Sweden part 2

6/2 - 6/15/18

After my kayak trip in the Stockholm Archipelago, we rented a house on the edge of the mainland about a half hour outside of Stockholm for a couple nights. We ended up mostly just hanging out because my youngest had a raging fever/ear infection. We ended up finding a dr in the small town nearby and he basically said "rub some dirt on it and get back in the game" (no antibiotics for you)!

This is looking down at the sauna/guest house, there were about 100 steps to get down to the dock and the row boat.

Kids go to bed, wife and I enjoy the quiet and then down to the dock for sunset.

Then back to Stockholm for a couple days while my wife finished up work stuff. My wife loved Stockholm, but she got to enjoy it without kids for a couple weeks. I only saw it with kids (one with an ear infection), so I don't have fond memories. We did get another interaction with the Swedish medical system after the ear infection turned into a burst ear drum on our last night, this time antibiotics were prescribed which sort of helped, but the US doctor just laughed when he saw her about 10 days later and said that there was still a massive infection and the antibiotics were not strong enough.

So after a couple of days in Stockholm, we rent a car and load up for the west coast of Sweden and the small town of Fjallbacka for a couple nights. We took a boat ride ...

There are a lot of islands not far from the mainland with lots of vacation homes. The actress Ingrid Bergman had a summer home on one of the islands.

According to the boat captain/tour guide, this little white house is an outhouse

I took the kids on a hike up the Kings Passage, it is a split in the large rock cliff next to town. The stairs give access to the top of the ridge and great views of the harbor below.

We also enjoyed a walk through town and the cemetery after dinner one night.

I did a little exploring myself waiting for sunset along the harbor.

Sunset from above the Kings Passage

One day we drove about a half hour to see the rock carvings at Tanum. These are ~2500 years old and depict boats, people and animals.

Because the carvings are shallow and hard to see, some of them have been filled in with paint.

All of the carvings are on slopes that would at times have water sheeting across them and would supposedly be easier to see at certain times of day/year when the light hits them just right.

A man (the black things at the top are like sandbags and appeared to be placed to keep water from sheeting across the figure).

A boat

another boat

and another boat

A horse

A warrior

After Fjallbacka, we headed south to Lysekil for a couple more nights. On the edge of town is a nature preserve that has great views of the water and sunset. I was very happy that our Airbnb was an easy walk to this area for sunset a couple different nights.

An interesting bit of graffiti from the late 1800's

One day we drove to Nordens Ark, a zoo for endangered animals. Some of the animals are "local" and others are "foreign".

View from the Airbnb window

The nature preserve (Stangehuvud) is the site of an old granite quarry. The land was purchased by a local woman and donated as a preserve. My wife took the kids to the local aquarium and I got a couple hours to explore the preserve.

The church steeple across the rocks.

In one place, I stumbled across a small pond filled with water lillies.

We then headed back to Stockholm and our flight home. We stopped at Sigtuna, a small tourist town with lots of ruins. By this point, I was ready to be done with travel and was not feeling the call of photography, so not many photos.

Sweden is a gorgeous country with very nice people, but sadly, a little far from the US, so no idea when/if we will return.

Dad and son go paddling

Laurel River Lake
10/6 - 10/7/18 (1 night)
2018 Bag nights: 33

My mother in law was in town and there was no soccer, so I was planning on escaping for one night of solitude. It was still really hot (highs in low 80s), so I decided to revisit Laurel River Lake. I figured it would be hot paddling, but the lake was probably still warm enough to swim. Then last minute change of plans, my son said he wanted to go with me. He never got a solo trip with dad this summer like the other two kids, so I guess it was his turn.

We got on the water around 3 ...

... and had a one hour paddle to the White Oak campground. I aimed for the same spot where I had stayed before because there was a great "beach" to play on.

We both swam in the lake for a bit and then he started work on a fort with beer can towers on each end

Then we skipped rocks ...

... and gathered drift wood for a fire ...

... and waited for the stars to come out. The light pollution is terrible here and I don't understand where it is coming from, I guess Corbin to the south. No more astro-photography here. (Note: the light on the right on the water is a very large houseboat.)

We woke up to calm water...

 ... and he paddled by himself for a little bit while I enjoyed my coffee ...

... and then we packed up and headed home. I wish we could have spent a couple nights and explored the area a little more, maybe next time.

Red River Gorge Fall

Dayhike in Red River Gorge
10/29/18
Grays Arch Trailhead

I returned to the gorge for another day hike hoping to see a little more fall color. The month of October has been really warm, so the leaves have not been turning.

The weather was perfect so I aimed for a part of the gorge with lots of overlooks. I started at the Grays Arch Trailhead and checked out the views along the way to the actual arch.

Looking across the valley to the other side of Nada Tunnel Road.

No photos of Grays Arch, but I always like the large rock with tree roots wrapped around it, lots of neat patterns in the sandstone.

Then on to the Veranda and then Hansons Point.

And then back to my car and home. A great way to spend the day. I'll hopefully get back once more time before the leaves are gone.

Dad and Daughter go paddling

9/1 - 9/3/18 (2 nights)
2018 bag nights: 32
Trailhead: Cable Cove boat ramp (Nantahala NF)

The kids started school in the middle of August and I started teaching at the end of the month. And soccer started which means I am now coaching 3 different teams, backpacking takes a backseat until November. But Labor Day weekend means no school on Monday and no soccer games on Sat or Sun. So, let's do one last trip to wrap up summer. I've been wanting to do another kayaking trip on Fontana Lake and I also wanted to take my oldest (9.5 years old) on a trip by herself.

A little bit of rain as we got close to the lake, but not too bad. We got to the boat ramp and got set up and launched at about 3pm with lots of clouds in the sky. About 5 minutes of paddling and the sky opened up on us with lots of wind/rain and some thunder. Thankfully the wind/rain was at our backs and after about 20 minutes of paddling we were out of the rain and not hearing thunder, but there was a stretch where I was questioning my judgement and wondering if we should head back to the ramp.


Looks good in front...

... not so much behind us

All smooth paddling now

Another hour or so of paddling and we had reached Site 81 in the GSMNP which was going to be home for the next two nights. Unfortunately, there was a boat already there and they (two men and two young boys) had taken the site closest to the water. We did not have much stuff and it is a short walk to the next site, so it wasn't a big deal, it just made it more difficult to easily enjoy the water view.

We setup camp and relaxed a bit and then my daughter mentioned that she wanted to play on the bear cables. In the past, she has has put her foot in the loop and I pull her up a little bit. I mentioned that she was getting too big/heavy for me to do this and we probably would not do it on our next trip. She then decided to try to pull herself up, I said go ahead but I did not think she was strong enough. The next thing I know, she somehow falls, lands flat on her back and knocks the wind out of herself. She landed hard enough that she was hyper-ventilating a bit and her lips started to turn purple. Scared me to death, but I got her breathing deeply and she laid in the tent for a bit and recovered. After a bit, she said she felt a little stiff and wanted to walk around a bit, so we wandered back to see the other people near by.

It turned out that they had taken the boat for a sunset cruise so there was no one to talk to. There campfire was still smoldering so I gathered a little wood and we borrowed their fire ring for a little bit. When they got back after dark, they were happy to see a fire already waiting for them.and we ended up sharing their campfire and talking for a bit before turning in.

The next morning I slept in a bit and then got up to read and leave her sleeping. She ended up sleeping until 9am. After a bit, we got back on the water. I had the idea of paddling a bit and then hiking to check out a couple of the old cemeteries. So, we paddled for about an hour and a half over to where Pilkey Creek drains into the lake. I had passed this way in March on the Lakeshore Trail, so I knew there was a road/path from the lake. We swam in the lake to cool off and then had lunch and then hiked about a mile up to Pilkey and Posey Cemeteries.

We talked a little bit about the history of the area and I told her what I had read about Decoration Days and then she spent a little time neatening things up a bit.

Pilkey Cemetery has about 30 grave sites, a lot are infants or young children, but one was a woman who lived to be 103 years old!

Posey Cemetery has 5 (or 6) grave sites, 4 kids (all born in the very early 1900s) and 1 adult (William Posey). There is another gravestone in the back that was also William Posey, but with a different birthdate, but same year of death. Somewhat odd, but William Posey died before any of the 4 kids were born and there are no other graves.

After relaxing in the shade for a bit, we headed back to the shore, where I jumped in again to cool off. Then we paddled back to camp and then she paddled the kayak by herself for a little bit while I read on the shore and took a couple photos with my camera.

The other boat came back and she helped the younger boy try to find worms for fishing, that occupied them for about a half hour and then he got a hot dog from his dad, still did not catch anything, but the two of them seemed happy. Then dinner and we again visited the neighbors and their campfire.

The next morning we took our time packing up but were on the water by 10, about an hour and a half later we were at the boat ramp. Not far out of the way was Tapaco Lodge, I had seen their sign mention pizza on previous trips, but had never stopped. This seemed like the perfect time to check it out. On a previous trip we had decided that we were going to celebrate  our backpacking trip with a "celebration pizza" and she wanted pepperoni and olives. So one "celebration pizza" and then a very long drive home with lots of holiday traffic and idiotic drivers.

When I asked her what she liked best, she said the cemeteries and the paddling. It was a great way to spend a long weekend. And a great way to end summer.