Bucket List Cliffs – 1-2-2021

Happy New Year ! Good riddance to 2020 and high hopes for 2021. I normally try to hike on new years day each year but, this year due to the weather and other obligations, it had to wait a day. This ended up a good thing as there would have been no views on my destination of choice had I not waited. Still working on getting back into shape, I chose another local area to reduce the amount of drive time as well as a short hiking distance but, with enough climbing to get a good workout within the time allotted. For these reason I chose to go to a place I am now calling ‘Bucket List Cliffs’ . The reason for choosing this name has nothing to do with them being super spectacular or of being anything of great importance as most things on ones bucket list would not be so close to home and, would be something really unique or special. These cliffs are not really a bucket list type location yet, they are worthy of experiencing. Well, that and ‘Rats List Cliffs' does not sound that good ! The real reason is that despite the fact that many of my inner circle hiking friends have been there several times over the past 40 years, and driving by them myself for even longer, it seems I had never actually taken the time to go there ! I did attempt to go there back in Sept. of 2014 but, there were some hunters blocking the access point so I chose a different location farther down the mountain instead. It was not until now that I would actually be able to stand upon them.

Zoomed image of the cliffs
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Posted on 13 January '21 by , under RATtreks. No Comments.

Farewell 2020 Hike – 12-30-2020

Having been over 3 months since my last outing and, with 2020 nearly over, I thought I should take a hike to give 2020 a proper sendoff in hopes of at least ending it on a positive note. Along for this journey would be my son Tyler Tarpley and stepson, Jeffrey Messer. It was to an undisclosed location not too far from home but, would take us off trail into the backcountry for a short but, moderate hike (since I had no clue how my physical ability would be at this time). Upon arrival to the area we could see the tourist trailheads were already full and it was only Wednesday. I found a parking space and we proceeded to head in the opposite direction of any known trails to quickly disappear into the forest. The creek was too high to cross safely so we had to traverse some steep sidehill terrain and become one with the laurels in order to get around it. Soon we found ourselves on the secret ninja trail I was seeking.

Shrouded by trees and vines, the distant visuals almost elude us
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Posted on 11 January '21 by , under RATtreks. No Comments.