#OptOutside #Cycling @RailstoTrails #REIEmployee

This is the third year running that Recreational Equipment Incorporated (REI) closed its stores on both Thanksgiving and Black Friday, encouraging its employees, members, customers, and others to #OptOutside with friends and family rather than spending the day in retail stores  shopping for bargains. What started as a moment in 2015 has become a movement as more and more retailers, especially those in the outdoor industry, have joined the #OptOutside movement by encouraging outdoor loving folk to post photos of their Black Friday outdoor activities on social media. When #OptOutside participants did so, using additional hashtags, they qualified to possibly win prizes from various retailers and organizations and to have their photos and videos featured on various web sites.

Three years ago I thought REI's #OptOutside decision was a bold move and I participated by going hiking the day after Thanksgiving. Now that I am a part-time REI employee, I REALLY appreciate #OptOutside because I not only have the day off to enjoy the great outdoors but also get paid for it.

My only #OptOutside quandary was to decide what outdoor activity I would engage in and where. Would I kayak at Cross Creek County Park in Washington County, Pennsylvania, paddling my Zydeco 9.0 of Necky Chatam 17 on Cross Creek Lake? Would I slip into my Merrill Wilderness hiking boots and throw a day pack on my back to meander along any number of the trails at Western Pennsylvania’s Raccoon Creek State Park?

Rather than hiking or kayaking I opted, instead, to cycle my Trek 8.3 DS Hybrid over twenty five

At the beginning of my 25.2 mile
#OptOutside #Cycling  @railstotrails ride

miles along two of my go to rail trails, the Brooke Pioneer Trail in West Virginia’s Brooke County and the Wheeling Heritage Trail in West Virginia’s Ohio County. Though two separate trails, they meet at the Brooke County – Ohio County line, offering over 20 miles of paved rail trail.

I hit the trail around 1:30 in the afternoon. The sky was a cloudless azure. The sun's rays blazed through mostly leafless trees. The temperature was slightly above 50°. In other words, the weather was nearly perfect for a fall ride.

Yes, it was that windy

At first I seemed to be dragging ass, which I attributed to the previous day’s Thanksgiving dinner and not having been on my bike for ten days. Rather than cycling at my usual 12-15 mph pace I was struggling to maintain an 8-12 mph pace. As soon as I saw the flags at Pike Island Dam, however, I knew it wasn’t my lack or recent cycling activity or the previous day’s turkey with all the fixings that was slowing me down. It was the steady northerly wind blowing up the Ohio River valley.

After a little over twelve and a half miles, I stopped for a break. Sitting on a bench beside the trail and overlooking the Ohio River, I watched a coal barge slower plod north as I basked in the warming sun and felt the breeze brush across my face. I was glad to be enjoying the outside rather than shopping in some mall or retailer, or sitting in front of a big screen television watching football.

As soon as I climbed back on my bike and started cycling north I felt like the peddling was easier. I looked down at my speedometer/odometer and saw that I was easily maintaining my usual 12-15 mph pace. As soon as warmed back up, cleared the wind break of nearby trees, and was out in the open, my pace picked up to 17-18 mph thanks to the tail wind. My return ride northward was easier and quicker than the ride southward.

I saw perhaps a dozen other cyclists during my afternoon ride though I might have counted some riders twice.  All but one other rider were heading in the opposite direction. I passed no one and only one rider passed me in the same direction. One cyclist was even wearing short sleeves and shorts! I was wearing my cycling shorts but was also wearing riding tights over them. I was also wearing a lightweight SmartWool toboggan under my helmet, a neck warmer, a cycling jacket over a long sleeved cycling jersey, and long fingered riding gloves. I was warm, but not toasty or overheating.

As other cyclists and I passed, I wondered how many of them were also posting their #OptOutside #cycling selfies on social media.

Why I Hike Alone

Not another person in sight!

Contrary to generally accepted advice about always hitting the trail accompanied by a partner or as part of a group, I almost always day hike and backpack alone.

I often make last minute decisions about when and where to hike based on my sometimes erratic work schedule and the weather. I find it hard, weeks ahead of time, to commit to another person or group and join them on the trail. I might decide the day before or even in the morning to hit the trail for a six to eight mile day hike, and that does not give me a lot of time to find a hiking partner or others to decide whether or not to join me.  When I recently embarked on what ended up being a four day and three night backpacking trip, I did not decide what day I was going to begin my trip until the day before, and only then because I had to reserve camp sites ahead of time.

Although I am not antisocial, I am an introvert, and I like my quiet and alone time. I do not want to carry on a conversation with a hiking partner or participate in a group discussion while on the trail. Hiking alone, in silence, increases my chances of encountering and spotting wildlife. Only when I suspect that bears might be in the area will I attach a bear bell to my pack or a trekking pole, but even its little jingles are less bothersome and intrusive than an ongoing conversation with someone several feet away from me.

When I hike alone, I can hike as fast or as slow as I like and need. I do not worry about a straggler falling behind or slowing down the leader, even if the straggler or leader is just one other person. Furthermore, I can pack and prepare the food I want without taking another’s tastes or dietary restrictions into account. At night, I can snore as loudly as I want without disturbing others and without their snoring disturbing me.

Don’t get me wrong. I have indeed enjoyed hiking and backpacking with others. I have enjoyed several backpacking trips with a hiking partner and a few as part of a larger group, but in the past several years, that seems to be the exception rather than the rule. Since I do often hike and backpack alone, I always let someone know where I will be going, and when cell phone service is present, I use Facebook to “check in” at the beginning and end of my trek.

This post originally appeared on The Trek.

Return to Raccoon Creek: Blood and Sweat but no Tears

Not wanting my hiking legs and skills to atrophy over the summer by cycling rail trails rather than hiking forest trails, I returned yesterday to Raccoon Creek State Park, my go to local hiking destination. I had not hiked in over three months, my last day hike being an 11.68 mile circuit at Raccoon Creek. I decided to hike the 9.78 mile Heritage – Forest loop because I thought the mileage would be manageable after three months off the trail and because the Heritage Trail between Rt. 18 and its southern terminus is one of my favorite trails in the park.

I had last hiked this mostly ridge top loop on February 5^th. When I started that hike four months ago  the temperature was a cool 26° but warmed to a moderate 38° by the time I finished the hike. As I hiked that day I carried a small stove as well as a wind/rain jacket and pants. I also wore my full leather hiking books, a pair Merrell Wilderness Originals.

Bloody scratch from a pricker bush

After parking at the Mineral Wells parking area, I glanced at my phone as I hit the trail. The temperature was a warm78°, 52° warmer than the last time I had hiked this loop. My day pack was also lighter than last time because I was not carrying a stove or any extra clothes or rain gear as the weather forecast was calling for almost perfect conditions. I was carrying the ten essentials and four liters of water. I was also wearing a brand new pair of Solomon XA Pro 3Ds rather than my heavier hiking boots.

With less weight on my back and feet I felt like I was more agile and hiking at a faster pace. Gone were scenic views through barren trees I had seen in February as the canopy was thick and green this June 14th. The understory was also verdant, and so thick that in a few places I could not even see the trail I was hiking on and that was before me. In some places pricker bushes had overgrown the trail and I could not but being scratched so deeply it drew blood.

Sweat running down my face

A couple hours into my hike I found myself standing at the bottom of what some call “a very steep climb of a hogback.” (Walks, Hike and Overnights in Raccoon Creek State Park by Mark H. Christy, page 70). I call it “The Hill”, perhaps the steepest grade I have ever encountered in the park. The first time I faced The Hill was from the top and it was snow and iced covered. Even though I descended it with trekking polls in hand that first time, I slipped on a snow and ice covered exposed root, one of the many roots protruding from the earth on this almost sheer section of trail, and ended up sliding down several feet of its slope before stopping.

The Hill is so steep that yesterday I found myself employing the mountaineers rest step, using my trekking polls for balance and to insure I did not slip backward on the loose dirt, stones, and tinder as I climbed from its base to the open area in the forest at its top. At little winded and sweating as I reached the top, I decided I would rather climb this steep grade on a warm day like yesterday than descend it on a snowy, cold winter’s day, as I had done several months ago.

I saw less than a dozen hikers while I was out two couples and several singles. One in particular bothered me, a young man, wearing large headphones to assumingly listen privately to his favorite trail tunes. I consider that a safety issue and wonder why anyone would venture out for a day hike in the woods and not want to hear the chirps, calls, and songs of birds and small game rustling through the grass and dry leaves. To each his or her own however.

By the time I returned to the car four hours and forty-five minutes later, I had drunk more than two liters of water, so I was glad I had taken a couple of two liter bottles rather than just one. I had also developed a hot spot and a small blister on each instep, but considering I had just hiked 9.78 miles wearing a pair of Solomon’s I had not  broken in, with brand new Superfeet insoles I also had not broken in, I felt like I could not complain. I was also happy that my left knee was not aching as it has after other day hikes of a similar distance, thanks, perhaps, to the Aleeve I popped just before I left home to drive the 26 miles to return to Raccoon Creek State Park.

#OptOutside

Any avid and experienced hiker and backpacker will recognize the brand names and retailers I encountered today, the day after Thanksgiving, also known as Black Friday: Recreational Equipment Incorporated, Fox River, Smartwool, Merrell, Royal Robbins, Patagonia, Eastern Mountain Sports, Kelty, Marmet, Sea to Summit, Nalgene, and GSI, just to name a few.

I did not come across these brand names in a mall or driving around to various stores. I wore or used gear bearing these names as I hiked over 8.8 miles of trails in western Pennsylvania’s Raccoon Creek State Park the day after Thanksgiving as I supported the #OptOutside alternative to shopping. Rather than joining the mad rush of Black Friday I chose to enjoy a Green Friday as I opted to go outside.

I left the house this morning before 8:00 AM and drove the twenty-five miles to the trail head at Raccoon Creek State Park.  The 7,572 acre park boasts over 44 miles of hiking trails and the past several Fridays I have been exploring its trails using Mark H. Christy’s Walks, Hikes and Overnights in Raccoon Creek State Park as a guide. When I parked in the small lot across the park road from the trailhead there was only one other car in the lot, a car with three REI stickers on the back window.

Opting out on the Forest Trail

I was on the trail by 8:45 AM this morning under overcast skies and with the temperature around 40 degrees. I first hiked the 4.24 mile Heritage-Buckskin-Camp Loop and saw only three other hikers on the trail, first a single man and then a man and woman pair.  I next hiked the 4.59 mile Palomino-Buckskin-Camp Loop and saw a man on horseback, a group of two men and dog, and a group of five or six male hikers. By the time I finished the two loops the temperature had risen to 64 degrees, 20 degrees higher then what I experienced in the park a week earlier.

By the time I returned to the car there were at least four of five other cars in the lot. As I drove out of the park I saw two or more cars parked at each of two other trail heads. I met more people on the trails today than I have ever met before while hiking in the park. Apparently others, like me, opted to be outside in the wild outdoors this day rather than engaging in the wild retail rush of Black Friday.

I have been a member of Recreational Equipment Incorporated (a member co-op) for at least forty years. Over that span I have spent probably thousands of dollars at REI as I have purchased sleeping bags, hiking boots, clothing, climbing gear, tents, and more. I applaud my co-op for not only choosing to close on both Thanksgiving and the day after, paying its employees nevertheless, but to also encourage its employees and others to opt outside the day after Thanksgiving rather than going shopping. I hope REI will make this an annual emphasis and that other outdoor retailers, outfitters, and brands (like #royalrobbins) will join them in the future.