The guys had taken naps as well.

We got up and made some dinner. After dinner Marco and I head out to film the sunset. On the way back we thought that the camp had caught fire. Troy had a fire with flames four feet tall. We had to move the sitting log back four feet to keep from getting burned. He said he was sorry, just used to having to make a fire for survival.

That evening we sat around the fire telling lies and taking cough medicine. The stars were shining and the moon glowing over the lake. That night we heard an owl getting some dogs tore up.

We got up the next morning and hung around camp just soaking it up. Then we packed up and headed down the trail. We didn't see anyone until we got to the day loop. Then we saw lots of walkers. We even were entertained by two ladies in bikinis that were washing their boat out in the lake. We are just men.

When we got back to the trailhead there was a lady getting her pack ready to go. I told her that she was late, but we did leave her some firewood. The Ranger pulled in and got after another lady about not having her dog on a leash. It was amazing how it turned out to be his fault. Women have a way of doing that. She kinda made me proud. He stopped and talked to us after that and we thanked him for the job he does and how nice the park is. We told him that we were on his side.

Another great hike starting another great hiking season full of adventure.

Pictures:

Longhunter V

Long Hunter.........................Trail Rating.............Outcasts Total: 903.38 Miles
Volunteer Trail...6.0 Miles.........Easy
Day Loop............2.0Miles..........Easy
Volunteer Trail...6.0Miles..........Easy
Day Loop............2.0Miles..........Easy
Total………………16.0 Miles

Of the many many people that said that they were going to show up and start hiking with us this year, the original outcasts were the only ones at the trail head this year to start the annual beginning of the season hike.

Greg and Troy were talking about their lightweight backpacks and passing them around. They had made some progress!

The four of us and Shadow headed out. We had some gentle gale force winds blowing, but the temperature had not dropped out the bottom of the thermometer yet. The trees were showing color and there were areas of yellow leaves that we got to hike through.

The trip to camp was pretty much uneventful as we basically walked and caught up on where we were in our lives. For some reason my recent marriage was brought up alot. Not really sure why, but it provided entertainment.

We had gotten on the trail by 10am and figuring that we would be first to camp being a Friday, we were surprised to see a hammock hanging in camp along with a number of coolers. Well, surprise to me and Marco....... Craig had taken his boat to the camp and brought beer and burgers. LIFE IS GOOD! This also explained why Greg and Troy's packs were so lightweight.

Greg not only showed off his new Crocks, he showed us how he can collect fishing lures with them. Cool new benefit. Thinking about a new pair myself now.

There might have been some cough medicine taken while the burgers cooked and we suffered through another survival camp as the season began.

After the campfire got going Greg provided us with much entertainment as we worked out our sides with laughter. We had a peaceful night except when an owl did a little screeching and flew through camp. The next morning we headed out.

Pictures:

Longhunter IV

Long Hunter.........................Trail Rating.............Outcasts Total: 601.4 Miles
Volunteer Trail...6.0 Miles.........Easy
Day Loop............2.0Miles..........Easy
Volunteer Trail...6.0Miles..........Easy
Day Loop............2.0Miles..........Easy
Total………………16.0 Miles

We have numerous folks that say that they want to join us each year. We always tell them, if they have little to no experience, to join us on our first hike of the year to get started. So, after notifying everyone that had mentioned hiking to us, we started off this year with just us. Marco, Troy, Shadow, and me. Craig, who had hiked once with us last year, hike with us this time and is planning on hiking with us on a regular basis. He brought his dog Kuippo.

As per our regular routine, we did a long day and then ran all night at the firehall before setting out to hike. We met at the trailhead and hit the trail at ten o'clock in the morning.

The weather was beautiful and as usual we were ready to get the season started. After the seed tick attack on Marco and I the last hike a week ago, we bathed in DEET before we hit the trail. Then, just as we got our packs on, Troy said "hold on a minute, I forgot something." He went back to his car and pulled out a large cooler which he opened to reveal to us a pile of Troy's famous fried chicken that a show dog couldn't jump over. Well, as usual, being the emotional guy that I am, I started crying at the beauty of it as Troy passed each of us a bag containing a chicken each and some biscuits. He had fried up enough to feed eleven plus us and only about seven ate the night before. Yea, it added three to five pounds per pack, but who really cared?

When we signed in at the ranger station, they told us that a boyscout troop had been out last night. We met them at the split of the day loop and overnight trail. We figured that when we got to camp there wouldn't be any firewood for atleast five miles. From there we really got into the wild flowers. We got into camp at one forty.

We set up camp and collected firewood. We enjoyed the lake and some stories as we waited for dinner time to come. After dinner we got the fire going, and then just before sunset Marco and I hike down to the end of the cove to catch the sunset on film. It was quite the show that mother nature put on for us. You pretty much had to be impressed.

Craig had brought his Sawyer Point One water filter, which we were impressed with. It is a gravity fed filter which really pours out the water. The only draw back that I can come up with is that you have to have a good enough water source to collect in a bag for filtering.

That night, we sat around the fire with our cough medicine and told some lies. We though about keeping up with Marco's words of wisdom. For example: "It gets colder as you walk away from the fire." He might be famous some day.

Some time in the early hours of morning we got some light rain. By morning it had stopped and we had a fire going for breakfast, which also included chicken. We got on the trail at eight thirty this morning and had a beautiful hike out. We got to see squirrels, and those green headed ducks as Marco called them. I had just told Craig that I never see any deer on this side of the park, when we scared off three.

Another fine start of a hiking season. Looking forward to many a snow fall this year.

Pictures:

Long Hunter III

 

Long Hunter.........................Trail Rating.............Outcasts Total: 339 Miles
Volunteer Trail...6.0 Miles.........Easy
Day Loop............2.0Miles..........Easy
Volunteer Trail...6.0Miles..........Easy
Day Loop............2.0Miles..........Easy
Total………………16.0 Miles


Once again the vote was taken and everyone voted to start out with the Long Hunter hike. It's a close and easy trail to start with when everyone is out of hiking shape. We met at the trail head and were on the trail by 10am. The whole group was together, which was the first time since the Land Between the Lakes hike last year.

There is always something different when we hike that we can laugh at. This time it was a beware of ticks sign. We have never seen that! Maybe bear, dogs, fires and stuff like that, but never ticks.

It was a beautiful day and we passed a few other folks out hiking the day loop trail. I tried to hide the sign where the trail splits at the beginning, but Greg didn't fall for it. We were planning on taking the long route anyway as I was just messing with him. The long loop goes along the shore line. We ate lunch at the map sign where the overnight loop splits off the day loop. After this time we didn't see any other hikers.

We spent most of the hike to camp just getting caught up with all of our lives. Marco I noticed, was studying the trail and off to both sides. When I asked about it, he informed me that snakes were out and that he was watching for them. I couldn't argue with him over this point so I just did the usual and watched the scenery. It was a beautiful day and the boaters were out in force. When we got to camp it was about 1:45 and there were six or seven boats out in the cove.

We set up camp and then I pulled out the old swim suit. Greg was quite surprised when he found out I was going swimming. I don't know why. Anytime there is water around, I am in it. Sometimes on purpose. I hit the water and soon afterwards so did Greg and Marco. It was refreshing and afterwards made it cool to sit at camp and get dinner going. A campfire was made, but you couldn't get near it. Too hot for that. We had some cocktails and told some lies until it was time for bed. We got a good nights sleep even though we all had to get in the bags sometime around 2am for warmth.

We got on the trail at 9am the next morning and stopped to get a picture of a rock wall that is near the camp. I don't know how long it was, but I know that it took a long time to build. This was the last time we saw Troy. He kept hiking and never stopped. He did leave us a note on the truck.

I got some pictures of the lake and the cactus that is everywhere on this hike. Marco was still studying for snakes as he stepped over a four foot rat snake. Greg was right behind him and had to call his attention to the snake. We did get a picture of this one and might have gotten some laughs.

We stopped for lunch at the same spot as on the way in and decided to take the long way out as none of us had to be home anytime soon.

I guess that once you get to know me very well you will find that I am a little terrified of spiders. It runs in my family, well at least with my brother and sisters. This might be a little frightening for some folks so beware:

I was following Greg and Marco was behind me. Greg stopped and was pulling some spider webs off him. As I was watching him, I glanced over his shoulder and there sitting on his pack was a spider that weighed in at at least five pounds. Because of the for mentioned, I did not pull out a camera so you will have to go with my version of the events.

Greg said he heard a gasp and then saw a hiking pole swinging at his head. By the look in my eyes he said that he knew it was bad and trusted me fully. I hit his pack and the spider went over the back of the pack. I yelled for him to turn around and he immediately did so. Once I saw the back of his pack I began to swing like a kid at a Pinata. Greg said that gave up hope when he heard me yell out in a school girl voice "Marco do something."

It was luck or just that plain fact that when you hit an area about a hundred times you would finally knock this spider off the pack. It just so happened that after I yelled I made the strategic blow. Don't worry, being the tuff type of man that I am, I was ok after about an hour.

The rest of the hike went pretty uneventful and we did have a great time.

Pictures

Long Hunter II

October 2007
Long Hunter.........................Trail Rating.............Outcasts Total: 150.4 Miles
Volunteer Trail...6.0 Miles.........Easy
Day Loop............2.0Miles..........Easy
Volunteer Trail...6.0Miles..........Easy
Day Loop............2.0Miles..........Easy
Total………………16.0 Miles

The Outcasts decided to start out the hiking year with an easier trail that we had already checked out. We took a vote and Long Hunter won. We had a couple of guests on this hike. My Dad and a fellow firefighter joined us. This would be Marco's first backpacking trip. He might have had a couple of questions, a few doubts, and definitely a few concerns. Basically he called me every day for the three weeks before the hike. He did take the hike serious and broke out the scale to weigh everything that he had. After we were misled by Marco about the conditions of the water in the lake, we carried all the water that we would need. So after adding food and water, he came up with 30lbs for his first hike.

The weatherman said that we would be having some cold weather coming in so we packed a little extra warm stuff. With the history of our hikes, cold is not a surprise. As it turned out the weatherman, surprisingly enough was wrong and it never did cool off. It was beautiful hiking weather and we really enjoyed getting out. My Dad came in the night before.

Troy and I wanted to keep with the tradition of staying up all the night before the hike making fire calls. We got off work and headed to the trail. Troy went home and picked up his dog. I went home and picked up my Dad. Marco went home with me just encase he came up with some more questions. Greg went to pick up his son, but as some of us know teenagers have a way of making life difficult. I got a call later saying that neither of them would be joining us today on the hike due to disciplinary problems. Been there, done that!

We signed up at the ranger station and met Troy at the trail-head. The dog and four of us headed out. The hike in went pretty much uneventful. We met a lot of dog walkers on the Day Loop, but had the Volunteer Trail all to ourselves. There were five other hikers that came in later that evening and took the other campsite. We never saw or heard from them after they went by our camp. After we soaked our feet in the lake, we set up camp. Marco got a chance to check out the hammocks. I found me a flat rock by the lake and took a little nap. When I got up I found that Troy had followed suit in his tent.

We had our dinner, which was made up of some experimental meals. Everything turned out OK and we all got full belles. When darkness caught up we got the campfire going and sat around and told lies. I called it an early evening and Marco said that I didn't have any problem getting to sleep. He said that my tarp was going up and down with my snoring. He was quite glad that I wear a breathing machine at work.

The next day on the way out we got to see a Black snake and Box turtle. Being the one to start all of this lightweight backpacking, We were quite amused that after hearing something hitting my plastic bottle in my pack pocket, I found a railroad spike that I had picked up in the Smokey Mountains last July and never took out of my pack. Actually I was trying to show everyone how tuff I was and threw in a little iron.

After all of the complaining about everyone walking too fast at work when we exercise, Marco took the lead and left everyone behind. I was expecting him to want to skip the extra couple of miles on the way out, but when it came time to pick the way when the trail split, he was all for the long way out. Marco has been back into gear talk since we got off the trail so I think that he may actually join us again. We had a wonderful hike, but missed our partner Greg.

Long Hunter

February 2007
Long Hunter.........................Trail Rating............Outcasts Total: 53.2 Miles
Volunteer Trail...6.0 Miles.........Easy
Day Loop............2.0Miles..........Easy
Volunteer Trail...6.0Miles..........Easy
Total………………14.0 Miles

This is the trip of the Gentle Gail Force Winds. I had hiked this trail about thirteen years ago and it held some special memories kinda. I was hoping that I remembered it a little better than Greg remembering the Stone Door.

Once again it snowed in Tennessee and surprisingly it happened for our hiking trip. We know that there is something wrong now. How can it be that every Ranger in Tennessee is so happy? Yes, once again we have a Ranger giggling while checking us in. He mumbled something about not worrying about too much company out on the trail.

This time we finally had someone brave enough to hang with the tough guys. Greg’s sons, Nathan and Chase, went with us along with all three of his dogs. A little on the nippy side the trail hugged the Percy Priest Lake. The weatherman had said five to ten mile an hour winds with gusts up to twenty. Yea, that was close. I guess this trail was easy enough on Troy’s knees as he left us on the way in and on the way out.

The trail was real nice and as long as we had cover from the wind, the temperature was just right. At one point on the trail two guys were heading the opposite direction. When they saw us they left the trail and headed into the woods. Not sure what that was about we kept an eye out for a while. Greg suggested that they might be a little queer.

After we set up camp, we had time to spend skipping rocks across the lake and shooting skeet (actually throwing rocks at big flat rocks that Greg through up in the air.) We also tried a little Jug fishing. There were about twelve Jugs in the water just off the shore. We tried numerous sticks and small trees to recover a fish with no luck. I even went as far as to try to walk on the water, which didn’t come out so good.

After dinner Greg chasing stray dogs away through the woods entertained us. The wind had died down and we were gifted with a beautiful sunset across the lake. The boys headed to bed first followed by Troy. Before Troy got settled in good we heard what could only be described as a wounded animal screaming from the end of the cove. It screamed three times and then one more time a short minute later. Troy said it was those Swamp Monkeys. Not real sure.

Shortly after I went to bed, I heard a critter running around my hammock. When I sat up it was over by Greg’s hammock so I figured I was just hearing his dog stirring. Certainly the dogs would bark if something came into camp. I woke in the night to a mad man attacking the dogs. After I got up I realized it was just Greg. His dog’s had actually got loose and the others ripped through the end of his new tent where the boys were sleeping. He was not a happy camper. After shaking the tree, I went back for a comfortable nights sleep.

Shortly after breakfast, Mother Nature decided to turn up the fan a little. Those wind gusts got a lot stronger on the hike out. As I said, Troy left us behind and actually went for drinks before we got out of the woods. It took us a little longer because Greg had a lot of dancing to do on the trail. You should have seen some of those moves, one time he actually went about five feet in the squat position. My Dad would have been proud. Also on the way out beside a bench we found an open jar of Vaseline that we know wasn’t there the day before. I guess that Greg was right.