Outdoors – Page 4 – IndyScan.com

Trip Report – Red River Gorge (Part-2)

Driving to Red River Gorge
After an awesome lunch at the Stave I continued my journey Southeast towards Red River Gorge (RRG). It was an uneventful trip with the usual Kentucky countryside of rolling hills and horse farms. Everything was green this time of year and the roads were light with traffic.

Nada Tunnel
One of the many attractions in the RRG area is the Nada Tunnel. It’s a 900-foot long 13-foot high one-lane tunnel that used to be a railroad. It’s now considered the “Gateway” to the Gorge and has been paved for vehicular traffic.

I was kind of surprised there wasn’t any kind of signaling device to help with traffic. Instead you must creep up to the enterance and look for approaching headlights. If you don’t see any you’re good to go. I always followed the car in front of me thinking they would have cleared the way. It worked every time I used the tunnel.

Look for a short video in the next part.

The Cabin
Once I arrived to the rental cabin I found that it was still being cleaned so I set out to explore the town of Slade, Ky. There’s not a lot in the area. Food wise you have 4 options. Miguels Pizza, a Mexican place, a BBQ shack, and a Coffee Shop/mini grocery. That’s about it unless you want Subway at the gas station out near the highway.

I received a text saying the cabin was ready so I headed back. The cabin was located deep in the woods at the end of a long gravel road. I’m glad I have All Wheel Drive ad some parts of the road were steep and others had deep gravel that limited traction. This was a fun little road both in and out of the property.

The website said the cabin had been renovated a year ago and I learned very quickly the website hadn’t been updated in a few years. While the cabin wasn’t terrible it was a little rougher that I expected. At only $129 a night I certainly didn’t expect to be stating at the Ritz. Overall it was clean and the AC worked so I made the best of it.

The Internet
I had DSL service a long time ago and it was adequate for the Internet of that time. The place I was staying in had DSL and I can assure you it’s NOT adequate for the Internet of today. First think I did was reset the modem and it helped a little bit but it was clear I wasn’t going to be online much in this place which was fine by me. I just needed to check on a few messages and map out some areas to explore. I had offline maps saved in Google Maps as well as Gaia GPS so I was in pretty good shape.

The area
I was expecting the area to be a lot more crowded with tourists because of the July 4th holiday. I was presently surprised that it wasn’t. There was a small campground that I passed on the way to the cabin and it had a lot of climbers camped out. The area offers whats called Dispersed Camping which pretty much allows you to setup camp off the side of the road in designated areas. All that’s required is a parking pass you purchase from area retailers. It’s a lot different that what I was expecting and, when I visit next time, I’ll be sure to check it out.

As I stated earlier the Slake Ky area isn’t fancy by any means. There are a few cabins a motels scattered around the area. Other than the local Pizza place it’s definitely not a hot spot. In a way I kind of liked it that way. I have a feeling it might be a little more trafficked when the temps are cooler and the trees are coloring out in the fall. I hope to revisit at that time either this year or next.

Dinner at La Cabana
Since the Pizza place appeared to have a line out the door every time I passed I opted for dinner at the La Cabana Mexican Restaurant down the road. I wasn’t sure what to expect but, hey, even sub-par Mexican food is usually pretty decent. I can make a meal out of Chips and Salsa and a beer or two.

La Cabana had inside seating and an outdoor bar. It was pretty typical of any other Mexican place with the standard menu items. They were featuring a Tacos El Pastor that night and after seeing several orders come out of the kitchen I settled on that. It didn’t disappoint and I was very happy with my choice. The sauce they had on the side was like FIRE. A little bit went a long way and it was quite tasty. The side plate of beans, while looking pretty plain, were very flavorful and complemented the tacos nicely. I left with a full, happy, belly.

Evening with offline shows
After arriving at the cabin, unpacking all my gear, and filling up on Mexican food, it was time to get settled. I finalized the plan for the next day and settled back with a few offline shows I had downloaded to the iPad. This is a great way to carry some entertainment for yourself or others and not have to rely on Internet service, which I practically had none of.

Next up, hiking in Red River Gorge and a recap of the trip!

Trip Report – Red River Gorge (Part-1)

Trip Intro
This is going to be a multi-part post over the next few weeks. I took a ton of photos and want to share some of them here as well as detail the trip as best as I can. I hope you enjoy and I’d love to hear your comments and feedback.

I decided to take advantage of the July 4th holiday being on a Wednesday this year and plan a Hiking/Camping/Fishing getaway. Initially I was looking at the Upper Peninsula of Michigan to do some camping and cycling. I had a pretty good idea of what I wanted to do up there but then I stumbled upon a YouTube video that featured the Red River Gorge (RRG) in Kentucky. It looked to have a lot of the things I was looking for and was a lot closer to Indy than the U.P.

I watched several more videos and was convinced this is were I needed to go on this trip. I was a little concerned about the holiday crowds and found the camping situation a little confusing. I opted to rent an inexpensive cabin so I’d have a place to stay and explore the area. I really wanted to camp too so I booked one the last available spots at a Kentucky State Park called Big Bone Lick that’s on the way to RRG.

Packing & Prep
Since I was going to travel solo and base out of a cabin I pretty much packed everything I though I’d need from camping supplies, to fishing gear, as well as an assortment of food and entertainment options. Of course I packed entirely too much but I had the room and figured this would be a good test to see what I’d actually use vs what I think I needed.

I store the gear for each of my hobbies in large, stackable, plastic bins that are easy to just grab and go. I ended up with the following assortment (some bins had more than one category):

Food and Cooking (cook pot, stove, fuel, dehydrated food, snacks)
Sleep System (tent, footprint, hammock, tarp, sleeping bag)
Fishing Gear (waders, boots, tackle)
Hiking Gear (packs, boots, trekking poles, maps, compass)
Clothing (hiking, fishing, sleeping)
Misc (electronics, lights, batteries)
Cooler (food, drinks, snacks)
Water (7-gallon plastic Jerry can)

This gave me the option to go with the flow and hike a little, fish a little, and relax. I’ll admit this is a lot of gear to bring but like I said, this is a shakedown to see what I would really use.

Car Problems
I was about 500 miles away from scheduled maintenance on the car so I thought I might as well stop at the dealer and get it knocked out. Boy was that a mistake… Long story short, the oil filter (that sits on top of the engine in this car) didn’t get seated correctly and proceeded to leak oil all over the engine as I drove to work. By the time I got there the car was smoking like it was on fire. After a tow back to the dealer I got home with a freshly cleaned engine at 8pm. It was still smoking a little as what was left burned off. By the time I got to my first stop the next day all was well again.

Day 1 – Leaving Home
I got things organized starting a few days before departure and loaded it all up the morning of the trip. Since everything was already grouped and in a bin it was easy to just slide things in and hit the road.

I use a medium sized snowboard roof rack (I think it’s designed to old 2-3 boards) to transport the fishing poles. It’s a lot easier than trying to have them in the car and the racks lock so things stay pretty secure and out of the way. I can carry about 10 rods and reels with this setup but I usually only have 3-4 up there.

REI Cincinatti
My first stop of the day was REI in Cincinnati. I was hoping they would have some maps and info on RRG. I was able to find a book dedicated the the trail system in the area & it’s been a great purchase. I found some areas I didn’t know about and more detail on the areas I was focusing on this trip.

Findlay Market
If you haven’t been to Findlay Market you should stop and check it out next time you’re in the area. I usually go on the weekend and it’s a lot different during the week (not nearly as many vendors). The market has a lot of specialty vendors and you can find some great food and produce.

Newport on the Levee
I haven’t visited this place for a while and WOW, it’s changed a lot. I almost got lost because of all the new construction. I mainly just stopped buy to do a quick walk through and get some pictures of the Cincy skyline (annnddd I left my phone in the car, oops!).

USA Soccer & Thunder Storms
The day was ticking along and I was killing a little time before heading to the campground. I happened to find a Drakes sports bar in the city of Florence and it was just in time to watch the Team USA beat England in the Women’s World Cup. A pop up thunderstorm happened to hit while I was watching the game. It also blew through the campsite I was driving to too, so taking a break to watch the game turned out to be a good idea.

Big Bone Lick State Park
This park has a lot of fosses in the area because it had an abundance of salt licks in the prehistoric days that attracted animals to the site. Today they have a herd of buffalo roaming the grasslands.

I arrived at camp a little after the front office closed so I cruised back to the spot I had reserved. Interestingly the 3 spots next to me were marked off and not being used. The other side of me had an RV from New York and their porch was on the other side, so I had a pretty private site at the back of the camp with very little traffic.

The neighbors turned in about the time it got dark and I sat out under the stars and enjoyed some wine and cheese before climbing in the tent and listened to the crickets and frogs until I fell asleep.

Day 2 – Waking up to Nature
The birds in the trees had me awake at sunrise and the Daddy Long Legs spider that ran across my face was better than any alarm clock I’ve ever used. As I exited the tent I could not believe how many of these spiders were on my tent. Took a while to brush them all off and pack up the tent.

I’m not a big breakfast eater and since I had a lot of things to do that day I packed camp up and hit the road about 8am. About 9am I got a craving for a Sausage McMuffin and had to stop. I also wanted a sweet tea which, I think, gets better the further south you travel in the US.

Buffalo Trace Distillery
The first stop of the day was the Buffalo Trace Distillery in Frankfort Kentucky. Buffalo Trace is the oldest continuously operating distillery in the United States. The tour was pretty basic compared to other producers like Woodford Reserve and Makers Mark but it was very interesting to learn more about the history of the facility.

After the tour and tasking (it was 11 am so not too early for a nip) the gift shop had a nice selection for purchase. Sadly there was no Blanton’s or Pappy Van Winkle for sale.

Lunch
I had a few ideas for places to eat lunch in the Frankfort area but one was closed and the other one looked a little sketchy. I fired up Yelp and found a place about 20-minutes away called The Stave.

The Stave is in the middle of nowhere and is inside an old farm house. Once I got cellular coverage again I realized I was just down the road from the Woodford Reserve Distillery. The lunch menu had a nice variety of dishes. I settled on the Pig & Pickles sandwich with fries (as well as another sweet tea). The sandwich was amazing, and the fries were double cooked and perfectly crunchy.

My server asked me if I was one of the “Lookie-loos” and I had to ask her for some clarification. Evidently there was a big warehouse fire at a Jack Daniels warehouse the night before and the place was crawling with Media and people trying to see the damage.

Up next, driving to Red River Gorge. Lots more to come over the next few weeks. I have some more gear reviews in the works as well. Stay Tuned!

Trip Report – Turkey Run State Park

I took an opportunity towards the end of May to take a day off work and go exploring at Turkey Run State Park. It had been years since I last visited and I really didn’t remember it very well.

The weather was just about perfect and I was surprised how close the park actually was to Indianapolis. When I arrived I was one of the only cars in the lot and the Nature Center was just opening. I settled on what’s called the “5-Mile Challenge” which in reality is 5.9 miles of combined trails around the park with photo ops along the way to complete the challenge (and get a sticker).

I was excited to try my new trail shoes and Merino Wool Socks that I reviewed in a previous post and set off towards the suspension bridge that takes you across Sugar Creek. There are a LOT of stairs at Turkey Run and you encounter them almost immediately when you leave the parking area.

As I started off on the first trail it was obvious that this was going to be a wet day. The trails were pretty sloppy but overall well groomed and marked. Some sections required some creative use of the trekking poles to navigate between trees and over rocks.

As I climbed in elevation the trail started to dry out and I was able to relax and enjoy the sounds of the woods. After 3 miles things started to get interesting when the trail descended into the various ravines and sandstone cliffs. At times the trail was part of the stream bed and it was nice to clean the shoes off in the cold water and have the socks instantly warm up my feet as the water worked its way out.

The final stretch of the loop was the most technical as well as the most beautiful. The sandstone walls towered above and the water continued to etch its way through the canyons towards Sugar Creek. It’s really hard to believe this park is only an hour outside Indianapolis. The crowds were starting to increase and I was starting to feel the effort to get up, down, in, and around the trail.

Overall I’d say Turkey Run is a great place for a day hike and has enough variety that it would take several trips to see it all. Camping is available and was completely sold out when I drove over to check out the sites.

I have some more gear to review in the upcoming months as well as a multi-day trip to the south that I’ll be blogging about soon! Thanks for reading and be sure to leave any comments or questions you might have.

Gear Review – Altra Lone Peak 4 Trail Runners

I’m back! I kind of lost interest in the blog over the winter and made the (mistake?) of purchasing Red Dead Redemption 2. That game is a HUGE time suck but amazing and I don’t regret it.

I also got hooked on some new YouTube channels* over the winter and it’s rekindled my desire to be outdoor more often. I already enjoy cycling and kayaking but haven’t really been camping/backpacking/hiking since I was in Scouts.

After a long winter of watching these channels I could not help but be ready for better weather and a chance to get outside again. Several of the YouTubers are through hikers and have either hiked the Appalachian trail or are in the process. While I think that would be an amazing accomplishment It’s not something I see myself doing in the near future. I’m just fine with shorter adventures.

A piece of gear that’s critical when hiking is footwear. I’ve always worn traditional hiking boots. They provide great ankle stability but they’re heavy and, if waterproof, make your feet hot and sweaty. They also really suck if you happen to get water IN them.

A new category of footwear called the “Trail Runner” was introduced to me over the winter. These are a hybrid between a boot and a running shoe. The most popular appear to be from a company called Altra and the model mentioned more than anything else was the Lone Peak 4.

After a few hikes around Indy in my traditional hikers and a pair of low rise boots I realized my feet were going to be an issue. I already have a pair of custom orthotics that I wear in some of my shoes but they’re not very comfortable to walk in for miles at a time.

A review in Outside Magazine help me decide to purchase these shoes and then it happened… REI had one of their big sales & I was able to pick up a pair of Lone Peak 4’s for 30% off! I wasn’t the only one taking advantage of the sale. REI was selling these things like deep fried Oreos at the State Fair.

In the store the Lone Peak’s felt a little weird at first because the front (toe box) of the shoe is very wide and they have what’s called a “Zero Drop” which puts your foot level with the ground vs raised in the back. They also fit different and I ended up going 1.5 sizes larger than I typically wear. I was a little concerned this was going to be an issue and worried about blisters which I got a lot in Scouts with traditional hiking boots.

Following the advice in the Outside review I ordered a couple of pairs of Merino Wool Socks for breathability and the ability to keep your feet warm and dry. I’ll detail it more in an upcoming trip report but let’s just say the combo worked better than anything I have ever tried.

I decided to try the Altra’s out on a 6-mile rugged loop at Turkey Run State Park (I’m planning on a trip report soon). As soon as I started walking I could feel an immediate difference. The Merino Socks were a little slippery and the shoes were “Squishy” (technical term).

After the 2nd mile on the trail I was a fan. My feet felt amazing and the rock guard build into the sole kept the bottoms of my feet protected and comfortable. I usually have issues with rocks (gravel especially) bothering the balls of my feet when trail walking.

Then came the ultimate test. Time to get my feet wet as the trail went up, through, and along a stream (several in fact). The Outdoor review was totally right. As soon as you leave the water the shoes pump the water out and the wool socks help you feet dry out and stay warm. I’ve NEVER had so much FUN getting my feet wet! Normally this is something you want to avoid when hiking but I was stomping through the water like a little kid and enjoying every minute of it.

Traction was excellent and after finishing the loop my only complaint was some knee pain which I later found was a result of descending the numerous hills, and something I can help with some more conditioning and maybe some better insoles.

I’m pretty much sold on the Trail Runner concept and I look forward to putting a few more miles on these shoes this weekend. If you’re looking for an alternative to the traditional hiking boots you should give these a try. They make different versions for different situations but I’ve found the Loan Peak 4’s to be a great all around shoe for my needs.

*The YouTube Channels that hooked me (in no particular order):
Outdoor Adventures
The Outdoor Gear Review
Dan Becker
Homemade Wanderlust
Darwin on the Trail

Did You Know Purple Paint = No Trespassing?

Effective July 1, 2018 Indiana became the 12th state to enact a “Purple Paint Law”. I spent a couple of days Geocaching in Southern Indiana last week and saw a lot of property marked with purple paint. Luckily I remembered hearing about the law but this was the first time I had seen the paint being used in leu of the traditional No Trespassing signs.

I was wondering about how this might be a problem with color blind individuals but it turns out Purple was chosen because it can be seen by most people with that condition. There are, however, people that see no color and that couple be a problem.

A new Indiana law went into effect on July 1st, that may help you mark your property boundaries more efficiently to prevent trespassing. The “purple paint law” is found in Indiana Code IC 35-43-2-2 and stipulates that appropriately applied purple paint can be used to mark your property with the same legal effect as using a No Trespassing sign. Landowners attempting to protect their property from trespassing have often been frustrated by the need to post signs and replace signs torn down, vandalized, or rendered unreadable by the elements. Marking boundaries with purple paint should provide a more efficient and inexpensive option, as well as eliminating placing nails in your trees.
Purdue Extension Blog

According to the law, HB 1233, the paint must be:

(A) on a tree:
(i) as a vertical line of at least eight (8) inches in length and with the bottom of the mark at least three (3) feet and not more than five (5) feet from the ground; and
(ii) not more than one hundred (100) feet from the nearest other marked tree; or
(B) on a post:
(i) with the mark covering at least the top two (2) inches of the post, and with the bottom of the mark at least three (3) feet and not more than five (5) feet six (6) inches 19 from the ground; and
(ii) not more than thirty-six (36) feet from the nearest other marked post; and
HB 1233

The 11 other states with Purple Paint Laws are:

Maine
Texas
Illinois
Missouri
North Carolina
Florida
Idaho
Arkansas
Montana
Arizona
Kansas

I think the biggest issue with this law boils down to education and awareness. It’s only in effect in about 20% of the country and it’s not very apparent what the paint means. As a Geocacher that goes in a lot of off the grid locations it’s something I’m certainly going to have to keep an eye out for. People who hunt and fish are other groups that need to be made aware of this law for everyones safety.

Be careful out there!

Saturday Morning Rides

I’ve set the alarm nice and early these past few Saturday mornings and getting some miles in on the Road Bike. The weather last weekend was 100% humidity and super foggy around Geist Reservoir. Lucky for me there are some great paths to use and avoid the vehicular traffic in the area.

Yesterday morning was about as good as it gets. 68-degrees, light wind, sunshine. It made for a great 30-mile loop through Carmel, touching Noblesville at 146th St. and back to Fishers via 96th St. The Flowing Well Park is always a nice place to stop for a snack and top off the water bottles. I’d love to know how many visitors this place gets a year. I’ve never been there alone. There are always people filling up dozens of water jugs at all hours of the day and night.

While riding along the River Trail in Carmel I had to stop and take a picture of how the trees line the trail and make for a nice shady stretch. As usual traffic was light and riding on the streets posed no problems.

If there’s a path along a road and it’s in decent shape I’ll happily ride it. Unfortunately a lot of the paths in Hamilton County are starting to deteriorate to the point where it’s dangerous to ride a stiff road bike with skinny tires on them. The road normally offers a smoother surface and when everyone follows the rules (cyclists included) can be safe for everyone.

It’s nice to see that 99% of the drivers out there give you the legal right-of-way (3-foot minimum) when passing. I think the “Share the Road” signs help remind people that cyclists are allowed to be on the roadway the same a cars and trucks. The only exception I’ve witnessed this year has been pickup trucks on country roads and soccer moms that pass a little too close in their mini vans. Not much you can to about a close truck pass in the middle of nowhere. Hand gestures could result in a confrontation where the cyclist is at a distinct disadvantage.

When riding the back roads I’m more concerned about dogs than anything else. They can come out of nowhere and if they have any size to them can outrun a cyclist who is caught off guard. Normally they are more bark than bite but I’ve had a few close calls over the years.

Right now I’m 300-miles into my 1000-mile goal for 2018. I’m looking forward to passing the 1k mark and setting an even higher goal for 2019 (2k?). I have a cycling trip this summer in Northern Ohio that should produce some fun photos, I’m looking forward to it!

Weekend of Activities

If you know me you know I have a lot of hobbies. Some would say I have too many…

This past weekend I took the boy to Ohio and introduced him to Briarwood Sporting Club in Bellefontaine and a really amazing Loose Meat sandwich at the original Maid Rite sandwich shop in Greenville.

Briarwood is located on almost 500 acres of immaculately cared for property and offers 16 lakes with 11 different fish species as well as hunting opportunities in the fall. I was the lucky winner of a discounted 1-year membership at a Ducks Unlimited auction last fall. It’s not a cheap membership but after spending some time there I think it’s going to be a place we escape to many times a year.

Greenville Ohio is the home of Kitchen Aid and it has an amazing store that carries just about every make, model, and color the company currently makes in its factory down the road. It also has a little museum in the basement that helps tell the history of the infamous mixer the company is known for. I always have to stop in and usually end up bringing a new product or accessory home. This time around I picked up some replacement parts for my stand mixer as well as a cold-brew coffee maker (future review in the works).

The Maid-Rite restaurant is about as old school as it gets. Loose Meat sandwiches, chips, and drinks are the only things on the menu. Somewhere in its history people started sticking gum on the building and after all these years it’s practically covered in it. A little gross but it’s a tradition evidently.

Although the weather wasn’t the most cooperative we really enjoyed our day-trip to Ohio and are looking forward to the next one!

It’s HOT Outside So It’s Time for a Blog Update!

This is one of the first weekends this summer I’ve spent the majority of my time inside. Between the cycling, kayaking and fishing it’s been a wonderfully busy summer and it passed by quickly. So here we are during the first weekend of FALL and the temps are in the 90’s. I thought I’d share some updates about what’s been going on.

I found a box of Pearl Sugar in the pantry the other day & decided to break out the waffle iron for another round of Liege Waffles. I wrote about these back in 2011 and they are worth the effort. My only caution is they will gum up your waffle iron with caramelized sugar. Cleanup is best done after things have cooled down so the hardened sugar can be chipped off.

After spending a lot of time riding the Monon trail these past few months I decided to mount my little GoPro Session to the handle bars and start recording some of the ridiculous stuff seem to encounter every ride. I’ll post some video after my next ride.

On the Podcast front I’ve discovered several new ones this summer. The ones I found to be the most entertaining are:

Twenty Thousand Hertz – Dallas Taylor does an amazing job bringing you “the stories behind the world’s most recognizable and interesting sounds”. My favorite episode so far is the story behind the NBC chimes.

Week in the Knees – Filmmaker Morgan Spurlock, the guy who lived on MacDonalds for a month, is back with a weekly recap of the news you might not have head about.

Countdown – Detailed stories about 10 of the most incredible space missions during the race to the moon 50-years ago. Lots of NASA audio recordings and interviews make it a very well produced podcast from Time Magazine.

After driving near this place for years I finally stopped in the little town of Brookville Indiana and checked out the amazing Brookville Reservoir. We spent several weekends this summer kayaking and fishing this place and absolutely love it.

Brookville has a great tail water below the dam that’s stocked with rainbow and brown trout. When the conditions are right it’s an awesome place to fly fish. The reservoir itself has a lot of bass and other native Indiana species. We’ve had success fishing from the bank and from the kayaks. Since it’s only a 90-minute drive from home it’s an easy place to go for a day trip.

I’m looking forward to more beautiful weather this fall. I need a few more weekends on the water and bike before packing everything up for the winter!

…To be continued

4-Months of Dead Air?

Wow, it’s hard to believe it’s been 4-months since I last published a post on IndyScan.com. A lot’s been happening and I’ve obviously not been documenting it here!

My activity on Facebook has increased and I’m giving Instagram another try so the details are out there for those of you who know where to look! I’m currently testing a plugin that will increase the activity on the blog by posting my favorite Instagram pictures here (just tested it right before this post!). One of these days I’ll have things streamlined where I can share things with everyone everywhere with a single submission (getting really close to that now).

One of the new activities I’m taking part of this year is kayaking. I grew up canoeing and have always loved the water. This year was the year to get back out there. In May I took advantage of the Rusted Moon Outfitters annual sale (20% off!) and picked up a new Dagger Axis 12-foot kayak. I used the savings to offset the cost of a really nice carbon/fiberglass paddle and kayak specific life vest.

Having gone on several lake and river paddles I can honestly say this is one hell of a boat. Very comfortable positioning and ride as well as highly maneuverable. The retractable Skeg (basically a fixed rudder) makes tracking on open water dead straight and when retracted the boat turns on a dime.

I went on a 2-day overnight (camping) trip with some of the guys from work and I had plenty of room for all my equipment, even though I totally over packed!

Since kayaking has become my preferred form of exercise I decided to add one more piece of gear to the mix. The Garmin Fenix 3 HR GPS/Smartwatch. Previously I tried out an Apple Watch and was less than impressed. After reading the reviews I really wanted to give the Garmin a try.

Well this thing is a completely different animal. It’s rugged as all get out and does many things very well. You get all the notifications of a Smartwatch but you also get a ton of tracking info for outdoor activities and it’s completely configurable to match your needs. From running to hiking to water sports and cycling. This watch does it all and I could not be happier with the purchase. It’s great to have an electronic dashboard on your wrist with all of your exercise stats as well as full navigation of where you’ve been and how to get back. It even has weather alerts (web and barometer based) so you don’t get caught off guard when mother nature decides to storm on your outing.

The image above shows a solo kayak run from Lafayette Trace (near Bongies in Perkinsville) to White River Canoe Company just south of Noblesville. 15+ miles in just under 5 hours. It was the first time I got to put the Garmin to use and it performed flawlessly. All of my distance, speed, and heart rate stats were compiled throughout the trip. I can use the info to gauge my fitness level as well as track improvements or areas that need worked on.

So it’s obvious my new extra curricular activities have shifted focus away from blogging but at least I’m getting exercise! Look for more posts in the future along with a few trip reports from upcoming kayaking adventures I plan to have before the snow starts flying.

Until next time…