Raystown kayak-camping, ‘Zodiac’, ‘Wild Hogs’, Concours 14 (posted from home)
(this post covers 3-8 September, 2007)
-------------------------------------------------------------
Saturday, 8 September-
Today I rode up to Koup’s cycle shop and was pleasantly surprised to find a Concours 14 in stock. NICE bike! I’ve been reading about them since they were announced almost two years ago and now see the motorcycle press likes them. Motorcyclist has given it the Motorcycle of the Year award in the sport-touring category. Motorcycle Consumer News has only done an intro ride but says it will likely become the new standard for sport-touring once they’ve done their full test. And what’s not to like? It has 156 horsepower (my Concours—now called the Classic-- has about 90), fuel injection, super-quiet engine, electrically-adjustable windscreen, greatly-improved suspension, ABS braking option, good looks, and a pretty reasonable price tag (around $13K with ABS). But it’s still too early to buy (and then there’s the little detail of not being able to afford one right now). I’d love to have one but I can’t help but think back to Yamaha’s FJR1300 which turned out to have heat problems which didn’t get corrected until the third model year. I’ll wait for more feedback and hope to ride one at Daytona next March. In the meantime I only have 30K on mine and for a Concours, that’s nothin’.
---------------------------------------------------------------
Friday, 7 September-
I’ve been wanting to see the new Concours 14 and my KLR needed an inspection so I rode the KLR down to Don’s Kawasaki today. I was able to get the inspection but they’ve sold the C14’s they’ve gotten so far though they do have one due in. On the way home I stopped by to see my buddies at Starbucks and the Eastern Market, then picked up some movies. It was another hot one today so I talked Labashi into breaking in late afternoon for a movie. We watched ‘Zodiac’ with Jake Gyllenhaal and Robert Downey. We liked the re-creation of the Seventies time period and were glad to see the gore of the murders somewhat constrained. The story was a bit confusing and long but with it being rooted in actual events, the movie is a good one.
We then couldn’t resist and put ‘Wild Hogs’ into the DVD player. I knew this motorcycle road-trip comedy with John Travolta, Tim Allen, Martin Lawrence, and William F. Macy (!!). I knew it was going to be silly but boy, what junk this one is. I see RottenTomatoes gives it the lowest ratings I’ve ever seen – 6% on the critics scale. Jump on your motorcycle or into your car and zoom away from this one. Heck, walk if you have to. This is the kind of movie that makes you want to ask for a refund of your rental fee.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Thursday, 6 September-
Today was supposed to be a hot one and I’m not willing to spend another night with my new friends at the campground. I decided I’d paddle up nearby Trough Creek to the state park, then explore the little bights of James Bay before returning to the van and heading for home.
I got underway shortly after 10:00 and found it a very different day today. Where I had a breeze I was comfortable. In Trough Creek I had a following breeze and soon heated up too much but that didn’t last long. Further upstream I reached shade and shortly thereafter felt a cool breeze rolling downstream at me from the densely shaded valley around the state park. I paddled as far upstream as I could go and then walked a bit through the picnic area at the park. I see there’s a trailhead here for Terrace Mountain Hiking Trail. I’ll have to look into that one some. The trail apparently runs the length of Lake Raystown, mostly on the mountain ridge to its east and should make for nice Fall hiking.
After lunch along the stream, I paddled back out and across the main part of the lake into James Bay. But by that time the breeze had died out completely and I had to seek out small areas of shade for cooling off between paddling stretches. I passed the turnoff for James Creek and headed on to the launch ramp at Aitch. I unloaded the gear from the kayak and somehow got it up onto the roof rack by myself but the heat of the day was rapidly wearing me out. But by 14:00 I had Mocha Joe underway. I drove into Huntingdon to an internet café for a well-deserved coffee before heading home.
While retracing my route back down US522 I decided I’d take ‘the back way’ (PA641) at Shade Gap rather than go down so far south on 522 just to get to the turnpike entrance; I’d pick up one to my east. But as I neared Roxbury on 641 I realized I could easily divert and go see my brother. We spent the evening catching up and went out for wings and a beer before I headed on home.
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Wednesday, 5 September-
I didn’t sleep well so I didn’t get up until 08:30. I was surprised to find a dense fog hovering over the lake but it didn’t seem to stop the fishermen. I heard a boat at dawn (around 05:00) and several others in the intervening hours. As I made my oatmeal the fog began dissipating and by the time I was packed up I had a clear, sunny day. I paddled off to the north into a wonderful light breeze—just right for paddling.
After two hours I reached the Seven Points area and stopped for lunch at the public picnic area, taking a nice, long lunch break to refuel the paddling muscles. My original plan had been to paddle to the primitive Susquehannock campground but I found I was making much better time than expected so I decided I’d paddle on to the Snyder Run launch ramp area and explore the inlets I’d seen there from the Hawn Overlook yesterday afternoon. I enjoyed seeing the Overlook from below as I passed as it helped orient me. By 15:00 I was at Snyder’s Run ramp and then turned back toward the campground, figuring that would work out about right to end my paddling day.
But I had a little surprise coming at the campground. As I walked around through the sites near the lake, I found they were far too steep to sleep comfortably. The picnic tables all had big rocks under one side to get them anywhere near level. I looked at a dozen sites and there wasn’t any level ground anywhere. I could probably have walked a few blocks to additional sites and perhaps have found a suitable site but that would also mean I’d have to make several trips back and forth for my gear and would have to leave the kayak unattended overnight. No way!
I thought I’d paddle on to one of the two lakeside campgrounds at Seven Points but as I approached each of them I saw they were infested with big RVs with noisy air-conditioners and it would be like camping in the back yard. By that time it was 18:00 and I was missing my nice, secluded site at Nancy’s. I decided to load up on the carbs and go back there, even thought it would mean I’d have to paddle the last hour in the dark (another adventure!). I have portable navigation lights for the kayak so I could legally do that—it would just mean I’d have to stop somewhere to dig out and mount the lights.
The late-evening paddling was fantastic. The nice breeze I had had all day had switched direction and was still in my face. The sun slowing set as I passed mile markers 11 and 12, bound for 15. I stopped again around 12 to re-fuel my rapidly-tiring arms with granola bars, peanut-butter crackers, slim-jims and water and pressed on in the twilight. Despite the long day I made excellent time and soon could see the campground. I didn’t bother with the nav lights at that point. The twilight lasted longer than I had expected and I did have both a headlamp and an extra-bright flashlight I could use to warn off any rapidly-moving boats headed my way.
As I paddled the last hundred yards to the campground I saw three men walking through the campground, apparently looking for firewood left by previous campers. I had left an evening’s worth beside my fireplace and hoped they wouldn’t find it but sure enough they did, just as I arrived. The guys had seen me coming and I’m sure they wondered what was going on. As I pulled up I said ‘Well, there goes my firewood’ thinking, well, they have as much right to it as I did; I had done exactly the same thing last night.
They offered to leave the firewood to me but I told them to go ahead and take it- I had been paddling all day and was too tired to bother with it. At that they said they’d take it, but only if I’d come over for a nice, cold beer. Now that’s a deal!
After quickly setting up the tent I walked over for a beer. I was surprised to see a very large encampment being set up. Now I could see eight guys, four large tents, and a cooking area under a pipe-awning—the kind sold as garages for boats and RVs.
As I met my neighbors I began to get an uneasy feeling—these guys were here to party-hardy. They must have had four beer coolers and cases of it sitting around. And they had boom-boxes—the ones too big for one guy to carry. Sure enough, they connected up a boom box to one of the car batteries they had brought in and cranked-er-up. So much for conversation!
I made my excuses and headed back to my tent, thinking this is going to be a long night. The loud music continued until midnight when, to their credit, they turned it down. But the drunker they got the louder they talked. At 02:00 the talk stopped when one of them got out his electrified guitar and they began singing! Thankfully they called it a night at 03:00 and I finally was able to sleep well. To be fair, though, I do have to admit that some of my sleeping problems came from my aching arms. If you can believe the mile-markers, I had paddled over 30 miles for the day but several of those don’t look to be a mile apart so I’d guess it was more like 24 miles. In any case I was very happy with my paddling day.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Tuesday, 4 September-
This morning I loaded up Mocha Joe and headed for Lake Raystown. Labashi wants to continue her fall gardening work but I’m ready for some paddling. I’m not sure I took the most direct route to Raystown (turnpike to 522, then 22 to Huntingdon) but I wanted to visit a couple of areas which I had bypassed in earlier visits. I first drove up to the Ridenour Overlook and walked out to the Hawn’s Overlook for a spectacular overview of the northern end of the lake. I had a great view on this sunny day but it must be incredible up there when the leaves have turned color.
I then drove to ‘The Point’ which is a launch area for the Raystown Branch of the Juniata River. I remember being in this area shortly after the dam was built in the mid-Seventies but it looks very different today. I remember there were free Corps of Engineers campsites along the creek but I couldn’t pick out where they had been. I drove to the outlet gates for the dam but nothing looked familiar about the area.
I then drove on past Huntingdon and south on PA26 to the Seven Points Recreation Area. Unfortunately, I made it to the Visitor’s Center just minutes after it closed but I was able to get a current map from the security guard at the Seven Points Marina. I was somewhat dismayed to find a chain link fence and a security guard at the marina. Even more distressing is a sign at the launch ramp telling me there’s a $20 fee to use the launch ramp and signs in the parking lot showing a $5 per day parking fee for your vehicle and trailer. There are warning signs at each of the docks warning you that the docks are private property and demanding that you stay off. To my way of thinking this is an excellent example of why government should not allow private enterprise to take over a facility. The good news is there’s a public ramp nearby where the launch fee is $3 and there’s no daily parking charge.
With map in hand and evening looming I decided I’d drive on down to the Aitch launch ramp and paddle out to the Nancy’s Boat In campground for the night. I was happy to find Aitch a nice little ramp and parking area, i.e., somewhere I didn’t mind leaving the van for the night. I struggled a bit taking down the kayak by myself but it wasn’t all that bad and after stuffing it full of gear, I paddled off, happy to be on the water.
The paddle out only took and hour and I was happy to find I had the campground to myself. Many years ago—in the early Seventies— my youngest brother and I had walked out to this same boat-in campground in winter, pulling a toboggan loaded down with Dad’s big canvas tent and a wood stove we had built from a 30-gallon drum. We had walked in over the frozen lake from the James Creek launch area— a big adventure for us. The adventure became even more adventurous when little brother was injured cutting firewood and we had to walk back out to take him to the emergency room. Because of the long wait at the Emergency Room we didn’t get back to the launch area until after midnight. I still vividly remember the walk back out to our campsite in the starlight, the Milky Way so vivid it lighted up the snow around us. Later that night, our little woodstove set the tent afire because I hadn’t made a proper exit in the tent for the stovepipe (I had split a seam and wrapped the stovepipe in a piece of asbestos cloth (!!!)). When the smell of the smoldering tent fabric woke us, we knocked off the stovepipe and carried the still-burning stove out the door (the legs I had welded on were cool enough to allow us to pick it up) and we tossed it into the deep snow, opened up the tent to clear the smoke, and eventually went back to sleep.
I didn’t recognize a thing at the campground. Obviously it had been re-done, probably several times, since our last visit. I set up the tent and got a nice fire going as it grew dark, then spent the evening around the fire, enjoying my tea and planning the next day.
-------------------------------------------------------------
Monday, 3 September-
Happy Labor Day! Today I spent the morning catching up on my blog and email. In the afternoon I began planning a trip. Heck, we’ve been home since Wednesday so it’s time to hit the road again! Actually, I’ve wanted to do some camping on my own with the sea kayak. I’ve had the kayak a couple of years now and have only used it for day trips. Our little day-trips in the Boundary Waters have whetted my appetite for more. I need to get some experience loading the sea kayak down with gear and camping out of it to prepare for some kayak and boating trips I want to do in Florida this winter.
======== end of 9 September post =========
(this post covers 3-8 September, 2007)
-------------------------------------------------------------
Saturday, 8 September-
Today I rode up to Koup’s cycle shop and was pleasantly surprised to find a Concours 14 in stock. NICE bike! I’ve been reading about them since they were announced almost two years ago and now see the motorcycle press likes them. Motorcyclist has given it the Motorcycle of the Year award in the sport-touring category. Motorcycle Consumer News has only done an intro ride but says it will likely become the new standard for sport-touring once they’ve done their full test. And what’s not to like? It has 156 horsepower (my Concours—now called the Classic-- has about 90), fuel injection, super-quiet engine, electrically-adjustable windscreen, greatly-improved suspension, ABS braking option, good looks, and a pretty reasonable price tag (around $13K with ABS). But it’s still too early to buy (and then there’s the little detail of not being able to afford one right now). I’d love to have one but I can’t help but think back to Yamaha’s FJR1300 which turned out to have heat problems which didn’t get corrected until the third model year. I’ll wait for more feedback and hope to ride one at Daytona next March. In the meantime I only have 30K on mine and for a Concours, that’s nothin’.
---------------------------------------------------------------
Friday, 7 September-
I’ve been wanting to see the new Concours 14 and my KLR needed an inspection so I rode the KLR down to Don’s Kawasaki today. I was able to get the inspection but they’ve sold the C14’s they’ve gotten so far though they do have one due in. On the way home I stopped by to see my buddies at Starbucks and the Eastern Market, then picked up some movies. It was another hot one today so I talked Labashi into breaking in late afternoon for a movie. We watched ‘Zodiac’ with Jake Gyllenhaal and Robert Downey. We liked the re-creation of the Seventies time period and were glad to see the gore of the murders somewhat constrained. The story was a bit confusing and long but with it being rooted in actual events, the movie is a good one.
We then couldn’t resist and put ‘Wild Hogs’ into the DVD player. I knew this motorcycle road-trip comedy with John Travolta, Tim Allen, Martin Lawrence, and William F. Macy (!!). I knew it was going to be silly but boy, what junk this one is. I see RottenTomatoes gives it the lowest ratings I’ve ever seen – 6% on the critics scale. Jump on your motorcycle or into your car and zoom away from this one. Heck, walk if you have to. This is the kind of movie that makes you want to ask for a refund of your rental fee.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Thursday, 6 September-
Today was supposed to be a hot one and I’m not willing to spend another night with my new friends at the campground. I decided I’d paddle up nearby Trough Creek to the state park, then explore the little bights of James Bay before returning to the van and heading for home.
I got underway shortly after 10:00 and found it a very different day today. Where I had a breeze I was comfortable. In Trough Creek I had a following breeze and soon heated up too much but that didn’t last long. Further upstream I reached shade and shortly thereafter felt a cool breeze rolling downstream at me from the densely shaded valley around the state park. I paddled as far upstream as I could go and then walked a bit through the picnic area at the park. I see there’s a trailhead here for Terrace Mountain Hiking Trail. I’ll have to look into that one some. The trail apparently runs the length of Lake Raystown, mostly on the mountain ridge to its east and should make for nice Fall hiking.
After lunch along the stream, I paddled back out and across the main part of the lake into James Bay. But by that time the breeze had died out completely and I had to seek out small areas of shade for cooling off between paddling stretches. I passed the turnoff for James Creek and headed on to the launch ramp at Aitch. I unloaded the gear from the kayak and somehow got it up onto the roof rack by myself but the heat of the day was rapidly wearing me out. But by 14:00 I had Mocha Joe underway. I drove into Huntingdon to an internet café for a well-deserved coffee before heading home.
While retracing my route back down US522 I decided I’d take ‘the back way’ (PA641) at Shade Gap rather than go down so far south on 522 just to get to the turnpike entrance; I’d pick up one to my east. But as I neared Roxbury on 641 I realized I could easily divert and go see my brother. We spent the evening catching up and went out for wings and a beer before I headed on home.
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Wednesday, 5 September-
I didn’t sleep well so I didn’t get up until 08:30. I was surprised to find a dense fog hovering over the lake but it didn’t seem to stop the fishermen. I heard a boat at dawn (around 05:00) and several others in the intervening hours. As I made my oatmeal the fog began dissipating and by the time I was packed up I had a clear, sunny day. I paddled off to the north into a wonderful light breeze—just right for paddling.
After two hours I reached the Seven Points area and stopped for lunch at the public picnic area, taking a nice, long lunch break to refuel the paddling muscles. My original plan had been to paddle to the primitive Susquehannock campground but I found I was making much better time than expected so I decided I’d paddle on to the Snyder Run launch ramp area and explore the inlets I’d seen there from the Hawn Overlook yesterday afternoon. I enjoyed seeing the Overlook from below as I passed as it helped orient me. By 15:00 I was at Snyder’s Run ramp and then turned back toward the campground, figuring that would work out about right to end my paddling day.
But I had a little surprise coming at the campground. As I walked around through the sites near the lake, I found they were far too steep to sleep comfortably. The picnic tables all had big rocks under one side to get them anywhere near level. I looked at a dozen sites and there wasn’t any level ground anywhere. I could probably have walked a few blocks to additional sites and perhaps have found a suitable site but that would also mean I’d have to make several trips back and forth for my gear and would have to leave the kayak unattended overnight. No way!
I thought I’d paddle on to one of the two lakeside campgrounds at Seven Points but as I approached each of them I saw they were infested with big RVs with noisy air-conditioners and it would be like camping in the back yard. By that time it was 18:00 and I was missing my nice, secluded site at Nancy’s. I decided to load up on the carbs and go back there, even thought it would mean I’d have to paddle the last hour in the dark (another adventure!). I have portable navigation lights for the kayak so I could legally do that—it would just mean I’d have to stop somewhere to dig out and mount the lights.
The late-evening paddling was fantastic. The nice breeze I had had all day had switched direction and was still in my face. The sun slowing set as I passed mile markers 11 and 12, bound for 15. I stopped again around 12 to re-fuel my rapidly-tiring arms with granola bars, peanut-butter crackers, slim-jims and water and pressed on in the twilight. Despite the long day I made excellent time and soon could see the campground. I didn’t bother with the nav lights at that point. The twilight lasted longer than I had expected and I did have both a headlamp and an extra-bright flashlight I could use to warn off any rapidly-moving boats headed my way.
As I paddled the last hundred yards to the campground I saw three men walking through the campground, apparently looking for firewood left by previous campers. I had left an evening’s worth beside my fireplace and hoped they wouldn’t find it but sure enough they did, just as I arrived. The guys had seen me coming and I’m sure they wondered what was going on. As I pulled up I said ‘Well, there goes my firewood’ thinking, well, they have as much right to it as I did; I had done exactly the same thing last night.
They offered to leave the firewood to me but I told them to go ahead and take it- I had been paddling all day and was too tired to bother with it. At that they said they’d take it, but only if I’d come over for a nice, cold beer. Now that’s a deal!
After quickly setting up the tent I walked over for a beer. I was surprised to see a very large encampment being set up. Now I could see eight guys, four large tents, and a cooking area under a pipe-awning—the kind sold as garages for boats and RVs.
As I met my neighbors I began to get an uneasy feeling—these guys were here to party-hardy. They must have had four beer coolers and cases of it sitting around. And they had boom-boxes—the ones too big for one guy to carry. Sure enough, they connected up a boom box to one of the car batteries they had brought in and cranked-er-up. So much for conversation!
I made my excuses and headed back to my tent, thinking this is going to be a long night. The loud music continued until midnight when, to their credit, they turned it down. But the drunker they got the louder they talked. At 02:00 the talk stopped when one of them got out his electrified guitar and they began singing! Thankfully they called it a night at 03:00 and I finally was able to sleep well. To be fair, though, I do have to admit that some of my sleeping problems came from my aching arms. If you can believe the mile-markers, I had paddled over 30 miles for the day but several of those don’t look to be a mile apart so I’d guess it was more like 24 miles. In any case I was very happy with my paddling day.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Tuesday, 4 September-
This morning I loaded up Mocha Joe and headed for Lake Raystown. Labashi wants to continue her fall gardening work but I’m ready for some paddling. I’m not sure I took the most direct route to Raystown (turnpike to 522, then 22 to Huntingdon) but I wanted to visit a couple of areas which I had bypassed in earlier visits. I first drove up to the Ridenour Overlook and walked out to the Hawn’s Overlook for a spectacular overview of the northern end of the lake. I had a great view on this sunny day but it must be incredible up there when the leaves have turned color.
I then drove to ‘The Point’ which is a launch area for the Raystown Branch of the Juniata River. I remember being in this area shortly after the dam was built in the mid-Seventies but it looks very different today. I remember there were free Corps of Engineers campsites along the creek but I couldn’t pick out where they had been. I drove to the outlet gates for the dam but nothing looked familiar about the area.
I then drove on past Huntingdon and south on PA26 to the Seven Points Recreation Area. Unfortunately, I made it to the Visitor’s Center just minutes after it closed but I was able to get a current map from the security guard at the Seven Points Marina. I was somewhat dismayed to find a chain link fence and a security guard at the marina. Even more distressing is a sign at the launch ramp telling me there’s a $20 fee to use the launch ramp and signs in the parking lot showing a $5 per day parking fee for your vehicle and trailer. There are warning signs at each of the docks warning you that the docks are private property and demanding that you stay off. To my way of thinking this is an excellent example of why government should not allow private enterprise to take over a facility. The good news is there’s a public ramp nearby where the launch fee is $3 and there’s no daily parking charge.
With map in hand and evening looming I decided I’d drive on down to the Aitch launch ramp and paddle out to the Nancy’s Boat In campground for the night. I was happy to find Aitch a nice little ramp and parking area, i.e., somewhere I didn’t mind leaving the van for the night. I struggled a bit taking down the kayak by myself but it wasn’t all that bad and after stuffing it full of gear, I paddled off, happy to be on the water.
The paddle out only took and hour and I was happy to find I had the campground to myself. Many years ago—in the early Seventies— my youngest brother and I had walked out to this same boat-in campground in winter, pulling a toboggan loaded down with Dad’s big canvas tent and a wood stove we had built from a 30-gallon drum. We had walked in over the frozen lake from the James Creek launch area— a big adventure for us. The adventure became even more adventurous when little brother was injured cutting firewood and we had to walk back out to take him to the emergency room. Because of the long wait at the Emergency Room we didn’t get back to the launch area until after midnight. I still vividly remember the walk back out to our campsite in the starlight, the Milky Way so vivid it lighted up the snow around us. Later that night, our little woodstove set the tent afire because I hadn’t made a proper exit in the tent for the stovepipe (I had split a seam and wrapped the stovepipe in a piece of asbestos cloth (!!!)). When the smell of the smoldering tent fabric woke us, we knocked off the stovepipe and carried the still-burning stove out the door (the legs I had welded on were cool enough to allow us to pick it up) and we tossed it into the deep snow, opened up the tent to clear the smoke, and eventually went back to sleep.
I didn’t recognize a thing at the campground. Obviously it had been re-done, probably several times, since our last visit. I set up the tent and got a nice fire going as it grew dark, then spent the evening around the fire, enjoying my tea and planning the next day.
-------------------------------------------------------------
Monday, 3 September-
Happy Labor Day! Today I spent the morning catching up on my blog and email. In the afternoon I began planning a trip. Heck, we’ve been home since Wednesday so it’s time to hit the road again! Actually, I’ve wanted to do some camping on my own with the sea kayak. I’ve had the kayak a couple of years now and have only used it for day trips. Our little day-trips in the Boundary Waters have whetted my appetite for more. I need to get some experience loading the sea kayak down with gear and camping out of it to prepare for some kayak and boating trips I want to do in Florida this winter.
======== end of 9 September post =========
posted by Bezabor&Labashi | 23:59
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home