Fall Travel Series Part 2: The road less traveled

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There are a lot of cool places to see nature without seeing the crowds.  Ditch the glossy maps and dig around on the internet for those hidden treasures you'll be bragging about to your family during the holidays.

In September I started a three-part series diving into traveling this fall.  Part 1 took a look at what not to pack when planning that big trip... or that weekend getaway.  This month I want to dive into where you should go.  So that's a pretty broad subject.  Where should you go this Fall?  Like you, many MANY people are taking to the road and getting out of town now that leaves are changing and temperatures are dropping.  This is arguably the premiere time of year to head to national parks and popular leaf peeping destinations.  I live in Indiana... we have a little state park called Brown County State Park (which sits... surprise surprise in Brown County).  I wouldn't touch that park with a 10 foot pole duct taped to a 20 foot pole.  It's swarming with people stopping to peep at orange, red and yellow leaves and buying woodcarvings of Elvis and flapjacks (translation: pancakes).  If you don't find being hussled to purchase chainsaw carvings or two pounds of rocky road fudge by Jim Bob and his brothers Joe, John Boy and Sheldon relaxing what is one to do?  Easy, take the road less traveled... literally and figuratively.   

Recently during the government shutdown (don't get me started) I shook my head just a little at stories of people sneaking into national parks to hike.  I know some of it was out of defiance for the man but there were sob stories of people whose vacations were ruined by the shutdown.  There are cases that were a major bummer.  Not being able to raft through the Grand Canyon stinks, or missing out on a once in lifetime trip to climb El Cap is a major downer but if your plans consisted of going to these places to hike and see the leaves... you have other options.    

Nature Preserves: Many states have a whole slew of small, often times not advertised nature preserves.  These areas exist for the purpose of... well... preserving natural habitats.  They also make awesome day trips and come without the hoards.   

 Long Trails: Many of us have heard of the Appalachian Trail but have you heard of the Benton-Mackaye Trail, Knobstone Trail or the Foothills Trail?  There's a long Long Trails list (find it here: Long Trails courtesy of Wikipedia) and many of them have great views and even great isolation.  Lets face it.  People want to enjoy nature from the comfort of their automobile or the hot tub on the deck of their cabin... hike a few miles on one of the trails and you're bound to leave all the light weights behind.  

National Forests: I've talked about visiting these areas before.  I'm a huge proponent of national forests.  Usually they're close to identical to their national park counterpart right next door and have an intricate network of trails and camping facilities without the hoopla of the more popular and overcrowded national parks.  This isn't always a give me as people are catching onto these areas or in some cases a national forest counterpart to the park doesn't exist.  Still most states have a plethora of public land and opportunities to get out and stop and admire the changing seasons.  This is a great map that shows many of the national forests and grasslands.  

I know this post doesn't really get into other activities besides those of the outdoor genre but really the same concept holds true.  Do things that will avoid standing in line and upping the stress level.  Plan less and make sites and stops more spontaneous. Think like a tourist and act like a local.     

Fall Travel Series Part 1: What not to pack.

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The less you pack the less you have to drag through security and lug through an airport.  Less really can be better.

Death, that’s the way you can sum up this time of year.  Leaves are dying, the nights are getting colder, shadows make the woods look spooky and all that is pretty much why this is an awesome time of year to get outdoors and take a trip!  There are a dozen and one blogs out there about what to pack when planning your next adventure but it’s also important to leave a few things at home.

Limit your clothes: Obviously you don’t need to pack eight t-shirts for a five day trip.  I know sometimes picking out the right shirt can be a game-time decision but use some discretion when choosing your threads.  Even better, get clothes that’ll go the distance and can be worn over and over again further cutting down on your need to pack extra clothes.  I have three t-shirts that pretty much could carry me on a weeklong trek. If you've read my reviews, you've heard me preach wool. It'll take up less space in your bag and get you further, dry quicker and won’t start to stink after one or two wears.  Check out brands like Exofficio for awesome travel clothes and Ibex for some hip yet versatile shirts that’ll keep you going without needing to stop and change.  

Shoes: Just like clothes limit your shoe intake to a minimum.  As your activities start to get more diverse… so does your shoe collection on a trip.  This sounds kind of feminine but guys can be just as big a culprit as their female companions.  Go for a pair of hiking shoes, like the Merrell Moab Ventilator which are great for the trail or the town. My one exception to the one pair rule is a comfy pair of sandals.  Go for something like the Sanuk Fraid So which come in real handy if you’re getting a lot of windshield time on a road trip or when you’re staying at a hostel or roadside campground.    

Technology:  Make a choice.  Do you really need a laptop, tablet, mobile phone, ipod, camera and that fancy PSWhatever game console?  Don’t even think about cramming $2,000 worth of tech into your carry on or checked bag.  First, you’re a walking Radio Shack and are just asking to get something lifted from you.  Second, when are you honestly going to use all those devices?   For most their phone is an obvious must.  Of course that doubles as your camera and your music, probably means you don’t need your tablet and really, are you going to bust out your laptop while on vacation? Chances are you won’t need any of your gizmos outside your phone.  I’ve taken many trips where I brought my laptop, phone, multiple cameras and ipod… not using any of them save my phone.  Save your weight and your homeowners or renters insurance policy and leave the expensive toys at home.

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This image was shot on my phone.  Time of day, location and composition make a picture wall worthy... not carrying 10 pounds of pro gear.  

The pro camera: I touched on this one above but trust me… you won’t use your DSLR as much as you think you will.  Take it from a guy who used to hike and travel with his Canon 40D and 20mm, 50mm, and 70-200mm lenses.  I snapped a hand full of photos with that camera before realizing that my Canon point and shoot worked just as well and wasn’t as much of a hassle to take out and put together for one shot.  I don’t consider myself to be a professional photographer but I like great photography.  I can get results without needing to pack the big guns. Try the Canon Powershot G1 X or if you’re a Nikon fan the Cool Pix line is a versatile option for whatever expedition you’re going on.  

I’ve learned about what not to pack the hard way.  Overstuffed bags, unneeded items and wasted space all can weigh you down and be a nuisance on your trip.  Be smart and be simple.  Test yourself this way... if you were told you were leaving for another country in 30 minutes and you had five minutes to pack what would your essentials be? Chances are that's probably all you need.    

What do you think should be on this list?  I know there are a lot of other things that can stay at home like a brick, three cans of baked beans, your socket wrench set...  I want to hear from you!  

Awesome hike... awful roads

Do you know where Thayer, Missouri is?  Yeah, neither did I before this past weekend.  When you’re stuck in the backwoods of far southeast Missouri between a “town” full of abandon buildings with a population of 200 people and a swollen creek with class two rapids flowing over the “major” highway Thayer is an oasis.  They have a gas station, the smallest Walmart I’ve ever seen and a surprisingly nice McDonalds.  Twice we were turned around by rushing water over the highway.  Twice we ended up in Thayer.  We got around one of the creeks by taking a detour onto some country roads.  Lesson learned, if water is flowing over the state highway that tells you the quality of the road system.  Clearly SE Missouri has been forgotten about by the Department of Transportation.  County roads in this part of the state equal dirt roads.  

“Turn left at this next road,” Meg says.  

“Where are you taking me?” “Are you using Google maps or Apple maps?” I respond.

I’m thinking the entire time we’re about to become one of those unfortunate accidents of Apple maps poor programing where the road actually drives right off a cliff.  Five minutes later we’re staring at another road with water cascading over it.  I’m done with this as I hit the gas and drive straight through the water, spraying it everywhere, like something out of a Ford truck commercial (except I’m not driving a Ford truck... I’ve got a Subaru, which sits quite a bit lower to the ground and is a lot lighter).  That was just the trip home, only part of the weekend that included driving eight hours, hiking 36 hours and then driving back 10 hours.  

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​The Buffalo River Trail as it winds through northern Arkansas.

Meg and I did a 36 mile weekend hike of the Buffalo River Trail in northern Arkansas.  It was an itenirary that left people looking at us as if we had just murdered somebody and were planning to take them out into the woods to bury them.  

“20 miles a day, that’s real optimistic,” said the guy that looked like an ex-navy seal who rides a road bike 50 miles a day.  “You know they’re calling for rain tomorrow.”

Excellent, I’m thinking, are there also rabid dogs along the trail that are going to try and eat us when we sleep tonight? 

“You know there are rabid dogs along the trail,” he said.  “They like to eat hikers when they bed down for the night.”

Ok... so he didn’t really say that second part but he might as well have because at this point Meg is thinking... I WOULD kill Stuart and leave him in the woods if I didn’t need him to carry half the tent.  

We did the hike (more to come on that in a future edition of Backpacker) and set a personal high mileage day of 20.4 miles.  We had amazing weather for early March on the first day and then a deluge for part of the second.  The nice thing about the rain was it made all the waterfalls more magnificent.  The trail was actually very nice and very rugged, a great challenge for anyone into backpacking.

So in the end the lesson we learned was southeast Missouri and northeast Arkansas have some beautiful scenery... but really horrendously, awful roads.