Day 1
I’ve been prepping for a 3 week trip out west. I took Lola to the top of Tray Mountain in the Appalachians for a weekend to see how she’ll react to traveling. *And also to test out all my gear!
The drive up (Tray Mtn Rd / Indian Grave Gap Rd) is rocky, I wouldn’t recommend it without a vehicle with some height. A 2×4 can make it as long as you’re going slow! Unfortunately, in the last image, the Suburban in front of me didn’t get the memo… this vehicle got in front of me doing 1-3 mph on a 8 mile road.
Arrived at Tray Gap and got setup!
Here’s some Canon shots. I seem to have difficulty with night shots. Aperture, shutter speed, ISO.. it’s all Greek to me.
I attempted to grab a night sky timelapse video but figuring out how to set time-lapse AND night mode at the same time is a pain. I also realized the new case is screwing with the video, you can see a line diagonally across parts of the video. Won’t be using that cover again.
*Note: Autoplay is disabled on some videos to conserve bandwidth, make sure to click the Play icon if the video doesn’t autoplay.
Day 2
This is a mix of Canon Rebel EOS T6 and Samsung S22+ media. I’ll try to separate them.
We had just woken up to a chilly morning. We met many hikers passing by. Some full NOBO or SOBO, and others attempting to section hike. Pretty cool front porch to wake up to!
Phone Images:
Canon Images:
It warmed up, Lola was getting ancy, so I pulled myself up for our hike. I attempted to find three small waterfalls. I pre-planned the hike but didn’t take into account the elevation, as usual. 🙄.
These are a mix of S22+ (first) and Canon media (second):
Along the abandoned FS road (Tray Mtn Road South) we came across a small waterfall along the path but kept walking, hopefully to find the three falls. Didn’t make it, 🙁and I won’t blame Lola, she was tired but I wasn’t wanting a major hike this weekend.
Here are a few videos I took before we left and along the Forest Service, Tray Mountain Road:
Lola and I got to a spot where I “read” you can “bushwhack” your way to the other side…. I stopped, took a picture in front of me, looked at my Garmin then took a shot in that direction, yeah, not gonna happen! 😂 That was a vertical 90 degrees…
A 10 minute relaxation video of the tiny falls we passed on the way out & back. Hey, I take what nature gives me. lol *Click the image to open the video.
Arrived back at camp and we both relaxed, lola passed out and I enjoyed the views.
Met a nice hiker pullin’ a full NOBO, we chatted for a bit about his and my plans. I’m horrible with names, but I did ask permission for this shot. 🙂 There was also a group that passed during our chat. It’s pretty cool being right next to the trail, I think I may try to find gaps that intersect with the AT going forward, Lola and I can continue exploring and we can both meet new people!
USFS showed up. Two were local & two were from Idaho (I believe), the two from ID carried a full size chainsaw from Tray Gap to Tray Summit!!! They did it (there & back) in an hour! 😶 *It took me 1:45 up and 45 down the last time I went up.
Day 3 – Heading home
Took a few shots before I left and headed for Helen GA. Cute town but, IMO, this is the equivalent of Saint Augustine for Georgia. lol The town is 5 blocks wide and busy!
In summary, I found out what’s still needed for my Yellowstone trip. An extra Solar panel & battery! My new cooler, even on eco mode sucked up most of my battery juice.
Happy camping!
See you on the trail!
~T.B. Pug