2015 - 2016 Southwest Trip

Day 2

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Thursday, October 15, 2015, Ricketts Glen State Park, PA, Day 2, 0 Miles, 166.3 Miles for the Trip

As I mentioned in an update to yesterday's post, I found a location at the bottom of the 18%, 2 mile hill between the park & Red Rock where there is good cell service, so I should be able to post this page tonight.

Very cold last night; it was 32°F at 7:00AM. I set the thermostat in the trailer for 55°F to take the chill off, but conserve the batteries. As of 11:30, I'm down 18 amp hours, but the sun has come over the trees & the solar panels are putting out around 8 amps. As long as the clouds hold off, I should be recharged by the end of the day.

The bad part about the clear skies is they make photographing the falls & streams difficult. The contrast between the sunlit and shadows is too wide for good images. I'll still try to make a run down the east side of the waterfall area this afternoon.

Before adding the photos for today, I am making a shoe report. For those that like to walk along or even in streams and waterfalls, shoes or boots with non-slippery soles are pretty important. While my first hiking boots (a pair of Timberlines) were comfortable & wore well, they made walking on wet rocks like ice skating. My next set of boots was a pair of Hi Tek, inexpensive, and pretty good on wet surfaces. Of course you had to watch for wet roots & algae, but they did pretty well. I eventually wore them out & replaced them with a pair of Vasque boots. While better than the Timberline, not as good as the Hi Tek. Today I wore a pair of Merrell Continuum hiking sneakers. While they have higher sides than many sneakers, they don't provide the support that a leather boot does. Another problem is the padding is separating between the outer shell & the inside lining, making for uncomfortable lumps in the sides. However, they are the best "wet rock" shoes I've worn. Much better than any of the boots. The interesting thing about all this is all 4 pairs have Vibram soles!

Back to today's hike. I drove to the Shore parking lot, and hiked to the bottom of Glen Leigh. I shot the photos hiking back up the trail, much more comfortable than yesterday's shooting going the other way. The light wasn't as good - bright sun producing glare on the water and cooler temperatures, but you deal with what you get.

   

Now I'm off to the showers - while it is only 52°F out and there is very little heat in the bathrooms, it is only going to get colder as the day wears on!

Dinner will probably be another grilled chicken patty. Boring, but easy on the stomach. I'll haul this down the hill between the shower & dinner to post the pages.

Until tomorrow.

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Last Update: October 16, 2015