Day Trip to Baltimore

On Tuesday I gave a presentation at the National Facilities Management and Technology (NFMT) trade show in Baltimore. We were in the convention center right downtown near the Inner Harbor.

Here are a few shots of landmarks around there - the ball park, museum, and Bromo-Seltzer Tower were all visible from where I gave my talk. Old Ironsides (above) was right near the restaurant where I took some friends for lunch. Seeing the warehouse again made me long for an Orioles game - used to come up five or six times a year...and then there was Memorial Stadium, which I liked to visit quite a bit, too.

The talk was a success, there were about 120 attendees in my session, which was called, "A New Leader's Guide to a High-Performing Facilities Organization." I'm serializing this topic on another blog right now - www.iwmsnews.com/research - my blog is called "FM Notes from the Field."

So, I've had day trips for work to Philly, Baltimore, Annapolis, and Patuxent River this quarter. Where are the trips to LA, Atlanta, Chicago and Dallas? Some consulting life I lead, eh?

Duncan Knob - summit and final

My guess is there is less than 200 vertical feet to the Duncan Knob rock scramble (if anyone has authoritative information on this, please send it along). Still it is quite intimidating on the first encounter, for a few reasons:

• There is no indication of what’s ahead until you are there;


• There are no blazes through the rock field, so you have to pick your own line – which you will constantly second-guess all the way up; and

The boulders are of all sizes and shapes, and some of the small ones are loose, as if they’ve just arrived in their positions. This movement can be unsettling (…because who knows, maybe the whole pile will come down?).

The photo above was taken midway up the scramble, during one of my second guessing moments. I was heading generally up and to the right, but wondered if this inviting flat surface – down and to the left – might be hiding a better line for me.
Finally, at the top, we found our reward. A couple of wide open flat surfaces to have a seat on, adjust our gear, have a snack and a drink, and most importantly, enjoy the views. Here are photos of Chris and Andy just arrived at the summit and a look over into Page Valley. The ridge line of Shenandoah National Park is visible in the distance.

After about a half hour at the top, we began making our way back down.

Andy, Tom and Chris got a little ahead of me and stopped, so I had them pose for this final photo.
All in all, this is a great hike. Our version was 8 miles in all, with the rock scramble coming at exactly the halfway point. That couldn’t have worked out better.

Everyone was invigorated by the experience, and we’re thinking of what’s next. For myself, I want to do Duncan Knob again sometime, probably again next spring or on a warm break during next winter. I’m also thinking of some of the other summit hikes in GWNF – including Stickler Knob, “The Knob,” and Signal Knob, if these are feasible. Some research and planning ahead on this account.

A last note here – my friend Howard at Evergreen Outfitter gave us advice that was the key to selecting this trail – so thanks again, H!

Duncan Knob - part 2

From the first stream crossing until the Duncan Knob spur trail head, shown here in the photo, we had two more stream crossings. I have to admit I was surprised at the lack of traffic on the trails – only one mountain biker, a fire/EMT out with her dog, and another guy walking his two shepherd mixes out there – all these on the Massanutten Trail.

I wanted to include this photo because of all the information that was available to us at this point. The trails in GWNF are maintained by PATC. Here we have a guide post and two visible blazes – orange for Massanutten and Blue for the Duncan Knob spur. Plus, the little tent icon points to an excellent campsite about 200 yards from the sign, creek-side.

At this point in the trail we were three miles in. So far, the path had consisted of gentle climbs, the stream crossings, and some interesting forest views. But with about a mile to the Duncan Knob summit, we knew there was 800 feet or so of climbing ahead, and off we went.

This next photo shows our first view of the Knob itself, from a saddle formation just below. In this area there is another campsite, and the Hiking Upward site mentions it but says there is no water nearby. We noticed a small pond/puddle about a quarter mile from the camp, but I’d estimate that is very temporary and dries quickly.

There is still no indication of what’s ahead at this point…hikers are still about a quarter mile from what’s really interesting about this hike – the rock scramble. This is not a technical scramble, like what’s on top of Old Rag – it’s a field of large boulders strewn about. I think the word scramble fits this experience better – while you’re freelancing your way through, you never touch solid ground, and you are using all fours to get through. And – no blazes here to guide you through to the top.

Here are a few highlight shots of this formation. First, Tom and I as we prepared to began the scramble, the last blaze just behind us; an in-your-face photo of the terrain, and finally a look ahead to the summit.

Tomorrow’s final post on the hike will include views from up there – even though the summit is in the middle of the ridge, there are surprising views of Page Valley from there.

Weekend Hike - Duncan Knob

With excellent weather forecast, we managed to put together the “winter” hike that we’ve been talking about since January. Although our plan at first was to do a two-day hike on the Massanutten and Tuscarora Trails, taking in over 20 miles and shuttling from the cabin, in the end we decided one day of up to half that distance would probably serve, and we decided to try Duncan Knob (Duncan Knob is the rounded peak in the center of this photo, taken from Luray).

There are a couple of reasons for choosing the hike, but one for doing it in the winter – the Hiking Upward site reviews the hike and has two pictures of timber rattlers guarding the trail. Since the destination is reached after a rock scramble, the pictures are enough to discourage me from the summit in summer.

Chris and I used portions of this hike to prep for our Half Dome expedition back in 2005, since it included a couple of steep climbs and totaled 2,200 feet of elevation gain – half the 4,400 feet of elevation gain on the Half Dome. We did the hike three times but never summitted – because of the snake photos.

We talked our friends Tom and Andy into joining us, and with Howard’s recommendation, finally picked Duncan Knob as the hike of the day. We planned to get to the trailhead at Scotthorn Gap at 11 or so, following a few logistics errands in town. We made our way to Chrisman Hollow, running a half hour late, only to find it still closed – despite sunshine and weather approaching 70.

We quickly rerouted through New Market, looking to come up through the northern entrance to Chrisman Hollow – also closed. A short lunch break, and then finally we drove to the spot on state road 675(?) where the Massanutten Trail crosses – putting Andy’s rental jeep to the test with a couple of stream crossings courtesy of the Forestry Service!

At last, the trailhead, finally at 1pm…quickly making it to this stream crossing, with Tom, Andy and Chris getting out of the way for an oncoming mountain biker. The first of three crossings, this one would prove to be a foreshadowing landmark, as we had to cross it in the dark on the way back.

Update on Gracie Dawg

If you are finding this post from a web search and are interested in reading more about this topic, you can click the "canine renal" label to read the previous (and eventually, following, posts on this topic).

It's been a while since I've given status on Gracie's chronic renal failure. She was diagnosed as being in final stage about six months ago, but the symptoms have only been noticeable the last two or three months. Mainly, there is noticeable weight loss and she is losing strength - she can't jump into the car herself anymore, and it takes a long time to climb stairs, for example.

Food boycotting has been particularly troubling. She just won't eat anything, it seems, having gone off her regular diet a few months back. Mary has even tried preparing meals for her using diets found on-line. Gracie would generally try these, but wouldn't come back to a second meal.

Last week, Gracie lost about four pounds overall. She stopped drinking water, and wasn't getting any fluids from her food since she wasn't eating. Mary asked about it during a check up for Sofie, and the vet told her to bring the dog in.

We did, and after diagnostics, they decided she was in a close to dangerous situation. We checked her in for the weekend, where they have rehydrated her, as well as done additional diagnostics for possible kidney damage, calcium deposites, or tumors. Nothing there, the kidney failure is simply because of old age - Gracie is 14 years old (Sofie is older).

Despite the gravity of her condition, you could still wave any toy in front of her and she'd be interested - rising to play, pouncing on the ball. She's a trooper and there is strong border collie instinct here.

We checked her out of the hospital last night, and on the positive side, she is in high spirits. They got her to eat baby food, with chicken, so we're trying that. However, there are new prescriptions and we're going to have to do injections of fluids starting today (see photo).

Along with all of this news, it's clear we are in the final stages. We are not sure how long we'll have her with us at this point. So we'll enjoy the time we have, as it comes.

Valley Landmark: Murray's Fly Shop

Murray’s Fly Shop is right next to Sal’s in Edinburg. I first learned about the place when we drove over the Massanutten Ridge a few weeks back and found the Burnside Dam (http://hawksbillcabin.blogspot.com/2009/02/burnshire-dam-near-woodstock.html); my web research included a blog post that mentioned Murray’s. So I was very pleased that we just happened to find it on another Sunday drive.

Fly shops are the quintessential “do what you love” businesses. You can tell this from the street, but it is reinforced when you read his catalog: “…I am often asked to help select outfits for various types of fly fishing” starts a page about complete set ups, and “...I choose the terrestrial pattern and size to match the naturals I see along the stream” on another featuring terrestrial dry flies.

I’ve been interested in learning to fly fish for some time. Mary and I took a lesson from an Orvis school at the Homestead a few years ago – still have the photos on my desk – and we’ve taken a walk along some nice trout streams over the last couple of years, enough so that I even have a label for those entries here on the blog (trout streams).


Murray’s offers lessons, books and gear. The two-day schools for trout run on weekdays from April to May, and are two days long. They’re conducted on the Rapidan River inside of SNP. His smallmouth bass schools are done on weekends from June to July in Edinburg, and the fishing is done on either the north or south fork.

Besides the web-site (http://www.murraysflyshop.com/), there is a print catalog, and a blog, plus the regular updates are done via pod cast.

I’ll close the entry with a note from his site about the pod casts:

“…The enhanced weekly report covers streams in and surrounding Virginia's Shenandoah Valley, including; The Shenandoah National Park, George Washington/ Jefferson National Forests, the North and South Forks of the Shenandoah River, the James River and unique events on other streams i.e. Shad run on the Rappahannock River.”

Blog Milestone: 5,000 Visits

Just a quick post today on a side note – on Tuesday, this blog passed the 5,000 visits milestone since we began tracking readership in June 2008.

Although it varies from month to month, this averages out to about 20 visits a day (slow months were July and December, at an average of 13 and 16 visits, respectively). On the page view statistic, Hawksbill Cabin readers average about 1.5 pages per visit, which has been consistent over the period we have information for, since last June.

About half the readers are from Luray and Harrisonburg, (thanks to http://www.hbblogs.com/ – readers who aren’t familiar with this aggregator should check it out, because they will be pleasantly surprised by the vibrant community there!). The rest of the readers are folks who know me (family and friends), and then there are those finding the blog through random Google searches.

The Google search finds can be interesting. Last year, after the fire in Stanley, VA, which occurred during the same week two historic buildings burned down in Stanley, England, we had seven or eight visits from there, obviously looking for their local news.

Also, the Old Rag Hike and Half Dome Hike entries generate interest during hiking season. We’re getting hits on the periodic Sherriff Presgraves updates, as well as on Gracie’s canine renal condition (it is comforting to know that others are going through the same thing with their pets, and are sharing information about the experience).

It is a pretty humbling experience to know that folks are finding and reading the blog. And as my friend Brian, would say, “I guess this intro-net thing is going to catch on someday!”

Planning the Season's First Moderate Hike

A few weeks back I posted about putting together a winter hike, inspired by a two-day outing that was described in “Blue Ridge Outdoors.” That hike took in sections of the Massanutten and Tuscarora Trails over in George Washington National Forest. Chris was interested and we thought might try the 20-mile hike , basing out of the cabin and using a car shuttle strategy to make it more efficient.

Winter’s getting away from us, and since I haven’t done any rigorous hiking in a few months (actually, in a couple of years…) we have downscaled our expectations. We now are planning to do Duncan Knob using one of the two routes described on the Hiking Upward site:

http://www.hikingupward.com/GWNF/DuncanKnob/
http://www.hikingupward.com/GWNF/DuncanKnobHollow/

The final choice between these two will depend on the weather Saturday, since the access road through Chrissman Hollow closes when inclement weather is expected. Right now the forecast shows a warming trend starting Thursday going through Sunday, high of 71 expected on Saturday, with the possibility of rain.

Chris and I used the Duncan Knob hike as part of our training “regimen” getting ready for the Half Dome Hike we did back in 2005. Because this hike had some good altitude changes, we thought that the climbing would help us – I’m sure it did. But because we were doing that in the summer, and the Hiking Upward site has copious photos of timber rattlers, we never did the rock scramble to the summit, which is our goal this time.

Chris has confirmed, and another friend, Tom, is planning on joining us. There may be one additional hiker. These guys all live in the Leesburg area, where they are close to the AT, but they’ve “hiked out” all the nearby trailheads and were looking for something “extra” to try.

Howard from Evergreen Outfitters is a Duncan Knob enthusiast and suggested that it would be a good season-starting alternative to the longer hike we were looking at. When I chatted with him recently, he shared a photo or two of a group camping at the summit. My group will take its time getting up and back – if we are lucky enough to have good weather for the full circuit on that first hike, we will probably need five hours or so to complete it, as opposed to the four hours shown on the site.

Easy Day Hike: The George Washington National Forest Storybook Trail

When Mary and I went to Sal’s for lunch a few weeks back, we planned to cut through Chrissman Hollow in Massanutten as a shortcut (by the way, I've seen the name of this place written in a number of different ways - the road there is also known by a state number and is called the Forest Development Road, alternatively).

Once we were up on the mountain, we found that the road was closed due to potentially inclement weather and had to turn back. Before we completely retraced our steps back to New Market so we could take US 11, we stopped by the Storybook Trail and took the short hike.

This is an accessible trail, paved with a slight incline. The .3 mile route is populated with interpretive signs that explain the geology of the ridge and Page Valley below. At regular intervals, there are little steps that lead off the trail into what looks like gathering areas where tour groups can stop and listen to guide talks.
Typical of the topography in this area, sandstone layers break through the ridge in places, and layered stones and rocks are visible along the way. But the real prize is at the end, as you crest the ridge.
They’ve built an observation platform up here that looks down to the Valley below – almost 1,500 feet down! Here are a couple of views…looking Northeast and due east. The final one is a view looking straight down from the viewing deck.

I’d seen the trailhead a few times driving through this area, but we never stopped. I am glad I did this time and hope to be able to show this place to some relatives soon.

Winter Scene in Alexandria

I visited with Howard at Evergreen Outfitters yesterday, and he mentioned that we might be in for it over in Northern Virginia...for once the forecast was right, we got about 6 inches of snow this morning.

While I was out shovelling and getting the cars scraped off, took some photos of the neighborhood...this last one is of our "wall" of Leyland Cypress, which are particularly impressive during snow.

"In like a lion," so they say

On Sunday morning we were greated by a light dusting of snow -heavy late winter snow that melts off quickly. So I got outside early to take some fleeting phone cam shots of the cabin with snow on the ground. Here are the photos - indiscriminately uploaded.

Also, I took a little drive down Ida Road - Ida is one of the communities settled by folks displaced when the Shenandoah National Park was formed, and they were resettled in the Valley. This is Grace Church, just a bit off the road there, but a charming little place you can just see through the trees when you drive by - I always thought it might be pretty in the snow.

Finally, as I came back from that drive, a few more random shots of the cabin:


Approaching on the path from the drive (these azaeleas will be beautiful in two months!); a look at the pool (Daris says, "not long now!"); a view of the pine trees and the road (they are just pretty); and a view looking across the brick terrace (that's the fire pit near the front door).

Of course we are getting pounded this morning in Alexandria, 3 inches and counting!

As seen on "the Valley Pike"

Last weekend we took a drive up to Edinburg for lunch. One of the treats of that drive was finding Meem’s Bottom Covered Bridge – highlighted here. Besides the photos, this discover set me off on research about why covered bridges were built, what other bridges there are in Virginia, and other tourist trivia like that…here’s some of what I found.

From the Virginia is for Lovers site…there were more than 100 covered bridges in Virginia in the early 1900’s. Today, only eight authentic, timber covered, bridges survive and there are six you can drive on. Besides the Meem’s Bottom Bridge in Shenandoah County, the others are in Giles County (1), Patrick County (3), and Alleghany County (1).

About the Shenandoah River Bridge: “One of the best-known covered bridges is the 204-foot single-span Burr arch truss known as Meem's Bottom Covered Bridge in Mount Jackson. The Meem's Bottom Bridge was constructed in 1892-93 from materials cut and quarried nearby for the massive arch supports and stone abutments, which extended 10 feet below the riverbed. It was deeded to the Highway Department in the 1930's in return for assuming its maintenance.

This long span over the North Fork of the river carried traffic for more than 80 years before being burned by vandals on Halloween 1976. After salvaging the original timbers, the bridge was reconstructed and eventually undergirded with steel beams and concrete piers. The bridge was reopened to traffic in 1979 and is still in operation to date.” (http://www.virginia.org/site/description.asp?AttrID=40588)

Finally, from Ask.com, they were covered because wooden bridges with exposed superstructures are vulnerable to rot, so covering and roofing them protects them from the weather and they last longer.

Also of interest is the apparent prevalence of them in the hilly areas of the east coast. This was not only because the population was growing in these areas during the mid to late 1800’s, but also because mills were built in these areas to take advantage of hydropower…and of course bridges were needed for commercial transport to and from them.
The Meem’s Bottom bridge is an easy stop off of US 11, less than a half mile from the road. It’s not well marked from the south so keep an eye out!

Presgraves Trial to Begin Next Week

It’s been a while since I posted on the Sherriff Presgraves saga. There has been news from time to time, but this week has seen a number of updates. In this post I’m summarizing three recent reports from Harrisonburg News Station WHSV. Presgraves is charged with 22 federal counts ranging from racketeering to sexual assault to taking bribes, and if guilty may face imprisonment and fines.

(If you are finding this from a search engine, click on the Sherriff Presgraves label to read previous posts.)

1. Presgraves resigned this week as Page County Sherriff – effective February 28. The trial begins next week in Harrisonburg, Presgraves only asked that he and his wife be covered for the remainder of the year on health insurance as a severance package – a request that was granted.
2. This puts the wheels in motion for a special election to choose who will serve the remainder of his term…the election will be held in November. It also makes the petition issue moot – a petition was developed and submitted, but rejected on technical grounds. A revised version was in the works, but not much progress has been reported on this.
3. The senior deputy is filling in for now. He told the reporters that he has no intention of running for sherriff.

Following the developments of this case has been interesting. Page County is fairly close to evenly divided in their opinions about what should happen. Many are very loyal to the Sherriff, while others want to see this over with. And quite a few were angry that he was in a suspended with pay status while waiting for the trial.

Progress on all fronts this week. Keeping an eye on this.

Culture Night in Luray

We try to take in some cultural activities in the area around Hawksbill Cabin whenever we can. Big City readers may scoff at the idea that there is a genuinely good time to be had in Luray and its environs, but read on and see what you're missing.

On a tip from Howard at Evergreen Outfitters, we learned about a one act play festival planned for last Saturday at the performing arts center downtown - read about it at: http://performingartsluray.org/oneact.html. Five presentations were planned, although eventually the school group who was going to do Spoon River Anthology couldn't make it.

We went to dinner at Artisans (web: http://www.artisansgrill.com/), a place that we more often go to for lunch, but have enjoyed in the evenings for special occasions - we were there on July 4 as a matter of fact. After a nice time at the restaraunt we went over to the One Act Festival.

We arrived for the final three plays, which were, The Open Road, by the Randolph-Macon Academy Theatre Troupe, Mother Figure, by the PAL Players, and Splitting Issues, also by the PAL Players. Turns out that Howard was a cast member in Splitting Issues, an adult-themed comedy - very funny!

We really had a nice time at the event. We're starting to know and recognize friends here, so that contributed to a fun night out. And we'll be keeping an eye out for more things like this in the future.

Book Review: Getting Green Done

Frequent readers know that this blog started when we found extensive termite damage to the cabin after we bought it (click on the "big projects" label for the complete history of posts on this topic). We had to take the roof off to repair everything. Once we realized what we were in for, we'd hoped to do it as sustainably as possible, but, at the time, the materials weren't readily available to us.

We eventually did a few feeble things, like installing compact flourescent bulbs, improving some of the windows, and adding insulation, but we were frustrated we couldn't do more.

I wondered why it just seemed like we couldn't do a better job of greening that repair and this book - Getting Green Done, by Auden Schendler, helps answer why. I caught a review of it in Outside magazine - and I haven't been able to put it down.

There's a great deal of easy-to-read details about why the leap from good ideas and products to actually having the biggest and best kind of impact on the environment is hard. As Schendler says, "Green is tough, even for the motivated." Everyone wants to make a contribution to getting more sustainable - there are simply still a lot of societal and industry hurdles to clear. Schendler's closing quote shows the way ahead - "You are not expected to complete the task, neither are you allowed to put it down" - it's a call to action.

Getting Green Done: Hard Truths from the Front Lines of the Sustainability Revolution

What is a Rat Rod, you ask?

Even though the last few visits to the Eden area have brought family together over the loss of a loved one, the trips have been a blessing because they’ve allowed some time to get back in touch with folks we just don’t see enough. There is one more aspect of those visits that I want to write about before getting back to some news about Luray tomorrow – my uncle’s custom cars.

Uncle Tim is my dad’s brother, and he and his family have a farm near Stoneville. This time, he and his wife, Aunt Dawn, opened his home to the family as a gathering place between the wake and funeral service for grandma.

During our trip down in 2001, Tim took Mary and me to a little garage where he and some friends worked on car restorations and customizations. It was quite an operation, with eight or so stalls for projects, three of which were filled with ongoing efforts.

Then in 2006, he showed me this old Chevy that he had taken on as a new project. He found the car in the Midwest on eBay and brought home to do some work on it himself. Most of the body and interior work had already been done, so his efforts focused on the engine and some performance improvements. These photos show off the finished product.

He also had this truck that was a recently completed job. It is a jewel – very nice. These vehicles are mainly for having fun driving around, and they’ll often take them to shows and meets where other enthusiasts get together and show off their projects.

Now, after the wake, Tim told me about his latest effort – he was very excited about this one, and since I’m already gaga about the old Chevy and the “new” truck, I didn’t know what to expect. He called it his “rat rod” – a new term for me, which I’ve Googled:
“What is a rat rod? Many people have asked me, what is a rat rod? A rat rod is simply a custom car that is made for driving and hanging out with friends. Rat rods aren't ultra glossy show cars. Instead a rat rod is a "unfinished" street rod that is intentionally left a bit rough around the edges. (From: http://ratrodstuff.com/what-is-a-rat-rod)

So after the funeral, as everyone was hanging about visiting, Tim walked a bunch of us back to an old garage at the edge of one of his fields. He’d relocated his projects there, to a 2-stall work area that now houses the Chevy and the rat rod. Here are some highlight photos.

These cars are really awesome. I have no mechanical talent and that might be part of why I am so impressed. But it’s more likely that I’m impressed with the achievement I see here – a big project that takes talent, commitment and focus to bring it off – especially when those things are required in your hobby and past time. I can’t wait to see what the next one will be.

My Cousin the Elvis Impersonator

So, I mentioned the visits to Eden, NC. During the 2001 visit for my grandfather, I learned that one of my dad's cousins had taken up a new line of work since his retirement - he'd become an Elvis Impersonator. Here's a poor quality scan of his "promo photo," taken at a Fourth of July event somewhere down there.

(Real name) Gregory used to pass through on travels, and I remember one summer he came through Georgia for a visit. He sang for us then, a big voice that could carry any of the pop songs of the day.

So we're down on our visit this time, and Greg is talking about the gigs and the other part of this work, hosting karoake nights at local bars and restaurants. Not bad work if you are so inclined and have some talent.

And as usual, he broke into a song - here's the original:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WzsUOmqpaeg