August 23, 2014 - Panther Run

Several months ago a couple of friends posted on Facebook their interest in doing one of the many "mudder races" that have become very popular in the last few years. One such friend has done both the Warrior Dash and the Spartan Race. For some reason I thought this would be an excellent time to whip out some mid-life-crisis panic and offer to join them. We tossed around a few different options and ultimately went with the Panther Run, an event held in Springville, Al. This being our first time for most of us this run looked like the most "doable" of our options and it was scheduled to be in May, not the hottest part of the year.

(Evil laugh.)

Insert one tornado storm later and the date of the race is changed to August. Due schedule conflicts and a surgical procedure the team was reduced from six down to two- our youngest, Ben and me. We were somewhat disheartened by the reduction of our ranks but decided to push on and run the damn thing ourselves in the hottest month of Alabama weather.

And run it we did. Okay, we did some running. There were definite multiple minutes of actual running. There was some swift walking and brief fit of gasping while moseying as well. We jumped over hey bales beyond counting and slopped through more than a handful of mud pits. There was a zip-line, a climbing wall... I think Ben had to eat a tree at one point. I think... I think I may have killed another racer with a bamboo javelin. It's kind of hazy.

3.1 miles that we finished in a little over an hour. I don't know the exact time, but we took the very last few obstacles in such a way to give Esther a chance to get ahead of us and take pictures and even stopped to pose here and there. After we were hosed off and back at the van it had been an hour and a half. Not too bad.

Here are a few pics that Esther got from here and there, some of us, some of total strangers.

Numbered up and ready for auction

Panther Face

More Panther face, or something

Kilts are all the rage

This eruption of mud is me landing face-first

A van full of muddy shoes and shorts is a happy van

The shirt, medal and PANTHER CLAW 

My panther claw grants me the power to transform into a PANTHER during the full moon. For really realz.

Things I learned:

• People will follow the person in front of them through the deepest part of a mud pit unless you specifically suggest to them that it's more shallow around the edges.
• Some folks think that duct-taping your shoes on is a necessity. I beg to differ. I didn't see anybody lose a shoe in the mud. Maybe if you're running for time this is a problem?
• Gloves. Next run- GLOVES. I couldn't complete two obstacles because I could not hold onto the ropes that were covered with wet mud and they just slipped out of my hands.
• Cover my knees next time. Nothing serious, but my knees got fairly scraped up.
• Some people are crazy serious about their times and the optional competitive aspect of the race. Those people did not look like people having fun. Maybe fun looks different on different faces?
• Ben's hair looks awesome in braids.

Here are all the pictures that Esther took and re-sized that I've uploaded on my account for ease of use.

Oh and Google does this thing when you upload pics sometimes and chains them together in a sort of animation. I kind of dig this one.

July 20, 2014 - Lost Cove Cave, Tennessee

Today was another adventure organized by our favorite Park Ranger- Park Greer. Our quest was to hike to and then explore Lost Cove Cave. We met in the parking area then followed the path to the Buggytop entrance. Along for the trip- all five of us and three friends as well as a total stranger- Leslie and Ranger Park himself.

Park points out our intended path through the cave

Red eft stage of the Eastern newt

The Buggytop entrance is also where Lost Creek flows into the cove and is about 100' wide and 80' tall. This is the single most impressive cave opening I've ever seen that didn't have a lighted path and handrails to lead you into. This is the kind of cave that you see dragons flying out of.

Looking into Buggytop entrance

From just inside the cave looking out

Second entrance from inside the cave

Dave points out some markings on the wall

Park did this cool thing about a quarter of the way through the cave: he stopped leading and let us figure out which way to go based on the map. The map reminded me of something I would have drawn 20 years ago for a Dungeon and Dragons campaign. All it needed was a few treasure chests and symbols to indicate the patrol route of the goblins and the throne of the orc king...

Park and Ben making sand castles on the shore of the creek. Yes. Sand castles. In a cave.

Found in the cave: Eastern mud salamander 

We climbed over rock piles (breakdowns), splashed through the creek, slid on the mud and wedged ourselves through a couple of narrow passages. The plan was to exit at  the Peter Cave entrance. To get there we had to scramble up rock for a few hundred feet. We paused halfway up the breakdown to talk with Park.

Park talking about how he became a Park Ranger. IN A CAVE.

Peters Cave entrance- our way out.

Hiking back to the parking area along the rim of the cove

We saw spiders, albino cave crawdads, a bat, and non-photosynthesizing algae. Other than being a little muddy we came out mostly unscathed- except Esther who twisted her ankle on the trail. (Doctor confirmed it's a sprain and not a break and she's healing up.) 

Esther did a great job of getting many different pictures that I did not and you can see her blog entry here.

All of the pictures here.

The Uber Late Catch-Up Post

I've got some catching up to do...

4/25/2014

Earlier in the year we lost Uncle Jim and in April we drove to Kentucky for his service. Jim was an Army Ranger, an author, and a role-model for progressive thinking. Jim married into the family by the time I was an adult but it really feels like he's always been there. Esther did a really great job with her blog post on the same day and got some pictures that missed. Here are a few that I took:

The small family grave site next to the military cemetery

On the way back home we stopped at Dunbar Cave State Park. The cave itself was closed due to white nose syndrome, but we did a short hike on the trail and around the lake.

Green snake; always willing to pose for a picture

Jack-in-the-pulpit

We also paused to find a geocache near the Alabama/Tennessee state line at the site of an old mill. Ruins of the structure are all that's left.

All the pictures here.


4/27/2014

Thanks to my talented and wonderful baby sister, for the second year in a row, we helped provide models for the Aveda Institute Catwalk for Water held in Birmingham. All three of ours participated and an additional thirteen other kids from our pool of homeschooling families joined in. 

That's my baby sister on the left.

 All these pictures here.

5/2/2014


In May we hiked around Hurricane Creek with some friends.

Although we've been coming to the park for years now I had somehow missed that John McCrary, the manager, manufactures his own line of climbing gear, Pangea. Check out his Facebook page for more information.

John has recently expanded his gear selection with these dog harnesses.

More pictures from that day here.


5/3/2014

National Free Comic Book Day! (With bonus geocaching.)

Few more pictures here.

5/4/2014

This was an adventure. Pisgah Gorge is often called "one of Alabama's best-kept secrets." It's definite proof that as long as I've lived in Alabama there are still new things to find and see. Here's a somewhat wonky map of the trail we took along the rim of the gorge and then down to one of three consecutive waterfalls. 

The upper falls

At the rim of the gorge

Just below the top of waterfall #2

Looking down to the pool below the middle falls

While Esther and the boys stayed at the top of the middle falls and lounged in hammocks and explored upstream, Chandler lead the way down to the pool below the second falls and on to the third falls.

Top of the lower falls

Chan at the lower falls with Plank, her new friend

Chan, Plank and me

Supergirl

Watersnake (not a copperhead)

Middle falls from below (Chan in middle-frame)

All the pictures of this adventure are here.