Matt's Blog - hiking

Camping Video

Wed, 19 May 2010 07:06:00 -0700

I just posted another video on YouTube. This is from our camping trip a couple of weeks ago. I don't want to persuade the opinions of any critics who haven't watched yet, but I think Emma steals the show again. Here is the link to watch it on YouTube. I put this on because it actually shows a little larger there than in the version below. Enjoy.

Backpacking in Linville Gorge

Sat, 17 Apr 2010 06:50:00 -0700

Last weekend I took my son Keanu out with some guys from church on an overnight backpacking trip. We left after lunch on Friday and drove northwest to an area called Linville Gorge. It was Keanu's first time backpacking. He had a pack with his sleeping bag, clothes, water and some snacks. We hiked in about 2.5 miles from the trailhead which started on the ridge above the gorge. It was mostly all downhill going in. We dropped quickly to the river which had a really cool log bridge across it. From there we went about down river and set up for the night. After the tents were ready, Keanu and I did some exploring on the huge boulders around the river. Up and down, left and right, hopping over some water. We killed time throwing and skipping rocks. For dinner we filled a pot directly from the river and boiled it. That was added to our dehydrated lasagna with meat sauce package. It was pretty good. We sat around the fire for a bit and just took it all in. Keanu turned in not too long after dark. He had no troubles going to sleep. I stayed up and chatted with the other guys. We stretched out on a big rock by the river for a bit and stared at the stars. I spotted a satellite heading south. The next morning we boiled more water for our oatmeal and did more exploring. Around 10am we packed up and headed out. We stopped again at the bridge crossing and ended up hanging out there for a couple of hours. For some odd reason a couple of us decided to see how the water felt. Answer: cold. So cold it hurt. I'm guessing the water temp was in the low 30s. So we did what we had to do and submersed ourselves. Nobody stayed in long though as the warm sun felt too good afterward. The uphill hike out was not too bad. I think Keanu was ready for to be out as he set a pretty fast pace getting out of there. He did really well and I believe he will agree to going again someday. See the full slide show

Let's Hike

Sun, 04 Apr 2010 20:22:00 -0700

With the beautiful spring weather and a day off of work, Janell and I decided to get outside for a hike. We got ourselves outfitted with some gear from REI and found some trails at the Reedy Creek Nature Center and Preserve on the north side of Charlotte. With sunblock applied and shoes tied, we were ready to go.

The trail was not difficult, but 1.7 miles is no easy task for these little legs. The backpacks with water and snacks made it all possible.

We saw a few squirrels and some tiny flowers on the forest floor. It was also nice to find a bench on which to rest and eat an energy bar. Somehow by telling the kids they are eating an energy bar they have more energy.

And just when they don't think they have any more energy and want to go home to rest, an oasis appears and their ability to walk is restored.