Mississippi River Walk - Welcome to Iowa

Colorado or Bust, Days 36 through 38:

Illinois went fast.  Once I finished hiking the Hennepin Canal, there were just a few miles of road walking into East Moline, and soon I was crossing the Mississippi River and being greeted by Davenport Iowa.  The photo above shows my view of the Davenport skyline from approximately the state line on the double-decker Government Bridge in the middle of the river.

But let's go back a step.  That road walk into East Moline.  I did it on a Saturday.  The route uses Highway 84, Colona Road, because it's pretty much the only way to get across the Rock River into the Quad Cities other than on an Interstate highway.  Just across the Rock River from Colona is the town of Silvis.  And on the left is the entrance to TPC Deere Run Golf Course.

Now, I'm a casual fan of Golf.  I haven't played the game since the '70's, but I love watching it on TV.  What appeals to me is the serenity of people strolling in a perfectly manicured park.  They have microphones picking up the birds singing.  It's always so green and peaceful.  When my hiking route takes me past a golf course I often look in longingly, wishing the cart paths were part of my trail.  Sometimes they are.  The North Carolina Mountains-to-Sea Trail has an arrangement with the Indian Valley Golf Course along the Haw River near Historic Glencoe.  The trail runs right through parts of the course.  In Verona, Wisconsin, earlier this spring I followed the Ice Age National Scenic Trail as it runs through the University Ridge Golf Course, owned by the University of Wisconsin.  But today I was not expecting a golf course stroll.  The trail just follows the road past TPC Deere Run and continues onward.

But, as I passed (and I should have been aware of this), I noticed lots of activity, a big temporary admissions tent with pictures of famous golfers plastered on the front window, people getting off shuttle busses and going in, even though it was only 6:45 in the morning.

Turns out that the annual John Deere Classic PGA Men's pro golf tournament was underway.

Well, I had not planned any spare time into my schedule, but I changed plans in a heartbeat.  As I suggested, it's sort of a bucket list item, and I knew I would regret it forever if I just walked by and didn't take the time to check it out and make it part of my Personal Continuous Footpath.

I paid my thirty bucks, checked my camper's pocket knife with security, and marched in, intending to do a circuit of the course.  Here was my chance to stroll a world-class golf course in the best condition it is possible to get a golf course, while rubbing elbows with famous players.

The course fronts on the Rock River (glimpsed in the photo above) and takes advantage of some seriously hilly terrain.

The 16th hole is the 'signature hole', featuring panoramic views of the river from the green.

I walked the front nine backwards, and started early, coming to the 18th before any players had arrived.

It was a brutally hot day, so I took full advantage of the many concession stands to hydrate with $4 bottles of ice cold sweet tea.  I actually finished my circuit before the leaders teed off, but I had miles to go.  By the end of the day I reached the Mississippi River at East Moline.  Next day would be all Mississippi River Walk, All the time, on both sides of the river.  Here is a sampling, starting with a look at the channel separating Illinois from Arsenal Island, with the bridge crossing in the far distance.

Here's Centennial Bridge as seen from the Davenport side

And here's the more laid back Ben Butterworth Park area back on the other side in Moline, Illinois

The river was very high.  This spring it had flooded at near record levels--the fifth highest water level ever recorded.  

Wildlife, of course, didn't mind at all.

Nor did I.  Officially this road (part of the trail route) was closed.  I wonder why.  But no problem for the intrepid hiker.  It made for great wading.

Finally on the third day I passed through the half-mile-long river-front park in the town of Buffalo.  It doesn't have bike trail yet, but again, no problem for those of us on foot.

Here's the set of GPS Track maps covering days 36 through 38.

There's more River Walk to come, but not much.  Then, well you might say the trail starts to 'Hoover'.  But that's another story for another time.

The Wrath of Hurricane Florence

High resolution view of the eye of Hurricane Florence, courtesy of NASA, taken from the International Space Station on September 12th while it was still out at sea.

My hiking exploits in Hawaii have been on hold as my attention was riveted on Hurricane Florence as it rampaged toward the North Carolina Coast, then stalled and lingered there.  My interest was very personal.  As you've seen from my numerous beach hike/sunrise images, I spend much of my non-travel time right where Florence had its worst impact.  The right front quadrant, where the onshore winds and storm surge are greatest, hit my area square on.

The result was that a big swath of shoreline on Topsail Island, where I own a condo, and where the North Carolina State Trail, the Mountains-to-Sea Trail, follows the beach for eight miles, was hit with major dune breaches.  Two of the worst places are shown below.

Helicopter view of the pavilion at Onslow County beach park where the east-bound Mountains-to-Sea Trail route leaves the beach to head northeast toward the Outer Banks

It was a mean storm, and the impact is ongoing even as I write this, yet it could have been much, much worse.  After the NASA image above was taken, the storm began to weaken.  This wasn't forecast, but it was a blessing.  By the time it made landfall at Wrightsville Beach, its wind impact was down.  The eye hit head-on at the fishing pier at Wrightsville beach, where there is an automated weather station, yet the wind gusts recorded there barely got to Hurricane force.  The effect of the eye is the brief, sharp downward spike in wind speeds right in the midst of the strongest gusts.

What is more notable about Florence is that it was battering the area for five days, moving at walking pace.  This caused rainfall totals to reach catastrophic levels.  Here is a Fayetteville Police Department image sequence of the Cape Fear River looking downstream from Person Street, Fayetteville, NC.

And here is the river gauge record for the nearby Northeast Cape Fear River showing that flooding from Florence exceeded all previous records.

I'm not showing tons of photos of the flooding and devastation.  They've saturated the media over the past week (and I was looking at them all).  I'm just posting the highlights here to say that during the storm I was unable to tear myself away from my TV and computer screens during the Florence rampage, with but one exception.

I took a quiet hike into a secret deep rainforest jungle off the 19th century Kaumana Trail at 5000 feet elevation, and just soaked in the peace.  The trail I hiked was an informal track, fairly easy to follow for a mile or so before it faded away.  Here is a GPS Track and a few photos.

The east-west portion of this hike was on the Kaumana Trail, an important Polynesian and early colonial commerce route that has been restored for hiking use.  The north-south portion is the ad-hoc trail, marked with bits of flag tape (see next photo), which plunges deep into a cool high-altitude rain forest.

Now that Florence is gone, I'm still following the reports of those who are returning to the island to assess the damage.  It's a week after the storm and much of my island still expects to have to wait several more days for electricity, water, and sewer service to be restored.

But I'm back out hiking, and will be posting next about another gem of a hike up on the Saddle area between Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa.  Stay tuned.

Mountains-to-Sea Trail, Stones Creek Game Land - the Six-Lake tour

Five years ago this week I first scouted this little gem of public land near where I lived.  My purpose was to try to get it approved as part of a planned major 500+ mile reroute of the Mountains-to-Sea-Trail. 

I fell in love with it. It just *had* to be part of the trail.

I returned for a more comprehensive scouting trip that fall and documented a route much like the one that is now officially open.  On November 14, 2013 I met Executive Director Kate Dixon and then Board President Jerry Barker of Friends of the Mountains to Sea Trail and showed them Stones Creek.

I guess they liked it too.  The board approved it as part of the provisional new route, which was then called the Coastal Crescent Route, within a month or two. 

Four years ago today, on February 15, 2014, I started at the eastern Terminus of the trail, at Jockey's Ridge State Park on North Carolina's Outer Banks, and embarked on an end-to-end hike of this brand new trail.  I was the first to hike this 500+  mile route, finishing it on April 24th at Falls Lake Dam north of Raleigh where the new route rejoins the old established trail. 

Firsts are rare.  In keeping with my new "Life and Legacy" theme, I think this is one of my more memorable accomplishments.

Last year the NC State Legislature finally put its stamp of approval on the Coastal Crescent Route; and now it is an official part of what is far-and-away the most ecologically diverse State Trail in the United States.

Besides the hundred-foot high shifting sand dunes of Jockey's Ridge, the trail features high elevation sub-alpine forests with nearly arctic climate where the trail starts at Clingman's Dome in Great Smoky Mountain National Park. 

It passes through one of the most peculiar geological oddities in the world, the so-called Carolina Bays--elliptical lakes and basins of many sizes, all oriented in precisely the same direction.  It passes habitat of rare carnivorous plants including Venus Fly Trap, which can be found in this tract of Stones Creek Game Land along with loads of other rare species (see The Wayfarer's comment below and check his amazing blog).  Here are some mini-venus fly traps with more abundant carnivorous sundews.

And by the time the trail reaches the Atlantic coast at Surf City, NC, the climate is sub-tropical and the trail is lined with Palm Trees.

I can't stress enough what a bold, visionary move it was for Kate and the Friends-of-the-Mountains-to-Sea Trail to undertake this complete reroute of nearly half their trail!  It's unprecedented.  I can hardly imagine the hours of work it has taken.  But Kate has been tireless, enthusiastic, always up to the task, even relishing it.  The part I played pales by comparison; but I sure was glad to have Stones Creek included in the final product.

So, back to today's hike.  Though it's only Mid-February, that's typically the time for signs of spring to begin appearing here in coastal sub-tropical North Carolina.  The red maple trees are in full bloom.

The first of the Carolina Jessamine, this a ground hugging sprig of the normally climbing vine, was ready to burst into bloom.

It was a cool, comfortable day--start of hiking season here.  So glad I got out to enjoy the views.

Here's a GPS Track map of the area.  My route is marked by the red line.  The yellow dots mark the route of the Mountains-to-Sea Trail.

I did about six miles of the official trail, passing six of the seven lakes in this tract of public land and hiking along fire breaks and through long leaf pine restoration areas, not to mention beaver-pond wetlands.

The Diversity, even in this one little tract of just over 2000 acres, is amazing.  Get out there and check it out!

From Winter to Summer - Back on my home Trail

When I left northern Wisconsin it was 22 degrees F.  After a 1200 mile drive I arrived at my little piece of beach paradise and was greeted by a temperature closing in on 80.

On my last hike in Wisconsin, it was snowing and I was wearing multiple layers.  This morning, three days later, I was sweating and shedding the one extra layer I had brought along as I did a sunrise beach hike with temperature in the upper 60's.

With wildlife viewing like this, and with different sky and sand conditions daily, beach hiking never gets old for me.

Today I hiked down to touch base with my home trail - North Carolina's official State Trail, a 1175 mile 'linear State Park' called the Mountains-to-Sea Trail (MST).

Back in 2013 and 2014 I worked hard to get this trail routed out to Topsail Island.  I scouted the route then showed it to the decision makers who could make it happen, and they did the rest.  Thank you, Kate Dixon!!!  Just this summer, the route was formally designated by the NC State Legislature as the official MST route, and the local denizens got busy marking it.

This oversized white blaze with marker post is meant to be visible from quite a distance as hikers who are coming eastbound, up the beach from Surf City, approach, looking for the exit point.

As of this writing, Jennifer Pharr Davis, National Geographic Adventurer of the Year, noted for holding the Appalachian Trail speed record, is doing a Through Hike of the Mountains-to-Sea Trail, in celebration of its 40th anniversary.  This trail is seriously 'going places'!

But back to my own little hike.  The beach is full of fishermen this time of year, as is the adjacent ocean.  They're pulling them in thick and fast.

Look closely just right of center on the horizon and you can see the New River Inlet buoy.  When the wind is calm, as it was on this hike, you can hear its haunting foghorn--similar to the sound you make blowing over the top of an empty bottle.

Like all good hikes, beach hiking is a feast for all five senses.  The sound of the waves breaking on the sand is, of course ubiquitous.  The gulls and other birds can kick up a racket.  When the wind comes off the ocean there's that distinctive briny sea smell.  Off the land and I can smell the marsh grass and mud.  Sometimes I can even smell bacon cooking as I pass a cottage full of early rising vacationers.  Despite being early November, the clean saltwater is still warm enough for comfortable swimming.  Great barefoot hiking weather--toes in the soft cool sand.

What a treat it is to be back on the beach.