Day 2

Today, after spending a refreshing night in the parking lot of a Holiday Inn, I went to Side Cut Metro Park near Toledo, Oh.  This park was way more suburban than the park I visited yesterday.  It was packed with families cooking out and laying out in the warm sun.  We had pretty much perfect weather today so I can see why it was so busy.

Part of the park was in the form of an island in the middle of a river.  On the map there were no formal trails on it so this was where I wanted to check out.  I was able to get to the island by using stepping stones in the creek bed.  It was pretty dried out too though so that helped a lot.

Once on the other side I did a rough loop around the island looking for and taking pictures of wildlife.  I saw lots of geese, ducks, herons and other birds looking for fish and bugs in the water.

  On the other side of the island was a bunch of fisherman fishing in the faster flowing areas of the river.  After my loop I went to the center of the island and saw 2 deer feeding in the brush.

After that I went back and chilled in my van and snacked on some jerky while the sun was at its highest point in the sky.  After that I went on one of the longer hiking trails to see what critters I could find.

Here they are:

A Red Squirrel

A few really tame Deer.

So pretty much just the squirrel and a bunch of deer.  But I also found something that, to me, was pretty much like finding gold......

A DEER ANTLER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yeah it's just a little one, but hey I was totally not expecting to find it, especially in such a densely populated urban area.

So it was a pretty good day. I am getting sick of these tiny little parks filled to capacity with soccer mom's and school kids.  I'm ready for the big guns.  I want miles and miles of untouched wilderness.  Full of game and berry patches and lacking on the human inhabitants.   I want to walk on a trail (or off-trail really) for several hours and not see any sign of another person except for maybe airplane contrails against a beautiful clear blue sky.

Bring it on Michigan!  I'm waiting for you.

Surprise in the woods

Day 1

So today is the first day of my trip and so far it's been pretty surreal.  Right now I'm in a McDonald's typing this and it feels really awkward.  I had to ask the lady working if they had WiFi  she said yes.  Then I asked if I have to by food to get the password, but to my surprise there isn't even a password. I felt bad though so I bought a 4 piece nugget.  They were only a dollar so why the hell not.

My first destination today was Van Buren State Park in Ohio.  It wasn't that good of a park. It was too small and crowded for my liking.  I lived next to a state park though so my standards are a little high too.  It's basically a smaller, crappier version of Alum creek state park (The one I lived next to).  Anyways, I went hiking around the small lake there and it only took about 45 Minutes to go all the way around.  Most of the trail was wooded with sections that went up to the water.  It was a typical Midwestern park with a patch of trees surrounding a lake.  There was a pretty big campgrounds and some small picnic areas and fishing accesses. Pretty standard really.  

Later on I hiked on a horse trail in a different area and I went of the trail for a few minutes to see the stream that was nearby.  As I was walking through the dense riparian vegetation (which contained a crap load of stinging nettle, ticks and mosquitoes) I almost stepped on the cutest animal I've ever seen.

I got so close I was literally petting it.  It had some of the softest, cleanest prettiest fur I've ever seen.  I actually did a crocodile hunter-style video of me giving facts about the situation, but for some reason I can't upload it.  I'll keep trying though and put it up here asap.

So for the first day of my trip, petting a baby deer has made it pretty awesome.  I doubt every day will be this cool, but who knows.  What an adventure!

All packed and ready to go!

Just TWO MORE DAYS!!!!!!!!!!

Bed Frame is DONE!

Now all that's left to do is purchase a few gadgets, load everything into my Van and then I'll be free to stat my adventure. :D

Training your body to handle harsher conditions

Activity: Weight Training

Advantages: Ability to exert more force with muscles (ie. run faster, lift heavier objects, etc.)

Overdoing it: Pulling a muscle, breaking a bone, etc.

Activity: Temperature Training

Advantages: Ability to be more comfortable in extreme weather conditions

Overdoing it: Hypothermia, frostbite, heat stroke, etc

Activity: Suntanning

Advantages: Ability to handle higher levels of solar radiation

Overdoing it: Sunburn, Skin cancer

Activity: Fasting

Advantages: Ability to go for long periods without being hungry

Overdoing it: Starvation

Activity: Exposure to low levels of bacteria/viruses (playing in dirt, not using hand sanitizer, vaccines, etc)

Advantages: Increases strength of immune system

Overdoing it: Getting sick

 

Activity: Cardio

Advantages: Increases lung and heart capacity/ endurance

Overdoing it: Running out of breath, heart attack

Activity: Flirting with strangers

Advantages: Increases ability to handle rejection

Overdoing it: Suicide?  Getting the cops called on you?

Forget your jacket.

My trip is getting closer (just a few weeks now before I leave) and I've been thinking about what kind of clothes to pack for my trip.   I'll generally not be anywhere cold my whole trip, but who knows, in the Canadian Rockies I'm sure a freak summer snowstorm is possible.  I was talking to my Mom and like all mom's she wants me to be safe, secure and comfortable and bring a heavy coat.  I'm sure everyone's moms have told them "wear your jacket or you'll get a cold" at least once in their lives.  And while they may care deeply about your well being I don't think staying comfortable is always the way to go.

I think forgetting my jacket and shivering a little bit is good for me. I think like lifting weights, it's uncomfortable, but it makes me a stronger individual.

 I remember watching something on the science channel about these guys who were studying a human's ability to adapt to cold temperatures.  They went out onto a frozen lake at subzero temperatures and lived there for a few months to study it's affect on their bodies.  They had heavy winter coats on all the time, but initially they were extremely uncomfortable. They did not get so cold that they experienced frostbite or hypothermia, they were just uncomfortably cold for a very long period of time.   They had no heat source except for their own bodies an when they changed clothes they were in a simple nylon tent.  It was brutally cold for them and extremely uncomfortable....for awhile.  But after only a few weeks their bodies started to adapt and there shivers started to disappear. They trained their bodies to be able to handle cold temperatures, just like a weight lifter trains his muscles to lift heavier objects.

I've had my own personal experiences too.  When I was a teenager I deer hunted a lot more.  And I REALLY wanted to shoot a deer.  So much so that I went out on extremely cold days to sit and wait for one to pass my stand.  During this time,  I remember several times thinking I had frostbite on my toes even with army style winter boots and several layers of wool socks.  But during that time I realized that my body developed the ability to handle cold way better.  Was it uncomfortable? Definitely.  But, did it strengthen my body's ability to handle less than ideal conditions.  Absolutely.

One can even see this process on a seasonal basis.  40's in the fall seems really cold after a hot summer of 80's and 90's.  But in the spring time 40's is a relief from the completely frozen conditions of January.  It's because your body has adapted a little bit over the winter to handle the temperature.

I think one should not only forget wearing a jacket when going out, but you should also take cold showers and swim in cool water.  But, just like you shouldn't over do weight training and pull a muscle, you also should be careful not to overdo it while "temperature training" and get frostbite or hypothermia.

So even though our mom's want only the best for us, lets ignore their advice and strengthen our bodies instead.  Be a man, not a pussy.  Don't let a little bit of cold ruin your day.