Hunter Creek Waterfall (Washoe County, Nevada)

I've been traveling so much this month I fear my wife may forget what I look like. First I completed the Camino de Santiago in Portugal and Spain and just yesterday got back from a backpacking trip on the AT. This morning, I had to fly to Reno, NV for work for the week. That said though, it doesn't mean I can't get some trail miles in. One of my best friends picked me up at the airport when I landed at 7:30 pm. After a quick stop by my hotel downtown, we headed to the Hunter Creek Waterfall trail head. I'm hoping we can get to the waterfall and back before dark, but that's probably impossible at this point. I'm a very fast hiker, but short of running all the way up and back, I can't imagine we'll complete the six-ish mile trail before dark.

After parking, we quickly started making our way up the trail. Spending the last two days in the dense Appalachian forest, it's quite a change to now be hiking among the yellow-ish brown grasses of the Nevada high desert mountains. I do miss this area though. After about half-a-mile, we stop and my friend starts descending towards the creek. Several years ago, his favorite dog was washed away by the rampaging creek in this spot and after looking for him for weeks, he finally gave up, but placed a memorial stone near the creek. He wants to see if it's still there. Unfortunately, the underbrush right at the creek has grown up a great deal since his last trip here and while we finally make it through to the water, it's not exactly easy. He's unable to find the stone though. Either it's been washed away or we just can't get to it through the dense growth. 

Returning to the trail, we again start moving at a break-neck pace toward the waterfall. I've hiked this trail numerous times in the past when I lived here and much of this looks familiar, but it has been a few years. I do remember the water crossing and warn my friend that we'll be coming up on it towards the end. Unlike my last time here though, someone has tied a rope between two trees, one on either side of the flowing water. Several small sun-dried logs lay across the water and by using both the rope and the logs in tandem, we're able to cross without much difficulty.

Just a short distance further and we begin hearing the raging waterfall. For as far back as I can remember, a large log has lain vertical against the waterfall, almost it's entire height. Every time I visit I think to myself if this will be the time it's finally rotted away, but that's not the case today. We take a few pictures, but don't linger as darkness is starting to settle in.

Turning our headlamps, we begin making a mad rush for the cars. I don't mind being out here at dark, but my larger concern is the sign that said the gate to the lot where we parked gets locked at 9 pm. The bright moon rises above the mountains to our east and in the light of our headlamps, we catch view of a couple of scorpions and a green spotted frog that has apparently hopped up the mountain from the creek far below.

When we get back to the car, we find that the gate is not locked - thankfully. We hop in and begin our trip back to town, which isn't far at all. We hiked 6.1 miles this evening and after going through a drive thru to get me some dinner, my buddy drops me off at my hotel. It was a very quick hike, but I loved every minute of it.

Standing Indian Loop (Macon County, North Carolina)

A couple of years back, I took my eldest nephew camping at Tallulah Gorge State Park. He seemed to have really enjoyed and ever since has been talking to me about doing an actual backpacking trip. Though we tried to organize it last year, schedules just didn't work out. This year though, we discussed it early in the year and landed on a weekend - this weekend - to get together for a little adventure.

For our trail, I chose to hike the Standing Indian Loop near Franklin, NC. I chose this particular trail for a number of reasons. First, it's about equidistant between where he lives and where I live, meaning that we could meet at the trailhead (he turned 16 a few months ago). Second, it's a moderate route. I expect it will be mildly challenging for me and perhaps a bit more challenging for him. That said though, I didn't want to give him anything too easy. I want him to get a real taste of what backpacking can be. And finally, our 22-mile planned loop includes approximately 15 miles of the Appalachian Trail. That will give him something noteworthy to talk about with his friends and allow me to complete another section, in my goal to complete the whole trail.

In the weeks leading up to the trip, we discussed gear, food, and other things to expect. I was planning to loan him several of my old pieces of gear, including a tent, sleeping pad, sleeping bag, and camp chair. I was also bringing a bear cannister to store our food, camp stove, and water filter. Really all he needed to bring was his backpack, a hand me down from a friend of mine a few years ago, his food, and clothes. 

Meeting at the trailhead near the Standing Indian Campground around 10:00 am, I helped him pack his backpack, though it was a bit of unusual setup. His backpack didn't accept a water bladder and so, he was intending to wear a bare-bones water bladder backpack underneath his main pack. I recommend against this, but really didn't see a lot of other options. This is what he chose to do. I loaded the gear he would be utilizing into his pack and some basic packing principles. He listened intently. Before too long, we were off. 

Every review of this loop trail I had read in preparation for this weekend's hike suggested doing the loop in a clockwise direction (southbound on the AT) in order to minimize the challenge of the ascents up Albert and Standing Indian Mountains. Apparently, they are very steep going the other direction. So, that's the direction we went. 

As we entered the woods, we began a slow climb along the Long Branch Trail, which we would follow for a couple of miles, until we joined the AT and climbed a bit more steeply towards the summit of Albert Mountain, which reaches an elevation of 5,200 ft. I think he was struggling just a little bit, but he has youth on his side. As for me, I was feeling great. Having just come off a 13-day hike of the Camino de Santiago Portuguese de la Costa, I'm in fantastic shape and not even really sweating or breathing hard during the ascent.

Once we reach the top, I tell him we should take a break. A steel lattice tower a the summit supports a fire watch tower and provides an excellent place for a short break. We drop our packs and each enjoy an energy bar and some nuts. The view from here is fantastic, but I tell him that it's likely even better from the tower. After resting a few minutes, we carefully climb the stairs of the tower and while we're not able to actually get to the structure at the top due to a locked hatch, we're still able to climb up some fifty or so feet to some breathtaking views of the southern Appalachians. 

Throwing our packs back on, we hit the trail again and I tell him that we'll start looking for a good place to pitch our tents after mile nine. I don't want to stop too early and leave us a beast of a hike to get out tomorrow. The climb down the mountain is pretty rugged and climbing up this way instead would have not have been a very enjoyable experience. Clockwise was definitely the way to go. 

As we make our way along the undulating trail, we encounter a large number of other groups, most of whom are section hiking the AT. All are incredibly friendly and we chat with many of them. I tell my nephew that the vast majority of folks he will meet out here are nice like the ones we've met. 

Around 11.5 miles, we see an empty campsite - complete with a couple of logs rolled around a stone fire pit. I look it over and not seeing any widow-makers (I explain to him that is a dead tree or limb that could likely fall on our tents), I suggest we pitch our tents here. He agrees and we drop our packs. Before pitching our tents, we pull out our camp chairs and just relax for a bit. It's only about 3:00 pm and so, we have lots of time. Turns out there are more backpackers in a neighboring campsite and I ask them about water sources. Apparently, it's just ahead and down the hill. While we probably won't need to refill tonight, we definitely will in the morning before we leave.

I help him get his tent set up and then set my own up. He listens well and follows my instructions carefully. Once set up, he decides to rest inside for a little bit. I just sit min my chair and after a bit start getting ready to prepare dinner. We're just going to have freeze-dried backpackers meals, reheated with boiling water. I'm having a vegetarian pad thai and I brought chili mac for him. Once he crawls out of the tent, I show him the basics of preparing a meal out here and then we wait for the boiling water to do its work on our respective meals. 

A few minutes later, we dig in. I warn him that if we didn't add enough water or didn't let it sit long enough, the noodles could be a little crunchy, but it seems I 'guesstimated' everything reasonably well. I have been doing this for a long time. He eats the entire bag, just as I eat my entire bag of pad thai. Not bad at all.

It's starting to get a little cool and before long, he decides he's going to crawl into his sleeping bag. I sit out for a bit longer after carrying the sealed bear cannister with all of our items that have an odor a couple of dozen yards away from our tents. I wedge in between the limbs of a fallen tree in the hopes that it will prevent a bear from batting it around too much. I'm not worried about them getting into it, but batting it around and making us look for it in the morning is a completely different proposition. With that, I crawl into my own tent and try to fall asleep. It doesn't take long.

The next morning, I awake around sunrise to birds singing overhead. It's cool outside, but not cold. My backpacking quilt kept me warm through the night, but now I must leave it to prepare for the new day. I crawl out and then out of my tent and fetch the bear cannister. It seems we were not visited by any of the freeloaders last night, as the can is right where I put it. I pull out the stove and begin preparing some tea for myself. Soon, my nephew begins to stir and I start getting our breakfasts ready. I'm having a new one - gravy and biscuits, while I brought a cinnamon-apple quinoa and oat porridge for him. He seems to like it okay.

After we eat, I begin showing him some tricks for breaking down his sleeping pad and tent. Before long, we're packed and ready to go. As we begin hiking out, I realize that we were camped within just a hundred yards or so of one of the AT shelters and there are a number of other backpackers (probably 20 in total) camped all around us. I ask a couple how to get to the water source and they point downhill to a dribble of a stream coming out of the mountain. We hike down and I show him the basics of filtering water. I don't fill our bottles all of the way, as we don't need any more water to cook and why carry the extra weight if we don't need it. I do take a little more than I think I will need just in case, he estimates too little.

The second half of the our loop is pretty overgrown, though it follows the AT for another several miles. Eventually, we begin to climb up towards the high point of the trail, Standing Indian Mountain, which rises to 5,499 feet above sea level. It's a pretty good climb and my nephew has to stop a couple of times to rest his shoulders. I imagine the double-pack set up he's wearing is not very comfortable. I'm happy to give him all of the breaks he needs. 

Before too long though, we're moving again and soon reach the summit, which requires us to take a spur trail. A white arrow clearly points the way. Once we get up there, we find a middle-aged couple enjoying the view magnificent view from the mountaintop bald. I tell them it's my nephews first trip and we begin discussing other trips we've taken. It seems our resumes are pretty similar. The depart after a few minutes, but we linger a bit longer to get some pictures. 

As we hike down from the summit, we leave the AT and begin hiking on the Lower Trail Ridge Way, which will eventually take us back to our cars. Again, this section is quite overgrown and I'm on the lookout for poison ivy, though luckily, I never see any. We do stumble across the single largest mushroom I've ever seen. It's cap has to be more than two feet across. I stop for a picture of this behemoth.

After a few more miles, we finally begin seeing camp sites with cars parked at them and begin making our way back to the trailhead where we parked. The trail intersections are a little confusing here, but eventually we find our way. In total, we hiked about 22.3 miles. Not bad for his first trip. As we unload our gear and start preparing to leave, he thanks me for taking him on this trip. To be honest, I really had a great time as well and I'm grateful to have had the chance to share one of my great passions with him. 

Petroglifo do Castriño de Conxo (Pontevedra Province, Spain)

With a full day in Santiago de Compostela and most of my friends out shopping, I decided to check out something I saw on the map. Along the route I entered the city yesterday, there is what is labeled on the map as Petroglifo do Castriño de Conxo. After doing some cursory research, this is a Neolithic petroglyph site. As I have spent a lot of time chasing ancient rock art in the American West, this seemed like something right up my alley.

Walking about 3/4 of a mile along the streets of the city, I finally saw a small sign indicating the site with an arrow pointing down a gravel street. From there, I had to follow a feint trail along a fence and through tall weeds to enter a wooded area and climb up a steep hill to the site.

Once there though, the petroglyph panel was obvious. A large rock, mostly buried in the hillside, but who's upward facing surface contains a number of images - which appear to be weapons or possibly bird wings. It's difficult to say for sure, but they were obviously made by the hand of man. Apparently, there is more to this site, including an ancient hilltop fortress, but much of it is now on the land of a private residence and fenced off from this rock. From what I can find online, the petroglyphs are thought to be between 4,000 and 5,000 years old. Though, I'm unable to get a very good picture, even using some color filters, it's still an amazing thing to find here in the middle of a large city in Spain.

Santiago de Compostela Archcathedral Basilica (Pontevedra Province, Spain)

The ultimate destination of all routes of the Camino de Santiago is the Santiago de Compostela Archcathedral Basilica, which is a magnificent church at the heart of the old section of the city and according to legend is home to the remains of the Apostle James. While I arrived in Santiago and saw the outside of the Archcathedral on Saturday, I went back on Sunday to see and tour the interior. It was well worth my time.

Though after the legendary rediscover of the remains in or around 814 CE a number of successive chapels were constructed, each was destroyed mostly by Muslim invaders. Construction of the present cathedral began in 1075 CE. It is constructed mostly of granite with the final stone being laid in 1122 CE, though many renovations and additions have occurred over the centuries. 

It's built according to the same plan as the monastic brick church of Saint Sernin in Toulouse, which is widely considered to be the greatest Romanesque edifice in all of France. Even from those early days it was a place of growing importance as a pilgrimage. Today, it is one of only five remaining churches build over the tomb of an apostle, adding to it's importance.

Standing in the courtyard in front of the primary entrance, one is struck but intricate details of the structure, whose towers reach toward the sky. As it is early morning and with the sun having just risen in the east, the silhouette of the structure almost has a halo created by the first rays of daylight. It's quite striking. In this courtyard each day, as many as 3,000 pilgrims enter the city and complete their pilgrimage. Here they celebrate, or take pictures, or pray. The Camino de Santiago is a very personal journey and to each person it means something different.

I note that this main entrance is gated off and ask a security guard how to enter the chapel. Though there is some language barrier, he understands enough English to point me in the correct direction. This takes me around to a side entrance of the massive church. Here, a couple of hundred people wait patiently in line for their turn. I spot one of my friends and we wait together. It's not long before the line begins moving and we're ushered into the great chapel. While pictures are allowed, they are fairly strict about flash photography and any thing making noise. It is a church after all. One would think common sense would tell you not to enter with music blaring.

As we enter, the humongous chapel opens up before us in the shape of a cross with pews on three sides of the main alter which sits near the center of the room and extending well into the forth line of the cross shape. Hundreds of people shuffle around this Christian holy place. Some take pictures. Some cry. Some pray. Again, it's a very personal journey. 

The main alter is magnificent (even gaudy) and includes a statue of St. James under a platform held aloft by cherubs. Further atop the platform, archangels and a lone horseman stand celebrating the holy presence. Hanging from a pully system attached to the ceiling, the Botafumeiro awaits being swung throughout the halls of the chapel dispensing clouds of incense. The largest of it's kind, this was created in 1851 and when swinging can reach speeds of up to 50 mph.

After taking some time to walk around all of the halls, I get in line to visit the remains of the apostle. The line takes me under the main alter, which is where the tomb is placed. Behind steel bars and sit back in a little stone cove, a small decorative silver box sits as the source for so many to come here. Following the line of people ahead of me, we climb back out the other side of the alter and then go up a set of steps and pass behind the alter, with the option to touch the shoulders or head of a statue of the saint along the way. I try to get a picture of this, but a guard stops me and explains that pictures are not allowed in this section. I put my phone away out of respect. 

Once my exploration of the chapel was complete, I sat in a pew for a long while just watching pilgrims shuffle in and contemplating the meaning of this place and my own pilgrimage to get here. I'm not sure I came up with any real answers, but it's an amazing place nonetheless and even though I question the authenticity of the legends surrounding how the remains were recovered, I recognize and respect the spiritual and religious importance of this place. 

Castelo da Rocha Forte (Pontevedra Province, Spain)

While reviewing the map of my Camino path toward Santiago, I noticed an interesting site on the map, listed as Castelo da Rocha Forte. Knowing that 'castelo' is Spanish for 'castle', I was intrigued and since it was only a slight detour, I thought I would check it out. To get to the site, I had to take an early turn, which took me to the outskirts of what must have been the castle's grounds in centuries past. Here at the corner of the lot in which the castle's foundation sits, a steel spiral staircase is enclosed in a cage and offers visitors a chance to get above the ruin and look down.

Though nothing more than a couple of retaining walls and the foundation blocks remain, this must have been an impressive structure in its day. The castle was build in 1240 as a residence for the local archbishops during the more dangerous local rebellions, and served to protect him. During the following centuries, it did just that for many successive archbishops and withstood a number of sieges. Finally and after having become a symbol of feudal oppression in the region, some 11,000 people attacked and destroyed the castle. It now sits in ruins, classified as a major archaeological site.

Fervenzas do Barosa (Pontevedra Province, Spain)

During my hike along the Camino de Santiago, I was most impressed by all of the ancient architecture. There are so many old churches and military structures all over the area. However when doing my research, I also looked for interesting natural sites. The Fervenzas do Barosa (or waterfalls of Barosa) is one such site along my path.

I was moving pretty fast today, but one of my friends managed to catch me while I sat down for a short break at a café along the Camino. I told him of my plan to take a slight detour and visit the waterfalls. He seemed interested, but in the end, decided to continue pushing towards our endpoint for the day. The detour turned out to be no more than half-a-mile and well worth the diversion.

The waterfalls are contained within a small park. After crossing a wooden bridge, I walked right up to the pool at the bottom of the cascading waterfalls. A few other people were here taking in the natural wonder, which plummets around 180 feet over the series of cascades. It's quite beautiful and was a nice distraction from all of the road walking I have been doing this morning.

Ruins of San Domingos (Pontevedra Province, Spain)

After leaving the basilica, I stopped at the Ruins of San Domingos, which is just a short distance away and on my way back to my hotel. While only sections of the original buildings remain, the ruins date back to the Santo Domingo Convent, which was founded around 1282 CE. Construction on the actual structures began in 1383 and continued into the 15th century. Now, the ruins are preserved as a sort of outdoor museum with informational panels for tourists.

The ruins include the main apse (made of five apses) and the entrance to the entrance to the convent. In the interior, a number of stone effigies and coats of arms adorn the walls and courtyards. The nearby city buildings have been constructed around the ruins, much like a tree will grow around a tool or bicycle left too long against it's trunk. It's actually pretty fascinating to see. 

Many tourists seem to be interested in the ruins and my friends and I take our turn in each area reading the information panels, as best we can with Google Translate. It's all quite interesting and seeing these ancient buildings so frequently in Spain, just makes me appreciate the long history of this region even more.