Florida's Torreya State Park

My first official OAR trip of the semester was a glorified potluck a few hours from Gainesville. Nina led a leisurely hiking trip to Torreya State Park, home of the endangered Torreya tree and some of Florida's only elevation changes. As typical of Florida in January, it was very hot outside and I ended up shedding my flannel and sweatshirt layers instantaneously. Unfortunately, I forgot my camera on this trip but there were about 40 others to compensate. The hike was simple and easy. We completed the loop before dark and set up camp around the yurt that Nina had reserved. Yurts are really cool but difficult for me to explain. Essentially, it was a giant circular tent. Usually, they are collapsable but the ones in the park are not. These also had air conditioning and beds, an OAR luxury. Everyone started cooking dinner and sharing with everyone else, potluck style. I personally ate enough for three, maybe four people and felt kind of sick. Bevin, Kelsey, and I also brought our ukeleles and attempted to play something together. I mostly just strummed mine for fun and barely picked at any chords. I ended up sleeping in the yurt and was lucky enough to secure part of a bed. Unfortunately, my sleeping bag was too hot but the air conditioning was too cold, so I was uncomfortable temperature-wise for a majority of the night.

The next morning, we started another hike and then a group of us turned back for a picnic area, where we set up slacklines and played frisbee. I am terrible at frisbee. Mike and Kelsey have both tried to help me with throwing but my aim is abysmal. I improved somewhat over the duration of several hours but this was marginal. We all lounged around the picnic area until the rest of the group returned. Then, my car decided to go to the beach at St. Joe's. It was out of the way but watching the sunset over the horizon with dolphins jumping in front of us made the drive worth it. We ate dinner at a local pizza place we found on the side of a minor highway and it was delicious. They told us up front that they weren't used to having UF students in FSU territory but we had a peaceful exchange regardless. We returned home at a reasonable hour, another unusual OAR occurrence. 

Events occurred: January 12-13, 2013

Post-New Year's Return to North Carolina

 
Within less than 48 hours of returning home from vertical caving, I found myself sitting next to Mike in his car on the way to North Carolina. We were returning to the Logels for a few days before school and we had been unable to successfully convince anyone else to come with us. At this point, the drive up was par for the course. We stopped randomly in North Carolina to take pictures of the clouds and the mountains, everything was so beautiful. We met up with Logel at his dad's for dinner and I acquired some really cool flight maps of North Carolina and an atlas from his dad. That night, Mike and Logel's friends Liana and Anna showed up and also stayed with us. Liana went to the University of San Diego with Mike and Logel and Anna is her friend from home that they have also become friends with. 

The next morning, we picked up Janna, a friend of Mike and Logel's that they met while hiking in North Carolina several years ago. I told Liana that if her name had been Lianna, the rhyming of Janna, Anna, and Lianna would just have been too much. We all hiked up Beech Mountain in the snow and watched the clouds swirling around the snow capped mountains. We also went to a local park, called the Land of Oz. It had a Wizard of Oz theme and it was fun to see the yellow brick road peek through the snow in the shape of our footprints. The snow was simply magical. I couldn't describe it enough if I tried. As a Floridian, snow is somewhat of an enigma to me and it inspires curiosity and provokes joy. I rarely see the negative aspects of snowfall. Rather, I enjoy its beauty and I think it's fun to play around in. I also have learned to appreciate driving on windy mountain roads and I enjoyed following the yellow lines out of the back windows with my eyes. That night, after dinner at a Mexican restaurant on the mountain, we relaxed and watched the movie Looper.

After a day in the snow, we decided to go to Compression Falls and set up a rappel. The hike to Compression Falls was steep and coated in leaves. Liana and I decided to be more cautious and took a long time getting to the bottom. By the time we reached the falls, we had lost the rest of our group. We discovered later that they had gone up a side trail that we hadn't noticed. Instead, we sat around and enjoyed the falls, hiking back and forth and talking to each other. According to Mike, we were lucky to have missed out because they got soaked on the second rappel and they were all freezing. I was still disappointed to have missed out on the adventure, particularly since I had carried all my gear down in the first place. At least the weather was nice and the falls were beautiful. Everyone headed home except for me and Mike; We returned to the Logels. Logel realized that he couldn't find his cell phone and thought that he had left it at Compression, so we drove back to the waterfall. We looked around the parking lot and couldn't find anything. Thus, we descended down the steep hike in the dark and in the rain. I was planning on just staying in the car but I felt bad, so I followed Mike and Logel down toward the water. We didn't find the phone after searching for at least 20 minutes post-hike. Then, as we almost reached the top, Logel remembered that he had put it in his first aid kit. So we hiked down for nothing and I threatened to kill him several times as I pulled myself up the hill, clinging to tree roots and trying not to slip back down. The guys both laughed at my annoyance, amused by my empty threats and ranting. 

The next morning, Mike and I decided to head home early in anticipation of a chocolate fountain party at my house, proposed by his brother Chris the week before. We said our good byes and then headed for the Blue Ridge Parkway to hike to Ship Rock, which had been closed off the last time we had visited. We hiked up with our DSLR cameras and took many pictures of the gorgeous day. There was some ice on the ground but for the most part it was dry and clear. The views were outstanding, particularly of Grandfather Mountain and the rest of the Blue Ridge mountains. We then headed back to Florida, trading in hiking and rappelling for a gluttonous chocolate adventure.

Events occurred: January 1-4, 2013

Caving in the Cold is a Terrible Idea

When we got back Jacksonville, Mike invited everyone to go caving with him and his sister, Steph, after Christmas. Apparently, I was the only one stupid enough to think this was a good idea. So, a few days after Christmas, I found myself waking up and meeting them at their house at 7 AM. We drove straight to Neversink and hiked up to it, setting up gear for the rappel. This, in retrospect, was very poorly planned. We had very little daylight to work with when we started and by the time we ascended out, it was dark. I also hadn't prepared clothing-wise. I had thrown on a pair of sweatpants over my shorts and was wearing Sperries instead of real caving shoes. Neversink was wetter than I had ever seen it before and I sank straight into the mud. I also dropped my camera lens cap when I was ascending, but luckily Steph and Mike found it. It started raining on us so we had to ascend and gather gear in dark rainy weather. It was also very cold and my sweatpants absorbed water like a sponge. 


Camping on this trip was an interesting experience overall. We went to Scottsboro Mountain, where we usually camp, but rather than setting up tents, we stumbled upon a small shack that was created for cavers to crash in. There was a couch and a bunch of foam pads. The place was disgusting but it was that or the pouring rain, so we braved the shack. Mike called dibs on the couch, which was perfectly fine with me and Steph, since it seemed worse than the floor. We laid out the foam pads to sleep on. In the middle of the night, I noticed a leak that was splashing water in my face. I tightened my sleeping bag and ignored it, but when I woke up, a small pool of water slid on to my face. We got our stuff together and headed for the car, only to see hail and snow on the ground and in the air. Mike coaxed my car down the mountain and didn't hit anything on this treacherous "road" until the very end, an impressive feat.

When we pulled up to Fox Mountain and Mike informed me that the cave we were going to was called Cemetery, I had a mild internal panic attack. We hiked for a bit, including going through a long tunnel that runs under the highway. Of course, Mike decided to creep up behind me and whisper "always watching." I instinctively smacked him in the arm and picked up my speed. When we finally got to Cemetery, there was already a group on rope, headed down. We talked to them and they were from upstate New York and Canada. We were going to set up our own ropes but they offered theirs and we decided that would be easier. So we followed behind them and began exploring on our own. We ran into them again at a second drop point of about 20 feet. They told us to come on down, so we used their rope again and descended further into the cave. We stumbled upon a registry and wrote our names. We explored a fair amount of the cave and Mike found a rope that had been left in the cave as a permanent line. He remembered from the last time he had been there a few years before that this line led to the exit, so when we left we decided to take that line to go up rather than ascending out on the other group's second rope.

Unfortunately, none of us bother paying attention to the small out arrows pointing to the right and we went to the left instead. We eventually found out arrows that ended up just turning us in a circle. After at least two hours, we found ourselves coming upon another registry. I had the worst feeling in my stomach. When we opened the registry, we realized that it was indeed the same as the first and we had ended up in a giant circle. We rested briefly and discussed contingency plans in case we couldn't get out. Then, we carefully went up the permanent line again, this time searching for arrows immediately. The path to the exit didn't take much longer but when we arrived, we realized the rope was gone. Mike yelled up and luckily the other group was still there. They threw the rope back down and he quickly ascended up to set up our rope so they could leave. Steph and I, both cold and tired, waited at the bottom only to realize that our rope wasn't long enough. We had the 300 foot rope in the car, which Mike could have hiked back to and then set up for us but Steph figured that she could free climb the 20 to 30 feet at the bottom. Mike rappelled back down to a ledge with some webbing and tied a line for us. I climbed up after Steph but I was much more nervous about getting to the ledge where they were. I was almost certain that I couldn't do it, despite their coaching. I ended up clipping myself into the safety line of webbing and swinging over to them. It worked and we all ascended out as quickly as possible. It was freezing at the top and there was snow on the ground. We practically sprinted to the car and I turned the heat on before I could even think to do anything else. 

We had emerged around 11 PM, desiring hot food. Our options were already limited based on location but time of day destroyed the chance for option at all. We ended up at Huddle House and the warmth was fantastic. We also all refilled our water bottles and washed our hands and faces in the bathroom. I also bought myself a hot chocolate, which was an excellent source of warmth that dipped down into my toes. After a very late dinner/very early breakfast, we returned to Fox Mountain and set up camp by the car. By set up camp, I mean that Steph set up a tent and slept outside while Mike and I decided that the car would be much warmer and much more comfortable. He slept in the front seat with the back reclined as far back as possible, nearly flat, while I stretched across the backseat, thankful for my height. 

The next morning, we hiked in the opposite direction from Cemetery, toward Rusty's Cave. I don't think any of us had ever been to Rusty's before, but members of the NSS (National Speleological Society) claimed it was about 20 feet of drop. This was false. It was much closer to 40 feet. We had more than enough rope, so we set up several back up systems and descended with some ease. There was a lot of thick, peanut butter-like mud that we referred to as "jungle mud." The cave itself was beautiful. There is a fast-paced stream running through the entire cave that we followed. At first, I stayed high like Mike and Steph, scrambling over rocks and past formations several feet above the stream. Once we reached a decent stopping point, we rested and tried further routes. I crawled through a squeeze for at least 10 minutes that ended up going absolutely nowhere and unless we wanted to go swimming, we had to turn back around. We ran into another group of three from Georgia Tech but they didn't know if the cave kept going. We turned around and I decided to stay low, either jumping from rock to rock in the stream or straddling the small canyon a few inches above. I liked this a lot better and I was a lot faster on the way back than I had been going in. We reached the end and let the Georgia Tech group go ahead of us. Then we ascended up and I was splattered in jungle mud. We were out of the cave fairly early and on the road at a reasonable hour, returning home for New Year's Eve. 

Events occurred: December 28-30, 2012 

North Carolina Winter Break 2012

Within 48 hours of returning home from Boston, I found myself packing for a week-long trip to North Carolina with Mike, Kelsey, Marcelle, and Marcelle's sister Simona. We spent the first half of the trip at Mike's family cabin in Highlands and the second half with the Logels. 

Day One: We left early in the morning with ambitions to set up a rappel or go hiking when we arrived, but Mike and I promptly fell asleep upon arrival and we all spent the evening inside, out of the rain.

Day Two: Rappelling, Waterfalls, and a Combination Thereof
Our first day in Highlands, it was rainy and cold. So, we decided that we might as rappel off the side of the waterfall since we would be getting wet anyway! We went to the nearby Cullasaja Falls and set up one of the coolest rappels I have ever done. The view of the falls was gorgeous and the rappel was a good height. We spent several hours there, each rappelling several times and taking pictures. After, we went to some other local waterfalls. The first was the ironically named Dry Falls, which we were able to walk behind. Next, we went to Glenn Falls and spent a few hours hiking around the area. 

Day Three: At Least I Didn't Die
Thrill-seekers and adrenaline-junkies could take a few tips from Mike. He led us to Whiteside Mountain, where we hiked up until we were about 750 feet about the ground. Then, he set up two rappels next to one another, one on an 180 foot rope and the other on a 300 foot rope. Neither came even close to hitting the ground. Since I had the most experience (after Mike) with rappelling and ascending gear, I got the pleasure of going down the 180 foot rope first. Mike rappelled alongside me on the other rope and the two of us, scared out of our minds, lowered ourselves over the edge.
Dangling in the air, swinging around from the wind, is ordinarily a terrifying experience. However, usually I can
see my rope touching the ground or at least know that the rope is touching the ground. This was not the case. Instead, I could see the knot at the end of my rope swaying in the wind, about 570 feet above the ground. If I rappelled past that knot and slid off the end of my rope, I would surely be dead on impact. Mike and I both vocalized our fears to one another, yet we continued going down. I had to stop before he did and I decided to stop about 10 feet above the knot for safety. I clipped in my ascenders and sat for a while, watching Mike become smaller and smaller below me. Much more confident in his skills, he kept going until he felt the knot in his hand. Once he started ascending up, so did I and we both agreed that it was probably the most terrifying moment we had ever experienced. Yet, neither one of us regretted it in the slightest and I would definitely do it again. He worried about the others going over the final edge (there were several ledges for the first 60 feet or so), so he tied knots above the last ledge in both ropes and did not allow them to go past. After that, we hiked down and searched for some rock climbing spots, but we didn't find any. We concluded the evening at Sunset Rock, where we, of course, watched the sunset. Unfortunately, we missed the beginning of the sunset and only caught the second half but it was still really pretty.

Day Four: And You're Telling Me That I Carried All That Gear for Nothing?
On the third day, we decided to head to the Logels, about a two hour trip. On the way, we stopped at Table Rock, hoping to do some rock climbing. We were unsuccessful, though we did find some cool rocks and boulders to crawl all over. The summit was beautiful and we relaxed on the rocks, enjoying our 360 degree views of the mountains. On the way back down the mountain, we checked out a bunch of side trails, trying to find the climbing spots that were supposedly there. Logel informed us later that we had parked on the wrong side of the mountain and missed it altogether. We arrived at his family's house that night and stayed with them for the rest of the week. The Logels introduced me to the most terrifying computer game I have ever seen, called Slender. The goal is to collect pages, that all says things like "help", "always watching", and "no eyes." You are running from the Slender man, who appears out of no where. When he's close, you can hear his footsteps and the screen starts to go static. As you collect more pages, the booming gets louder and he tends to always be closer. Also, you are relying on a flashlight and if you don't turn it off every now and then, it dies. I screamed the most frequently and the loudest while watching this game. To make matters worse, Mike would grab me in the dark to freak me out or whisper "always watching" into my ear. Creepy. I'm still terrified of that game and to this day, Mike likes to mess with me whenever we're anywhere dark or sketchy by whispering different phrases from the game. My heart rate increases ten fold every time.

Day Five: Mining in the Rain and Christmas Trees Galore
I don't know much about abandoned mines other than the fact that they are like caves but slightly less fun. We went to this one mine with Logel and his younger brother, exploring around the open passages. Navigating the mine was fairly simple, especially because there isn't anything to climb or crawl over and everything was built for grown men to walk through with ease. Both Mike and Logel had been there several times, so they knew the ins and outs of it. After we left the mine, we went to a Christmas tree farm, owned by friends of the Logels. The guys went out in the rain and cut down a tree while the rest of us stayed in the house, drinking hot chocolate made for us by our gracious hostess. We exchanged stories of adventures and talked about our majors, the typical college question. We then took the tree back to the Logels. Setting that thing up was an adventure by itself. I tried to direct Logel and his sister's boyfriend to get the tree standing up in the stand straight and they had to hack off several feet so it would actually fit in the house. There were tree clippings everywhere and the carpet was also coated in sap. We spent the rest of the evening relaxing in the living room and watching a movie. We also played a lot of games with the Logels, such as Catchphrase or Guesstures. I have since realized that I should not play games with time pressure or any stress whatsoever because I get really into it and really hyper. At one point one of the nights we were there, I got so excited that I fell off the couch and somehow sliced my knee open, bleeding all over the place. I also lost my voice on more than one occasion and I was voiceless for a majority of our time there.

Day Six: Snow Snow Snow!
We had heard rumors of snow from the internet but it wasn't until we woke up the next morning to the glorious white powder that we believed it would actually snow. We got several inches and it snowed continuously during the day. The wind was a nightmare but I was so happy that it was snowing that I didn't care. I borrowed snow pants from one of Logel's sisters and layered up under my rain jacket as much as possible. We immediately started hurling snowballs at each other. Marcelle was wearing make up and it smeared all over her face after she got pelted with a few snowballs. The best one I threw was when Mike was holding Marcelle's arms back and he yelled for me to execute her. I chucked a hearty snowball right at her chest. She crumbled. I would have felt bad about it but we were all pelting each other with snowballs, so I figured it was only fair. After playing around at the Logels, we headed to this big hill near a church and took turns sledding. It was a blast! I had never been sledding before and the hill was very deep, so I had my reservations. However, after the first time I went down, I couldn't wait to go again. The only thing I didn't like about it was the wind whipping in my face when I sat at the front of the sled. The wind was so strong and it was still snowing so it felt like tiny daggers stabbing my cheeks and forehead. We also play-fought in the snow, hurling each other to the ground and sinking in the soft powder. When we returned the sleds, I accidentally walked into a ditch and my whole body zipped straight down, four feet into the snow. I had some trouble getting out of it but eventually succeeded. We also drove around, skidding in the ice. Logel has a ton of experience handling his car in snow and ice, so even though I was terrified, he seemed perfectly at ease. 

Day Seven: Blue Ridge Parkway was Closed, Random Hiking Instead
On the seventh day in North Carolina, we decided to head home to see our families and spend at least part of winter break with them. We wanted to hike to Ship Rock on the Blue Ridge Parkway but, unfortunately, it was closed off due to the recent snow and ice. So, instead, we drove until we found a random hiking trail near a place called Trout Lake. I think we probably ventured off the trail somewhat but it was hard to tell with all the snow. Regardless, it was very pretty and we were done with enough time to get back to Jacksonville at a decent hour.

Events occurred: December 16-22, 2012