Hiking Week ending 2/1/12

 Buck Mountain Overlook Hiking Trail

For the first inaugural hike I thought it would be great for Otto and myself to do the Roanoke Mountain trail.  What a disappointment.  It was 2 miles of road up to the summit and a short foot path (10 minutes if that) to the overlook.  Needless to say it would have taken more time packing Otto up into the backpack carrier and getting everything ready than it would be to walk there.  That being said we make an executive decision and decided to go do the Buck Mountain trail instead!

Back Pack Carrier

Mentioning the backpack carrier, we bought a inexpensive one to begin with, the Chicco Smart Support Backpack Frame Carrier from BabyRUs.  We tried Walmart first since it was closer but none of them stocked any Backpack Frame Carriers. You could only get it online but it didn't tell you that on the website.  So we made a quick call and got the info before going and found that the ToysRUs stocked it in the store.

I had to adjust the seat and raise it all the way up (it has 3 straps in the back) as well as tighten the front clip.  Outside of that was adjusting it to fit me.  It works pretty well for the price ($75) but I would like for it to have some hand straps for picking it up.  Right now you have to pick it up by the frame to rest it on your thigh to put it onto your back.

As far as storage it has a small convertable fanny pack that clips onto the back of the pack that you can also wear.  I could get a diaper and ziplock full of wipes in there but not much more.  I did manage to squeeze a ziplock of popcorn and a sippycup of water.

Buck Mountain Overlook

Picking back up with the story, we arrived at the Buck Mountain Trail and after about 10 minutes of getting Otto pack up and everything situated we were on our way!

The time stated on the trail marker was for a round trip I ended up figuring out.  I was hoping that it was one way to make the first hike well worth it but now looking back it makes since that it would the time for a round trip.  The trail was nice but about medium steepness in a majority of the trail.  The trail was pretty smooth and well maintained but rocks here and there.  Halfway up there was a small bench for a quick rest with a reasonable view but nothing spectacular especially once the trees leaf out later in the year.  Once you reach the top its a circular trail around the "summit" with a bench at the overlook spot.
 The trip downhill was nice but I was glad to have my old walking stick with me to ease the pace and help keep my balance.  The pack is rated for up to 36 months and with Otto at 20lbs. at 15 months I know I'll need to keep hiking to build up the ability to handle that down the line. I was wearing my original Vibram FiveFingers to keep the barefoot feel of when I used to walk in the woods as a kid.  I really find it more enjoyable...challenging at times...but I'll talk about that later!


Once we reached the bottom Otto had his snack of popcorn and water and chilled for a bit.  He had adapted immediately to the backpack carrier and seemed to be comfortable despite the belt/harness.

We ended up visiting here and there with people on the trail and everyone always had a smile and a comment in regards to Otto riding along on Daddy's back.  We thought that it had been a good start to the hiking blog for the week and looked forward to next week's hiking trail pick...if only it had waited that long!

McAfee's Knob Hiking Trail

Well Sunday rolled around and Sarah (my wife) had to get some work done so that left Aidan (13), Emily (12), myself and Otto with something to come up with to do for the day.  Well with the beginning of the blog this week HIKING seemed the best thing!  I quickly looked around for a trail that would be worthwhile for the older kids and decided upon McAfee's Knob.  Now that being said I learned a hard lesson in the "estimated time" to do the trails.  Everything I saw said somewhere between 3 to 4 hours...that wasn't the case for those with 20+lbs of toddler on their back wearing classic fivefingers.

At 3.9 miles of trail it took us 5 hours and 26 minutes to get to the summit and taking the fire trail back, and that was with only pauses on the trail for water and some 5 to 10 minute conversations with trail passerby's along the way.  So the 1 mile per half hour needs to be more like 40-45 minutes per mile to get a more accurate estimate.  Our target of getting back by 6pm was missed by a longshot, we got back to the van at the parking lot at 7:46pm after leaving it at 2:20pm.  Now we did relax and had a Builder Bar at the summit overlook for about 15-20 minutes before heading back.

That being said it was a great hike as an experience.  For me it ended up being a slightly painful one by the end walking the fire trail given the consistently rockiness of the trail the whole way with me wearing only the fivefingers toting Otto the whole way.  The other was the weight of Otto on the shoulder straps. They left a red mark through a light shirt and some soreness down in the muscle as well.  It would be good if somehow more of the weight would have been transferred to the waist strap and my center. I did have the benefit of my walking stick and that helped tremendously on the uphills as well as stepdowns and such maintaining my balance.  Definitely a critical item to have when walking with a backpack carrier for slip/fall prevention.

As far as footwear, Vibram now, after 5 years, have better suited versions for trail hiking (Treksport, Komodosport LS) with the extra shock absorption and inserts to deal with rocks and such but I had no such frivolities on mine!  There are also other manufacturers out there making similar products but given my past experience with Vibram with work boots and treads for my cowboy packers I trust and went with them especially since at the time they were the only ones making them.

Well there were some nice overlooks along the way and for the most part the trail was pretty level with only the occasional up and down along the first half.  Once you hit the first switchback from there on its more of an uphill pursuit of the summit.  The trail was very well maintained with good erosion control in the form of logs and lumber that were backed and filled with sand and aggregate to stabilize the trail.  In the last bit as you get near the summit before you get the last straight run of flat large rock the trail even has small "walls" of stone breaking up the runoff to help preserve the trail.

All in all, I could see a concerted regular effort to maintain the trail, even something as recent as a large pine tree that had fallen downhill across trail that had the middle cut out of it to restore right of way.  A great deal of that is credited to the Roanoke Appalachian Trail Club and their efforts. You can find them on Facebook as well.

So we had a great time hiking McAfee's Knob and would do again...just not right away.  I definitely know what was meant by "Tenderfoot" back a era or two as well as relate to the souls that had to make the migration westward under duress from the new occupants of the land that decided they owned it instead of them.  Only 5 1/2 hours hiking that trail and I more than sympathized with those that were barefoot, wearing moccasins or shoes of the day instead of horseback or wagon.  We may skip next week, waiting to see how quickly my feet and shoulders recover.  This morning there is still a good deep ache in them but that way you know that you're alive and you've done something in this world.